Week 1 Wrap Up

Two rounds of the NCAA March Madness Tournament are behind us. Between the Men’s and Women’s brackets we’ve seen 104 games, 28 upsets, 24 teams roster a Canadian this season advancing to the Round of 32, and twelve making it one step further to the Sweet 16. Of those twelve teams, seven are on the Women’s side and five in the Men’s. It was a monster weekend and we’re here to go over the best Canadian content from it! 

First, here are all the teams who won a game:

 Here are the teams who made it to the Sweet Sixteen:

In case you missed it, here are the Canadians who stood out with fantastic performances this past weekend.

Aaliyah Edwards, UConn

Aaliyah only averaged 21.5 minutes per game this past weekend, but she was all over the stat sheet! Edwards shot 44.4% from the field, scored 5.5 points per game, 5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.5 assists. Not a ton of anything, but contributing with a solid all round game helped UConn advance to the Sweet Sixteen. If the Huskies are going to go any further, they’ll have to take down third seeded Indiana. If Aaliyah can be active in all facets of the game, there’s a solid chance they’ll find themselves in the Elite Eight and maybe even the Final Four.

Caleb Houstan, Michigan

Caleb didn’t have a great weekend as much as he had an exciting Thursday. During the upset of Colorado State, Caleb went for 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists while shooting 45.4% in 36 minutes of action. His shooting from deep down the stretch set the crowd on fire and gave everyone their first glimpse of what Canada can do this year. It was an epic performance and one he’ll need to match if Michigan is going to take down Villanova, a team who has won two NCAA Championships in the last six years.

Andrew Nembhard, Gonzaga

The Aurora native barely saw the bench on the weekend. In the first round he saw 37 minutes of action, followed up by 40 in the second round, his motor just doesn’t stop! Nor does his playmaking, eleven assists and six rebounds to go with his nine points in the first round was a huge reason the Bulldogs won. Nembhard then followed that up with 23 points and five assists while shooting 50% from the field. Think that’s good? Consider that Andrew shot 53.3% from beyond the three-point line. Not many people can manage to get more accurate the further they go!

Zach Edey, Purdue

The big man may have played a small number of minutes, only 35 across two games. Yet his presence was undeniably HUGE! In that time he averaged 13.5 points per game, 9.5 rebounds while shooting 46% from the field and being sent to the line 22 times. Not to mention he threw back three shots in the first round against Yale. In the East region, Purdue is the highest seeded team left. It won’t be easy, but it’s very possible that they’ll end the Cinderella story of St. Peter’s. After that, it’s either 4^th seeded UCLA or the UNC squad that took out the top seeded Baylor team. Based on seeding alone, you’ll likely see Edey and Purdue in the Final Four, but it’s March and anything can happen.

Bennedict Mathurin, Arizona

We mentioned it on Instagram, but if Bennedict keeps throwing down highlights like he did on Sunday, we might have to dust off the old Air Canada nickname for a new generation. His dunk against TCU  is almost certain to go down as the play of the tournament, but he’s done so much more than that for the Wildcats. That dunk only accounted for two of the 30 that Mathurin scored on Sunday en route to the Sweet 16. Over the first two rounds he shot 40.5%, 33.3% from deep, grabbed 6.5 rebounds, dished out 2 assists and 1 steal, all while averaging 24 points. He’s been an absolute monster. Another solid weekend will have him in the Final Four with a shot at winning Arizona’s first Championship since 1997. He’s been incredible, and luckily we’ll get to see that for years to come in the NBA.

We can’t wait to see more terrific Canadian performances this coming weekend. With eleven games featuring teams who have rostered a Canadian this year, there’s plenty to choose from. Make sure to catch Indiana vs. UConn on the Women’s side of things, it’s the only Sweet 16 matchup with Canadians on both sides. Tip off is Saturday at 2pm. On the men’s side of it, five teams are playing, and three of them are the highest seeded team remaining in their region. Don’t miss out on any of the games, times are listed below.