Around The Blogosphere: March 21, 2011
Posted by nvr1983 on March 21st, 2011
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East Region
- #1 Ohio State 98, #8 George Mason 66: “Playing at home in Cleveland, David Lighty led four Buckeyes in double figures with 25 points on a magma-esque 7/7 from distance (ties career high) and 9/10 from the floor overall as Ohio State sent another message to the rest of the NCAA tournament field via a 98-66 demolition of George Mason.” (Eleven Warriors or GMU Hoops)
- #11 Marquette 66, #3 Syracuse 61: “Marquette played an inspired game tonight against Syracuse and defeated their Big East brethren to earn their 14th Sweet 16 in school history and their first since Tom Crean’s Warriors went to the Final Four in 2003. The final score read 66-62 and it was every bit that close for most of the contest. Syracuse jumped out to a 7-0 lead and lead by as many as 10, but Marquette fought back to tie the game at 21-21. The remainder of the contest saw 11 lead changes in this back and forth affair.” (Cracked Sidewalks)
- #4 Kentucky 71, #5 West Virginia 63: “For Kentucky, this was a story of two halves. The first half, the Wildcats had a few minutes late in the period where they kind of gave up a little and allowed the Mountaineers unimpeded access to the basket. Combined with a couple of calls that went against UK, the Mountaineers put the ‘Cats in a big, eight point hole at the half. Why do I say big? Because you know that when you play West Virginia, you are going to get a low-possession grind-it-out game where big runs are fairly rare.” (A Sea of Blue)
Southeast Region
- #8 Butler 71, #1 Pittsburgh 70: “My brain is mush after that. Rendered virtually speechless. It couldn’t have ended in a stranger, more chaotic way – but what matters is that Butler is heading to its third Sweet Sixteen in the last five years after Saturday night’s stunning 71-70 win over top-seeded Pittsburgh. Yet again, this group of Bulldogs has redefined its season and legacy with winning when it matters most” (Victory Firelight: Recap, Post-Game Locker Room, and Post-Game Interviews)
- #2 UF 73, #7 UCLA 65: “Going into a de facto home game for Florida in the third round of the NCAA Tournament, UCLA had its work cut out for it against the second seeded Gators. While the Bruins consistently hammered Florida inside using Joshua Smith and Reeves Nelson, the Gators played an inside-outside game that the Bruins seemed to have no shot at stopping. Down the stretch, UCLA’s inability to get stops finally did them in with back to back 3’s from Kenny Boynton and Erik Murphy that the Bruins had no answer for offensively.” (Bruins Nation: Recap and Analysis)
Southwest Region
- #1 Kansas 73, #9 Illinois 59: “Sunday night wasn’t perfect. Kansas had multiple times where they looked poised to put the game away only to see Illinois crawl back into things, but it was a win as the Jayhawks beat the Illini 73-59 and that’s the most important thing for Kansas as they get over that first weekend hump and head to the sweet sixteen in San Antonio.” (Rock Chalk Talk or Hail to the Orange)
- #11 VCU 94 , #3 Purdue 76: “I didn’t have a great feeling coming into this game, but still was confident that Purdue’s defense was on an upswing, and would be enough to power Purdue to victory. Not only was I wrong, but I wasn’t even close. In hindsight, the mirage set in front of us by our Boilers crushing St. Peter’s was more an indictment of the Peacocks than a sign of good things for Purdue.” (Boiled Sports: Recap and Notes)
- #4 Wisconsin 70, #5 Kansas State 65: “Wisconsin has a remarkably annoying tendency to bring out the worst in opposing players. Tonight, that’s what happened to everyone but Jacob Pullen and perhaps Curtis Kelly in the first half. It’s absolutely tragic that Pullen’s 38-point performance tonight resulted in a 70-65 loss, and quite honestly, his teammates should be embarrassed.” (Bring on the Cats)
West Region
- #1 Duke 73, #8 Michigan 71: “It’s only fitting that Michigan’s season ended in this fashion. Not with heartbreak at the buzzer, but with a second half comeback that nobody more than a couple steps away from the Michigan bench would have deemed possible. Duke was the bigger, stronger and quicker team and held a 14-point lead with 11:40 to play, even a 12-point lead with 6:25 to play. This game was supposed to be over. These are the defending national champions playing a psuedo-home game with a roster full of NBA draft picks and senior All-Americans. 12-point Duke leads are supposed to grow into 20-point leads rather than dissolve down the stretch.” (UM Hoops: Recap, Post-Game Video Part 1 and Part 2, and Press Conference Transcript)
- #3 UConn 69, #6 Cincinnati 58: “It was not pretty, but at this time of year it doesn’t need to be and the UConn Huskies are headed to a very sweet 16. Outside of a few select minutes late in the first half this was a gritty grin-and-bear-it kind of game. There were foul calls all over the place, a zone defense that (at least temporarily) seemed to make UConn regress and a rough-and-tumble style that left Kemba Walker with a sore wrist and Shabazz Napier with a dazed look in his eyes.” (The UConn Blog)
- #5 Arizona 70, #4 Texas 69: “I’m crushed. It’s not supposed to end that way. The 4-seeded Texas Longhorns fell 70-69 to the 5-seeded Arizona Wildcats in one of the most bizarre, and heartbreaking endings to a Longhorn basketball game ever.” (Burnt Orange Nation: Recap and Analysis of the 5 Second Call)
News/Analysis
- Save Bruce Pearl: Despite what the public thinks there are still many Tennessee fans who want to keep the controversial head coach. (Rocky Top Talk)
- For UT Fans The Real Culprit is Slive as a Fox: Taking a look at who deserves blame for the current Bruce Pearl situation. (Blustreaks)
- Some Statistics for Next Year: Looking at the what each Big East team is expected to lose from their line-up after this season. (Card Chronicle)
