Early Games Recap

So we are done with the first round of games, and with just one game happening right now (Washington is beating Mississippi State right now), we figured it was a good chance to get you caught up on all the day's action.

• South - #8 LSU 75, #9 Butler 71: LSU jumped out to a 9-0 lead early and hung on as the Bulldogs stormed back. Marcus Thornton, the SEC player of the year, scored 30 points and hit a number of critical baskets down the stretch. It was a bittersweet moment for Thornton. He should have been a freshman during the Tiger's Final Four run, but he was academically ineligible for the season. Butler took the lead twice early in the second half, and tied the game at 58 with 5:15 left, but a Terry Martin put back and a Marcus Thornton three put LSU back up five, and the Bulldogs never got within three the rest of the way. LSU advances to take on North Carolina, and it should be an intriguing match-up between two regular season conference champs. While Thornton's performance is a good sign for the Tigers, the biggest red flag came in the form of Matt Howard. Butler's sophomore big man went for 22 and 8 boards despite being in foul trouble, and repeatedly got great position under the basket against Chris Johnson. UNC, as you know, as a couple very good big men, and Johnson is going to need to be better defensively is LSU hopes to get out of the first weekend.
• South - #1 North Carolina 101, #16 Radford 58: Tyler Hansbrough had 22 points, in the process breaking JJ Redick's ACC scoring record, and the Heels cruised to a 40 point against overmatched Radford. Wayne Ellington had 25, going 11-16 from the field, and Danny Green snapped out of a slump with 15 points and 10 boards as the Heels showed no sign of missing Lawson.
• West - #2 Memphis 81, #15 Cal St. Northridge 70: In what was the most exciting game of the day, Memphis hung on in a game that was much closer than the final score would indicate. Memphis was carried by Roburt Sallie, who went for 35 points and hit 10 3's. With about 10 minutes left in the game, the Matadors used a little run to take a 62-56 lead, but that is when Memphis would turn it on, outscoring the underdogs 25-10 the rest of the way. Northridge got out to a 9-2 lead early, but Memphis came back and held a small lead for most of the way, until an exciting flurry midway through the second half. After a Tremaine Townsend jumper gave the Matadors a two point lead, Robert Dozier would answer with a three point play. Northridge would respond with back-to-back three's around a Sallie triple, before Tyreke Evans finished a three point play to put Memphis up 56-55. The Matadors scored the next seven points, but that is when Memphis would put on their run. The biggest issue in this game for Memphis was their trasition defense - seemingly every turnover or missed shot led to a quick, open look for the Matadors.
• West - #10 Maryland 84, #7 Cal 71: Maryland got 27 points from Greivis Vazquez and 15 from Dave Neal as the Terps were able to take Cal out of rhythm in the second half. The Bears came in as the nation's best three-point shooting team, but they hit just 7-24 on the game. The biggest change in the second half was the defense being played on Jerome Randle. Randle had 11 points in the first half and was able to get into the lane at will, but he was completely shut down the in the second half, taking just three shots. Theo Robertson led the Bears with 22 points. Maryland is going to have their work cut out for them on Saturday as Memphis will throw a number of big, athletic wings at Vazquez.
• West - #8 Texas A&M 79, #9 BYU 66: The Aggies hit their first ten shots, jumping out to a 32-16 lead and never looking back. Brian Davis had 21 points and 9 boards to lead A&M. BYU made a couple pushes, but never got closer than six and did not make a real threat. A&M will advance to face UConn.
• West - #1 UConn 103, #16 Chattanooga 47: UConn got 24 points and 6 boards form Stanley Robinson, 20 and 13 from Hasheem Thabeet, 13 and 16 from Jeff Adrien, and 20 from AJ Price as the Huskies were able to win with their coach in the hospital (Calhoun released a statement saying that he would stay overnight in the hospital as a precautionary measure, and that he was suffering from dehydration). The Huskies put the game away twice over with a run that spanned the end of the first half and beginning of the second half. Up 17-15, UConn would score 46 of the next 51 points, taking a 63-20 lead.
• West - #5 Purdue 61, #12 Northern Iowa 56: E'Twaun Moore scored 17 points and JaJuan Johnson added 14 points as Purdue built up a 14 point lead early in the second half. But UNI would make it interesting down the stretch, getting within four with about two minutes left and cutting the lead to 56-54 with 17.9 seconds left. But the Boilermakers would hit their free throws as they advanced to face Washington. Purdue's defense was the story of this one, as they held the Panthers to just 37% shooting from the floor.
  
• *UPDATE: West - #4 Washington 71, #13 Mississippi State 58: In a game that just ended, Washington got 23 points and 8 boards out of Quincy Pondexter and Jon Brockman added 10 points and 14 boards as the Huskies cruised to a first round win. Seeing the athletic, uptempo Huskies go against the grind-it-out Boilermakers on Saturday should be a lot of fun.