Parity Galore In College Basketball

Kentucky lost to UCLA. UCLA lost to Monmouth. Monmouth lost to Dayton. Dayton lost to La Salle. La Salle lost to Drexel. Drexel lost to Division II Alaska Anchorage. By the transitive property, Alaska Anchorage is better than Kentucky (yes, I took the time to plot all of that out). Maybe Mikhail Prokhorov and the Nets should consider offering Alaska Anchorage head coach Rusty Osborne a 12-year, 120 million dollar contract instead of John Calipari.

College football has been dominated by a few schools over the past couple decades. Urban Meyer and Nick Saban have won 8 of the last 13 National Championships and continue to be greedier than Meryl Streep at an award show.

However, the college basketball world has become increasingly "flat" as Tom Friedman would like to suggest. Here is a Russell Wilson level cliche: any team can truly beat any other club on a given night in college basketball. Obviously, that is not to say that powerhouse programs like Michigan St., Kansas, North Carolina, and Duke are out of the title picture. Overall, though, the top of college basketball has never been so close to the middle tier of teams in the country, as the middle class of college hoops has improved while the top teams in the country all have significant flaws.

There are anywhere from 10 to 15 teams that could win the National Championship this April in Houston, and for the life of me, I cannot remember a year with this much game-to-game uncertainty. A little less than a month ago, Clemson shot 27.1% from the field in a 23-point loss to Georgia on the road, and yet they just started ACC play with victories against Florida St., Syracuse in OT, Louisville, and Duke. How do you explain Kentucky getting totally outplayed by Ohio St. at the Barclays Center, a Buckeyes team that was so bad earlier on in non-conference play that UT-Arlington came into Columbus and beat them? Everybody was high on Virginia's prospects for a run despite losing Justin Anderson to the NBA after they beat West Virginia, Villanova, and California in consecutive games, but the Cavaliers then lost to Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech in ACC play. Teams in the top 25 losing games left and right has now become an accepted occurrence in college basketball.

The top teams in the nation are not strong enough this year to win on their off nights, and now it is just about figuring out when that evening will come for each squad. College basketball is just about as predictable and consistent as Cuba Gooding Junior's acting career because North Carolina can "show you the money" and beat Maryland behind flawless games from Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson, but they can also have a Boat Trip like performance and lose to teams like Northern Iowa.

Looking back at some of the past NCAA tournaments, the highest aggregate seeding for the four National Semifinalists was 26 during the wacky 2011 tourney. Eventual champions UConn were a 3 seed and only received that spot because they won 5 games in 5 days in the Big East Conference Tournament after going a mere 9-9 in conference play. Butler was an 8 seed, the first eight seed to get to the Final Four since North Carolina and Wisconsin in 2000 and the first eight seed to get to a title game since Villanova won it in 1985 against Georgetown. Kentucky was a 4 seed, and cinderella darlings VCU were a 11 seed, at the time joining LSU in 1986 and George Mason in 2006 as the only double digit seeds to make it to the Final Four. I think we could definitely see something wild unfold this March once again, but hopefully at the end of it we will get a better title game than the 53-41 National Championship game stinker we got back in 2011 (the worst title game I have seen since UCLA never got close to Florida back in 2006).

Why does college basketball lack a more typical top-heavy nature this season, a sort of structure that gets Bernie Sanders so upset?

