Weekend in Review

This tournament just keeps getting better and better. The last four days were an amazing display of basketball. Bracket pools all across the country must be a disaster. Our Final Four consists of two number five seeds, a two and a one. I cannot imagine anyone had this foursome. Let's break it down round by round, game by game.

Thursday night was big time. The early slate had #11 Washington play some great ball early on. They took it to #2 West Virginia in the first half, but they just did not have the talent or depth to keep up with the Mountaineers. WVU stepped up their game in the second half though and turned the game into a rout.

At the same time, #5 Butler pulled off a monster upset by beating #1 Syracuse. Something just looked off with 'Cuse all night. They were sloppy. They had a ton of turnovers. They just did not look right, yet, you always got the feeling they were going to turn it on and win the game. With a little less than ten minutes left, they were able to turn it on. They battled from ten points down to go up by four points. Then they made a big defensive stop. Up four with the ball, they looked to finally be in control. Instead of milking some clock and/or getting their best player, Wes Johnson, a touch, Scoop Jardine launches a quick, deep, awful three pointer that the Orange just did not need. After that Butler turned it on, came back and completed the upset. Butler keeps dancing en route to the Elite 8. 'Cuse? Going home, thanks for playing. Amazing.

Next up we had #1 Kentucky handle their business vs #12 Cornell. The Big Red played really tough, they were able to dictate some tempo and keep it a low scoring game. But Kentucky was just too tough and in the end talent won out. The final tally was a double digit victory for the Wildcats, but it was a good game nonetheless. Nice work, Cornell - that is what college hoops is all about.

The final game of the night was the game of the tournament. I mentioned in this space earlier that Maryland-MSU was the game of the tourney - and it was - but this Kansas State-Xavier game was one for the ages. After an incredibly well-played 39 and half minutes, KSU found themselves up three points. Xavier ball now with about ten seconds left inbounding from under their own hoop. Terrell Holloway flies up the court, and in a questionable strategical call from KSU coach Frank Martin, KSU tries to foul Holloway at half court. This would put him on the line shooting two shots with just a few seconds and, in turn, takes away his ability to shoot a three pointer to tie the game up. Personally, I understand the strategy but I hate giving away free points. I also hate it because what ensued is the worst case scenario, and it actually happened. The referee missed the foul on Holloway at half court. Holloway continues on about three more steps and manages to get a three pointer up while getting fouled by another KSU player. He is now going to the line for three shots. Bang. Bang. Timeout. Bang. Tie game. Keep in mind announcer Gus Johnson is going crazy at this point. The game went into double overtime where KSU eventually prevailed after a handful of "OH MY GOD" moments. What a game, one for the ages.

Friday was a little more tame but still solid. #6 Tennessee upset #2 Ohio State in a great game. OSU phenom Evan Turner just couldn't hit that last shot to put his team over the top, but I would rather go down swinging with my alpha dog than the way 'Cuse went out (i.e. Wes Johnson getting zero touches in the last six minutes).

#3 Baylor, in the meantime, went to town on #10 St. Mary's. You would think St. Mary's said something about Baylor's mama. Baylor was up thirty by halftime and just kept pouring it on. This was okay actually because I was able to focus all of my attention on the Tennessee game.

The late slate was pretty solid. #4 Purdue played with a ton of heart and definitely tested #1 Duke, but Duke pulled away in the final five minutes robbing us of a memorable ending. Give it to Matt Painter and his Purdue squad though. After losing their best player for the year and playing like hell in the Big 10 tournament, they came to play in the tourney and almost advanced to the Elite 8.

#5 Michigan State kept dancing as they beat #9 Northern Iowa in a wild one. MSU is another team that deserves a lot of credit here as their best player is also lost for the season. No matter, Tom Izzo has these guys playing at the highest level when it counts the most as he does most every year.

Elite 8 time. Saturday started off with a good one as #5 Butler kept their insane run going and upset #2 Kansas State and will improbably play in the Final Four next weekend. Amazing.

West Virginia beat Kentucky in a weird, wild game Saturday night. West Virginia, who has been awful from downtown all year, was on fire from three point land while Kentucky only hit 4 three's all game. That was the difference as West Virginia pulled off the mini-upset and advanced to the Final Four.

The madness continued on Sunday as Michigan State did it again, winning a thriller by hitting free throws with less than two seconds left to oust Tennessee. Tom Izzo is simply amazing, I have no idea how he does it.

And finally, with the NCAA needing at least one marquis team in the Final Four, they instructed the referees to give Duke every call against Baylor. Baylor played great, they were so impressive. But in the end they just had too much working against them.

So our 2010 Final Four has Michigan State squaring off against Butler at 6:30pm on Saturday and then Duke vs West Virginia at 9pm. You had that in your bracket, right? Right?



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