12 Mar26 - "I Can Beat You With One Arm Tied Behind Your Back"

Volume XVI, No. 21 - 12 Mar26

"I Can Beat You With One Arm Tied Behind Your Back"

It's hard to root for the inevitable. None of the Kentucky players seem like spoiled superstars; the Wildcats play great team defense and share the ball well on offense. There's nothing really to dislike about this team. But unless you're a member of Wildcat Nation (for whom UK Basketball is a religion), I don't see how you root for this team. Some great teams are a joy to watch, but I just can't get excited about this one. We did get two Elite Eight head-to-head showdowns in two of the Regional Finals. But, in both cases, a key player was very much missed by the losing team. In the fourth Regional, an up-and-down team is two-thirds of the way to repeating last year's magical title run.

[S4]Indiana had tried to play [S1]@Kentucky straight up in the SOUTH Regional semifinal, but UK posted 50+ points each half and won @102-90 while sinking 35-of-37 free throws. (27p5r from bChristian Watford wasn't nearly enough.) [S3]Baylor was all over the place against [S10]Xavier -- a quick start and bolting out to an 18-point lead; a flagrant foul by cQuincy Acy(20p15r) letting XU back in the game; the inability to defend on the perimeter (gTu Holloway[22p3a], Mark Lyons[16p]) or in the paint (Kenny Frease[18p]); enigmatic contributions from its 'tweeners (14p5r from Perry Jones III, 6p3r from Quincy Miller); late heroics from its backcourt (pPierre Jackson [16p10a], 4 clutch free throws from Brady Heslip) in a wild 75-70 win. But as tall as they are, even the Bears found it tough to score inside against [S1]@Kentucky. BU started well enough -- up 10-@5 after the first segment of the game; but that was all she wrote: it was @21-10 Kentucky at the next break; @31-15 UK before tPerry Jones III(17p8r) scored his first point; and a @42-22 laugher at halftime before the @82-70 garbage time final in Atlanta. (22p8r from fQuincy Acy inside barely made a dent.)
     [E4]Wisconsin had nearly knocked of [E1]@Syracuse in the EAST Regional semifinal, shooting 14-for-27 on threes, but came up just short as the Orange made one big defensive stop at the end to preserve a @64-63 win. [E2]Ohio State built a solid 37-25 halftime edge against state-rival [E6]Cincinnati, but let the Bearcats hang around and gave up the lead, 48-51 with 12 minutes to go before running away with it at the end, 81-66 behind 26p7r from bDeShaun Thomas. The absence of (ineligible) cFab Melo (the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year) in the middle of the [E1]@Syracuse zone was just the edge that [E2]Ohio State needed as fJared Sullinger(19p7r) scored inside to extend from 52-50(8) out to a 62-55(4) lead and the Buckeyes hung on from there (with pAaron Craft fouled out) to win 77-@70 in Boston.
     [M1]North Carolina couldn't pull off winning two games without pKendall Marshall. The Tar Heels barely survived the MIDWEST Regional semifinal against [M13]Ohio University, winning 73-65(OT) behind a 56-26 rebound margin and 20p22r from cTyler Zeller (despite 26p from Walter Offutt). [M2]@Kansas escaped @60-57 past [M11]North Carolina State thanks to 10 blocks from 7-0 cJeff Withey. In the final, [M1]UNC did well to hang with [M2]@Kansas, down just 67-68 with 4 minutes left; but playing an endplay segment with the Final Four on the line, in a "home court" venue for your opponent, with a replacement point guard at the helm was too much to ask and the Tar Heels collapsed, 0-12, to close the game as the Jayhawks won @80-67 in St. Louis. Freshman pStilman White (6p13a0to in two games) didn't lose the KU game, but there's a big difference between not turning the ball over and effectively running a high-powered offense. Here's yet another year where UNC's Final Four (and more) hopes were dashed by an injury to its point guard at tournament time (Phil Ford '76, Kenny Smith '83). [I still don't get the Seeding Committee's logic -- yes, 11 of 12 sections in the Georgia Dome were UK fans (to 1 for Baylor), but that would have been just as true in St. Louis. Meanwhile, [M2]Kansas was rewarded with playing in front of a stacked "home crowd" while [M1]North Carolina was essentially the visitor. What's the point of being the #1-seed? An awful decision.]
     In the WEST Regional semifinal, [W1]Michigan State kept trying to score inside point-blank against [W4]Louisville's cGorgui Dieng with no success (7 blocks) and the Spartans didn't seem to have a Plan B. xDraymond Green (13p16r6to) couldn't get going and MSU followed him (nowhere) as the Cardinals pulled off the 57-44 stunner. [W7]Florida has been a terrific defensive team in the tournament, no exception in its 68-58 lock-down performance against tough [W3]Marquette. Against [W4]Louisville, the Gators' speed dribbling and shooting was working its magic in the first half -- up 8 at the break on 8-for-11 three-point shooting; but UF went just as cold from outside in the second half (0-for-9 on threes) as 8-point lead with 8 minutes left evaporated. The Cardinals closed the game 15-3 over the final two segments to snatch victory from defeat, 72-68. [Could we possibly have a middle-of-the-pack BIG EAST squad get hot for four straight weeks and run the table for the second year in a row?]

