[The Poet]

If nothing else, last night's games were fascinating, and often for differing reasons:


Baylor 75 - Xavier 70 = The Bears showed you how much talent they possess, and Xavier showed you how a team is supposed to play together. They were tougher and more feisty than was Baylor, but just didn't have enough horses to get them past the wackos from Waco. Yet give the Bears some credit too, for making the plays they needed to make when they needed to make them.

North Carolina 73 - Ohio 65 (OT) = This one shook out about the way I felt (read, "feared") it would, though it didn't start out that way. My Heels jumped out to a big lead early, but then the Bobcats got over their nerves and started hitting from deep. In the meanwhile, Barnes could not hit the side of a barn from inside or out, yet this fact did not deter him from chucking. As I hoped, the game hinged off the boards . . . Ohio got 28 rebounds, and UNC got 33 MORE than that. Had they not also had 24 TOs, this would not have been close. The good news is that Stilman White had none of them in 32 minutes. The bad news is that he's not Kendall Marshall. The important news is the Tar Heels survived and advanced.

Kentucky 102 - Indiana 90 = What was this, an ABA matchup between the Colonels and the Pacers? Yeah, it was fun to watch, if you don't care if nobody plays any defense whatsoever. OK, that's not fair . . . for a short time in the 2nd half the Hoosiers did play a little D to keep themselves on the edge of tying the game, or even regaining the lead. Then both teams started running and gunning again, and the 'Cats kept away. The athleticism was impressive, and the lack of fundamentals was astounding. When was the last time you saw an Indiana team that didn't box out? Kentucky may be unbeatable this year in any case, but in a track meet like this they almost certainly are.

Kansas 60 - N. C. State 57 = This was a hard-fought between the overachieving Wolfpack and the underachieving Jayhawks, which was fun but ugly, especially on the offensive end. KU was bad from the field and worse from the line, while State was absolutely horrid from the floor and not enought better at the line to make up the difference. And unlike my prediction, it was the 'Hawks who were Brick Choke from the stripe late, giving the 'Pack a chance to swipe the W away. And they had their shot too . . . or would have had their shot, had they not shot themselves in the foot when said foot stepped out of bounds without getting off that shot. Still, they had a despairation heave at the buzzer . . . or would have had a better one, had the pass been better. All in all, it was an ugly win for Kansas, which is pereferable to the ugly loss the Wolfpack suffered.


Back a little later to preview the regional finals.