|
|
 |
NCAA Basketball News | March 14, 2010
|
Kansas earns overall top seed in NCAA tournament
By Eddie Pells
March 14, 2010
Kansas, Kentucky, Duke and Syracuse earned top billing and the No. 1 seeds for the NCAA tournament Sunday, with the Jayhawks named the top seed overall for the 2010 version of March Madness.
With all the conference tournaments complete, the NCAA selection committee rolled out its 65-team bracket, setting it up for millions of fans to start making their picks for what is annually America’s largest, three-week office pool.
Play starts Tuesday with an opening-round game between Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Winthrop, and the tournament goes into full swing Thursday.
The Big East led with eight teams, which ties their own record and is the third time the conference has put that many teams in the tournament. The Big 12 placed seven and the struggling Pac-10 only put two in the tournament. There were eight at-large spots given to teams from smaller conferences, double the number of last year.
Syracuse was ranked fourth of the top seeds and sent to the West Region. That was a surprise for the Big East regular-season champions, who were considered a lock for a top spot, while Duke was expected to vie with West Virginia for the final No. 1 seed.
Duke was ranked third and will play in the South region.
According to the committee, Kansas (32-2) is the favorite to win its second national title in three years.
Leading the Jayhawks in the Midwest Region are Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, two key pieces in the team’s 2008 title run. The Jayhawks earned the overall No. 1 seed based on an 18-1 record against Big 12 foes, which includes three wins over Kansas State, a team in the mix for a top seed until falling to KU in the conference final Saturday.
Kansas opens Thursday against No. 16 Lehigh in the Midwest regional. No. 1 seeds are undefeated in the first round since 1985, when the field first was expanded to 64 teams.
Other first-round games in the Midwest are: No. 8 UNLV vs. No. 9 Northern Iowa; No. 5 Michigan State vs. No. 12 New Mexico State; No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 13 Houston; No. 2 Ohio State against No. 15 UC-Santa Barbara; No. 7 Oklahoma State vs. No. 10 Georgia Tech; No. 3 Georgetown vs. No. 14 Ohio and No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 11 San Diego State.
In shaping the bracket, the selection committee didn’t include teams’ performances in their last 12 games—a longtime staple of its expansive criteria that was deemed as carrying too much weight.
But Syracuse (28-4) still took a bit of a hit, ranked fourth among the top seeds, behind Duke, and was sent to the West region. The Orangemen closed out the season on their first two-game losing streak and lost center Arinze Onuaku in a loss to Georgetown in the Big East quarterfinals. Onuaku is expected back for his team’s opener Friday against No. 16 Vermont.
Other West region games include No. 8 Gonzaga vs. No. 9 Florida State, No. 4 Vanderbilt against No. 13 Murray State and No. 5 Butler against No. 12 UTEP, one of the bubble teams. The other side of the bracket pits No. 2 Kansas State against No. 15 North Texas, No. 7 BYU against No. 10 Florida, No. 3 Pittsburgh against No. 14 Oakland and No. 6 Xavier against No. 11 Minnesota.
Along with UTEP, Minnesota and Florida were considered among the bubble teams most at-risk.
Led by freshman John Wall, Kentucky (32-2) won its 26th SEC tournament and is in good position for its eighth national title.
In his first year with the Wildcats, John Calipari became the first coach to post five straight 30-win seasons, and he’ll need six more to bring the first title back to the Bluegrass State since 1998.
Kentucky, winner of 13 of its last 14 games, opens Thursday against East Tennessee State. The winner of that game will play the winner of No. 8 Texas vs. No. 9 Wake Forest.
Other East region games: No. 5 Temple against No. 12 Cornell and No. 4 Wisconsin against No. 13 Wofford. The other side of the bracket has No. 2 West Virginia against No. 15 Morgan State and No. 7 Clemson against No. 10 Missouri, while No. 3 New Mexico plays No. 14 Montana and No. 6 Marquette plays No. 11 Washington, the Pac-10 tournament champion.
Duke and coach Mike Krzyzewski are seeking their first trip to the Final Four since 2004 and first national title since 2001. Led by Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler, the Blue Devils (29-5) have won 12 of their last 13 and will open Friday against the winner of the play-in game.
The rest of the South region: No. 8 California vs. No. 9 Louisville; No. 5 Texas A&M vs. No. 12 Utah State; No. 4 Purdue vs. No. 13 Siena; No. 2 Villanova vs. No. 15 Robert Morris; No. 7 Richmond vs. No. 10 St. Mary’s; No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 14 Sam Houston State and No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 11 Old Dominion.
Among the bubble teams missing the tournament were Virginia Tech, Illinois and Mississippi State, which lost twice in overtime to Kentucky, including a 75-74 loss in the SEC tournament final Sunday.
• NCAA Basketball News Archive Index
• NCAA Basketball Tickets
No. 2 Kentucky beats Mississippi St. 75-74 in OT
By Teresa M. Walker
March 14, 2010
Nashville, TN — John Calipari only had questions once he and his Kentucky Wildcats finished celebrating their Southeastern Conference tournament championship.
