Sweet 16 Breakdown: The West Region

The West region is the only one of the four regions that doesn't have a cinderella in the Sweet 16.

And let's face it, Butler and Xavier are not sleepers anymore. Xavier is not a mid-major program, and hasn't been in a while. Butler is getting very close to being on that same level.

And I'm sure I'm not the only that thought Xavier was a pretty easy pick over Pitt coming out of their pod.

That doesn't mean that there weren't exciting games or upsets in this region. Vandy got dropped in the first round on a buzzer beater. BYU and Florida needed two OT's to settle their differences.


Most Memorable Game: Murray State 66, Vanderbilt 65

Murray State was a trendy upset pick over Vanderbilt. A balanced, experienced group, the Racers withstood an early surge from the Dores and headed into halftime with a 36-32 lead. They would hold on to that lead for much of the second half, at one point pushing it as big as seven.

But Vandy made their run. A 7-0 spurt, capped by back-to-back jumpers form freshman John Jenkins put the Dores up 60-56 with just under four minutes to play. Murray State answer that run by knocking down threes on consecutive possessions, the second of which came from BJ Jenkins and gave the Racers the lead back. After a jumper from Danero Thomas and a free throw followed by a layup from AJ Ogilvy brought Vandy within one with just over a minute left. After the Dores forced a turnover, Ogilvy found Beal cutting for a layup. Beal was fouled and hit both free throws, giving Vandy a 65-64 lead with 12 seconds remaining. After the ball was knocked out of bounds at the other end, Murray State had possession with 4.9 seconds left:



In the mix: BYU 99, Florida 92 2OT; Xavier 71, Pitt 68


Most Memorable Performance: Jordan Crawford, Xavier

Jordan Crawford made a strong case as to why he is one of the nation's premiere scoring guards this weekend. In the first round against Minnesota, Crawford sparked a second half surge by scoring 11 points in an 18-9 surge that pushing the Muskies to a 47-39 lead. Xavier would hold that lead until the final minutes when the Gophers made a push, but Crawford buried a three from the corner that put Xavier up 63-54 with just 38 seconds left. All told, Crawford finished with 28 points, 6 assists, and 5 boards, scoring 17 in the second half.

Crawford was just as good on Sunday against Pitt. Held scoreless for the first 12 minutes of the game, he scored 10 points late in the first half as the Muskies opened up an eight point half time. In the second half, he scored eight straight points that put Xavier up 50-37, and while Pitt made a run at X, cutting the lead to one at one point, Crawford hit four free throws and had a dunk in the final minute to help seal the win. In the two games, Crawford averaged 27.5 ppg -- 17.0 in the second half -- 6.0 rpg, and 3.0 apg while shooting almost 56% from the field and 9-18 from three.

All-West Region First Weekend team:

• Jacob Pullen, Kansas State - 24.5 ppg, 9-18 threes
• Denis Clemente, Kansas State - 18.0 ppg, 4.5 apg
• Shelvin Mack, Butler - 18.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 9-12 threes
• Wes Johnson, Syracuse - 24.5 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 7-11 threes, 17-28 FG's
• Andy Rautins, Syracuse - 17.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 5.0 apg, 8-16 threes
  

Thursday 7:07 pm: (1) Syracuse vs. (5) Butler

On paper, this looks like a terrible matchup for the Bulldogs. A lot of people wrote off Butler early in the season after watching them struggle against much of their premiere competition. The knock? The Bulldogs can't handle the size and athleticism of the best teams in the country.

Butler is probably the smallest team left in the tournament. Gordon Hayward, their three man, is the tallest player that sees minutes. Their center -- Matt Howard -- is 6'8", a land warrior, and as foul prone as any player in the country. Their power forward is the same height as the Syracuse back court.

As you might imagine, that's a problem.

Syracuse is big. Even if Arinze Onuaku's quad isn't ready to go on Thursday, they are big (UPDATE: Jim Boeheim has announced that Onuaku will not, in fact, be playing tomorrow). Rick Jackson was one of the most underrated players in the Big East this past season. A lefty, Jackson is a good rebounder and a solid post scorer. He blocks his share of shots, and shouldn't have an issue matching up with Howard. If Onuaku is ready to go, Butler is going to be in some trouble. How are they going to defend and rebound against that much size?

The paint isn't the only place Syracuse is big.

Wes Johnson and Kris Joseph are both 6'7" and athletic with long arms. Andy Rautins, Scoop Jardine, and Brandon Triche are all big, physical guards that love to get in the passing lanes on the perimeter. Add in the fact that Butler doesn't have a lot of great shooter, and you can see how this team might struggle against a zone with that much length that can force turnovers.

Should I even mention that Johnson played his best game of the season on Sunday? He went for 31 points and 14 boards, hit a season high four threes, and was as aggressive offensively as we have seen him.

Having said all of that, Butler is a tough team that plays hard, smart basketball. But eventually, athletic talent will outweigh effort.

Thursday: 9:37 pm: (2) Kansas State vs. (6) Xavier

These two teams don't like each other, stemming back to a game when Michael Beasley was still on the K-State roster and Xavier gave the Wildcats a pretty good whooping.

Kansas State got their revenge earlier this season by winning a slugfest 71-56. In that game, there was jawing, there was physical play, and there were people flying all over the floor.

You shouldn't expect anything different on Thursday.

K-State's bread and butter is their physicality. They are going to get up in your jock on the defensive end. They are going to bump cutters. They are going to crash the glass as hard as anyone in the country. They force you into turning the ball over.

The way K-State operates is that they pretty much give Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente free reign to do whatever they want on the offensive end. Those two are both capable of going for 30 on a given night, and Frank Martin knows that. And while they have, at times, shot K-State to a win, they are also capable of going 2-15 on a given night.

That's where the Wildcat front line comes into play. Martin has a ton of guys on his roster that are big, strong, and athletic. Xavier is going to have to box out, because you cannot let those kids get a free path to a rebound or else the Muskies or going to be on the wrong end of a Sportscenter top 10.

I know that Xavier has already lost to this Kansas State team, but Xavier is better than they were early in the season. One of the biggest reasons is the development of Jordan Crawford. Crawford was a gunner early in the season, and still is a gunner today. But the difference is that a) he has better shot selection than he did early on and b) he has started hitting the tougher shots he takens pretty consistently. Crawford was unreal the first weekend of the tournament, and Xavier is tough to beat when he plays like that.

Even if Crawford doesn't go for 25, Xavier can win if they eliminate Kansas State's easy baskets. Kansas State, as I mentioned, can go and get an offensive rebound and loves to pressure defensively and force turnovers. Box out and value possession, and the Muskies will make this interesting.