*****

Greetings all, and I'd like to first congratulate 16-seeds Morehead St and East Tennessee State on advancing to the second day of the tournament. Seriously, though, how bad does it suck to lose one of the early games, and be out before almost anyone else has even played?

Anyway, off we go. I'd like to thank AJ and Sussman for letting me participate. I also have no concerns because if you're interested in this game, you're watching MMOD — and if you can't access MMOD, you probably can't access Deadspin, either.

I'd also like to thank Ali Farokhmanesh and Kwadzo Ahelegbe from Northern Iowa for keeping me humble by ensuring dozens of spelling mistakes. Oh, and thanks to MMOD, whose constant buffering might drive me insane during this liveblog.

It's the 12-seeded Northern Iowa Panthers against my alma mater, the 5-seeded Purdue Boilermakers. Yes, this will be a biased liveblog. Choo choo, mutha.

*****

Thanks to all those who stopped by — it wasn't a pretty game, esp the second half. Also, thanks once again to Sussman and AJ for letting me bring you this liveblog. Now you'll just need to go through all the posts and see which word I replaced with "penis" before my access was shut off.

Enjoy the games, all.

End of game. Purdue wins, 61-56.

4:33 — E'Twaun Moore is fouled and goes the the line with 2.2 seconds to go. He calmly sinks his FTs and that'll do it. UNI misses a half-court heave.

4:32 — My feed goes apeshit and it's 59-56, Boilermakers.

4:30 — Kramer hits his FTs and Bonner calls Kramer "the heart and soul of this team." I thought that was Marcus Green? I can't keep up. It's a four point game and Purdue calls time out while my feed buffs itself.

4:28 — Kerwin Dunham hits a three and UNI fouls with 16 seconds to go. They're only down two. It's 56-54. Chris Kramer at the line for Purdue.

4:27 — Motherbuffer. It's back now, and I've missed 20 seconds. Purdue at the line, 28 seconds to go. Keaton Grant hits his free throws. It's 57-51, Boilers.

4:26 — annnd my MMOD feed goes dark. Couldn't have picked a better time.

4:25 — Boilermakers call timeout with 46 seconds to go. They have two more TOs to use, too. Suddenly, this brick strategy for Purdue looks questionable. Maybe they'll hit a bucket.

4:25 — Players of the game are already Eglseder and Moore. Hope nobody has like 20 points in quadruple overtime. UNI hits FTs to close it to 55-51.

4:24 — Robbie Hummel hits 1 of 2. It's a six point game again. Coming down to a minute.

4:23 — UNI, after the timeout, misses their shot. Purdue brings the ball up and UNI fouls. Purdue's E'Twaun Moore misses the front of the 1 and 1. UNI hits a 3 from the corner — Kerwin Dunham. 54-49. And UNI fouls, with 1:18 to go.

4:22 — Purdue shooting 41%, UNI 35%. Gah.

4:20 — Moore puts Purdue up 8 again, as we're under 2 mins to play. UNI takes their final timeout of the game. That's kind of incredible. 54-46, Purdue.

4:18 — Rays trail 9-7 in the bottom of the 8th, for those of you who were looking for that game but got this liveblog. These kinds of mixups happen more than you'd think.

4:16 — Would Tiger Woods and Roger Federer fight over razors? I don't think so.

4:16 — Boilers clank ANOTHER attempt. UNI comes down and kindly turns it over right back to Purdue. Harlan says it's "a good one here in Portland." I'm a Purdue fan and I find this ugly.

4:14 — We hear about the Eglseders' 29 hour drive to Portland again. Koch scores with ease. It's six points again.

4:14 — Farokhmanesh takes a terrible turnaround jumper and airballs it. But Purdue clanks another one. UNI decides to take a timeout with 3:39 to go, Purdue leading Northern Iowa, 52-44.

4:13 — UNI has no names on their jerseys. I'm sure Lucas O'Rear appreciates that when they're on the road. Boilers hit two free throws — the only shots they're hitting. 52-44.

