In the battle to get to the Elite Eight, it was the Louisville Cardinals who were the most surprising. No, not the fact that they won, but how easy they made it look. In a game of runs, it was the Cardinals who had the most and longest ones. Their defense was overpowering. Holding Tennessee to 34% shooting was a combination of changing defenses and just flat out hustle and execution. Pitino likes to talk about game slippage. Well, there was none tonight. Earl Clark recorded a double double (17 & 12) while three other players scored in double figures to lead a balanced offensive attack.
I said it before and I will say it again. The Cards are healthy for the first time all year. Which means they have depth (Pitino doesn’t have to depend on the eratic Derrick Character) and they are talented. With Pitino calling the shots it negates North Carolina’s home court advantage in the next round.
I am not sure what more I can say about North Carolina’s performance. I guess Washington State did a good job. The Tar Heels only scored 68 points. Let’s be honest – they were up 15 at half and never looked back. Through three games they look like men amongst boys. Tyler Hansborough is a great player (not the player of the year), but when you have Danny Green coming off the bench (he could start for all 63 other teams in the field) you are as deep as you can be. I lost count of how many future NBA players they have on their roster.
The matchup on Saturday with Louisville will be a battle of systems. I like the Cards due to the man on the bench and his ability to adapt and overcome. Should be a great game.
UCLA opened up a big lead and was up by 21, but Western Kenucky didn’t get this far by rolling over and playing dead. Behind the calculated moves of Darrin Horn, they battled their way back to cut it to under 10 with 5 minutes to go. However, in the end it was too much Kevin Love. He finished with 29 and left me wondering what he could do for an encore. I will give Ben Howland credit. He has mixed in this talented freshman with upperclassman and kept them from imploding. Now they face Xavier to get back to the Final Four.
Xavier blew the lead. Xavier had a chance to win in regulation. Xavier fell behind by 4 in OT. Xavier won. Not exactly how you would plan it, but in the end it didn’t matter that Bob Huggins was now at West Virginia instead of Cincinnati. He still can’t beat Xavier. Truth be told they played a helluva game and then gave it away.
After falling behind they battled like junkyard dogs only to cost themselves the game by missing 3-4 free throws while being up four. Meanwhile, Xavier unloaded a 3-point barrage in the closing stretch. Drew Lavender hit the first and then BJ Raymond drained back to back threes to seal the game. Give both teams credit as they battled their hearts out. Both coaches did an excellent job when their stars fouled out (Anderson for X and Alexander for WVU).
My money is on Xavier to upset UCLA and breakthrough to the Final Four for the first time in school history. Then Sean Miller will turn down the Indiana job.
COACHING NEWS:
Look for Ben Braun to be in play at Toledo. Mike Montgomery and Jaimie Dixon at Cal. Tom Crean is still my pick for Indiana.