One explanation is that some of the non-perennial hoops powers have not lost a lot to the NBA over the past few years and their players have continued to develop their games as upperclassmen. Whereas Duke had to replace Jahlil Okafor, Justice Winslow, and Tyus Jones, five of the seven players that get double-digit minutes for Butler are juniors and seniors. People sometimes overemphasize the role returning starters and upperclassmen play in the success of a team because if a team struggled with them as freshman or sophomores, they are not going to be better with them as juniors and seniors. However, for the Bulldogs to bring back all-conference caliber players like Roosevelt Jones and Kellen Dunham, it levels out the playing field against some of the bigger programs in the country. Seniors Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker are the reason why Wichita St. has won 7 NCAA Tournament games over the past 3 years, Buddy Hield is a scoring machine for Oklahoma and has dramatically improved as a shooter over his 4 years in Norman, and Kris Dunn came back after having late lottery potential and is now a definite top 5 pick (Providence could get back to its first Final Four since the Rick Pitino-Billy Donovan combination got them there in 1987). All three of those guys are leading experienced and upper-class heavy teams, especially Hield with Oklahoma because they have a very short bench and four of their five starters are juniors or seniors.

At the end of the day, you need talent to win games. The need for experience in college basketball to achieve success is often a media narrative (I feel like Ted Cruz when he was attacking the New York Media at the debate in Charleston last night), but it is an advantage to have a supremely gifted player with more a better feel for the game than a freshman who is still trying to figure it out (look at the difference between Brice Johnson and Skal Labissiere).

Another explanation for the parity in college basketball is that transfer rates are at an all-time high, and players at lower-level schools are now transferring to mid-level and second-tier programs. While Duke, Kentucky, and Kansas continue to go after the nation's top recruits, teams like Oregon, Pittsburgh, and even Louisville, who missed out on some of the top freshmen they were going after and ended up with just one top 30 recruit, have looked to established players from smaller schools to bolster their roster. The influx of transfers into tournament caliber teams, particularly but not limited to power conference schools, have allowed teams like Iowa St. to compete with programs like Kansas. Despite Fred Hoiberg leaving to go to the NBA and pestering Bulls fans by not being able to figure out the best big-man combination between Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Pau Gasol, Nikola Mirotic, and Bobby Portis, nearly 14 percent of players still transferred in college basketball in 2014 (not all of them could go to Iowa St. anyway). Damion Lee, who transferred from Drexel, and Trey Lewis, who transferred from Cleveland St., and are now far and away the two best players on a Louisville team that ranks at the top of Ken Pomeroy's adjusted defensive rankings. Lee and Lewis are both really quick and Lee is absolutely fearless, especially when he starts to get into a grove from three.

Some of the non-traditional college basketball powerhouses, like Butler and Wichita St., have been able to offer playing time and larger roles to guys at bigger schools that were never given the opportunity to shine or never quite fit in with their team. Conner Frankamp went from 8 minutes a game as the 9th or 10th guy on Kansas in 2013 to a key part of a good Wichita St. team, and has given the Shockers a 43 percent shooter from three. Tyler Lewis, a former McDonald's All-American and top 50 recruit, never found his place at North Carolina St. and is now a really productive pass-first point guard for Butler. The same kind of story goes for Kuran Iverson, who left Memphis after two years to play for Rhode Island and have a bigger role. Dylan Ennis, who averaged nearly 10 points a game for a 33 win Villanova team last year, left the school to go to Oregon to handle more of the basketball with highly touted freshman Jalen Brunson coming to play for the Wildcats in the backcourt with Ryan Arcidiacono. Unlike in the past, where many players would sit and wait for their opportunity at a big-time school because they thought they could only be recognized by NBA scouts from a few programs, players know that getting onto the floor is the most important thing for their future. As Robert Sarver would say, millennials want instant gratification or else they move on (I say that half-jokingly).

Finally, the quality of freshman that came into college basketball this season pales in comparison to the past, hurting the top programs that have continually replenished their talent each year through strong freshmen classes. LSU's Ben Simmons (a player so good he gets shout outs from Barack Obama), Duke's Brandon Ingram (his wingspan is as long as Giannis and Kawhi), Henry Ellenson from Marquette, Diamond Stone of Maryland (had a 39 point, 12 rebound game in his first ever Big Ten contest against Penn St.), Caleb Swanigan from Purdue (forms a monster front line duo with A.J. Hammons), Arizona's Allonzo Trier (unfortunately is out with a broken finger), Dedric Lawson of Memphis, and Florida State's duo of Dwayne Bacon and Malik Beasley have certainly all stood out for their respective teams. However, equally as disappointing have been Kentucky's Skal Labissiere and Isaiah Briscoe (one NBA scout way too harshly eviscerated Labissiere recently), Cheick Diallo of Kansas, Chase Jeter of Duke (Coach K has no trust in him at all), Justin Simon of Arizona, and Antonio Blakeney of LSU.

