Thursday's Shootaround: Princeton game-winner, Cincy bounces back

Princeton 72, Rider 71 OT: In what was most definitely the game of the night, Rider -- who has just one win on the season -- rallied from a four-point deficit with just 34 seconds left in the game to force overtime, even missing a shot as time-expired that would have won the game. In the extra frame, Rider took a two-point lead, setting up a finish eerily reminiscent of the Indiana-Kentucky ending:



The guy that hit the game winning jumper here is forward Mack Darrow. That three was his only field goal of the game.

Cincinnati 78, Wright State 58: The Bearcats looked like a different team on Wednesday night than they have all season long, and its not just because their starting front court began serving a six-game suspension. Cincinnati was running the floor, they were hitting threes and they were focused. They looked like a team that knew their season was in dire straits, that knew this was when they had to decide whether they were going to accept the label of just "a bunch of thugs" or go out and change that line of thinking. Sean Kilpatrick finished with 20 points and JaQuon Parker, playing just his second game of the season, added 14 in the win. As a team, Cinci was 14-32 from three.

Charleston 71, Tennessee 65: We warned you that this may not be an upset in the making. Vegas agreed, as they had Charleston favored coming in. And while the Vols got off to a quick start, the Cougars took over in the second half. From the 5:43 mark of the first half until the 6:03 mark of the second half, Charleston outscored Tennessee 48-21, turning a 28-15 deficit into a 63-49 lead. The Vols got within three in the final minute, but they never had the ball with a chance to tie the game. Antwaine Wiggins had 24 points for the Cougars. After the impressive fight that Tennessee put up in Maui, I wasn't alone in thinking that this group had a shot to be competitive in the SEC and maybe finish in the top half. That prediction looks way off right now, as the Vols were coming off of a home loss to Austin Peay prior to this game.

Iona 88, Richmond 79: Mike Glover led five Gaels in double figures with 24 points and Scott Machado added 13 points and 15 assists as Iona rolled over the Spiders in Richmond. Iona was coming off of a 19 point loss to Marshall, using this game to prove their loss to the Thundering Herd was a fluke.

UNLV 65, UTEP 54: Anthony Marshall led four Rebels in double figures with 20 points, 16 of which came in the second half, as UNLV was able to pull away from a tougher than expected UTEP team late in the second half. Neither Chace Stanback or Mike Moser were able to find a rhythm in this one, combining for 11 points on 5-16 shooting from the floor.


The rest of the top 25:

No. 2 Ohio State 82, USC-Upstate 58: Jared Sullinger returned from the back spasms that have sidelined him for two games to score 12 points and grab 10 boards in 33 minutes off the bench. Sullinger wasn't happy with his performance, but the fact that he is back on the court is, obviously, a good sign.

No. 7 Baylor 69, Bethune-Cookman 42: Baylor had 10 dunks in this game. Seriously. 10 dunks. I can't wait for the Bears to start playing some real competition so we can see what this team is actually made of.


Other notable scores:

- Ole Miss 66, Louisiana-Lafayette 54
- Norfolk State 73, Long Island 62
- Maryland 65, FIU 61
- Wichita State 94, Chicago State 44
- Denver 71, Northern Colorado 65
- UCLA 60, Eastern Washington 47


Top performers:

Tony Gallo, Coppin State: Gallo was the night's high-scorer with 27 points as the Eagles beat Towson.

Ian Hummer, Princeton: While it was Mack Darrow's three that won the game, Hummer's 21 points, 12 boards, seven assists and four steal ensured that there would be overtime.

Scott Machado, Iona: If the 13 points, 15 assists and six rebounds Machado had will turning the ball over just twice isn't enough, Mike Glover's 24 points on 11-13 shooting oughta do it for you.

Kyle O'Quinn, Norfolk State: O'Quinn had 22 points, 14 boards six blocks, two steals and 4 assists as Norfolk State knocked off Julian Boyd and Long Island.

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Tuesday's Shootaround: Arizona, St. John's and Mississippi State all win their openers

Mississippi State 76, Eastern Kentucky 66: See here.

Arizona 73, Valporaiso 64: The Wildcats were in a dogfight for much of the first half, but once Arizona ratcheted up their defense in the second half, this thing turned into a rout. Sean Miller's club used a 16-3 surge to open the second half to open up a 48-33 lead, pushing the margin up to 20 before a couple of late Crusader threes made the final score more respectable. Arizona's defense is what won them this game, and it probably will end up being what the Wildcats have to rely on early in the season. They have a solid crop of defenders on the perimeter and a couple of athletic bodies in the paint. Its tough to imagine a Sean Miller-coached team not being solid on the defensive end of the floor.

Offensively, this group has a ways to go, but you can see some flashes of potential. The good news is that Kyle Fogg and Jesse Perry both appeared to have embraced the role of being the veteran leaders for this group. Fogg finished with 16 points, scoring on a number of tough drives into the paint, while Perry had 14 points and 10 boards. Jordin Mayes sparked the 16-3 run with all eight of his points and Nick Johnson added 14 points and six assists while knocking down a couple of threes.

There are also plenty of issues, however. Mayes only had those eight points and didn't notch an assists. Josiah Turner, who is supposed to be the star point guard, finished 1-6 from the floor, only had a single assist and clearly struggled with picking his spots for attacking the basket. Kryrl Natyazkho is clearly still a long way from being an impact player at this level. His back up, freshman Angelo Chol, showed some flashes of potential on both ends of the floor, but was inconsistent defensively and on the glass. Perhaps the most concerning aspect of this game was that Arizona's front court of Natyazkho, Chol and Solomon Hill collectively picked up 13 fouls while allowing Valpo big man Kevin Van Wijk to finish with 18 points and seven boards, five offensive.

Arizona has a ton of room to grow, but they also have a long time until Pac-12 play starts. Throw in the fact that Kevin Parrom will, hopefully, return later this fall, and Arizona should be a much improved team come January.


St. John's 74, William & Mary 59: The Johnnies struggled early on against William & Mary. With the Tribe hitting their jumpers and St. John's struggling to find an offensive rhythm, W&M went into the halftime break with a 33-26 lead. The second half, however, was a much different story. The athleticism of the Red Storm took over as William & Mary looked helpless against a pressuring defense. The Tribe turned the ball over 21 times -- with St. John's coming up with 12 steals -- and found themselves on the wrong end of a 22-5 run, most of which came as the result of easy buckets in transition.

On the one hand, there were some promising signs to take out of this game for the Johnnies. Nurideen Lindsay, the JuCo transfer and sophomore point guard, finished with 19 points (15 of which came in the second half) and four assists. God's Gift Achiuwa added 17 points and nine boards with Moe Harkless chipped in with 17 points, eight boards and four assists. Those three should be able to compete at the Big East level this season. St. John's pressure, when its going right, is going to be an issue for some teams. This is a young but very athletic group. That press will be streaky, but when they get into a rhythm, they'll be able to go on some runs. As the year goes on, those runs will become more extended.

The problem, however, is that its difficult to see how a team that plays only seven players -- six of them new to the Division I level and four of those players being freshmen -- will be able to press throughout the entirety of the Big East schedule without wearing down. And while William & Mary has a chance to compete for a top half finish in the CAA, they are far from the level of competition that the Johnnies are going to face in league play. Most of the Big East back courts will be more comfortable facing that kind of ball pressure. If St. John's can get any or all of Amir Garrett, Norvel Pelle and JaKarr Sampson eligible in December, it would be a huge boost to the program.
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Tuesday's Shootaround: Marquette routs Notre Dame

Marquette 79, No. 11 Notre Dame 57: Who ever said the Big East was easy?

Just hours after Notre Dame got bumped up to 11th in the country thanks to wins over UConn and St. John's, the Irish went into the Bradley Center and got manhandled by the Golden Eagles. Marquette shot 12-17 from three on the night, led by 21 points and a 5-5 performance from three by Dwight Buycks, as they picked up their first marquee win of the season.

Notre Dame looked sluggish -- its understandable, they played on Saturday night -- but its not an excuse. The Saturday-Monday turnaround happens all the time in the Big East for teams that play on Big Monday. Eric Atkins had 15 points to lead the Irish, who shot 39.6% as a team. Tim Abromaitis, Ben Hansbrough, and Scott Martin combined for just 29 points on just 34.4% shooting from the field.

If there is a bright side for Notre Dame, its that their stinker came on a night when Marquette probably wasn't going to get beaten. When Marquette is going to shoot 70% from three, there aren't a lot of team that are going to win in the Bradley Center. Its a good time to have your worst game of the year as a visitor.

For Marquette, this win is huge. It gets them some meat on their resume. Prior to Monday, their best win had come against West Virginia and they had lost five games -- all by eight points or less -- to the NCAA Tournament teams they had faced.

The issue gets a little murkier for Notre Dame. The Irish have now played three road games -- at Marquette and Syracuse and against Kentucky in Freedom Hall -- and lost all three by an averaged of 16 points. That's not a good sign.

