Walker Carey is an RTC correspondent. He filed this report after the Round of 32 NCAA Tournament game between #3 Florida and #11 Minnesota in Austin.

Three Key Takeaways.

Florida Outmuscled and Outshot the Gophers Today (AP)

1. Florida’s offense was very impressive. The Gators shot the ball very well all game. They finished at a 56.8% mark from the field along with a very impressive 50% mark from deep. Florida was able to build a very comfortable lead because of its torrid shooting, 65.2% from the field, in the first half. While Minnesota fought back in the second half to trim the Gators’ lead, Florida’s offense still played quite well in the second frame. Billy Donovan’s squad has had balanced scoring all season with four players (Kenny Boynton, Erik Murphy, Mike Rosario, and Patric Young) averaging more than 10 points per contest. The Gators only had three guys in double figures in Sunday’s victory, but it was evident that the team focuses on sharing the ball among all five players instead of looking to one as its go-to guy. Rosario showed that he has the ability to go off from behind the three-point line, as he finished with a career-best 25 points on 6-of-9 shooting from deep.
2. When Florida plays like it did in the first half, a national title is its ceiling. A statistic that shows just how dominant the Gators were in the first half: Rosario and Murphy combined for 32 first half points, while Minnesota, as a team, only managed to score 27 first half points. The Gators shot a scorching 65.2% from the field and connected on 7-of-14 three-point attempts during the opening frame. Florida also defended quite well during the first 20 minutes, as it held Minnesota to just 39.1% shooting, forced the Golden Gophers into many bad shots, and forced nine turnovers. The Gators have had a reputation for inconsistent play this season – especially late in the season – but if they can put forth similar performances to what they showed during the first half against Minnesota, they could cut realistically cut down the nets in Atlanta on April 8.
3. Minnesota deserves a great deal of credit for fighting hard. When Minnesota fell behind by 21 at half, it could have definitely laid down and ended up losing by 30+. The Golden Gophers did not do that though, as instead they battled until the final buzzer. While the closest they got to Florida was seven points, they definitely had the Gators worried for awhile in the second half. Guard Andre Hollins was red hot from behind the arc in during that time, which resulted in Florida having to make adjustments to its perimeter defense. By opening the second half on a 17-5 run, Minnesota forced Florida back into attack mode as that was needed to ensure the victory. A lot has been discussed nationally about Tubby Smith‘s job status as the leader of the program. While some of the whispers are probably fair, the team’s effort definitely suggests that Smith did not lose his team this season.

Star of the Game. Mike Rosario, Florida. The senior was feeling it all night for the Gators. He finished with a career-best 25 points – on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and 6-of-9 shooting from deep. Whenever Florida needed a big shot, it looked to Rosario and he answered the bell. After having a subpar performance in the team’s Round of 64 victory over Northwestern State, Rosario was the best player on the floor in the Round of 32 and his performance has the Gators prepping for another Sweet 16 appearance.

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Brian Goodman is an RTC correspondent. He filed this report from the third round of the South regional in Kansas City. You can also follow Brian on Twitter at @BSGoodman.

Three Key Takeaways:

Kansas and Releford Advance to the Sweet Sixteen (AP)

1. Kansas’ experienced players took North Carolina by the horns. While Ben McLemore has had his share of moments this season (more on that later), part of Bill Self’s allure is that he’s enormously successful at his high-pressure job without having to rely heavily on inexperienced but talented phenoms like McLemore, Josh Selby and Xavier Henry in big moments. Sunday’s win was another manifestation of that point, as the Jayhawks received outstanding performances from their fifth-year seniors. Jeff Withey, Kevin Young and Travis Releford – playing in his hometown – combined for 48 points and 33 rebounds. Withey’s defense set the tone for Kansas as it continued to struggle in the first half and keyed the offense in the second half with three authoritative dunks. Young played his usual lockdown interior defense and made the plays fans have expected him to make. Releford is known primarily for his defense, but KU’s results when he’s involved and successful in the offense speak for themselves, as the Jayhawks are 46-1 in his four years when he scores at least ten points. McLemore, who spent most of the second half on the bench and finished 0-9 from the floor, can still be an x-factor in this tournament, but to say his services were not needed tonight would be an understatement.
   
