09 Mar23 - Final Cut

Volume XIII, No. 20 - 09 Mar 23

Final Cut

During the major conference tournaments, the Pretenders on the bubble (with an at-large bid at stake) stepped up and prevented nearly every anticipated clash between the major contenders (who only had seeding and Pod placement on the line). But in the NCAA tournament, it was a different story. 14 of the top 16 seeds made the Final Cut and advanced to the second week -- and [W5]Purdue's 76-@74 win over [W4]Washington in Portland (despite cJon Brockman's 20p18r) can hardly be called a major upset. Only [M4]Wake Forest truly underperformed. The Demon Deacons, who started ACC conference play 4-1 (with wins over North Carolina and Duke), were jumped from the start by Party Crasher [M13]Cleveland State in a disastrous 69-84 loss.
     While the Miami crowd quickly got behind the underdog Vikings, what might have been for Wake if they had earned the second Greensboro Pod slot and had a supportive home crowd to will them back into the game. Playing in the Philadelphia Pod was certainly a help to [E3]Villanova, who couldn't handle the waterbug guards of [E14]American, 5-11 gGarison Carr(22p) and 5-9 gDerrick Mercer(17p), trailing most of the game against the Eagles and still down 53-55 with 8 minutes left before a 13-0 run spurred on by the hometown crowd led to an eventual @80-67 victory.
     In place of Wake, the [M12]Arizona Wildcats (who, frankly didn't deserve an at-large bid) made the most of their surprise invitation, handling paper-favorite [M5]Utah 84-71, and then controlling [M13]CSU 71-57 (as pNic Wise had 50p in two games).
     The Pretenders didn't lay down, though. In fact, the seven lowest-seeded at-large teams went 6-1 (with only [M12]UofA able to break through to the Sweet 16: [E12]Wisconsin upset ACC darling [E5]Florida State 61-59(OT) on gTrevon Hughes' late 3-pt play in the lane (despite 26p5r from FSU's bToney Douglas); [M11]Dayton surprised Big East darling [M6]West Virginia 68-60 behind 27p10r from cChris Wright; [S10]Michigan upended ACC darling [S7]Clemson 62-59 behind 23p6a7r from bManny Harris as CU's gTerrence Oglesby's ejection for an intentional elbow put the Tigers in too much of a hole to overcome -- (down 15 points at 28-43 with 16 minutes left before closing to 57-58 with under a minute to go); [W10]Maryland controlled [W7]California 84-71 as 6-6 tGreivs Vasquez(27p) was too much for 5-11 gJerome Randle to contain; and a #9-seeded Texas A&M team beat an #8-seeded BYU team for the second year in a row in the NCAA tournament -- this time, 79-66. (Only [E10]Minnesota didn't come through, losing 62-76 to [E7]Texas as the Longhorns' gA.J. Abrams had 26p.)

[M9]Siena (with five starters back from last year's first-round splash team) and [S12]Western Kentucky (with only support players back after the departure of last year's coach and three star performers off of last year's Sweet 16 squad) both were able to win first-round games again this year. pRonald Moore(11p6a7r) hit two big 3s in overtime to help [M9]Siena edge [M8]Ohio State 74-@72(2OT) in Dayton (despite 25p9r8a from tEvan Turner). [S12]Western Kentucky upended offensively challenged [S5]Illinois 76-72.
     Their second-round performances were solid as well: [M9]Siena led [M1]Louisville 61-59 with 9 minutes left before falling 72-79 (as UofL's xTerrence Williams had 24p15r). [S12]Western Kentucky was all even with [S5]Gonzaga at 81-81 with just seven seconds to go before freshman gDemetri Goodsong drove coast-to-coast for the game-winning layup in [S5]GU's 83-81 escape -- (20p6a8r for GU's pMatt Bouldin; 25p7a for WKU's Orlando Mendez-Valdez).
     Overall, the Mid-Major teams (excluding powerhouses Memphis, Gonzaga and Xavier) had little else to cheer about outside of Dayton, Cleveland State, Siena and Western Kentucky. [S9]Butler drew a tough draw against talented [S8]LSU, falling 71-75 as cMatt Howard(22p) battled foul trouble and gMarcus Thornton(30p) soared. [E11]VCU took [E6]UCLA to the wire, falling 64-65 as pEric Maynor(21p7a)'s jumper over pDarren Collison fell short. 29p from gDionte Christmas wasn't enough for Party Crasher [S11]Temple, a 57-66 loser to [S6]Arizona State. The Mountain West's best, [M5]Utah and [W8]BYU, couldn't hold their seeds.

