Sunday Recap

In each of the eight games that took place Sunday afternoon, the higher seed won. It is a good thing and a bad thing. The bad is that unless Arizona is wearing a glass slipper, there will be no cinderella in this year's dance.

The good news? We have some phenomenal Sweet 16 match-ups on deck.

• Syracuse 78, Arizona State 67: The Orange jumped out to an early lead and kept it at an 8-10 point game for most of the second half. But the Sun Devils had a push left in them, as they cut the lead to 61-57. The Orange would respond by hitting three straight threes, the last two of which came from Eric Devendorf, extending the lead to 70-59 and putting the kibosh on the ASU comeback. James Harden had another sub-par games, going just 2-10 from the field and scoring a meager 10 points. The Sun Devils were buoyed by 20 each from Ty Abbot and Rihard Kuksiks, who combined to go 12-23 from beyond the arc. Devo had 21 for the Orange to lead five players in double figures. Syracuse gets Oklahoma in the Sweet 16.
  
• Xavier 60, Wisconsin 49: The Badgers controlled the tempo of this one for much of the first 30 minutes of the game, using their defense to keep Xavier from getting into any rhythm offensively. It was the Badger's offense that was the problem. They went scoreless for a six minute stretch in the second half, which allowed X to score 10 straight points and open up a 36-33 lead. After Wisconsin scored the next four point, Xavier found their offense and went on a 13-4 run, capped by a BJ Raymond three with five minutes left, to open up a 49-41 lead. The Musketeers hit their foul shots down the stretch, and hung on for the victory. Wisconsin shot 29% for the game and 25% in the second half. Xavier was led by Raymond, who scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half. Marcus Landry had 18 points and 10 boards in the loss. Xavier will face Pitt in the Sweet 16.
  
• Kansas 60, Dayton 43: Simply put, Kansas can play some defense too. The Jayhawks held the Flyers to 22% shooting from the field and got one of the most dominating defensive performances in the history of the tournament from Cole Aldrich. The Minnesota native finished with just the sixth (recorded) triple double in NCAA Tournament history as he tallied 13 points, 20 boards, and 10 blocks. Dayton just was never able to get into any rhythm offensively. They are a team that thrives of slashing to the rim, and Cole Aldrich was able to completely take away that aspect of the game from them. Defensively, they just had no answer for Sherron Collins, who had 25 points. Kansas advances to face Michigan State.
• Pitt 84, Oklahoma State 76: This was the most entertaining game of the after noon. The first half was a shootout that featured 10-16 shooting from threes by the Cowboys and 8-16 from deep by the Panthers. Heading into halftime, the score was 49-49. In the second half, the Cowboys went cold, and the talent of the Panthers took over. OK State took their last lead of the game at 72-71 with 4 minutes left, but the Panthers scored on their next four possession. No surprise who got them the baskets either - Fields found Sam Young (who had 32 points, 23 in the first half) for a three; Fields got to the rim and scored; Young returned the favor to Fields who knocked down a three; and DeJuan Blair grabbed an offensive rebound in traffic and finished the putback. When it was all said and done, Pitt was up seven and the game was all but over. Pitt gets Xavier in the Sweet 16.
  
• Arizona 71, Cleveland State 57: This one was never really close. Arizona got out to an early 14 point lead, and the Vikings were able to get the game to four a couple times in the second half, but never got closer. Nic Wise, who finished with 21 points and 8 assists, scored 5 points in a 13-2 run that put the game away. Jordan Hill had 16 points and 9 boards while battling foul trouble, and Chase Budinger added 15 for the Wildcats. The most important stat for Arizona is Jamelle Horne's 15 points. Normally a three-headed monster, if Zona wants to have a chance against Louisville, they are going to need guys like Horne and Kyle Fogg to score some points.
  
• Missouri 83, Marquette 79: In the triumphant return of Dominic James from a broken foot, the diminutive point guard had little to no effect on the game, but that didn't change the fact that Marquette had a little extra hop in their step as they jumped out to a 17-11 lead. A 31-9 Tiger run seemingly erased any hope of a Marquette upset, as Mizzou opened a 42-26 lead. Freshman Kim English was the catalyst, as he scored 15 points and hit four threes during the four and a half minute stretch. Marquette was not about to go away, however. Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews (who had 30 and 24 points, respectively) led the Eagles on a 14-4 run that cut the lead to two. The Eagles took the lead a couple of times down the stretch, but the score was tied at 79 with under a minute left. JT Tiller drove and was fouled, setting up what was a strange series of events. Tiller hurt his wrist on the play, and taking advantage of a rule in the college game where you can substitute for an injured player on a free throw, coach Mike Anderson brought English in off the bench, and the freshman knocked down two free throws to give Missouri the lead. This caused Buzz Williams to lose his mind, as Tiller was back at the scorer's table ready to check in after English hit the second free throw. I'm not exactly sure why he would be mad. Tiller (75.8%) is a better free throw shooter than English (68%), so it isn't exactly like Steve Nash was being brought in to shoot for Ben Wallace. And Tiller is a fantastic defender. So while a wrist injury may hurt your chances from the foul line, it will have little to no effect on your ability to play defense for 5.5 seconds. So the stage was set for another fantastic finish in Boise for the Tigers (the last time they played here was 1995, when Mizzou was up 74-73 with 4.8 seconds left before Tyus Edney went coast-to-coast). Lazar Hayward takes the ball out of bounds and ... steps over the end line? Yep. Turnover. Missouri ball. Leo Lyons knocked down two free throws to ice the game. Mizzou gets Memphis in the next round.
  
• Michigan State 74, USC 69: Travis Walton is a lock-down defender (he won the Big Ten defensive player of the year award) who is not normally known for his offense, but Walton scored a career-high 18 points to lead the Spartans to their eighth Sweet 16 in the last twelve years. In a back and forth game, it seemed like every shot Walton hit was a big shot - he hit three jumpers that gave the Spartans the lead in the final 10 minutes. The biggest one came with 3:45 left, as he knocked down a fifteen footer, his last basket of the game, to break a tie at 69 and give the Spartans a lead they would not relinquish. Walton will need his best defensive performance in the next round as the Spartans face Sherron Collins and the Kansas Jayhawks.
  
• Louisville 79, Siena 72: The Saints were beating Louisville at their own game. Louisville is a pressing team that relies on forcing turnovers with their press to get easy baskets. Siena turned the ball over just nine times in the game, but they forced 17 Louisville turnovers, converting them into 24 points. Down 59-51, the Saints forced turnovers on four straight possessions during a 12-0 run that them a 63-59 lead. But Louisville would respond by scoring 9 straight points as their talent took over. Edwin Ubiles had 24 points and 8 boards, but he was out done by 24 and 15 from Terrence Williams. Louisville will get Arizona in the Sweet 16.