Belmont 81, Jacksonville 50: The Bruins moved into sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Sun by smoking the Dolphins in Nashville thanks to a balanced scoring attack (no one had more than 15 points, bu seven players scored at least six) and a defense that held Jacksonville to 29.8% shooting. No one is going to want to play the Bruins in they go dancing. They are now 14-3 on the season, and the three losses have all come to Vanderbilt and Tennessee (twice), and none by more than nine points.

Austin Peay 71, Tennessee-Martin 61: The Governors got 27 points and eight boards from Josh Terry as they overcame a 34-25 halftime deficit to remain undefeated in the Ohio Valley.
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Thursday's Shootaround

Maryland 75, College of Charleston 74: We've already touched on this terrific game twice (here and here) as we were lucky enough to be at the Comcast Center last night. Three more notes:

• Jordan Williams looked like a different players. The 20 pounds that he has lost have made him much more nimble, athletic, and explosive (he had about six dunks last night), and he's developed some impressive post moves.
• Andrew Goudelock is a helluva player. We already knew this, but he hit some tough shots and really took control of this game. If Maryland didn't have three bigger, longer, more athletic wings to rotate through on him defensively (Goudelock, for what it is worth, looked tired by the end of the game), he may have gone for 40.
• If Maryland had hit their free throws (they were 5-18), this game would not have been this close.
  

Pitt 97, Illinois-Chicago 54: The Panthers jumped out to a big lead, and while the Flames -- who were playing under the newly-hired Howard Moore for the first time -- were able to keep it respectable in the first half (they went into the break down 43-29), Pitt was too much in the second half. The Panthers shot 70% from the floor in the final twenty minutes. Minnesota transfer Paul Carter's homecoming was less than heroic; he finished with just 6 points on 1-10 shooting. But his younger sister is now cancer-free, so I think we'll chalk this one up as a win for him.

Texas 89, Louisiana Tech 58: The Longhorns once again started slowly, limping out of the gate before extending their lead to 15 late in the first half. As they did on Monday, the 'Horns took over in the second stanza, as their defense got tougher and shots started falling. Tristan Thompson has 17 points and, for a stretch in the second half, reminded some people why he was once the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2010. The biggest issue for Texas? Offense. They still need a point guard -- a leader -- to step up.

Illinois 84, Toledo 45: Once again, the Illini jumped out to a big first half lead, going into the break up 47-18. This time, however, Illinois kept up the defensive pressure in the second half, not allowing Toledo to make the score respectable. To be fair, however, Toledo only had five scholarship players, and the Illini sat their starters for much of the second half.


Thursday's Best:

• Olu Ashaolu, Louisiana Tech: He only had 13 points and 11 boards, but check out this dunk:
  

• Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker, Pitt: The Panther's back court duo once again dominated. Gibbs finished with 24 points, 7 assists, and 0 turnovers, while Wanamaker had another terrific all around game with 17 points, 9 assists, and 6 boards.
  
• Tristan Thompson, Texas: The Longhorn's big freshman finished the day with 17 points, 7 boards, 3 steals, and 3 blocks.
• Jordan Williams, Maryland: How good has this kid been? After going for 26 points and 15 boards, he is now averaging 21.5 ppg and 15.0 rpg.
• Andrew Goudelock, Charleston: He put on another show on ESPN, going for 27 points and 10 rebounds.
  

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Tuesday's Shootaround: Exhibition losses overshadow the start of the season?

As exciting as it was for us college hoopheads to finally be watching meaningful basketball, by the end of the night my twitter feed was dominated not by talk of Brad Wanamaker's performance or Maryland's point guard struggles, but by the D-II schools that knocked off two SEC teams last night.

• Tennessee, who we ranked at 18th in the preseason, not only lost, they lost by 15 to Indianapolis University. The Vols allowed a decisive 26-3 run to open the second half. I wonder if Bruce Pearl admitted to recognizing the box score after the game. Indianapolis plays in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, which is also home to Lewis, who knocked off DePaul over the weekend, and Bellarmine, who handled Xavier.
  


• Auburn isn't expected to be nearly as good as Tennessee this season, but the Tigers still struggled to a 54-52 loss to Columbus State last night.


• Alabama very nearly joined Tennessee and Auburn in the loss column. UA-Huntsville took the Crimson Tide to double overtime before losing.
  


• And then there is Indiana, who needed to come back from 13 down in the last seven minutes and from nine down in in the final 2:22 of regulation just to be able to have a buzzer beater from Ferris State get waved off to force overtime. The Hoosiers ended up winning 78-65.
  

But enough about the games that don't matter, because last night they actually played games that do, in fact, count!

Pitt 83, Rhode Island 75: The Rams threw a scare into the Panthers thanks to the hot shooting of Delroy James, Akeem Richmond, and Nikola Malesevic, but in the end Rhody just did not play enough transition defense. URI likes to get up and pressure in the full court, and they did have some success in forcing turnovers. But once Pitt broke that press they were able to get layups on seemingly every possession. And while I loved what I saw from Nasir Robinson's replacements -- particularly redshirt freshman Talib Zanna, who finished with 9 points, 11 boards, and 2 blocks -- it should be noted that if Pitt had made their layups, this would have been a 20 point game.


One more note about this game. Everyone talks about Ashton Gibbs when they talk about Pitt, and rightfully so. Gibbs is a tremendous player. But the best player on the floor last night was Brad Wanamaker. Gibbs may be listed as the point guard on the roster, but Wanamaker is the facilitator of this offense. He finished last night with 24 points, 8 assists, and just 2 turnovers.

Maryland 105, Seattle 76: This was a pretty ugly game to watch, as both clubs were pressing and trying to kick up the tempo. Sean Mosley (21 points, 4 boards, 4 assists) and Jordan Williams (17 points, 15 boards) both had good games, but it was clear that the Terps success this season is going to be determined at the point. Senior Adrian Bowie struggled handling the ball, finishing with seven turnovers. The answer may end up being one of the two talented Terps freshmen. Pe'Shon Howard really looked good last night, showing some defensive ability, athleticism, and making a number of nice passes and finishing with 8 assists.

Terrell Stoglin had more of an up and down game, and while he had a few "freshman" turnovers, he did do some things I really liked. One example that stands out -- midway through the first half, Stoglin had an ugly turnover that led to an uncontested layup for Seattle. He tried to chase the player down, couldn't catch up, but then took the in bounds and went coast to coast for an and-one layup. He finished with 15 points and 5 assists, but also had 4 turnovers. Maryland, as a team, had 29.

Texas 83, Navy 52: Texas is a talented team, there is no question about that. In the first half, however, they really struggled with Navy's 1-2-2 matchup zone, which isn't necessarily unexpected considering their relative inexperience. In the second half, Jordan Hamilton really turned it on, finishing with 26 points and 10 boards. In the first half, he settled for too many threes as did the Longhorns team as a whole, but after Barnes made some halftime adjustments (and, most likely, ripped Hamilton and co. about taking those threes) the Horns' offense was much smoother. The Texas freshman -- Tristan Thompson (12 points, 7 boards, 4-10 FT's) and Cory Joseph (5 points, 3 assists) -- weren't overwhelmingly impressive.

Illinois 79, UC Irvine 65: The Illini jumped out to a 38-10 lead in the first half thanks, in large part, to five threes from sophomore Brandon Paul. The Anteaters made a run in the second half, and the Illini seemed to get a bit lackadaisical down the stretch. Its difficult to take much out of this game. Tisdale looked very solid in the paint, although UC Irvine was undersized big time. Bruce Weber's freshmen all played solid minutes. McCamey was typical McCamey (13 points, 8 assists, 5 turnovers). There is a lot to like about this Illinois team when they put it all together.




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Friday Morning Dump

- Andy Katz provides us with a early look at the top-25 of 2011

- Adam Zagoria has major Rutgers news; Hill was offered a settlement

- Mike DeCourcy addresses five current topics

- Chicago public school coaches aren't big fans of Oliver Purnell

- The Portsmouth Invitational Tournament has begun

- Final thoughts from the Final Four

- 20 players to watch for in 2011

- Xavier Henry's report card

- Da'Sean Butler went under the knife

- DeMarcus Cousins signs with an agent

- Creighton center Kenny Lawson will test draft waters

- So will Lipscomb's Adnan Hodzic

- Talor Battle will also enter the draft

- The hits just keep coming at Oklahoma

- Rutgers assistant will join Hurley's staff at Wagner

- A list of possible candidates for the Cornell job
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Tuesday's Shootaround: UConn is still alive, Kansas rallies to beat Texas A&M

UConn 84, Villanova 75: The Huskies got 29 points and 9 boards out of Kemba Walker to lead them to a huge win over Villanova on the road. UConn had been struggling, losing eight of their previous 11 games, but the win over the Wildcats is a huge boost for the Huskies tournament hopes. UConn has to win at least four of their last five games, including West Virginia, if they want a chance to get an at-large bid. Click here for more of our breakdown on this game.

Kansas 59, Texas A&M 54: Kansas struggled for most of the game last night against the Aggies. Sherron Collins never got going, Xavier Henry struggled after a quick start, A&M's David Loubeau was the best big man on the floor, and the Jayhawks decided that they didn't need to rebound the basketball on the defensive end.

