NCAA Sweet 16 Recap

And then there were 8. After some close games, some blowouts, and 1 Cinderella who's clock still has not struck midnight, we're down to the Elite Eight in this year's NCAA Tournament.

Here's what the field still looks like:

4 #1 seeds (All the #1's are stil alive...UNC, Kansas, Memphis, UCLA)
1 #2 seed (Texas)
2 #3 seeds (Louisville, Xavier)
1 #10 seed (Davidson)

MIDWEST REGION

#10 Davidson over #3 Wisconsin, 73-56

Yes, the fierce Wildcats from Davidson, the smallest school in this year's Tournament with a 1700-student enrollment, are still dancin'. With authority even! Davidson absolutely throttled #3 seed Wisconsin 73-56...a Badgers team who were the #1-ranked Defensive Scoring team in the country coming into the Tournament.

Stephen Curry continued to show why he is the GREATEST SHOOTER THE NCAA TOURNAMENT HAS SEEN IN YEARS...maybe ever. Curry poured in 33 points on 11-22 from the field, including 6-11 from the 3-point line...and once again completely dominated the 2nd half with 22 of his 33 coming in the closing stanza to sink Wisconsin...all with the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Michael Flowers, guarding him.

To put that into perspective: Curry outsocred the entire Wisconsin team in the 2nd half, 22-20.

In Davidson's three Tourney games so far, Curry has scored 103 points, the biggest 3-game total since 1990, averaging 34.3 ppg. When you include Curry's 30-point effort in Davidson's first round loss to Maryland in last year's NCAA's, the sensational sophomore is now only the 4th player in NCAA history to score 30 or more in his first 4 Tourney games (Clyde Lovelette - Kansas...Jerry Chambers - Utah...Glenn Robinson - Purdue).

Even Lebron James was impressed at Curry's performance, as the NBA Superstar grabbed a ticket a few rows behind Davidson's bench to watch the Wildcats' sharpshooter, and on more than one occasion, you could read the word "Wow" on LBJ's lips when one of Curry's silky-smooth treys found nothing but the bottom of the net.

(In addition to King James, about 300 Davidson students were able to catch the Sweet 16 game at Ford Field in Detroit...thanks to Davidson's Board of Trustees - who offered to pay for bus fare, tickets, and a hotel room for every student - and the 300 who took them up on the offer now definitely all agree that the 11-hour bus ride was worth it, as the Wildcats look to reach the Final Four Sunday.)

#1 Kansas over #12 Villanova, 72-57

That will be a tall order however, as Davidson's next opponent is #1 seed Kansas, who dispatched of #12 seed Villanova in the late game tonight, 72-57, in a game that was over by halftime (KU led 41-22 at the break and pushed that to 55-34 with 11:22 to play.)

Kansas did exactly what they wanted to in this game, using their supreme depth to run Villanova out of the gym. The Wildcats actually play their best ball when they are running in the open floor and letting PG Scottie Reynolds fill up the stat sheet. The problem: Kansas wants to do that as well, and the Jayhawks are much better at it.

Kansas came into the Tourney as the nation's top scoring team (81 ppg), and used their backcourt balane to pick Nova apart. Brandon Rush led the Jayhawks with 16 points on 6-12 FG, Russell Robinson had 15, and Mario Chalmers chipped in 14. Kansas shot 53.3% from the field, while holding Villanova to 35.6% shooting, including just 11 points on 4-13 FG for Reynolds.

While Kansas will go into their Elite Eight game against Davidson as a heavy favorite, it should be noted that the Jayhawks have yet to be tested in the Tourney. Their three wins have come over #16 Portland State, #8 UNLV, and #12 Villanova. Now, they face another double-digit seed in the #10 Wildcats, but most would agree that Davidson, currently holding the nation's longest winning streak at 25, has played more like a 2 or 3 seed than a 10.

SOUTH REGION

#1 Memphis over #5 Michigan State, 92-74

In the other Friday / Sunday regional, Memphis showed *why* they went 33-1 in the regular season, and quieted all the doubters who thought Michigan State would make the Tigers the first #1 seed to go down.

The game was much worse than the 18-point final margin indicates. After taking a 4-2 lead, the Spartans never even sniffed Memphis again. At 6:18 to go in the 1st half, Michigan State scored to make it 35-20 Memphis. The Spartans did not score the rest of the half, and the Tigers took a commanding 50-20 lead into the break...and cruised to victory in the 2nd half.

