After the playoff champions in the major leagues automatically advance to the main game of the tournament, the NCAA selection committee also announced the other schools that have qualified for the championship through live broadcast, which is commonly known as "wild card", including two teams that need to participate in the preliminaries. game team.
Next, after a qualifier, the NCAA tournament top 64 list is freshly released.
Butler University was listed as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference due to its excellent performance in the last March Madness and its dominance in the Horizon League this season. This is also the highest ranking of Butler University over the years.
In the first round, Butler University played against No. 14 Eastern Conference seed Boise State.
Since Boyce State University was ranked No. 14, its strength is naturally not much stronger, and Wannian Yubei is the kind of school it is talking about.
Compared with it, Butler University can say that "the grandfather is also richer"!
But Zhang Yu was not careless, and was still seriously preparing for the game.
Last year, Butler University was promoted from the No. 10 seed in the North District, and this year there is George Mason University in the East District, which has been black all the way to the semi-finals. Who knows that the Boyce State Conference will not be the third dark horse?
But after checking Boyce State's roster and carefully studying their game tape, Zhang Yu felt relieved.
There wasn't a single name on the school's roster that he was familiar with, meaning no player made it to the NBA after college.
And Boyce State's performance in the game is also mediocre. The strength of this school is just like its name, mediocre.
Facts have proved that Zhang Yu's speculation is correct.
In Birmingham, Alabama, Butler beat Boyce State in a bloodless first-round Eastern Conference game.
Zhang Yu specially prepared several plans to deal with emergencies before the game. For example, if Boyce State University hides its strength, the team's tactics will not come in handy.
After all, not every team can become a dark horse.
Curry is of course the best player. He easily scored 23 points and 10 assists in the game, helping the team beat the opponent 76:58.
In addition, Curry also showed his organizational talent, fully mobilizing the offense of his teammates.
A total of four Bulldogs scored in double figures, Drew 12 points, Butler 13 points, AJ Graves 14 points, completely defeated the opponent's defense.
On the defensive end, Butler showed a strong sense of presence, scoring 13 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 blocks.
After the game, Zhang Yu looked at him a little strangely. Has he cultivated a young green with three points?
Of course, Butler is an outside player, and his influence on defense is not as great as inside players after all.
He is stronger in single defense ability and rotation sweeping ability. He can only barely hold the position of power forward, which really makes him very reluctant to defend inside players.
After winning this game, Zhang Yu immediately began to study the next opponent.
There is only one day before the next 32-to-16 game, and he must make good use of the precious time.
Soon, the ensuing battle between the No. 6 seed and the No. 11 seed came to an end. The winner was the University of Oklahoma Sooners, who will serve as Butler University's next opponent.
...
The next day, Fikar Hotel.
This is where the Bulldogs are staying. Tomorrow is the game against the University of Oklahoma, and the players are resting in the room.
Due to the large number of teams in Birmingham and the scarcity of arena resources, each team has limited time for training.
In the afternoon, the Bulldogs can go to the gymnasium of the University of Alabama at Birmingham for training, but only for a short time, the purpose is just to maintain the state for tomorrow's game.
Zhang Yu still shared a room with Stevens, and the two sat at a table, and the laptop on the table played video of the University of Oklahoma game.
click!
Zhang Yu pressed the space bar and the screen froze.
He stretched himself and looked at his watch:
"Let's go, let them all go to the gym to exercise."
"Don't watch it?" Stevens laughed.
"It's nothing to look at, Griffin is still too young." Zhang Yu shook his head.
"Which Griffin are you talking about?" Stevens laughed.
"Which one else? Of course it is Blake Griffin." Zhang Yu said.
The University of Oklahoma is the only team in this March Madness with two brothers playing together, the other being Stanford University.
Among them, the Lopez brothers from Stanford University are strong. The older brother Brook Lopez has solid low-post footsteps and skilled skills.
But the Griffin brothers of the Quickies are not so good. The elder brother Taylor Griffin is a soy sauce player, and the younger brother Blake Griffin is just a blue-collar player who relies on his body to play.
"Blake Griffin's future is limitless..." Stevens suddenly sighed when the two left the room.
Zhang Yu nodded in agreement:
"That's right, his explosive power is too strong, and his talent is visible to the naked eye...but that's the future. Now his skills are too rough, and he doesn't know how to use his body very well, so there's nothing to be afraid of."
When Zhang Yu learned that his opponent was the University of Oklahoma, a trace of worry arose in his heart.
The Bulldogs are most afraid of this kind of inside player whose physical fitness explodes, and it is difficult to limit double-teaming.
But after watching the Shorts game tape, his worries disappeared in an instant.
At this time, Griffin is not the white monster that flies into the sky and hides from the ground in his impression. He is just an immature freshman, and his talent is far from being transformed into strength.
It seems that the epic battle between Curry and Griffin is difficult to stage again.
Zhang Yu thought with some regret in his heart.
In the previous life, Griffin and Curry staged a shocking battle. Zhang Yu deliberately found the game video from the Internet and watched it, and was extremely impressed.
In that game, the University of Oklahoma once led by 21 points in the first half, and the situation was very good.
But Curry hit consecutive three-pointers in the second half, leading the team to keep approaching the score, and shocked the home audience into a cold sweat. Fortunately, the University of Oklahoma withstood the pressure at the last moment and narrowly defeated the opponent 84:78.
At the end of the game, Curry scored 44 points, Griffin scored a super double-double with 25 points and 21 rebounds, Durant and Westbrook also came to the scene to watch the game.
It can only be said that life is so wonderful. James, Durant, and Westbrook have all been to the scene to watch Curry's game, and they praised Curry after the game.
At that time, none of them realized the seriousness of the problem.
I don't know if they will watch the Butler University game?
Zhang Yu is looking forward to this.