That said, Kansas played great defensively, holding the Aggies to just 54 points on 35% shooting despite the 18 offensive boards. Donald Sloan, who scored 10 quick points early in the game, finished with just 15 on the game. And as much as Kansas struggled, they played that well over the last six minutes. The Jayhawks used an 11-2 surge to close the game and improve to 11-0 in the league. Cole Aldrich, Marcus Morris, and Xavier Henry all scored 12 points in the win.

Maryland 85, Virginia 66: I think Maryland was upset by that loss at Duke, because they lit into the Cavs in the first half. Greivis Vasquez scored 25 of his 30 in the first 20 minutes as the Terps opened up a 52-34 lead. Vasquez was 10-13 as Maryland shot an astounding 70% from the field in the first half. With the win, the Terps keep pace with Wake Forest and Virginia Tech a game out in the loss column in the ACC.

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Monday's Shootaround: Georgetown comeback falls short, UConn now out of the tournament picture?

For any and all talk from Saturday's games, give our live-blog from Saturday's games a read.

Villanova 82, Georgetown 77: It really is about time that Scottie Reynolds started getting the props he deserves. Reynolds hit his first four shots from the field to spark a run midway through the first half that pushed the Wildcat led to as big as 17. But Georgetown woke up in the second half, using an early 14-3 run to trim the lead, eventually tying the game on two occasions in the second half. As this game drew closer, it turned into a typical Big East slugfest. The two teams combined to miss 20 consecutive shots from the field over a six minute stretch in the second half, but Greg Monroe's offensive rebound and putback tied the game at 67 with around four minutes to play. Monroe scored again 30 seconds later to answer a Taylor King bucket, but on the ensuing possession Reynolds made a tough drive to the rim, finishing with the foul and giving Nova a lead it wouldn't relinquish. The Wildcats would hit 8-8 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Greg Monroe had 29 points and 16 boards in the win, but Reynolds probably pushed himself to the head of the Big East POY race with a 27-point performance.

Duke 90, Wake Forest 70: Wake Forest is a big team, but they just had no answer inside for Duke's front line. Kyle Singler had 21 points and 15 boards, Miles Plumlee 19 and 14, while Mason Plumlee added 11 and 7. Wake put their efforts into slowing down Jon Scheyer - which worked, as he had just 9 points and 6 assists on 3-11 shooting and 4 turnovers - but it allowed Duke's big to feat - the Plumlees and Singler combined for 17 offensive rebounds. Despite all of that, Wake was right in this game in the second half, but a tough intentional foul call on Ish Smith (Mason Plumlee was running at full speed and went up for a dunk, but Smith tried to block it. He came very close to getting the ball, but he and Plumlee collided hard in the air, and both players came hit the floor very hard) helped complete a 13-0. Wake was never able to recover.

Michigan 68, UConn 63: Michigan had opened up a fairly big lead in the first half, but the Huskies came back in the second half, setting up a back-and-forth finish. After UConn was able to tie the game with just over a minute left, Zak Novak drilled a three to break a tie, and Manny Harris followed that up with a layup to extend the lead to five as the Wolverines picked up a much needed win. UConn, on the other hand, is now 11-6 after losing three straight. They are sitting squarely on the bubble as their best win is against Harvard.

St. John's 67, DePaul 47: Finally playing with a full roster, the Johnnies picked up their second Big East win of the season. Justin Burrell led the way with 11 points while Anthony Mason Jr. scored 8 points and grabbed 10 boards.

Marquette 93, Providence 63: Mo Acker scored 23 points and was 6-6 from three while Darius Johnson-Odom scored 20 of his 22 in the first half as the Eagles went 13-21 from three in beating the Friars.

Indiana 81, Minnesota 78 OT: It really is a shame that Indiana lost Maurice Creek, because based what they've done without him (already beaten Michigan), Tom Crean's club could have been a sleeper in the Big Ten. Last night, they led the Gopher's throughout regulation, but a Devoe Joseph jumper with 9.6 seconds left forced OT. In the extra period, Minnesota took the lead, but Verdell Jones, who scored 24 points, gave the Hoosiers the lead for good with 32 seconds left, and Christian Watford hit two free throws at the end to ice it.

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Morning Shootaround: Yea, not much

Oh, Finals week. There were all of 10 games last night, and just one ranked team in action. It will be like that all week, as there won't be a game between two ranked teams until Saturday.

Georgia Tech 95, Chattanooga 64: Gani Lawal scored a season-high 29 points and Derrick Favors added 14 points and 10 boards as the Yellow Jackets won their first true road game of the season. Tech shot 61% from the floor and 7-16 from three.

LSU 77, Southeastern Louisiana 60: Tasmin Mitchell had 24 points and 18 boards, Storm Warren added 14 and 12, while Bo Spencer chipped in with 21 points and 5 assists as the Tigers used a 15-3 run to start the second half and blow this game open.

Houston 93, Troy 85: Aubrey Coleman scored 25 for the Cougars in the win. Kelvin Lewis added 24.

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Wednesday's Shootaround: Georgetown and Indiana win in MSG

Jimmy V Classic:

• Georgetown 72, Butler 65: G'Town got 25 and 14 from Greg Monroe as he absolutely shut down Matt Howard, who finshed 1-9 from the floor. Austin Freeman added 18 in the win, while Gordon Hayward went for 24 points and 8 boards in the loss. The question that remains is did Butler just cost themselves a chance to be an NCAA Tournament team? It is getting dangerously close to that point. The Bulldogs are now 0-3 against top 25 teams with just one more chance to pick up a win ... and it is against the Evan Turner-less Buckeyes. With Xavier struggling as well, it realy looks like Butler will head into conference play with a win at Northwestern as their best out of conference win.
  
  But why is Butler struggling so much?
  
  For starters, Matt Howard is struggling, especially on the defensive end. He is averaging 4.0 fouls per game, has fouled out five times, and has played just one game with less that three fouls, which is why he is barely averaging 24 mpg. But even with Howard on the court, Butler doesn't have much size of length up front. Hayward is 6'9", but he rarely plays on the interior defensively, and is rarely effective when he does. Willie Veasley, who is all of 6'3", usually ends up playing the majority of minutes at the four spot, meaning that Butler is almost always going to have a disadvantage on the inside.
  
  Howard's struggles carry over to the offensive end as well. Butler has no post presence without Howard, and when he is struggling (or not on the floor), it means that Butler becomes way too reliant on the three and the (over) penetration of their guards. Howard is the most important player on this team, and he must pick up his play if Butler plans on making it to the tournament.
• Indiana 74, Pitt 64: Congratulations must go out to Indiana, who knocked off Pitt last night at the Garden. It is their first real BCS win (Iowa doesn't count) in the Tom Crean era, and it came at MSG with Bobby Knight at the game. Indiana clearly has a long way to go in terms of talent, but Crean's kids already play extremely hard. Once their skill level catches up to their effort level, which shouldn't take too long as guys like Christian Watford, Maurice Creek, Verdell Jones, and Devan Dumas are good looking prospects, the Hoosiers will be back. Last night, Jones went for 20 and Watford had 18 despite shooting just 3-12 from the floor.
  
  You really have to feel good for the IU players. They have suffered a couple heart breakers this season, and to see the joy on their faces after this win was something special. It clearly means a lot to them, and hopefully they can keep winning some games.
  

Kansas State 71, Xavier 56: This one was a war. Two years ago, Kansas State went into Cincinnati and were embarrassed by the Musketeers, losing by 26 in front of ruthless fans and players. This time, the bigger Wildcats came out and outphysicaled X, getting 16 second chance points off of 14 offensive rebounds and holding X to just 29% shooting. Jacob Pullen led the scoring charge with 16, 14 of them coming in the second half.

BYU 81, Arizona State 68: The Cougars jumped out to a 39-23 lead, then held on down the stretch as the Sun Devils made a run, cutting the lead to six. Tyler Haws had 17 points and 11 boards for BYU, while Jackson Emery added 17 points on five threes.

Illinois 79, Vanderbilt 68: Illinois jumped out to a 9-0 lead, and Vanderbilt never was able to get much closer. The Commodores simply weren't getting stops. McCamey had 23 points (but still 6 turnovers) to lead the Illini, while Mike Tisdale and DJ Richardson added 14 and 16 respectively.

Dayton 56, George Mason 55: Dayton held on as Mason made a furious comeback from a 35-19 halftime deficit. The Patriots would get as close as 54-52 late in the game, but two free throws with seven seconds left sealed the win. Chris Johnson led the Flyers with 14 points.

Texas Tech 80, TCU 70: The Red Raiders were down 10 in the first four minutes, and were down 14 as halftime neared, but John Roberson scored eight points in a 9-0 spurt that made it a 41-36 halftime deficit. Tech took the lead early in the second half, and never gave it back. Roberson had 21 for the Techsters, while Mike Singletary added 17.

Northern Iowa 67, Iowa 50: For just the third time, Northern Iowa knocked off in-state rivals Iowa and Iowa State in the same season. Kwadzo Ahelegbe had 20 in the win.

