NCAA March Madness - West Regional Podcast

Cory's West Regional Bracket:

Round of 64:
1. Arizona
16. Weber St.
8. Gonzaga
9. Oklahoma St.
5. Oklahoma
12. North Dakota St.
4. San Diego St.
13. New Mexico St.
6. Baylor
11. Nebraska
3. Creighton
14. LA Lafayette
7. Oregon
10. BYU
2. Wisconsin
15. American

Round of 32: 
1. Arizona
9. Oklahoma St.
5. Oklahoma
4. San Diego St.
11. Nebraska
3. Creighton
7. Oregon
2. Wisconsin

West Regional Semifinals:
1. Oklahoma St.
4. San Diego St.
3. Creighton
2. Wisconsin

West Regional Finals:
9. Oklahoma St.
2. Wisconsin

Rory's West Regional Bracket:

Round of 64:
1. Arizona
16. Weber St.
8. Gonzaga
9. Oklahoma St.
5. Oklahoma
12. North Dakota St.
4. San Diego St.
13. New Mexico St.
6. Baylor
11. Nebraska
3. Creighton
14. LA Lafayette
7. Oregon
10. BYU
2. Wisconsin
15. American

Round of 32: 
1. Arizona
9. Oklahoma St.
12. North Dakota St.
4. San Diego St.
11. Nebraska
3. Creighton
7. Oregon
2. Wisconsin

West Regional Semifinals:
1. Arizona
4. San Diego St.
3. Creighton
2. Wisconsin

West Regional Finals:
1. Arizona
3. Creighton

NCAA March Madness - Bracket Overview Podcast

No repeat for Duke as Derrick Williams leads Arizona to the elite eight

With the Duke-Arizona first half coming to an end, Derrick Williams hit a fade away three point jumper to cut the Duke lead to 6 at 44 to 38. The Pac 10 Player of the year Williams kept Arizona in the game in the first half. Williams scored 25 of the Wildcats 38 first half points including hitting 5 of the 6 threes he attempted. Arizona coach Sean Miller said about his star, "I really felt like it was two different games. The first half, Derrick's individual play allowed us to have a chance. I mean he scored 25 points in one half. Made five 3s in one half. We were down 6. We could have had a huge deficit at halftime, but he gave us a chance." Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was also impressed by Williams first half play. He said, "Williams, he's just a superb player. He's as good as anybody we've played, or I should say better than anybody we've played. He kept his team in there in the first half.  I thought we played a little better than the score in the first half, but Williams getting 25 just kept them in." Williams definitely kept the Wildcats in the game, as no other Arizona player had more than four points in the first half.

In the second half, Arizona outscored Duke 55 to 33 and it was the other Wildcat players who stepped up big. The Wildcats came right out of the gate on fire, as they cut the Duke lead to only one point in just 3 minutes of play. After two Lamont Jones free throws with 15:18 remaining in the second half gave Arizona a 55 to 53 lead, they never relinquished it. Duke point guard Kyrie Irving said, "After we lost the lead, I think everyone got a little rattled. We tried to settle down, but by then it was too late." Krzyzewski said, "They just got on a real roll. When you get on a roll, you have more energy than the other guy,"said. "We had no stop for them, and you kind of get overwhelmed there for a little bit. They knocked us back and got that double-digit lead." Lamont Jones scored 14 points in the second half and Solomon Hill added 10 second half points. Jones said, As a team, we came together and willed ourselves to win. Derrick is a great player, but we all contribute." Williams finished the game with 32, a career high, after scoring 7 points in the second half.

For Duke, the loss to the Wildcats is a very disappointing end to a great season. Krzyzewski said, "The tournament is cruel. It's an abrupt end for everybody when you don't win." After missing 26 straight games with a toe injury, Kyrie Irving played significant minutes for the first time. He played 31 minutes for the Blue Devils and had a great game scoring 28 points on 9 of 15 shooting from the field. However, his return looked like it ruined the chemistry of the top seeded Blue Devils. They had played almost the entire season without Irving and had developed a groove and felt comfortable with their roles. With Irving's return, the other guys on the floor looked out of sync. Seth Curry and Mason Plumlee, who had stepped up and played very well in Irving's absence, only combined for 10 points. Nolan Smith, the ACC player of the year, had his worst game of the season. Smith only scored 8 points, about 12 below his average, and was 3 for 14 from the field. The ball was in Kyrie's hands at the end of the game and Irving, not Smith, was directing the offense. The Blue Devils didn't look like the same team who had earned a one seed.