2. It was a tale of two halves for Kansas, but not for the Heels: The Jayhawks’ shooting struggles of their first 50 tournament minutes reached a nadir, as they shot 25% from the field in the first half, the worst such mark in their storied tournament history. Kansas missed bunny after bunny and wasted nearly every fast break opportunity presented by their consistently solid defensive presence. However, while North Carolina went into the locker room with a nine-point lead, it very easily could have been 12 or 15, as the Tar Heels missed their share of easy looks themselves. North Carolina’s offensive struggles continued after intermission, but the lid lifted for Kansas. The Jayhawks opened the second half on a 19-5 run, powered by Withey’s authoritative dunks and their first, second and three made three-pointers of the tournament and never looked back. North Carolina became undisciplined in the second half, missing five straight three pointers.
3. The Jayhawks didn’t need Ben McLemore, but they will soon. Coming into tonight, Ben McLemore, who has bailed Kansas out of many a mess this season, hasn’t had the kind of March fans expected. While he contributed strong outings in the Big 12 tournament, he had an unspectacular night Friday and played the worst game of his short career Sunday night. McLemore rushed shots and passes, prompting a wide variety of flustered reactions from Self, and wasn’t a factor in Kansas’ monstrous second half. The best defense in the country (by opponent field-goal percentage) has a date with the high-powered Michigan offense next weekend, but the matchup also begs the question not just of what Kansas will get out of McLemore, but how badly they’ll need him.

Star Of The Game: Tie – Jeff Withey (16 points, career-high 16 rebounds, five blocks) and Travis Releford (22 points on 9-of-13 shooting, eight rebounds, three steals). Kansas’ seniors were outstanding. Withey was a force on defense and was intimidating on offense, sticking several putbacks and putting North Carolina’s offense on the ropes in front of a supportive crowd. Releford, playing in his native Kansas City for the last time as a collegian, turned in a fantastic outing. The fifth-year swingman has seemingly always played well in this building, and it showed again Sunday night.

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I. Renko is an RTC correspondent. He filed this report from Dayton after Sunday’s Third Round game between #1 Indiana and #9 Temple. Follow him on Twitter @IRenkoHoops.

Three Key Takeaways:

Victor Oladipo Did What NPOY Candidates Do…

1. Victor Oladipo Won This Game — The stat sheet won’t tell you what Victor Oladipo means to Indiana, because it offers no metrics, advanced or otherwise, for heart and soul. Oladipo took this game over down the stretch at both ends of the floor. Indiana had used a number of defenders to try to slow Khalif Wyatt (more on him later), but it was Oladipo’s shut-down, ball-denial, in-your-grill defense in the closing minutes that prevented Wyatt from carrying his team across the finish line. With the game tied at 52 and under two minutes to play, Oladipo harassed Wyatt into a missed three, grabbed the rebound, and drew a Wyatt foul while pushing the ball up the floor. On the next possession, Oladipo denied Wyatt the chance to even get the ball, forcing Temple to burn a timeout and the entire shot clock before Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson missed a jumper. Oladipo then promptly ran down to the other end of the floor and drained his one and only three-pointer of the game to clinch the win for Indiana.
2. Indiana Scored 58 Points — And Won — Indiana scores north of 1.15 points per possession, but they looked largely ineffective against Temple for two reasons. First, Temple’s tough interior defense. The best way to slow the Hoosiers is with physicality, and the Owls brought plenty today. They bodied Cody Zeller and Christian Watford in the post, swarmed Oladipo on his drives, and pushed the Hoosiers around on the glass. Zeller and Watford combined to shoot 6-of-17, Zeller committed six turnovers, and the Hoosiers rebounded less than 20 percent of their own misses. Second, the Hoosiers went cold from three-point range, missing eight of their first nine long-distance attempts. They got hot late just in time to push themselves over the top, but credit Temple for nearly stopping the nation’s most efficient offense in its tracks.
3. A One-Man Offensive Band — This game was an almost comical display of the extent to which Temple relies on Khalif Wyatt offensively. The confident point guard has a tendency to rise to the occasion against the best of competition, and today was no exception. Relishing the role of the villain, taking on not just the quiet and unassuming Oladipo but a boisterous crowd full of Hoosier fans, Wyatt did his best to carry the Owls to the upset. Despite being the obvious focal point of Indiana’s defense, he managed to pour in 31 points — 60 percent of Temple’s total — on 12-of-24 shooting.  The rest of the Owls’ offense was dreadful, shooting 9-of-38 from the floor. Scootie Randall was the worst offender with an atrocious 0-of-12 night, and the team as a whole missed several makeable shots.