Moreover, for whatever reason, it seems as though the destinations of the top recruits were more spread out in 2015. Ben Simmons went to LSU, Cuonzo Martin and California got two top ten recruits with Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb, Henry Ellenson, a Wisconsin kid, stayed home and went to Marquette, and Ben Howland and his slow pace, let me control my team's entire motion offense landed Malik Newman at Mississippi State. In 2013, all but one of the top 12 recruits went to Kansas (Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid), Duke (Jabari Parker), Kentucky (Julius Randle, Andrew Harrison, Dakari Johnson, James Young, and Aaron Harrison), Arizona (Aaron Gordon), or Florida (Kasey Hill and the biggest college basketball disappointment in a long time with Chris Walker) according to ESPN. The next year, half of the top 18 recruits on ESPN went to either Duke, North Carolina, or Kentucky (Okafor, Jones, and Winslow went to Duke, Justin Jackson, Theo Pinson, and Joel Berry landed at North Carolina, and Trey Lyles, Karl Towns Jr., and Devin Booker went to Kentucky). This year, of the top twenty recruits according to ESPN, seven of them went to schools that did not even make the NCAA Tournament in 2014, creating a diversification of talent in college hoops.

UConn vs Butler Reaction

NCAA Tournament Final Score: UConn 53 - Butler 41 (Lowest score for the winner of an NCAA tournament championship game since 1949 when Kentucky beat Oklahoma A&M 46 to 36)

• Butler had a horrible night shooting from the floor. They were 3 of 31 from inside the arc, which is six fewer buckets, not from three, than any other title game participant. Butler was 12 for 64 from the field, which is the least field goals in a championship game since Oklahoma St. only converted 12 in 1949 against Kentucky. Butler's 18.8 percent shooting from the field was the lowest ever in an NCAA championship game topping when Washington St. shot 21.5 percent in the 1941 championship game. It is the third lowest shooting percentage in NCAA tournament  history. Butler was also only 27.3 percent from behind the arc, making just 9 of 33 threes.
• Butler had extremely long stretches during the second half when they couldn't score and went on long droughts. They didn't score from the 12:32 mark until there were 6:13 remaining in the second half. With 12:32 remaining in the half, UConn was leading 33 to 28. With 6:13 left in the game, UConn had a 41 to 30 lead.
• Butler's leading scorers, Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard, both struggled from the floor. Mack finished the game 4 for 15 from the floor including only making 4 of 11 three-point attempts. He was the only Bulldog in double figures with 13 points. Howard was 1 of 13 from the floor including 1 of 6 from three. He only had 6 points and was frustrated by the size of Alex Oriakhi the entire night.
• Andrew Smith also struggled down in the past, only scoring 5 points on 2 of 9 shooting.
• UConn had 10 blocks including four from Roscoe Smith and four from Alex Oriakhi, tied for the most in a NCAA championship game.
• After sitting out much of the first half with 2 fouls, Jeremy Lamb scored all 12 of his points in the second half. Lamb scored five early second half points, including a three to give UConn a one point lead, which they never surrendered. His length on the defensive end frustrated Shelvin Mack in the second half, as he only scored six points.
• Alex Oriakhi may have had the best title game of anybody on the court. He had his first double-digit scoring game of the tournament with 11 points. He had his first double-double since the semifinals of the Big East tournament adding 11 rebounds to go along with his 5 of 6 shooting. His size on the interior forced Matt Howard and Andrew Smith to a combined 3 of 22 shooting. Oriakhi had 4 blocks, his most since February 5th as well.
• Although Kemba Walker struggled shooting from the floor, only making 5 of his 19 shots including going 0 for 4 from three, he added 9 rebounds and still scored 16 points to lead UConn to the victory. Kemba and the boys are now national champions.

