08 Mar31 - Four Aces

Volume XII, No. 22 - 08 Mar 31

Four Aces

The NCAA Seeding Committee got it right after all (and for the first time, actually). All four #1-seeds advanced to the Final Four for the first time in history. Top-seeded North Carolina, Memphis, UCLA and Kansas all made it through showcasing their strengths in various ways. Those four teams returned significant cores which made at least Elite Eight last year, have essentially been ranked in the Top 5 all season long this year, and were conference regular season and tournament champs as well. It's as strong a Final Four as we've ever had. No pretenders. No interlopers. No Cinderellas. You can make a case why any one of them could dominate the next two games.

[1]Memphis was by far the most impressive, winning its two South Regional games in blowout fashion. [5]Michigan State posed no problem as the Tigers shut down gDrew Neitzel(6p7a), bolting to a 50-20 halftime lead on the way to a 92-74 rout. The lane belonged to [3]Stanford and cBrook Lopez(26p10r), but [2]Texas didn't need to go inside to be effective as pD.J. Augustin(23p7a) led the Longhorns to a second half blowout, closing 30-11 on the way to an @82-62 win. Texas, playing in front of homecrowd support in Houston, was supposed to be the end of the line for Memphis. Instead, the Tigers' tall backcourt 6-4 gDerrick Rose, 6-6 gAntonio Anderson and 6-7 tChris Douglas-Roberts held the Longhorn guards in check (bA.J. Abrams[17p5r3a], gD.J. Augustin[16p3a]) and the mobile frontline limited the Longhorn 'tweeners (xDamion James[8p5r], cConnor Atchley[5p6r]) as UofM rolled 85-@67. Meanwhile, tDouglas-Roberts (25p5r, 25p, 25-for-29 on free throws) and pRose (27p5a and 21p9a6r) turned in two fine performances each. Their supposed weakness, free throw shooting, was not evident in the two blowouts, as the team shot 26-for-35 and 30-for-36.

[1]North Carolina faced two tough opponents in front of homecrowd support in the East Regional in Charlotte. [4]Washington State was able to shut down fTyler Hansbrough in the first half, but tDanny Green(15p5r) stepped up as the Tar Heels led 35-21 at the half; then, fHansbrough(18p9r) broke through in the second half as UNC pulled away to a comfortable @68-47 win. After [9]Arkansas had tried to run with them (and got blown out), WSU tried to slow them down (and got blown out). Style of play doesn't deter this team. Only superior personnel might. [3]Louisville hounded [2]Tennessee, holding cChris Lofton(15p) to 3-for-15 shooting (including 2-for-11 on 3s) and outrebouded the Volunteers 42-24 as the Cardinals broke the game open in the second half, winning 79-@60. Against Louisville, UNC led throughout the first half, and @44-32 at the break; but the Cardinals tied the game at 59-@59 with ten minutes left and were within 64-@68 with five minutes in the game. Every time UofL drew closer, though, cTyler Hansbrough(28p13r) hit a big shot, including stepping out of the paint to drain some mid-range jumpers, leading UNC to an @83-73 win. The Player of the Year would not let his team be denied the Final Four a second straight year.

[1]UCLA opened up a big 41-20 halftime lead on [12]Western Kentucky in the West Regional in Phoenix, but played a sloppy second half as gTyrone Brazelton(31p5a) led the Hilltoppers back to within 59-63 with four minutes left before the Bruins prevailed 88-78. [3]Xavier opened up a 28-10 lead midway through the first half on [7]West Virginia before the Mountaineers came back for a stirring finish. tJosh Duncan(26p) dueled cJoe Alexander(18p10r) down the stretch until cAlexander fouled out with four minutes left in regulation. In overtime, tB.J. Raymond canned two huge three-pointers as the Musketeers prevailed 79-75(OT). Xavier figured to give UCLA problems with its 'tweeners' ability to step outside and hit three-pointers, but the Musketeers only shot 4-for-19 on 3s (including 1-for-6 from tJosh Duncan[11p]) as UCLA methodically pulled away to a 76-57 win. gDarren Collison had 19p against XU while cKevin Love had 29p14r and 19p10r in two games. Halfcourt D has been the best thing about the Bruins in the tournament -- it's allowed them to maintain a working margin even while stumbling through sloppy offensive possessions.

