Three Key Takeaways.

1. No Pace is Too Fast. Kentucky dictated the pace of the game from the opening tip, and Indiana simply had no answer. When Indiana missed, which they rarely did tonight, Kentucky would corral the rebound and after two passes and a couple dribbles of the basketball the Cats would already have it underneath the Hoosiers’ basket. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis Teague are at their very best when running rampant and Indiana did nothing to stop them from acting as gazelles running the floor.
2. Indiana Couldn’t Get the Important Stop. Credit to Indiana, they managed to keep themselves within striking distance up until the final minutes, but their inability to string a series of stops together is what ultimately did them in. Christian Watford and Cody Zeller were tremendous, but Kentucky feasted on Indiana’s vanilla man-to-man defense throughout the entire game. This begs the question: Why didn’t Tom Crean throw a zone defense at Kentucky? Indiana surrendered 102 points on the night so clearly zone could not have been much worse than man. In games that Kentucky has struggled on offense—namely against Old Dominion and at Georgia—the opposition played zone exclusively. Kentucky’s next game against Baylor is a very intriguing one as Baylor plays primarily a zone defense.
3. Restating the Obvious: Kentucky is Best. If it wasn’t already obvious before tonight, it should be now: Kentucky is the best team in the country, and if they are to not win the National Championship it will be because they have beaten themselves or did not bring their ‘A’ game. Anthony Davis, the National Player of the Year, was invisible for the entire first half plagued with foul trouble, and only scored nine points for the game. Yet, there are so many weapons on this squad that it didn’t much matter.

Star of the Game. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky. Only a freshman, the Kidd-Gilchrist is playing like a savvy veteran. He didn’t force his shots tonight, allowed Marquis Teague to create for him, and picked his spots beautifully of when to take over on a possession. 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 10-10 from the stripe. It is scary to think what happens if he—and others—return for another season.

Quotable. “I don’t know when this year, but we as a program really came together. We as a team won all our games a different way, so that’s a huge step for us. I mean, we’re not satisfied with just making it to the Sweet Sixteen. It’s time to get back to work.” – Junior guard Jordan Hulls on Indiana “turning the corner” this season.

Sights & Sounds. It isn’t called “Catlanta” for nothing. Driving up to the Georgia Dome this afternoon at 3 PM—roughly seven hours before Kentucky was scheduled to tip-off against Indiana—it was a sea of blue and white shirts littering the streets, restaurants, bars, and parking lots. It was very clear from the outset that the Dome was going to be rocking tonight, and it certainly was. There were many eruptions of applause throughout the game, but the biggest was probably before the game when Kentucky came onto the floor and went through their warm-up lines. The SEC may be a football conference, but Kentucky makes it very relevant from a basketball perspective.

Wildcard. A minor statistic that must be highlighted: Kentucky shot 35-37 (95%) from the free throw line. Absolutely remarkable, especially considering their season average is 72%.

What’s Next? In the most up-and-down, fast paced basketball game you will probably see all season, Kentucky will meet Baylor with the winner advancing to the Final Four in New Orleans. I promise, there will not be a shortage of high-flying slam dunks in this one.

The NCAA Tournament is here and there’s more news, commentary and analysis than any of us can possibly keep up with. To make things a little easier, we’ll bring you a list of daily links gathered about teams in each of the four regions all the way through the Final Four.

Midwest Region

• Kansas star forward Thomas Robinson’s personal tragedies have been well-documented. The junior, who just turned 21 last week, is the key player for the Jayhawks as they look to move into the Elite Eight.
• Kansas senior guard Tyshawn Taylor has faced a lot of adversity in basketball and in life. The guard from New Jersey has developed into a leader for Bill Self’s squad and he will look to lead the Jayhawks into an Elite Eight on Friday night.
• Going into this season, there were many differing opinions regarding NC State forward CJ Leslie. Leslie has developed into a key player and a team leader for the overachieving Wolfpack that have already pulled two upsets in the NCAA Tournament.
• When NC State athletic director Kay Yow named Mark Gottfried head coach last April, many people were surprised by the decision. As it turns out, Yow had the right idea, as Gottfried has led the Wolfpack through some hard times this season and into the Sweet Sixteen.
• North Carolina star forward Harrison Barnes has a history as a saxophone player. Putting the music aside, the Tar Heels’ leading scorer is a key component to the team moving on in the NCAA Tournament.
• Ohio head coach John Groce has seen his name tied to the openings at Nebraska and Illinois, but the Bobcats’ head coach will not say if he has any interest until his team’s run in the NCAA Tournament has concluded.

