We’re now down to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Could this be the year that all four #1 seeds advance to the Final Four? Or will we get another Cinderella like George Mason in the form of Davidson? Before we review what happened in the Sweet 16, let’s breakdown Saturday’s Elite Eight matchups with predictions…
Sweet 16 Record: 7-1 (.875)
Overall Tournament Record: 41-15 (.732)
#1 UCLA (34-3) v. #3 Xavier (30-6) – 6:40PM Saturday – When you look at the ‘Tale of the Tape’ historically speaking, the UCLA Bruins have a distinct advantage over the Xavier Musketeers, and with it comes much more prestige and tradition. The Bruins have 11 National Championships, 97 NCAA Tournament victories, 17 trips to the Final Four and 21 times in the Elite Eight. Xavier, on the other hand, has no titles, appearances in the Final Four, won 15 tournament games and this will mark only their second time ever in the Elite Eight round. This is the first 30-win season in Xavier history and they have gotten it done with balanced scoring, clutch outside shooting and building off the experience from last year’s tournament when they lost to Ohio State in the second round in overtime. UCLA’s calling card is their defense and it’s why they are one win away from a third straight Final Four. Offensively, the inside-outside combo of freshman Kevin Love and senior Darren Collison makes them go. If I’m Musketeers Head Coach Sean Miller, I make Love beat me and clamp down on everyone else – Josh Shipp, Russell Westbrook, Collison, etc. On the flip side, knowing Love has become UCLA’s focal point as the season has progressed, the Bruins may use him more as a decoy than their primary weapon. Josh Duncan, Stanley Burrell and C.J. Anderson will need to step up with strong performances for Xavier to pull an upset. Pick: UCLA 70-62
#1 North Carolina (35-2) v. #3 Louisville (27-8) – 9:05PM Saturday – The coaching match in this one really sets the tone for what should be a great battle on Saturday night. North Carolina’s Roy Williams and Louisville’s Rick Pitino each has been to the Elite Eight on eight different occasions, been to the Final Four five times and won a National Championship. Williams’ Tar Heels have more offensive firepower than probably anyone else in the nation, but the Cardinals are tenacious and active defensively enough to give them problems, and will be willing to run with UNC. With Louisville, there should be a lot of subbing to keep UNC off balance. Their top reserve is Earl Clark, a factor on both ends of the floor. The Cards are going to need to take advantage of their open opportunities from beyond the arc. Edgar Sosa could be the key to the game because they have enough big bodies to throw at Tyler Hansbrough, so how they match Ty Lawson’s production in the backcourt will be critical. Furthermore, the 20 turnovers they had vs. Tennessee is a number they have to reduce to think about prevailing. Williams is hoping for an unsung hero, perhaps Danny Green or Wayne Ellington, both of whom are perimeter shooting threats. Look for an up-tempo game and for Louisville to use its versatility to win a tight one. Pick: Louisville 81-80
Sweet 16 Review:
North Carolina 68, Washington State 47: Around the midway point of the first half, this game became non-competitive as North Carolina ran away from Washington State, using a three-pointer by point guard Ty Lawson to take a 14-point lead into the break. When the Tar Heels are up 14 with Tyler Hansbrough having more turnovers (3) than points (2), it’s usually a good sign that the opponent can forget about a second half comeback. UNC shot a blistering 67% from the field in the first half and forced the Cougars into 2-for-16 shooting from downtown for the evening. In addition, Roy Williams’ team out-rebounded WSU 42-28.
Xavier 79, West Virginia 75 (OT): Without question, this was the most exciting Sweet 16 game that was played. In fact, it was really the only one that was played down to the wire. After slow starts against both Georgia and Purdue in the first two rounds, where they found themselves down 11 in the second half to the Bulldogs and 9-0 right off the bat against the Boilermakers, Sean Miller’s Musketeers jumped out to a 16-point lead against West Virginia. Bob Huggins’ Mountaineers battled back, trimming Xavier’s half-time advantage to just seven as Xavier missed their final five shots of the half. WVA eventually went in front in the second half, but needed a basket by Joe Alexander with 14.2 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, though Alexander missed a critical free-throw that would’ve put the game away. In overtime, WVA led by six when Xavier got a clutch three-pointer from guard Drew Lavender with 1:50 left in the extra period to tie things at 72-apiece. B.J. Raymond hit a trey for Xavier, then the Mountaineers committed their first turnover of the second half and overtime, which led to another three-point make by Raymond. The game was clearly decided in the outside shooting department as Xavier went 11-for-19 from beyond the arc, while the Mountaineers were only 1-for-11.