Star of the Game: So maybe the stat sheet does tell you a bit about how good Oladipo is. He led Indiana with 16 points on 7-of-12 field goal shooting and added eight rebounds and an assist.

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I. Renko is an RTC correspondent. He filed this report from Dayton after Sunday’s Third Round game between #2 Ohio State and #7 Iowa State. Follow him on Twitter @IRenkoHoops.

Three Key Takeaways:

Aaron Craft’s Trey Sent OSU Into the Sweet Sixteen (Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

1. Craft in the Clutch — Aaron Craft’s performance over the final five minutes of this game illustrated his broader tendency to be inconsistent while, at the same time, coming up big at key moments. Craft has alternated all year between high and low scoring games, but in the final few weeks of the season, he put together several key offensive performances in the Buckeyes’ biggest games to sweep Michigan State and take down Indiana on the road. His back-to-back missed front ends hurt his team badly, allowing Iowa State to close a 13-point lead in a matter of minutes. But in the closing seconds, Craft confidently stroked the game-winning three-pointer with a defender in his face. The entire time he held the ball on that final possession, Craft looked like someone who knew he was going to score — shaking off screeners and teammates, patiently biding his dribble — and was just trying to drain enough time off the clock to make sure he won the game.
2. Iowa State State Showed Tremendous Fight — Midway through the first half, it looked like the game might get away from the Cyclones as their offense was sputtering, but they found their three-point shot and their mix of man and zone defensive looks threw Ohio State out of its offensive rhythm. As a result, the Cyclones were able to stay within two points at the half. Then, in the second half, when it looked like Ohio State was putting the game away, up 69-56 with 6:04 to play, the Cyclones reeled off a 13-0 run in just over two minutes to completely erase the lead entirely. This is an undersized team full of transfers that plays with a chip on its shoulder and won’t back down from anyone.
3. The Three Ball Was Not Enough — Unable to get the kind of dribble penetration against Ohio State that Notre Dame’s swiss cheese defense allowed, the Cyclones returned to their old standby — the three-point shot. They made only one of their first five attempts, but from there, they knocked down 11-of-20 from downtown. They finished the game with more threes than twos and a better field goal percentage to boot. And while it very nearly brought them to the verge of victory, it was not enough.

Star of the Game: Craft served up the late game heroics, but it was Deshaun Thomas‘ inside-out game that mostly powered Ohio State’s offense. The Cyclones not only mixed man and zone defenses, they threw several different defenders at Thomas in their man defense. But the junior forward adapted well to whomever was guarding him, scoring 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting.

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RTC is at the San Jose pod this evening. We filed this report after Saturday’s Third Round game between #4 Syracuse and #12 California.