Arizona advances to their first elite eight since 2005 and is looking to head to the schools fifth final four and first since 2001. Derrick Williams said, "Makes me feel great that if we win this game on Saturday we're going to be known as one of the best Arizona teams to play, and, you know, just to have our name up there, this is the fourth Arizona team to have 30 wins and that's a great accomplishment right there... The Elite Eight is great, but we're not looking to stop right there. We're trying to win a national championship one step at a time, and one more game we're in the Final Four. That's what we want to do. That's one of our team goals this season was not only to get in the tournament, but to make a run in the tournament and so far we're doing that."

A Key to Duke vs Arizona

How Kyrie Irving playing significant minutes will affect his teammates: After Duke's 8th game of the season, the Blue Devils were ranked number one and looked like the best team in the country. Duke's 8th win came at a cost though because their star point guard Kyrie Irving left the game with a toe injury. His first games back were in the second and third round of the NCAA tournament were he only played 20 minutes in each. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said that his star point guard will play "significant minutes" for the first time since the injury against Butler. Krzyzewsk said, "If I wasn't sure that he could play then I wouldn't play him." Irving will not be in the starting lineup however in Duke's sweet sixteen game against Arizona. Kyrie missed 26 straight games before returning in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Although Irving's ability to score and distribute the basketball was greatly missed, other guys like Seth Curry were able to step up and play very well. In Duke's two point third round win over Michigan, Seth Curry only took 3 shots and had 0 points. Mason Plumlee scored four points on only two shot attempts in that game. It will be interesting to see what the confidence of guys like Curry and Plumlee will be as their roles have changed with the addition of Irving on the floor. Curry only played 23 minutes in the third round and forced 3 three pointers. If Curry comes in and feels like he has to score and force shots, he may struggle. Plumlee also saw reduced minutes as he played less than a half at 18 minutes. Mason will be a huge factor if Duke wants to repeat as national champions because they don't have a real post presence if he isn't playing well. Not only will Irving's return affect some of the major role players, but it may change the role of ACC player of the year Nolan Smith. With Kyrie returning at the point guard position, Smith won't be directing the offense on every possession. The ball may not always be in his hands and you have to wonder how Irving's return will affect the Blue Devils chemistry. It is very difficult to determine how much you play a guy after he has been out for so long. Arizona head coach Sean Miller said, "I don't know if there has been another situation where you have almost a No. 1 seed without a player [Kyrie Irving] that many people would say is their best player, and now he's back in the equation."

NCAA Tournament Second Round Close Games and Buzzer Beaters

Parody is once again lurking its head in this years NCAA tournament. The second round saw 14 games decided by single digits including 10 of those games being under 5 points.

Last years national runner up Butler beat the Colonial Athletic Association tournament champion Old Dominion 60 to 58 in a southeast region 8-9 matchup. Last year Gordon Hayward's half-court three pointer for the NCAA championship at the buzzer came up short for the Bulldogs. However, this year Butler was on the right side of a buzzer beater. After two made free throws by Kent Bazemore to tie the game with 32 seconds left for Old Dominion, Butler held for the last shot. There was a scramble for a rebound and the ball landed right in Butler forward Matt Howard's hands. He finished the game with a tip-in at the buzzer. Howard said on his game winner, "I was not looking at the clock. I actually assumed there wasn't going to be enough time. I tried to shoot it as quickly as possible. It seemed bang-bang as soon as I shot it. It sounded like the horn was going off, so you never know. Fortunately we had just enough time to get that shot off." The game was incredibly close and highly contested with the largest lead in the game only being at six points. Shelvin Mack once again struggled from behind the arc going 3 for 10 but he had 5 assists and is going to be very important if Butler wants to advance to the sweet sixteen with a win over Pittsburgh.

