College Basketball Reference

By Adam Kiefaber

Highlights of WVU’s upset over Duke

No. 3 Xavier over No. 7 West Virginia (7:10 p.m.)
Honestly, I didn’t think either of these teams would be here. Both teams are similar in that they both feature a spread-out scoring attack. WVU forward Joe Alexander leads the Mountaineers with 16.8 points a game. Three other Mountaineers average over 10 points a game. XU forward Josh Duncan leads the Musketeers in scoring despite coming off the bench. While Duncan is technically the team’s sixth man, he still plays as much as a starter would, he averages 22 minutes a game. Five other Musketeers average over 10 points a game, so XU’s attack is more spread out. This game is toss up. I didn’t have either team here, but West Virginia is more of the surprise especially when I consider that I had XU losing to Georgia in the opening round. XU came back to win that game and should continue to roll into the Elite 8.
No. 4 Washington St. over No. 1 North Carolina (7:27 p.m.)
No one has the guts to pick this upset, but I actually think it will happen. UNC is favored to win by 8.5-points, but no team is playing as well as the Cougars are right now. In the first round, WSU defeated Winthrop 71-40. In the second round, WSU pounded Notre Dame 61-41. That’s two wins by a combined 51 points. UNC has been playing great in the tournament as well. The Tar Heels beat Mt. St. Mary’s 113-74 and Arkansas 108-77 (combined 70 points). However, the competition wasn’t nearly as good. UNC junior Tyler Hansbrough is the best overall college basketball player in the country and is going to have a good game. On the other side, WSU has the one of the best backcourts in college basketball, which is led by Derrick Low (14.1 ppg) and Kyle Weaver (12.1 ppg). In order to get the upset, WSU needs to limit the other Tar Heels (i.e. Wayne Ellington and Danny Green) to low-scoring efforts.
No. 1 UCLA over No. 12 Western Kentucky (9:40 p.m.)
Everyone this side of California or people that have UCLA winning it all in their brackets will be rooting for the Hilltoppers. WKU had the most memorable play in the NCAA Tournament with the game-winning shot against Drake (highlight below in another post). WKU guards Courtney Lee (20.4 ppg) and Tyrone Brazelton (24 ppg and five apg in tournament) could cause problems for UCLA. While the Bruins had trouble with Texas A&M in a sloppy game, they shouldn’t have any trouble with WKU. On paper, this UCLA team is unbelievable. The team has five potential star NBA players in Kevin Love (17.1 ppg, 10.6 rpg), Darren Collison (15.2 ppg), Josh Shipp (13.0 ppg), Russell Westbrook (12.6 ppg, 4.3 apg) and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (8.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg). It actually reminds me of when George Mason upset the University of Connecticut in a Elite Eight game in 2006. UCONN like UCLA was loaded and GMU like WKU was the surprise team in the tournament. I’ll be pulling for WKU, but this one should be over by halftime.
No. 3 Louisville over No. 2 Tennessee (9:57 p.m.)
This should be a great game, everyone predicted this No. 3/No. 2 game. However, who did you have winning this game when you filled out your bracket? Despite their poor showing in the SEC Tournament, I had the Volunteers winning this game, but at the same time I had UNC beating WSU (in my bracket). I’m changing my mind after watching Louisville beat up Oklahoma by a score of 78-48. The Cardinals are peaking at the right time. Tennessee, on the other hand, barely got by No. 7 Butler on Easter Sunday. Granted Butler had to be the strongest No. 7 seed in recent memory, UT is still not playing at the same level they were when they defeated Memphis on February 23rd. Since then they have lost two games (Vandy and Arkansas) and squeaked out wins against Kentucky, Florida, South Carolina and Butler. To make matters worse, UT guard Chris Lofton isn’t completely healthy. I like UL in a close hard fought game.

More from that WVU game - watch Cam Thoroughman bulldoze Gerald Henderson

This entry was posted Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 4:51 pm and is filed under NCAA Tournament. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.