Category: March Madness (Page 55 of 56)

#1 Duke vs. #4 LSU

The Tigers kept J.J. Redick bottled up for most of the first half, allowing the All-American only three points. He has always had trouble with long, athletic defenders, and LSU has a plethora of guys to run at him. Despite the fact that Glen Davis missed most of the first half due to two quick fouls, LSU went into halftime with a 33-27 lead.

The second half was pretty ugly, with neither team really able to build much of a lead. Redick continued his poor shooting, finishing with 11 points on 3 for 18 shooting. LSU did a terrific job of bothering him all game long. But the game came down to two key plays. With over two minutes to play and Duke up one, Josh McRoberts made a beautiful fake handoff to break free, but blew the easy layup. The other key play occurred with less than a minute in the game. There was a loose ball on LSU’s end and one of the officials called a phantom foul on Greg Paulus. For those that think that Duke gets all the calls, they really got jobbed on this one. Down the stretch, LSU made their free throws and, on the ones they missed, Duke uncharacteristically failed to box out, leading to a 62-54 victory. Duke is the first #1 seed to be bounced out of the tournament.

#1 Memphis vs. #13 Bradley

After a strong start by Memphis, Bradley rallied later in the first half to tie the game at 29-29. But a late run gave the Tigers a 35-30 lead at halftime. Memphis just had too much athleticism in the second half, flushing dunk after dunk, putting the would-be Cinderellas away, 80-64.

#2 Texas vs. #6 West Virginia

LaMarcus Aldridge – remember that name. The Longhorn (and future lottery pick) went 8-8 in the first half, killing the Mountaineer defense with his turnaround jumper. West Virginia stayed in the game via the three-pointer, but still trailed at halftime, 39-27.

But the Mountaineers are all heart, and they came out on fire in the second half, going on a 8-0 run to cut the lead to four. The game was back and forth for the remainder of the game. With 13 seconds to go and Texas leading, 71-68, Kevin Pittsnogle broke free at the top of the key for a three pointer to tie it at 71. Texas inbounded the ball with six seconds remaining and hurried it up court. The ball ended up in Kenton Paulino’s hands and he hoisted a desperation 23 footer at the buzzer that found nothing but the bottom of the net. Texas wins, 74-71, but I question how much heart the Longhorns really have.

#2 UCLA vs. #3 Gonzaga

UCLA looked lost in the first half, both offensively and defensively. The Bruins are extremely challenged on offense and looked especially so against the Bulldogs. Gonzaga, on the other hand, had no problems scoring against a normally stout UCLA defense en route to a 13-point lead at halftime.

Gonzaga kept control for most of the second half. With the Bulldogs leading, 71-62 with just 3:13 remaining, things were looking grim for the Bruins. But UCLA showed a lot of grit scoring the next eight points to cut the lead to one with ten seconds to go. During the run, Adam Morrison missed three consecutive shots that would have, in hindsight, sealed the game for Gonzaga. The Bulldogs had the ball with ten seconds to go when the Bruins stole it from J.P. Batista and scored the go ahead layup. Gonzaga tried to push the ball up court, but ended up turning the ball over again, giving UCLA the most improbable of victories.

Summary

It’s a shame to see Duke lose, though I’m sure all the haters are happy. Love ’em or hate ’em, the tournament is always more exciting when the Blue Devils are still alive and kicking. The late games were two of the best games of the tournament with Texas getting a win at the buzzer and UCLA making a furious comeback to shock Gonzaga.

On Saturday, we’ll have Texas/LSU at 4:40 (ET) and UCLA/Memphis at 7:05 (ET), with Final Four births on the line.

So who will rise to the challenge? Only time will tell.

It was an exciting first weekend of the tournament, with 28 of the 48 games being decided by 10 points or less. All of the #1 seeds advanced to the Sweet 16, but we lost #2-seeds Tennessee and Ohio State, along with #3-seeds North Carolina and Iowa. There are two double-digit seeds, #13 Bradley and #11 George Mason, in the Sweet 16, and you can bet neither squad wants to go home. Several of the match-ups on Thursday and Friday are promising, so let’s get right to it.

ATLANTA

#1 Duke vs. #4 LSU – Thursday, 7:10 pm

This side of the region played to form, with the #1-seed Duke making its ninth-straight Sweet 16. Yes, you read that right. In a time of unprecedented parity in the college ranks, the Blue Devils have managed to win at least two tournament games every year since 1997. While J.J. Redick deserves a lot of credit for getting his team to the Sweet 16 (49 points, 50% shooting), Shelden Williams is the team’s tourney MVP thus far. The All-American scored 46 points and gathered 32 rebounds in Duke’s two wins.

Williams will have his hands full with LSU’s Glen Davis, who at 6’9” and 310 lbs, is somehow listed as a forward. Davis scored 43 points and cleared 21 rebounds in the two wins against Iona and Texas A&M. While Davis holds down the inside, Darrel Mitchell makes the team go on the perimeter. He scored 35 points in the first two rounds, including the game winning three-pointer, which put away the Aggies.

The Tigers have the size to give Duke problems, but they aren’t very deep. The game will likely come down to Redick’s shooting and the Davis/Williams match-up inside. Keep an eye out for freshman phenom Josh McRoberts, who scored 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the game against George Washington. Save for the UNC tilt on Senior Night, he seems to play better in the big games. Duke should win, but if they play well, the Tigers are certainly capable of pulling the upset.

#2 Texas vs. #6 West Virginia – Thursday, 9:40 pm

Texas forwards P.J. Tucker and LaMarcus Aldridge were great in the first two games, combining for 63 points and 41 rebounds. They also get good guard play from Daniel Gibson and Kenton Paulino, though Paulino was only able to play 20 minutes in the N.C. State blowout due to a knee injury.