Suddenly underappreciated [W1]Connecticut rolled through two games, 103-47 over [W16]Chattanooga and 92-66 over [W9]Texas A&M (behind 27p8a from pA.J. Price). [W2]Memphis had all kinds of trouble in the first round against lowly [W15]Cal State-Northridge, trailing 56-62 with 10 minutes left before reserve gRoburt Sallie saved the day with a career-high 35p on 10/15 3pt-shooting; but the Tigers regrouped and rolled [W10]Maryland 89-70 in Round 2. [E1]Pittsburgh couldn't shake feisty [E16]East Tennessee State, leading only 61-57 with 4 minutes left before winning 72-62 behind 27p16r from cDeJuan Blair; in Round 2, guard-happy [E8]Oklahoma State was still tied 74-74 with 3 minutes left before an outstanding closing stretch of execution (and 32p7r from bSam Young) saved the day, 84-76. pTy Lawson didn't play in the [S1]North Carolina's easy @101-58 romp over [S16]Radford (as cTyler Hansbrough did indeed break J.J. Redick's record to become the ACC's all-time leading scorer), but they needed his gimpy 23p6a performance to hold off [S9]LSU @84-70 (despite 25p from gMarcus Thornton).
     Player of the Year cBlake Griffin was just as dominant in the tournament as he has been all-season for [S2]Oklahoma, averaging 31p15r in wins over [S15]Morgan State (82-54) and [S10]Michigan (73-63), thankfully surviving an ugly incident against [S15]MSU player cAmeer Ali -- with the players' arms interlocked going for a rebound, cAli flipped cBGriffin over his back in a hip-throw takedown. cAli's statement afterward claimed it was an unfortunate play that took place in the heat of competition, but it looked not only intentional -- he was ejected -- but to the point where you wonder if something nefarious was involved in an attempt to take the nation's best player out of the NCAA tournament altogether. [M2]Michigan State (74-69 over [M10]USC); and [E2]Duke (@74-69 over [E7]Texas) pulled out tough second-round wins.
     [S3]Syracuse looked good handling [S6]Arizona State 78-67; [W3]Missouri barely hung on against game [W6]Marquette 83-79 (despite 30p4a from gJerel McNeal); [M3]Kansas played two solid games, 84-74 over [M14]North Dakota State behind 32p8a from pSherron Collins (despite 37p from gBen Woodside) and 60-43 over [M11]Dayton behind cCole Aldrich's triple-double: 13p20r10b; [E3]Villanova routed [E6]UCLA @89-69 in Philadelphia.
     Meanwhile, [E4]Xavier and [W4]Purdue made it through to Week 2 without any single player posting gaudy numbers.

As fully expected, the Big East dominated play, placing 5 teams in the Sweet 16, with the Big 12's top three making it through as well. The ACC and Big 10 only managed two teams each, but at least it was the right teams: North Carolina, Duke, Michigan State and Purdue. No surprise that the SEC didn't have a Sweet 16 representative. Fairly shocking that the last Pac-10 team standing is the least: Arizona.

The star power of the NIT was higher than usual this year. That said, it's relatively starless San Diego State who has posted two impressive home wins, @65-49 over Weber State and @70-52 over Kansas State. Florida beat two in-state opponents at home, @84-62 over Jacksonville and @74-60 over Miami(Florida). Auburn beat Tennessee-Martin @87-82 (as xLuther Hudson had 33p12r7a in his final game) and Tulsa @74-55. Notre Dame beat UAB @68-57 and New Mexico @70-68 behind 26p11r from cLuke Harangody. Baylor knocked off Georgetown @74-72 and won at weary Virginia Tech 84-@66 (which had survived @116-108(2OT) in the first round over Duquesne as xA.D. Vassallo had 33p12r for VT and gAaron Jackson had 46p4a for DU). (None of the 1BC regular season champs was able to come through with a win.)
     In the remaining second-round games set for Monday night, Davidson (off 32p from Stephen Curry in its 70-@63 road upset of South Carolina) travels to St. Mary's (which got 27p from gPatrick Mills in its @68-57 win over Washington State); and Creighton hosts Kentucky (for the first time since 1940).

