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The Student News Site of Buena Vista University

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The Student News Site of Buena Vista University

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Stunts first home competition
Stunt's first home competition
March 22, 2024
When I arrived, to my surprise, a Piper Archer II had just landed and way taxiing back to the hangers.
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Hot Dish literary magazine submissions open
Hot Dish literary magazine submissions open
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Search The Tack
Stunts first home competition
Stunt's first home competition
March 22, 2024
When I arrived, to my surprise, a Piper Archer II had just landed and way taxiing back to the hangers.
Sunday's pit stop: A gallery by Joshua Tigges
March 2, 2024
A shot at partnership: BVU and Mercy College launch 3 + 1 nursing program
A shot at partnership: BVU and Mercy College launch 3 + 1 nursing program
March 1, 2024
Hot Dish literary magazine submissions open
Hot Dish literary magazine submissions open
February 23, 2024

March Madness: The best time of the year

March+Madness%3A+The+best+time+of+the+year

Grady Gallagher | Blogger

What’s good Beaver Nation? Shaking things up a little bit this week in honor of March Madness. It’s about that time; the best time of the year. This week conference tournaments are punching tickets to the big dance. Not to mention, some have already been punched. Congratulations Creighton. Here are my top five favorite moments of the past 19 March Madnesses that I have witnessed.

  1. Arizona Domination Two years ago, Arizona played Duke in a one versus five match up for a shot at the Elite 8. I went into the game not expecting much, but I could not have been any happier with the result. The first half wasn’t that memorable other than Derrick Williams going off; a trend that continued in the second half. Everything changed about midway through the second half as I was watching the game with my dad and brother (both Duke haters). Suddenly, Arizona just could not miss. Derrick Williams and some other guy just had insane dunks, and I literally think Arizona made 10 threes in a row. It was raining in that arena! At some points, my brother and I were literally jumping out of our seats. We were loving it. I remember almost crying I was so happy. Duke just could not stop them, and they had no answers. Gosh, I was so happy.
  1. Gordon’s Half Answered Prayer This tournament overall is probably my second favorite all-time and will be mentioned again quite soon. The Butler Bulldogs, willed by Gordon Hayward, Shelvin Mack, Matt Howard and Brad Stevens somehow found their way to the championship. Their opponent was the antagonist and hated Duke Blue Devils. Many compared the match-up to Hoosiers, where Butler was the small school from Indiana that was living on a prayer winning against schools much larger than they were. This, however, was not the case. This tournament was the emergence of one of the greatest coaches we have in college basketball today, and basically, Gordon Hayward’s jolt to the lottery of the NBA draft. Now, about the shot; I had been watching the game at a friend’s house where several Duke fans, such as the home owner, had gathered. I remember how badly I wanted Butler to win and prove a statement to all the larger schools, and most of all, I wanted them to beat Duke. What better way to shock the world than take down one of my most hated teams. Nothing could be better. I recall driving home at halftime (my curfew as a junior in high school was probably close to 9:30) and thinking this would be a tough task as Matt Howard had been in foul trouble, and Duke seemed to get every call (as always). The next thing I remember was sitting in my living room with my dad and brother with all of our eyes glued to the television machine. Down 1, Gordon Hayward (the only person that will ever get me to think about buying a pair of LeBron shoes) got a decent fade away look on the right baseline to take the lead with less than ten seconds left. He was right on line but missed just long. Duke’s Zoubeck (top five most hated players ever for me) got the rebound and was fouled with three ticks left. He made the first, and Hayward rebounded the second and began dribbling toward mid-court. Just before the buzzer rang, and right after Kyle Singler was deflected by a Matt Howard screen, Hayward put the ball up. This end could’ve been everything and more. The ball hit the backboard and bounced directly to the front of the rim only to be denied. It would’ve been the greatest shot in the history of basketball without question. Chills, just chills. As you probably infer, not a huge Duke fan.
  1. CURRY It almost goes without saying how magical Davidson’s run was in the 2008 tournament. Never have I ever seen a kid put the team on his back and just feel it from anywhere on the court. Yes, I knew who this kid was before the tourney, but this tourney basically made him my favorite player forever. Steph Curry just unleashed a release that the world was not ready for and just dominated. I just remember watching thinking, this is not real. The amount of “swag” Curry had just blew me away. He was so cool and collected the whole time and just had the game in his hands. Just a few of the facts from this Cinderella run. Davidson was a 10 seed and successfully defeated Gonzaga, Georgetown, and destroyed Wisconsin. They lost to Kansas, the eventual national champion, by two to make the Final Four. Steph had 40 on 8-10 from long range against Gonzaga; put in 30 against GTown and 33 against Wisconsin. Also, in the loss to Kansas, Curry had 25. Really, the only thing he did wrong was give up the last shot, but it was probably the right play. Gosh, so many highlights, I’ll just let you enjoy them. So silky smooth.
  2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmIQRjGhDfE (Older folks, turn that volume down.)