West Region

• Throughout this season, many wondered if Rick Pitino still had what made him an elite head coach. Pitino put those wonders to rest Thursday night when his Louisville squad dominated #1 seed Michigan State from the opening tip.
• With Louisville’s win over Michigan State on Thursday night, Rick Pitino saw his Sweet Sixteen coaching record move to a perfect 10-0. This statistic is even more impressive due to the fact that his team was the lower seed on four of the 10 occasions.
• While Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo was shocked by how poorly his team performed Thursday night, the veteran head coach noted that he was very proud of what his squad had accomplished all season. 
• Michigan State senior forward Draymond Green had a final game that he would probably rather forget. The Big Ten Player of the Year made just five of 16 shots, while turning the ball over six times.
•  Rick Pitino was Billy Donovan’s coach when Donovan played at Providence. Pitino once advised Donovan to stick to finance and not go into coaching. On Saturday, Donovan’s Florida Gators will battle Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals for a spot in the Final Four.
• Marquette senior stars Jae Crowder and Darius Johnson-Odom both struggled Thursday night shooting just five of 15. The Golden Eagles were led by Crowder and Johnson-Odom all season, so their poor performances leading to a loss was not seen as a surprise.

Indiana will face Kentucky Friday night in what is one of the most interesting Sweet Sixteen games in the NCAA tournament.  The Hoosiers handed the Wildcats their only regular season loss back on December 10 thanks to a last-second three by Christian Watford.  In the rematch, the stakes are higher, with a spot in the Elite Eight awaiting the winner.  Who will that winner be?  Big Ten micrositers Joey Nowak (@joeynowak) and Ryan Terpstra (@terphimself) debate.

Indiana and Kentucky collide for the second time this year in the Sweet Sixteen (photo: College Sports Madness)

1.  Anthony Davis versus Cody Zeller.  Can Indiana come out on top of this matchup again?

• Ryan:  In the first matchup of the freshman big men, Cody Zeller clearly came out on top.  He logged 37 minutes, scored 11 points, and grabbed seven rebounds.  Davis, meanwhile, was saddled with foul trouble for most of the game, and finished with just six points in 24 minutes.  IU will certainly try to attack Davis, because removing his defensive impact from the game opens up opportunities for Zeller to find success inside, and guards like Victor Oladipo to take the ball to the basket.  However, Davis seems to have quickly learned his lesson, having not even committed four fouls in a game since that loss to Indiana.  He only has picked up two personal fouls all tournament, and has played 76 minutes in the two games.  Odds are that he’ll be on the floor, and if he is, advantage Kentucky.
• Joey: What’s so remarkable about Anthony Davis is how he impacts the game in both small and large sample sizes. He’ll alter a shot on the defensive end or register a block, then run the floor and get a put-back or an easy alley-oop. Or, he might not fill the stat sheet that way, but can neutralize almost any big man in the country, alters shots from all over the floor and changes the way teams have to approach games on both ends. Zeller is fantastic because he’s just as polished, and runs the floor like a three or a four for Indiana. Davis has advantage in the half-court setting, so if Indiana is going to want to exploit the Kentucky big man and utilize their own freshman star, it’s gotta be on the break.

2.  What’s the key for the Hoosier defense to keep the explosive Wildcat offense in check?

• Read the rest of this entry »

RTC Region correspondents Kevin Doyle (South) and Evan Jacoby (Midwest) contributed to this preview.

