NCAA Tournament Running Commentary: Saturday Night Edition

Note: STONES! Want a fresh take on Kansas falling to the MVC's Northern Iowa? Avoid Subway. Check out analysis from ME right here.

If you're looking for analysis on the earlier matchups of the day, c-c-check it out.

East Region
#1 Kentucky vs #9 Wake Forest

UK's most notable fan, Ashley Judd, has to be enjoying this thorough bludgeoning of the Deamon Deacons.
Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Halftime score = Kentucky leads 44-28

Running commentary following the under-16 timeout...

-Al-Farouq Aminu commits his 3rd foul with 11:19 to go in the 1st half. Jay Bilas was wise to alert people to keep that time in mind. This is the same guy who went for 20 and 15 against Texas.
-DeMarcus Cousins is going to make a mistake. Question is, how big of one? Wake is trying to rattle him with hard fouls, moving screens, and elbows in the gut. Cousins is about to unleash an elbow or commit a rough foul. How will the refs react?
-Ish Smith blows a wide-open dunk. Didn't I mention earlier how he CAN'T miss easy shots tonight?
-I watch John Wall miss free throws and think Derrick Rose in 2008. Am I alone?
-Why is Calipari letting Patrick Patterson take 3-pointers? It's an idiotic option on such a loaded offensive group. If he starts shooting 4+ of those a game in the later rounds, Kentucky will lose at some point.
-Wake, down 29-24 with 5+ to go, needs to keep this under 7 or 8 with Aminu out, if possible.
-Keutucky's role players - two former starters now riding the pine - are the difference in this game thus far.
-Kentucky owns this arena. The fans are ballistic. Wake can't let this deficit stretch into double-digits.
-Put Wake to bed. They are a classic underachiever and Kentucky - unlike Texas - won't hand this one away. Kentucky may not see a true neutral court until Indianapolis.
-No need to say anything more, Wake is making me sleepy.

West Region
#2 Kansas State vs #10 BYU

Clemente's ability to get to the hoop, at lightning-fast speed, needs to be more of a constant in the 2nd half.
Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Halftime score = Kansas State leads 41-31

Running commentary, from the 2nd option game of the primetime lineup...

-BYU starts of 10-0. Hitting open shots is what the Cougars do.
-BYU doesn't rebound. You want to know a good way to catch up if you're Kansas State? 2nd and 3rd opportunities on offense and limiting good-shooting teams to 1-contested shot. Although KSU has missed some gimmes.
-Pullen took a nasty spill. The Cougar guard nipped his heel while reaching for the ball. That was a missed call that was completely unacceptable.
-Denis Clemente is fast as lightning, but he doesn't take it to the hoop and draw fouls enough.
-Greg Gumbel shouldn't call Jimmer Fredette, Jimmy. Then again, the name Jimmer is stupid. Yeah, I said it.
-Remember that BYU is one-win away from a regional semi-final in Salt Lake City. Gotta love that juicy location (ala Baylor in Houston).
-Still waiting for Domonique Sutton to establish a presence for a spurt or two.
-Kansas State caught up by rebounding the ball, pushing it up court and attacking the hoop, and by pushing Jimmer Fredette, whenever he touches the ball, to pass the ball.
-I love seeing the BYU (male) cheerleaders calling for traveling call. He may have gotten one right actually...
-Fredette has gone 13 minutes without a field goal. They are working him every inch he handles the ball. Frank Martin deserves a lot of credit for that defensive switch in strategy.
-BYU shouldn't try to run and gun with the Wildcats. Pullen is the most NBA-ready player on the court. It shows.
-CBS may be overworking Pullen's "hip-injury"? Then again, I can't blame them.
-19-4 run by Kansas State has them up 1:47. BYU isn't setting screens properly and can't break the press. THIS is why Kansas State was such a popular Final Four selection. Good thing they don't have to play Kansas a fourth time.
-BYU has 3 players with 3 fouls. All inside guys. The size and strength of Kansas State can't be understated right now.
-BYU has gone from up 10-0 to down 41-31. Wow.
-BYU has 3.2 seconds to take back some juju. Awful D from Kansas State leads to a near tip-in. Missed it by 0.1. Great effort though.

NCAA Tournament Running Commentary: Thursday Edition

Note: I will be in and out today with some observations from the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Feel free to comment and be aware that the MOST RECENT updates will be found at the top of the post, although nothing will be deleted from earlier action.

