March Madness Live Blog (Thursday, March 18)

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I will be live blogging all of today's action, updating every 10 minutes or so.

12:10pm - Breaking News - Villanova's two leading scorers, Scottie Reynolds & Corey Fisher, will not start today for an undisclosed reason (they will play).

3:25pm - 14th seed Murray St. leads 3 seeded Vanderbilt 36-32 at the half. They haven't beat a ranked opponent all year...could this be their time? Meanwhile, Sam Houston is hanging tough with Baylor and leads them by 1 with 6 minutes to go in the 1st half.

4:03pm - Murray State is still playing tough and up by 5 against Vanderbilt with 11:21 left. St. Mary's and Richmond are tied at 14 about 7 minutes in.

4:39pm - Score Updates: St. Mary's vs. Richmond 36-36 at the half, Baylor vs. Sam Houston 51-50 7:26 remaining, Vanderbilt vs. Murray St. 65-64 with 4 seconds left, Kansas St. blowing out North Texas by 16 at the half

4:43 - MURRAY STATE WITH THE BUZZER BEATER TO UPSET VANDERBILT 66-65. Incredible opening day so far!!

Game 1: (7) BYU vs. (10) Florida
20:00 - And we're off!!! BYU vs. Florida starts it off. This is a big game for me as I have BYU in the elite 8.

15:00 - I haven't watched BYU this season but their PG Jimmer Fredette is really something special. He is sneaky quick and deceptive. Pretty even so far with Florida holding a 9-8 lead 5 minutes in.

9:55 - Florida over BYU 17-15

4:20 - BYU leading Florida 29-28. Fredette has 8.

2:40 - BYU leading Florida 35-30

Halftime - It's a tight one with BYU leading 35-33. Michael Loyd Jr. leads all BYU scorers with 10 while Kenny Boynton has 8 for Florida.

16:40 - Fredette has one of the most ridiculous finger rolls I have ever seen. It is unreal. He goes end to end with such ease. He has 14 and BYU leads 43-38.

8:54 - BYU on a 10-0 run and has a 59-46 lead. Fredette is still impressing everyone as he has a game high 20.

6:04 - Florida has stormed back on an 11-2 run and are only down 57-61 now.

4:11 - Fredette continues to break ankles and leave defenders in the dust but the story right now is Kenny Boynton from Florida who has scored their last 14 points and pulled them to within 3, 66-63.

2:50 - Florida has taken the lead on a, guess who, Kenny Boynton 3 and they are playing with a lot of energy right now. They lead 71-68.

0:0.5 - Half a second left. Florida missed a turn around jumper to win and BYU will have a shot to win it, otherwise we are going to OT.

End of OT - Florida again had a shot near the buzzer to win it but once again missed. We are going to a 2nd OT, gang.

3:57 - BYU opens the 2nd OT by draining a 3 and then Fredette knocks down a FT to give them a 4 point lead. Kenny Boynton has fouled out for Florida.

End of game - BYU wins in double OT 99-92 behind 2 magical performances. Jimmer Fredette had a game high 37 and his teammate Michael Floyd Jr. added 26.

Game 2: (6) Notre Dame vs. (11) Old Dominion
11:40 - Notre Dame leading 12-6

4:30 - Notre Dame leading 26-17

2:10 - Notre Dame leading 26-19

Halftime - ODU cut the defecit to 6 at the half as they trail 22-28. Ben Hansbrough has 10 while his teammate Luke Harangody was held scoreless. Frank Hassell has 7 for ODU.

14:10 - ODU takes the lead 31-30 on a shot clock buzzer beater.

5:16 - Notre Dame and ODU are trading leads and are currently tied. Should come down to the wire.

0:56.2 - We've got an exciting one in the South bracket as ODU is up 49-46 with under a minute remaining. It will likely come down to free throws.

0:25.2 - ODU missed their last 2 FT attempts and only hold a 3 point lead. Notre Dame has the ball and the shot clock is turned off. They can hold for the last shot if they want.

End of game - WOW! Notre Dame nearly made a 3 to tie it but it swirled out. ODU gets the first upset of the tournament with a 51-50 victory. Harangody only had 4 points on the day and his career is now over at ND.

Game 3: (2) Villanova vs. (15) Robert Morris
3:51 - Scottie Reynolds has entered the game. Apparently he and Corey Fisher failed to answer a question on the scouting report. Villanova is leading 9-5

13:00 - Robert Morris is on an 8-0 run to take a 13-9 lead

7:16 - Robert Morris is shutting down Villanova and leading 17-11. Upset in the making? I know, I know, it's early.

2:43 - Robert Morris leading 26-19 in a very physical game so far.

Halftime - Villanova started to get a little bit of momentum at the half but they continue to struggle from the charity stripe (6-11). Last year they were down by 10 at the half to 14th seed American but ended up winning 80-67. They should come out of the locker room with added enthusiasm.

17:00 - Wow, this game is boring! No scoring, sloppy, timeouts = ugh. Robert Morris leads 30-29.

11:05 - A bit of excitement as Karon Abraham makes a 3 and gets fouled to put Robert Morris up 41-34

4:50 - Scottie Reynolds is really struggling and appears very frsutrated on the court. Robert Morris leads 53-47.

3:06 - Villanova has not led since 14:59 of 1st half. They are currently trailing 51-55.

1:48 - Villanova has tied it thanks to 2 FTs from Scottie Reynolds. He is 12-12 from the line today.

End of regulation - Villanova nearly wins it at the buzzer but Robert Morris comes up with a huge block. We are going to OT. So much OT!!

1:06 - Scottie Reynolds with the dagger as he nails a contested 3 to put Villanova up 67-61. Only his 2nd made FG of the game.

0:9.1 - Robert Morris drains a DEEEPP 3 to pull within 1 but then Mr. Reliable Scottie Reynolds knocks down 2 FT to go up 3. If you are not watching this I highly suggest you find a way to (cbs.com is streaming all the games).

End of game - Villanova pulls out the win 73-70 as Robert Morris ran a terrible possession at the end and chucked up a weird looking 3 that didn't hit. 2/3 of the game was boring but the end was very exciting.