Midwest Regional--Round 1 (part 3 of 4)
#5 seed Wisconsin Badgers (21-10) vs #12 seed Arizona State Sun Devils (21-11)
Arizona State controlled the tip-off and worked the ball inside to C Grant Dooley who double faked and put up a jumper from short range that came off the rim. Dooley cut inside his man to grab the rebound and stuff the ball into the basket. I took nearly 3 minutes before either team could make another field goal. Both teams’ shooting heated up from that point and the game stayed close, but reserve SF Gareth Christian scored 11 quick points to put Arizona State on top 18-13 with 12 minutes remaining in the half. The Sun Devils continued to increase their lead and with 7-1/2 minutes left they were up by 11. Wisconsin then began to trim the lead with PF Jon Stanton leading the way. With 1-1/2 minutes remaining the Badgers trailed by a single point at 38-37. Then in the last 30 seconds of the half, Wisconsin’s Shaun Copeland picked off a bad pass and hit a streaking Lonnie Edney who laid it in to put the Badgers of top 41-40 and that’s the way the half ended. The team stats were as close as the score. PF Jon Stanton scored 14 points to lead Wisconsin’s scoring. SF Gareth Christian tossed in 18 points and C Grant Dooley hit for 11 points for Arizona State.
Wisconsin’s defense kept Arizona State from scoring for the first 3-1/2 minutes of the 2nd half. By then the Badgers were ahead 46-40. Wisconsin expanded its lead to 52-42 with 15 minutes left in the game. Arizona State scored the next 8 points to claw their way back into the game. Wisconsin took advantage of a series of turnovers by the Sun Devils to reopen a 10 point lead with 7 minutes remaining. Arizona State tried to narrow the lead but inconsistent play resulted in turnovers and missed shots while Wisconsin began hitting from beyond the arc. Wisconsin outshot the Sun Devils 47% to 39% and out-rebounded Arizona State 43-27. Those just viewing the final score wouldn’t understand how close most of this game had been.
Wisconsin-81 (PG Marques Tucker-18 pts, 5 assists; SG Travis Watkins-16 pts, 10 reb, 4 assists; PG Lonnie Edney-15 pts)
Arizona State-65 (Gareth Christian-22 pts; C Grant Dooley-13 pts, 7 reb)
Greg Card, head coach of Wisconsin said, “We definitely struggled in the first half and were lucky to get out of it with a really slim lead. In the locker room at the half, I told the guys we were gonna get our butts kicked unless we played some defense. And they responded with solid defense the entire last 20 minutes.”
#6 seed East Tennessee State Buccaneers (30-4) vs #11 seed Liberty Flames (30-4)
This is an interesting matchup of two teams with identical (very good) W-L records. East Tennessee is the definite favorite, but the Flames are itching for an upset victory.
On the first possession of the game, the Buccaneers’ SG Brandon Thurston put up a 3-point shot 10 seconds into the game that swished through the net. Liberty worked the ball around and responded when C Antonio Collins buried a baseline jumper. On their next possession, the Flames took a 4-3 lead when PF Nate Kennedy connected on a 12 footer from the right side of the key. East Tennessee scored the next 9 points. The Buccaneers kept trying to pull away, but Liberty hung in and with 4:11 to play in the half, Kennedy sank a 3 to bring the Flames with a single point at 27-26. A minute later, the Flames’ PG Leonard Howard drove to the baseline and threw up a 10 footer that dropped in to put Liberty ahead 28-27. SF Tom Phelan was fouled while shooting and sunk both free throws as the Buccaneers recaptured the lead. The lead switched back with 2:10 to go as Collins scored for Liberty. East Tennessee came back to gain the lead again when C Aki Archibald dropped in 2 foul shots with 1:03 on the clock. 15 seconds later PF Brandon McRae popped in a jumper to put the Flames back ahead 34-33. With time running out in the half, PF Wayne Smith dropped in a tightly contested 8 footer to give East Tennessee a 35-34 halftime advantage in a game as exciting as was anticipated. SG Brandon Thurston scored 8 points to lead East Tennessee’s scoring while SG Lou Abraham scored 11 points for Liberty.
Opening the 2nd half, East Tennessee scored the first 7 points. After hitting back-to-back 3’s, the Buccaneers jumped ahead 52-40 with 14 minutes to go. A sound man-to-man defense by East Tennessee kept the Flames from getting clear shots and they steadily fell further behind. With 6 minutes remaining, the Buccaneers went ahead by 23 points. The rest of the game was anticlimactic. East Tennessee held a 53% to 39% FG shooting advantage and hit 50% of their 3’s.
East Tennessee-82 (PG Bob Welch-22 pts, C Aki Archibald-13 pts, 6 reb, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block; SG Brandon Thurston-12 pts)
Liberty-62 (SG Lou Abraham-18 pts, PF Nate Kennedy-11 pts)
East Tennessee’s Head coach Steve Forbes said after the game, “Liberty brought it in the first half and gave us almost more than we could handle. But my guys were intent on proving that our rating in the polls this season was justified and came out in the 2nd half on a mission.”