Cage

East Regional In the battles to reach the Sweet 16, two of the four games were upsets. One was a minor upset with Ohio State beating Auburn, but the Buckeye's comeback in the 2nd half was impressive. Cincinnati's edging of Dayton was a major upset, and the game was one of the best of the tournament thus far. #1 seed Dayton had an impressive comeback in the first 10 minutes in the 2nd half and then the final 10 minutes were pure tension with both teams punching and counter-punching and the the outcome in doubt all the way up to the final buzzer. And #2 seed Kentucky got a scare early in the 2nd half when Northern Iowa came from far behind to take the lead, but the Wildcats roared back to demonstrate their dominance. Dynasty Threads:

East Region--Round 2 (Part 2 of 2)#3 seed Auburn Tigers (26-6) vs #6 seed Ohio State Buckeyes (21-11)Auburn held a small lead throughout most of the 1st half and headed to the locker room with a 40-32 advantage. The Tigers sank 60% of their shots while the Buckeyes only hit on 38% of theirs. SF Pat Hawkins scored 10 points for Auburn. PF Jerry Hart came off the bench to lead the scoring for Ohio State with 7 points.Ohio State’s defense stopped the Tigers early in the 2nd half so that with 15-1/2 minutes to go the Buckeyes had knotted the score at 43-43. Auburn crept back ahead but with 9 minutes remaining Ohio State took a 57-56 lead. The Buckeyes continued their dominance and with 4-1/2 minutes left had increased their lead to 69-58. Auburn fought to come back but couldn’t do it. Ohio State’s defense forced the Tigers to make 20 turnovers while the Buckeyes turned the ball over just 10 times. The Buckeyes held a 28-14 advantage in points in the pain, a 14-6 advantage in 2nd chance points, and an 8-0 advantage in fast break points.Ohio State-77 (PG Speedy Costello-17 pts, C Dylan Tarver-12 pts, SG Drew Searcy-11 pts, PF Devon Emory-7 pts, 13 reb)Auburn-68 (SF Pat Hawkins-21 pts, 7 reb, 1 steal, 4 blocks; C Alan Johnson-12 pts, 8 reb)#4 seed Louisville Cardinals (25-7) vs #5 seed Virginia Cavaliers (24-7)Louisville jumped on top 9-3 and held a small lead until 12-1/2 minutes of the first half remained when Virginia tied the score at 17-17. Louisville scored the next 6 points and held the lead the rest of the half finishing on top 42-36. The Cardinals outshot the Cavaliers 60% to 42%. Leading the scoring for Louisville were SF Gene Barnes with 15 points and PG Darius Howell with 12 points. Virginia’s SG Jason Mason had a big half, hitting 4 of 5 from 3-point distance and scoring 17 points.Virginia closed to within a single point early in the 2nd half only to see Louisville pull away again. Louisville went on a 21-0 run to spurt out to a 65-43 lead with 12-1/2 minutes remaining in the game. Virginia closed the gap a little in the final minutes but the game was never in doubt. Louisville hit 55% of their shots while limited the Cavaliers shooting to 39%. The Cardinals completely dominated the boards to the tune of 37-24.Louisville-80 (SF Gene Barnes-30 pts, 10 reb; PG Darius Howell-19 pts, 6 assists; SG Corey Kennard-10 pts)Virginia-68 (SG Jason Mason-24 pts, PG Kurt Spurgeon-14 pts)Louisville’s coach Chris Mack said, “Our defense was stellar tonight and Jason Mason had a big game and carried us offensively.”

Boston Breakers (1-1) 0 7 0 7 -- 14 Los Angeles Express (1-1) 6 14 0 10 -- 30 First Quarter Los Angeles - Brown 41 FG, 7:51 Los Angeles - Brown 24 FG, 14:49 Second Quarter Los Angeles - WR Anquan Boldin 14 pass from Batch (Brown kick), 1:02 Los Angeles - HB Michael Bennett 12 pass from Batch (Brown kick), 13:33 Boston - HB LaDainian Tomlinson 34 pass from Culpepper (Hall kick), 14:28 Third Quarter No scoring Fourth Quarter Boston - WR Brian Finneran 8 pass from Culpepper (Hall kick), 0:07 Los Angeles - Brown 47 FG, 3:11 Los Angeles - HB Brian Westbrook 34 pass from Carter (Brown kick), 13:13 In the 2KFL, the team with that turns the ball over the most  usually loses.  This game was no exception.  Boston turned the ball over 4 times (Los ANgeles only had 1 turnover), and that was that.  Los Angeles QB Charlie Batch (13/18 186yds 2td 1int), played well until he injured his ankle in the 3rd quarter, putting him out for the game.  In steps backup QB Quincy Carter, who played great in relief (8/13 91yds 1 td 0int).  Great QB play and a strong team running game (183yds and 5.3 yards per carry) was the story of the game for Los Angeles.  Defensively, LB Keith Bulluck was a demon on the field and was the defensive player of the game.   Boston QB Daunte Culpepper played poorly (15/34 213yds 2td 1int 1 fumble lost) and thats all that really needs to be said. Though HB LaDainian Tomlinson played well in the passing game, his anemic running hurt the offense (4car 8yds, 4 cat 84yds 1td).  Tomlinson was a beast last year, but has only rushed for 59 yard so far this season. He has to step it up.  On defense, Boston's defense failed to show up allowing 443 total yards and allowing a 6/14 3rd down conversion rate.  Those numbers are not going to cut it.   Offensive Player of the Game - Los Angeles WR Anquan Boldin (6cat 72yds 1td) Defensive Player of the Game - Los Angeles LB Keith Bulluck (3 tackles for a loss, 5 run stops, 1 fumble recovery, 1 pass deflection)  

Rice 27 --- San Jose State 26 No other way to put it, this was a heartbreak loss for the San Jose State Spartans. Despite having the ball and the ability to run out the clock, the team found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.  Clinging to a 26 to 20 lead with 1:21 left in the 4th quarter, the Spartans called a 3rd and 9 run play to RB John Moreno. Here is how the play turned out.  RB J. Moreno runs right end for 3 yards He fumbles the ball after a hit by P. Hanson. It's  recovered by R. Hill of Rice. He returns it 3 yards to the San Jose State 5. Despite the big day from Moreno (160 rushing yards on 34 carries), this will go down as one that should have been. This team is not talented enough to let a winnable game slip past. #roughstart