4:11 — Purdue is ice cold, having missed five shots in a row.

4:10 — UNI drives to the hoop, Farokhmanesh hits it. Boilers then miss a three. O'Rear rebounds. 50-44, Purdue. Harlan says they're "within two." He must mean possessions. Or is bad at math. Timeout on the floor, just under 5 mins to go.

4:08 — Eglseder is on the bench for UNI. Harlan says "Screen by O'Rear" and Bonner giggles.

4:07 — Purdue is 3/13 from behind the arc, though UNI is 5/18. Rockfight.

4:05 — 6:58 to go, second half. It's still a six point Purdue lead. Purdue is letting UNI hang around way more than they should. Timeout.

4:03 — Eglseder gets two free throws and it's back to 8 points. Keaton Grant takes an ill-advised 3 and UNI beats Purdue in transition to cut it to 48-42. And the Boilers miss another three.

4:02 — Purdue steals the ball again and E'twaun Moore steps out of bounds on a baseline drive. Bonner tells us the length of the floor. Hey, didn't Norman Dale use that technique, too?

4:02 — Koch airballs a three for UNI but the ball goes off a Boilermaker and it stays UNI ball. 8:42 to go.

4:00 — Robbie Hummel gets one and he's got 8 points now. Harlan says he's "heating up." Not sure about that, but either way, it's ten points now, and another timeout.

3:59 — Smooge hits two from the charity stripe. But UNI comes down and Chris Kramer — Purdue's best defender by far — picks up his third foul. It's an 8-point game.

3:58 — JuJuan Johnson drills one, just inside the arc. It's back to 8 points. But UNI comes right back inside to Eglseder for the deuce. 44-38.

3:54 — UNI gets a bucket underneath just before the shot clock expires — on an airball that is put in by Eglseder. Time out on the floor with a little over 10 mins to go. 42-36, Boilermakers.

3:53 — JuJuan Johnson is back in the game and hits a bucket. It's back to an 8-point game.

3:52 — Kwadzo Ahelegbe hits a jumper in the lane and is fouled for UNI. He hits the FT and it's a six point game. 40-34, Purdue.

3:50 — Farokhmanesh executes a killer crossover to make Chris Kramer look silly... but E'twaun Moore is waiting and takes the charge from Farokhmanesh. Purdue ball.

3:49 — Farokhmanesh drills a three — but Robbie Hummel comes right back and hits a two. It's 40-31, Purdue.

3:48 — E'twaun Moore misses a shot, UNI comes down and misses two underneath — one by O'Rear — and Purdue gets the ball. Lead is still 10 for Purdue. Clanked three — awful looking — by Calasan for Purdue.

3:47 — 38-28, 15:30 to go. JuJuan Johnson on the bench for Purdue.

3:45 — Does CISCO really have giant telepresence screens set up in Italy and China?

3:43 — CBS has footage of Hummel's back brace, which looks like a plastic girdle. Not that I'm familiar with girdles or anything. UNI hits a three — Farokhmanesh — and it's down to ten points. UNI steals it and comes back again, but the Boilers get back on defense. UNI slows it down, works for a shot... and misses a three. But Eglseder gets the rebound and is fouled by JuJuan Johnson. That's JJ's third foul. Not good news for the Boilermakers. Timeout on the floor.

3:41 — Moore to Johnson for a Purdue alley-oop. 13 point lead. Robbie Hummel then gets whacked in the face by his own teammate on the next possession. And they mention the fractured vertibrae — bingo sheet!

3:40 — Adam Koch dribbles it off his foot out of bounds. This game is in danger of turning into a rockfight.

3:37 — Timeout, UNI. 34-23, 18:15 go to second half. Timeout already? Did Coach Jacobson forget to tell them something in the locker room?

3:35 — Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd, we're back. Robbie Hummel gets a bucket on the first possession. UNI answers with a trey. 34-23, Purdue.

Start of second half.

