Day Two Recap

Texas 85, Oakland 81

I'm personally pretty disappointed at this result because I thought Oakland was a real sleeper, and sleepers making deep runs are what March is all about. Part of the reason why I liked them was all their experience playing power conference teams, and I wonder if that didn't hurt them a little bit. The Big Dance is never "just another game," but when you're a small school (like Morehead State) playing a powerhouse for the first time, the game takes on another level of urgency. I thought Oakland didn't match Texas in energy and intensity for most of the game, and the Grizzlies didn't value possessions in the first half. Maybe, just maybe, they didn't appreciate and respect the task at hand enough. That's not to say that playing a tough non-conference schedule is a bad idea for this reason; that would be an absurd conclusion. Just pointing out an interesting possible side effect ... Endgame aside, Texas looked awfully good offensively, though Oakland's defense was certainly complacent in that. They're very dangerous, and expect a high-scoring affair in the second round with Arizona. Both of those teams have the firepower to take out Duke in the Sweet 16 ... Oakland's Keith Benson is allegedly an NBA prospect. I've got mixed feelings. On the one hand, he's got some nice ball skills and he's got a Tyler Hansbrough-like release point around the rim, which is helpful for players who don't rely on strength and power. On the other hand, he's not terribly strong or powerful, which becomes more of a problem when you consider that he doesn't run the floor well. He was thoroughly outplayed by Texas freshman Tristan Thompson, and while there's no shame in that, it suggests to me that his odds of making an impact at the next level are long.

Michigan 75, Tennessee 45

Wow. Only caught a few minutes of this one, when the Wolverines made their big push at the end of the first half. Did it with defense and three-point shooting, which you expect from a John Beilein-coached team. I switched back to Oakland-Texas after and by the time I got back to it, Michigan was way in front and it wasn't worth watching. By all accounts, the Vols just gave up in the second half ... I think I heard that Michigan scored something like 58 of the game's 80 points. They also won by 30 without hitting a single free throw ... If this is the end for Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl, and I think it probably will be, it's a fitting final stain on his tarnished legacy at the school. I don't want to be mean-spirited, but it sure seems like he deserves what he's got coming to him. Cheating is one thing; it probably happens all over the country. Lying to the NCAA -- and then acting like you've taken responsibility for your actions by owning up to it afterwards -- is something else altogether. I also haven't liked the way Pearl has more or less insisted that this whole process, including all the attention as well as the eight-game SEC suspension he served, hasn't affected his team. That sort of scrutiny and uncertainty definitely did affect the kids, and by not acknowledging it, Pearl passes the responsibility to them from himself.

Notre Dame 69, Akron 56

If you're a Notre Dame fan, I don't think there's much reason to be concerned by the relatively small final margin and the fact that the Zips hung around through a good chunk of the second half. The Irish don't strike me as a club that is going to blow teams out unless shots fall, and while Mike Brey's team did shoot pretty well from three-point land, they didn't shoot very well from inside the arc. That could easily correct itself by the next game. Myself, I came in to this tornament skeptical of the Irish, and so I remain skeptical, but if you're optimistic about their chances, then nothing that happened Friday should change that.

George Mason 61, Villanova 57

Two problems with the officiating at the end here, both stemming from Wayns' miss down to with under ten seconds left. First, you have to call something there. I think it was a charge, but even if it was a block, there was way too much contact to let go. Jay Bilas makes this point all the time, but it's a good one and is worth repeating: If you protect shooters and legal defenders by calling fouls when they occur, you are letting the players decide the game. There are situations where you might let a little more contact go in the final seconds, but an offensive player running full bore into a defensive player is not one of them. Second, stop going to the monitor so much at the end of games to add a few tenths of a second. This time, it gave Villanova an extra timeout, a timeout it didn't have. I know you want to get it right, but if you allow for a half-second of reaction time between the whistle and the clock stopping on a tieup call in the first half, then you should allow for it in the final seconds, too ... It's fitting that Villanova would end a season in which it threw away a 16-1 start by throwing away a late lead ... Someone mentioned, either on the broadcast or on Twitter, that the two Coreys, Fisher and Stokes, were both playing well for the first time in a while. That's true, but even so, the Wildcats weren't playing that well as a group. They just kind of lost it this year, which happens to college teams sometimes ... Villanova had opportunities to win if it had made free throws and limited turnovers down the stretch. Jay Wright can't be happy that some of those key mistakes were made by his veteran leaders (Fisher and Stokes and Antonio Pena) ... George Mason got away with it, but after they came back to tie the score, they continued with their fullcourt press. I always think that's a mistake because your team is likely to be hyped up, and more likely to commit a foul or over-commit and give up an easy bucket, but it's particularly dangerous when the other team has as many good shooters as Villanova has. It didn't burn them, however, and once they went ahead by two, they switched to token pressure, which I did like.

