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The Tournament That Wasn't

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South Region--Round 1 (part 3 of 4)

#5 seed Brigham Young Cougars (24-8) vs #12 seed Memphis Tigers (21-10)

BYU hit their first 5 shots to take a 10-2 lead after just 2-1/2 minutes of play. Memphis cut into the Cougars’ lead repeatedly but the closest they got was within 2 points with 2 minutes left in the first half. BYU finished the half in front by a score of 40-34. The Cougars knocked down 50% of the FG attempts while the Tigers hit on 44% of theirs. Both teams had ball control problems with Memphis making 12 turnovers and BYU 9. SG Robbie Songaila popped in 9 points for BYU and SG Adarrial Johnson hit for 7 points for the Tigers.

The Cougars maintained a small lead but expanded it to 12 points with 9 minutes to play. Memphis continued to come back and cut the lead to 77-75 when PF Rico Bedford knocked down a 3 with 45 seconds on the clock. BYU worked the clock down but missed a shot and Memphis rebounded with 27 seconds to go. Following a timeout the Tigers worked the ball inside and Bedford was fouled. He sunk both free throws to tie the game. BYU’s final shot was off the rim so the game went to overtime.

In OT neither team could score for the first 2 minutes and 20 seconds. Finally after missing a shot inside, BYU’s C Terry Day tipped in the rebound. Then after yet another miss by Memphis, SF Mike Johnson drove, pulled up and rattled in a 12 footer to put BYU ahead 81-77 with just over 2 minutes to play. The Tigers continued to loft up 3’s that failed to fall in. Memphis then had to repeatedly foul in the final minute allowing BYU to salt away the victory. Memphis failed to score a single point during the entire 5 minutes in OT!

BYU-87 (PG Jeremy Cross-18 pts; SG Robbie Songalia-16 pts, 3 reb, 3 assists, 4 steals, 1 block; PF Ben Bryant-16 pts, 10 reb; C Terry Day-14 pts, 9 reb)
Memphis-77 (SF Leighton Gostin-13 pts; C Hamp Crumble-12 pts; SG Adarrial Johnson-12 pts; SG Kris Robinson-11 pts)

BYU's coach Mark Pope said, "The way Memphis came back in the latter moments of the 2nd half definitely worried me about the OT. We focused on making them work hard and keeping them from getting easy shots...and our guys went out and did exactly that! That gave us a chance to get a lead that forced the TIgers to shoot 3's and those just weren't dropping for them. Keeping such a good team from scoring throughout the entire overtime period was just an amazing feat my our team."

#6 seed Saint Mary’s Gaels (26-8) vs #11 seed Furman Paladins (25-7)

St. Mary’s employed a solid defense throughout the entire first half and came away with a 40-25 halftime lead. Furman was only able to hit 27% of their FG attempts. St. Mary’s also controlled the boards 25-15. Reserve C Mike Johnson scored 10 points in his 9 minutes on the floor for St. Mary’s. Reserve PF Pat Battier was the top scorer for Furman with 6 points.

The Gaels scored the first 5 points in the 2nd half to open a 20 point lead. Furman cut into the lead but the closest they got was 7 points when they sunk a 3 at the end of the game. Both teams hit less that 40% of their shots. The real difference in the game was St. Mary’s 47-34 rebounding advantage.

St. Mary’s-73 (C Mike Johnson-16 pts, 6 reb; PF Jabari Edwards-14 pts, 12 reb; PG Kolin Orvis-10 pts)
Furman-66 (C Rob Williams-12 pts, 8 reb; PG Nick Jackson-12 pts; PG Jamal Carr-10 pts, 6 reb)

“You’ve got to give it to Furman. We were on top most all the way, but the Paladins never gave in and kept nipping away at us. Our defense was great in the first half but we were much less successful with it in the 2nd half. We can’t afford to have a let down like that in future games in this tournament,” said St. Marys coach Randy Bennett.

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South Region--Round 1 (part 4 of 4)

#7 seed Michigan Wolverines (19-12) vs #10 seed Akron Zips (24-7)

During warmups an argument between members of the two teams occurred. The refs warned the players and the coaches.

Both teams hit 3’s on their first possessions. Akron took an early small lead but Michigan overtook them and by the midpoint of the half was ahead 23-12. Akron’s shooting was ice cold. With 7 minutes left in the half the Wolverines led 33-14. In the half Michigan hit 58% of their shots, Akron only 22% of theirs. Michigan pulled down 23 rebounds, Akron just 16. The result was 50-22 halftime lead in favor of the Wolverines. Reserve C/PF Brent Hankins scored 14 points and SF Roy Battier hit for 10 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and had 2 assists and 4 blocks for Michigan. Akron was led by PG Nate Larry’s 9 points.

The Wolverines scored the first 6 points of the 2nd half putting them ahead by 34 points. If anything was certain, it was that Michigan had this game in the bag. The lead grew to 36 points and then Michigan coasted to an easy thumping of the Zips. Michigan outshot Akron Ak57% to 31% and outrebounded the Zips 38-29.

Michigan-87 (SF Roy Battier-20 pts, 8 reb, 7 blocks; C Brent Hankins-16 pts, 5 reb; SG Derek Holberg-15 pts, 5 reb, 6 assists, 3 blocks)
Akron-64 (PG Nate Larry-17 pts; SG Dave Davey-16 pts, 5 reb)

#8 seed Iowa Hawkeyes (20-11) vs #9 seed Rhode Island Rams (21-9)

Although Rhode Island took a 4-0 lead, Iowa came roaring back to lead 28-14 midway through the half. With Iowa canning 65% of their shots in the half and the Rams hitting just 39% of theirs, it wasn’t surprising that the Hawkeyes sported a 48-33 halftime advantage. SF Tom Scott led Iowa with 13 points and 6 rebounds. Reserve SG Brad Rhodes topped Rhode Island’s scoring with 8 points.

Iowa continued to dominate in the 2nd half and ended the game with a solid bashing of the Rams. The Hawkeyes sunk 60% of their FG attempts compared to 42% by Rhode Island. Iowa also had a 27-19 advantage on the boards and a 17-12 turnover advantage.

Iowa-87 (SF Tom Scott-17 pts, 9 reb; SG Marcus Cox-13 pts; C Williams Murray-12 pts; SG Ashley Trotman-11 pts; PF Andre Howe-10 pts, 5 reb)
Rhode Island-68 (SG Brad Rhodes-16 pts)

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The favorites prevailed in the first round of the South Regional. Four of the eight games were close throughout most of the game and that included one overtime game.

In the three regionals thus far, 8 of the 24 teams that have advanced are from non-power conferences.


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West Region—Round 1 (part 1 of 4)

#1 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs (31-2) vs #16 seed Little Rock Trojans (21-10)

Gonzaga scored first and opened a 7-1 lead and then held onto a lead with Little Rock continually keeping close and finally taking a 22-21 lead with 8:25 to go in the half. Then Gonzaga connected on 3’s in its next 3 possessions while Little Rock was hitting 3’s on their 2 possessions making it 30-28 in favor of the Bulldogs. The Zags then stayed hot and finished the half with a 45-37 lead. PG Henry Chaney scored 11 points and dished out 5 assists for Gonzaga. Reserve SG Melvin Crocker dropped in 11 points (hitting 4 of 5 FG’s including all three of his 3P attempts) while playing just 8 minutes for the Trojans.

Little Rock turned the ball over 5 times in the first 2-1/2 minutes of the second half and Gonzaga made them pay…increasing their lead at that point to 57-40. Little Rock settled down and cut the Bulldog’s lead to 61-54 with 12 minutes remaining in the game at which point I’m sure Gonzaga coach Mark Few was happy to have the media timeout. The Trojans kept cutting the lead to 5 points but could get no closer and Gonzaga escaped with a hard-fought win. The Zags held a small advantage on most team stats.