[1]Kansas opened the Midwest Regional in Detroit with a comfortable 72-57 win over upstart [12]Villanova as the Jayhawks limited the Wildcats to 36% shooting from the floor (including 3-for-17 on three-pointers). [12]Davidson proved that homecrowd support in Raleigh wasn't the reason for their wins as they stunned [2]Wisconsin 73-56. gStephen Curry was again unguardable with his quick-release jump shot popping for 33p in the runaway win. The Big 10 champs' station-to-station play can't stand up to a team that can score in quick spurts, but at least they made it through to the Sweet 16 before meeting an opponent good enough to exploit their weakness. Surely Kansas would be the end of the road for the Wildcats, right? gCurry still scored 25p, but KU barely hung on by hounding him into 9-for-25 shooting (including 4-for-16 on 3s). Davidson led 49-45 with nine minutes left and still led 53-52 with six minutes to go before some key defensive stops and just enough offensive execution allowed Kansas to escape with a 59-57 win. gCurry missed two open three-pointers in the late going and failed to get a shot off on the final possession. KU won't face anyone more difficult to guard than gCurry, and they may be able to play a more relaxed game now that they've actually broken through to coach Bill Self's first Final Four.

In the NIT, only [m1]Ohio State was able to make it to New York among the top seeds, beating [m4]California @73-56 and [m3]Dayton @74-63. [s2]Mississippi won @85-75 at home against [s3]Nebraska and then went on the road to upset [s1]Virginia Tech 81-@72. [w2]Florida easily handled host [w1]Arizona State 70-@57. Meanwhile, [e2]Massachusetts came back to beat [e1]Syracuse on the road (for the second time this year), 81-@77. Even on neutral ground, OSU was always the best team in this field that should have made the NCAA tournament.

In the CBI, the host schools all won their quarterfinal rounds: [e1]Virginia beat [e2]Old Dominion @80-76; [m1]Bradley beat [m2]Ohio University @79-73; [s2]Tulsa beat [s4]Utah @69-60; and [w3]Houston beat [w4]Valparaiso @91-67. The surviving teams were re-seeded for the semifinals. [4]Bradley upset host [1]Virginia 96-@85 (behind 27p from gJeremy Crouch); and host [2]Tulsa beat C-USA rival [3]Houston @73-69 (despite 30p5a from pRobert McKiver). The finals will be a best-two-out-of-three home-and-home series between [2]Tulsa and [4]Bradley on Monday, Wednesday (and, if necessary, Friday), starting in Tulsa. Injuries and suspensions hampered what should have been a stronger season for Bradley; perhaps the inaugural CBI crown will be some consolation.

Conference dominance was never quite established -- the Pac-10 elite were the best trio, but the Big East was deeper. The Pac-10(8-5) placed three of its six teams into the Sweet 16 (including one in the Final Four); the Big East(11-8) placed three of its eight teams into the Sweet 16 (but no Final Four); the Big 12 sent two of six to the Sweet 16 (and one to the Final Four); the Big 10 sent two of four to the Sweet 16 (but no further). The SEC(6-0) has two semifinalists in the NIT. Conference USA(5-2) had two semifinalists in the CBI.

Memphis looked mighty impressive in two games. UCLA has a shot if cKevin Love can stay on the floor in the first half, though. If he gets in early foul trouble and the Tigers relax, it will be a rout; but if UCLA can get back in transition and frustrate UM with in the halfcourt, the suspect free-throw shooting may resurface in a tight contest. North Carolina has too much offensive prowess for Kansas to handle, especially if KU continues to struggle shooting from the outside. Whether the opponent is Memphis or UCLA, look for the Tar Heels to cut down the nets in San Antonio as the Player of the Year adds "Most Outstanding Player" to his collection of accolades.

-- Ron

Key games this week:

NCAA

Saturday:

FINAL FOUR @ San Antonio, TX
• (6:00P): [2/S1]Memphis v [3/W1]UCLA
• (8:30P): [1/E1]N Carolina v [4/M1]Kansas

Monday week:

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP @ San Antonio, TX
• (9:00P): [1/E1]NCarolina/[4/M1]Kansas v [2/S1]Memphis/[3/W1]UCLA

NIT

Tuesday:

Semis @ New York NY
• (7:00P): [e2]Massachusetts v [w2]Florida
• (9:00P): [m1]Ohio St v [s2]Mississippi

Thursday:

Final @ New York NY
• (7:00P): [m1]OhioSt/[s2]Mississippi v [e2]Massachusetts/[w2]Florida

CBI (COLLEGE BASKETBALL INVITATIONAL) Finals (Best of 3) on-campus

Monday:

• (8:00P): @ [2]Tulsa v [4]Bradley

Wednesday:

• (8:00P): @ [4]Bradley v [2]Tulsa

(Friday, if necessary):

• ((8:00P): @ [2]Tulsa v [4]Bradley)