The Other Sweet 16 Games

Sorry if it seems like I'm minimizing these games because I wrote a whole post about UCLA/Gonzaga... that's just because of how important that one was to me. But anyway, these three weren't too bad themselves, especially Texas/West Virginia. Let's have a look:

Texas 74, West Virginia 71: The most important number in this game is 28, as in the number that Texas outrebounded West Virginia by. 43-15. That's unbelievable. Second chance points is the biggest reason why Texas was able to overcome 15-33 shooting from behind the arc for the Mountaineers.

Now, as amazing as I thought the UCLA finish was, it might not have even been the best one of the night. Pittsnogle hits a 3 to tie it up with 5 seconds, and then Kenton Paulino comes right back to drain a 3 at the buzzer. Could you possibly ask for two better finishes? The 20 or so minutes that encompassed this finish and the UCLA finish is really a great example of why I consider college basketball to be so amazing. I dare you to find something better than this.

LSU 62, Duke 54: The MVP of this game was absolutely and unequivocally Garrett Temple. He scored 3 points on 1/6 shooting. But looking beyond the boxscore, his defense on J.J. Redick was some of the best work I've ever seen. He was physical with him, but not to the point where he was fouling him. He harrassed him everytime he got the ball, which was not all that often. Redick got about 3 decent looks all game, and that was because of Temple. Redick's final collegiate line: 3/18 FG, 11 points. I tip my hat to you Mr. Temple.

The turning point in this game, in my mind at least, was when Shelden Williams got his 4th foul. After that, he just looked extremely tenative out there on both ends. He was abused down low because he didn't want to pick up his 5th foul, and he was not a factor at all on the offensive end. This was the turning point in the game.

Also, many props for Tyrus Thomas. He finished with 9 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 blocks. But a lot of his work came late in the game, when he too had 4 fouls. The difference in how Shelden Williams played with 4 fouls and how Tyrus Thomas played with 4 fouls was the difference in the game.

Last note about this game, how great was it to have two legitimately good nicknames in the same game? "The Landlord" vs. "Big Baby?" That's just simply good stuff right there, and something we don't get much of anymore.

Memphis 80, Bradley 64: This one went about exactly as I thought it would. Bradley stayed in the game for a while, the halftime score was 35-30, but eventually Memphis was too deep and talented for them. Not too much else to say about this one.