#3 Baylor vs. #10 Xavier – South Regional Semifinal (at Atlanta, GA) – 7:15 PM ET on CBS

Baylor was supposed to be here, Xavier was not. That is the beauty of March Madness and the NCAA Tournament though: play it out on the floor. One can review all the matchups, crunch the numbers, and look at past tournament history, but sometimes simply getting hot at the right time is a more important factor than anything else. The Xavier Musketeers, an up-and-down team all year following the brawl against Cincinnati back in December, are peaking at just the right time. After a 21 game stretch in the middle of the year that saw Xavier go 10-11, they rebounded by winning five of six; the melee seems like a thing of the distant past right now. What teams should now begin to take notice of: Tu Holloway is back to playing at the level of an All-American. Not to mention, Kenny Frease is looking like one of the most dominant big men in the country after dismantling the Lehigh front line last Sunday. Despite all of this, Baylor is a downright scary team to be playing this weekend, especially with the shooting prowess of Brady Heslip who is a combined 14-22 from downtown. Xavier’s three-point defense is one of the best in the nation as they allow opponents to shoot just 30% from the outside, but can they contain the hot shooting Heslip and the steady Pierre Jackson? Consequently, if Heslip and Jackson are not connecting from distance, the onus will be on Perry Jones III. The Jones-Frease matchup down low is one to keep an eye on, and if we are to take any stock in the first two games, Frease is the one playing better of the two as Jones has combined to score just nine points on 4-14 shooting against South Dakota State and Colorado. A streaky scorer throughout the year, Jones has scored in single digits nine times and double digits 19 times; the Bears will need the latter of Jones’ scoring efforts to keep Xavier honest on defense. Baylor’s only losses this year have come against Big 12 opponents, and I expect this trend to continue as the Bears hold off Holloway and the Musketeers.

The RTC Certified Pick: Baylor

#1 North Carolina vs. #13 Ohio – Midwest Region Semifinals (at St. Louis, MO) – 7:47 PM ET on TBS

The storylines leading up to this game have been completely taken over by Kendall Marshall’s “wrist watch”, but once the ball tips off on Friday night and Marshall is presumably unable to play, then we can finally focus on the matchups in-game. Of course, Marshall’s expected absence will then be the main factor to watch in the game. How will North Carolina distribute minutes at the point guard position against the harassing perimeter defense of D.J. Cooper? Expect Roy Williams to explore several different options, including seldom-used reserves Stilman White and Justin Watts. Both White and Watts average under seven minutes per game and were never expected to be significant factors for the team, but they are the only players with experience at the lead guard spot. But since neither guy is likely to make much of an impact offensively, UNC also could experiment by placing Harrison Barnes at the position in a point-forward role. Barnes has the size to see over any defenders but has never been asked to run an offense. P.J. Hairston and Reggie Bullock, two primary wing shooters, could help Barnes bring the ball up in a point guard by-committee approach, as well.

Regardless, as long as the point guard replacements or by-committee members don’t turn the ball over at an alarming rate, then Carolina should still have the advantage in this game on both ends because of its tremendous forwards. Ohio’s regular rotation only includes two bangers in the post in Reggie Keely and Jon Smith, and while Keely is a solid post defender with bulk at 265 pounds, neither of those players is taller than 6’8”. It will be an adventure trying to defend the most talented front line in the country. Tyler Zeller, John Henson, and James Michael McAdoo should have a field day in the paint, and the lack of a point guard means that every UNC possession should include an early paint touch. Expect big numbers from this trio. But if Ohio is somehow able to key on the UNC bigs and stop the domination in the paint, then the Bobcats can pull another upset by gaining an advantage on the perimeter. Nick Kellogg and Walter Offutt must hit a high percentage of shots from the outside and D.J. Cooper will need another breakout performance to carry this team. It just seems unlikely that Ohio has enough firepower to hang with Carolina’s athletes on the interior. With or without Marshall, roll with North Carolina in this one.

