Daily Bullets (March 18)

Tournament’s Most Fun Game

Fun’s a subjective word, Jeff.

When the selection committee pitted Michigan against Oklahoma State in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the showdown between two of the nation’s five most efficient offenses figured to be one of the most compelling games of the opening weekend.

Take a bow, Wolverines and Cowboys. Your matchup lived up to the hype.

In what was easily the most well-played, fun-to-watch game of the NCAA tournament so far, Michigan edged Oklahoma State 92-91 because its high-powered offense was just a tick better than that of the Cowboys. The Wolverines rallied from a six-point second-half deficit by sinking 11 of 15 attempts from behind the arc, an unfathomable percentage even for a team that’s in the top 50 nationally in 3-point percentage. [Yahoo]

There’s gotta be some pride to be found in even hanging with the Wolverines. Both teams had good plans: we wanted to wear them down with their small rotation, they tried to make us shoot twos. Not much you can do when you’re playing the man team with the golden guns.

Michigan 55% 3pt (16-29). Amazing #okstate didn't get blown out.

— Carson Cunningham (@KOCOCarson) March 17, 2017

Plus there’s this from a K-State buddy of mine:

Good grief I want Brad Underwood.

— KC Wright (@wright_kc) March 17, 2017

Brothers

Someone (SI) did another fun Forte/Smart piece:

The Cowboys landed Dallas’s grassroots odd couple, originally bound only by a leather ball and a chance encounter at the first practice of AAU Team Texas’s third grade squad back in 2003. Smart was a grizzled, audacious kid surviving in Lancaster, while Forte was shy, reserved and thriving in Flower Mound. One who would grow into a powerful, superstar, harnessing enough athleticism to tear a rim off a backboard, while the other slayed opponents with finesse, guile and a devastating shooting stroke. An apparent one-and-done lottery prospect and a leader destined to shed tears on a senior night.

“Two guys from drastically different places,” said Danny Henderson, the duo’s high school coach. “It’s surprising that we’re still friends after all these years,” Smart admitted. Friendship may not even truly characterize the depth of their bond. “We always say that we’re brothers,” Forte said.[Sports Illustrated]

Forte and Smart are quite a pair. Sports uniquely brings folks together and these two will long be remembered for there accolades in Gallagher-Iba. Maybe the best non-Graham “brothers” set?

OSU and NCAA Notes

Fun pics of Phil Forte through the decades years…. Boone gives you five upsets to watch for the weekend…. Clever kids watching March Madness in class…. ESPN’s Trotter calls Justice Hill the best returning RB in the Big 12 (this guy will be pretty saucy as well)….Five greatest Cinderella stories in college football (you’ll enjoy no. 4)…. Wrestling Update: tied a school record eight all-americans, will start the day in third place with eight guys still wrestling, one for the title

COWBOYS WIN!! Benge bombs propel #okstate to victory in series opener!

A post shared by Oklahoma State Baseball (@osubaseball) on Mar 17, 2017 at 8:09pm PDT

Phil Forte III
Play Time: 3959 minutes
Total 3 Pointers Made: 328
Total Points: 1734
Thank you for everything @PhilForte13 ?

— Saj Patel (@SajanP97) March 17, 2017

Phil’s the best. Never showed up on any lists, loves the game, hardly says a word.

For the first time since 2009, the Oklahoma wrestling team will go without an All-American at the NCAA championships.

— Kyle Fredrickson (@kylefredrickson) March 17, 2017

🙂

What You Missed on PFB

• Five Thoughts on the loss to Michigan
• 30 minutes of postgame with Carson and Kyle
• Underwood shows great depth sending the seniors off well
• Positive update on chances Jawun returns for his junior season
• Notebook on the Michigan game
• The Cowboys couldn’t escape the Madness on Friday
• Jawun’s three that cost Vegas millions
• Gundy heads out to wrangle some snakes in Okeene

Other Stuff I’m Reading

Lowe’s 10 Things: 3) Chris Paul/Jawun Sr. with the ball slays me….Great piece on Russell Westbrook from earlier this week. How someone goes 4,000 words on Russ with how little he says is unreal….Free Agency moves by all 32 NFL teams

Incredible story on Royce Young, his wife and their terminally ill daughter they’re delivering:

WATCH: "My daughter has got a bigger purpose in life." Family carrying terminally ill baby to term speaks out: https://t.co/pAMGc8pvbf pic.twitter.com/aLXnnWG2op

— Good Morning America (@GMA) March 15, 2017