3:20 — Boilermakers' Chris Kramer with a driving layup has the final score of the first half. UNI is not playing well, to be sure, but they're not down 20 or anything. It's 32-20 Boilermakers at the half. Go pee.

3:19 — Harlan and Bonner keep talking about how UNI is getting so outworked.... but it's not a blowout yet. And UNI can shoot.

3:17 — UNI cuts it to 9 with the free throw. The Boilers come down and miss four contested layups in a row. Finally a foul.

3:15 — UNI's leading scorer this season iis Adam Koch (pronounced "Cook"). He's got zero points right now. Boilers continue rebounding well but miss two threes in a row. UNI comes downcourt and scores.... AND the foul. 29-19, Purdue.

3:12 — We're back to the action. UNI looks vaguely out of control. On defense, they look unsure where to be. Hummel hits one to make it 27-15. Hummel is 1-6 from the field.

3:10 — Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I do realize that there's a more famous J Money who slinks around Deadspin. I won't even pretend to be better. I don't blame you for liking the one with hooters more.

3:09 — I know UNI is a three-point shooting team, but they have Eglseder, a 7-1 tree, who outweighs Purdue's tallest player by roughly 75 lbs. Shouldn't they be going inside? No, they continue firing from the outside. 3:53 to go in the first half, though, and it's 25-15.

3:07 — Keaton Grant for a long three from the top. 25-14.

3:06 — Dan Bonner just said it's "almost impossible to play defense in transition."

3:05 — Harlan tells us Purdue is "plus 6" on points off turnovers. I'm not sure how you could lose points off the other team's turnovers, but okay.

3:04 — A quick glance at the comments tells me the audio feeds are still effed. How are the Rays doing everyone?

3:02 —Keaton Grant gets the bucket and the foul and then stumbles out of bounds, hopping over UNI cheerleaders so as not to kill them. He winds up 20 feet out of bounds and almost up a tunnel.

3:00 — The parents of UNI's Jordan Eglseder drove to Portland, Oregon. Yikes.

2:59 — Purdue, true to form, has gone cold shooting. UNI comes down and bricks a three that would have cut it to four. Timeout, Boilermakers. 20-13.

2:56 — Johnny Moran drills a three for UNI. It's a single digit game with 8:30 to go, first half. And another bucket for UNI makes it 20-13.

2:56 — Another UNI turnover (mmmm, turnovers), leads to a Purdue rush, but then Lewis Jackson grabs a ball while standing out of bounds. That's now allowed.

2:55 — Hey, bingo sheet! Matt Painter played at Purdue!

2:55 — The good news with UNI not scoring is that I don't have to type Farokhmanesh or Ahelegbe very much. UNI gets a bucket finally, but Purdue answers. 20-8.

2:53 — Purdue was among the nation's best in FG % defense. UNI is turning the ball over like crazy and hasn't hit a shot in about 6 minutes of game time. 18-6, Purdue.

2:52 — hey, there's a Godfather II video game coming out. Way to strike while the iron is hot, guys.

2:50 — Buffering buffering buffering.... wonderful.

2:47 — E'twaun Moore's nickname is Smooge. But if you look up smooge in an urban dictionary, well, it's gross. But then we heard his mom gave it to him. Now we're not sure what to think.

2:46 — Let me take this time to say there are far more commercials that annoy me than entertain me. And with advertising needing to adapt thanks to DVRs and impatient Gen X-ers, shouldn't they be getting better?

2:45 — Purdue's in a middle of a 12-0 run. Tomahawk jam by Marcus Green. Great ball movement by Purdue. 16-6. TO, UNI.

2:43— Bosian senior Calasan just fired in a three. Watch him continue to believe he's a three point shooter. (Hint: he is not).

2:42 — Ah, O'Rear is in the game. He'll cover your ass.

2:41 — Can somebody explain the dumbass commercials with the guy on the desert island? It's for CDW, but... why on an island?

2:40 — TV timeout. Boilers up, 11-6. Commercial audio is fine. Shocking.

