GREAT TEAMS TOURNAMENT

[PointGuard]

ANNOUNCING THE ELITE 8

Midwest

#1 Michigan (1993) vs #2 Oklahoma (1988)

East

#3 Maryland (2002) vs #5 UConn (2004)

South

#1 Kentucky (1996) vs #3 North Carolina (2005)

West

#1 UNLV (1991) vs #6 Loyola Marymount (1990)

[PointGuard]

Top Players for Teams in the Elite 8

PPG:

Hank Gathers, Loyola Marymount—32.0 ppg
Harvey Grant, Oklahoma—21.0 ppg
Juan Dixon, Maryland—19.7 ppg
Ben Gordon, UConn—19.7 ppg
Chris Webber, Michigan—19.7 ppg
Stacey King, Oklahoma—18.0 ppg
Juwan Howard, Michigan—17.3 ppg

RPG:

Chris Webber, Michigan—13.3 rpg
Chris Wilcox, Maryland—13.0 rpg
Larry Johnson, UNLV—12.3 rpg
Sean May, North Carolina—9.7 rpg
Stacey King, Oklahoma—9.0 rpg

APG:

Terrell Lowery, Loyola Marymount—14.0 apg
Anthony Epps, Kentucky—8.7 apg
Greg Anthony, UNLV—7.7 apg

Top Players for 3 Games and Out Teams

PPG:

Rony Seikaly, Syracuse—22.7 ppg
Christian Laettner, Duke—22.3 ppg
Darrell Arthur, Kansas—19.7 ppg
Miles Simon, Arizona—18.0 ppg
Russ Smith, Louisville—18.0 ppg
Joakim Noah, Florida—18.0 ppg
Derrick Rose, Memphis—17.3 ppg

RPG:

Joakim Noah, Florida—10.7 rpg
Derrick Coleman, Syracuse—10.7 rpg
Gorgui Dieng, Louisville—9.3 rpg
Rony Seikaly, Syracuse—9.0 rpg
Joey Dorsey, Memphis—9.0 rpg

APG:

Russell Robinson, Kansas—8.0 apg
Peyton Silva, Louisville—7.0 apg
Monte Morris, Iowa State—6.0 apg

[PointGuard]

Elite 8 Team Scoring Stats

Offensive PPG:

Loyola Marymount—106.7 ppg
Oklahoma—95.0 ppg
North Carolina—88.3 ppg
UNLV—88.7 ppg
Kentucky—86.7 ppg
Michigan—85.0 ppg
Uconn—79.7 ppg
Maryland—75.3 ppg

Defensive PPG:

Maryland—54.0 ppg
Kentucky—57.7 ppg
UNLV—57.7 ppg
Michigan—66.3 ppg
UConn—69.0 ppg
Oklahoma—75.3 ppg
North Carolina—79.3 ppg
Loyola Marymount—82.0 ppg

[PointGuard]

ELITE 8 MATCHUPS

Midwest: #1 Michigan (1993) vs #2 Oklahoma (1988)

East: #3 Maryland (2002) vs #5 UConn (2004)

South: #1 Kentucky (1996) vs #3 North Carolina (2005)

West: #1 UNLV (1991) vs #6 Loyola Marymount (1990)

[PointGuard]

Round 4 (Elite 8)

Midwest

#1 Michigan Wolverines (1993) vs #2 Oklahoma Sooners (1988)

Both of these teams have beaten their opponents thus far by an average of nearly 20 points and both teams have extremely talented interior players.

Records thus far:

Michigan (1993)—74, Northwestern (2017)—57
Michigan (1993)—92, Purdue (1994)—69
Michigan (1993)—89, Iowa State (2017)—73
Oklahoma (1988)—100, Minnesota (2017)—68
Oklahoma (1988)—80, Cincinnati (1993)—59
Oklahoma (1988)—105, Kansas (2008)—99

Michigan Starting lineup: PG Jalen Rose (10.7 ppg, 4.7 apg, 1.0 rpg); SG Jimmy King (9.7 ppg, 2.0 apg, 3.3 rpg); SF Ray Jackson (10.7 ppg, 2.0 apg, 6.7 rpg); PF Juwan Howard (17.3 ppg, 1.3 apg, 6.7 rpg); C Chris Webber (19.7 ppg, 1.7 apg, 13.3 rpg)
Oklahoma Starting lineup: PG Ricky Grace (8.3 ppg, 5.3 apg, 0.3 rpg); SG Mookie Blaylock (16.7 ppg, 4.3 apg, 2.0 rpg); SF Andre Wiley (6.0 ppg, 2.0 apg, 4.3 rpg); PF Harvey Grant (21.0 ppg, 1.7 apg, 8.0 rpg); C Stacey King (18.0 ppg, 1.3 apg, 9.0 rpg)

The game stayed close early due to poor shooting by the Wolverines and poor ball control by the Sooners. Midway through the half the Michigan players’ shooting eyes improved. Each time it looked like the Wolverines would pull away, though, the Sooners figured out some way to reel them back in. The half ended with the teams tied at 47-47. Stacey King scored 14 points for Oklahoma and Jimmy King scored 13 for Michigan.