UCLA 88, Western Kentucky 78: At first glance, this matchup appeared to be a mismatch. UCLA is the top seed and Western Kentucky managed to advance past both Drake and San Diego despite blowing double-digit leads to each. The Bruins looked to be headed for an easy victory, with a comfortable 41-20 half-time advantage. That’s when Ty Brazelton caught fire for WKY, hitting consecutive three-pointers and the Hilltoppers got within four with 6:50 remaining. Brzelton finished with 31 points, six makes from long distance and five assists. WKY got back in the game by going to a 2-3 zone that forced UCLA into some poor jumpers, and on offense they did a superb job of spacing. Even worse for UCLA, star point guard Darren Collison fouled out at the 5:39 mark on a three shot foul. That meant Kevin Love would have to carry the Bruins home, which he did. Love, a freshman, paid big dividends with 29 points on 10-of-14 shooting, 14 rebounds, four assists and four blocks.
Louisville 79, Tennessee 60: Although the Cardinals of Louisville turned the ball over seven times in the first seven minutes, their transition offense and key three-pointers in the early going enabled them to go on an 18-1 run to pull away from Tennessee and grab a 24-8 lead. Tennessee made a rally and closed within a point in the second half, but the Cards answered with seven straight made baskets, increasing the lead to 15 with four minutes to play. Two areas were big for Louisville – rebounds and bench production. Their bench tabulated 28 points and on the boards they did a hurting on Tennessee to the tune of 42-24. Super sub Earl Clark was instrumental yet again, scoring 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the field, grabbing 12 rebounds and rejecting four shots. Andre McGee and Jerry Smith added 13 points apiece, and Chris Lofton never got it going for Tennessee, finishing with just 15 points on 3-of-15 shooting.
Kansas 72, Villanova 57: Scottie Reynolds and company never got going for upset-minded Villanova, which overcame an 18 point deficit in the first half to beat Clemson and followed that up with a victory over Siena in the second round. Nova began the game 2-for-10 from the field, whereas Bill Self’s Jayhawks were 12-for-19. Russell Robinson had 13 points and Brandon Rush had 11 with over three minutes to play in the first half. The Wildcats failed to get a field goal the final 7:25 of the first half as well. For the Jayhawks, it was their 25th Sweet 16 appearance and they were never threatened by the opposition. Their defense, which held foes to 38% shooting on the year coming in, proved to be huge again as Nova went 3-for-17 from deep range.
Texas 82, Stanford 62: So quick and with such a firm handle on his team’s offense. D.J. Augustin penetrated and shot his way past the Stanford Cardinal as he and the Texas Longhorns advanced to the Elite Eight, using a 20-3 spurt to finish the contest. Stanford scored the game’s first basket, but after that, Texas never trailed again. Brook Lopez scored 24 of his team’s first 51 points, but it can’t be done alone. Damion James was very solid in the second half for the Longhorns with guard A.J. Abrams having an off game, and Justin Mason filled the stat sheet with seven points, eight rebounds and six assists. Stanford was able to make it close for a while and pulled within one, 52-51, in the second half. However, Texas committed only four turnovers through 31 minutes, Augustin couldn’t be stopped and the Cardinal went 9:26 without a field goal after closing the gap.
Davidson 73, Wisconsin 56: The biggest surprise of the Sweet 16 round saw Davidson continue its surprising tournament run with a 17-point upset of third-seeded Wisconsin, the Big Ten regular season and tournament Champions. Fresh off their upset of Big East regular season Champ Georgetown, the Wildcats got another brilliant performance from sophomore sensation Stephen Curry, who poured in 33 points on 6-of-11 shooting from three-point land and 22 of those points came in the second half. Amazingly, Curry now has 103 total points in the tourney and 77 in the second half, making him only the fourth player in NCAA Tournament history to score 30+ in his first four tourney games. Jason Richards was solid in this one as well, contributing 11 points and 13 assists without a single turnover. Davidson was able to counter Wisconsin’s flex/swing offense with great motion and patience while playing solid defensively.
Memphis 92, Michigan State 74: John Calipari must’ve known what he was doing by downplaying his Tigers’ well-documented struggles from the free-throw line. That’s because Memphis went 26-for-35 in their route of the Spartans in the Sweet 16 on Friday night. Smooth freshman guard Derrick Rose was 6-of-7 at the stripe to go with his 10-for-16 mark from the field. Rose also pumped in a career-high 27 points and dished out five assists. Barely five minutes into the game, all five starters had already scored for Memphis, Rose included. Defensively, the Tigers clamped down on guard Drew Neitzel and gave him fits with Antonio Anderson’s size and Robert Dozier’s length in help defense. Neitzel didn’t score until the final couple of minutes of the game. By then though, it was already too late because Memphis led 50-20 at half-time as the Tigers shot an outstanding 20-for-32 from the field in the half. They closed the half on a 15-0 run. For the entire game, Memphis committed only seven turnovers.
