UNLV came out swinging and crushed Kent State 71-58 and the game was over early with the not so Golden Flash scoring only 10 points at the half. Hate tell everyone I told you so, but I was right with the turnovers being the key for why Kent State lost, they had 17 in the first half and 20 overall. Kent State could not have a good shooting night and part of it was do to some nerves and also the UNLV defense that held the Golden Flash to 36% from the field and an even lower 29% from three point range. The Rebels were lead by Joe Darger and Wink Adams who combined for 35 points for the Rebels. The Rebels now take on number one seed Kansas on Saturday afternoon for the chance to advance to the sweet 16.
Now on to BYU, the Cougars lost their 7 straight NCAA game and have not won a first round game in 16 years since Shawn Bradley was a Cougar. The game against the Aggies ended in a 67-62 defeat for the Cougars. BYU struggled early in the first half by starting the game down 11-0 before outscoring the Aggies 29 to 18 to tie the game at the half. Yet again I was correct about Trent Plaisted that he is soft and can not take over a game or even be above average against any player with size no matter the skill. This is something BYU fans are finally realizing about him. Plaisted did score 13 but when you are 6-11 and get only 5 rebounds that is underachieving. Rebounding in general was one of the downfalls for the Cougars who were out rebounded 36-23, also the Cougars three point shooting was not good going 7-22. Texas A&M had a huge night at the 3 point going 8-16 and it also helps when Josh Carter doubles his scoring average by getting 26 points and going 6-10 from beyond the arc. Also a odd side note in this game Texas A&M's freshman phenom and future NBA lottery pick DeAndre Jordan played only 5 minutes and gathered one rebound. BYU only lose 3 players, but still have their big 3 intact for a potential NCAA berth for next season.