The Tournament That Wasn't

[PointGuard]

South Region--Round 1 (part 3 of 4)

#5 seed Brigham Young Cougars (24-8) vs #12 seed Memphis Tigers (21-10)

BYU hit their first 5 shots to take a 10-2 lead after just 2-1/2 minutes of play. Memphis cut into the Cougars’ lead repeatedly but the closest they got was within 2 points with 2 minutes left in the first half. BYU finished the half in front by a score of 40-34. The Cougars knocked down 50% of the FG attempts while the Tigers hit on 44% of theirs. Both teams had ball control problems with Memphis making 12 turnovers and BYU 9. SG Robbie Songaila popped in 9 points for BYU and SG Adarrial Johnson hit for 7 points for the Tigers.

The Cougars maintained a small lead but expanded it to 12 points with 9 minutes to play. Memphis continued to come back and cut the lead to 77-75 when PF Rico Bedford knocked down a 3 with 45 seconds on the clock. BYU worked the clock down but missed a shot and Memphis rebounded with 27 seconds to go. Following a timeout the Tigers worked the ball inside and Bedford was fouled. He sunk both free throws to tie the game. BYU’s final shot was off the rim so the game went to overtime.

In OT neither team could score for the first 2 minutes and 20 seconds. Finally after missing a shot inside, BYU’s C Terry Day tipped in the rebound. Then after yet another miss by Memphis, SF Mike Johnson drove, pulled up and rattled in a 12 footer to put BYU ahead 81-77 with just over 2 minutes to play. The Tigers continued to loft up 3’s that failed to fall in. Memphis then had to repeatedly foul in the final minute allowing BYU to salt away the victory. Memphis failed to score a single point during the entire 5 minutes in OT!

BYU-87 (PG Jeremy Cross-18 pts; SG Robbie Songalia-16 pts, 3 reb, 3 assists, 4 steals, 1 block; PF Ben Bryant-16 pts, 10 reb; C Terry Day-14 pts, 9 reb)
Memphis-77 (SF Leighton Gostin-13 pts; C Hamp Crumble-12 pts; SG Adarrial Johnson-12 pts; SG Kris Robinson-11 pts)

BYU's coach Mark Pope said, "The way Memphis came back in the latter moments of the 2nd half definitely worried me about the OT. We focused on making them work hard and keeping them from getting easy shots...and our guys went out and did exactly that! That gave us a chance to get a lead that forced the TIgers to shoot 3's and those just weren't dropping for them. Keeping such a good team from scoring throughout the entire overtime period was just an amazing feat my our team."

#6 seed Saint Mary’s Gaels (26-8) vs #11 seed Furman Paladins (25-7)

St. Mary’s employed a solid defense throughout the entire first half and came away with a 40-25 halftime lead. Furman was only able to hit 27% of their FG attempts. St. Mary’s also controlled the boards 25-15. Reserve C Mike Johnson scored 10 points in his 9 minutes on the floor for St. Mary’s. Reserve PF Pat Battier was the top scorer for Furman with 6 points.

The Gaels scored the first 5 points in the 2nd half to open a 20 point lead. Furman cut into the lead but the closest they got was 7 points when they sunk a 3 at the end of the game. Both teams hit less that 40% of their shots. The real difference in the game was St. Mary’s 47-34 rebounding advantage.

St. Mary’s-73 (C Mike Johnson-16 pts, 6 reb; PF Jabari Edwards-14 pts, 12 reb; PG Kolin Orvis-10 pts)
Furman-66 (C Rob Williams-12 pts, 8 reb; PG Nick Jackson-12 pts; PG Jamal Carr-10 pts, 6 reb)

“You’ve got to give it to Furman. We were on top most all the way, but the Paladins never gave in and kept nipping away at us. Our defense was great in the first half but we were much less successful with it in the 2nd half. We can’t afford to have a let down like that in future games in this tournament,” said St. Marys coach Randy Bennett.