The lead see-sawed throughout the 2nd half. But with 4 minutes to go Michigan opened a 5 point lead. Then within a 30 second period of time with about 3 minutes remaining both Oklahoma’s C Stacey King and reserve PF Tony Martin fouled out. But Mookie Blaylock drilled a 3 to cut the Sooners’ deficit to just 2 points with 2:22 remaining. Chris Webber quickly increased Michigan’s lead back to 4. Oklahoma scored 4 points on their next possession, one by Blaylock on a FT and then Harvey Grant grabbed the rebound when Blaylock missed the 2nd foul shot…and put the ball back up and in and was fouled and made his free throw to tie the game with just under 2 minutes left. After both teams missed shots, Jalen Rose brought the ball over midcourt and quickly sank a 3. Missed opportunities for both teams followed and then reserve C Dave Sieger hit a 10 foot jumper to cut Michigan’s lead to a single point with 40 seconds on the clock. Oklahoma fouled and the Wolverines missed the first of a 1-and-1. Oklahoma brought the quickly upcourt and Ricky Grace made a nice crossover dribble to find just enough daylight to get off a 14 footer that cleanly fell through the hoop to put the Sooners ahead with 17 seconds to go. Michigan missed a shot, grabbed the rebound, and put back another shot but it was blocked by Grant. The buzzer sounded with Oklahoma pulling out an 84-83 comeback victory.

Oklahoma’s Stacey King scored 18 and had 3 boards and 2 blocks, Harvey Grant had 17 points and 15 rebounds, reserve guard Terrence Mullins tossed in 17 points plus had 3 assists, and Ricky Grace scored 14 and dished out 3 assists. For Michigan Jimmy King scored 16 with 3 assists, Chris Webber had 12 points, 4 boards, 2 assists and 3 blocks, Jalen Rose also scored 12 plus had 4 assists, reserve C Eric Riley came in to score 12 and haul down 8 boards, and Juwan Howard had 10 points and 4 rebounds.

“Can you believe it? 27 lead changes! That was a lollapalooza of a game,” said Sooners coach Billy Tubbs. “If Harvey (Grant) hadn’t gotten his fingers on the Wolverines’ put back at the buzzer and got the block, the game would probably have gone Michigan’s way.”

[PointGuard]

Round 4 (Elite 8)

East

#3 Maryland Terrapins (2002) vs #5 UConn Huskies (2004)

Maryland has been the best defensive team in the tournament thus far, but UConn has been able to do just what they need to do to win.

Records thus far:

Maryland (2002)—85, Creighton (2017)—56
Maryland (2002)—78, Massachusetts (1996)—48
Maryland (2002)—71, Syracuse (1987)—58
UConn (2004)—76, Navy (2012)--61
UConn (2004)—91, Villanova (2018)—80
UConn (2004)—72, Duke (1992)—66

Maryland starting lineup: PG Steve Blake (12.7 ppg, 5.3 apg, 1.3 rpg); SG Juan Dixon (19.7 ppg, 2.0 apg, 2.7 rpg); SF Byron Mouton (11.7 ppg, 1.0 apg, 4.0 rpg); PF Chris Wilcox (10.3 ppg, 2.0 apg, 13.0 rpg); C Lonny Baxter (8.0 ppg, 1.0 apg, 5.7 rpg)
UConn starting 5: PG Taliek Brown (3.7 ppg, 5.3 apg, 1.3 rpg); SG Ben Gordon (19.7 ppg, 3.0 apg, 3.0 rpg); SF Denham Brown (14.3 ppg, 2.0 apg, 1.7 rpg); PF Charlie Villanueva (10.7 ppg, 1.7 apg, 5.0 rpg); C Emeka Okafor (12.0 ppg, 0.3 apg, 6.3 rpg)

The game got off to a slow start with UConn grabbing a very small lead. But Maryland’s defense made it tough for UConn to score so the Terrapins were able to move out to an 18-9 lead at the midpoint of the first half. Led by Emeka Okafor UConn overtook Maryland at the 4 minute mark at 27-26. By the end of the half the Huskies had extended their lead to 37-30. Okafor tallied 14 first half points plus hauled down 6 rebounds. Juan Dixon and Chris Wilcox for Maryland and Charlie Villanueva for Uconn had 3 fouls apiece.

