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2020 NCAA Tournament Sim: Midwest Region, Round 2
Who is going to the Sweet 16
Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire
Who is moving on from the Midwest region
The first round is in the books of our NCAA Tournament simulation and there were not a ton of upsets overall but in the Midwest region there were zero upsets and it was all chalk that moved on.
As a reminder, we are simulating these games over at What If Sports and are doing just like the NCAA Tournament, a one and done just like the real thing.
Midwest
Final score: No. 1 Kansas 84, No. 9 Florida 75
Top-seeded Kansas moves onto the Sweet 16 and there was a scare by the top-seeded Jayhawks. The Gators were up by six in the first half but then in the second half, Kansas went on a 9-2 run near the start of the second half to get back in the game. In the final few minutes, Kansas went on an 11-2 run to seal the win and move on.
Final Score: No. 5 BYU 89, No. 4 Louisville 86
BYU pulls off a minor upset to move onto the Sweet 16 and were led by Yoeli Childs and T.J. Haws who had 23 and 22 points apiece. The two also had five steals combined as well for a solid defensive effort. The Cougars had to hold off the Cardinals after leading by nine at the top. The final few minutes were frantic as Louisville went on a 14-2 run but that was not enough for a comeback.
Final score: No. 6 West Virginia 67, No. 3 Michigan 63
Free throws were the difference in this game and West Virginia needed everyone for the win by converting on just 14 of 27 compared to 9 of 12 for Michigan. The Wolverines went cold down the stretch with the last bucket with 2:26 left in the game which was a three-pointer by Zavier Simpson which gave Michigan a 63-62 lead. However, missing their final five shots is what did in the higher-seeded Wolverines.
Final score: No. 7 Virginia 88, No. 2 Creighton 84 (OT)
Another second-seeded goes down with defending national champion Virginia topping Creighton to get to the Sweet 16. Getting to overtime was a feat as Creighton was up 47-29 at the half and then the score flipped with Virginia ahead and that was how this game went to overtime.
The game nearly went to overtime for two reasons. First, Marcus Zegarowski from Creighton made just one of two free throws which kept it a one-score game by being up by three. There was just 10 seconds left and Tomas Woldetensae hit the game-timing three-pointer. Creighton went a little cold in overtime and the opposite was for Virginia and they were good enough to win.
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