[PointGuard]

South Region--Round 1 (part 4 of 4)

#7 seed Michigan Wolverines (19-12) vs #10 seed Akron Zips (24-7)

During warmups an argument between members of the two teams occurred. The refs warned the players and the coaches.

Both teams hit 3’s on their first possessions. Akron took an early small lead but Michigan overtook them and by the midpoint of the half was ahead 23-12. Akron’s shooting was ice cold. With 7 minutes left in the half the Wolverines led 33-14. In the half Michigan hit 58% of their shots, Akron only 22% of theirs. Michigan pulled down 23 rebounds, Akron just 16. The result was 50-22 halftime lead in favor of the Wolverines. Reserve C/PF Brent Hankins scored 14 points and SF Roy Battier hit for 10 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and had 2 assists and 4 blocks for Michigan. Akron was led by PG Nate Larry’s 9 points.

The Wolverines scored the first 6 points of the 2nd half putting them ahead by 34 points. If anything was certain, it was that Michigan had this game in the bag. The lead grew to 36 points and then Michigan coasted to an easy thumping of the Zips. Michigan outshot Akron Ak57% to 31% and outrebounded the Zips 38-29.

Michigan-87 (SF Roy Battier-20 pts, 8 reb, 7 blocks; C Brent Hankins-16 pts, 5 reb; SG Derek Holberg-15 pts, 5 reb, 6 assists, 3 blocks)
Akron-64 (PG Nate Larry-17 pts; SG Dave Davey-16 pts, 5 reb)

#8 seed Iowa Hawkeyes (20-11) vs #9 seed Rhode Island Rams (21-9)

Although Rhode Island took a 4-0 lead, Iowa came roaring back to lead 28-14 midway through the half. With Iowa canning 65% of their shots in the half and the Rams hitting just 39% of theirs, it wasn’t surprising that the Hawkeyes sported a 48-33 halftime advantage. SF Tom Scott led Iowa with 13 points and 6 rebounds. Reserve SG Brad Rhodes topped Rhode Island’s scoring with 8 points.

Iowa continued to dominate in the 2nd half and ended the game with a solid bashing of the Rams. The Hawkeyes sunk 60% of their FG attempts compared to 42% by Rhode Island. Iowa also had a 27-19 advantage on the boards and a 17-12 turnover advantage.

Iowa-87 (SF Tom Scott-17 pts, 9 reb; SG Marcus Cox-13 pts; C Williams Murray-12 pts; SG Ashley Trotman-11 pts; PF Andre Howe-10 pts, 5 reb)
Rhode Island-68 (SG Brad Rhodes-16 pts)

[PointGuard]

The favorites prevailed in the first round of the South Regional. Four of the eight games were close throughout most of the game and that included one overtime game.

In the three regionals thus far, 8 of the 24 teams that have advanced are from non-power conferences.

[PointGuard]

West Region—Round 1 (part 1 of 4)

#1 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs (31-2) vs #16 seed Little Rock Trojans (21-10)

Gonzaga scored first and opened a 7-1 lead and then held onto a lead with Little Rock continually keeping close and finally taking a 22-21 lead with 8:25 to go in the half. Then Gonzaga connected on 3’s in its next 3 possessions while Little Rock was hitting 3’s on their 2 possessions making it 30-28 in favor of the Bulldogs. The Zags then stayed hot and finished the half with a 45-37 lead. PG Henry Chaney scored 11 points and dished out 5 assists for Gonzaga. Reserve SG Melvin Crocker dropped in 11 points (hitting 4 of 5 FG’s including all three of his 3P attempts) while playing just 8 minutes for the Trojans.

Little Rock turned the ball over 5 times in the first 2-1/2 minutes of the second half and Gonzaga made them pay…increasing their lead at that point to 57-40. Little Rock settled down and cut the Bulldog’s lead to 61-54 with 12 minutes remaining in the game at which point I’m sure Gonzaga coach Mark Few was happy to have the media timeout. The Trojans kept cutting the lead to 5 points but could get no closer and Gonzaga escaped with a hard-fought win. The Zags held a small advantage on most team stats.