Three Key Takeaways:

The Orange March On to DC…

1. Size and Length. In spades. We hear it all the time but when you see it up close and personal, Syracuse’s size and length really stands out in an unbelievable way. There couldn’t be more than a handful of teams around the country who can match it. The problem is that sometimes the Orange play as dumb as they possibly can to give outmatched teams like Cal a chance to come back and even win the game. Between the poor decisions (Michael Carter-Williams is always good for at least two jump-passes with no intended recipient), the missed free throws (an astonishing 15 tonight), and an astonishing ability to turn the ball over in key situations, Syracuse managed to survive regardless (it helped that they played a team with some similar attributes). It’s unlikely that a team with these issues can just will them away at this late point in the season, but wow, if they were able to put everything together, the Orange have #1 seed talent and athleticism.
2. Good Syracuse and Bad Syracuse Showed Up Tonight. Jim Boeheim made reference to this in his postgame press conference. He thought, and there’s really no disputing him, that the Orange defense was spectacular. They completely took Allen Crabbe and Justin Cobbs out of their comfort zones, fully aware in the knowledge that the Golden Bears do not have any other reliable scorers. Richard Solomon had a beastly game (22/14) but they were willing to give that up to shut down the backcourt duo. At the same time, there were way too many unforced turnovers and the Orange left 15 points at the foul line (26-of-41 FTs). Then there was that last two minutes, perhaps most perfectly captured by the length-of-the-court pass to nobody. Suddenly an easy 15-point win got harrowing, as the partisan crowd roared to life. If Syracuse is going to beat a team like Indiana to make a run to the Final Four, they’re going to have to figure out how to play a full 40 minutes with concentration and focus. Otherwise, as we’ve seen several times this season, a game that should be a victory will quickly turn into a loss against another good team.
3. Crabbe and Cobbs. The California duo who averaged a combined 33.5 points per game this season had a grand total of six points during the first 38 minutes. They finished with 13 points on 5-of-18 shooting, but much of that had to do with a bizarre final two minutes where Bad Syracuse was doing its best to let Cal back into the game. Put simply, the Bears really had no chance of winning this one without at least one of the two going off, and Boeheim remarked in his postgame comments that their top priority was shutting down Crabbe, in particular. The only shot Crabbe made in the first half was a result of a little-used player Trevor Cooney blowing his assignment; as Boeheim put it, the freshman guard “got to watch Crabbe play from the bench the rest of the game.” Again, the size and length that the Orange could throw at these two really showed in terms of the openings they were (or were not) able to find.

Star of the Game: CJ Fair, Syracuse. Fair set the offensive tone early with six quick points to help Syracuse jump out to an 11-2 lead on his way to a solid 18-point, six-rebound evening of work. Mike Montgomery said that his players were tentative early, and Fair’s inside-out work helped raise the pressure on the Bears playing in front of a partisan crowd. 

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Andrew Murawa is an RTC correspondent. He filed this report from the Round of 32 game between #1 Gonzaga and #9 Wichita State at the Salt Lake City pod this evening.

The Shocker certainly live up to their name Saturday evening. (AP)

Three Key Takeaways.

1. Spectacular Ending. After trailing much of the first and start of second half, Gonzaga took a 43-41 lead with 13:39 remaining on a Mike Hart three. For the next seven minutes or so, it seemed like the Zags were on the verge of pulling away and a Kevin Pangos three with 6:30 remaining put the Bulldogs up seven. That was just the start of the madness. That Pangos three was just the start of five threes on six offensive possessions and a Carl Hall jumper gave Wichita State the lead back. Then, following a Ron Baker personal 5-0 run, Fred Vanvleet nailed the calmest, sweetest three anyone (anyone except a Zag fan, that is) ever did see with one second left on the shotclock to put the Shockers up seven and effectively seal the game. It was a wild stretch that left the West region without four of its top five seeds.
2. Wichita Three-Point Shooting. For the year, Wichita State is a 33% three-point shooting team, good for 213^th in the nation. And just one player on the roster had made more than 40 threes this season. Today? The team went 14-of-28, got four threes from 29.8% three-point shooter Cleanthony Early and four threes from Baker, a freshman who missed 21 games in the middle of the season. That type of performance was, well, shocking, but ultimately it is what puts Gregg Marshall and company through to their first Sweet 16 in the Marshall era.
3. Gonzaga Rebounding. We knew coming into the game that Gonzaga would have a big size advantage inside, but with the way Wichita handled their business on the glass against Pittsburgh, the expectation was that the Shockers would be okay. Suffice it to say, they were not okay. While they did a fine job on their own offensive glass (35.7 OR%), they got smoked on the defensive glass, allowing the Zags to collect 21 offensive rebounds, grabbing better than half of their own misses. It was this, and a striking advantage from the free throw line (at least until the Zags had to foul in the end game scenario) that even allowed the Bulldogs to remain as close as they did.