The RTC Certified Pick: North Carolina

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1. The Fighting Illini, it seems, will not be getting their man. Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas has been throwing everything at VCU coach Shaka Smart — it turned out to be a contract offer of $2.5 million a year to succeed Bruce Weber — and Smart turned him down, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. With the most high-profile candidate out of the picture (and others like Cuonzo Martin and Anthony Grant reportedly also not showing interest), what other options will Thomas have?
2. Is John Beilein sitting somewhere wondering, “Is it something I said?” In a matter of hours Wednesday, it was announced that three Michigan players — including Evan Smotrycz, who started 18 games this season for the Wolverines — were leaving the program and that freshman phenom Trey Burke was testing the NBA draft waters. Those departures would leave some gaping holes but, with the way Beilein has been recruiting lately, there is potential for a silver lining.
3. In other offseason news, there’s another coaching situation in the state of Illinois drawing some attention. The Chicago Tribune‘s Teddy Greenstein notes that the silence surrounding Bill Carmody‘s performance evaluation is leading some to speculate that there may be something bubbling in Evanston. Carmody has failed to lead Northwestern to that elusive NCAA Tournament berth. Is it time for a change?
4. Back to teams who are actually still playing basketball, the Lansing State Journal‘s Joe Rexrode does not mince words when discussing the honors Draymond Green deserves this season. Rexrode says Green has been the best player in the country, particularly in the last month or two, and he knows he’s not the only one that feels that way. Green has already been named to multiple All-American first teams. But he’s got a few tall trees in Kansas and Kentucky uniforms to topple before being recognized as the country’s best.
5. Throughout Will Sheehey‘s high school career, there may have been questions about whether he could compete at the highest college level. Tom Crean never had doubts. And now, the Indianapolis Star‘s Terry Hutchens writes, Indiana fans feel the same way. The Indiana guard’s jumper sealed the win against VCU to send the Hoosiers to the Sweet 16 and he has had 12 double-digit scoring games despite missing five games early in the season with an ankle injury.

1. This time the courtship did not last long as Shaka Smart announced yesterday that he would not become the next coach at Illinois and would remain the head coach at VCU. While Smart did not rule out moving on to another job we cannot imagine another opening much better than Illinois, which frankly is an overrated position, coming open during the offseason. Now Illinois will have to move onto another candidate. Two of the more interesting candidates we have heard mentioned are Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton and Duke assistant Chris Collins.
2. If you watched Iowa State‘s brief NCAA Tournament appearance, Royce White‘s announcement that he will be entering the NBA Draft and hiring an agent should not be a surprise. Despite dealing with well-chronicled psychiatric problems, White emerged as a potential lottery pick who more than stood his own against four likely top ten picks in the first two rounds. We assume that with the millions invested in White by a NBA team they will also spend the requisite money to ensure that he continues to get the medical attention that he needs.
3. The exodus may have started in Storrs where Alex Oriakhi announced yesterday that he will be transferring from Connecticut. Oriakhi, who struggled through much of the season after seeing his playing time cut drastically with the late arrival of Andre Drummond, had voiced his displeasure with how things were handled in Storrs earlier in the season. Now he will be looking for a new place to complete his college career. Oriakhi, who has one year of eligibility remaining, could be available to play next year if Connecticut’s NCAA Tournament ban is upheld, but would have to sit out a year if they are eligible to participate.
4. After a brief hiatus while preparing for the opening week of the NCAA Tournament, Luke Winn is back with his weekly power rankings. As you might expect Winn’s analysis is more focused for the Sweet Sixteen with a look at how they match up with their opponent. The one figure that might be the most noteworthy is his analysis of fouls against Cody Zeller and Anthony Davis, which is particularly relevant because Indiana‘s 74-73 win is one of the few games this year where Davis was in foul trouble.
5. According to reports Villanova junior Maalik Wayns will sign with an agent. When Wayns declared last week without signing with an agent we barely paid attention because we assumed that Wayns would learn that he was by no means guaranteed a spot on a NBA roster. While we cannot comment fully on the situation because we do not know if Wayns has an urgent financial/family reason for turning pro, but if he does not then all we can say is that it is a really bad decision.

Kevin Doyle is the NCAA Tournament’s South Region correspondent. 