Arizona 77, Memphis 75

I give young Memphis head coach a ton of credit for this one. I didn't think his athletic but wild team had much of a chance to beat Arizona, but they nearly did, and a lot of the reason why was Pastner's switching defensive looks. Memphis' 2-3 zone swarmed Derrick Williams, and Arizona did a really poor job of going inside-out to find good shots from the perimeter ... Coaches who are nervous about fouling up three with under ten seconds left nearly had fuel for their argument, as 'zona's Sean Miller did it, then saw his team cough up an offensive rebound on the free throw. But Williams swatted the putback, the second time this year he's preserved a win with a blocked shot in the final seconds (he did it against Washington in the regular season) ... Arizona now faces Texas in the second round. NBA types are salivating at a Williams-Thompson matchup, while college fans can look forward to an uptempo game without a lot of defense.

Duke 87, Hampton 45

Didn't watch any of the defending champs, and only wanted to for the return of Kyrie Irving, the freshman point guard who's been out forever with a toe injury. Early reviews are good. The Blue Devils are clearly a better team with Irving in the lineup, but I do wonder how well they'll adjust to a new body in the rotation. Nolan Smith had a hell of a year moving to the lead guard role after Irving's injury, and it may be tough to make another adjustment this late in the season. With that said, Irving is exactly what the Devils need to penetrate Michigan's zone defenses to create open looks for his teammate, and antidote to what I consider Duke's Kryptonite: a cold shooting evening. With Irving in the lineup, Duke should get better shots.

Florida State 57, Texas A&M 50

Man, these Seminoles really can defend! What really impressed me about their effort today is that they were about as good on that end of the court without Chris Singleton as they were with him. Singleton, whose minutes were limited in his first game back after breaking his foot, is the most versatile defensive player I've ever seen at this level. FSU forced aTm to take the shots that FSU wanted aTm to take, and they contest everything, even drives, without fouling ... It's going to be interesting to see how Notre Dame's patient, jumpshooting offense does against this Florida State D. FSU is pretty good at taking away your first option or two, and so I could see the Irish ending up with a lot of very tough shots at the end of the clock if they don't speed it up at least a little bit. Which, I should point out, is something they are capable of, which wasn't true last year ... Florida State probably will need to find just a bit more offense to beat ND, though. Singleton isn't an elite offensive player, but he probably was Florida State's best option. Derwin Kitchen stepped up in the second half today, and Michael Snaer is another important guy off the dribble. FSU has some shooters who have struggled this season; it wouldn't hurt if they started knocking down some shots.

Ohio State 75, Texas-San Antonio 46

Just an easy first-round victory for your 2011 national champions....

Kansas 72, Boston 53

The first of two really boring mismatches in the early set of evening games. The Terriers kept it interesting in the first half, but were outclassed in the second. With Kansas, it seems like it's often an effort/concentration thing.

Purdue 65, St. Peter's 43

The second of two really boring mismatches in the early set of evening games. I want to use this space to pay homage to the hero of the 1995 MAAC champion Peacocks, one Mike Frensley. Why will I always remember his name? Two reasons: 1) He didn't wear socks when he played, and 2) He wore a Nirvana t-shirt to a post-game press conference. What's he up to now? Apparently he's a musician, which means he still has a Myspace page. I'm not sure that Kurt Cobain would approve of "roots Americana," but have a listen.

