Not sure if anyone saw that basket interference call on Thabeet a few minutes back...but it might have been the worst call I've ever seen.

For people who missed it...he grabbed the ball a solid foot and a half below the rim.

How much do the ticket sales come from corporate support (mainly in the Regionals and Final Fours)?

Dixon missing the dunk on the breakaway was amusing.

It looked like the Pitt player got knocked in the head with a forearm on that out-of-bounds call against him before Xavier knocked down the 3.

Haha... I think Dixon was envisioning his "One Shining Moment" on that dunk attempt. :)

First team to 54 wins.

Should be a great final minute.

Xavier oughta go two for 1 here so they don't have to foul. Pitt is not such a high percentage offensive team ...you can stop them.

Big play by Fields.

I bet Xavier has turned the ball over more than 12 times this half. If they cannot pull back ahead, they are going to be kicking themselves for a long time over their second half ball control.

Incredible play by Fields. Xavier isn't winning this one in regulation unless somebody on Pitt gets stupid.

That might've been a game-changer.

Bone headed foul by Blair there.

If I'm anyone associated with the Xavier program, I'm not sleeping tonight.

damn - mouseketeers just couldn't quite pull it off *sighs*

They played tentative down the stretch. It seems all of these mid-major teams don't have that killer instinct that allows them to win late in games like this, even when they should.

I don't know if you can attribute that solely to their schedule or something else.

But oh well...if nothing else, Pitt keeps finding ways to win.

My bracket survives a scare for now.

Why isn't Mizzou/Memphis available on the web MMOD?

...and just as I say that, the link finally appears. Never mind!

No kidding... has a team ever won the title without ever looking that good?

Whatever high pressure situations Xavier has faced can't compare to getting tazered for trying to take a police officer's gun outside of a bar. This is all child's play for Levance Fields.

I think it's simpler than that. Xavier doesn't have a great PG and at the end they couldn't move the ball.

Pitt reminds me of the Ohio State football team the year they beat Miami for the title. They don't blow anyone out, but they always find a way to win. They could wind up winning the title with a rather small point differential.

That team always looked controlled, this one looks tight. I might be practicing revisionist history, but this team doesn't seem relaxed.

Man I hope Memphis and Mizzou can keep up this pace. This is fun so far

GO MIZZOU (and nova)

My goodness stop half reaching on defense fifty feet from the basket!

Duke looks like they have lead in their shoes.

I was curious hether Duke would try to play slow, it looks like they are going to. I think this plays to Nova's advantage because they are used to playing bigger teams who aren't as quick as they are. That's called the Big East schedule.

Hey Guys!

Coach said I might get in the game tonight, so be sure to watch.

oops...Wojo said I have to put away my iphone.

Back soon.

That's actually not completely true. Pitt was in the final four in 1940s.

If I'm Jay Wright I press with this bigger lineup out there for Duke...

such a good half for Mizzou, this is awesome.

Aww...I totally thought I was going to get to shoot that free throw cuz it looked like his hand was really hurt. More from the locker room at the half (but Collinsworth might make carry towels).

WOW. 60 foot prayer as the half expires for Missouri to go into the locker room up 49-36.

What can you say? Just not our not night. Great game Mizzou. You just came out and took it to us. What else can I say? Good luck against UConn.

christ its halftime dude

I think that was some sort of reverse psychology.

It's funny, after that big dunk my actual thought process was, "Well, at least that will give them something good to take into halftime, unless................(swish)."

Coach should have put me in on that last shot. I totally could have turned the ball over like that.

If I'm Duke, I think I'm pretty happy down 3 since I think Nova outplayed them that half. I expected this game to be played at a higher score but both teams have lacked on the offensive end.

Junior year starter, senior year dnp-cd. :(

Where was that foul?

What in the hell. That is, like, six fouls against Missouri in the last minute and a half.

This was one of those games where they are hitting everything, and nothing Memphis does is going to work well (Mack's "dunk").

I do think people tend to short change Memphis' history in college basketball. If you look at total Final Fours, Memphis is among a handful of teams to have more than 2. Additionally, they traditionally make deep runs into the NCAAs every 4-5 years (Elite 8 type run). In the 80s and early 90s, they were one of the best programs in the country. They made some poor coaching decisions in the mid-90s, but things are rolling again now that Cal is here.