2:39 — Wow, the audio feed is majorly f-cked. Now, I hear the crowd but no commentators. Which is fine. Maybe they're bored by these two programs.

2:37 — Best Pick 'em entry name I saw this morning: May I eat E'twaun moore twinkie? Boilers up, 9-6.

2:35— Dan Bonner just said the Boilers "Really get in ya." Ouch.

2:35 — Trading points, 4-3, Boilers. That was E'Twaun Moore. Now a 3 by UNI, 6-4.

2:32 — Your broadcasters are Kevin Harlan and Dan Bonner. JuJuan Johson slams one home. 2-0, Boilers. I smell a shutout.

2:31 — Nope, I'm actually getting the Rays preseason baseball feed while watching the Purdue - UNI game.

2:30 ET — My MMOD demand fades in and I get to hear the Tampa/St Pete feed, advertising Rays tickets. sign me up.

Pregame — For some reason, I keep saying "Northern Illinois" instead of "Northern Iowa." So if I do that, just know it's my nickname for Northern Iowa. Maybe I'll go with UNI.

Pregame — Did you know Northern Iowa has a kid named Lucas O'Rear? That must have been fun growing up. I had a teacher when I was a kid whose name was Sandy Rear. Hey, this is the kind of pregame stuff you get from me.

2) Boilermakers are supposed to be tough, but… ouch. All-Big Ten selection and Big Ten Tournament MVP Robbie Hummel has played all season with ... a broken back. Okay, okay, it's a hairline fracture of a vertebrate but it still sounds hellish. Chris Kramer, an in-your-pocket defender, had his nose broken violently by the wayward elbow of Michigan's Manny Harris in late January and only missed about four minutes of game action. Mainly because two other guys had the flu and freshman PG Lewis Jackson had a concussion. Sheesh. The Purdue football team takes fewer hits than this! (Insert your own joke here.)

3) We're goin' streakin! This team often starts three sophomores and a couple of juniors and only has two seniors who play significant minutes. Point is, they're still very young and, as such, are streaky as can be. On-fire stretches of three-point barrages are inexplicably followed by eight FG misses in a row. Obviously, if this happens at the wrong time, the party's over. The Boilermakers have had four winning streaks of four or more games this year—but only once have their losses not come in multiples. We all know how important guard play is in the NCAA tourney—in terms of being steady and less streaky—and the Boilermakers starting PG is a freshman. Whee! Please lower the bar and keep your hands inside the train. — Boiled Sports

NORTHERN IOWA PANTHERS

1) Paper or Plastic? If you keep wondering why Northern Iowa sounds so familiar, it's because it's the alma mater of grocery bagboy turned Superbowl star Kurt Warner. And, in less exciting news, Detroit Lion Mike Furrey also spent time in Cedar Falls. Hey, they can't all be gems.

2) Ali, Boumaye! The player who secured UNI's position in the dance is Ali Farokhmanesh, a junior transfer from Kirkwood Community College. The 6' guard cooly stepped to the free throw line and knocked down two with six seconds on the clock, and the Panthers were going to the dance. Ali's teammates surrounded him and pounded him on the Farokhmanesh arching across the back of his jersey. OK, now that you have that image in your mind, take a look at Ali. Not exactly what you were expecting, eh?

3) The Dreaded O'Rear Admiral Farokhmanesh is not the only funny name on the UNI roster. They also have a 6'6" forward named Lucas O'Rear. O'Rear! Isn't that hilarious? Don't look at me that way. YOU try and find
three interesting factoids about Northern Iowa. — Eric Angevine (Storming The Floor)

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GEORGETOWN

1. Ewing, Mutombo, Mourning, Iverson... Green and Hibbert? G'town used to be an NBA factory and may have a couple Association stars-in-waiting on the current roster. According to NBADraft.net, sophomores Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert are projected to go 11th and 26th overall in 2007. Green was Big East co-rookie of the year (with Rudy Gay) and is being compared to Hawks forward Al Harrington (alright). Hibbert is 7'2" (Mutombo size but with beef!) and is likened to Greg Ostertag (ouch). Both players were named to All-Big East second team this season.

