Saturday, March 26, 2011
On to the Elite Eight
The three winningest college basketball programs of all time -- Kentucky, Kansas, and North Carolina -- have all reached the Elite 8. This is the first time that has happened since 1993.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Butler 74, Florida 71 (OT)
ReplyDeleteAll year long, the Gators have been the hare to everyone else's tortoise. Time after time, they have frittered away leads, let teams come back in games, and then slammed the door at the end. They did that at Georgia (double OT), at Tennessee (OT), at home against us (70-68), and in the NCAA's against BYU (OT).
So when the Gators had a 9-point lead with 8 minutes to go, you couldn't be surprised that they coasted a bit and let Butler back in the game.
But Butler is not the sort of team you should let hang around. Butler is the sort of team you have to kill and bury. Florida found itself in overtime against a team just as smart, just as determined, and just as confident as they were -- and with more NCAA experience. After building a big lead by working the ball inside, the Gators fell in love with the three-point shot. They made two, but they missed too many. And so they are gone, and we won't have to put up with them on the UK message board again until the end of football season.
Arizona leads UConn 53-52 with 7:16 left. I didn't know they still played games like this in college basketball. Usually you have all of these really careful tournament games, with teams cautiously working for a good shot. These two teams are throwing haymakers at each other -- spectacular dunks by both sides, violent rebound battles, bodies flying all over the place. This is just spectacular basketball.
ReplyDeleteSee how much more interesting college basketball is when UK has a good team? This is the best NCAA tournament in years.
ReplyDeleteMy initial summary of the Florida/Butler game was a bit too snarky. Florida did make some silly mistakes down the stretch, but for the most part that was a thrilling and dramatic game.
ReplyDeleteUConn has responded with a little run of its own. With 4:49 left, they lead Arizona 58-55.
ReplyDeleteNow UConn's run is looking serious. The Huskies have ridden a 10-0 run to a 62-55 lead. There are only 2 minutes and 58 seconds left, and it appears that UConn will be waiting for the winner of the UK/UNC game.
ReplyDeleteAfter being cold all day, Arizona has hit two huge threes down the stretch. The score is now UConn 65, Arizona 63, and Arizona has the ball with 18 seconds left. They call time.
ReplyDeleteThis is just unbelievable basketball.
Arizona shot a three, missed, got the rebound, had another great look at a three, missed again, and the clock ran out.
ReplyDeleteUConn wins 65-63.
After going 9-16 from 3-point range against Duke Thursday night, the Wildcats were only 4-21 from behind the arc in this game. And that's what killed them.
That, and the fact that UConn has no Plumlees playing on the front line.
It's hard for me to believe that's the best play Florida could come up with for the end of regulation.
ReplyDeleteAll year, Florida has let Walker do pretty much whatever he wants at the end of games. But it didn't work out today.
ReplyDelete