Gonzaga-83 (SF Xavier Ward-21 pts, 4 steals, 1 block; PG Henry Chaney-12 pts, 7 assists; C Damion Warren-12, 10 reb; SG Chris Hare-10 pts; C Dave-10)
Little Rock-75 (SG Damon Solverson-17 pts, 8 reb; SG Melvin Crocker-13 pts; SG Jason McConnell-10 pts)

“We came out on fire in the 2nd half and then let Little Rock get right back into the game. There were a couple short periods in the game where we hitting nearly all our 3’s. But I think that made our guys think that they could fire away from outside any time they wanted…and that just didn’t work. Little Rock was tough and Coach Walker did a great job of game management. So much for an easy game in round 1,” said Gongaga coach Mark Few.

Little Rock's Coach Darrell Walker stated, “If it wasn’t for those 2-1/2 minutes at the beginning of the 2nd half when we just couldn’t do a thing right and Gonzaga stormed to a 17 point lead, we might have had a chance for a tremendous upset. But I’m really proud of how our guys came back to make the last 10-15 minutes of the game close and put a scare into Gonzaga. I don’t think Mark ever thought he’d have to play 3 of his starters 30+ minutes each. Gonzaga is one helluva team though. We had to keep subbing since our all our guys came off the court dog-tired and needed time to sit on the bench to recover. But our bench was tremendous and kept us in the game. Our 5 subs scored nearly as many points as our 5 starters.”

#2 seed Baylor Bears (26-4) vs #15 seed Murray State Racers (23-9)

Baylor’s defense gave Murray State fits early in the game and with 11-1/2 minutes to play in the first half, the Bears led 19-8. The Racers cut the lead to 5 points but then Baylor went on a long run that steadily expanded their lead all the way to the end of the half. Murray State’s coach Matt McMahon was called for a technical with 1:17 remaining in the half. The teams went to the locker room with Baylor in command 41-26. The Beats outshot the Racers 50% to 38%, held a 17-13 rebounding advantage and a 10-5 turnover advantage. SG Brian Butler topped Baylor’s scoring with 10 points. PG Lucas Kellogg had 9 points for Murray State.

Baylor held a 15-24 point lead throughout the entire 2nd half. Baylor completely controlled all aspects of the game.

Baylor-81 (SF Joe Bush-16 pts, 13 reb; C Dontay Washington-15 pts; SG Brian Butler-13 pts; PF Ben Church-10 pts)
Murray State-62 (PG Lucas Kellogg-12 pts)

Coach Scott Drew of Baylor said, “I liked the way our guys took control and never let up. And our defense was outstanding.”

[jksander]

Trying to find my Hoosiers in there ... you left us out?

[jksander]

Gotta watch to see when you hit 10,000 posts, PG

[PointGuard]

Trying to find my Hoosiers in there ... you left us out?

ILLINOIS: West, #7 seed...game to be played soon.

[PointGuard]

Gotta watch to see when you hit 10,000 posts, PG

I believe achieving that merits a $1 contribution from each person on the Wolverine Studios forum user list to the "buy PointGuard a new computer" fund, right?

Or....

Maybe it just means somebody is gonna tear the keyboard off my computer.

[PointGuard]

West Region--Round 1 (part 2 of 4)

#3 seed Villanova Wildcats (24-7) vs #14 seed Belmont Bruins (26-7)

Belmont held the lead (as much as a 10 point difference) for the first 15 minutes of the game. But Villanova was on top by a small margin the last 5 minutes, finishing the half with a 44-42 advantage. Both teams hit over 50% of their shots. Leading Villanova were C Jibran Shannon with 13 points and reserve SG Hector Fuller with 11 points. PF Anthony Parmer topped Belmont’s scoring with 9 points.

Belmont scored the first 5 points of the 2nd half to go ahead 47-44. Then the Wildcats went on a 13-0 run to move ahead 57-47 with 14 minutes to play. The Bruins cut the lead to 7 points with 4-1/2 minutes remaining. But Villanova then ran away to win with ease. The Wildcats outshot the Bruins 54% to 44% but more importantly commanded the boards 38-22.