Gonzaga-83 (SF Xavier Ward-21 pts, 4 steals, 1 block; PG Henry Chaney-12 pts, 7 assists; C Damion Warren-12, 10 reb; SG Chris Hare-10 pts; C Dave-10)
Little Rock-75 (SG Damon Solverson-17 pts, 8 reb; SG Melvin Crocker-13 pts; SG Jason McConnell-10 pts)

“We came out on fire in the 2nd half and then let Little Rock get right back into the game. There were a couple short periods in the game where we hitting nearly all our 3’s. But I think that made our guys think that they could fire away from outside any time they wanted…and that just didn’t work. Little Rock was tough and Coach Walker did a great job of game management. So much for an easy game in round 1,” said Gongaga coach Mark Few.

Little Rock's Coach Darrell Walker stated, “If it wasn’t for those 2-1/2 minutes at the beginning of the 2nd half when we just couldn’t do a thing right and Gonzaga stormed to a 17 point lead, we might have had a chance for a tremendous upset. But I’m really proud of how our guys came back to make the last 10-15 minutes of the game close and put a scare into Gonzaga. I don’t think Mark ever thought he’d have to play 3 of his starters 30+ minutes each. Gonzaga is one helluva team though. We had to keep subbing since our all our guys came off the court dog-tired and needed time to sit on the bench to recover. But our bench was tremendous and kept us in the game. Our 5 subs scored nearly as many points as our 5 starters.”

#2 seed Baylor Bears (26-4) vs #15 seed Murray State Racers (23-9)

Baylor’s defense gave Murray State fits early in the game and with 11-1/2 minutes to play in the first half, the Bears led 19-8. The Racers cut the lead to 5 points but then Baylor went on a long run that steadily expanded their lead all the way to the end of the half. Murray State’s coach Matt McMahon was called for a technical with 1:17 remaining in the half. The teams went to the locker room with Baylor in command 41-26. The Beats outshot the Racers 50% to 38%, held a 17-13 rebounding advantage and a 10-5 turnover advantage. SG Brian Butler topped Baylor’s scoring with 10 points. PG Lucas Kellogg had 9 points for Murray State.

Baylor held a 15-24 point lead throughout the entire 2nd half. Baylor completely controlled all aspects of the game.

Baylor-81 (SF Joe Bush-16 pts, 13 reb; C Dontay Washington-15 pts; SG Brian Butler-13 pts; PF Ben Church-10 pts)
Murray State-62 (PG Lucas Kellogg-12 pts)

Coach Scott Drew of Baylor said, “I liked the way our guys took control and never let up. And our defense was outstanding.”

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West Region--Round 1 (part 2 of 4)

#3 seed Villanova Wildcats (24-7) vs #14 seed Belmont Bruins (26-7)

Belmont held the lead (as much as a 10 point difference) for the first 15 minutes of the game. But Villanova was on top by a small margin the last 5 minutes, finishing the half with a 44-42 advantage. Both teams hit over 50% of their shots. Leading Villanova were C Jibran Shannon with 13 points and reserve SG Hector Fuller with 11 points. PF Anthony Parmer topped Belmont’s scoring with 9 points.

Belmont scored the first 5 points of the 2nd half to go ahead 47-44. Then the Wildcats went on a 13-0 run to move ahead 57-47 with 14 minutes to play. The Bruins cut the lead to 7 points with 4-1/2 minutes remaining. But Villanova then ran away to win with ease. The Wildcats outshot the Bruins 54% to 44% but more importantly commanded the boards 38-22.

Villanova-87 (C Jibran Shannon-17 pts, 6 reb; SG Kevin Foreman-14 pts; PF Mike Watkins-12 pts, 7 reb; SG Hector Fuller-11 pts)
Belmont-72 (SG Shawn Thurston-13 pts; PF Anthony Parmer-11 pts; PG Senque Archie1 pts)

Casey Alexander who coaches the Belmont Bruins said, “Villanova is such a strong team, but we made a game of it. Villanova scoring 13 unanswered points in the 2nd half sort of took the wind out of our sails though. We made a real effort and were successful in cutting into their lead but it took a lot out of us so that we faded late.”

#4 seed Michigan State Spartans (22-9) vs #13 seed Hofstra Pride (26-8)

Michigan State hit some early 3’s but then Hofstra’s 2-3 zone took hold and with 11-1/2 minutes remaining in the half, the Pride were on top 16-12. Michigan State broke the zone at that point and scored 18 of the next 20 points to go ahead 30-18 with 3-1/2 minutes remaining until halftime. When the half ended the Spartans led 36-23. Michigan State outshot Hofstra 44% to 29% and dominated the boards (23-11). Michigan State’s top scorer was PG Marcus Harris with 9 points. Hofstra’s C Ryan Calhoun had 8 points.

Hofstra scored the first 7 points in the 2nd half to trim the lead to 36-30. The Spartans regained a double digit lead at 59-49 with 9-1/2 minutes to play. For the rest of the game Michigan State continued to keep the Pride from narrowing the gap. Although the Spartans hit a higher percentage of their FG attempts than Hofstra (46% to 39%), their 41-25 rebounding advantage was the difference in the game.

Michigan State-74 (PF Mike Grant-16 pts, 13 reb; C Linton Bellamy-15 pts, 7 reb, 1 steal, 3 blocks; PG Marcus Harris-11 pts, 7 assists; SG Jason Bogans-10 pts)
Hofstra-63 (C Ryan Calhoun-20 pts, 7 reb; SG Tim Fall-9 pts, 6 assists)

Tom Izzo, Michigan State’s coach said, “Hofstra played us tough and we couldn’t stop their center, Calhoun. But Mike Grant had a terrific game for us. We need to pick up our intensity for our next game though.”

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West Region--Round 1 (part 3 of 4)

#5 seed West Virginia Mountaineers (21-10) vs #12 seed Wright State Raiders (25-7)

The Mountaineers scored the first 7 points in the game, but Wright State got back into the game and with 15-1/2 minutes remaining in the half the Raiders jumped on top 13-12. The lead then shifted back and forth for the next 5 minutes. At that point Wright State gained a small lead that they held until the end of the half when the Raiders were up 39-33. Wright State outshot West Virginia 54% to 36% and also held a 17-12 rebounding advantage but made 10 turnovers to just 6 by the Mountaineers. The Raiders’ SG Kendric Pugh scored 12 points and West Virginia’s PG Tim Young scored 11 points.

West Virginia gradually crept up on the Raiders and tied them at 42-42 with 16 minutes to play. The game remained tight for the following 5 minutes, but again Wright State began opening a lead and went up 51-45 with 10:40 left. The Raiders increased their lead to 9 with 6 minutes remaining. But West Virginia fought back and with 3:21 on the clock, C Will Williams rattled home a 6 footer to get the Mountaineers within 2 points. After picking off a pass, the Mountaineers worked the ball around until SG Shannon Underwood drove down the lane and put in an 8 footer to tied the game at 59-59 with 2-1/2 minutes to go. On the next possession, C Marco Russell hit a contested shot inside for Wright State. Then Kenny Barrett was fouled and he sank both shots to put the Raiders on top 63-59 at the 1:49 mark. West Virginia responded to the mounting pressure when PG Tim Pugh hit a 10 foot baseline jumper on which he was fouled. He converted the free throw to make it 63-62 with 1:32 left. Wright State’s next shot was blocked. But then Marco Russell stole a pass and drove down court for a thunderous dunk giving the Raiders a 65-62 lead with 55 seconds remaining. The Mountaineers called a time out and got Tim Young free and he lofted up a 3 that settle cleaning through the silks to tie the game. Wright State missed a shot but West Virginia’s shot with 13 seconds left was blocked and Wright State brought it up court for their final attempt but it was off the rim and the game remained tied at 65-65.