The Mid-Major and 1BC runs ended at the Sweet 16 level this year as BCS teams took all 8 Elite Eight spots (with the regular season "Elite Eight" taking 5 [and 3 of the Final Four spots as well].) The SEC, BIG 12 and BIG EAST took 2 of the Elite Eight slots (and 1 each of the Final Four along with the BIG 10 as the ACC was shut out).
     In the NIT, (5e)Massachusetts and (6s)Minnesota each won three road games to advance to the semifinals in New York -- UMass won 101-@96(OT) at (4e)Mississippi State, 77-@67 at (1e)Seton Hall and 72-@70 at (3e)Drexel while UMinn won 70-@61 at (3s)La Salle, 78-@60 at (2)Miami(Florida) and 78-@72 at (4s)Middle Tennessee. (1m)Washington and (3w)Stanford each won three home games to give the PAC-12 two representatives -- UW won @82-72 vs (8m)Texas-Arlington, @76-55 vs (4m)Northwestern and @90-86 vs conferencemate (3m)Oregon while SU @76-65 vs (6w)Cleveland State, @92-88(OT) vs (7w)Illinois State and @84-56 vs (5w)Nevada. Washington faces Minnesota and Stanford faces Massachusetts in Tuesday's semifinals (with the final on Thursday).
     In the CBI, slumming BCS busts dominated -- only Butler made it through to the semis to represent the MM also-rans (with a 63-@53 road win at Penn); but it was Pitt (68-@62(OT) at Butler) and Washington State (72-@55 at conferencemate Oregon State) who advanced to the Best-of-3 championship series. (Wazu hosts the first game Monday; Pitt hosts Wednesday [and Friday, if necessary]).
     In the CIT, WAC/Utah State won twice more at home, @77-69 over Loyola Marymount and @105-81 over Oakland as gPreston Medlin posted 26p each time out. Meanwhile, A-SUN/Mercer won twice on the road, 79-@73 at Old Dominion and 64-@59 at Fairfield -- and it'll have to do it one more time as USU hosts MU in the final (Wednesday).

Don't see any of these pretenders standing in the way of the Kentucky juggernaut. The 'Cats will crush whichever team survives the one true full-strength Elite Eight showdown between Kansas and Ohio State -- (I'll take Ohio State).
     The PAC-12 could win up with two consolation prizes (NIT and CBI) while the WAC can boast a strong postseason as well with the CIT crown.

-- Ron

Key games this week:

NCAA

Saturday:

FINAL FOUR @ New Orleans LA /SUPERDOME/

• [S1]Kentucky v [W4]Louisville (KY)
• [M2]Kansas v [E2]Ohio St

Monday week:

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP @ New Orleans LA /SUPERDOME/

• [S1]Kentucky/[W4]Louisville v [M2]Kansas/[E2]OhioSt(BG)

NIT

Tuesday:

Semis @ New York NY /MSG/

• (1m)Washington v (6s)Minnesota
• (3w)Stanford v (5e)Massachusetts

Thursday:

Final @ New York NY /MSG/

• (1m)Washington/(6s)Minnesota v (3w)Stanford/(5e)Massachusetts

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

Monday:

• @ (w)Washington St v (e)Pittsburgh

Wednesday:

• @ (e)Pittsburgh v (w)Washington St

(Friday, if necessary):

• @ (e)Pittsburgh v (w)Washington St

CIT (COLLEGEINSIDER.COM TOURNAMENT)
Final on-campus

Wednesday:

• @ Utah St v Mercer