1st Round Scores:
Eddie Griffin Region:
(4) Marquette 11
(5) Arkansas 1
Absolute domination to open the tournament. Between Deiner draining threes and Dwyane throwing it down, even with a great scorer in Joe Johnson, the Razerbracks never had a real shot.
Key Stats:
Marquette:
Novak - 5 pts/3 rbs.
Wade - 4 pts/2 asts.
Arkansas:
Johnson - 1 pts/1rbs.
Bobby Phills Region:
(1) UNC 11
(8) Stanford 4
UNC looks like they're going to run away with the game but the prototypical point guard, Brevin Knight, is keeping it close. I kind of feel bad though, watching the much taller VC posting up Knight, and guiding UNC to a 5-3 lead. The UNC fans don't stay loud for long though, as Josh Childress throws the ball through Sheed's legs (I'm surprised he didn't get shot) and jams it home. Unfortunately, this game becomes a blow out very quickly after Jamison hits three straight put-backs to basially seal the win.
Key Stats:
UNC:
Jamison - 8 pts/3 rbs/1 ast/ 1 stl (8/8 FG)
Carter - 2 pts/2 asts/2 stl
Wallace - 1 pts/3 rbs/3 asts
Stanford:
Childress - 2 pts
Collins - 2 pts/4 rbs
(2) Duke 11
(7) Gonzaga 2
Duke takes a quick 5-0 lead thanks to Grant Hill's solid ball distribution. The next play can only be described as the longest post-up seaquence in the history of basketball: Elton Brand, posting up Ronny Turiaf, fakes left and right for a good eighty seconds (I am not joking) before banging out a turn around jumper. At last, Gonzaga gets the ball, via a rebound, and we finally have a chance to see the one true mismatch of this game, THE Scoring Machine vs. Carlos the traitor Boozer. Morrison easily drives past Boozer, however he finds the force known as Elton Brand in his way, ready to slap his shot away. Morrison does manage to score some points, via some long Morrison jumpers, but in the end they simply could compete the size of the Blue Devils.
Key Stats:
Duke:
Hill - 5 pts/ 3 rbs/ 2 asts
Boozer - 1 pts/1 rbs/3 blks
Brand - 5 pts/2 rbs/1 asts/2 blks
Gonzaga:
Morrison - 2 pts/3 rbs
Turiaf - 3 TOs
(3) UCLA 11
(6)Utah 6
Baron is putting his team on his back and has UCLA out to a quick lead, but Utah fights back and ties the game at 4-4 with a back door pass from Miller to Bogut. After Utah takes 6-5 lead thanks to a couple of Andre Miller jumpers Davis and friends roll off six straight en route to a 11-6 victory.
Key Stats:
UCLA:
Davis - 5 pts/1 rbs/1 asts (4/7 FG)
Gadzuric - 5 pts (5/6FG)
Kapono - 1 pts/3 asts/2 stls
Utah:Miller - 4 pts/1 asts
Bogut - 2 pts/4 rbs/2 blks
Bison Dele Region:
(1) Arizona 11
(8) Minnesota 7
In typical fashion, Gilbert makes the play of the tournament so far, splitting two defenders and driving right by a third for an easy lay in. The next few minutes were followed by a lot of turnovers until Joel Przybilla (who knew!) took over and led the Golden Gophers back tie the game at five a piece. Despite the valient effort, Agent Zero simply will not let his alma mater go down, as he dishes and swishes the Cats to a 10-5 advantage, capped by a long-range bomb, shortly followed by a Jefferson lay-up to seal the victory.
Key Stats:
Arizona:
Arenas - 6 pts/3 asts/2 stls
Iguodala - 4 pts/6 rbs/5 asts (5 TOs)
Jefferson - 1 pts/ 5 rbs
Minnesota:Pryzbilla - 5 pts/ 6 rbs/ 1 asts/3 stls/2 blks
(2) Texas 7
(7) Cincy 11
Early on Kenyon Martin is exhibiting the type of passion for his Bearcats that he never really showed as an NBA player, soaring through the air for rebounds and diving for loose balls. Durant is keeping Texas in this game as he shoots straight over Maxiell for a long two, tying the game at five. With the game tied at 7-7, Cincy displays solid fundamental skills, as Patterson feeds Maxiell backdoor for an easy jam to give them the lead. From this point on, it looked like Texas basically gave up. Ruben Patterson, who put together an all-around solid effort, scored the last two buckets of the game as Cincy shocked Texas, 11-7.
Key Stats:
Texas:
Aldridge - 3 pts/3 rbs
Durant - 3 pts
Cincinnati:
Maxiell - 7 pts/2 rbs
Martin - 1 pts/5 asts
Patterson - 3 pts/2 asts/2 stls
Len Bias Region:
(3) Michigan State 11
(6) Maryland 9
We had a huge Maryland fan in the house for this game so as anticipated, the atmosphere was better than for any other previous contest. Michigan State is showing their thug side early, as Randolph absolutely Hacks Blake, but it's cool because it's street ball. After a span of five minutes where the teams traded baskets, Chris Wilcox showed a side of himself that is not likely to be seen in teh NBA any time soon, drilling two jumpers and slamming a couple home to give the Terps an 8-6 lead. Unfortunately, it was all down hill from their for Rob and his boys as
Michigan State proved to be too talented and squeaked by 11-9 led by 6 points by Zach Randolph. (Anticipate a column on how he is the worst human being in the world in the near future.)
Key Stats:
Michigan State:
Randolph - 6 pts/7 rbs/2 asts/1 stls/1 blks
Richardson - 2 pts/2 rbs (2-9 FG)
Bell - 4 TOs
Maryland:
Wilcox - 8 pts/4 rbs (8-10 FG)
Blake - 3 Stls
Francis - 0 pts/2 rbs/6 asts
(4) Washington 11
(5) Illinois 9
Deron started the game off with two quick buckets and had Illinois set on a sweet sixteen berth. Nate then showed us why he is the Knicks' mascot, throwing the ball through a guy's legs en route to a jam. Much to Evan's pleasure, his boy Spencer Hawes hit three straight shorties to give the Huskies a 5-2 lead. Illionois would not go away though, as through some excellent ball movement, they reeled off five stright to give them a 7-5 lead. After Hawes and Roy Illinois' poor defense, Williams goes into fourth quarter mode, drilling a tough fallaway jumper and pulling the Illini within one, 10-9. Unfortunately for Deron though, neither Cook nor Head, proved able to defend the force known as Spencer Hawes, as he fittingly jammed home the final basket for a 11-9 final.
Key Stats:
Washington:
Hawes - 6 pts/2 asts
Roy - 4 pts/1 rbs/3 asts
Robinson - 1 pts/4 asts
Illinois:
Head - 4 pts/1 rbs/3 asts
Williams - 3 pts/2 rbs/1 asts
Cook - 2 pts/1 rbs/3 asts
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