  1. Gallagher Reunions I remember it like yesterday. It was 2008. A Friday afternoon. More importantly, the first Friday of March Madness. Basically, the whole Gallagher family was at my house in our annual gathering of March Madness viewing. We were packed in my living room all watching Drake taking on Western Kentucky. This is the one year Drake was quite good, and one name stands out: Adam Emmenecker. He was a walk on with a stellar GPA that ran the show for this team and had an incredible year. He wasn’t a great shooter, but he got his shots, and more importantly, set up his teammates. Other names I remember from this game were Cox, Korver, Lee, and Brazleton. My expectations for this game were high, and never have I been more disappointed. Both teams were just pouring in buckets, and I swear Western Kentucky shot like 80% in the game. The game was back and forth the whole time and so high-scoring. My house was going nuts! The game went into overtime, and Drake was up one with less than ten ticks left. We all know the rest. Western Kentucky inbounded the ball from under their own basket, and their point guard drove the floor to the right where he dropped off the ball to the in-bounder that was trailing the play. Ty Rodgers caught the ball in rhythm, rose, and knocked down the trey at the buzzer. Our living room had never been more silent. That was the only time I even realized that guy was on the floor, but I will remember that shot and his name forever. The final score was 101-99, how many times do you see a college score like that? Big east games can go for five overtimes and barely break 100. I probably will never watch a game with better three-point shooting or offensive efficiency from both teams in my lifetime. Even though we still gather for opening weekend as a family, no game has even come close to matching this one.
  1. Farok my brackets Let’s be honest, when you live in Iowa, and any team from Iowa or Creighton makes the tournament, you have to pull for them. It’s a sense of pride that is instilled within us that makes us root for the closest teams around. In a way, they are representing us, and sometimes, that representation becomes more. The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) had just won Arch Madness and completed a tremendous season. Coach Ben Jacobson has one of the most unique teams I had ever seen. Their best player, Adam Koch was the Missouri Valley player of the year and was a beast inside. Their other big boy, Jordan Eglseder, was a seven-foot lefty who was not necessarily a treat to look at. Their roster also consisted of two sharp shooters in Ali Farokhmanesh and Johnny Moran: an explosive point guard in Kwadzo Ahelegbe and a pure role player in Lucas O’Rear that had huge chops and was not scared of anyone. No, I did not make those names up. This team was as blue collar as it gets and faced a monumental challenge when, in the second round of the 2010 tournament, faced number one overall seed Kansas, which had a roster that yielded six NBA players. I remember watching the first half at my house, and you could tell that Ali was not afraid of the moment. He hit a couple threes and made a sick behind the back pass in the middle of the lane that lead Koch to a basket. Also, this was one of the only times all year that Kansas center Cole Aldrich was facing another seven footer that weighted as much as he did. Eglseder did have the best first half of his life, but it was great to see him take it to one of the best players in college basketball. This is where the story becomes a little bit different. At halftime, my brother and I had to go up to the school for a musical that we were preforming in later that night. We watched the 2nd half on a laptop in the men’s dressing room behind the back of the stage. UNI was in control for much of the game, until Kansas put on the press and began creating turnovers and creeping back. With under a minute left, Sherron Collins drove the lane and cut UNI’s lead to one point. UNI got the ball in and Ahelegbe threw a pass ahead to Farokhmanesh on the right wing just beyond the arch. Farokhmanesh looked inside at the Kansas defender who retreated, daring him to take the shot. With 36 seconds left in the game, and 30 on the shot clock, Farokhmanesh pulled it. As the shot headed toward the hoop, one of my friends from the cast shouted, “BET ME!” The room exploded when the shot dripped through the net. I jumped up and my head connected with a fellow cast member’s tooth. The dressing room was going crazy for about 10 seconds before we were violently shushed by our director. I am sure people who were sitting in the audience could hear us. It didn’t matter. It was the toughest, most gutsy, unbelievable thing we had ever seen. The color commentator, Steve Kerr commented, “You can’t be serious with that shot!” Even though there was time left, that was the dagger, and we all knew it was over. We couldn’t believe it, but it had just happened. I can’t really remember how the musical went that night, but I’ll never forget that shot from the dressing room behind the stage.

Sorry for the length, but I really enjoyed this and I hope you did too. Thanks for reading!

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