The South Regional begins Friday night in Atlanta with with Baylor vs. Xavier followed by Kentucky vs. Indiana. Our East Regional Reset and West Regional Reset published Tuesday, while our Midwest Regional Reset published earlier today.Make sure to follow RTCSouthRegion for news and analysis from Atlanta throughout the weekend.

New Favorite: #1 Kentucky (34-2, 16-0 SEC). Nothing new here as Kentucky remains the clear-cut favorite to advance to New Orleans. Big Blue had nothing more than a mere tune-up in its first two games of the Dance getting by Western Kentucky and Iowa State with ease. Although the Cyclones actually were tied with Kentucky in the second half, the game was never in doubt and the Wildcats rolled to a 16-point victory. Next on tap for Cal and his kids: A rematch with the Indiana Hoosiers who handed them their only loss of the regular season. In that game back in December, however, Anthony Davis and Terrence Jones combined for just 10 points — expect a different outcome in round two.

Cat-lanta Will Be Overrun With Blue This Weekend

Horse of Darkness: #10 Xavier (23-12, 10-6 Atlantic 10). X looked down for the count just weeks ago. They never seemed to recover after their brawl against cross-town rival Cincinnati, and limped to a rather pedestrian 10-6 record in the Atlantic 10. Don’t look now, but the Musketeers are getting it together at just the right time. Lest we forget that this was a Top 10 team in December with wins against Vanderbilt, Purdue, and Cincinnati, but Xavier is returning to that early season form. Tu Holloway is playing like the future NBA’er that he is — his miraculous bank shot to propel Xavier to a comeback win against Notre Dame and then his 21 points against Lehigh are telltale signs that his squad is a legitimate threat. It will be no easy task to get past Baylor, but the three-headed monster of Holloway-Lyons-Frease is capable of putting up quite the fight. If Xavier is able to stay within a few possessions down the stretch, there may not be another player in the Tournament whose hands I would want the ball in other than Holloway’s.

Biggest Surprise (1st Weekend): #15 Lehigh 75, #2 Duke 70. Truth be told, there were probably four teams worthy of consideration for this spot as the South Region witnessed four double digit seeds win its first round game — only six other upsets occurred in the entire second round. However, it really is a no-brainer that Lehigh was the biggest shock of the opening weekend. It was common knowledge that Duke’s defense was subpar — especially with the absence of Ryan Kelly from the lineup — and that C.J. McCollum would for all intents and purposes have his standard 20+ point night. But, would this really all add up to the #15 seeded Lehigh Mountain Hawks knocking out the Dukies? Yes, it did. As Coach K said in his postgame presser, C.J. McCollum was the best player on the floor last Friday night, and that was enough to send the Blue Devil faithful that packed the Greensboro Coliseum home shaking their collective heads. Just two nights later, Lehigh jumped out to a 35-20 lead over Xavier and seemed destined to earn a spot in the Sweet Sixteen mind you, this is a school that had never won an NCAA Tournament game in its schools history prior to this year — but they could not close the door against the Musketeers.

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The NCAA Tournament is here and there’s more news, commentary and analysis than any of us can possibly keep up with. To make things a little easier, we’ll bring you a list of daily links gathered about teams in each of the four regions all the way through the Final Four.

West Region

• Marquette’s offseason conditioning regimen tends to resemble football practices, with sleds, rope climbs and even some boxing. The result is a team of physical yet fast players like Junior Cadougan and Todd Mayo.
• Freshman Florida guard Bradley Beal has come through in a huge way for the Gators in the postseason, leading the team in points, rebounds, assists, steals and free throws in his last five games. Fair or not, “The Real Deal” may still have doubters after the Gators beat down 15-seed Norfolk State in the round of 32.
• Kyle Kuric and Russ Smith had to swallow some pride to go off scholarship this season so that Louisville head coach Rick Pitino could haul in a touted recruiting class. The situation hasn’t fazed the Cardinal captains, though.
• The Sweet Sixteen is old hat for Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo. With a 7-2 record in the round, the bright lights don’t seem to bother him.
• Spartan forward Draymond Green continues to reel in the individual honors, the latest being an NABC First Team All-America selection. As Green goes, so do the Spartans, so there’s no questioning his value.