Another item to remember is that Memphis produces an awful lot of college talent. Sure, its not on the level of Chicago, New York, or LA, but they Memphis produces quite a lot of talent. Arkansas' run in the early 90s was largely based on Memphis talent (Mayberry, Day, and I think Huery were all Memphis products). Let's not forget that Memphis also had plenty of talent at the time as well behind teams led by Penny Hardaway and Elliot Perry.

scary run for memphis here. Come on mizzou, no collapse here.

Couple huge turnovers by Missouri, couple of questionable foul calls (I think Memphis had three straight possessions for five points just on fouls during this run).

But the bigger issue is Memphis starting to push Missouri around on the glass. If you keep getting second chance putbacks, you're going to keep earning trips to the stripe, whether you make the putback or not.

Dude! You're in!

Missouri needs to knock it off with the fouls.

out of breath guys. i totally had to run to call that time out.

Some things never change, huh? Memphis 12-24 from the line.

wow, Duke sucks. I'll admit it, I haven't really followed college basketball for a while now, partly bc Duke is my favorite team, and, well, they've sucked for a few yrs now....but man, I guess some things never change, Coach K just doesn't believe in an inside game anymore, huh?

I had to sit down and start contributing in other ways. Coach is all mad at me for not protecting the basketball.

I'm going to start slapping the floor a lot.

Come on now!

1-2-3-4! Ev'rybody slap the floor!

slap slap slap slap

Is it just me or does Duke look like they're running a lot of their set offense in a shoebox?

I mean, it looks like they're afraid of the low block like there's a force field around it or something. Never mind whether you do anything down there, they're not creating any room for their cuts, screens, anything, they're too bunched up & it's making things even easier for Villanova. Granted, I haven't watched them 20 times this year or anything but this looks odd enough to me that I would think I would have noticed it before now.

Coach says never turn down open three.

Wojo says put the iphone away and start slapping the floor.

SLAP-SLAP.

How's that working out for you?

The "open" part seems to be a good bit of the problem for the last several minutes.

The Arizona board thinks their spot will come down to Izzo, Cal, Pitino, Dixon, and Wright. Few is the backup plan right now. Cal might be the first one able to negotiate, but he could have thrown the game to get that fat paycheck from Kentucky. Probably the worst job in all of college sports

watching these two teams try to shoot free throws is just painful

You would think Memphis would have worked on FT's after what happened last year...guess you don't have to worry about that when you play in Conference USA

I picture Calipari starting most practices like this: "Hey guys, I have to go make a bunch of calls to recruits, all of you are leaving after this year anyway right? Yeah just run around a lot and play a pickup game or something for the next 30 minutes, and try not to get hurt. See you at the game tomorrow."

The funny thing is Memphis was close to 70% this year from the foul line, which isn't great but it's a lot better than last year.

So, Mizzou and 'Nova advance... I got one of those right to improve to about 50 percentile on ESPN. I sucked bad this year.

Mizzou has shown me a lot tonight... Them versus UNC would make for one hell of a high scoring game.

Looks like Duke needs to spend some time in the weight room in the off-season ... which begins in just a few minutes. The extent of the physical mismatch here is dramatic.

Duke has been that way for a few years.

I don't think it's been the weight room as much as the quick room, but you are right, Nova and Duke play the same game, but Nova is playing it faster and better.

I hope Memphis is channeling the spirit of Reggie Miller.

Christ, now I have to hear GoldenEagle bitch about the refs just because Memphis loss.

It looks more like the spirit of Reggie Evans....

I don't know, a lot of the blow-bys looked like they were as much just physical strength as quickness. I mean, I look quick against my 10 year old out in the driveway and some of the plays around 15 to 10 minute mark looked familiar.

Awesome. grats to mizzou fans.

Paulus should have played football.

M-I-Z!

I know my bracket has them losing to UConn, but screw the bracket at this point. :D

I wonder if there have ever been more than 3 teams from one conference in the Elite 8? I think there have been at least 3 before.

I thought defensively they looked really quick to me. They overplayed everything but never gave up a great look because of it.

I think the PAC-10 a few years ago? Stanford, Oregon, Arizona?

If somebody made the over/under for Big east Final 4 teams 2.5 right now, you'd have to take the over I think...They have one spot locked in with the East. Connecticut will be favored over Missouri. Louisville (who worries me) will be favored both games, on paper they ought to be something like a 35% chance to make the Final 4. Syracuse will be a dog twice, probably has something like a 20-25% chance to make it.