I give Gody a harder time than most (even Pay). Nevertheless...
HIS "defense" is among the worst in the post I've seen in years and Notre Dame is a BETTER team with him not on the court.
Credit: Yahoo! Sports

6:00 pm
Scroll down to check out updates for the first 4 finals of the day. ODU/ND, Nova/RM, BYU/Fla, & Murray State's heroics over Vandy. Hope you enjoyed the early session, as primetime doesn't look as enticing.

Brief updates...
-UTEP leads Baylor 29-24 as both teams close in on halftime. This was a POPULAR upset pick for the 12th-seeded Miners. Conversely, plenty of people have Butler going deep in this tournament.

West Regional
#2 Kansas State throttled #15 North Texas 82-62
No real surprise here whatsoever. Impressive opener for the Wildcats, who next draw BYU.

East Regional
#3 Baylor "defeated" Sam Houston State 68-59
First tourney win since 1950 for the Bears. To get another couple, they can't have a performance equal to this one.

#10 St. Mary's BALANCED #7 Richmond 80-71
Despite a competitive opening 20 minutes, the Gaels dominated the second half from start-to-finish. Inside they got 29 and 11 from big-man Omar Samhan and from the outside, 23 from Mickey McConnell (5-9 3's). Balance.

.......

5:05 pm

Brief updates...
-Baylor pulling away late over Sam Houston State. Very unimpressive debut for the Bears. State is 6-30 from the 3-point line. OUCH. Baylor looked quite stagnant and will need a lot more offensive flow to not fall into a game in the 50s against Old Dominion (see more below on the Monarchs).
-Richmond and St. Mary's are trading punches. The backcourt of Richmond is one of the top 10 in the country...seriously. Meanwhile, momentum for the Gaels behind 16 early points from Omar Samhan were quieted by 3 first-half fouls. This one should go down to the wire, especially if Samhan has "thriller arms" on defense. Spiders better double up in the paint until he does or things may start to turn against them. (Richmond has wins as a #12, #13, #14, and #15 seed. Even more surprising is this is the first time they've worn the white jerseys as the higher seed.)
-Kansas State is pummeling North Texas. Not much more needs to be said, right? BYU is likely taking copious notes.

West Region
#13 Murray State buzzerbeated #4 Vanderbilt 66-65
Danero Thomas' jumper, which left his hands with 0.6 ticks left, is the early highlight of the tournament. Murray State, a popular sleeper, should be given full credit for this win. Don't simply blame Vanderbilt (who had an insane backdoor cut to take the lead) or the SEC. A clutch shot and a great moment to remember, less than 5 hours into the tournament.

#7 BYU outlasted #10 Florida 99-92 (2 OT)
BYU led by as much as 11 with 8 minutes to go. Despite a stellar late comeback, Florida failed 't close out the Cougars, blowing multiple chances in regulation and in overtime. The Cougars controlled the second OT period, thanks in large part to the scoring duo of Jimmer Fredette (37 points) and Michael Loyd Jr. (26 points, 9-10 FTs). Kenny Boynton deserves a lot of credit for the Gators, catching fire late in the game. Fouling out may have been the final nail in the Gators' coffins. BYU lacks any interior rebounding presence. This will be a major issue WHEN they face Kansas State (North Texas is getting whipped).

South Region
#10 ODU CAAd #7 Notre Dame 51-50.
Pay said it best to me in a brief, yet poignant e-mail: Tyrone Nash barely played in the second half, and Gody has missed at least 3 bunnies. And (Gody) was poor on defense per usual. Good job by (ODU head coach Blaine) Taylor to switch the defense at halftime. Gody got his first basket with 12.6 remaining ... he sucks worse than ODU's ft shooting on 1-and-1s.
If you ask me, Notre Dame changed their style too late in the season. Once they were matched up with ODU, they played a team who employed that same ball-control strategy, with far more expertise at running it and far less reliance on the 3-ball. As for Gerald Lee (spotlighted by ME earlier today), he didn't erupt scoring-wise, but made some critical buckets down the stretch. Just as I expected. CAA strikes again!!!

#2 Villanova Chris Pauled #15 Robert Morris 73-70
A late 10-3 run, led by Scottie Reynolds, gave Villanova the last shot (or tip) in regulation...to no avail. Opening OT on a 6-0 run, the Wildcats withstood the best efforts of the Colonials to walk away with a narrow victory. Far more narrow than last year's mini-escape against American University. If the South bracket wasn't such a joke, Nova would be in more trouble than they are. That being said, Richmond/St. Mary's may pose an interesting matchup in the 2nd round (much more so than UCLA did last year). As for the context of "Chris Pauled", ask any Wake or VCU fan about 2003 and CP3's free throw barrage.