[Red and Black]

Finally saw the box score on this one. Some people on here and other social media sites were claiming Pikeville had the favorable whistle with numerous post that MC was playing 8-5.  Pikeville shot 20 free throws and MC shot 28, with one player shooting 21 by himself. So one player from MC shot more free throws than Pikeville did as a team. 

This game ultimately came down to MC made a couple more free throws (they shot 8 more) and MC making 3 extra threes.

Pikeville had a lot of turnovers. If they had cut down on some of those the game would have be different. Credit MC for their defensive effort.

I can’t wait for round 2.

Maybe. I think MC attacked the rim more aggressively than Pikeville, which resulted in more free throws. The MC defense forced Pikeville to take a lot of lower percentage jump shots, which resulted in their lower FG% than normal and I thought MC's guards did a better job getting open on the perimeter leading to better looks from 3, especially in transition. The problem with the refs was that they were wildly inconsistent. One minute they were letting them play very physical then the next minute they were ticky-tack. I think it affected both teams negatively but MC was able to capitalize on it better.

I definitely agree that round 2 will be great. Two great teams are always fun to watch.