Star of the Game. Ron Baker, Wichita State. First off, this is a kid that missed the last 21 game of the regular season, returning only in time for the start of the MVC Tournament, where he immediately jumped back into the fire by dropping 15 points. He joined the starting lineup against Pitt (but went 0-of-5 from the field), then tonight dropped a phenomenal game, doing a little bit of everything for the Shockers. He scored 16 points, knocked down four threes, grabbed six boards and has four assists, along with some excellent defense against the Zag guards. In a game with a six-point final margin, the Shockers were +19 with Baker on the floor.

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I. Renko is an RTC correspondent. He filed this report from Lexington after Saturday’s Third Round game between #3 Marquette and #6 Butler. Follow him on Twitter @IRenkoHoops.

Three Key Takeaways:

Buzz Williams Got It Done For the Second Time in the NCAAs (AP)

1. Survive and Advance — In a pod full of mid-majors with Cinderella history, it was the Big East power who emerged at the end of the day, but not before being pushed to its limits. This was more of a see-saw affair than Marquette’s great escape against Davidson, and they seemed to take control of the game mid-way through the second half. But Butler was resilient, and the Golden Eagles almost threw away the win, just as Davidson did on Thursday, with an errant inbounds pass with three seconds left and a two-point lead. No doubt, memories of Marquette’s fateful loss to Butler on a buzzer beater in Maui creeped into the minds of Marquette fans. But a well-executed defensive scheme on the final possession resulted in an ugly three-point attempt from Andrew Smith that was well off the mark. After the game, Buzz Williams refused to explain his defensive setup, explaining that given all the close games Marquette has played — and is likely to play again — he wasn’t about to reveal state secrets.
2. Butler Couldn’t Escape the Turnover Trap — The biggest advantage of Butler’s tournament draw is that none of the three teams in its pod is very good at forcing turnovers. A major reason that Butler went 0-4 vs St. Louis and VCU this year was its poor ball control. Through three halves of basketball this week, Butler committed just 10 turnovers, and in the first half tonight, Marquette had zero fast break points — a big reason the Bulldogs entered intermission with an 8-point lead. But Marquette stepped up the pressure in the second half tonight, and Butler started to crack. They coughed up the ball 10 times after halftime, allowing Marquette to score eight fast-break points and 15 total off turnovers.
3. Rotnei Clarke Faded Down the Stretch — Clarke had a tremendous first half, showing off not just his dead-eye three-point shot, but also his underrated ability to score inside the arc, with an array of pull-up jumpers, runners, and drives to the rim. But the cooling of his hot hand in the second half deprived Butler of a reliable scoring option. After starting off 7-of-10, Clarke made just one of his last seven shots. With Roosevelt Jones struggling to a 3-of-11 performance, Butler was left with few scoring options. They labored to score, and while they managed to keep scraping points together, in part due to Andrew Smith’s yeoman effort underneath, they couldn’t scratch out enough.

Star of the Game: Vander Blue had a tough act to follow, after his late-game heroics gave the Golden Eagles a last-second win over Davidson in the Second Round. But he more than came through, putting the team on his back and carrying them to a win with an outstanding performance at both ends of the floor. Blue finished with 29 points on just 15 shots and grabbed four steals. Two of those swipes came on crucial back-to-back possessions late in the game, both of which Blue converted into easy fast break points, turning a 2-point deficit into a 2-point lead in 60 seconds. Blue had so worked himself to exhaustion that after those two plays that his coach had to give him a short rest. But he had enough energy after coming back to hit the biggest shot of the game — a corner three-pointer with 1:26 to play that tied the game at 69.

