Round One play in the Dayton Bracket: UT vs Drake

Awright. Here we go. UT has won the NCAA Championships 6 times, more than anyone else (UConn is next with 5); they have been to the tournament every single year it's been played - the only team who can boast that. In the Championship game nine times. The Final Four sixteen times, twenty for the Elite Eight. Been in the Sweet Sixteen twenty-four times - that's every year since there's been one. Seeded #1 18 times, 44-0 against teams seeded 4 and below...

A nice backhand basket by Monique Jones of Drake - they aren't lying down, that's for sure. However, the game is so one-sided (10-2) already that ESPN is cutting away to Delaware (12) v Michigan State (5). Just as well... I do have papers to grade.

Halftime score - 30-14, what they're calling a "sluggish start against Duke" but then "turning it on."

They've given us a minute or so - it's now 71-28 with less than 4 to play. UT had a 34-0 run to open the second half, with Hornbuckle and Parker stepping up. Stacey Dales speculates that UT has been focusing on defense in practice after the loss to LSU which didn't make Pat happy, and maybe took a while to refocus. Kara Lawson tells Trey Wingo that, no, Pat "probably wasn't even that intense" in the locker room; "you can't use it all all the time, not on a game like this" - and she should know.

Whatever, clearly UT has this one in the bank.

Yep - 76-37.

I suppose that for the average viewer, this close Delaware-Michigan State game (67-54 with 2:30 to go) has been more interesting than a UT blowout, but I wouldn't have minded watching it!