Maryland scored the first 9 points of the 2nd half to take a momentary lead. But the Huskies sprinted to a 10 point advantage with 10 minutes to go. The Huskies gamely continued to edge further ahead by outshooting the Terrapins. The final score was UConn—77, Maryland—59. The Huskies hit 57% of their shots compared to 39% by Maryland. The Terrapins were +6 on the boards but made 9 more turnovers than UConn.

Emeka Okafor had a great game with 24 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 5 blocks. Others scoring in double figures for the Husies were: Ben Gordon with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 5 steals; Denham Brown who scored 13 points and had 2 steals; and Charlie Villanueva with 10 points, 6 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Taliek Brown had 6 points, 7 assists, and 4 steals. Topping the scoring for Maryland was Byron Mouton who scored 17 and pulled down 9 rebounds. Juan Dixon had 11 points, 3 assists, and 3 steals and Ryan Randle scored 10 and had 4 rebounds and 3 blocks.

“We put together some really good runs each time Maryland challenged us. Our defense made it tough for them to get good shots and forced a bunch of turnovers, many of which turned into successful fast breaks,” said UConn coach Jim Calhoun. “Emeka was a real workhorse for us tonight.”

[Wayne23]

Go UConn!!!

[PointGuard]

Yeah, they keep winning and pretty convincingly (except for the close game with Duke)...and I'm not cheating on your behalf...LOL.

[PointGuard]

Round 4 (Elite 8)

South

#1 Kentucky Wildcats (1996) vs #3 North Carolina Tar Heels (2005)

Both teams are pretty equal offensively, but Kentucky has shown a more disciplined and effective defense thus far.

Records thus far:

Kentucky (1996)—83, Texas Christian (2017)—49
Kentucky (1996)—94, Texas (2003)—67
Kentucky (1996)—83, Memphis (2008)—57
North Carolina (2005)—91, South Carolina (2017)—77
North Carolina (2005)—93, Georgia Tech (1990)—82
North Carolina (2005)—91, Florida (2007)—79

Kentucky starters: PG Anthony Epps (4.7 ppg, 8.7 apg, 0.7 rpg); SG Tony Delk (12.7 ppg, 1.3 apg, 2.7 rpg); SF Derek Anderson (11.3 ppg, 2.0 apg, 3.0 rpg); PF Antoine Walker (14.7 ppg, 1.3 apg, 8.7 rpg); C Walter McCarty (10.3 ppg, 1.7 apg, 7.0 rpg)
North Carolina starters: PG Raymond Felton (11.7 ppg, 5.7 apg, 2.7 rpg); SG Rashad McCants (13.3 ppg, 2.0 apg, 0.7 rpg); SF David Noel (9.0 ppg, 1.3 apg, 2.3 rpg); PF Marvin Williams (15.3 ppg, 2.0 apg, 7.7 rpg); C Sean May (16.7 ppg, 1.3 apg, 9.7 rpg)

David Noel and Rashad McCants combined to score North Carolina’s first 17 points in the game. At the same point in the game Tony Delk and Antoine Walker had scored 13 of Kentucky’s 17 points. But when both teams began subbing, Kentucky moved out to a 46-29 advantage at halftime as the Tar Heels shooting percentage plummeted.

Kentucky’s dominance continued as the Wildcats went ahead by 20 points just 6 minutes into the 2nd half. With Kentucky both outshooting North Carolina (56% to 36%) and also controlling the boards (+13), the Tar Heels ere unable to close the gap and instead fell further back. The game ended and Kentucky had manhandled North Carolina to the tune of 86-61. Kentucky outscored the Tar Heels 38-10 in the paint and by 12 points on 2nd chance points.

Antoine Walker finished the game for Kentucky with 30 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 4 blocks. Tony Delk had 15 points and 5 boards and Mark Pope scored 12 and had 6 rebounds and 4 blocks. For North Carolina Rashad McCants tossed in 26 points and had 3 rebounds and David Noel had 14 points and 3 boards.

Coach Roy Williams of North Carolina said, “We looked good early, but the Wildcats defense then crippled us. It was disappointing to lose, but Kentucky is an excellent team and Antoine Walker had a fantastic game against us.”

[Wayne23]

Yeah, they keep winning and pretty convincingly (except for the close game with Duke)...and I'm not cheating on your behalf...LOL.

That was one hell of a team!