Villanova-87 (C Jibran Shannon-17 pts, 6 reb; SG Kevin Foreman-14 pts; PF Mike Watkins-12 pts, 7 reb; SG Hector Fuller-11 pts)
Belmont-72 (SG Shawn Thurston-13 pts; PF Anthony Parmer-11 pts; PG Senque Archie1 pts)

Casey Alexander who coaches the Belmont Bruins said, “Villanova is such a strong team, but we made a game of it. Villanova scoring 13 unanswered points in the 2nd half sort of took the wind out of our sails though. We made a real effort and were successful in cutting into their lead but it took a lot out of us so that we faded late.”

#4 seed Michigan State Spartans (22-9) vs #13 seed Hofstra Pride (26-8)

Michigan State hit some early 3’s but then Hofstra’s 2-3 zone took hold and with 11-1/2 minutes remaining in the half, the Pride were on top 16-12. Michigan State broke the zone at that point and scored 18 of the next 20 points to go ahead 30-18 with 3-1/2 minutes remaining until halftime. When the half ended the Spartans led 36-23. Michigan State outshot Hofstra 44% to 29% and dominated the boards (23-11). Michigan State’s top scorer was PG Marcus Harris with 9 points. Hofstra’s C Ryan Calhoun had 8 points.

Hofstra scored the first 7 points in the 2nd half to trim the lead to 36-30. The Spartans regained a double digit lead at 59-49 with 9-1/2 minutes to play. For the rest of the game Michigan State continued to keep the Pride from narrowing the gap. Although the Spartans hit a higher percentage of their FG attempts than Hofstra (46% to 39%), their 41-25 rebounding advantage was the difference in the game.

Michigan State-74 (PF Mike Grant-16 pts, 13 reb; C Linton Bellamy-15 pts, 7 reb, 1 steal, 3 blocks; PG Marcus Harris-11 pts, 7 assists; SG Jason Bogans-10 pts)
Hofstra-63 (C Ryan Calhoun-20 pts, 7 reb; SG Tim Fall-9 pts, 6 assists)

Tom Izzo, Michigan State’s coach said, “Hofstra played us tough and we couldn’t stop their center, Calhoun. But Mike Grant had a terrific game for us. We need to pick up our intensity for our next game though.”

[PointGuard]

West Region--Round 1 (part 3 of 4)

#5 seed West Virginia Mountaineers (21-10) vs #12 seed Wright State Raiders (25-7)

The Mountaineers scored the first 7 points in the game, but Wright State got back into the game and with 15-1/2 minutes remaining in the half the Raiders jumped on top 13-12. The lead then shifted back and forth for the next 5 minutes. At that point Wright State gained a small lead that they held until the end of the half when the Raiders were up 39-33. Wright State outshot West Virginia 54% to 36% and also held a 17-12 rebounding advantage but made 10 turnovers to just 6 by the Mountaineers. The Raiders’ SG Kendric Pugh scored 12 points and West Virginia’s PG Tim Young scored 11 points.

West Virginia gradually crept up on the Raiders and tied them at 42-42 with 16 minutes to play. The game remained tight for the following 5 minutes, but again Wright State began opening a lead and went up 51-45 with 10:40 left. The Raiders increased their lead to 9 with 6 minutes remaining. But West Virginia fought back and with 3:21 on the clock, C Will Williams rattled home a 6 footer to get the Mountaineers within 2 points. After picking off a pass, the Mountaineers worked the ball around until SG Shannon Underwood drove down the lane and put in an 8 footer to tied the game at 59-59 with 2-1/2 minutes to go. On the next possession, C Marco Russell hit a contested shot inside for Wright State. Then Kenny Barrett was fouled and he sank both shots to put the Raiders on top 63-59 at the 1:49 mark. West Virginia responded to the mounting pressure when PG Tim Pugh hit a 10 foot baseline jumper on which he was fouled. He converted the free throw to make it 63-62 with 1:32 left. Wright State’s next shot was blocked. But then Marco Russell stole a pass and drove down court for a thunderous dunk giving the Raiders a 65-62 lead with 55 seconds remaining. The Mountaineers called a time out and got Tim Young free and he lofted up a 3 that settle cleaning through the silks to tie the game. Wright State missed a shot but West Virginia’s shot with 13 seconds left was blocked and Wright State brought it up court for their final attempt but it was off the rim and the game remained tied at 65-65.