1. The Illinois gig is probably the most high-profile job opening in college hoops right now, and the name that keep rising to the top of the list is VCU coach Shaka Smart. There have been reports that Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas is throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Smart to get him to come to Champaign and, though Smart has pledged his allegiance to VCU in the past, there remain reports that the rising star is still considering the move.
2. If we asked at the beginning of the season who Ohio State‘s most important player was, the near-unanimous answer would be Jared Sullinger. Same goes for the midway point, probably. But now? It’s safe to say Deshaun Thomas would get a few votes. As the BuckeyeSports.com’s Ari Wasserman writes, Thomas has evolved from an X-factor for the Buckeyes into one of the team’s front men, if not the front man.
3. Big Ten fans know better than to consider Bo Ryan‘s Wisconsin clubs to be an underdog. They are never flashy and rarely grab headlines but anybody who follows basketball in the Midwest knows that the Badgers are always hanging around. Now, with Wisconsin on the national stage in the Sweet 16, FOXSportsWisconsin.com‘s Jesse Temple examines the idea of a Bo Ryan group overachieving. With the loss of several key players from last year’s team, it looked like Jordan Taylor would have a lot on his shoulders. But once again, who’s surprised the Badgers are here now?
4. One way to judge a program’s dominance in its home state is with in-state recruiting, and Michigan State has had a good handle on the Mitten State for a while now. Future Spartan Matt Costello was named the state’s Mr. Basketball this week, and fellow Michigan State commit Denzel Valentine finished second. Costello, who averaged 25.1 PPG, 17.8 RPG, 4.0 APG, and 4.0 BPG  this year, will join 2010 winner Keith Appling and 2009 winner Derrick Nix in East Lansing next year. Last year’s winner, Dwaun Anderson, committed to Michigan State, but chose to switch his enrollment to Wagner after working through family issues. The Spartans also landed the Mr. Basketball winners each year from 1999-2002.
5. Of all things written and said about the style of play in the Big Ten, rarely does the term “poetry” come up. But the fine folks at CBSSports.com have found a way to link the two ideas. (It’s good to know we’re not the only ones a little antsy for this second weekend’s slate of games to get here already.) In just a matter of syllables, Matt Norlander wonders who this year’s UConn is, explores how things changed for Indiana and says hello to Bo Ryan.

The NCAA Tournament is here and there’s more news, commentary and analysis than any of us can possibly keep up with. To make things a little easier, we’ll bring you a list of daily links gathered about teams in each of the four regions all the way through the Final Four.

South Region

Midwest Region

• Fans and media aren’t the only ones caught up in great performances by major talent among the mid-major ranks. It was recently revealed that in 2010, Baylor coach Scott Drew and then-Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl allegedly contacted Ohio‘s D.J. Cooper about transferring, which would constitute NCAA violations if the allegations are true. It will be interesting to see whether the subject is raised during Baylor’s media session this week.
• Yahoo! Sports’ Pat Forde opines that even if North Carolina guard Kendall Marshall returns to the fold for a potential regional final, the odds are stacked heavily against the Heels.
• The Tar Heels’ aren’t the only team from the state recovering from some health concerns. N.C. State will face Kansas Friday, and C.J. Williams and C.J. Leslie are recovering from fatigue. The severity isn’t even comparable to North Carolina’s situation, but a few days of rest will be especially helpful to the Wolfpack.
• Basketball Prospectus’ C.J. Moore breaks down how Kansas topped Purdue on Sunday, from Elijah Johnson‘s fortitude to Bill Self‘s halftime adjustments.
• There are already two coaching vacancies in the Big Ten, and Ohio coach John Groce could fit the bill at either Nebraska or Illinois after the season. Groce’s Big Ten connections, when combined with his team’s head-turning performance this postseason, make him appealing to the Cornhuskers. Nebraska is a tough job, but with a heavy commitment to hoops, Athletic Director Tom Osborne could find a catch.