10 Mar29 - A Place At The Table

Volume XIV, No. 21 - 10 Mar 29

A Place At The Table

West Virginia managed to make it through to the Elite Eight without being overly spectacular; just solid defense with no one player standing out offensively. But saved held the best for their monumental upset of Kentucky. You wouldn't have figured that three-point shooting and a backup point guard to be the key to victory for the Mountaineers over the Wildcats, but that's exactly what happened. WVU didn't have a two-point basket in the first half against UK, yet still led 28-26 at the break. Their 10-for-23 three-point shooting, 18p6r from bDa'Sean Butler and 17p3a from gJoe Mazzulla (playing in place of injured gTruck Bryant) paved the way as the 'Cats shot 4-for-32 on three-pointers against the Mt'neers 1-3-1 zone and 16-for-29 on free throws as 19p5a9r from tJohn Wall and 15p8r from fDeMarcus Cousins weren't enough for the Kentucky, which fell 66-73. It's West Virginia's first trip to the Final Four IN 50 YEARS (since the days of Jerry West).

All of Butler's players handle the ball well, so they didn't have as much trouble against the Syracuse zone as most do. Without cArinze Onuaku, fRick Jackson had to handle the ball even more and it was the Orange who turned it over more than normal, especially in the first half of the Bulldogs' 63-59 win. Dealing with Butler's halfcourt D was tough enough on Syracuse with fresh legs, so it was bound to be a problem Kansas State's tired legs after their double-overtime win on Thursday. Give the Wildcats credit for even getting back into the game at all at the end, but the disciplined Bulldogs were the better team on the day, as BU defeated KSU 63-56. So, sure enough, we do get an Mid-Major team in the Final Four in this era of the Golden Child -- none of whom made the Final Four, for the second year running. They're no Cinderella -- in fact, they're the best defensive team remaining -- but Butler set its own place at the table with the first Final Four trip ever in school history; and they get to play AT HOME IN INDIANAPOLIS.

Duke cut down the turnovers in the second half and some shots started to fall against Purdue's physical defense, and the Blue Devils were eventually able to extend out to a 70-57 win. Individual athleticism has stopped Duke's run in the tournament the past few years, and it nearly happened again versus Baylor. Coach Mike Krzyzewski's decision to match tKyle Singler(5p;0/10fg) on bLaceDarius Dunn(22p6r) didn't work out at all and the Bears' cEkpe Udoh(18p10r6a5b) had his way against the Blue Devil's inside; but gNolan Smith(29p1a) and bJon Scheyer(20p5r4a) came through as DU was able to hit big threes and grab key offensive rebounds against the BU zone and make their free throws down the stretch of a tight game, winning 78-@71 in Houston.
    Despite sentiment (not from me) that Duke didn't deserve a #1-seed (and #3 overall), the Blue Devils were the only top-seed able to advance to the Final Four (albeit with the easiest draw, for sure).

Even wihout pKalin Lucas (who's done for the season), Michigan State was able to find a way to close out Northern Iowa, 59-52. In a good, old-fashioned BCS "Whaddya Got?" game, [M5]Michigan State took on [M6]Tennessee where both schools just went at each other from start to finish with no quarter. A key missed free throw that drops and it's the Volunteers' game instead of a 70-69 Spartans victory. So after losing their commanding lead midway through conference play in the Big 10, MSU manages to regroup twice without their point guard (and best player) to earn another Final Four appearance. Quite an effort.

Despite having one of its strongest years in the regular season, the Big 12 wound up only 9-7 in the NCAA tournament and failed to place a team in the Final Four. Worse, its two best teams, Kansas and Kansas State, were taken out decisively by Mid-Major powers -- (Northern Iowa last week over KU, and now Butler this week over KSU). The teams, perhaps, were slightly overhyped by building their reputations off of beating each other (and the dominant fashion with which they dispatched the Pac-10 in their HARDWOOD SERIES). But take nothing away from the quality of performance by the teams that sent them packing.
    In the best battle between potent backcourts, no one disappointed for either Kansas State [gJacob Pullen(28p1to;6/12 3s) and pDenis Clemente(25p5a5r1to] or Xavier [gJordan Crawford(32p and pTerrell Holloway(26p6a;10/13ft)], but the Wildcats had one extra star, fCurtis Kelly(21p8r5b), in their 101-96(2OT) heart-stopper. But it took KSU's guards an entire half just to get going the next round against Butler. Size and quickness trumped size in Baylor's surprisingly easy rout of St. Mary's, 72-49. gLaceDarius Dunn(23p) paced the Bears, who were up by 20 only 6 minutes into the game. Then, they battled Duke evenly until midway through the second half before the zone defense that got them this far failed them down the stretch.