UConn vs Butler First Half Reaction

NCAA Tournament Final Halftime Score: Butler 22 - UConn 19 (The lowest scoring first half in a championship game since 1946 between Oklahoma A&M and North Carolina)

• Both teams showed early game jitters in the first few minutes. Kemba Walker was 0 for 5 from the field for the first 7 minutes of the game and Shelvin Mack began the game 0 for 4. Butler began the game 0 of 6 on two point shots and was 2 of 16 from the field. Their third field goal came with 10:18 remaining in the half.
• Jeremy Lamb's length bothered Butler's star guard Shelvin Mack. He was 0 for 4 from the field including 0 of 2 from three through 16 minutes.
• Butler did a great job of hedging and double-teaming Kemba Walker off screens. Walker was 3 of 11 from the field and only scored 7 points. 
• UConn's freshman including Jeremy Lamb, Roscoe Smith, Tyler Olander, and Shabazz Napier had a total of 2 points in the first half.
• Matt Howard struggled with the size of the UConn frontline. He was 1 of 6 from the field and only had 5 points in the first half. He had more success when he stepped out on the perimeter and made the UConn big men guard him outside the paint.
• UConn had 26 rebounds including 10 on the offensive end. They had 9 field goals in the first half and 8 of them were in the paint. UConn outscored Butler 16 to 0 in points in the paint.
• UConn was hampered by foul trouble, as Butler was in the bonus with 9:02 remaining in the half. Jeremy Lamb, Alex Oriakhi, Kemba Walker, and Roscoe Smith all picked up two fouls. 
• Mack began to score in the second half when Lamb went to the bench. He hit two threes and finished the half with 7 points after Lamb left the game with two fouls.
• Both teams struggled to score on the offensive end of the court and went on long periods of droughts. Butler didn't have a field goal form the 4:17 mark until Shelvin Mack hit a three at the buzzer. Butler had 6 field goals the entire half and shot under 20 percent from the floor. They were 5 of 14 from three in the half. UConn didn't score from the 18:23 mark until 14:54 remaining in the first half. They also went from 12:34 to 7:51 without scoring.

Butler advances to its second straight final four by knocking off Florida in overtime

Butler guard Shelvin Mack said, “It’s a lot better than last year. This year, everyone just expected us just to fall off, a lot of people didn’t have faith in us. We went from being on the bubble to winning our conference to being picked to lose every game in the tournament. I would say we shocked the world again.” The Bulldogs are now the second team to reach back to back final fours from a "non-major conference" since UNLV achieved the same feat in 1990 and 1991. The Bulldogs run to the national championship game last season, certainly looked to help them down the stretch against the Gators. Chandler Parsons said, "It's not like it's their first time here. They were in this situation last year, so I think their experience helped them and I think they just came up with big plays when the team needed it."

The Bulldogs are very fortunate to have beaten the Gators because they had a poor shooting night. The team went 27.3 percent from behind the arc, only making 9 of the 33 three pointers they attempted. Butler looked confused at times on the offensive end of the court because of the Gators disguising and constantly changing their defense between man and zone. Shelvin Mack started out the game hot, making two three pointers and a jumper from the elbow. From that point on, Mack struggled going 5 for 17 from the field including 2 for 11 from three but he hit some clutch shots and finished with 27 points. Butler forward Matt Howard said about Mack, "I feel incredibly good for Shelvin. He... carried us. You can't fault him and say you lost us the game because he essentially won us the game. The kid's incredible. He really carries us at times. This is the type of player Shelvin is." The Bulldogs got solid contributions from Howard, who added 14 points, and Florida native Khyle Marshall, who had 10 points and 7 rebounds, all on the offense end of the court, off the bench. 


