- Duke 73, Michigan 71.... Well, this one hurt my soul... the Wolverines trailed by 15 in the 2nd half, and 12 with under 7 minutes to go before staging a furious rally... Michigan lead guard Darius Morris missed an open floater with 5 seconds remaining that would've tied the game and likely sent things to OT... Being the rational fan that I claim to be, I know full-well that Duke was the better team, but it did make my heart warm to see Michigan hoops in relevancy, and knowing that the team graduates no seniors (and SHOULD see no early defections, come on Darius and Tim)... Encouraging signs... for Duke, survive and advance... I think they matchup well with Arizona too....
- A couple bizarre endings... North Carolina sneaks past Washington thanks to a 2nd half surge... but the story was the ending... Venoy Overton took a half-court wrong-handed heave with 3 seconds to go which was inexplicably touched by John Henson.. resulting in an inbounds with 0.5 seconds to go (controversial) that saw Isaiah Thomas shoot a fadeaway jumper for the tie that fell off the rim (and his feet were inside the 3-point line anyway)... and that was that... most of the discussion will center around that ending, but in short, Overton made 2 ridiculous plays (the possession previous, he took an ill-advised/contested lay-up into 2 guys) and that was what hurt Washington... overall, the Huskies played well (even outrebounding UNC) but couldn't make enough plays down the stretch... and Arizona plows ahead... an utterly wild sequence to end this game 70-69 winners... there was a questionable 5-second call, a gigantic and-1 layup by Derrick Williams (the clincher), and Texas being out-coached... only one of those things is surprising... hilarity... anyway, a huge win for Arizona, and the Rick Barnes legacy continues...
- The surprises.... VCU lays the wood on Purdue... 94-76 was a shocking score for me, but VCU led by 20 throughout the 2nd half and Purdue never really made a run... the Rams shot 57% from the field and put up 94 points (ridiculous)... tough way for the careers of Moore and Johnson to end, but VCU is a nice story... the other surprise was Florida State beating up on Notre Dame.. swarming D from the 'Noles held ND to 31% from the field, and 7-30 from distance... Ben Hansborough was 5-13, and Carleton Scott shot 1-10... big-time stuff from FSU even without anything from Chris Singleton... Leonard Hamilton played 10 guys significant minutes, and never let up...
- Marquette wins a Big East battle... 66-62 winners over Cuse... I'm not sure how though... Syracuse shot 55% from the field... and lost?... 18 turnovers was a big cause of that, and Marquette got to the line at 3x the rate (19-23 to 5-7)... they made play after play down the stretch...
- The Number Ones advance... Ohio State put on an exhibition... 61% from the field, 62% (!) from 3, only 9 turnovers, and 98 points.... David Lighty was out of his mind, and freshman PG Aaron Craft had 15 dimes... off the bench... insanity.... and Kansas pulls away late... 73-59 over Illinois thanks to dominant play from the Morris Twins (41 and 24 combined)... there's so much talent on that roster it's scary... Illinois just couldn't match it...
Elsewhere...
- Baseball stuff... It's never too early... Oliver Perez was finally (and mercifully) released by the Mets after still being owed $12 million... that's how bad he is... Philadelphia is looking to sign recently-cut Luis Castillo... presumably to be Utley-insurance and provide depth... there are significant lineup issues for Philly right now... and Jake Peavy had a set-back in his rehab over the weekend... FYI for fantasy guys drafting this week....
- Barry Bonds trial begins today... the stock answer is... "wait, what?"....
- NBA Check - The Hawks won a basketball game... 104-96 over Detroit at home... That's all I got... New York is struggling... losing in Milwaukee 100-95 despite Amare's 25 and 11... giving up 100 to Milwaukee is a feat right now in itself... Sacramento throttled Minnesota in Minnesota... by 32... It's not good in Minny... Kyle Lowry put up his first career triple-double in monster fashion... 28 points, 11 boards, 10 assists to lead Houston to another win... and in the same game, Kevin Martin shot 18 of 18 from the line... Dallas clinches a playoff spot by holding GSW to 73 points... that's impressive defensively... and LA knocks off Portland 84-80... the Lakers are scorching right now, and they held Portland to just 32 points in the 2nd half... balance...
What to watch for on Monday...
- Celtics @ Knicks - 7:30 NBA-TV - New York on a back-to-back... they really need a win right now...
- NIT... If you desperately need college hoops... Missouri State vs. Miami (7:00 ESPN), New Mexico vs. Alabama (9:00 ESPN), and OK State vs. Wazzou (11:30 ESPN2) are the options...
Slow day... recovery...
2 comments:
Good call on holding to Wisconsin for a while. I cannot lie and say I would have liked to see Michigan over Duke but it helps my bracket better this way. Hoping to do better in the sweet 16 this year and also hoping the Gators can pull revenge on the Jimmers and BYU.
Thanks for the updates brother, are you doing any fantasy baseball this year?
-Jesse
I'm in a couple leagues... but always room for more if you have any openings lol
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