Tigers' PG Derrick Rose showed why he's going to be a Top-2 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft...if he chooses to declare. The Fab Freshman scored 27 points on 10-16 FG, including 5 assists and 4 rebounds in only 26 minutes of play. No one on the usually stout Spartan D could prevent Rose from doing whatever he pleased in the 1st half...and the 92 points Memphis scored are the most allowed by a Tom Izzo-coached team...EVER.

#2 Texas over #3 Stanford, 82-62

In the other South's other Regional Semi, Texas used a 16-2 run over a 7:30 span late in the 2nd half to pull away from Stanford and win convincly, 82-62. This matchup actually had the potential to be the most fun of any Sweet 16 game because of the severe contrast in styles: Stanford's Frontcourt v. Texas' Backcourt.

Stanford runs everything through the Lopez twins, Robin and Brook, on the offensive end. The two 7-footers clog the paint better than any frontcourt in the college game, and are a load to handle...especially Brook, the more offensively-gifted of the two (30 points in 2nd Round win v. Marquette).

Texas, on the other hand, likes to get out and run behind their All-American PG D.J. Augustin and sharpshooting SG A.J. Abrams. In my opinion, Augustin is the best pure point guard in the college game, with the ability to score from anywhere and find his teammates at will...including Abrams, who along with Davidson's Curry, has the quickest 3-point release I've seen in some time.

So the battle came down to which team could set the game at their pace...and thus play their game. That was Texas, who got 23 points and 7 assists from Augustin, along with 18 huge points from F Damion James. Abrams chipped in 12 and F Connor Atchley had 10. Brook Lopez scored a team high 26 for Stanford, to go along with 10 rebounds, but didn't get nearly enough help as the Cardinal only shot 33.8% from the field.

EAST REGION

#1 UNC over #4 WSU, 68-47

North Carolina is playing like the #1 overall seed. The Tar Heels have looked dominant in their first three wins in the Tourney, beating opponents by an average of 30.3 ppg. Washington State put up a fight for longer than I actually expected (North Carolina was up 15-14 with 8:55 to play in the 1st), but UNC eventually hit their stride and ran away with it.

The Tar Heels love to push the ball, and if I was coaching a team with Ty Lawson as my Point Guard, I would love to push the ball as well. Lawson is the quickest guard in the country (with Augustin and UCLA PG Darren Collison a close second), and he has very ahtletic teammate to fins in the open court when UNC is in transition.

G Wayne Ellington is a pure scorer who can shoot it with the best of them, and G-F Danny Green is a spark plug off the bench who would be the #1 option on 90% of the teams in the country. And that's without even mentioning All-American and potential Player of the Year F Tyler Hansbrough, who will get every loose ball and make every lay-up on his way to 25 points and 10 rebounds every night.

Washington State has a future NBA prospect of their own in F Kyle Weaver, who may be the best and most versatile defender in the country. But even Weaver couldn't stop all of Carolina's options. Hansbrough led the team with 18 points and 9 rebounds, while Green chipped in 15 off the bench on 6-10 FG, including 3 three's. Ellington and Lawson were also in double figured, with 13 and 12, respectively. Combine that with WSU's 31.6%, and it all adds up to a UNC berth in the Elite 8.

#3 Louisville over #2 Tennessee, 79-60

The award for most impressive Sweet 16 team performance: Louisville, who dismantled former #1-ranked, and a lot of people's National Champ pick, Tennessee, 79-60. Maybe the only thing more impressive than the Cardinals' win...their coach's record in Sweet 16 games. With the win, Rick Pitino is now 8-0 all-time in Sweet 16 contests, the best such mark in the history of the Tournament. (The only coach to win more than 8 consecutive Sweet 16 games: John Wooden, who won 11 straight from 1964-1975.)

Pitino's defensive sets confused Tennessee to no end, and the high-scoring Vols ended up making only 19 FG's on 33.9% shooting. G Chris Lofton led Tennessee with 15 points, but only shot 3-15 from the field to continue his cold streak in the Tourney (7-33 FG, 5-23 from the arc). G JaJuan Smith scored 12 points on 5-11 FG while F Tyler Smith added 11.

Louisville, on the other hand, looked extremely impressive on both ends of the floor. F Terrence Williams played like an NBA Lottery pick Thursday night, with 12 pts. and 8 reb., including throwing down a very impressive dunk late in the game to seal the Cardinals win. The Cardinals ended up with 5 players in double figures, led by F Earl Clark off the bench, who chipped in 17 huge points on 7-10 FG and 12 grabbed rebounds in 28 minutes of work.