2. What Rocks, Indeed. From Wikipedia's G'town page: "The school's sports teams are called the Hoyas. Many years ago, students well-versed in the classical languages invented the mixed Greek and Latin chant of "Hoya Saxa," translating roughly as "What Rocks," in reference to both the stalwart defense of the football team and the stone wall that surrounded the campus." G'town's athletic teams used to be called Hilltoppers before writers for the school paper shortened it to Hoyas. Now you know.

3. John Thompson III May Be a Bit Underpaid. This will only be the second time since 1943 that a G'town team led by anyone other than JT3's dad has gone to the NCAA Tournament. Be that as it may, the NY Times reports that John Thompson, who resigned in '99, is the second-highest-paid employee at the university behind only the school president. He has made $400,000 each of the past two year by serving as a "presidential consultant for urban affairs," which I guess is a higher-paying gig than "head coach." - Jamie Mottram

NORTHERN IOWA

1. They Sell More Books Than That OTHER Iowa Writing School. Who's the most famous and influential alumnus of Northern Iowa? Kurt Warner, you say? Guess again. Without question, the UNI grad that has received the most press and undobutedly wasted the most trees is Robert James Waller, best known for penning "The Bridges of Madison County" a mere 14 years ago. Waller graduated from UNI with a degree in Business Education and later received a Masters in Education ... none of which indicates that he would prolifically write sappy love stories in bucolic Iowa. On the plus side, he did play for their men's basketball team when it was known as Iowa State Teachers College. However, lest you think that he has the UNI monopoly over bad Hollywood stories, Nancy Price, author of "Sleeping with the Enemy," is also a UNI alum. Take THAT, University of Iowa Writing Program!

2. They Helped Produce Many Corporate Bastards. In 1958, the first chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda opened its doors at the University of Northern Iowa, with the purpose of fostering and teaching business principles and accumen in college-age Americans. After taking root in Northern Iowa, the Phi Beta Lambda portion of FBLA grew to well over 50,000 members and does exemplary charity when not focused on preaching corporate domination to impressionable 20-year-olds. Notable graduates of this organization (though not Northern Iowa) include Troy Aikman, Patricia Nixon, Johnny Mathis, and that extremely annoying near-sighted guy you nicknamed Egon freshman year. On second thought, it's probably for UNI that none of these luminaries can call their school home.

3. It's A Wrestling School First. Despite the fame that Warner has brought to the university and the recent success of the mens' hoops team, the most accomplished program at UNI is without question the wrestling team, further carrying on the state's tradition in the role of dominance on the mat. Three-time NCAA champions, the school also boasts two Olympic medalists in wrestling, a heady achievement for an institution that was primarily a teaching college until the latter half of the twentieth century. — Angelo Grasso

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2. They Helped Produce Many Corporate Bastards. In 1958, the first chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda opened its doors at the University of Northern Iowa, with the purpose of fostering and teaching business principles and accumen in college-age Americans. After taking root in Northern Iowa, the Phi Beta Lambda portion of FBLA grew to well over 50,000 members and does exemplary charity when not focused on preaching corporate domination to impressionable 20-year-olds. Notable graduates of this organization (though not Northern Iowa) include Troy Aikman, Patricia Nixon, Johnny Mathis, and that extremely annoying near-sighted guy you nicknamed Egon freshman year. On second thought, it's probably for UNI that none of these luminaries can call their school home.

3. It's A Wrestling School First. Despite the fame that Warner has brought to the university and the recent success of the mens' hoops team, the most accomplished program at UNI is without question the wrestling team, further carrying on the state's tradition in the role of dominance on the mat. Three-time NCAA champions, the school also boasts two Olympic medalists in wrestling, a heady achievment for an institution that was primarily a teaching college until the latter half of the twentieth century. — Angelo Grasso