Wright State’s PG Kenny Barrett hit 2 free throws for the first score in overtime. Then C Will Williams was called for his 5th personal foul sending the Raiders Marco Russell to the line where he made one and missed one to make the score 68-65 with 4 minutes left in OT. On Wright State’s next possession, Barrett hit a 3 putting the Raiders ahead by 6 points. The Raiders defense continued to keep West Virginia from getting clear shots. With 2:28 on the clock SG Pete Webster pushed up a shot from the end line that went in giving Wright State a commanding 63-65 advantage. After yet another failed attempt by the Mountaineers, Barrett hit 2 more free throws and C Mike Fleming dropped in a layin to put Wright State up by 12 points. Finally with 1:24 remaining, West Virginia scored when PF Bobby Simpson dropped in one from 12 feet away. Yet another foul gave the Raiders another point. West Virginia then quickly scored and it was 78-69 with 1:05 left. The Mountaineers were forced to foul and Wright State added two more points. Wright State hit another field goal before the game ended.
West Virginia’s anemic shooting in the OT lowered their overall game shooting to 34%. Wright State hit 42% of their shots. The Raiders controlled the boards 45-33 but made 19 turnovers compared to 12 by the Mountaineers.

Wright State-82 (PG Tim Young-20 pts, 5 assists; PF Bobby Simpson-10 pts, 9 reb, 2 steals, 2 blocks; PF Malcolm Forbes-11 pts; SF Adam McFaddon-10 pts)
West Virginia-69 (PG Tim Pugh-17 pts, 6 reb; SG Kenny Barrett-15 pts, 5 assists; C Marco Russell-13 pts, 6 reb; PF David Richards-9 pts, 9 reb)

“What a game! The teams were so evenly matched, it seemed appropriate that it went to OT. I’m just glad we caught fire during those 5 minutes,” said Wright State head coach Scott Nagy.

West Virginia’s coach Bob Huggins said, “We’re sick. After being down by 9 with 6 minutes to go and having a strong comeback with Tim Young tying the game with his 3, I thought the momentum might be with us. But we just couldn’t get it done in the OT.”

#6 seed Houston Cougars (23-8) vs #11 seed New Mexico State Aggies (25-6)

The lead shifted between he two teams for the first 10 minutes of the game but then New Mexico’s shooting went ice cold and Houston moved into a 26-16 lead with 8 minutes left in the half. As the Cougars hit 52% of the FG attempts compared to 36% by the Aggies, the lead grew to 39-27 at the break. SG Rockerick Inge scored 8 points for Houston while New Mexico State was led by PF Julian Wimbley’s 8 points.

Houston’s defense kept New Mexico State from improving their shooting and the Aggies fell behind by as much as 19 points before rallying late to cut the Cougars’ lead to 6 points with a minute to play. But being forced to foul, New Mexico State was unable to get any closer. Houston won due to outshooting the Aggies 47% to 35% while also hitting 13 of 27 three-point attempts.

Houston-71 (SG Roderick Inge-21 pts; SG Dan Thompkins-11 pts; PF Erik Thomas-10 pts, 5 reb; C Brian Wright-10 pts)
New Mexico State-63 (PF Julian Wimbley-18 pts, 6 reb; SF Aaron Condill-12 pts, 6 reb)

“We expected the Aggies to give us a real challenge and they did exactly that, but fortunately our defense was solid throughout the game,” said Houston’s coach Kelvin Sampson. He continued, “We’re going to have to now try how to figure out how to stop Villanova two days from now.”