All five teams from state of Texas eliminated on first day of NCAA tournament
We’re one day into the NCAA basketball tournament and the entire state of Texas has been eliminated.
All five teams from the Lone Star state lost in the first round Thursday with several having their hearts broken in the final seconds. Fans of Texas, Baylor, SMU, Texas Southern and Stephen F. Austin can turn their attention back to the state’s pastime, the football season.
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No. 14 seed Georgia State upset No. 3 seed Baylor on R.J. Hunter’s 3-pointer in the final seconds. The Bears gave up a 12-point lead and watched Hunter rip the cords with a deep shot from well beyond the top of the arc, touching off another wild celebration with his father, coach Ron Hunter, who tore his Achilles tendon last week when the Panthers won the Sun Belt title. \The Hunters were not the only father-son duo to celebrate at a Texas team’s expense Thursday. UCLA coach Steve Alford watched his son, Bryce, make nine 3-pointers to lead the 1th-seeded Bruins to a 60-59 upset of No. 6 SMU.
Bryce Alford’s final shot seemed off target but was swatted away by SMU center Yanick Moreira, who as called for goaltending. SMU missed two potential game-winning shots and UCLA advanced after three days of listening to criticism of its inclusion in the tournament because of a lackluster track record.
Indiana is the only other state with five teams in the bracket this year and the Hoosier state got off to a strong start with Notre Dame and Butler each posting wins and Purdue losing in overtime to Cincinnati..
Buter’s 56-48 victory in the Midwest Region came at the expense of Texas and coach Rick Barnes, who could be on the verge of losing his job after 17 years at the school. The Longhorns haven’t advanced to the tournament’s second weekend since 2008.
Few expected 15th-seeded Texas Southern to beat No. 2 seed Arizona in the West Region. The Wildcats had way too much winning 93-72.
Stephen F. Austin, a 29-game winner, was a popular upset pick against Utah on Thursday night in the classic 5-12 seed matchup. The Lumberjacks upset VCU last season in their first-ever NCAA tournament and there they were within two points of the Utes in the final minute before losing 57-50. And the state of Texas was done.
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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo
