Sweet 16 recap

Louisville/Arizona (103-64)
This game turned out to be a whole lot bigger blow out than I thought it would be. I thought Arizona's Big Three could match up fairly well with the Cardinals, but I was sorely mistaken. Louisville came out of the gate with very high energy and didn't let up until the final buzzer sounded. The only thing that they really could have done a little better was get to the foul line a few more times, but if you are up by 20 at the half, I guess you can get away with only shooting 14 FTs in a game.

Michigan State/Kansas (67-62)
By far the most competitive game of the night, the Spartans of Michigan State battled back from a 7 point halftime deficit to take down defending champ Kansas 67-62. I guess if you step back and look at this game, it really isn't overwhelmingly surprising that Kansas and their limited experience let the game slip away against a more poised squad.

UCONN/Purdue (72-60)
The Huskies continued dominating their Tournament opponents last night as they cruised to a 72-60 win over Purdue. Hasheem Thabeet and fellow front-courter Stanley Robinson dominated the Boilmakers on the glass and in the paint, physically punishing them the entire game. It wasn't their greatest showing, specifically Jeff Adrian and AJ Price, but if they continue to play at that level and Adrian and Price get back to how they were the first two games, UCONN could very well be hanging another championship banner in the rafters.

Memphis/Missouri (91-102)
Missouri's attacking style was far too much for Memphis in this matchup. They played with more energy and hustle than any other team I've seen all year. Sure, they couldn't keep Tyreke Evans out of the lane to save their lives down the stretch, but they made more than enough of their fair share of plays on offense to put this game away. Two things that scare me about Missouri though, in their last two games, they've let huge second half leads evaporate to scary close margins, and two, how much longer can they keep up this relentlessly attacking pace? I love watching these guys play, but I'm just afraid that they are going to run out of gas towards then end of a close game.

Pittsburgh/Xavier (60-55)
Pittsburgh has been the most frustrating number 1 this whole tournament. They have shown the real grit and heart that they displayed up until the Tournament. I think getting a 1 seed may have went to their head. Anyway, they managed to come back in the final minutes to beat Xavier by 5, although it easily could have gone the other way had Xavier made just one or two plays towards the end of the game.

Duke/Villanova (54-77)
I, like many others, thought this game was going to be all about offensive firepower and be a ridiculous high scoring game. We couldn't have been more wrong. Duke's star players Gerald Henderson, Jon Scheyer, and Kyle Singler combined to shoot an ATROCIOUS 9-45 from the field (20%) and 4-21 from deep (19%). Sure part of this was on those players for their shot selection and just having an off game, but Nova's D suffocated them and didn't let them get any good looks the entire game so kudos to them. Nova looks like it could cause some serious problems for any team they face.

UNC/Gonzaga (98-77)
The Tarheels showed how dominate their team could be yet again tonight. Offensively they pushed the ball, got open looks, and hit their shots and defensively they forced Gonzaga to shoot a few more jumpers than they would have prefered as they waltzed onto a 21 point victory. As long as Lawson's toe is okay, UNC has as good a shot as any, maybe better, to get to and win the National Championship

OU/Syracuse (84-71)
In a game that was being dubbed by many one of the potential best games of the tournament, OU flat out dominated Syracuse instead. Blake Griffin, as usual, dominated the game on both ends, scoring 30 points to go along with his 14 boards. Junior sharpshooter Tony Crocker took over Willie Warren's normal spot as the Robin to Blake Griffin's Batman, scoring 28 points on only 17 shots. The most annoying player in college basketball, Eric Devendorf, decided to do absolutely nothing to help his team win, shooting just 3-12 from the field and 2-7 from deep with zero free throw attempts (he did get 4 steals, but I still hate him). We'll see on Sunday if Blake Griffin can continue to carry his team to greater hieghts against a very talented UNC team.