No matter how good one guy is -- bEvan Turner had 31p9r for Ohio State against Tennessee -- it's hard to win a game in the second week of the NCAA tournament with just guards shooting jump shots. The Volunteers feasted in the paint behind cWayne Chism(22p11r) and forced turnovers on the Buckeyes' sloppy ball-handling late in their terrific 76-73 win. It's the first Elite Eight for UTn in school history. (After an up-and-down season, Tennessee was able to turn the switch back on. Meanwhile, another split-personality team, Georgetown -- which beat handily two of this year's Final Four squads -- bowed out early in the one of the most inexplicable NCAA losses ever.)

Cornell started the game against Kentucky perfectly: hit some threes, grab the lead 10-2, involve the crowd; but the Wildcats didn't try to do too much too soon and gradually pulled away to a comfortable 62-@45 blowout win.

Dayton won two big road games in the NIT: first, 81-@66 over in-state rival Cincinnati; then, 77-@71 at BCS Illinois. Rhode Island made it two for the Atlantic 10 through to the semifinals with a squeak home win over Nevada, @85-83, and a road win at BCS Virginia Tech, 79-@72. North Carolina guaranteed itself a winning season (and still has a shot at 20 wins) after beating UAB, 60-@55. Mississippi won twice at home: over Memphis, @90-81, and in double-overtime over Texas Tech, @90-87(2OT).
    (Form has Dayton winning an all-A-10 final; but the intangibles are all with UNC.)

In the CBI, St. Louis needed double-overtime at home to beat Wisconsin-Green Bay, @63-62(2OT,) while Princeton won in double-OT on the road at IUPUI, 74-@68(2OT) in the quarters; St. Louis then handled Princeton @69-58 to advance to the final series. VCU won twice at home, first over College of Charleston, @93-86, then over Boston U, @88-75. VCU hosts St. Louis in the first game on Monday; then St. Louis hosts Game 2 on Wednesday (and also Game 3, if necessary, on Friday).
    (VCU has had the better year, and has been able to win on the road in the postseason; so I'll take the Rams to win the final series.)

In the CIT, the Missouri Valley placed two teams into the semifinals, Missouri State and Creighton, thanks to lopsided home wins; Appalachian State won at Marshall; but Pacific won twice on the road and faces host Missouri State in Tuesday's final.
    (Winning four road games to take a tournament crown would be too much to expect from UOP, so I'll take the Bears to win at home.)

-- Ron

Key games this week:

NCAA

Saturday:

FINAL FOUR @ Indianapolis, IN /LUCAS/

• (6:00Pet): [17/M5]Michigan St @ [20/W5]Butler
• (8:30Pet): [3/S1]Duke v [7/E2]W Virginia

Monday week:

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP @ Indianapolis, IN /LUCAS/

• (9:00Pet): [3/S1]Duke/[7/E2]W Virginia v [17/M5]MichiganSt/@[20/W5]Butler

NIT

Tuesday:

Semis @ New York NY /MSG/

• (7Pet): [w2]Mississippi v [m3]Dayton
• (9Pet): [e2]Rhode Island v [s4]N Carolina

Thursday:

Final @ New York NY /MSG/

• (7Pet): [w2]Mississippi/[m3]Dayton v [e2]RhodeIsland/[s4]NCarolina

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

Monday:

• (7Pet): @ [4s]VCU v [1m]St Louis

Wednesday:

• (8Pet): @ [1m]St Louis v [4s]VCU

(Friday, if necessary):

• ((8Pet): @ [1m]St Louis v [4s]VCU)

CIT (COLLEGEINSIDER.COM TOURNAMENT)
Final on-campus

Tuesday:

• (8Pet): @ Missouri St v Pacific