Wright State’s PG Kenny Barrett hit 2 free throws for the first score in overtime. Then C Will Williams was called for his 5th personal foul sending the Raiders Marco Russell to the line where he made one and missed one to make the score 68-65 with 4 minutes left in OT. On Wright State’s next possession, Barrett hit a 3 putting the Raiders ahead by 6 points. The Raiders defense continued to keep West Virginia from getting clear shots. With 2:28 on the clock SG Pete Webster pushed up a shot from the end line that went in giving Wright State a commanding 63-65 advantage. After yet another failed attempt by the Mountaineers, Barrett hit 2 more free throws and C Mike Fleming dropped in a layin to put Wright State up by 12 points. Finally with 1:24 remaining, West Virginia scored when PF Bobby Simpson dropped in one from 12 feet away. Yet another foul gave the Raiders another point. West Virginia then quickly scored and it was 78-69 with 1:05 left. The Mountaineers were forced to foul and Wright State added two more points. Wright State hit another field goal before the game ended.
West Virginia’s anemic shooting in the OT lowered their overall game shooting to 34%. Wright State hit 42% of their shots. The Raiders controlled the boards 45-33 but made 19 turnovers compared to 12 by the Mountaineers.

Wright State-82 (PG Tim Young-20 pts, 5 assists; PF Bobby Simpson-10 pts, 9 reb, 2 steals, 2 blocks; PF Malcolm Forbes-11 pts; SF Adam McFaddon-10 pts)
West Virginia-69 (PG Tim Pugh-17 pts, 6 reb; SG Kenny Barrett-15 pts, 5 assists; C Marco Russell-13 pts, 6 reb; PF David Richards-9 pts, 9 reb)

“What a game! The teams were so evenly matched, it seemed appropriate that it went to OT. I’m just glad we caught fire during those 5 minutes,” said Wright State head coach Scott Nagy.

West Virginia’s coach Bob Huggins said, “We’re sick. After being down by 9 with 6 minutes to go and having a strong comeback with Tim Young tying the game with his 3, I thought the momentum might be with us. But we just couldn’t get it done in the OT.”

#6 seed Houston Cougars (23-8) vs #11 seed New Mexico State Aggies (25-6)

The lead shifted between he two teams for the first 10 minutes of the game but then New Mexico’s shooting went ice cold and Houston moved into a 26-16 lead with 8 minutes left in the half. As the Cougars hit 52% of the FG attempts compared to 36% by the Aggies, the lead grew to 39-27 at the break. SG Rockerick Inge scored 8 points for Houston while New Mexico State was led by PF Julian Wimbley’s 8 points.

Houston’s defense kept New Mexico State from improving their shooting and the Aggies fell behind by as much as 19 points before rallying late to cut the Cougars’ lead to 6 points with a minute to play. But being forced to foul, New Mexico State was unable to get any closer. Houston won due to outshooting the Aggies 47% to 35% while also hitting 13 of 27 three-point attempts.

Houston-71 (SG Roderick Inge-21 pts; SG Dan Thompkins-11 pts; PF Erik Thomas-10 pts, 5 reb; C Brian Wright-10 pts)
New Mexico State-63 (PF Julian Wimbley-18 pts, 6 reb; SF Aaron Condill-12 pts, 6 reb)

“We expected the Aggies to give us a real challenge and they did exactly that, but fortunately our defense was solid throughout the game,” said Houston’s coach Kelvin Sampson. He continued, “We’re going to have to now try how to figure out how to stop Villanova two days from now.”

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West Region--Round 1 (Part 4 of 4)

#7 seed Illinois Fighting Illini (21-10) vs #10 seed Saint Louis Billikens (23-8)

Illinois took the ball inside twice for dunks by PF Alvin Beerbohm in the first 45 seconds of play and followed that up with a 3 pointer by SF Marcus Holmes on their 3rd possession to make it 7-0. Houston got on the board on the following possession on a 3 of their own and tied the game at 7-all with 17 minutes to go in the half. Following those two 7-0 runs, Illinois scored another 7 unanswered points to lead 14-7 with 14-1/2 left before the break. The Illini opened a 21-11 lead with 11-1/2 minutes remaining in the half. The Billikens struggled to narrow the gap and with 1:32 on the clock tied the game at 35-35. The half ended with the Hoosiers holding a slim 41-40 lead. SF Marcus Holmes dropped in 11 points for Illinois but St. Louis’ SG Diego Moore peppered the net for 17 points.

St. Louis held Illinois scoreless for the first 3-1/2 minutes of the 2nd half but only led the Illini by a score of 44-41 at that point. The Hoosiers Marcus Holmes sunk a 3 with 11:42 remaining to give Illinois their first lead of the 2nd half at 54-51. PG Joshua Willis returned the favor with a 3 to put the Billikens back on top 56-54 with just under 10 minutes left in the game. Illinois regained the lead at 61-60 when SG Colin Stone drove down the lane and scored on a finger roll with 6-1/2 minutes to go. A minute later SG Damien Moore stole a pass, upcourted the ball to a streaking Ronald Crudup who slammed it in to put St. Louis back on top 62-61. On the next possession, Holmes hit 2 free throws and Illinois jumped back on top 63-62. C Pat Riggs dropped in 2 foul shots to tie the game at 68-68 with 2:46 left. PF Alvin Beerbohm got free out front and hit a 3 to make it 71-68 in favor of the Illini a minute later. The Hoosier held a 75-72 advantage with just 24 seconds on the clock. St. Louis brought the ball up court and got the ball over to SG Diego Moore who drilled a 3 to tie the game with 15 seconds remaining. Illinois missed a 3P attempt but SG Michael Gallagher grabbed an offensive rebound and put it right back up and in with 5 seconds left. St. Louis got the ball over the mid court line and lofted a desperation 3 that just barely rimmed out to preserve Illinois’ victory in one of the most exciting games of the tournament. The Billikens hit 44% of their shots compared to the Hoosiers 41% but Illinois got to the line 13 more times where they scored 5 more points than St. Louis.

Illinois-77 (SF Marcus Holmes-20 pts, 11 reb; PF Beerbohm-13 pts, 6 reb; C Adam Houston-10 pts, 8 reb)
St. Louis-75 (SG Diego Moore-28 pts, 5 reb; C Pat Riggs-9 pts, 12 reb)

“There were just too damned few opportunities for us at the foul line in the 2nd half. That’s all I’m gonna say about this game,” said disgruntled St. Louis coach Travis Ford.

Brad Underwood, the coach for Illinois, said, “My heart’s still racing. The entire 2nd half was so damned close. Michael Gallagher’s effort to get inside, grab that final rebound and hit a great put-back was pure determination on his part! And that final half-court heave by the Billikens looked right on the mark and seemed to hang in the air forever. My knees were so weak when it finally rimmed out that I could barely stand.”

#8 seed Richmond Spiders (24-7) vs #9 seed Southern California Trojans (22-9)

The Spiders never led or were tied with the Trojans early in the game, but finally gained their first lead at 19-17 lead with 9-1/2 minutes left in the half. USC the scored the next 6 points and held a small lead the rest of the half finishing it with a 40-34 advantage. The Trojans also held a small advantage in all team stats. SF Erick McMahon led USC’s scoring with 9 points but PG Rasual Crowley scored 5 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and dished out 5 assists. C Chris Kelly had 8 points for Richmond.

In the 2nd half, Southern Cal continued to lead until Richmond’s Ross Love hit 2 free throws to put the Spiders on top 51-50 with 14 minutes left in the game. Richmond then moved out to a 66-56 lead with 9-1/2 minutes remaining. USC cut into the lead slowly and with 4 minutes to go trailed 73-70. But the Spiders were able to hold off the Trojans to a narrow victory. Richmond’s scored 30 points in the paint compared to just 14 by USC.

Richmond-81 (C Chris Kelly-18 pts, 8 reb; PF Brett Perkins-14 pts, 8 reb, 1 steal, 3 blocks; PG Ross Love-13 pts, 5 assists; SG Jason Paige-10 pts, 8 reb, 5 assists)
Southern California-73 (PG Manny Walker-14 pts; SG Ben Carr-12 pts, 6 reb; SF Erick McMahon-11 pts, PG Rasual-8 pts, 6 reb, 8 assists)

“Su-weet! Both teams were in charge at various points of the game, but we took over in the latter stages and gamely held on to carve out an exciting victory,” said Chris Mooney, head coach for Richmond.