“How did we win this game? How did we go to overtime? I don’t know,” Calipari said.
Credit his fantastic freshmen who scored to get them to overtime and then won the game, even if they celebrated a little prematurely.
John Wall scored seven of his 15 points in overtime, and No. 2 Kentucky rallied from five down with 2:28 left in regulation to beat Mississippi State 75-74 on Sunday. The Wildcats rewarded their faithful by adding their 26th SEC tournament championship and an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament to their 44th regular season title.
Two down, one to go?
That might be why the Wildcats ran around the arena waving and yelling with their fans without ever cutting down a net.
“We will cut down nets,” Calipari promised. “It’s just not the SEC tournament nets. Maybe hopefully in the NCAA tournament somewhere, but I think these guys they have a big picture. … This is a game we should’ve lost.”
The Wildcats (32-2) blew earlier chances with freshmen Wall and DeMarcus Cousins missing free throws and making youthful mistakes. But they came through over the defending tourney champs as Cousins’ layup off Wall’s missed 3-pointer from the right corner beat the regulation buzzer to give them some extra time.
Wall did miscalculate. He thought the Wildcats had won on Cousins’ shot and tackled the 6-foot-11, 270-pound forward to the court near the press table, celebrating a wee bit early.
“I was so excited,” Wall said. “When I went to the bench, Coach said, `It’s overtime.’ I was like, `Whew.’ I was tired. I knew we fought hard. I didn’t play a great game, but I did a great job of leading my team.”
Cousins knew he had forced overtime even if his teammates didn’t as they followed Wall’s lead and swarmed him on the floor.
“So I got kind of beat up at the end thanks to John,” Cousins said with a smile.
Now Kentucky can celebrate its first SEC tournament title since 2004, ending an interminable drought for their fans who now expect another national championship.
Mississippi State (23-11) lost for the second time to the Wildcats this season after leading late in regulation. The Bulldogs blew a seven-point lead on Feb. 16, and lost that game 81-75 in overtime.
“Any person watching that game, how could you not be just absolutely amazed what these guys did against one of the most talented teams in the country?” Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said. “We had our opportunities to close it out. That’s part of the game. … And I can promise you, there’s not one ounce left in them.”
This time, the Bulldogs led 62-57 on Ravern Johnson’s 3 with 2:28 left. That set up a furious finish to a game that had gone back and forth from the opening tip.
Barry Stewart, a senior from nearby Shelbyville, Tenn., hit both free throws with 8.2 seconds left to push the Bulldogs ‘lead to 64-61. He fouled out, sending Eric Bledsoe to the free throw line. He hit the first, missed the second and Wall’s 3-point attempt was well short. But Cousins put it back, getting the shot off before the buzzer.
Officials immediately signaled that the shot counted, and Wall and Cousins celebrated with their teammates piling on as if they had won. They finally went back to the bench while officials reviewed the play.
“Time never ran out seemed like,” Stewart said of the end of regulation. “Longest 4.9 seconds of my life.”
As the Bulldogs slumped and Kentucky celebrated, overtime seemed destined to go the Wildcats’ way. Even then, it wasn’t easy.
Bledsoe’s jumper put them ahead to stay at 71-69 with 1:20 left, and Wall’s lone 3-pointer of the game pushed it to 74-71 with 26 seconds remaining. Cousins hit two free throws with 5 seconds to go that wound up the winning margin as Riley Benock hit a 3 just before the buzzer to start the celebration fans had been waiting for since Calipari was hired last spring.
It was the first time since 1952 that the SEC championship had been decided by one point.
Bledsoe, another member of Calipari’s first recruiting class, finished with 18 points. Patrick Patterson had 15, and Cousins finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Johnson scored 20 points to lead Mississippi State. Jarvis Varnado added 18 and spent much of the overtime upset at the lack of foul calls as he tried to drive to the basket. Dee Bost had 16 points, and Stewart added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
“That’s what you’re going to get when you play against Kentucky,” Varnado said. “They’ve got some big guys (Daniel) Orton, Patterson and Cousins.”
Mississippi State came to this event for a second straight year knowing the best—and likely only—way of earning an NCAA tournament trip was by winning the automatic berth. The Bulldogs did it last year by winning four games in four days, and this season they had a bye to keep them even more rested for the final.
Kentucky leads the series 86-20 and the Wildcats had been even better in this tournament, going 8-2 with the Bulldogs’ biggest win back in the 1996 finals when they beat Kentucky for their first SEC title.
The Bulldogs blew a chance to beat Kentucky in Starkville on Feb. 16. The Bulldogs led by seven with 3 minutes left only to be taken into overtime when Wall scored five of his 18 points to rally the Wildcats to an 81-75 win. That game was marred near the end when upset fans threw cups filled with ice and water bottles onto the court.
• NCAA Basketball News Archive Index
• NCAA Basketball Tickets
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