It is still hard to believe how Butler pulled off the victory over Florida because the Gators dominated down low. Butler had no answer for Alex Tyus and especially Vernon Macklin. Florida made an emphasis to continue to feed the post, and they only shot 9 threes during regulation. On every possession, Macklin got a touch down low and constantly went to his righty jump hook for buckets. Macklin went 11 for 14 from the field and had a season high 25 points. Alex Tyus also played well down low adding 14 points and 10 rebounds. Erving Walker struggled from deep only making 1 of 7 threes and Chandler Parsons looked uncomfortable all game, as the SEC player of the year had only 5 points. Parsons said, "They're tough. They're physical. They have all the characteristics of a good team.”

The game was back and fourth and close throughout. With 1:34 remaining in the second half, Shelvin Mack made two clutch free throws to bring the Bulldogs to within one. A Matt Howard free throw tied the game at 60 with 31 seconds left. Florida didn't look down low, where they had so much success during the game, but put the ball in the hands of their 5-8 point guard Erving Walker. He missed a fade away three point jumper with 2 seconds left and the game went into overtime. In the extra session, Florida totally forgot about looking into the post and settled for 5 three pointers. With 11 seconds remaining in the overtime and Butler up by one point 72 to 71, Shelvin Mack hit two more clutch free throws to extend the lead to 3 points. Erving Walker missed a potential game tying three point jumper with 8 seconds left, which sealed the victory and a final four appearance for the Bulldogs. Donovan said, "Walker was 1 of 10, and he's been such a clutch shooter for us. When you get into those situations where the game is coming down to the wire like that and it's one-possession games, anything can happen."

The Butler Bulldogs make winning plays in tight games. Butler coach Brad Stevens said, "We just kind of stayed together, stayed the course, figured it out, and just played resiliently... I'm incredibly proud of these guys. They carried their coach today in a big way... Our players did a great job, and [they are] just a special group. We're really just lucky they're Butler Bulldogs. I know this, somebody is going to have to beat us because of our will."Florida Coach Billy Donovan acknowledged that by saying, "Their will and their refusal to be denied really stood out." After the game, Ronald Nored, who had 4 points and 4 rebounds screamed, "We're back, baby!"

Butler advances to the elite eight by topping Wisconsin

Butler just knows how to get it down. They are one game away from reaching the final four for the second year in a row after knocking off the 4th seeded Wisconsin Badgers 61 to 54. Butler center Andrew Smith said, "A lot of people just ignored us and said, Aw, they'll probably lose in the first or second round. Here we are again, trying to prove everybody wrong. We'll try to win three more."

The Bulldogs were led by their first team all conference center Matt Howard. Howard was able to stay out of foul trouble and was on the court for 37 minutes, which allowed him to have a great game with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Shelvin Mack added 13 points although he struggled from the field only making 4 of the 13 shots he attempted.

Butler was very fortunate, as Wisconsin had their worst shooting game of the season. They only went 17 for 56 from the field, which is 30.4 percent and is well below their average of 44.5 percent from the field. The Badgers also went 7 for 29 from behind the arc, which is only 24.1 percent. That includes Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer, who combined went 4 for 16 from three. Jon Leuer, the Badgers leading scorer at more than 18 points a game, went 1 for 12 from the field and only scored 3 points. Leuer said after the game, "We made plays that were uncharacteristic of us. We tried to force some things, and Butler did some good things defensively... They're just tough kids who are all-around good players, and they play to their strengths." Even though Jordan Taylor had 22 points, he struggled as well, going 6 for 19 from the field. Jordan Taylor said, "It was just kinda one of those nights. The ball just wasn't going through the hoop. It's frustrating. They're scrappy and relentless. I don't know, they're just tough kids. They never quit, and that's what makes them winners."