West Virginia was a bit lucky when #3-seed Iowa lost in the first round to Northwestern State. In the second round, the Mountaineers dispatched the Demons, 67-54, behind a balanced attack that had four players in double figures. Mike Gansey (21 points, 16 rebounds over the first game) and Kevin Pittsnogle (32 points, 7 boards) led the Mountaineers through the first two rounds.

West Virginia has a “different” style of play with a lot of players on the perimeter shooting threes and making quick back cuts to the basket, and it can be difficult for an opponent to adjust on the fly. The Mountaineers can beat anyone if they shoot the ball well, but they have trouble rebounding, and Texas is big enough to expose this weakness. If this were the second game of the weekend, I’d really like West Virginia’s chances, but the Longhorns have three days to prepare for West Virginia’s quirky offense and I think they’ll get the win.

Read the rest of the preview at Bullz-Eye.

The Selection Committee took a lot of heat nine days ago, especially from the self-aggrandizing Billy Packer, for including four teams from the Missouri Valley Conference and only selecting four teams from the ACC, a perennial power conference. So what did the MVC teams do? #11-seed Southern Illinois didn’t put up much of a fight against #6-seed West Virginia, but the Mountaineers odd style of play gives a lot of teams problems. #10 Northern Iowa played #7 Georgetown to a five-point loss, which proved they belonged after the Hoyas went on to dismantle Big Ten champion Ohio State. The other two teams? They’re in the Sweet Sixteen.

#7-seed Wichita State (the MVC champ) blew out Seton Hall before upsetting #2-seed Tennessee. I actually predicted the Shockers to make the Sweet Sixteen because I knew they were good and that the Volunteers were vulnerable. But the most surprising MVC team has to be #13-seed Bradley, who dispatched the #4-seed Kansas (who had just beat Texas in the Big 12 final) and went on to upset the #5-seeded Pittsburgh Panthers. Given those matchups, I’m guessing that no one but Bradley alumni had the Braves in the Sweet Sixteen.

How did the ACC do? Duke won two games to keep their consecutive Sweet Sixteen streak alive at nine. When you think about it, this is a phenomenal record considering how many top seeds go down in the first two rounds of the tournament every year. Boston College survived a huge scare in the first round, taking two overtimes to beat Pacific. In the second round, they looked better, dispatching a feisty Montana team in Salt Lake City. North Carolina looked young and inexperienced, losing to George Mason in one of the bigger upsets of the second round after almost dropping their first round game to Murray State. North Carolina State shrugged off a four-game losing streak, upsetting a hot California team in the first round before getting drilled by Texas in the second.

What does this all mean? Three things: (1) the Selection Committee got it mostly right, (2) the mid-majors are for real and (3) there is tremendous parity in college basketball. The power conferences get so much attention that their best young players often leave early for the NBA while the mid-major players tend to get more four-year players. This results in a lot of matchups in the NCAA tourney between experienced small or mid-major schools and inexperienced power schools. Need proof? Just ask the coaches of Kansas, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Tennessee, Michigan State and North Carolina what they think.

This parity also resulted in some great basketball this weekend. Here are a few BIG rewards that I’d like to give out:

BIGGEST INDIVIDUAL CLUTCH PERFORMANCE

With all due respect to Jermaine Wallace’s shot to lift Northwestern St. over Iowa, Chris Lofton’s shot to avoid an upset against Winthrop, Darrel Mitchell’s 24-footer to lead LSU past Texas A&M, the biggest clutch performance was Craig Smith’s in the first round. Boston College trailed, 74-72, with 4.2 seconds left in the first overtime. Smith, a 66% free throw shooter, went to the line to shoot two free throws. With the season on the line, Smith calmly drained both attempts and forced a second overtime, in which the Eagles dominated. It’s one thing to heave a desperation shot to win a game, but it’s a tremendous feat to succeed under the pressure of going to the free throw line in the waning seconds of a game. Throw in the fact that Smith is just average from the stripe and you have your biggest clutch performance thus far.

BIGGEST SURPRISE TEAM IN THE SWEET SIXTEEN

George Mason deserves a lot of praise for defeating both Michigan State and North Carolina this weekend, but the biggest surprise has to be the Bradley Braves, who upset both Kansas and Pittsburgh to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. The key has been Marcellus Sommerville who scored 39 points and collected 13 rebounds over the first two games. Braves’ center Patrick O’Bryant had a huge game against Pitt, having his way against a Panther front line that was in foul trouble the entire game en route to a 28-point, seven rebound performance.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

One could make an argument for Kansas, Iowa, Ohio State or Tennessee. But this award goes to North Carolina, who was one of the hottest teams in the nation over the second half of the season. Since January 28th, Roy Williams’ young team was 12-2, with wins over Arizona at home and a huge road win at Duke. In my tournament countdown, I said that Williams’ had one of the most difficult coaching jobs ahead of him as he tried to keep his young team focused and playing well. Unfortunately, he made a rare coaching mistake late in the game against George Mason that may have cost his team a win.

“If I’d coached better, that would have helped us out a heck of a lot,” Williams said. “The score was 54-51 [with 3:02 to play] and David [Noel] made a 3 to tie it up. We called a timeout, and I looked up at the clock and it still said 54-51. In my mind, I knew something was wrong. I called a press, and we didn’t do a very good job. It was a bad call on my part.”

North Carolina put George Mason to the line and was never able to tie or take the lead again. The Tar Heels are young and talented and if the group stays together over the next couple of years, they’ve got a great shot at cutting down the nets.

The upsets came raining down on Friday, with top teams like Iowa and Kansas falling in the first round.

I have to admit I wish I was in Vegas. There’s nothing like watching these crazy games with a bunch of nuts with lots of cash riding on the games.