As most of you know, even those who only start paying attention to college hoops come Selection Sunday, we have the Final Four slated to do battle down in Nawlins. Results of regional finals Saturday:
Louisville 72 - Florida 68 = I am a bit surprised to see that Pitino's team has gotten this far, but I am not surprised to see they managed to beat the Gators. Neither team has been great all year, yet when you have a 4-seed facing a 7-seed you gotta figure it could be anybody's game. As for the game, it was fairly well-played on both sides, and close enough to remain exciting. I'm not a follower of the expressed opinion of many, who claim Donovan was outcoached at the end, andthis is the reason the Cards took it away from them late to advance. To my knowledge, Billy-boy hasn't taken a shot in competition for a loooong time, and it was his players who could not hold onto the lead. Congratulations to Louisville, and good luck in their meeting with the Wildcats . . . I think they are going to need it.
Ohio State 77 - Syracuse 70 = I am NOT surprised to see the Buckeyes got this far, just as I am not surprised to see the Orange exit before the finals. Shoot, I'm actually more surprised they didn't bow out a little sooner. Sully played well for OSU, but to me the key was Aaron Craft, who seemed totally unfased by Boeheim's zone, driving the gaps fearlessly to either make the dish down low or the kick to the open shooters. Congratulations to the Buckeyes.
On Sunday:
Kentucky 82 - Baylor 70 = If you saw this game, you know it was not nearly as close as that final score. The Bears managed to play better than the Wildcats for about 5 minutes to begin the game, then were totally outclassed for the rest of the game. Davis got his knee banged up a bit, yet still played better than anybody from Baylor, with the possible exception of Acy. And that still left a half-dozen 'Cats clawing all over the court. I did see a little more defense in this one than in their previous matchup with the Hoosiers, though that may have been more a function of the Bears' not running and gunning to IU's extent. Congratulations to Kentucky, although that may be a bit premature of me, for they and their fans will not be satisfied with anything less than all the marbles.
Kansas 80 - North Carolina 67 = And if you saw this game, you know it was a LOT closer than that final score. Both teams played an exceptional first half, and both shot the lights out, going into the break tied at 47-up. I was especially impressed at how well the Heels played without Kendall Marshall, althought they still could not get the ball down low to Zeller and Henson nearly enough. Still, they were only down one point with 4 minutes left, plus they had the ball. From that point, the loss of Marshall was most keenly felt, as they were unable to make any offensive plays whatsoever. That is where the game got away from them, and where the Jayhawks moved away. Congratulations to Kansas for a good win, even despite the extenuating circumstances. Hey, bad breaks happen, and in this case it was literally one.
I'll let you guys fight it out amongst yourselves for a day or three before I preview the big weekend in the Big Easy. Until later then, enjoy the downtime.
