Friday, March 14, 2008

Coast to Coast...like Tyus Edney against Mizzou

With so many games and so much drama on the first big day of a great weekend of basketball, we are going to have a lot less links are more college recap. Was it just me, or did every single bubble team lose yesterday? Bob Knight made his ESPN debut on Wednesday with little fanfare. The Washington Post's Len Shapiro penned a solid recap column.

Our Favorite Sports Blog is The Big Lead. People stroke Deadspin, but the Big Lead is really the best and most interesting. Well our friends have not only hit it big, but they have been revealed in this SI.com article. They have truly been legitmized. Props to them.

We love Charles Barkley. Listen to him pontificate on Elliot Spitzer, gambling, smoking weed, and prostitution.

Speaking of Spitzer, check out the photos of his babe. No wonder he threw it all away.

One can only hope this is true. is the Stephen A. radio show coming to an end?

Big East

#9 Georgetown 82 Villanova 63 - Enjoy this one Hoya fans, you won't see this one again. Led by Jesse Sapp (6-9), the Hoyas hit a school record 17 three pointers on their way to the romp of Nova. Jonathan Wallace hit five of his own, all in the first half. Interestingly, Roy Hibbert was held scoreless and fouled out in just 14 minutes. JT3's boys were as impressive as any team all day in any league.

West Virginia 78 #15 Connecticut 72 - Here's one we didn't see coming. The Huskies are one and done and must wait to see there seed Sunday after being run over by the streaking Mountaineers who punched their ticket with this win. Joe Alexander is playing as well as any player in the country right now. He led all scorers with 34. Its the fifth time in six games that he has scored at least 29. This is the fourth consecutive year UConn has lost their first Big East Tournament game.

Pittsburgh 76 #13 Louisville 69 OT - What a huge win for the Panthers. No team plays in this tournament better than the Panthers, who are now just one win away from their sixth championship game in seven years. We said it in our preview, the key guy for Pitt would be Sam Young. He came up huge with 21 points and 11 boards next to Dejuan Blair's 16 and 9. The Cards hope for a top two/three seed probably disappered with this loss. Their deep shooting (4-19) failed them.

#24 Marquette 89 #14 Notre Dame 79 - Like the Pitt win, Marquette knocking off the Irish is extremely impressive. Jerel McNeal was sensational with 28 and big man Lazar Hayward pitched in down low with 15 while holding Big East Player of the Year Luke Haragody to 13. The Eagles, dowm six at the half, exploded after the break, scoring 57 points. They've got a great shot to get to Saturday's final. Meanwhile, the #2, #3, and #4 seeds have all been eliminated, this shows you balance and depth of this league.

Pac 10

USC 59 Arizona State 55 - This could be a damaging loss for ASU who now sit at 19-12. O.J. Mayo's 23 and stellar Trojan defense were the difference here. The Sun Devils shot just 5-23 from deep and wee killed on the glass 32-19. The refs got the Sun Devils in the end. A bad over the back call on a tying tip in killed their momentum with less than 10 seconds remaining.

#1 UCLA 88 Cal 66 - Well Cal had their chance last weekend to beat the Bruins. You just knew it wasn't going to happen this time around. UCLA dominated this one from start to finish. Darren Collison had 19 and Josh Shipp 18 in this romp. Tomorrow's rubber match between the two LA schools should be fabulous. They spilt their two meetings this season and play a third game in LA at a third different venue, the Staples Center.

#21 Washington State 75 Oregon 70 - A tough loss for the Ducks who needed this one badly. Tajuan Porter and Malik Hairston both had 20, but it wasn't enough as the Cougars took them down. Derrick Low had 18, Taylor Rochestie 16, and Kyle Weaver 14 for a Wazzu backcourt that completely owned the Ducks.

#11 Stanford 75 Arizona 64 - Just like the Ducks and ASU, Arizona cannot be happy that they lost this one. Tied at the half, Brook Lopez took over. He finished with 20 and 15 boards for a Cardinal club that cleaned up on the glass, outrebounding the Wildcats 47-25. Stanford got the balance they were looking for, with five guys in double figures. Arizona played essentially six guys, and got zero points off the bench. Jerryd Bayless scored 18 for the losers.