Bracketville: The Big Dance Bracket History (1985-present)

2003 Big 12 - Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas
2002 Big 12 - Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas
2000 Big 10 - Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan State (Michigan State wins)
1992 Big 10 - Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana
1989 Big East - Seton Hall, Georgetown, Syracuse
1988 Big 12 - Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma (Kansas wins)
1987 Big East - Georgetown, Providence, Syracuse
1986 SEC - Kentucky, LSU, Auburn
1985 ACC - North Carolina, Georgia Tech, NC State AND 1985 Big East - Georgetown, St. John's, Villanova ('Nova wins)

Don't forget '85 itself, when St. John's, Villanova, and Georgetown all made the Final Four. I think the title game in 1985 is probably the first non-WVU game that I ever watched. I was 7 or 8 years old and I somehow knew that Georgetown was supposed to be the team to beat and made a $5 bet with my dad that they would win. 'Nova pulled the historical upset and my dad left my $5 on the television set for over a week, but I never took it back. :)

If you asked me tonight? I 100% take the under. If Syracuse and Louisville both win tomorrow, then I'll take the over. But only if both win.

Everyone should go ahead and pick UConn. Vitale already had them in the final 4 on the radio on the drive home. Just like Memhpis, right guys?

Go Tigers! The incredible run continues!!!

2009 Big 12 and Big East? 7 of them?

Who was that f face who had Mizzou at the bottom? ;)

Great game tonight.. I missed most of the first half due to our soccer game, which we got smoked in.

Terrific game Missouri... again, coach Anderson has done one hell of job with this team. I was happy with a trip to the sweet 16, but the elite 8? Icing on the cake!!!

We'll see how we do against UConn...

Oh.. and goodbye Duke!

Not in the Elite Eight.

Missouri's there so far. OU has a shot, but has to get past Syracuse, so the Big 12/Big East will be losing one entrant in that game. Louisville could get there against Arizona. Kansas needs to get past Michigan State to get there.

UConn is there. Pitt is there. That's 2 and 1 so far, but of the remaining four, three at most can advance.

7 in the Sweet Sixteen, but no more than six combined in the Elite Eight. If Kansas gets past Michigan State and OU gets past Syracuse with Louisville taking care of business against Arizona, you'd have three from each conference. Otherwise, 4-and-2 is the best you'll see this year.

Right now it's all big 12 and big East. Pitt, UCOnn, Nova, and Mizzou. So they could get 7 of the 8.

You are right, I worked the math a bit, and I think it's something like a 40% chance to get three in if you make Louisville an 80-20 favorite tommorrow (which they are right now) and consider Cuse a toss up (1 pt line right now, I couldn't find a money line). If you then assume that both UConn and Louisville would be 60/40 favorites, and the Cuse would be a a 75/25 dog(If they see NC, they would be a favorite over Zaga I think), then you'd get 3 of them in ~41% of the time.

Ah, Nova. That's who I missed.

I'm now in the 99.5 percentile of ESPN.com for brackets.

Had 15 of 16 for the sweet sixteen. Got the four tonight for the elite eight.

That's pretty cool. After losing like ten opening round games I didn't think I had a good bracket.

:D

SI

I was watching the Mizzou-Memphis game with my wife and the local Mizzou alumni group. Really, really good game for Mizzou tonight. When you hit the half court three pointer, it's just your night. If Mizzou plays like they did tonight, they don't just win the next game, they win the next 3 and a shiny trophy. But I'm pretty sure that was their best game all year so they'll likely have to find other ways to win.

I still haven't seen a ton of them this year, but just a quick napkin sketch of what I've seen the first three tourney games with them and talking with some Mizzou alumns. They still need a better slasher and seem to lack some height but balance out those weaknesses by moving quicker than other teams (since they don't have a tall big man slowing them down) and spreading the floor.

The officiating was odd in the fact that the first 25 minutes were called really loose- very few fouls on either side. And then, starting with that stretch where Mizzou had 4 fouls called on them in 1 Memphis possession (since Mizzou couldn't get a rebound)- it got ridiculously tight for the last 15 minutes. Again, I thought it was reasonably even but it just was like someone hit a switch at one point and they went from really loose to really tight. That's why Calipari was so pissed in the first half- you know how we say stuff like "if it's called tight, the Big East team is in trouble, etc"- if you were Mizzou, that was the perfect way to call that game to play right into your hands. I had to say I was more shocked than anything about that.

SI

Color me very impressed with Mizzou and their coach. They are a fun team to watch. I got sucked in by the athleticism and talent of Memphis. I still think they are a very strong team, but it's hard to tell how a team will do when they just play a couple difficult games over 3 months before the Tourney. They made it to the finals last season and were beaten in the sweet 16 this season. I think I will always struggle to figure out Memphis as long as they are in Conf USA.