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Gonzaga, the #1 seed in the West, was unimpressive in their first game in the tournament. #12 seed Wright State upset #5 seed West Virginia. Six of the 8 games were very competitive with one game going to overtime and another going down to the final shot.

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Round 1 is COMPLETE!

11 of the 32 teams advancing to the round of 32 are from non-power conferences. Now the challenge for them is to continue moving forward as the competition stiffens.

Only 2 teams that were lower seeds won in the 32 games in round 1. One of those wins was a #9 beating a #8 and the only real upset was by #12 Wright State.

So the tournament committee’s seedings were pretty much spot-on...at least for the first round.

Top Individual Performances in Round 1:

Tyler Payne, PF, Oregon—29 points
Diego Moore, SG, St. Louis—28 points
Zack Hayes, SG, Maryland—27 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks
Lee Hahn, PF, Colorado—23 points, 7 rebounds
Mike Hollins, PF, Kentucky—21 points, 12 rebounds
Marcus Holmes, SF, Illlinois—20 points, 11 rebounds
Andre Sampson, PF, Arizona—19 points, 11 rebounds, 9 blocks
Kendric Pugh, SG, Wright State—17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 5 blocks
Joe Bush, SF, Baylor—16 points, 13 rebounds
Mike Grant, PF, Michigan State—16 points, 13 rebounds
Alvin Griffin, C, Colorado—18 points, 8 rebounds in 18 minutes
Copley Robertson, C, UC Irvine—18 points, 5 rebounds in 19 minutes
Renaldo Miller, PF, Duke—17 points, 5 rebounds in 18 minutes
Travis Murray, SG, Oregon—11 points, 9 assists, 3 blocks
Trenton Sarchet, SG, Colorado—7 points, 10 assists
Jeffrey Gardiner, PG, Duke—11 points, 8 assists
Rasual Crowley, PG, Southern California—8 points, 8 assists

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Midwest—Round 2 (Part 1 of 2)

#1 seed Kansas Jayhawks (29-3) vs #8 seed Colorado Buffaloes (22-11)

Kansas held a 5-10 point lead throughout most of the first half. But in the final 5 minutes Colorado steadily cut into that lead to trail by just a single point before the Jayhawks hit some late shots to give them a 41-35 halftime advantage. Kansas outshot the Buffaloes 43% to 37% but Colorado held a 20-16 rebounding advantage. C Richard Williams hit for 12 points for Kansas plus had 4 rebounds, 1 steal, and 2 blocks. The Buffaloes PF Lee Hahn scored 9 points.

Within the 2-1/2 minutes of play in the 2nd half, Colorado pulled into their first lead of the game at 43-41 and then held Kansas scoreless for yet another minute. Kansas then went on a 10-0 run. With 12:12 left Kansas opened their biggest lead thus far at 58-45 and had all the momentum in their favor. Colorado had a tough time hitting their shots which allowed Kansas to go ahead by 21 at 79-58 with 3-1/2 minutes to go as C Richard Williams was running roughshod over the Buffaloes defense and the game was out of reach for Colorado. Kansas scored on 47% of their shots and held Colorado’s shooting to just 33%.

Kansas-89 (C Richard Williams-28 pts, 11 reb, 5 blocks; PF/C Scott Bullock-13 pts; SG Ron Lawson-12 pts; SF Leon Martin-11 pts)
Colorado-67 (PF Lee Hahn-17 pts; SG Trenton Sarchet-15 pts, 5 reb)

Tad Boyle, Colorado’s coach said, “I was feeling pretty good when we took a lead early in the 2nd half, but it was like sticking your hand in a hornet’s nest. Kansas came back stinging and never quit. That final 17 minutes was like getting your butt kicked over and over and over again and it was on both ends of the court.

#2 seed San Diego Aztecs (31-2) vs #7 seed Butler Bulldogs (23-9)

In a rough start with lots of fouls on both teams, San Diego State got out to a 10-2 lead after the first 3 minutes of play. With 12 minutes to play in the half, the Aztecs had bludgeoned their way to a 24-10 advantage with PF Steve Hordemann coming off the bench to score 11 quick points. By then a number of players on both teams were in foul trouble. Butler then began to narrow the gap and got within 6 points. But the Aztecs then ran off 9 straight quick points to take a 35-20 lead. Fouls continued to mount and San Diego State rode those to a 43-24 lead with 4 minutes remaining. With 2-1/2 minutes to go, Butler had 4 of their 5 players who were on the court sporting 2 fouls apiece and San Diego State had 2 players on the court with 2 personal fouls. The game was threatening to turn into a game of attrition. The half ended with the Aztecs leading 51-31. Butler had been called for 15 fouls sending San Diego State to the line for 21 foul shots. 5 Bulldogs players had 2 fouls apiece and one had 3 fouls. But the Aztecs had connected on 64% of their FG attempts and held a 12-4 turnover advantage. San Diego State was led by reserve PF Steve Hordemann with 13 points and 6 rebounds. PF Jake Ellis and SG Moses Williams both had 6 points for the Bulldogs.

San Diego State continued to roll early in the 2nd half and was on top 61-34 just 4 minutes into the final stanza. Led by C Tim Chappel, Butler then went on an 11-0 run but that still left them 16 points behind with 11 minutes to play. In the 2nd half the fouls were piling up against San Diego State. With 5:45 to go the Bulldogs had trimmed the lead to 71-59. But San Diego State didn’t let Butler get closer and came away with an impressive win. The Aztecs outshot the Bulldogs 51% to 41%, held a 34-28 rebounding advantage, and a 17-12 turnover advantage.

San Diego State-81 (SG Isaac Haston-15 pts, 5 assists; PF Steve Hordemann-13 pts, 9 reb; PG Jarvis Brown-11 pts)
Butler-68 (C Tim Chappel-14 pts, 10 reb, 1 steal, 3 blocks; PG Jake Ellis-11 pts, 5 assists; PF Vashon Adams-10 pts, 5 reb)

Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher said, “We had one player foul out, 2 players with 4 fouls each, and 2 other players with 3 fouls each and sent the Bulldogs to the line for 32 foul shots. But our team banded together to just keep banging away and hold onto the solid lead we built up in the first half. Butler has a really good team so I’m just happy to have gotten past them. I’ve got to get going though, because I want to watch the Duke-East Tennessee State game.”

“We would have loved to make another deep run in the tournament this year, but it just wasn’t in the cards for us tonight. Both teams slugged it out from beginning to end, but San Diego State was just too much of a force,” said Butler’s coach LaVall Jordan.

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Midwest—Round 2 (Part 2 of 2)

#3 seed Duke Blue Devils (26-6) vs #6 seed East Tennessee State Buccaneers (31-4)

Both teams started slow but Duke opened the scoring after 2-1/2 minutes of play and held onto it, expanding their lead to 23-10 with 11 minutes to play since the Buccaneers were having problems handling Dukes defensive pressure. East Tennessee State finally figured out how to score and slowly cut into the Blue Devils lead and at the half trailed 40-34. Duke turned the ball over just 4 times while the Buccaneers had 8 turnovers. PF/C Renaldo Miller came off the bench to score 10 points for Duke while C Reggie Poster led East Tennessee State with 10 points and 5 rebounds.

The 2nd half started auspiciously for the Buccaneers as they grabbed their first lead of the entire game at 42-41 with 17-1/2 minutes remaining. The two teams swapped the lead repeatedly during the next 6 minutes. But then Duke began to slowly pull away as the Buccaneers became error-prone. With 6-1/2 minutes left in the game the Blue Devils were on top 73-62. East Tennessee State’s defense simple fell apart after that and Duke went on to blow out the Buccaneers. Duke hit 64% of their shots in the 2nd half and finished with a shooting percentage for the entire game of 53% compared to 46% for East Tennessee State. The Buccaneers had 18 turnovers while the Blue Devils had just 8.