Conference USA

#3 Memphis 75 Tulane 56 - Bor-ring. Just hand the Tigers the title already and end the madness. Chris Douglas-Roberts led Memphis with 17.

Tulsa 78 UAB 68 OT, UTEP 80 Houston 77 - Well the only two teams with a miniscule shot of beating Memphis have now both been eliminated and probably lost their shot at the NCAA Tournament. How can Memphis win it all coming from a one bid league?

Big 12

Colorado 91 Baylor 84 OT - Could this be the damaging loss the Bears didn't need? You cannot lose to 3-13 and #12 seeded Colorado and not look suspect. CU's Richard Roby and Marcus Hall combined for 57 points as the Buffs move on to meet Oklahoma.

Texas A&M 60 Iowa State 47 - The Aggies can now feel safe after their win over the Cyclones. Playing without the flu-ridden DeAndre Jordan, the Aggies D'd up Iowa State just enough to advance. Donald Sloan and Dominique Kirk had 12 apiece.

Atlantic 10

#12 Xavier 74 Dayton 65 - The Flyers were game, but in the end, the talent of Xavier took over and send Dayton most likely to the NIT. Five Musketeers were in double figures, with Josh Duncan's 16 off the bench leading the way. Drew Lavender struggled with his ankle, but hit three big threes. C.J. Anderson added 15. Marcus Johnson had 26 in a losing cause.

St. Joseph's 61 Richmond 47 - The Hawks must get their next one against Xavier to cement themselves in the committee's eyes. Rob Ferguson was a perfect 6-6 from the field, including 3-3 from downtown. Phil Martelli essentially went six deep and controlled the tempo.

ACC

Miami 63 N.C. State 50 - The ACC only deserves four bids tops. Miami probably has the inside track for that fourth bid and looked good in dominating N.C. State. The Wolfpack's season ends at 15-16 and Sidney Lowe should worry about his job. This was a preseason top 25 team.

Boston College 71 Maryland 68 - Sorry Terps, you are done. Nothing like losing to the last place team in the conference after leading by 15 in the first half. This was a disgraceful loss in a season full of them for Gary Williams team. This program looks miles away from being where they were a short six years ago.

SEC

#17 Vanderbilt 92 Auburn 83 - Shan Foster can play for our team anytime. He hit 6-9 threes on his way to 26 points in the Vandy win. As good as Foster was, his interior teammate A.J. Ogilvy was even better, going 12-13 from the field and leading all scorers with 27. Up next for Vandy is a rematch with Arkansas. The Razorbacks won the only meeting between the two clubs this year and need this win to get off the bubble.

Alabama 80 Florida 69 - We can now say there will 100% be a new National Championship. The Tide burst the Gators bubble with this win that wasn't as close as the score. Freshman Nick Calathes and Jai Lucas were off all night long and Florida never recovered. Bama now moves on to face Mississippi State.

Mountain West

#23 BYU 89 Colorado State 62 - Lee Cummard's 18 led five Cougars in double figures in this romp over the Rams. Nobody talks about BYU, but they can play with anyone.

San Diego State 53 Air Force 49 - Steve Fisher's club moves onto the semis in this underrated league. At 20-11, at a minimum they are an NIT team.

Utah 82 New Mexico 80 - Yet another bubble team is a loser. Don't blame J.R. Giddens. The All-Mountain West stud scored 28 and grabbed 17 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to stop Utah's Luke Nevill, who scored 26 off the bench.

UNLV 89 TCU 88 - The MWC's best shot now at a second bid is UNLV. They escaped with a one point win over 14-16 TCU. Wink Adams had 29 to lead the way.

Big Ten

Michigan 55 Iowa 47, Illinois 64 Penn State 63, Minnesota 55 Northwestern 52 - Honestly, these three games were garbage and none of these teams have a shot today to win again.

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