Other notable scores:

• Penn State 58, UMBC 42
• Minnesota 94, Morgan State 64
• Marquette 71, Milwaukee 51
• USC 51, Sacramento State 36
  

Tuesday's best:

• Quinnipiac's Justin Rutty had 30 points, 15 boards, and 4 steals to keep the Bobcats close against URI.
• Paul George had 29 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and went 6-10 from three (fantasy stud?) as Fresno State held on against Pepperdine.
• John Roberson had 21 points and 10 assists, including eight straight in a key run in the first half, as Tech stayed undefeated with a win at TCU.
• Columbia's Noruwa Agho is shooting 64% from three this season. On Tuesday night, he had 30 points and hit 4-6 from deep in a win over Wagner.
  

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Tuesday's Shootaround: Michigan State survives, Auburn wins on a tip-in

Michigan State 69, Citadel 56: The Citadel's game plan was simple - run their offense for 25-30 seconds, working the shot clock, before trying to get a good shot at the basket at the end of the shot clock. It worked to perfection, as they buried their first seven threes and hit 12-20 from deep on the game. With 12 minutes to go in the game, however, the Spartans finally locked down defensively. Up 48-47, Michigan State ended the game on a 21-9 surge, taking control as the Bulldogs finally cooled off.

Raymar Morgan had 11 points and 10 boards in the win.
(photo credit: Washington Post)

While Sparty fans may be bothered by how close this game was, remember that Michigan State traveled to South Carolina to play a favorite in the Southern Conference and got a good test. Being able to win on the road is a difficult thing to do, especially when you are playing a team that is as hot as the Citadel was. Chalk this up as a learning experience that didn't cost MSU a loss.

Auburn 68, Virginia 67: Sammy Zeglinski hit two free throws with 7.7 seconds to give Virginia a 67-66 lead. On the ensuing possession, DeWayne Reed drove the length of the court. He missed a lay-up, but Brandon Knox was there for the tip-in with 1.4 seconds left. While this game probably doesn't have NCAA Tournament implications, the SEC will always take a win over the ACC, and it was well worth the price of admission for those that attended.

Texas 107, Long Beach State 74: Texas found some of that offensive inefficiency that they were lacking as they forced 23 turnovers while exploding for 107 points, their most in five seasons. Three back court newcomers, Jordan Hamilton, J'Covan Brown, and Avery Bradley, combined for 43 points and Dogus Balbay added 11 assists as Texas shot 59% from the field.

Texas A&M 75, North Texas 65: Donald Sloan led four players in double figures with 21 points as the Aggies used a 26-4 run midway through the first half to open up a 19 point lead.

Siena 73, Iona 60: The Saints used a 24-8 run midway through the second half after Iona cut Siena's lead to three. Edwin Ubiles led four Saints in double figures with 19 points.

Seton Hall 86, UMass 68: Jeremy Hazell scored 15 of his 21 points in the first, and Herb Pope added 16 of his 22 in the first half as the Pirates jumped out to a 44-19 lead at the break. Pope added 15 rebounds.

Arkansas 71, Delaware State 53: Marshon Powell led the Razorbacks with 20 points and 9 boards, and Arkansas used 66% shooting from the floor to beat the Hornets.

Tuesday's best:

• Herb Pope, Seton Hall: Pope had 16 of his 22 points in the first half and added 15 rebounds in the Pirate's blowout win of UMass.
• Andrew Goudelock, Charleston: Goudelock scored 28 points and added 6 boards as the Cougars improved to 3-0 in the Southern Conference.
• Donald Sims, Appalachian State and Noah Dahlman, Wofford: Sims scored 25 points to lead App. State to a win over Wofford despite 25 from Dahlman.
  

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Thursday's Shootaround: UNC rolls, Syracuse's defense dominates, and Cal's three point shooting comes alive

Syracuse 100, Robert Morris 60: The Orange's defense is devastating. They forced 32 turnovers against Albany, and 28 more last night. And it isn't just their length along the back line that is giving team fits - it is the pesky defenders at the top of the zone. Andy Rautins, Scoop Jardine, and Brandon Triche got their hands on everything last night. Deflecting passes and stripping ball handlers, the Orange gave Robert Morris fits trying to get into their offense last night.

Brandon Triche and Scoop Jardine both looked better handling the ball last night.
(photo credit: Syracuse Post-Standard)

After watching last night's game, I came away very impressed with Andy Rautins. He is a much better defender than he gets credit for, as he had four steals. His offense came around too, scoring 22 points and hitting 7-10 from deep.

The biggest question for the Orange after their first game of the year was point guard play, and last night we may have gotten out answer. While the Cuse still had 23 turnovers as a team, Jardine and Triche looked like different players out there. Both were able to get into the lane at will, finding the numerous big guys Boeheim can throw out there for easy dunks and lay-ups. Jardine inparticular looked comfortable leading the break. All told, the two combined for 18 points, 16 assists, and just 4 turnovers.

Speaking of Rick Jackson and Onuaku, after last night's 11-13 showing, the two are shooting a combined 87.5% from the floor, which isn't all that surprising when you consider that the two may not have taken a shot this year that wasn't a dunk or a lay-up.

UNC 89, North Carolina Central 42: Eight minutes into the game, UNC was clinging to a 21-17 lead. Over the next 32 minutes, the Heels outscored NCCU 68-25. They were bigger, faster, and more athletic, and once the Heels got into a rhythm, there was really nothing the Eagles could do.

UNC is still dealing with some turnover issues, as they committed 19 last night. But as was the case on Monday, much of that can be attributed to young guys learning a new system and new roles.

The biggest difference was the comfort level of the Heels freshman. After looking jittery and nervous against FIU, this group played a much more controlled game last night. Dexter Strickland and John Henson, specifically, showed flashes of being big time players.

All-in-all, not much too take out of UNC's destruction of another extremely overmatched opponents.


Cal 95, Detroit 61: The Bears looked much more impressive last night against Detroit than they did in their opener against Murray State, but there is still a lot that Monty's group needs to work on.

Detroit had this down to a four point game early in the second half, but that is when the Bears finally found their range. Patrick Christopher and Theo Robertson, inparticular, both knocked down a couple threes as Cal used an 11-0 run to open up a 17 point lead and start to pull away. The Bears showed a killer instinct they didn't have on Monday, when they opened up an 18 point lead only to let the Racers back in it.

My biggest issue right now is with Jerome Randle. Yes, he is averaging 20 ppg right now, but he hasn't looked as dominant as he did last season. The biggest issue in my eyes is his inability to effectively use the high ball screen. Randle is not quick in the same way that Ty Lawson is - what Randle excels at is his stop and go quickness. He is deadly when he can get up a head of steam, because he can stop on a dime and hit a pull-up with three point range. Take note, Pac 10 teams. Both Murray State and Detroit crowded and pressured Randle out by half court, which has forced him to be more of a penetrator. Sure, he is able to draw fouls against this level of competition, but will he be able to get by an Isaiah Thomas or a Malcolm Lee in league play?

The other issue I noticed was how poor he is at setting up ball screens. Markhuri Sanders-Frison and Jamal Boykin are both big bodies. Given Randle's ability to shoot the three, a defender is not going to be able to go under those ball screens. But Randle has not really been able to turn the corner off the screen and get into the paint as well as I expected him too. When he did last night (I remember two times specifically), both ended up with open looks for shooters on the wings.

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Final Four Recap

A bit anti-climactic last night as Michigan State made short work of the Huskies in the second half, and UNC kept Villanova from making it at all interesting with the exception of a two minute stretch to start the second half.

Michigan State 82, UConn 73: This was a back and forth game for much of the first 30 minutes. Neither team was really able to assert control over the game. But midway through the second half, MSU started to take over. As the crowd got behind them, the Spartans finally began to take advantage of four Huskies crashing the offensive glass, going on a quick 9-3 run to open up a 62-54 lead with 7:54 left.

All of the nine points in the run came on transition baskets, capped off by Kalin Lucas almost shaking Kemba Walker out of his shorts with an in-n-out dribble on a 1-on-2 break (40 second mark in the video, the huge Durrell Summers dunk is at the 50 second mark).



After a Suton three would stretch the lead to eleven, UConn was able to get as close as three with just a minute left, but Walker (who played as poorly as I have seen him play all season) fouled Summers, who finished a three point play, that all but sealed the game.

Lucas finished with 21 points for the Spartans, but the best player on the floor was Raymar Morgan. After struggling through much of the tournament, Morgan finally broke out, going for 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 steals in the upset win. He was the difference make, especially in the first half. Stanley Robinson spent the end of the first half and beginning of the second half on the bench with foul trouble, and Morgan was able to take advantage of being matched up with Craig Austrie on the block.

Also of note was how well the Spartans handled Thabeet inside. The big fella finished with 17 points, many of which came off of post moves, but he was 6-13 from the floor and finished with just 6 boards and 2 blocks. For the most part, MSU's ability to get up and down the floor essentially made Thabeet a non-factor on the defensive end.