After an Andrew Smith layup with 11:34 remaining in the second half, Butler took a 20 point lead at 47 to 27 and the Badgers looked to be all but done. With 37 seconds remaining, Jordan Taylor hit a three pointer to bring the Badgers all the way back to a four point deficit. However, four clutch free throws from Matt Howard and two more missed threes from Wisconsin sealed the victory for the Bulldogs. Brad Stevens said about his team nearly losing their lead at the game of the game, "That's human nature, a little bit. I really, in the moment, was disappointed in the way we played, and now I don't care. Let's move on. That's the way I feel about it now... I'm not worried about it."

Butler coach Brad Stevens said, "Obviously, we're thrilled to still be playing. I don't think that this group goes into games not believing, and I don't think that this group came here not believing. And so we're going to see if we can't try to get one on Saturday and move on." The Bulldogs will take on the Florida Gators in the regional finals for the right to go to Houston.

A Key to Wisconsin vs Butler

Matt Howard staying out of foul trouble: After Butler's one point win over number one seed Pittsburgh in the third round, Butler head coach Brad Stevens said, "We're just fortunate to advance because one thing these guys do is they play through the horn, and they'll always play through the horn. And I think that happens because of 54 [the number of Matt Howard]. I think that that's Matt Howard imprint on our program is you're going to give everything you have as long as you're out there every single day." Butler has been able to play very hard and very well for the entire 40 minutes of their first two tournament games because Howard has been able to stay on the floor. Howard has always had a tendency to get into a lot of foul trouble. In 12 games this season, Howard either fouled out or had 4 fouls, which limited his minutes on the court. Obviously, any time a team has to play long stretches without their all conference center, who scores nearly 17 points per game and averages nearly 8 rebounds per game, they struggle on both ends of the court. When Butler lost three games in a row in conference play, Howard fouled out in one of those games and had four fouls in the other two. However, Howard has been able to remain on the floor in Butler's two NCAA tournament games, which has been the key to the Bulldogs two victories. In Butler's first game, Matt had 15 points and 5 rebounds including the game winning tip-in at the buzzer. Howard played 33 minutes and only picked up 3 fouls. In the Bulldogs second game, Matt had 16 points and 6 rebounds including the game winning free throw. Howard played 38 minutes and picked up only 1 foul the entire game. The next challenge for Howard is to stay on the floor for Butler's sweet sixteen game against the Wisconsin Badgers.

Top Seeds Going Down in the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament

In the last two NCAA tournaments there were only four double digit seeds to reach the sweet sixteen. This year alone there are four double digit seeds in the sweet sixteen including three in the southwest region. When 11th seeded VCU plays 10th seeded Florida St. in the regional semifinals on Thursday, it will be the first time ever that an eleven seed will be playing a ten seed in the tournament. Thus far, there has been a one seed eliminated, a two seed eliminated, and two three seeds eliminated. In not one of the four regions did all of the top four seeds advance to the sweet sixteen.

After Pittsburgh feel to Butler by one point, all the buzz surrounding the game was the bizarre finish that resulted in the first top seed being bounced from the tourney. Even Jim Calhoun couldn't believe the ending to the wacky game. After his teams’ third round win over Cincinnati he commented on the game by saying, "I watched the end of the Pitt game and I haven't ever seen anything like that in 39 years of coaching, both plays." Shelvin Mack had his best game of the season scoring 30 points on 7 of 12 shooting from behind the arc. However, his great game looked to be ruined when he committed an inexplicable foul on Gilbert Brown near midcourt with 1.4 seconds remaining in the game with his team up by one point. Brown also was having a great game with 24 points on 8 of 11 shooting from the field. On the season he was a 79 percent shooter from the line and was 3 for 3 in the game from the strike. Brown made the first free throw but then missed the second one. The game appeared to be going into overtime until the ref blew a whistle for a foul on Nasir Robinson of Pittsburgh. Matt Howard described the play when he said, "I felt his arm come across mine, so I just threw the ball to the rim." With 0.8 seconds left in the game Matt Howard of Butler went to the line and made one of two free throws to secure the upset for Butler. After the game, the focus was obviously on the crazy finish. Robinson said, "I take the blame, man. I take the blame for the loss... I've been playing basketball my whole life and I know I shouldn't have done that. It was a stupid play." The win sets up a Butler-Wisconsin sweet sixteen matchup.

