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The Basketball Tournament 2021 Viewing Guide: July 19

It’s time for the second round in the West Virginia Regional!

NCAA Basketball Tournament - West Virginia v Gonzaga
Kevin Jones had a game winning layup to save Best Virginia from an upset in the first round.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

The Basketball Tournament keeps on chugging!

It’s an off day in the Wichita Regional today, and action there will resume on Tuesday night to decide who advances to the Championship rounds in Dayton. Today, though, is the second round of action in the West Virginia Regional. The first two games of the day have the winners from yesterday’s games facing off, while tonight’s games are the winners from back on Saturday.

Here’s the schedule for the day! All times Central, of course.

1pm: #12 Bucketneers vs #4 Armored Athlete, ESPN3

One of just two seed line upsets in the first round, Bucketneers advanced with a 77-50 victory over War Ready as the East Tennessee State alumni team just stomped out the Auburn alumni team. They got up 15 points in the first quarter and that was pretty much that for the day. Tray Boyd III went for 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting, while Tevin Glass and Justin Tuoyo added 15 and 14 points respectively. If the ETSU guys can keep hitting their threes — they went 13-for-31 (42%) here — then they have a chance to hang with anyone.

Armored Athlete picked up their 14th win in TBT history on Sunday when they knocked off HBCUnited, 88-52. That’s courtesy of a big second half, as AA was down 19-16 after the first quarter and only up 31-26 at halftime. They did it with a pretty diverse game, as five guys scored at least 11 points, led by Tariq Owens and Coty Clarke going for 15 each.

3pm: #1 Sideline Cancer vs #9 Fort Wayne Champs, ESPN3

Well, if you read the same email I got from TBT advising me of changes that might affect your bracket challenge picks, then it will shock you to find out that Marcus Keene went for 17 points, two rebounds, and six assists in Sideline Cancer’s 80-77 victory over Founding Fathers in the first round. Four days ago, TBT advised everyone that Keene, who starred for Sideline Cancer on their run to the title game a year ago, would not be playing as expected this year. Not “will miss Game 1,” but “will not play.” Well, something changed after the other thing changed, and he played to the surprise of everyone, and “everyone” includes the opposition.

Keene’s 17 did not lead the team, as those honors go to Trey Lewis, who had 19 points in the win. It was a dramatic win, even with Marcus Keene, as Maurice Creek hit a three for the Elam Ender to break a 77-all tie.

Fort Wayne Champs was the other seed line upset in the first round as they knocked off PrimeTime Players, 72-61. They led by as many as 19 at one point, but were up only eight when the Elam Ending began. Three guys scored in double digits, led by 17 from Tayler Persons. Devin Davis had a big day for FWC as well, as he added 12 rebounds to his four points. The Champs only shot 25% from behind the arc, but they only tried 12 threes along the way to the win.

6pm: #3 Herd That vs #6 Team 23, ESPN2

Jacorey Williams starred for Herd That in their 85-76 victory over Team DRC in the first round on Saturday. 10-for-17 shooting led him to 23 points as the Marshall alumni team was up nine after the first 10 minutes but just could not put Dominique Rogers-Cromartie and friends away all game long. Jon Elmore was big for the Herd as well with 21 points, and that’s all I can tell you about this one because the link to this game on the TBT bracket goes to a different game. Alas.

After smoking Georgia Kingz 91-64 in the first round, Team 23 has declared that they want all the smoke from Herd That in this game. I like a good pro wrestling style “I’M COMIN’ FOR YOU NEXT, BROTHER” spark to a game, and that’s what we have here. 13 guys got on the court for Team 23 in their opening round win, with no one playing more than 22 minutes. Will fresher legs be helpful? Part of that deep bench meant that five guys scored at least 10 points, led by 19 from Rafael Putney which including making half of his six long range attempts in the game. He also had a team high seven rebounds and two assists as well.

8pm: #2 Best Virginia vs #7 D2, ESPN2

As the West Virginia alumni team, Best Virginia is the host for this region, or at least co-hosts with Herd That. Aaaaaaand they nearly didn’t make it to the second round. They needed a steal and a layup by Kevin Jones to get to the Target Score and beat WoCo showtime 70-67 in the first round. They were up nine during the Elam Ending, but nearly threw the whole thing in the trash. A potential note of trouble for the former ‘Eers? They let notorious Wofford shooting legend Fletcher Magee go 5-for-7 behind the arc. Jones had 18 to lead the way to the win, and he added 13 rebounds and two assists as well. John Flowers added 15 points and six rebounds, while Tarik Phillip had a double-double on 11 points and 10 rebounds to help out.

For one game at least, “played in Division 2” is better for you than “from Virginia.” D2 knocked off Bleed Virginia, 68-56, in the first round behind 18 points from Shaun Willett. The game was tied at 34 at halftime, and D2 was only up two, 50-48 at the start of the fourth, so this was anyone’s game at that point. It was a seven point game, 60-53, at the start of the Elam Ending, though, and a layup from Kendale McCullum wrapped things up. Todd Withers added 16 points and nine rebounds to the winning cause to get the D2 guys to the second round.