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RTC is at the San Jose pod this evening. We filed this report  after Saturday’s Third Round game between #4 St. Louis and #12 Oregon.

Three Key Takeaways:

Dotson is Turning Into a Star (OregonLive)

1. About that Saint Louis Defense. SLU’s calling card this season has been its elite defensive efficiency, with a high-pressure half-court defense that ranks in the top 10 nationally and had routinely eviscerated teams, holding 11 of its last 12 opponents under 62 total points (Xavier, the only exception, scored 77 in an overtime win). Oregon was having none of that. After a first few shaky possessions where the Saint Louis defense got its hands on some passes to cause some deflections, the Ducks adjusted well and went on a tear led by Damyean Dotson and Carlos Emory where they got repeated open looks and knocked them down. A hot first half became a 53% shooting night and a ridiculous 8-11 from three. It was the third-worst defensive performance of the year for the Billikens and it likely would have been worse had the game not gotten so far out of hand.
2. Damyean Dotson Has Star Power. If not now, right here in this year’s NCAA Tournament, but next year for sure as a breakout star in the Pac-12 and nationally. He’s already got all the tools, but with a good portion of next year’s squad graduating, it will be incumbent upon he and Dominic Artis to lead Dana Altman’s Ducks into the future. His size at 6’5″ was a nightmare match-up for the much smaller Billikens guards as he was able to easily shoot over the top (5-of-6 from three) and find soft spots in the creases of the defense. He and Carlos Emory set the tone from the opening minutes offensively, firing Oregon to a 60% shooting first half and a 16-point lead that appeared insurmountable.
3. Worst Seeding Ever? We’re not much for ridiculous superlatives and hyperbole around here, but we are having trouble thinking of another situation where a team that had as good of a season as Oregon was so inadequately seeded. The committee says that it takes in-season injuries into account, and yet it didn’t appear to notice how well Oregon played with Dominic Artis in the lineup. He’s back now, if they haven’t noticed (even if today was not a great game for him). Certainly an argument could be made of a Hawthorne Effect of sorts, that the Ducks played so well and with a laser focus because of the NCAA-induced chip on their shoulders. That’s a reasonable take. But after two games of watching these guys show no quarter in picking apart a strong #5 seed and #4 seed, it’s difficult to understand how the NCAA got this one so wrong.

Star of the Game: Damyean Dotson, Oregon. No other realistic choice today. The freshman went off for 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting that included five treys and only one miss from beyond the arc. He was completely dialed in today, and the SLU defense had no realistic way to prevent his open looks. As noted above, the kid has star power and can become the cornerstone of these Ducks for years to come.

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Andrew Murawa is an RTC correspondent. He filed this report from the Round of 32 game between #6 Arizona and #14 Harvard at the Salt Lake City pod this afternoon.

Three Key Takeaways.