I've been a big fan of Nova and am beginning to like this Pitt team more and more. Levance "YMCA" Fields reminds me of Baron Davis after the knee injury. He looks like a guy you'd see at a YMCA pickup game, but he is just money on all big shots.

At this point, I'm not sure what you can say about the Big East to do the conference justice. I'm a west coast Pac-10 guy, but the quality (esp the defense) of UCONN, Pitt, Nova, Syracuse and Louisville is pretty impressive. I had 2 Big East teams in the final four and it's looking like 3 is going to happen fairly easily. Heck, I wouldn't count out Syracuse on making it a full 4-team sweep.

Let me just go ahead and thank Greg Paulus for posting here tonight. It seems nobody really appreciated those posts, but I found them quite good. So, thanks for that.

Hey Duke Haters,

You're welcome

Love,

The 'Nova Nation

:D

Agreed. I enjoyed them quite a bit, but I was 100% watching the Mizzou game on mmod and ignoring the Duke game(in part so I wouldn't see the score 30 seconds ahead in the MMOD broadcast). So I really had nothing to add, but it was quality stuff.

well that Duke loss put the first big hole in my bracket-had them going to the Final Four. Instead I'm amazed they made it past the first round based on how they played last night. At least I got the other three right.

Certainly no surprises for me last night. Memphis showed a lot of heart in coming back, but Mizzou was obviously much more prepared for the big moments when they came. Evans was a mixed bag, scoring 30+ while commiting 5 turnovers. Dozier played well. The rest of the Memphis team withered away under the Mizzou pressure. Fouls and free throws were a wash, as both teams fouled a lot and shot a low FT percentage.

I was surprised at just how effective Mizzou's pressure was against a team that claimed they wanted to run with Mizzou. Memphis players were all holding their shorts during each break by the 10 minute mark in the second half. People say they are prepared for Mizzou's pressure, but they don't truly have any idea until they get in the game. I think the decision to run with Mizzou was a huge tactical mistake by Calipari.

On to meet UCONN. I think that Mizzou matches up much better against UCONN than they did against Memphis. If he's smart, Calhoun will have to rest his bigs quite a bit. Obviously, Thabeet's impact will be somewhat minimized by the speed of the game. There's going to be several Mizzou possessions where he doesn't even make it down the court to the defensive end. Jay Bilas was a fool last night when he suggested that UCONN's game against Boston College somehow prepares them for this pace of play, especially given that they have 36 hours to prepare. It's not even on the same level of pace.

I do believe that Mizzou is the better team in this matchup.


102 points.


I looked up the turnover numbers from last night as you requested. Evans/Anderson = 11 turnovers.


Mizzou: 56% shooting from the field


You're certainly right about the numbers. 102-91 is a very clear statistic.


Pete Gillen called. He's got some great ideas on how to accurately model defense in a college basketball text sim if you're interested. :D


Good call on the bad stretch. Memphis was AWOL at times against the Mizzou pressure.


You couldn't be more correct. It could be easily argued that Mizzou is as good or better than Memphis and Kansas this year. 2-1 against those two teams.

I hate to do this but I think I actually am going to cheer for KU and OU tonight. I have a lot of Big 8 sentimentality and would love for this season to end up in the end being about the Big 12 instead of the Big East. Plus with the past couple of football games and basketball games between us a final four matchup would be icing on the cake. That said I won't lose any sleep if you guys get waxed by MSU. :)

I'm rooting for OU and KU this round, but not sure I want Mizzou to face KU in the semifinals. Self has done a good job of game planning for Mizzou in both of the previous games. I think I'd rather than Mizzou continue to face teams who don't have much familiarity with what they're facing when they step on the court against an Anderson-coached team.

Only reason I am rooting for KU is for a chance to win the rubber match. Otherwise don't mind them going down. (Not like anyone's going to all of a sudden respect the Big 10 for a win over KU)

I cant wait to see that boards reaction when they realize their top choices arent coming.

At least someone enjoyed the games last night.

I, too, will also be rooting for KU and OU tonight ;)

SI

Who had gracious in the pool? Sorry.

Congrats MBBF this must be pretty exciting for you.

ESPN is saying TBA for the times tomorrow. Have the times been been posted anywhere?

EDIT: I found the times on NCAA.com 3:40 EST Uconn/Mizzou & 7:05 EST Pitt/'Nova