(photo credit: Paul Sancya/AP)

Thabeet wasn't the only Husky the Spartans were able to keep in check. AJ Price finished with just 15 points on 5-20 shooting and had only 2 assists. Travis Walton, who also added 8 assists, was matched up with him just about the entire game, and UConn had no answer as neither Austrie or Walker could get it going.

The guy that did play great for UConn was Stanley Robinson. Playing in an uptempo game was perfectly suited to Robinson's athletic ability, and performed as such, finishing the game with 15 points, 13 boards, and 2 blocks.


UNC 83, Villanova 69: UNC jumped out to 19-8 and 26-12 leads which Villanova was never able to recover from. What is there is write about this Heels performance that hasn't been written all season long? They ran the floor, they hit open threes, they moved the ball well, and when nothing else worked, Ty Lawson was impossible to keep out of the lane.

It was such an impressive performance by the Heels, especially in the first half. Nova was able to make a stand in the second half, as the Heels took the air out of the ball down the stretch, but the Wildcats just could not get anything going on the offensive end.

The issue for Villanova was that they were unable to play at the Heels pace. Don't get me wrong, they were running with the Heels (which was not the way they wanted to play). But instead of running when they had numbers or when it was the right time, they were forcing everything. Corey Fisher and Scottie Reynolds got into the mind set that they needed to score every time they touched the ball, and ended up taking too many bad shots early in the possession. They combined for 30 points, but it was on 11-37 shooting from the floor.

Look at some of these stat lines from the Heels - Hansbrough had 18 points, 11 boards, and 4 steals; Ellington had 20 points, 9 boards, and 4 assists; and Lawson finished with 22 points, 7 boards, 8 assists, and 2 steals. The bottom line in this one was that UNC was just too talented for Villanova.

The guy that is not going to get any credit in this win is Bobby Frasor, but as I mentioned yesterday in the live-blog, Frasor played a fantastic game. He is such an undervalued piece of this team He played great defense on Fisher and Reynolds when he was in the game, I can think of three instances off the top of my head where he quickly swung the ball on the perimeter to yield an open three or a lay-up on the next pass, and he made a number of great hustle plays (he finished with 5 offensive boards). You can have all the talent you can handle on a team, with out guys like Frasor, you are not going to win titles.
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Monday Morning Shootaround: And the Final Four is set

The Final Four is all set. Next Saturday, Michigan State will play UConn while Villanova will be taking on UNC. Great match-ups, as we get four of the best programs in recent history traveling to Ford Field (where, of course, yours truly will be in attendance).

But previewing the Final Four is for another day. Let's take a look at what happened last night.

Michigan State 64, Louisville 52: This game started out how most expected it too - a defensive dogfight, with two heavy weights trading punches for 25 minutes. But the Spartans got the knock out blow.

Trailing 34-32 with 15:37 left in the game, the Michigan State defense turned up their intensity. Having already frustrated the Cardinals for 25 minutes, MSU made it near impossible for Louisville to score the rest of the way. They went on a number of runs, and outscored Louisville 32-13 over a 12 minute stretch, sending the Spartans to the Final Four.

Durrell Summers, a Detroit native, soars in for a dunk against Louisville.
(photo credit: Darron Cummings/AP)

It was what Tom Izzo wanted to do. Michigan State was not going to win a game that was a track meet. As good as the Spartans are, they simply do not have the athletes to run with the Cardinals. Their tough, harassing man-to-man defense held the Cards to just eight field goals in the second half, one of which came with 15 seconds left in a game that was already decided.

The biggest issue for the Cardinals was not offensively, however. No one is trying to claim the Cardinals as an offensive juggernaut. Their issue was that MSU was not struggling against the press and Louisville was not getting any easy buckets. The Spartans had just 12 turnovers on the game.

The problem was two fold. Louisville's press was ineffective, which meant that they weren't getting any easy baskets. Since they weren't scoring, they weren't able to get into their press. The Spartans were able to control the pace that the game was played at, which is why they won.

Michigan State got 19 points (17 in the first half to carry them), 10 boards, and 4 assists from Goran Suton. Durrell Summers added 12 points (10 in the second half) and Kalin Lucas chipped in 10 points and 5 assists. Earl Clark scored 19 points for the Cardinals, but they got just 5 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists from Terrence Williams.


UNC 72, Oklahoma 60: Blake Griffin scored 23 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, besting Tyler Hansbrough's 8 points and 6 boards.

On the stat sheet, Griffin won this one outright.

Too bad the stat sheet doesn't count for jack. Hansbrough's Tar Heels used a total team effort as they ran away from the Sooners early. UNC jumped out to a 13-2 lead, and never looked back. The Sooners were able to get it to five midway through the first half, but UNC responded by scoring six straight points, and was never really threatened the rest of the way.

The battle between players of the year never really lived up to expectations.
(photo credit: NY Daily News)

As I said, it was a total team effort. UNC got 19 points from Ty Lawson and 18 from Danny Green, but more importantly every Heel on the floor was hitting big shots. After struggling through a first half in which neither team could really get into a flow offensively, the Heels turned it on early in the second half. They hit their first seven shots from the floor, and looked unstoppable scoring the ball, as they opened up a 61-40 lead with 8 minutes to play. Willie Warren would get hot, scoring 14 points in the last 8 minutes to make the score respectable, but have no doubt, the Heels were the dominant team on this day.

The scary part of this performance wasn't UNC offensively. Every knows they can score. It was their defense, which completely suffocated what was a good Oklahoma team. They were able to slow Griffin down early, building a double digit lead (he didn't score until there were 11 minutes gone) all the while keeping Tony Crocker, Austin Johnson, and Warren from getting going. Granted, a lot of that was a result of the Sooners missing some open looks, but watching the game, UNC had people running at shooters quite often.
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Sunday Morning Shootaround: Two Big East Teams reach the Final Four

The Elite 8 started out with a bang, as UConn and Missouri played a competitive game out in the desert while Villanova and Pitt battled in what was probably the best game of the tournament to date. So that means we now have two Big East teams headed too Detroit, and if Louisville can knock off Michigan State, there will be three teams from the same conference advancing for the first time since 1985.

Villanova 78, Pitt 76: Best game of the tournament to date. Villanova jumped out to an early 18-8 lead. Pitt would slowly work their way back, cutting the lead to three on a number of occasions before Levance Fields finally tied it up with a three pointer. Pitt would eventually take 34-32 lead into the break.

The second half was back-and-forth. All told, there were 15 lead changes in the game, but six of them came in the last six minutes. Pitt would eventually take a 67-63 lead with 3:24 left, but Villanova would respond with a 10-2 run to take a 73-69 lead with just over a minute left. But Sam Young responded by hitting a three to cut the lead to 73-72. Nova would hit three free throws before a DeJuan Blair lay-up made the score 76-74.

That's when it got good.

Reggie Redding took the ball out of bounds and tried to hit Dante Cunningham deep, who he thought was wide open. Jermaine Dixon made a play and intercepted the ball, and Fields got fouled with 5.5 seconds left on the clock. He hit both free throws.

This was the ensuing inbounds:



Pitt made a huge mistake on this play when they were doubling Reynolds. They had a player on each side of him. You are supposed to put someone in front and someone in back, because if Reynolds gets a running start going sideways, that doesn't hurt you. But Reynolds was able to get a running start going straight at the rim, and not wanting to foul, Pitt allowed him to get all the way to the paint. Game over.

Reynolds, who was named the East Region most outstanding player, finished with 15 points. Dwayne Anderson led the Wildcats with 17 and 4 steals. Sam Young had 28 points and Blair added 20 and 10 boards for the Panthers.


UConn 82, Missouri 75: UConn was too big for the Tigers in the first half. It took a while for Missouri's press to really start clicking, as UConn broke it with ease in the first half, taking a 13-2 lead.

Mizzou wasn't going to go away, however. They drew an early foul on Thabeet, and took advantage when he went to the bench. The Tigers were able to get the lead to one, before heading into the break down 44-38. In the second half, however, Mizzou's press started to work. They forced 17 turnovers on the game, 9 coming in the second half, before finally taking the lead 50-49 after a 9-0 run. The game would be back-and-forth for a while, but UConn would eventually regain control.

But the guy that took over wasn't AJ Price. It wasn't Thabeet, Jeff Adrien, or Stanley Robinson. It was 6'1" freshman Kemba Walker, who almost single-handedly broke Mizzou's press in the second half. For the game, Walker scored a career-high 23 points and added 5 assists. After Mizzou cut the UConn lead to 59-58 with about five minutes left, Walker took over. He broke the press, finding Adrien (who was fouled), then scored on a lay-up breaking the press on the next possession. After getting a stop, Walker found Thabeet for a lay-up, opening a 65-59 lead that Mizzou would never recover from.

Leo Lyons led the Tigers with 13 points. Thabeet had 13 boards on the game, but finished with just 5 points and 0 blocks.
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Saturday Morning Shootaround: And The Elite 8 Is Set

The Elite 8 is set, and if anything has become clear during the last ten days, it is that the Big East was far and away the best conference in the country. Four teams from the conference have made the Elite 8 (along with two from the Big XII and one from both the Big XII and the ACC). With the tournament officially halfway done, half of the teams left are from the Big East.

