Day: March 21, 2008

A combination of Sonny Weems going 12-14 for Arkansas and Eric Gordon shooting 3-15 spelled doom for the Hoosiers. Even though, DJ White and Armon Bassett battled til the end, this team just didn’t look like the Indiana team before the departure of Kelvin Sampson.

The question that begs to be asked is would it have been different if the AD had named Ray McCallum the interim head coach. I think so!!!

Memphis was just too deep and talented for UTA to hang for 40 minutes. Give Scott Cross and his team credit, they battled for as long as they could. However, Memphis just kept coming in waves and just flat out wore them out.

Boise State had no magic left on the hardwood for Louisville. The Broncos, who stunned Oklahoma in football a year ago, fell behind 10-1 and never caught up. With Louisville hitting 12 threes and Derrick Character playing like he is trying to raise his stock for the NBA the Cards controlled the game from start to finish. If Character can play like he did tonight, the Cards will still be playing in San Antonio.

In the most exciting game of the night, Clemson took an early 17 point lead and had Villanova on the ropes. But Scottie Reynolds wouldn’t let his team quit. He led the Wildcats back to take a lead late in the game. In winning 75-69, the difference turned out to be the free throw line. Villanova shot 24-29 while Clemson, who has struggled all year could only manage to make 14-23.

One thing for sure in this tournament. If you want to win, you have to make the 3 ball and you have to make your free throws down the stretch. Siena, Western Kentucky, Davidson, Miami and Butler all advanced due to superior three point shooting. It is the great equalizer.

Second round action should be exciting as there are still plenty of teams from non-BCS conferences still alive. Here’s hoping that one of them becomes the next George Mason. For my money, Butler may have the best chance, but I really like Davidson with Curry’s big play ability.

The Siena Saints not only upset Vandy, but crushed them from start to finish. Fran McCafrey’s game plan of isolating Kenny Hasbrouck and running plays to give Tay Fisher open 3’s worked to perfection. Hasbrouck ended up with 30 and Fisher was a perfect 6-6 from behind the line.

McCafrey, who has taken three different schools to the NCAA tournament, led a MAAC to the second round for the first time since 2004, in the process he has elevated his status as a front runner for both the Providence and South Carolina openings.

Jeff Capel might have something to say about the South Carolina job if he wants it. His Sooners disposed of St. Joseph’s behind the rugged play of Blake Griffin and Longar Longar. However, it was the shooting of senior David Godbold who exploded for 25 points (came into the game averaging only 6 points) that was the difference for Oklahoma.

North Carolina as expected routed Mount St. Mary’s and Mississippi State knocked off Oregon.
Charles Rhodes scored 34 points for the Bulldogs and are my pick to make some noise.

After watching Oregon and Arizona lose their first round games it was clear that they didn’t deserve to be in the field of 64.

Western Kentucky, Davidson and Miami all used the long ball to win first round games. The Hilltoppers overcame the deep three point shooting of Drake to win in overtime. Tyrone Brazelton made the plays of the game for both teams. With Western holding a 6 point lead with under 2 minutes to go, his decisions allowed what should have been a free throw contest at that point to go into overtime. He turned it over and then took a quick shot allowing Drake time to come back and knock down two game tying threes.

In overtime he made plays. He made shots and had the drive and dish for the game winner to Rogers. Both teams played with a reckless abandon for all 45 minutes. In my book, Keno Davis did the best job of any first year coach since Bill Hodges was at the helm of an Indiana State Larry Bird team. No Larry Bird’s on this squad, but they did have Adam Emmenecker who showed why he was the Valley player of the year. His decision making was superb.

Some would argue that what Bill Grier has done at San Diego is more impressive. I will give him credit for getting this team to the tourney and then upseting UConn in overtime, but it was Brad Holland who won 18 games with this same group and put all the ingredients in place. By upsetting UConn (Jim Calhoun’s first loss in 15 first round games.) he set the stage for a 12-13 game in the second round.

Davidson road the shoulders of Stephen Curry past Gonzaga. Curry hit 8-10 3’s enroute to 40 points. I still can’t believe Virginia Tech passed on the son of their former star. Now that Gonzaga has moved from hunter to hunted they have struggled to advance in the tournament. You still have to give Mark Few and his administration credit for putting the stake in the ground and building a proram that will be around for a long time. If Few leaves, then Grier is right there to pick up where he left off. Bob McKillop has taken solid role players and built his team around a star in Curry.

James McClinton hit 8 3 pointers and helped Miami overcome a 5 point halftime deficit. With the win it sets the stage for a mentor vs. pupil match-up as Texas won their game in a route. Miami coach, Frank Haith, worked for Texas coach, Rick Barnes, at Texas. Talk about great comeback stories. All year long rumors swirled about Haith’s job security, he answered that question today.

Butler gor their 30th win of the year with a win over South Alabama. Pete Campbell came off the bench to make 8 3’s and score 26 points in their easy first round win. Coaches change at Butler, but the results remain the same.

Tennessee overcame a scare from American to win by double digits, while Georgetown used it’s superior size to knock off UMBC.

It is great when the underdog wins, however, with teams like Butler, Drake and Gonzaga getting such low seeds, they are too often paired aginst non-BCS teams. It spoils the fun…