Duke-94 (PF Rick Blizzard-17 pts, 8 reb, 3 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks; SG Billy Horton-15 pts, 6 reb; PF Alan Garren-13 pts, 8 reb; C/PF Renaldo Miller-12 pts, SF Tyson Anderson-10 pts; PG Ben Scott-10 pts; PG Jeffrey Gardiner-6 pts, 9 assists, 3 steals)
East Tennessee State-72 (C Reggie Poster-16 pts, 7 reb; SG Brandon Thurston-14 pts, 5 reb; C Aki Archibald-10 pts)

“The Buccaneers played us tough, but we finally got our game together and then our guys just kept rolling. Rick Blizzard had a fantastic game and led us on both ends of the court,” said Mike Krzyzewski,

#4 seed Seton Hall Pirates (22-9) vs #5 seed Wisconsin Badgers (22-10)

The first 10 minutes were hard fought but then Wisconsin clamped down defensively and rapidly pulled away, leading 33-18 with 4 minutes to play in the half. So a game that was expected to be close, wasn’t. At the end of the half, the Badgers had put Seton Hall in a 46-28 hole. The Pirates hit only 35% of their shots while Wisconsin was blistering the net at a 54% rate. The Badgers also held a 10-6 turnover advantage and a 17-14 rebounding advantage. Leading the way for Wisconsin were two reserves, C Jason Thomas and PG Lonnie Edney who scored 12 and 10 points, respectively. The top scorer for Seton Hall also was a reserve, SG Scott Lee, who had 9 points.

Seton Hall was unable to make any headway to get close to Wisconsin in the 2nd half, and the Badgers won with ease.

Wisconsin-79 (PF Jon Stanton-15 pts, 7 reb; C Jason Thomas-12 pts, 5 reb; PG Lonnie Edney-12 pts; SF Shaun Copeland-10 pts, 6 reb; PG Marques Tucker-10 pts)
Seton Hall-62 (PF Greg Asbury-14 pts, 6 reb; SG Scott Lee-12 pts)

Wisconsin’s coach Greg Gard said, “We’re excited to get to the Sweet 16, but will need to up our game when we take on Kansas.”

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East—Round 2 (Part 1 of 2)

#1 seed Dayton Flyers (30-2) vs #9 seed Cincinnati Bearcats (21-10)

Cincinnati’s PF Darnell Harris scored all of the Bearcats points as they opened a 7-1 lead. Trailing 10-1, Dayton finally hit a FG when PF Leon Smith hit a 3 with 16:35 on the clock. Meanwhile the Bearcats could do no wrong, hitting 10 of their first 12 shots and rolling to an early 23-6 lead. But the Flyers began trimming the lead to get to with 4 at 29-25 with 5-1/2 minutes remaining in the half. Cincinnati then began a run that lasted until the end of the having resulting in a 44-27 advantage at the break. The Bearcats outshot Dayton 58% to 36% and controlled the boards 22-10. C Kevin Hansen dropped in 11 points and hauled down 8 rebounds for Cincinnati. Dayton’s top scorer was SG Jonathan Jefferson with 9 points.

Dayton came out in the 2nd half intent on turning the game around and did exactly that. Hitting from all over the court, the Flyers shocked the Bearcats and raced to a 52-51 lead with 10:46 remaining. The two teams then exchanged the lead several times but with 1:49 to go, Dayton was on top 69-65. With 49 seconds to go the Flyers lead was down to a single point. Dayton threw the ball away and Cincinnati in bounded with 39 seconds to go. C Kevin Hansen received a pass down low and took his man to the basket and scored on a finger roll that put Cincinnati ahead 70-69. The Flyers cut the ball over to PF Brooks Satchell on the left baseline who hit a 14 footer and Dayton regained a 71-70 lead with 25 seconds on the clock. Dayton pressed and the Bearcats had a tough time clearing the ball upcourt, but a quick upcourt pass to Kevin Hansen gave him a pathway to the basket and he made good as he threw down a jam to make it a 72-71 Cincinnati lead. Dayton had 14 seconds left. Jonathan Jefferson drove to the hoop but his path was blocked and he made a no-look pass back to C Devin Watkins but the Bearcats Hansen quickly moved to block Watkins’ shot from 6 feet from the basket out of bounds. Dayton’s coach Anthony Grant and all the Dayton fans felt there was a foul, but the refs weren’t convinced. With just 2 seconds to go, the Flyers got the ball inbounds but couldn’t get off a shot. Cincinnati finished with a 51% to 47% shooting advantage and dominated the boards 37-20 but had a 24-15 turnover disadvantage.

Cincinnati-72 (C Kevin Hansen-21 pts, 10 reb; PF Darnell Harris-12 pts; SF Terrance Wolfe-8 pts, 9 reb)
Dayton-71 (SG Jonathan Jefferson-19 pts, 4 reb, 6 assists; PF Leon Smith-12 pts)

Cincinnati coach John Brannen exclaimed, “What a game! The way Dayton turned the game around so quickly in the 2nd half was intimidating and showed why they were a #1 seed. We struck back though to sink two quick 3’s to keep them from running us off the court. BKenut from there on it was anybody’s game. Even though we trailed by 4 points, in the final two minutes our guys were determined to win and Kevin (Hansen) got it done with those 2 buckets and then that huge block.”

#2 seed Kentucky Wildcats (26-6) vs #7 seed Northern Iowa Panthers (26-6)

Northern Iowa hit just 2 of their first 18 FG attempts and trailed 25-13 with 6-1/2 minutes to go in the first half. Things didn’t improve for the Panthers as they hit just 20% of their first half FG attempts and 8% of their 3P attempts. Kentucky was a little better, hitting 40% of their FG attempts and 23% of the 3’s. Kentucky led 37-24 after the first 20 minutes of play. Kentucky’s SG Tim Woodley scored 13 points and SF Louis McClendon hit for 11 points for Northern Iowa.

The Panthers came out on a mission to start the 2nd half and with 15 minutes had overcome the Wildcat’s lead and took their first lead of the game at 42-41 with 14-1/2 minutes remaining. Kentucky then scored the next 6 points, but the Panthers came back again pull ahead 50-49 on Louis McClendon’s 3 with 10-1/2 minutes to go. The Wildcats rallied and scored 6 straight points again. With fouls going against Northern Iowa, their coach Ben Jacobson drew a technical foul. Kentucky’s defense stymied the Panthers and the Wildcats expanded their lead to 62-52 with 4:49 to play. Northern Iowa’s shooting never recovered to be able to make another run. Kentucky hit just 36% of their shots, but Northern Iowa’s shooting was even worse at 31%. But the key to the Wildcats’ victory was their scoring 13 more points at the foul line that the Panthers did.

Kentucky-74 (SG Tim Woodley-18 pts; PF Mike Hollins-16 pts, 10 reb, 3 assists, 1 steal, 4 blocks; C Marckell Hedde-12 pts; PF Dennis Mickens-11 pts, 7 reb)
Northern Iowa-60 (SF Louis McClendon-31 pts; PF Aaron Brown-8 pts, 8 reb)

John Calipari, head coach of Kentucky said, “Northern Iowa gave us all we could handle tonight. But our defense stood up so that even though our offense was spotty, we were able to pull away late in the game.”

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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.”

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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.

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South Region—Round 2 (part 1 of 2)

#1 seed Florida State Seminoles (27-5) vs #8 seed Iowa Hawkeyes (21-11)

Both teams had a tough time getting their shots to fall early, but Iowa then jumped out to a 20-4 lead after about 7-1/2 minutes of play. Turnovers plagued Florida State and the Hawkeyes moved out to a 31-12 lead. When the half ended the Seminoles 14 turnovers and a 19-14 rebounding deficit offset their 47% shooting (compared to Iowa’s 36% shooting but just 5 turnovers) to cause Florida State to trail 41-28. PF Andre Howe had 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks for Iowa. Reserve PF Doug Bybee scored 8 points for the Seminoles.