The second-annual 16-team CBI tournament is basically for Mid-Major also-rans not even close enough for NCAA bubble consideration. Only Stanford, a @96-76 winner over Boise State, posted a noticeworthy result. Northeastern won at Wyoming; UTEP won at Nevada; Vermont won at Wisconsin-Green Bay; and College of Charleston won at Troy. The battle for #98 is less than compelling, to say the least.
     And yet, that's not even the worst of it. We actually have a fourth postseason college basketball tournament now. Introducing the first-annual 16-team CIT (CollegeInsider.com Tournament), apparently for those Mid-Major leftovers and 1BC contenders who feel they had a positive season. The winner can proudly proclaim, "We're #114!!!" (This is becoming the equivalent of the college football situation where a 6-5 record all but guarantees you a postseason bowl game.) Belmont won at Evansville, 92-@76, in the only unexpected result.

We didn't get any of the highly anticipated juggernaut matchups in the conference tournaments; but here, finally, everyone is on an unavoidable collision course. The relatively quiet first weekend of play has set us up for two spectacular rounds of play in the Regionals (and the still dreamed of Big East Rendezvous looking quite possible for the Final Four).

-- Ron

Key games this week:

NCAA

Thursday, Saturday:

NCAA EAST REGIONAL Semis,Finals @ Boston, MA

• [E1]Pittsburgh v [E4]Xavier
• [E2]Duke v [E3]Villanova

NCAA WEST REGIONAL Semis,Finals @ Glendale, AZ

• [W1]Connecticut v [W5]Purdue
• [W2]Memphis v [W3]Missouri

Friday, Sunday:

NCAA MIDWEST REGIONAL Semis,Finals @ Indianapolis, IN

• [M1]Louisville v [M12]Arizona
• [M2]Michigan St v [M3]Kansas

NCAA SOUTH REGIONAL Semis,Finals @ Memphis, TN

• [S1]N Carolina v [S4]Gonzaga
• [S2]Oklahoma v [S3]Syracuse

Sat 4 Apr, Mon 6 Apr:

NCAA FINAL FOUR,NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP @ Detroit, MI /FORD/

• (1/MIDWEST) v (4/WEST)
• (2/EAST) v (3/SOUTH)

NIT

Monday:

16s on-campus

• @ (c1)Creighton v (c4)Kentucky
• @ (s2)St Mary's v (s6)Davidson

Tuesday:

Qtrs on-campus

• @ (f1)Florida v (f2)Penn St
• @ (a1)Auburn v (a3)Baylor

Wednesday:

Qtrs on-campus

• (c2)Notre Dame v @(c1)Creighton/vv(c4)Kentucky
• @ (s1)San Diego St v (s2)StMarys/(s6)Davidson

Tuesday week, Thursday week:

Semis, Finals @ New York NY /MSG/

• (c/Creighton v (f/Florida)
• (s/SanDiegoSt) v (a/Auburn)

CBI

Monday:

Qtrs on-campus

• @ (1w)Oregon St v (3w)STRIKE>Vermont
• @ (1m)Wichita St v (2m)Stanford
• @ (1e)Richmond v (3e)Col of Charleston
• @ (3s)UTEP v (4s)Northeastern

Wednesday:

Semis on-campus (re-seeded)

Monday week, Wednesday week, (if necessary: Friday week):

Finals on-campus (Best of 3)

CIT (COLLEGEINSIDER.COM TOURNAMENT)

Monday:

Qtrs on-campus

• @ Bradley v Oakland
• @ Old Dominion v Belmont
• @ Pacific v Idaho
• @ Liberty v James Madison (VA)

Wednesday:

Semis on-campus (re-seeded)

Tuesday week:

Final on-campus