Lehigh loses in NCAA tournament, but scores big on Google

Across the nation, a single question formed in the minds of tens of thousands of college basketball fans last Thursday at 10 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, reports the Morning Call of Allentown, Pa.: What’s this ”Lehigh University”? Google was flooded with searches about Lehigh just as its men’s basketball team squared off against No. 1-ranked University of Kansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Oklahoma City. Google listed ”Lehigh University” as its No. 2 ”Hot Search” for Thursday, with a spike in searches that peaked at tip-off time. For comparison, searches about Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock’s rumored problems with husband Jesse James ranked eighth on Google’s list. ”Yeah? That’s impressive,” said senior guard Marquis Hall Friday on learning of his team’s internet fame. ”It’s great exposure for the school to have your name out there when you’re in the tournament.” Despite taking a lead in the game’s early moments, 16th-seeded Lehigh fell to Kansas, 90-74. But in terms of publicity, Lehigh officials see the televised game and its online popularity as a huge win. The game was aired on TV in at least 44 percent of the nation, and that percentage increased as other games wrapped up and the Kansas-Lehigh game got tighter, said university spokesman Bill Doherty. At the same time, internet traffic to the university’s web site jumped more than 65 percent…

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