The Top 1 Through 16 Tournament

[PointGuard]

The NCAA has begun a new pre-season tournament matching the who they feel are TOP 16 teams. The tournament will proceed with winners playing winners and losers playing losers all the way through the entire 4 days of the tournament. Therefore 32 games will be played over the 4 days.

The result of the tournament will be placing for each team from 1 through 16. #1 will have won all 4 games they play, #16 will have lost all 4 games they play, those teams placing 2 through 5 will have won 3 of their 4 games, the teams placing 6 through 11 will each have won 2 of 4, and those placing 12 through 15 will have won 1 of their 4 games.

(Note: each game will be played in “Exhibition Game” mode with both teams controlled by the CPU with me as an observer and commentator.)

So, away we go and…Let The Best Team Win!!!

[PointGuard]

Round 1 matchups:

Gm1: Louisville vs UCLA
Gm2: Syracuse vs Kentucky
Gm3: Indiana vs UCONN
Gm4: North Carolina vs Florida
Gm5: Georgetown vs Duke
Gm6: Oklahoma State vs Arizona
Gm7: Stanford vs Michigan State
Gm8: LSU vs Kansas

Who do you feel mistakenly got left out of the tournament by the selection committee?

Which of the 16 participants do you think will win the whole enchilada? Place your bets now!

[PointGuard]

In the opening game of the tournament, UCLA jumped out to 4-0 and 8-3 leads early, but two starters picked up two fouls each in the first 5 minutes. Louisville took advantage of those two Bruins being on the bench and UCLA's shooting that went ice cold to go on a 10 point run that gave them a 22 to 13 lead. UCLA grimly fought that to tie the game at 27 to 27 with 4 minutes to go in the first half, but then when cold again to allow Louisville to move out to a 36 to 29 halftime advantage.

In the first half Louisville was led by SG Eric Radl's 11 points and PF Travis Baily's eight points. UCLA's offense centered on PF Inyo Williams 8 points while reserve big man Reginald Cox blocked 4 of Louisville’s shots. The Cardinals outshot UCLA 42% to 36% and held a 20 to 12 rebounding advantage.

UCLA went scoreless in the first 6 minutes of the second half and fell behind 42 to 29. After finally scoring a single point at the line, they didn't hit a field goal until the 12 minute mark and trailed 48 to 32 at that point. The Cardinals never let the Bruins get closer than 13 points and pulled away late for an easy 82 to 58 upset victory.

The Cardinals dominance on the boards (43 to 21) together with their 48% to 38% shooting advantage and scoring 10 more points of the line were the differences in the game.

Louisville: SG Eric Radl, 30 points on 12 of 16 from the field and 4 of 5 from 3-point distance; PF Travis Baily, 14 points and 8 rebounds; PG Carlos Tompson, 12 points and 7 assists.

UCLA: PF Inyo Williams, 16 points on 7 of 8 from the field plus 7 rebounds; C Dan Darvis, 12 points; SG Ronnie Bradley, 10 points; C/PF Reginald Cox, 9 points along 5 blocks, 2 steals and 4 assists.

[PointGuard]

Kentucky scored the first five points. But Syracuse struck back and went ahead 10 to 7. The two teams then began exchanging baskets and the lead jumped back and forth. But in the final 6 minutes of the first half, Kentucky pulled away to take a 40-35 advantage to the locker room.

Kentucky held a 19 to 12 rebounding advantage, outshot Syracuse 50% to 42%, and scored 12 more points at the line. On the other hand, Syracuse made just five turnovers as compared to Kentucky's 10 and hit 5 of 12 from 3-point distance allowing them to stay within reach. Kentucky’s PF Delawn Bond scored 10 points, pulled down 7 rebounds and blocked 3 shots. PF Marcus Salvi led Syracuse with 9 points.

Syracuse tied the game early in the second half. But then Kentucky rode hot shooting to open a 12 point lead midway through the half and thereafter gradually expanded their lead to win going away. The final score was Kentucky 87, Syracuse 69.

Kentucky's win was triggered by a 36-26 advantage on the boards and outshooting Syracuse 62%-40%.

Kentucky's PF Delawn Bond won the player of the game award by scoring 23 points and grabbing 12 rebounds for a strong double-double performance. He hit 8 of 11 FG's and all 6 of his FT's. SG Chris Treadwell added 18 points, C Alan Witt scored 13 points and had 5 steals, and SF Bryan Hill chipped in 11 points for the Wildcats.

SF Michael Holmes and PF Marcus Salvi each scored 14 for Syracuse and SG Keyon Frederick added 12 points along with 9 assists.

[PointGuard]

Led by C Tom Latimer, UConn took an 18-10 lead with 12-1/2 minutes to play in the first half. But Indiana fought back to tie the game at 22-22 with 8 minutes left before the intermission. At the buzzer, UConn led 35-32, outshooting Indiana 54% to 36% but turning the ball over 9 times to Indiana’s 4 turnovers.

C Tom Latimer scored 9 first half points for UConn, while PF Ian LaVasseur dropped in 11 for Indiana.

UConn opened strong again in the 2nd half building a 46-34 lead with 16 minutes to play. Indiana cut the lead to 6 points before UConn spurted to a commanding 65-44 lead with 5 minutes left. Indiana was out of gas at that point and failed to score another point. UConn cruised to a convincing 70-44 win.

UConn hit 54% of their shots while holding Indiana’s shooting to 28%. The Huskies also controlled the boards 37-28.

Four UConn players scored in double figures: SG Nick Jarmond scored 15, C Tom Latimer 13, PF Alex Delea 10 (plus 10 rebounds), and reserve PF Brandon Erege added 10.

Indiana was led by PF Ian LaVasseur’s 13 points and C Chris Mitchell’s 9 rebounds.

[bloomington]

No Michigan Wolverines.....hmmmmm

[PointGuard]

No Michigan Wolverines.....hmmmmm

Yikes! And I went to grad school there...what WAS I doing?

[CoachC]

cool idea, PG!

[PointGuard]

Thanks!

[PointGuard]

The two teams traded the lead back and forth early, but then Florida and their fans wore the Tarheels down. With 8 minutes to go in the half, Florida had pulled away to a 33-13 lead. With Florida hitting 62% of their shots compared to North Carolina’s 26% plus making just 2 turnovers compared to the Tarheels 9 turnovers, things didn’t get better for North Carolina. For the Tarheels the half mercifully ended, but by then they trailed 55-27.

Florida was led by C David Jackson’s 11 points and SF Shaun Mason’s 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 1 steal. Top scorer for North Carolina was SG Aaron Walton who dropped in 10 points

North Carolina came out slugging in the 2nd half and won the crowd over with their pluck. But Florida countered every Tarheel punch with 1 or 2 of their own. While Florida’s shooting cooled a little (58%) and North Carolina’s warmed a little (42%), 10 blocks by the Gators kept the Tarheels intimidated and Florida ran away to an easy 97-70 slap-down. Florida dropped in an amazing 52 points in the paint.

Florida: C David Jackson-21 pts; PG Steve Vinson-18 pts, 5 assists; SF Shaun Mason-11 pts, 9 reb, 3 assists, 1 steal, 5 blocks; reserve C Kenroy Davis-14 pts, reserve PF Marcus Green-14 pts (in 8 minutes of play).

North Carolina: PG Ray Cameron-15 pts; SG Aaron Walton-12 pts; C Bryan Erwin-10 pts and 10 rebounds; SF Erron Livas-8 pts, 5 reb, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block.