With 5:54 remaining in the first half, VCU guard Brandon Rozzell made a layup to put the Rams up on the Purdue Boilermakers 25 to 24. From that point on in the game, Purdue never took back the lead. All Big-Ten performer E'Twaun Moore struggled from the field only making 5 of his 15 shots and only scoring 10 points. However, the real problem for the Boilermakers was on the defensive end. They couldn't stop the Rams allowing them to shot nearly 57 percent from the field. The 94 points that VCU scored was the most points allowed all season by the Boilermakers. Purdue had difficulty guarding the quick backcourt of the Rams. Joey Rodriguez dished out 11 assists and Bradford Burgess had 23 points and only missed one of the four threes he attempted. The selection committed was ridiculed for their decision to take VCU into the tournament as one of the final four teams. After three wins in the tourney, point guard Joey Rodriguez said, "I'd say to the committee, Thank you for believing in us... Hopefully they'd say something back to us, like, Thank you for proving us right." VCU guard Brandon Rozell said, "I think the committee is sitting back smiling now." VCU will get to continue its magical run in the tourney when they meet 10th seeded Florida St. in the sweet sixteen.

In their only meeting during the season, Marquette beat Syracuse at home by 6 points. Marquette was able to penetrate, so they could get inside of Syracuse's two-three zone and not have to knock down a ton of threes to knock off the Orange. They got the ball behind Syracuse's zone to Jae Crowder, who scored his second highest point total all season with 25. In their third round matchup in the tourney, Marquette used the same formula to knock off the Orange 66 to 62. They only shot 11 threes but were able to get inside of Syracuse's zone. Marquette shot 23 free throws in the game. Jae Crowder alone shot one more free throw than the whole Syracuse team, who took 15 threes and only made five. Marquette was able to get behind the zone and get the ball to Crowder who had 16 points. When they needed a three pointer, Darius Johnson-Odom wasn't afraid to fire. He hit a huge three pointer with 27 seconds left in the game to give Marquette a three point lead. Syracuse had 18 turnovers in the game including a huge one by Dion Waiters with 52 seconds remaining when the game was tied at 59 to give the ball back to the Golden Eagles. Marquette moves on to face the North Carolina Tar Heels in Newark in the regional semifinals.


Nobody has ever denied Florida State's ability to defend and stifle teams when they are on defense. However, their problems during the season has been their inability to score especially since their leading scoring Chris Singleton went out with an injury and has been playing limited minutes in his return during the tourney. Their second leading scoring isn't even averaging 10 points a game. The Seminoles got a balanced attack from their starting five with each of them scoring at least 8 points in the third round game against the Fighting Irish. As always, their defense was spectacular. Notre Dame only scored 23 points in the first half and 57 in the whole game. The Seminoles frustrated the Big East player of the year Ben Hansbrough the entire night. He only made 4 of the 10 threes he attempted during the game. Derwin Kitchen, who had 10 points and six rebounds said, "If we can stay consistent on the offensive end, I like our chances. We've just been so up and down and inconsistent on the offensive end, it allowed us to stumble at times and lose a few games. If we can stay consistent and execute on the offensive end, I like our chances because we play so well on the defensive end." For the Seminole fans, they hope their team will continue to be consistent on the offensive end when they play the 11th seeded VCU Rams in the regional semifinals.

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.