It Was Great While It Lasted…

1. Physical Mismatch. It was clear just a couple of minutes into the game that Harvard was going to need to catch a lot of breaks to keep up in this game. As good as Wesley Saunders has been all year, he had no chance guarding Solomon Hill in the post. Harvard’s Kenyatta Smith was tough on Thursday against the New Mexico bigs, Kaleb Tarczewski and Brandon Ashley were a whole different ball game. Freshman point guard Siyani Chambers looked overmatched and intimidated early by Mark Lyons, while Nick Johnson and Hill largely stuck with the Crimson’s shooters Laurent Rivard and Christian Webster, using their length, athleticism and confidence in the rest of their team’s defense to limit any good looks. In short, barring some seriously strange goings-on, Harvard never really had a chance in this one.
2. Is Arizona Playing Well?. At times, as the lead hovered somewhere around 20 for the final three-quarters of the game, the Wildcats lost focus and let up some. Kevin Parrom wound up inexplicably fouling out in just 14 minutes of action. Grant Jerrett bruised an elbow early in the first half and never returned. Johnson attempted just three field goals in the 34 minutes of action (to be fair, he made two threes in those attempts). Ashley again showed glimpses of excellence intermingled with frustrating decision-making. But in a game where the talent mismatch was so apparent, it was really hard to gauge just how well this team was playing as a whole. But, give them credit for doing to Harvard exactly what a team with this size and talent should have done to Harvard.
3. New Mexico Redux. If anybody associated with the New Mexico program watched this game, from Steve Alford on down to the lowliest Lobo fan, they had to be going absolutely crazy. A Harvard team that shot a 61.9 eFG% on Thursday night shot 31.9% tonight. The Lobos definitely didn’t have quite the athletic advantage that Arizona did, but it was pretty close. But, the Lobos failed to close out on shooters, couldn’t stop Chambers’ dribble penetration and never found a guard who could make an impact against inferior defenders. Can’t feel too bad for the Lobos.

Star of the Game.  Mark Lyons, Arizona. The much-maligned Wildcat point guard had perhaps the best game of his time in Tucson today, getting past Harvard defenders with ease, knocking down threes whenever the mood struck him and zipping up Chambers defensively. With Aaron Craft potentially looming next week in Los Angeles, things are about to get much more difficult, but Lyons has certainly picked a perfect time to peak.

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I. Renko is an RTC correspondent. He filed this report from Lexington after Saturday’s Third Round game between #1 Louisville and #8 Colorado State. Follow him on Twitter @IRenkoHoops.

Three Key Takeaways:

A Strange Sight at Rupp Arena, Indeed

1. Welcome to Louisville Basketball — Colorado State normally does a very good job of taking care of the ball, but they normally play Mountain West teams, none of whom could have prepared them for Louisville’s pressure defense. The Cardinals rank second in the country in forcing turnovers, and the MWC has only one team, Wyoming, inside the top 190. The Rams were completely rattled by Louisville’s aggression, both in the full court and half court. They committed 20 turnovers, which Louisville efficiently converted into 24 points. The only reason the Rams lost by only 26 points is that they shot the ball very well, almost 50 percent from the field. But the problem was that they only took 40 shots.
2. When Colorado State Gets Beat on the Boards, It’s Hard for Them to Win — Colorado State is the best rebounding team in the country. Their offensive rebounding strength, in particular, gave them a real opportunity against Louisville, which doesn’t protect the glass very well. But the Cardinals did a tremendous job of keeping the Rams at bay, allowing them to rebound only 24 percent of their misses — much better than Louisville’s season average and much worse than CSU’s. And the Cardinals pounded the glass at the other end as well, pulling down 36 percent of their missed shots. As a result, they outscored the Rams by 18-6 on second-chance points, the game’s most shocking statistic. It was a full team effort for the Cardinals, with the starting backcourt of Peyton Siva, Russ Smith, and Wayne Blackshear combining for half of the team’s defensive rebounds.
3. When Louisville Hits Outside Shots, It’s Hard for Them to Lose — Early in the game, the Cardinals were getting traction with dribble penetration. As Colorado State tightened up its help defense a bit, forcing the Cardinals to take pull-up jumpers and fire from downtown. That’s typically the right defensive formula against Louisville, which makes just under a third of its threes. But today, the Cardinals shot the lights out of Rupp Arena. Russ Smith led the way, hitting 5-of-8 on threes, but the whole team got in the act, knocking down several mid-range jump shots. It’s very difficult to beat the Cardinals when they shoot like this.

Star of the Game: Russ Smith stole the show, tying his season high with 31 points on 8-of-16 field goal shooting (5-of-8 from three-point range). Russdiculous, as his coach nicknamed him, was especially assertive in the first half, when he scored 18 points as the Cardinals pulled out to a 45-31. Each of Smith’s four first-half threes ignited the crowd and seemed to deflate Colorado State, which struggled to keep up with the pace of play at both ends of the floor.

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