Think about that for a second.

That is pretty impressive.

One Big East team is guaranteed to be in the Final Four (Pitt plays Villanova), but with the way that Louisville and UConn have looked, would it surprise anyone if three teams from the league reached the Final Four?

Didn't think so. Let's get into the night's Sweet 16 action.

Louisville 103, Arizona 64: The Cardinals showed how good they can be tonight. Take a look at some of these stats:

• 57.6% shooting from the field
• 14-29 from deep
• 29 assists on 38 field goals
• Committed 9 turnovers
  
• Held Zona to 38.6% shooting
• Got an offensive rebound on 11 of their 28 misses
  

That is just the beginning of it. They looked dominating defensively, making every pass and every shot difficult for the Wildcats. On the offensive end, crisp ball movement and beautiful passing led to open threes and lay-ups. And the Cardinals did not miss.

The Cards opened up a 17-9 lead early in the first half. After a quick 14-4 run, they took a 34-19 run with six minutes left in the half, and eventually went into the half ahead 49-28. The play that epitomized the day happens at the 1:00 mark in the following highlight clip:



T-Will grabs a defensive rebound, whips it around his back to avoid getting the ball stripped, then leads a fast break that results in an Earl Clark three from the corner.

Clark led the Cards with 19 points and 9 boards, T-Will added 14 points, 7 boards, 6 assists, and 2 steals, and Jerry Smith chipped in with 16 (13 in the first half). Chase Budinger has 22 for Zona, while Jordan Hill added 14 points and 11 boards.


Oklahoma 84, Syracuse 71: Syracuse just wasn't ready for the Sooners. Oklahoma jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead, and while they were able to get that lead down to one point on a couple occasions during the first half, Oklahoma pulled away at the end of the half before jumped on the Orange in the second half. By the time Syracuse decided to start playing, they were down 56-29 and the game was all but over.

Blake Griffin added a ho-hum 30 points and 14 rebounds, but he was not the star for the Sooners. That honor would go to Tony Crocker, who scored a career-high 28 points, hitting 6-11 threes. It was Crocker who hit a three at the end of the half (and scored 8 of the last 11 for the Sooners) as OU opened up a 39-26 halftime lead.

The biggest play in this game came with about a minute to go in the half. Blake Griffin was driving to the rim, and Jonny Flynn slid over to try and take a charge. It was called a block, and Griffin finished a three-point play to give the Sooners a 10 point lead. Flynn ended up with a bad bruise on his back, and did not get a chance to try and make a play on the ensuing Orange possession. Instead, Tony Crocker hit a three right before the buzzer to send the game into halftime. Instead of being down 33-26 with the ball, the Cuse had to head into the half down 13. They were never able to recover.

Flynn led the Orange with 22 points, the majority of came in the second half when the game was already out of reach.

Bonus dunk video: Blake Griffin showing off his insane athleticism by hitting his face (not the top of his head, his left cheek) on the back board on a dunk:




Michigan State 67, Kansas 62: The Spartans trailed Kansas 32-19 at one point in the first half, but that is when the MSU defense woke up. The Jayhawks committed 19 turnovers on the day, 10 of which came in the second half, as MSU was able to crawl all the way back and eventually take a lead late in the second half.

This one was billed as the Sherron Collins-Kalin Lucas show. For much of the game, it was a disappointment. Lucas struggled to find his shot, while Collins was hitting tough jumper after tough jumper.

That changed down the stretch. After Lucas found Raymar Morgan for a dunk that tied the game, Collins committed a costly turnover on an errant pass intended for Cole Aldrich. At the other end, Lucas drove by Collins, finishing in the paint and earning a three-point play. After the teams traded free throws, Collins was fouled on the perimeter with a chance to cut the lead to two, but he missed the front-end. Lucas would knock own two more free throws (he scored the last seven for the Spartans) and MSU would hang on to win.

This game also featured a good match-up inside as Cole Aldrich went toe-to-toe with Goran Suton. Aldrich ended the game with 17 points, 13 boards, 4 assists, and 4 blocks, but was not as much of a factor late (Kansas only scored two points in the paint in the second half). Suton was. He led MSU with 20 points, 9 boards, and 5 steals (just about all of which came by knocking away an entry pass).

This game also featured the funniest moment of the day. After MSU hit two free throws during the second half, Idong Ibok took the ball out of bounds under the MSU basket, while the Kansas players just stood there and looked at him.

UNC 98, Gonzaga 77: North Carolina looked absolutely dominant against Gonzaga in the first half, to the point where they were just about unstoppable offensively. The Heels put up 53 points, scoring in just about every way imaginable - on the break, on post-ups, on dribble penetration, by hitting threes, beautiful back court cuts for dunks (like the one Lawson threw to Green early in the first half.

There were two problems for Gonzaga last night. The first was that they absolutely could not get a stop. UNC was hitting everything they threw at the rim, and the only turned the ball over twice in the half. Gonzaga, on the other hand, committed four turnovers in the first six minutes, which led to 10 Tar Heels points. The Zags did go basket for basket with the Heels for a while, but the Heels were just too efficient.

The Heels were up 17 midway through the half, but a 10-2 Gonzaga run cut the deficit to 51-42. But, as they have always done, UNC answered. Hansbrough scored the last hoop of the first half, and then the Heels scored the first three buckets on the second half, pushing the lead back to 17 and taking the air out of Gonzaga's sails.

Ty Lawson scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half to help UNC open up the big lead. Hansbrough added 24 and 10 boards.
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Friday Morning Shootaround: The Three Big East Schools and Missouri Advance

Last night was fairly similar to the rest of the tournament as there was not a ton of nailbiting while the better teams advanced (and trust me, Mizzou and Villanova are the better teams). That's not to say there wasn't some great basketball played. Pitt was dominant in the second half, UConn and Villanova overpowered Purdue and Duke, respectively, and Missouri showed off what may be the best press since Nolan Richardson's Arkansas in the mid-90's.

UConn 72, Purdue 60: Purdue's defense was as stingy as advertised, as the Boilermakers were able to hang in with the bigger and more talented Huskies. UConn never trailed in this one, but Purdue kept in interesting after falling behind 14-3.

In the first half, it was on the strength of Robbie Hummel's shooting. UConn opened the game with Jeff Adrien guarding Hummel, which was quickly apparent as a mismatch. Hummel scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half (Purdue had just 25 at the break) on a variety of jumpers. But with the rest of his team ice cold, Purdue was not able to take the lead. In the second half, UConn put Stanley Robinson on Hummel and slid Adrien over onto the much-less offensive-minded (don't you love hyphenated words?) Chris Kramer. The result was that Hummel had just one field goal in the second half.

Hasheem Thabeet was too much in the middle for the Huskies.
(photo credit: Chris Carlson/AP)

Purdue had an answer for just about everything UConn threw at them on the defensive end ... except for Hasheem Thabeet. The co-Big East player of the year was a force in the second half, as he scored UConn's first eight points, on a series of lay-ups and baby hooks, and had a block and a tipped-out defensive rebound lead to fast break buckets. The surge gave UConn another 11 point lead at 42-31. Purdue wouldn't get closer than four the rest of the way as Thabeet finished with 15 points, 15 boards, and 4 blocks.

Craig Austrie finished with 17 points to lead the Huskies, while Stanley Robinson added 10 points and 11 boards.


Pitt 60, Xavier 55: Xavier dominated the first half of this game. They were able to get penetration, thus getting good shots near the rim and on kickouts. The Musketeers outworked the Panthers on the glass, and basically beat Pitt at their own game. Derrick Brown was the best player on the floor, scoring on a couple perimeter jumpers and two beautiful drives to the rim.

That all changed in the second half. Pitt was more active defensively, forcing a number of turnovers by the Musketeers (a number by Kenny Frease, who looked intimidated by DeJuan Blair the entire game), and was much more dominant on the boards (Blair grabbed 13 of his 17 boards in the second half). As a result, Xavier went stone cold in the second half, missing their first ten shots, finishing the half 7-29 from the floor. They would score just 18 points in the half.

But Pitt was just as bad in the second half, and Xavier found themselves up 54-52 with under a minute left. That's when Levance Fields came to the rescue again. Against Oklahoma State, Fields hit a three and scored on a tough drive in the lane to give the Panthers a lead they would not relinquish. In this one, Fields hit a very tough step-back three in Dante Jackson's face with 50.9 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, he got his hands on a lazy pass and took that the distance for a lay-up with 23.9 seconds left. After Xavier missed a three, Pitt would hit their free throws to seal the win.

Levance Fields celebrates after scoring a lay-up to give Pitt a late three point lead.
(photo credit: Winslow Townson/AP)

It was a familiar formula for the Panthers, as they rode the (very) broad shoulders of their three stars - Fields, Blair, and Sam Young. Fields would finish the game with 14 points and 6 assists, Blair added 10 points, 3 steals, and 2 blocks to his 17 boards all while Sam Young scored a team-high 19 points. Brown had 14 points and 9 boards while BJ Raymond finished with 15 points to lead Xavier.