Iowa had a 7-0 run in the first 3 minutes of the 2nd half to extend their lead to 48-28. Florida State then scored the next 13 of 15 points to cut the lead to 50-41 with 13 minutes remaining. The lead had shrunk to just 5 points with 8-1/2 minutes to go. C Donta Boulware took a pass down low and turned to toss in a 3 footer to get the Seminoles within 2 points at 64-62 with 3:48 on the clock. With a minute left, PF Andre Howe hit two free throws to put Iowa ahead 70-64. With the Seminoles forced to foul, Iowa was able to pad its lead to gain a big upset win. The Hawkeyes only hit 39% of their shots compared to Florida State’s 52% shooting but held a 24-13 turnover advantage and got to the free throw line 21 more times where they scored 15 more points than the Seminoles.

Iowa-75 (PF Andre Howe-16 pts, 8 reb, 4 blocks; SG Marcus Cox-15 pts, 7 reb, 3 assists, 3 steals; C Williams Murray-13 pts, 6 reb, 4 steals)
Florida State-66 (C Walter Forney-13 pts, 5 reb; SF Greg Ferguson-11 pts, 5 reb; PF Doug Bybee-10 pts)

“We made just too many dad-gummed mistakes…too many turnovers and too many fouls. You can’t do that against the competition in this tournament,” said Leonard Hamilton, Florida State’s head coach.

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said, “Even though we led the entire way, this was no cake-walk. The Seminoles kept attacking and got really close near the end of the game. When they got within 2 points of us, we could have folded but our guys never let down and held them off to get a really big win.”

#2 seed Creighton Bluejays (25-7) vs #7 seed Michigan Wolverines (20-12)

Michigan held a small lead early in the game, but with 13 minutes remaining in the half, SG Gerrod Ward launched a successful 3 that gave Creighton its first lead of the game and 13-10. Creighton continued to outshoot the Wolverines and led 26-16 with 7:47 on the clock. Hot shooting by the Bluejays (52% compered to just 30% by Michigan) resulted in a 43-28 Creighton lead at the break. SG Gerrod Wood popped in 14 points for the Bluejays. PF Jeff Maxwell and C B.J. Epps both scored 6 for Michigan.

With 14 minutes left in the 2nd half, PF David Warley drove down the baseline to deliver a monstrous dunk giving Creighton their biggest lead thus far at 58-37. Michigan cut the lead to 13 points with 4 minutes left to play. As Creighton’s hot shooting continued the Bluejays again pulled away to thump the Wolverines. Creighton dominated the game: hitting 50% compared to 31% by Michigan, controlling the boards 41-31, holding advantages of 30-14 in points in the paint, 8-4 on 2nd chance points, and 8-0 on fast break points.

Creighton-84 (SG Gerrod Wood-22 pts, 5 reb, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks; PF David Warley-20 pts, 4 blocks; SF Andry Amaya-14 pts, 10 reb)
Michigan-60 (C B.J. Epps-10 pts, 5 reb; PF Jeff Maxwell-8 pts, 6 reb)

“We had the hot hand tonight and that kept Michigan from being able to seriously cut into our lead once we got things going. Gerrod Wood and David Warley buoyed our inside game and both had big games for us,” said Greg McDermott, head coach of Creighton.

Michigan’s coach Juwan Howard said, “Creighton put together a great offense and defense that knocked us out of the game early and kept us on our heels.”

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South Region—Round 2 (part 2 of 2)

#3 seed Oregon Ducks (25-7) vs #6 St. Mary’s Gaels (27-8)

During the early portion of the first half both teams had found it tough to score and the game was close. But midway through the half, Oregon had begun scoring and led 25-12. But then St. Mary’s caught fire and led by PF Jabari Edwards, the Gaels took a 31-27 lead with 2:30 remaining. When the half ended, St. Mary’s was ahead 40-33, primarily because they dominated the boards 24-14. PF Jabiri Edwards had 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks for the Gaels. SG Travis Murray, PF Clarence Crosby and PF Martin Rencher each had scored 7 points for Oregon.

St. Mary’s held Oregon scoreless for the first 4 minutes of the 2nd half and led 45-33 at that point. The Gaels lead expanded to as much as 16 points, but the Ducks fought back and with 3-1/2 minutes left in the game had cut the lead to 63-55. With 1-1/2 minutes to go, Oregon was down by 7 points. But that was as close as the Ducks got as St. Mary’s held them off for a minor upset victory. Both teams hit just 38% of their shots, but the Gaels held a 39-33 rebounding advantage and scored 10 more points on free throws that did Oregon.

St. Mary’s-71 (PF Jabari Edwards-24 pts, 9 reb, 2 steals, 3 blocks; C Terrell Call-11 pts, 8 reb; SF Brad Amaker-10 pts, 9 reb, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks)
Oregon-62 (SG Travis Murray-15 pts; C Fred Andersen-10 pts, 10 reb, PF Clarence Crosby-9 pts, 4 reb, 2 assists, 4 steals, 1 block)

“Defense by both teams predominated throughout the entire game. During the middle 20 minutes of the game, we played very well and that was enough to get by Oregon. We’re stoked to be going to the Sweet 16,” said St. Mary’s coach Randy Bennett.

#4 Maryland Terrapins (25-7) vs #5 Brigham Young Cougars (25-8)

The Terrapins hit their shots early in the game to maintain a small lead but midway through the first half BYU edged ahead. At the end of the half the Cougars had a 45-40 advantage even though team stats were very similar between the two teams. BYU’s PF Ben Bryant scored 9 points and reserve C Dylan Thelmon had 8 points and 6 rebounds. SG Zack Hayes dropped in 13 points for Maryland.

Maryland scored the first 5 points of the 2nd half to tie the game, but then BYU opened a 5-10 point lead. The Terrapins whittled the lead down and overtook BYU at 68-67 with 9-1/2 minutes remaining. Maryland went ahead by 5 points at which point the Cougars came back to go ahead 76-64 with 4 minutes to go. Maryland’s SF Danya Nathaniel sunk 2 free throws to tie the game 30 seconds later. BYU scored 5 straight points in the next 90 seconds. With a minute to play, PF Dusty Barnes of Maryland scored on a dunk to cut the Cougars’ lead to 81-79. The Cougars threw the ball away on their next possession. The Terrapins worked the ball around and with 34 seconds on the clock SG Zack Hayes stuck a 15 foot jumper to tied the game. BYU’s PG Jeremy Cross got open and hit a 12 foot jumper to put the Cougars back on top by 2 points with 22 seconds left. Trying to rush their offense, Maryland was called for travelling. The Terrapins pressed to try to steal but SG Robbie Songaila found PF Ben Bryant open and he drove for an easy layup with 5 seconds to go to ice the game. The team stats were closer (if that’s possible) than the score. There were 17 lead changes and 11 ties during the game. The single area where BYU had a distinct advantage (26-10) was points in the paint.

Brigham Young-85 (SG Robbie Songaila-15 pts, 5 reb; PG Jeremy Cross-14 pts, 5 assists; SF Mike Johnson-14 pts; PF Ben Bryant-11 pts; C Dylan Thelmon-8 pts, 10 reb)
Maryland-81 (SG Zack Hayes-22 pts, 7 reb; PF Dusty Barnes-12 pts; C Jon Asbury-9 pts, 6 reb)

“These two teams were so evenly matched that it’s a shame either had to lose. But I sure am glad we are advancing. Our guys were up to each of the many challenges Maryland presented,” said Mark Pope, head coach of Brigham Young.

Edited by PointGuard

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South Region--Sweet 16

Iowa's upset of #1 seed Florida State was the biggest news coming from the South Regional. #2 seed Creighton took care of business, but #3 seed Oregon and #4 seed Maryland both were defeated. The BYU-Maryland game was close and exciting throughout and the victory up in the air until the final few seconds.