In the biggest upset of the first round, the 13th seeded Morehead St. beat the 4th seeded Louisville Cardinals 62 to 61 in the southwest region. Kenneth Faried lived up to all the hype surrounding him with his 17 rebound performance including 5 on the offensive end of the court. The surprise of the game was the ineffectiveness of Morehead State's 16 point per game scoring guard Demonte Harper. He was just 2 of 9 from the field including 0 of 5 from three and only had 5 points going into Morehead State's final possession. Elisha Justice of Louisville had just missed a one and one to try and extend Louisville's lead by more than 2 points.  With 24 seconds left on the clock, coach Donnie Tyndall called a timeout. He told his star guard Demonte, "I know exactly who I'm going to. I'm going to put it right in your hands, Demonte. At 6 seconds, I want you to attack and pull up and hit the shot." Demonte pulled up to hit a go ahead three with four seconds remaining in the game. Kenneth Faried blocked a Mike Marra three point shot at the buzzer to secure the upset for the Eagles. Peyton Siva's foul trouble and inability to get going on the offensive end, only making one of his six shots, was key to the Eagles success in the game. The outcome may have been different if all Big-East second team performer Preston Knowles didn't have to leave the game with an ankle injury with 8:51 left in the second half. Following Knowles leaving the game, Morehead St. went on a 13 to 4 run in the next 3 minutes and 35 seconds. The Eagles will face the Richmond Spiders who pulled another upset in the southwest region over Vanderbilt.

In the battle of Pennsylvania schools, Temple knocked off Penn St. 66 to 64 in a west region 7-10 matchup. Penn St. looked to be in trouble when their star forward Jeff Brooks dislocated his shoulder a minute into the second half. However, the play of Taylor Battler kept the Nittany Lions in the game including converting an extremely deep three point jump shot to tie the game at 64 with 16 seconds left on the clock. Although Ramone Moore had went 10 for 16 from the field and had 23 points in the game, Temple coach Fran Dunphy decided to put the ball in the hands on his guard Juan Fernandez. Fernandez capped his season high 23 point game with a game winning shot with 0.4 seconds remaining. Tim Frazier, who was guarding Fernanedez commented on the final shot after the game by saying, "He [Juan] drove, picked up the ball. I closed out high end so he wouldn't be able to shoot over me. He made a great move, pivoted a couple of times and then stepped through. It was a great shot." The win is the first for Fran Dunphy in the tournament as the coach of the Owls. Temple missed out on the tournament in 06 and 07 and lost in the first round the previous three seasons. Dunphy is looking for his second tournament win with a victory over the second seeded San Diego St. Aztecs.

Brandon Knight only had one game all season where he didn't score in double digits. However, in his first game in the NCAA tournament against Princeton, the star point guard was 0 for 7 from the field with 0 points going into Kentucky's final possession. Coach John Callipari of Kentucky had said about Knight, "I have all the faith and confidence in the world in him." Callipari showed it, as he gave his young point guard the ball for Kentucky's last shot with the game tied at 57. Knight didn't disappoint his coach as he hit a running layup with 2 seconds remaining in the game. Callipari said, "He's not afraid to make a play. Guys like him aren't afraid to miss." The production from Darius Miller and Josh Harrellson continues to get better and better as they combined for 32 points and 14 rebounds. Kentucky will have to have a better game from Knight and fellow freshman Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb in order to get by the 5th seeded West Virginia Mountaineers.

On February 19th Arizona beat Washington as the Pac 10 player of the year Derrick Williams blocked Darnell Gant's attempt to win the game for Washington with 2.2 seconds left on the clock. With five seconds left in the Memphis-Arizona second round matchup, Memphis point guard Joe Jackson missed a free throw but Wesley Witherspoon picked up the rebound. However, Williams came out of nowhere to once again save his team with a late game block in the closing seconds of the game to secure the win for the Wildcats. Williams once again played an outstanding game with 22 points including hitting all 9 of his free throws to go along with 10 rebounds. He made all the big plays for Arizona when they were struggling to score in the second half. The two point win for the wildcats helps them advance to a matchup with Texas in the third round. Wildcats coach Sean Miller said,"He just has a way of making big plays and finishing the other team off. He did it here again tonight." Even Memphis's coach Josh Pastner was marveling over the play of Williams. He said, "Derrick's really good. Like I've said, I voted for him for national player of the year. My vote doesn't change after today's performance because he's really good." Williams was helped by the strong game of guard Lamont Jones who scored 18 points and hit two huge free throws with 8 seconds left in the game to extend Arizona's lead to three points.

Predictions for Conference Tournaments

Going into Thursday, 13 teams have clinched automatic bids to the NCAA tournament. There are still 19 automatic bids that have not yet been handed out to fill the 31 automatic bids into the field of 68. Here are my predictions on some of the major conference tournaments during Champ Week. (Teams that are underlined are competing for a top four seed, teams that are in italics are in the tournament but not competing for a top four seed, and bold teams are on the bubble).