Missouri 102, Memphis 91: Did anyone predict that the Tigers would put up 102 points on the best defense in the country?

We didn't.

Missouri jumped on Memphis from the tip, breaking down the Tigers defensively and forcing them into an uptempo game that they just didn't have the horses for. JT Tiller was the catalyst at the start, has he had 15 of his team-high 23 points in the first half, getting to the rim almost at will. After Marcus Denmon hit a 3/4 court shot to beat the halftime buzzer, Missouri would take a 49-36 lead into the break.



Mizzou would extend their lead to 64-40 just four minutes into the second half, finishing off a 43-15 run. But that is when Memphis finally woke up. In the last 16 minutes of the game, Cal's Tigers would score 51 points, but it was too little, too late, as Memphis never got closer than six.

DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons, the versatile forwards, were a tough match-up for the less-mobile Memphis bigs, as the two combined for 32 points, 18 boards, 8 assists, and 3 blocks. Robert Dozier had 19 points and 16 boards for Memphis, but the best player on the floor tonight (on either team) was Tyreke Evans, who may have just played his way out of Memphis. Evans finished the game with 33 points, slicing and dicing the Mizzou pressure throughout the game. He showed an incredible ability to penetrate, and despite not being overly explosive, he was able able to finish at the rim. Given his height (6'6") and wingspan (7'0"), if he can develop a consistent perimeter shot, Evans will be a heckuva scorer at the next level.


Villanova 77, Duke 54: For the sixth straight season Duke has lost in the tournament to a lower seed (and the fifth straight season the Devils have been eliminated from the dance before the Elite 8). This year, it was the result of a dominating defense performance from Villanova (who, coincidentally, won their 14th game over a higher-rated team in the tournament, a record). Nova held Gerald Henderson and Jon Scheyer to a combined 4-32 shooting, and as a team Duke shot just 26.7% from the field.

It was a snowball effect. The Wildcats frustrated Duke early on in the game, making buckets hard to come by. But Duke was also playing some terrific defense, as the team's headed into the break with the score 26-23. But in the second half, Nova went on a 12-1 run after Duke scored the opening basket, taking a 38-26 lead. As the Wildcats kept pushing their lead bigger, Duke kept forcing the issue. Bad shots and turnovers led to quick, easy baskets on the other end for Nova.

Villanova also was much more aggressive going to the basket. Duke has a penchant for struggling against teams and players that can penetrate, and that was more than obvious tonight as Nova was able to get to the rack just about whenever they pleased in the second half. And when they weren't scoring on their first shot, they were getting the offensive boards. Nova won the rebounding battle 49-34, including 12 on the offensive glass.

Dwayne Anderson and company held the Blue Devils to 26.7% shooting.
(photo credit: Elise Amendola/AP)

As usual, it was a team effort from the Cats (you notice I have yet to mention a Villanova players name - that is the norm for this team). They were led by 16 points form Scottie Reynolds, but Dante Cunningham added 14 and 11 boards and Reggie Redding had 11 points, 9 boards, and 4 assists. Four other players added between six and eight points.

Dwayne Anderson is fast becoming one of my favorite players in the country. He is a gritty defender that can, literally, defend every position on the floor (most everyone needed to be able to tonight, as Nova was switching everything for the majority of the night). He can also knock down threes, score in the post, and take his man off the dribble. My favorite aspect to his game is how hard he goes to the glass. He always seems to be in the middle of every scrum for a rebound, and is good for at least one put-back per game.
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Monday Morning Shootaround: Louisville and Pitt Survive Scares As Every Higher Seed Won

Continuing the theme of the entire tournament, Sunday was a day devoid of upsets, as the higher seed won in each and every game. That isn't to say there wasn't some excitement, as #1 seeds Pitt and Louisville survived scares, as did Michigan State and Missouri.

Before we get into today's shootaround, I'd like to take this time to point out that BIAH got 14 of the Sweet 16 teams correct (missing on Arizona - thanks Wake - and Xavier, we took Wisconsin) and still have our entire Elite 8 intact. Between that and predicting the 34 at-large teams correctly, ESPN has to come calling fairly soon, no?

GAME OF THE DAY: 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.

(Ed. Note: This happened to my team in college once. We had a center who was a pretty bad free throw shooter, and with about ten seconds left in regulation, he got fouled on a play at the rim. He had broken his nose earlier in the game, and after the play came up holding his face like he had gotten popped again. I still remember seeing him say to the trainer "I'm faking it" and watching her smile while she pretended to check his nose. Anyway, we put in our senior captain that shot about 85% from the line, he hit both free throws to tie the game, and we eventually won in overtime. Our center was right back in the game after the foul shots.)

Marquette's season - gone in six inches.
(photo credit: The Dagger)

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.

The play kind of embodied the entire first weekend - no real buzzer beaters (unless you count Demetri Goodson), no huge upsets, no cinderellas. No shot to tie for Marquette.

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Cole Aldrich, Kansas

Kansas struggled offensively against the athletic, aggressive defense of the Flyers. They finished the game with just 60 points, but that was more than enough as Dayton shot a woeful 22.2% from the floor, scoring just 43 points. Why did the Flyers struggle so much from the field? The presence of Aldrich at the rim. The big fella, who was playing in front of a hometown crowd in Minneapolis, finished the game with 20 boards and 10 blocks, to go along with 13 points, as he delivered one of the most dominating defensive performances of the season. Dayton is not a team loaded with shooters, and the Flyers, as their nickname would indicate, are a team that survives on penetrating and finishing at the rim. Aldrich made quick work of that.

Aldrich's triple-double was the first in Kansas team history, and just the sixth in the history of the NCAA tournament (keep in mind, steals and blocks were not official stats until 1986, and assists were not until 1984). The last player with a triple-double was D-Wade, back when he was still Dwayne, who had 29 points, 11 boards, and 11 assists in the 2003 regional finals. Shaq was the last player with a triple-double in blocks, as he went for 26 points, 13 boards, and 11 blocks in the 1992 first round.

They were good too:

• Eric Devendorf, Syracuse: Devo had 21 points, including back-to-back threes when ASU cut the lead to five, as the Orange advanced to the Sweet 16.
• Sherron Collins, Kansas: Collins finished with 25 points as Kansas held off Dayton.
• Nic Wise, Arizona: Wise led Arizona with 21 points and 8 assists as the Wildcats advanced to the Sweet 16.
• Sam Young, Pitt: Young had 32 points and 8 boards as Pitt held off OK State.
• Byron Eaton, OK State: Eaton had 15 points, 10 assists, and 5 steals to keep the Cowboys in it against Pitt.
• Jerel McNeal, Marquette: McNeal had 30 points and 4 assists in the Eagle's loss to Missouri.
• Terrence Williams, Louisville: T-Will helped Louisville hold off the Saints with a 24 points, 15 boards, 4 assist and 2 steal performance.
  

TEAM OF THE DAY: Arizona Wildcats

I know what you are thinking. I'm picking the Wildcats because they advanced to the Sweet 16, validating their inclusion into the dance.

Wrong.

Your performance, good or bad, does not have any effect on whether or not you should have been admitted into the tournament. At-large bids are based on performance during the regular season. Performance, or lack there of, in the tournament is a completely separate entity. Think about it like this - Wake Forest lost to Cleveland State in the first round. Does that mean that they shouldn't have been a four-seed, or should not have been an at-large bid at all?

No.

So why should Arizona winning two games have any affect on how the Wildcats are viewed? If anything, it should make their regular season performance seem disappointing.

So why is Arizona the team of the day? Because of what that program has been through the last year and change. Between Lute Olsen's health (both mental and physical), the Kevin O'Neill-Russ Pennell soap opera, the loss of recruits, NBAers, and transfers, and the pending NCAA infractions investigation, fans in Tucson have not had a lot to cheer about recently. Which is a shame, because this team is fun one to watch. Chase Budinger is as talented as any player at his position in the country, and is good for a youtube clip every once in a while. Nic Wise lost a bunch of weight, and has turned himself into the next star at Point Guard U. Jordan Hill has transformed himself from a no name recruit to a potential top three pick (according to Draft Express), and one of only three players (along with Terrence Williams and DeJuan Blair) who permanently have a smile on their face for every second that they are on the court.

That is why the Wildcats are the team of the day. Because this is the payoff that guys like Hill, and Budinger, and Wise, and Pennell get for sticking through the tough times.

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Sunday Morning Shootaround: Gonzaga Wins At The Buzzer

Why are the late game always the best games of the day? I happened against last night, as Duke needed the benefit of a couple close calls against Texas While Gonzaga got a last second bucket from Demetri Goodson that allowed them to advance.

GAME OF THE DAY: Gonzaga 83, Western Kentucky 81

The Zags had built an 81-72 lead with just 2:14 left to play, but Western Kentucky was not about to go away. An Orlando Mendez-Valdez three cut the lead to 81-77, and after a Gonzaga turnover, Mendez-Valdez found Steffphon Pettigrew for a dunk that cut the lead to two with 58.7 seconds left. The Hilltoppers would got a stop at the other end, setting up the final sequence.