Louisvile's defense, which forced 17 Vols' turnovers, is a big reason why a lot of college basketball analysts are giving the Cardinals a chance to beat UNC in the Elite Eight. Louisville is very balanced, with Williams, Clark, F Derrick Caracter and C David Padgett anchoring the front line, and G's Andre McGee and Jerry Smith holding down the backcourt. And I believe they have the best coach left in the Tourney in Pitino, who has a National Title under his belt, and has taken three different teams to the Final Four.

WEST REGION

#1 UCLA over #12 WKU, 88-78

UCLA needed a last-second Darren Collison lay-up to avoid OT against Texas A&M in the 2nd round. They got it, and now are into the Elite Eight for the third straight year after a fairly easy win over Cinderella Western Kentucky, 88-78. The Bruins actually went up big on the Hilltoppers in the 1st half, and led 41-20 at the break. But WKU was resilient, and climbed to within 4 with 7:00 to play. But UCLA regained their composure and put it away with a 9-2 run.

While I don't think there's any doubt Stephen Curry is the Tournament M.O.P. so far, Bruins' F Kevin Love is not too far behind, and probably has a better shot at winning since UCLA is likely to advance farther than the Wildcats.

While Curry has put up scoring numbers that may never be matched again in an NCAA Tourney, you can't ignore Love's overall performance in UCLA's first three games:

22.7 PPG on 61% FG, 11.3 RPG, 5 BPG

UCLA needed every single one of Love's points down the stretch to pull out the victory against Texas A&M, and Love continued his dominant play at the hands of the undermatched Hilltoppers. The 6'10", 275 lb. freshman Center scored 29 points on 10-14 FG, pulled down 14 rebounds, and had 4 blocks in 38 minutes of work...in a game he dominated from start to finish.

Love and PG Collison combined for all but 11 of UCLA's points against A&M...but the Bruins woke up against Western Kentucky. G Josh Shipp broke out of his month-long shooting slump to score 14 points on 5-9 FG, G Russell Westbrook added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and F Adam Keefe recorded his first career double-double off the bench, scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds (6 offensive) on 7-9 FG.

G Tyrone Brazelton did absolutely everything he could to keep Western Kentucky in the game, scoring 31 points on 10-21 FG, including 6-10 from the arc. Brazelton actually hit back-to-back three's to key the Hilltoppers 2nd half run, and showed he belongs in the discussion of elite point guards in the nation as he held UCLA's heralded Collison to 4 points on 1-6 FG, and actually made Collison foul-out late in the game, the first time he picked up more than 3 fouls all season.

#3 Xavier over #7 West Virginia, 79-75 in OT

This was easily the best game of the Sweet 16 with probably the two most evenly-matched teams, talent wise, squaring off. Unfortunately, this game was actually decided by the refs, as West Virginia's go-to player, F Joe Alexander, fouled out 30 seconds into the overtime period, and the Mountaineers couldn't get any offensive rhythm after that. (And to be fair to the refs...it was a correct call. Just unfortunate that arguably the best player on the floor had to sit while his team was knocked out.)

While Alexander's DQ was the ultimate reason West Virginia lost, Xavier's balance is what has carried the Musketeers throught three tough Tourney games. Xavier came into the tournament with 6 players averaging 10+ points, which I why I thought they could make a deep Tourney run.

While they don't have a legit go-to option, Xavier's fate is most directly tied to the play of diminutive PG Drew Lavender. The 5'7" transfer from Oklahoma is lightning fast on the break, and gets the Musketeers in and out of transition as a pass-first point guard. Lavender also takes care of the ball very well, as evidenced in his 7 assist, 1 TO performance against West Virginia Thursday night.

As I said, Lavender has a lot of help...Xavier can have a different leading scorer every night, depending on the style of game their opponent plays. Against a smaller West Virginia squad, 6'9" F Josh Duncan turned out to be the offensive stud of the night. Duncan dominated the paint against shorter defenders, ending up with 26 points on 7-15 FG and 9-10 FT. F C.J. Anderson posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and G B.J. Raymond, off the bench, hit two huge 3's in OT to secure Xavier's win.

It might have been a different story had Alexander not fouled out, since the sensational forward absolutely dominated the 2nd half of the game that West Virginia almost pulled out in regulation. After being held to just 2 points in the 1st half, Alexander scored 16 in the 2nd half, including the game-tying bucket with 4 seconds to play in regulation. Alexander ended up with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and after a very solid Tourney, secured his spot in the NBA's 1st Round...should the Junior declare for June's draft.

Until then...Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk!!!