Atlantic 10:

First Round:

9. Dayton over 8. Umass

5. George Washington over 12. St. Joseph's

7. St. Bonaventure over 10. La Salle

6. Rhode Island over 11. Saint Louis

Quarterfinals:

1. Xavier over 9. Dayton

5. George Washington over 4. Duquesne

2. Temple over 7. St. Bonaventure

3. Richmond over 6. Rhode Island

Semifinals:

1. Xavier over 5. George Washington

3. Richmond over 2. Temple

Finals:

1. Xavier over 3. Richmond

ACC:

First Round:                                                  

9. Miami over 8. Virginia

5. Boston College over 12. Wake Forest

7. Maryland over 10. NCST

6. Virginia Tech over 11. Georgia Tech

Quarterfinals:

1. North Carolina over 9. Miami

5. Boston College over 4. Clemson

2. Duke over 7. Maryland

6. Virginia Tech over 3. Florida St.

Semifinals:

1. North Carolina over 5. Boston College

2. Duke over 6. Virginia Tech

Finals:

1. North Carolina over 2. Duke

Big 12:

First Round:

8. Nebraska over 9. Oklahoma St.

5. Colorado over 12. Iowa St.

7. Baylor over 10. Oklahoma

6. Missouri over 11. Texas Tech

Quarterfinals:

1. Kansas over 8. Nebraska

4. Kansas St. over 5. Colorado

2. Texas over 7. Baylor

6. Missouri over 3. Texas A and M

Semifinals:

4. Kansas St. over 1. Kansas

2. Texas over 6. Missouri

Finals:

4. Kansas St. over 2. Texas

Big East:

First Round:

9. Uconn over 16. DePaul

12. Seton Hall over 13. Rutgers

10. Villanova over 15. South Florida

11. Marquette over 14. Providence

Second round:

9. Uconn over 8. Georgetown

5. St. John's over 12. Seton Hall

10. Villanova over 7. Cincinnati

11. Marquette over 6. West Virginia

Quarterfinals:

9. Uconn over 1. Pittsburgh 

5. St. John's over 4. Syracuse

2. Notre Dame over 10. Villanova

11. Marquette over 3. Louisville

Semifinals:

9. Uconn over 5. St. John's

2. Notre Dame over 11. Marquette

Finals:

2. Notre Dame over 9. Uconn

Big 10:

First Round:

9. Minnesota over 8. Northwestern

7. Michigan St. over 10. Iowa

6. Penn St. over 11. Indiana

Quarterfinals:

1. Ohio St. over 9. Minnesota

5. Illinois over 4. Michigan

2. Purdue over 7. Michigan St.

3. Wisconsin over 6. Penn St.

Semifinals:

1. Ohio St. over 5. Illinois

2. Purdue over 3. Wisconsin

Finals:

1. Ohio St. over 2. Purdue

Mountain West:

First Round:

9. TCU over 8. Wyoming

Quarterfinals:

1. BYU over 9. TCU

5. New Mexico over 4. Colorado St.

2. San Diego St. over 7. Utah

3. UNLV over 6. Air Force

Semifinals:

1. BYU over 5. New Mexico

2. San Diego St. over 3. UNLV

Finals:

1. BYU over 2. San Diego St.

Pac 10:

First Round:

9. Oregon St. over 8. Stanford

7. Oregon over 10. Arizona St.

Quarterfinals:

1. Arizona over 9. Oregon St.

4. USC over California

3. Washington over 6. Washington St.

2. UCLA over 7. Oregon

Semifinals:

1. Arizona over 4. USC

2. UCLA over 3. Washington

Finals:

1. Arizona over 2. UCLA

SEC:

First Round:

E4. Georgia over W5. Auburn

W3. Mississippi over E6. South Carolina

E5. Tennessee over W4. Arkansas

E3. Vanderbilt over W6. LSU

Quarterfinals:

E4. Georgia over W1. Alabama

E2. Kentucky over W3. Mississippi

E1. Florida over E5. Tennessee

E3. Vanderbilt over W2. Mississippi St.

Semifinals:

E2. Kentucky over E4. Georgia

E3. Vanderbilt over E1. Florida

Finals: 

E2. Kentucky over E3. Vanderbilt