North Carolina 102, Long Island 87

I only caught bits and pieces of this entertaining game, but I think the youthful Tar Heels got a little caught up in the moment. Carolina was never really in danger of losing this game, but after jumping out to a big first-half lead, they let LIU all the way back. UNC then built another big lead, and the Blackbirds' rebound wasn't quite as high the second time around. LIU's comebacks were fueled by bad shot selection and poor transition defense on North Carolina's part. I have to say, too, that even during Carolina's hot start, Long Island had plenty of quality looks from three-point land that didn't go down. This was a poor defensive effort from the Tar Heels and they are going to have to play better on that end in the second round.

Marquette 66, Xavier 55

This was a very impressive performance from Marquette against an experienced Xavier squad. The Golden Eagles' defense was remarkable all evening, holding Tu Holloway to five points and Mark Lyons to six. My criticism of Holloway this year has been his shot selection, but to his credit, he didn't force much on Friday; Marquette just didn't give him anything ... In addition to more or less shutting down the Musketeers' backcourt, Marquette's long, athletic wings getting to the bucket and scoring with the mid-range game. One thing to note moving forward, however, is that they were a bit shaky with their ballhandling at stretches, probably because not one of them is a true point guard, as far as I can tell. At one point in the first half, Xavier extending their man-to-man to halfcourt, and Marquette turned it over and three consecutive possessions. It might not hurt them, however, against Syracuse, since the Orange of course play that 2-3 zone.

Illinois 73, UNLV 62

I didn't watch more than a few seconds of this blowout -- and don't let the final score fool you, this was a blowout. I was watching Xavier-Marquette and by the time I got to it, Illinois was up 20, a lead they maintained through most of the second half. I don't think I saw Vegas during the regular season, so I can't say much about them. What I can say, however, is having watched the Illini a number of times, I'm shocked by this result. I took UNLV in my bracket solely on the basis of not being impressed with Illinois. Shows what I know. Anyway, this sets up a second round matchup with Kansas. Illinois fans have a special place in their, um, heart for old coach Bill Self, so this should be an intense matchup.

VCU 74, Georgetown 56

The Rams showed no ill effects from having played Wednesday night, really taking it to Georgetown from the get-go. In that regard, VCU is actually an ideal candidate for the First Four: Their preferred frenetic pace requires them to be both deep and well-conditioned. They shuttle guys in and out anyway, so fatigue wasn't much of a factor. Making 12 of 25 three-pointers doesn't hurt, either ... I feel bad for Hoya point guard Chris Wright, who missed the last several games of the season with a hand injury and was clearly out of rhythm today in his return ... The Hoyas end the season having gone a month without a win, and if you ask me, a team playing like that to end the season shouldn't be a six seed. I know the committee doesn't take recent performance into account -- or says it doesn't, anyway -- but maybe it should.

Washington 68, Georgia 65

The Bulldogs stuck around in this one due to their size. North Carolina, Washington's second-round opponent, isn't going to want to want to slow the pace down the way Georgia did, but they should consider going inside to Tyler Zeller a fair bit early ... Isaiah Thomas continues to impress and I'm really looking forward to watching him square off with Kendall Marshall in round 2. Marshall may have to deal with Washington's senior defensive stopper, Venoy Overton, too.

Syracuse 77, Indiana State 60

This game was 25-11, 'cuse, before I got to it, and the Orange had a 12-point lead once the closer games finished and I could get back to it. In the interim, however, my understanding is that the Sycamores closed the gap to six or so, and that's certainly impressive. One thing I was able to notice was how well ISU attacked Syracuse's 2-3 zone; by dribbling into the gaps and either scoring or kicking it out for threes. For Marquette's sake, I hope they were paying attention: The Golden Eagles have the athletes to find those seams, and all four of Jimmy Butler, Dwight Buycks, Jae Crowder, and Darius Johnson-Odom have the ability to score in the lane in the 12-foot range, as well as hit the triple from behind the arc ... Syracuse visited Marquette at the end of January and came away with a loss, their fourth straight at the time after ascending to the No. 3 ranking. Marquette hit better than 52 percent of its shots in that one, including 6-for-13 from three point land ... Rick Jackson and Kris Joseph combined for 30 points on 13-of-22 from the field in that loss, and given the difficulty that Marquette had with Xavier's Kenny Frease and Andrew Taylor inside (the only two Muskies who could get anything going on Friday), I expect the game plan, at least, to feature a heavy dose of those guys.