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West Region—Round 2 (part 1 of 2)

#1 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs (32-2) vs #8 seed Richmond Spiders (25-7)

Richmond led 3-2 but that was their last lead of the first half. After 4-1/2 minutes the Spiders trailed 9-3 and they gradually slipped further behind Gonzaga as the half progressed. With 8 minutes left in the half the Bulldogs were on top 34-17. Hitting 53% of their shots (compared to 43% for Richmond) and holding advantages in rebounding (20-13) and turnovers (7-2), the Zags built a commanding 53-32 lead at the end of the first half. SF Xavier Ward hit 5 of 8 FG attempts (including 4 of 6 from 3 point distance) to score 14 points for Gonzaga and teammate C Dave Bond had 9 points and 8 rebounds. Richmond’s SF Michael Garris scored 10 points.

Five minutes into the 2nd half, Gonzaga was ahead by 28 points. They then relaxed their defense which allowed the Spider to close the gap and with 5-1/2 minutes remaining the Bulldogs lead was down to 86-74. The Bulldogs continued to score almost at will but Richmond (aided by a barrage of fouls assessed against the Zags) trimmed the lead a little more but never were a threat. Gonzaga hit 55% of their shots and Richmond hit 52% of theirs. Both shot well from beyond the arc (62% for the Zags and 50% for the Spiders).

Gonzaga-101 (SF Xavier Ward-23 pts, 7 reb, 6 assists; C Dave Bond-13 pts, 11 reb, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks; SG Chris Hare-13 pts; PG Henry Chaney-12 pts, 5 assists; SF James Person-12 pts; PF Michael Frahm-10 pts)
Richmond-92 (SG Jason Paige-17 pts; PG Ross Love-14 pts, 8 assists; PF Brett Perkins-13 pts, 7 reb; SF Michael Garris-13 pts; C Chris Kelly-11 pts, 9 reb, 2 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks)

“Fortunately we built a big lead early because we simply fell asleep defensively in the last 15 minutes of the game. That’s totally inexcusable,” said Gonzaga’s head coach Mark Few.

#2 seed Baylor Bears (27-4) vs #7 seed Illinois Fighting Illini (22-10)

Both teams came out firing and hitting most of their shots. Baylor held the lead throughout most of the first half but Illinois kept close until the final few minutes when the Bears pulled away when their 2-3 finally stopped Illinois. That allowed Baylor to establish a 45-35 halftime lead. Baylor outshot the Fighting Illini 52% to 41% and also held a 19-14 rebounding advantage. SF Joe Bush tossed in 19 points while grabbing 5 rebounds. His counterpart of Illinois, SF Marcus Holmes hit for 17 points.

Illinois began the 2nd half with an 8-0 run that got them within 2 points of the Bears. But Baylor countered with an even more impressive run in which they scored 20 unanswered points to put them ahead 65-43 with 14-1/2 minutes left to play. The stunned Illini lost their fight and were never able to recover. Baylor rolled on to bludgeon Illinois. The Bears hit 47% of their FG attempts (and 14 of 30 3-point attempts) and controlled the boards 41-31.

Baylor-86 (SF Joe Bush-33 pts, 11 reb; SG Brian Butler-20 pts; PG Chris Neely-8 pts, 4 reb, 8 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks)
Illinois-65 (SF Marcus Holmes-24 pts, 8 reb, 1 steal, 4 blocks)

Baylor’s coach Scott Drew said, “Joe Bush had a tremendous game but our entire team played very well against a talented Illinois squad. We’ve put together two solid wins and I just hope we are peaking. My 2nd assistant, Alvin Brooks, has done a heckuva great job scouting out opponents which has allowed us to prepare and execute.”

Edited by PointGuard

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West Region—Round 2 (part 2 of 2)

#3 seed Villanova Wildcats (25-7) vs #6 seed Houston Cougars (24-8)

Both teams scorched the net early with Villanova holding a small edge. As the half proceeded, the teams’ defenses began to tighten. The half ended with the Wildcats ahead 42-39, primarily due to Villanova holding a 20-11 rebounding advantage over Houston. SG Kevin Foreman scoring 12 points and SF Dave Hill adding 10 points for Villanova. The Cougars’ SG Roderick Inge topped all scorers with 13 points.

The Wildcats were hot coming out in the 2nd half and quickly forged a 54-43 lead. Too many turnovers by Houston allowed Villanova to expand their lead to 76-57 with 9-1/2 minutes remaining. The Cougars cut the lead to 13 with 5 minutes remaining but Villanova’s offense was just too potent. The Wildcats dominated the boards 39-21 and held a 16-9 turnover advantage.

Villanova-95 (C Jibran Shannon-27 pts, 12 reb, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block; SG Kevin Foreman-14 pts; SF Dave Hill-13 pts, PF Rob Dearborn-10 pts, 12 reb; SG Hector Fuller-11 pts in 11 minutes of play; PG Mike Goree-6 pts, 9 assists)
Houston-75 (SG Roderick Inge-21 pts; SF Michael Williamson-12 pts; PF Erik Thomas-12 pts

Jay Wright, Villanova’s coach said, “We played a second really strong tournament game, and Jibran (Shannon) dominated inside. Baylor’s gonna be a big challenge for us in the Sweet 16, though.”

#4 seed Michigan State Spartans (23-9) vs #12 seed Wright State Raiders (26-7)

Michigan State came into this game as a prohibitive favorite. Could Wright State pull off another upset?

Falling behind 7-0, it took 5 minutes for Wright State to score. They closed to within 2 at 12-10 before Michigan State again pulled away. After trailing by as much as 9 points, the Raiders again got back into he game, trailing 30-29 with 5:26 left in the half. But the Spartans dominated in the final 5 minutes of the half and finished with a 45-35 lead. Michigan State outshot the Raiders 57% to 42% and held a 22-10 rebounding advantage. SG Jason Bogans drilled in 16 points for the Spartans. Wright State was led by PG Kenny Barrett’s 10 points.

Wright State battled back in the 2nd half and with 13:21 took their first lead of the game at 56-55 when PG Jared Platts kissed in a shot off the glass. The game was razor close for the next 6 minutes with several lead changes. But then the Raiders hit back-to-back 3’s to jump ahead 77-70 with 5:45 on the clock. With the crowd going wild Wright State increased their lead to 12 points with 2-1/2 minutes remaining. Michigan State fought back to cut the lead to 85-81 with 1:22 to go. But Wright State would bend no further and Cinderella’s dance continued. Michigan State outshot the Raiders 53% to 50% and controlled the boards 37-28. But Wright State had just 5 turnovers while forcing the Spartans to turn the ball over 15 times. The Raiders also hit 13 of 28 of the 3P attempts.

Wright State-91 (PG Kenny Barrett-21 pts, 5 assists; SG Kendric Pugh-17 pts, 8 reb, 7 assists, 3 steals, 1 block; C Marco Russell-12 pts, SF Pete Webster-10 pts)
Michigan State-83 (SG Jason Bogans-21 pts; PF Mike Grant-19 pts, 5 reb; C Linton Bellamy-10 pts, 8 reb; PF Chris Harrington-9 pts, 6 reb, 5 blocks)

“We kept trying to catch up in the first half, but Michigan State continually turned us away. But our guys never thought they were out of this game and proved it in the 2nd half. Our guys chipped away for the first 7 minutes of the game until they finally grabbed a single point lead and then battled the Spartans for the lead for 6 minutes before finally slamming the door on them in the final 7 minutes. We got just a tremendous effort from our entire team. All 11 players scored and had at least one rebound and 10 of them had at least one assist. Incredible!”

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West Region--Sweet 16

The top of the bracket in the West Region took care of business in Round 2 to reach the Sweet 16. #1 seed Gonzaga, #2 seed Baylor, and #3 seed Villanova all won their 2nd round games...and generally with ease. But #4 seed Michigan State was upset the the real Cinderella of this tournament, Wright State. The plucky Raiders looked in the first half like they woudn't be able to post another upset victory, but then ground out a tremendous upset of the mighty Spartans.

