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March Madness schedule: 2 more games in First Four set for March 16, 2022
By Keith Farner
Published:
March Madness began Tuesday night with a pair of games in Dayton in the First Four, and Texas Southern and Indiana each prevailed to advance in the NCAA Tournament.
On Wednesday night, the games will be Bryant and Wright State at 6:40 p.m. ET, and Notre Dame and Rutgers at 9:10 p.m. ET. Both games will be on truTV. The winner of Bryant-Wright State will advance to play No. 1-seed Arizona, while Notre Dame and Rutgers will play for the chance to advance and meet No. 6-seed Alabama.
In the early game, both teams have played well lately. Bryant (22-9) started 4-7 in nonconference play, but finished 19-2 in the Northeast Conference, including 3 wins in the conference tournament. Not to be out done, Wright State (21-13) has won 5 straight.
The late game Wednesday between Rutgers (18-13) and Notre Dame (22-10) should be a defensive struggle.
The Scarlet Knights survived the rough and tumble Big Ten where they finished 12-8, including beating ranked conference opponents in 4 straight games in February.
The Scarlet Knights were the second-best defensive team in the conference, as they allowed opponents just 66 points per game and 44 percent of their shots.
Notre Dame is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017, and that appeared to be a long shot when the Fighting Irish started 4-5. They then bounced back with 6 straight wins and got a signature victory in December when they upset then-No. 7 Kentucky.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