AJ Slaughter missed a three, but Pettigrew was johnny-on-the-spot and tipped in the rebound, tying the game up at 81. The freshman Goodson took the inbounds with 7.2 seconds left. He went the distance, going around two Hilltopper defenders. The lane opened up in front of him, and the freshman hit a runner off the glass with 0.9 seconds left to send the Zags to their first Sweet 16 since 2006.

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Blake Griffin, Oklahoma

He was beaten up, yet again. Manny Harris undercut him going for a rebound, sending Griffin sprawling on his back. A Zak Novak elbow going for a loose ball bloodied his nose. He hit the floor a number of times. But none of it was enough, as Griffin finished the game with 33 points and 17 rebounds, leading the Sooners to the Sweet 16 for the first time in six years. He scored 8 points in a 12-2 Sooner run to start the second half, opening up a 42-31 lead that Michigan was never able to recover from.

Griffin's effect on the game was more than just the numbers he put up. His presence inside is what allowed Austin Johnson and Willie Warren to get good looks from the perimeter. The two of them combined to go 6-13 from three, and when those two are knocking down shots, it makes Oklahoma near impossible to beat.

Griffin also had the dunk of the day yesterday:



The most impressive part of this dunk is that he doesn't take off going towards the basket. He kind of slides around the guy trying to take the charge, posterizing him while avoiding an offensive foul.

They were good too:

• AJ Price, UConn: Price had 27 points and 8 assists as UConn rolled past Texas A&M.
• JaJuan Johnson, Purdue: Johnson had 22 points, 6 boards, and 4 blocks, including two blocks on Washington's last possession to help seal the win.
• Jon Brockman, Washington: Brockman played the last game of his career, finishing with 20 points and 18 boards.
• Matt Bouldin, Gonzaga: Bouldin helped the Zags hold off Western Kentucky with 20 points, 8 boards, and 6 assists.
  
• Orlando Mendez-Valdez, Western Kentucky: Mendez-Valdez had 25 points and 7 assists, but only had 8 points after the first 10 minutes.
  
• Gerald Henderson, Duke: Henderson led Duke with 24 points.
  

TEAM OF THE DAY: Villanova

The Wildcats put a beat down on UCLA, 89-69. They were up 28-11 ten minutes into the game, and never looked back. It was a complete team effort for the Cats, as they out physicaled and out hustled the Bruins. Villanova is a dangerous team in this tournament because of their versatility. They have so many guys that can play on the perimeter, which allows them to spread out a defense. Against the Bruins, it worked because UCLA was not rotating defensively. It should be fun to watch them go up against Duke, as the two teams match-up very well with each other.

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Saturday Morning Shootaround: Did You Stay Up For The Late Games?

As was true in 2008, Friday's slate of games was much more exciting than Thursday's. Twice, in the first round of games and in the last round of games, we had two nailbiters coming to a finish at the same time, which meant that at every break, commercial, timeout, or free throw, CBS was throwing us back and forth between the two locations.

All in all, I think CBS has done a very good job so far broadcasting the tournament. I haven't been stuck watching many blowouts (the longest they stayed with one was Wake-Cleveland State, for obvious reasons) and I have been able to see the ending of all the exciting games. MMOD has also been great this year - it is very easy to switch between games and the streaming video is damn near flawless. My only word(s) of advice - split screen.

Let's get into yesterday's best:

GAME OF THE DAY: Wisconsin 61, Florida State 59 OT

Once again, the best game of the night was the last game of the night. Wisconsin played a horrid first half, heading into the break down 31-19 after an 11-0 Seminole run to close the half. But the Badgers were not about to roll over. They held Florida State scoreless for almost six minutes to start the second half, going on a 13-0 run to take a 32-31 lead. Toney Douglas, who finished with 26 points but didn't even attempt a shot in the first 11 minutes, would respond. An 11-2 Seminoles run, spurred by 9 points from Douglas, gave FSU a 46-39 lead with 4:38 left, but Wisconsin would score the next seven points, setting up the exciting finish.

Trevon Hughes tied the game at 46 with a three, but at the other end, Douglas drew a foul and hit both shots. Jason Bohannon responded at the other end with a three with two minutes left, giving Wisconsin the 49-48 lead, but Derwin Kitchen got to the rim and scored to give FSU the lead back. That set up one of the strangest plays I have seen in a while. After Marcus Landry missed a three, Kitchen grabbed the board and started racing up court. As he got near midcourt, he jumped and turned to the ref, trying to call a time out. His momentum carried him out of bounds, and the ref ruled that Kitchen was not allowed to call a timeout in the air while going out of bounds. Wisconsin ball. The Badgers would respond, as Bohannon drilled a three from about 26 feet as the shot clock expired, and Wisconsin took a 52-50 lead with under a minute left. Douglas, however, managed to get into the lane and draw a foul, hitting both free throws and forcing overtime.

Trevon Hughes takes the game-winning shot.
(photo credit: Paul Sakuma/AP)

In the OT, Wisconsin would open the scoring with another Bohannon three, but FSU would respond with a 7-1 run, capped by a three from Douglas. The Badgers would cut it to one with 48 seconds left, and after getting a stop, they had the ball, down 59-58 with 14 seconds left. Trevon Hughes got it, isolated on the wing, and drove to the rim, finishing a spin move by banking a shot in off the glass with 2 seconds left, and the foul. He would hit the foul shot, and a Douglas prayer was off the mark.

Bohannon led the Badgers with 16 points, while Hughes added 10. Chris Singleton was the only other Seminole to reach double figures, going for 12 points.

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Ronald Moore, Siena

Moore did not overload the stat sheet Friday night, as he finished with 11 points, 7 boards, 6 assists, and 3 steals. He did not shoot all that well, going just 4-13 from the floor and 2-6 from three. What did he do well? He was 2-2 from three with under 15 seconds on the clock.

Siena advanced to the second round for the second straight year as they knocked off Ohio State 74-72 in 2OT. The biggest reason for the win was not the 20 points from Kenny Hasbrouck, and was not the double-double's posted by Ryan Rossiter and Alex Franklin. It was the big shots that Moore hit. Hasbrouck forced the first OT with a free throw, but Siena found themselves down 65-62 with just 9 seconds left on the clock. But Moore brought the ball up court, and calmly drilled a three in the face of PJ Hill, who was supposed to be fouling, forcing the second OT.

Moore is mobbed by teammates after hitting the go-ahead three.
(photo credit: Skip Peterson/AP)

In the second OT, Moore hit a free throws with 57 seconds left to give the Saints the lead, but Evan Turner scored on a lay-up at the other end to take the lead back for the Buckeyes. On the ensuing Saints possession, Edwin Ubiles drove middle and drew three defenders, kicking the ball out to Moore, who buried another three with 3.9 seconds left on the clock. Turner would miss a 15 foot runner at the buzzer, and the Saints were advancing.

They were good too (there were so many great performances Friday):

• Byron Eaton, Oklahoma State: Eaton had 20 points and 7 assists, including the game winner, as the Cowboys beat Tennessee.
• Sherron Collins, Kansas: Collins had 32 points and 8 assists as the Jayhawks outlasted Ben Woodside and the NDSU Bison.
• Ben Woodside, NDSU: Woodside finished with 37 points in his duel with Collins, likely playing his way into the NBA Draft.
• Lazar Hayward, Marquette: Hayward had 26 points and 8 boards as Marquette came back to beat Utah State.
• DeJuan Blair, Pitt: Blair was the lone bright spot in Pitt's win against ETSU, going for 27 points and 16 boards.
• Evan Turner, Ohio State: Turner finished with 25 points, 9 boards, 8 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks, all team highs, in the Buckeye's loss.
  
• Chris Wright, Dayton: "Top Flyght" had 27 points and 10 boards, earning his moniker with a number of thunderous dunks.
• Nic Wise, Arizona: Wise scored 29 points in the Wildcats "upset" over Utah.
• Taj Gibson, USC: Gibson had 24 points, 6 boards, 5 assists, and 3 blocks, shooting 10-10 from the floor, as USC knocked off BC.

TEAM OF THE DAY: Cleveland State

Is it obvious? The Viking pulled off the biggest upset of the first round by torching the Demon Deacons 84-69. Wake Forest was never really in this game, as CSU raced to a 9-0 lead out of the gates and a 29-12 lead midway through the first half. Wake would get as close as 55-49 with 11 minutes to go in the second half, but an 11-2 run triggered by 5 points from Cedric Jackson and 6 points from Norris Cole all but put the game away.

Jackson and Cole were sensational in the game. Cole had 22 points, but Jackson was the one that took over for about a four minutes stretch in the second half, nailing tough jumpers and getting to the rim whenever he pleased. Jackson finished with 19 points, 7 boards, 8 assists, and 3 steals. The two also linked up on the play of the day (keep in mind that this was off of a sideline out of bounds.



Cleveland State advances to face Arizona in the second round.
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