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Top Individual performances during Round 2:

SF Joe Bush, Baylor-33 points, 11 rebounds
SF Louis McClendon, Northern Iowa-31 pts
SF Gene Barnes, Louisville-30 points, 10 rebounds
C Richard Williams, Kansas—28 points, 11 rebounds, 5 blocks
C Jibran Shannon, Villanova-27 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
PF Jabari Edwards, St. Mary’s-24 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 blocks
SF Marcus Holmes, Illinois-24 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal, 4 blocks
SF Xavier Ward, Gonzaga-23 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists
SG Jason Mason, Virginia-24 points
SG Gerrod Wood, Creighton-22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks
SG Zack Hayes, Maryland-22 points, 7 rebounds
C Kevin Hansen, Cincinnati-21 points, 10 rebounds, 1 game-winning block
SF Pat Hawkins, Auburn-21 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal, 4 blocks
PG Kenny Barrett, Wright State-21 points, 5 assists
SG Jason Bogans, Michigan State-21 points
PF David Warley, Creighton-20 points, 4 blocks
SG Brian Butler, Baylor-20 points
PG Darius Howell, Louisville-19 points, 6 assists
SG Kendric Pugh, Wright State-17 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 1 block
PF Rick Blizzard, Duke-17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks
PF Mike Hollins, Kentucky-16 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 4 blocks
PF Andre Howe, Iowa-16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks
SG Marcus Cox, Iowa-15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
PG Ross Love, Richmond-14 points, 8 assists
C Dave Bond, Gonzaga-13 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks
C Chris Kelly, Richmond-11 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks
PF Rob Dearborn, Villanova-10 points, 12 rebounds
C Fred Andersen, Oregon-10 points, 10 rebounds
PG Chris Neely, Baylor-8 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks
PG Mike Goree, Villanova-6 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists

Top Individual Performers thru the first 2 rounds:

SF Joe Bush, Baylor: 24.5 ppg, 12.0 rpg
SG Zack Hayes, Maryland: 24.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 2.0 spg, 2.0 bpg
C Richard Williams, Kansas: 23.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 1.5 spg, 4.0 bpg
C Jibran Shannon, Villanova: 22.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 2.5 apg
SF Marcus Holmes, Illinois: 22.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg
SF Xavier Ward, Gonzaga: 22.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.5 apg, 2.5 spg
SF Gene Barnes, Louisville: 19.5 ppg, 11.0 rpg
PF Jabari Edwards, St. Mary’s: 19.0 ppg, 10.5 rpg
SG Jonathan Jefferson, Dayton: 19.0 ppg, 4.5 apg, 2.0 spg
PF Mike Hollins, Kentucky: 18.5 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.5 spg, 2.5 bpg
PG Kenny Barrett, Wright State: 18.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.0 apg, 1.5 bpg

Individual Stat Leaders thru the first 2 rounds:

Most Points: Joe Bush, Baylor and Zack Hayes, Maryland-49
Most FGM: Joe Bush, Baylor-20
Most 3PM: Roderick Inge, Houston-10
Most FTM: Mike Hollins, Kentucky and Marcus Cox, Iowa-18
Most Rebounds: Devon Emery, Ohio State; Pat Riggs, St. Louis; and Joe Bush, Baylor-24
Most Assists: Jeffrey Gardiner, Duke-17
Most Steals: Jeff Gordon, Arizona-8
Most Blocks: Andre Sampson, Arizona and Roy Battier, Michigan-9

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Here’s the Sweet 16!

Midwest Region
#1 seed Kansas vs #5 seed Wisconsin
#2 seed San Diego State vs #3 seed Duke

East Region
#4 seed Louisville vs #9 seed Cincinnati
#2 seed Kentucky vs #6 seed Ohio State

South Region
#5 seed Brigham Young vs #8 seed Iowa
#2 seed Creighton vs #6 seed St. Mary’s

West Region
#1 seed Gonzaga vs #12 seed Wright State
#2 seed Baylor vs #3 seed Villanova

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Midwest Region—Sweet 16

#1 seed Kansas Jayhawks (30-3) vs #5 seed Wisconsin Badgers (23-10)

Wisconsin turned the ball over 7 times in the first 8 minutes of play and Kansas took advantage to gain a 15-9 lead. With 7 minutes to play in the first half, PF Jon Stanton knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Badgers on top 20-19. The game remained close until the final few minutes of the half with Kansas carving out a 37-32 halftime lead. Wisconsin bettered the Jayhawks in shooting percentage and 3 point scoring, but Kansas held a 13-9 turnover advantage plus the Jayhawks scored 17 points on 18 FT attempts. C Richard Williams scored 13 and hauled down 5 rebounds for Kansas. Reserve PF Michael Minor scored 9 to lead Wisconsin.

Kansas padded their lead early in the 2nd half to go up by 9 points but Wisconsin tightened the game, trailing 45-44 with 14-1/2 minutes remaining. While the game continued to be extremely close, the Jayhawks held a very small lead most of the rest of the game. Kansas went on to win a squeaker where their defense kept Wisconsin from getting a clear shot on their last possession and forcing them to put up a tightly-contested 18 foot jumper that was off target. The Badgers hit 44% of their shots while Kansas only dropped in 36% of theirs. But the Jayhawks got to the line 10 more times and scored 11 more points at the line which was a big difference between the two teams.

Kansas-71 (C Richard Williams-18 pts, 10 reb; PF Antone Gosley-12 pts, 5 reb)
Wisconsin-69 (PG Marques Tucker-19 pts; C Kyle Grady-12 pts; SG Travis Grady-10 pts, 6 reb, 5 assists)

“The final 15 minutes were exceptionally close. Wisconsin really played tough. But our front line worked the boards so well and Richard Williams buoyed our offense,” said coach Bill Self of Kansas.

#2 seed San Diego State Aztecs (32-2) vs #3 seed Duke Blue Demons (27-6)

Even though San Diego State is a higher seed, this game feels like a David vs Goliath scenario. And the question is: does David have the right stone to knock off Goliath?

Three minutes into the game, the Aztecs were up 7-2 but already had one of their starters, PF Tarise Johnson, on the bench with 2 fouls. A minute later though San Diego State had a 12-4 lead. With 12 minutes to go in the half, the Aztecs had hit 5 of 9 three-point shots and increased their lead to 22-9. Duke called a time out and scored the next 5 points. With 7 minutes remaining, San Diego State sunk their 8th 3-pointer out of 12 attempts and went up 32-16. Even though the Aztecs missed their final 4 attempts from beyond the arc, they gamely held on to come away with a 42-27 lead over Duke at the break. Duke only hit 31% of their shots (and 20% of their 3P attempts), was out-rebounded by San Diego State 22-18 and turned the ball over 7 times compared to 3 by the Aztecs. SG Isaac Haston and C Corey Porter both scored 10 points for San Diego State with PG Jarvis Brown adding 9 points to go along with his 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Dukes’ PF Rick Blizzard had 10 points and 4 rebounds.

Duke continually edged down the lead a little only to have San Diego State regain what they’d lost, and with 5 minutes left in the game the Aztecs’ lead had ballooned to 72-50. When the buzzer sounded not only had David felled Goliath but the Aztecs had totally annihilated the Blue Demons. San Diego State’s domination included their sinking 13 of 29 three-pointers, completely controlling the boards to the tune of 43-25 and holding a 14-9 turnover advantage.

San Diego State-82 (C Corey Porter-18 pts, 10 reb; PG Jarvis Brown-15 pts, 4 reb, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks; SG Isaac Haston-12 pts, 1 steal, 3 blocks; SF Jay Cobb-12 pts, 5 reb)
Duke-59 (PF Rick Blizzard-18 pts, 11 reb, 2 steals, 4 blocks)

“Rick Blizzard played great, but the rest of our team was just flat. But you have to credit San Diego State for coming in with a great game plan and executing it very well,” said Mike Krzyzewski, coach of Duke.

San Diego State’s coach Brian Dutcher said, “I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t worried coming into this game, but our team played outstanding defense and got the job done offensively from outside plus Corey (Porter) took care of things inside.”

Midwest Regional--Elite 8

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