The Morning Dish – Sunday, March 21st
East Rutherford Region
No. 4 Wake Forest 84, No. 12 Manhattan 80: It was a great battle of guards in Raleigh, a freshman against a senior, and the freshman won out as Chris Paul and Wake Forest knocked off Luis Flores and Manhattan, 84-80. Paul had 29 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, but the Demon Deacons (21-9) nearly blew a 48-35 halftime lead as the Jaspers (25-6) stormed back behind Flores, who had 20 points in the defeat. The Jaspers would eventually get within two on two occasions in the final two minutes, but the Demon Deacons had an answer each time.
No. 1 St. Joseph’s 70, No. 8 Texas Tech 65: St. Joseph’s vaunted backcourt came through when the Hawks needed them to, as Jameer Nelson and Delonte West combined for 27 points in the second half as they held off pesky Texas Tech. Nelson had 14 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, while West had 13 of his 15 points and added 8 assists for the Hawks (29-1), while the Red Raiders (23-11) got 18 points from Andre Emmett in his final college game.
Atlanta Region
No. 1 Duke 90, No. 8 Seton Hall 62: Duke shot over 54% from the field and went 34-38 at the foul line in routing Seton Hall, 90-62. The Blue Devils (29-5) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the seventh straight season with the win, getting 21 points from J.J. Redick and 20 from Luol Deng. Seton Hall (21-10) was led by 14 points each from Kelly Whitney and John Allen, as Andre Barrett had 8 points in his final college game.
No. 3 Texas 78, No. 6 North Carolina 75: Texas reached the Sweet 16 for the third straight year after holding off late rallies by North Carolina in a 78-75 win in Denver. The Longhorns (25-7) showed their depth advantage with a 34-7 edge in bench scoring and 11 different players scoring, with Royal Ivey leading the way with 17 points. Rashad McCants led North Carolina (19-11) with 27 points as the Tar Heels shot 38% from the field.
St. Louis Region
No. 10 Nevada 91, No. 2 Gonzaga 72: Nevada used a big first half on the offensive end to build up a 20-point lead, then continued to score with patience in the second half to upset Gonzaga, 91-72 in Seattle. The Wolfpack shot nearly 47% for the game and held the Bulldogs (28-3) to just over 37%, and they methodically scored in the second half to hold off the Bulldogs’ comeback attempts as Gonzaga would get no closer than eight points. All five starters reached double figures for the Wolfpack (25-8), led by Kevinn Pinkney (20 points and 8 rebounds), Todd Okeson (19 points, 7 assists), Kirk Snyder (18 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists) and Nick Fazekas (16 points, 10 rebounds). Cory Violette led Gonzaga with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Ronny Turiaf was limited to 15 minutes due to foul trouble, scoring 13 points.
Phoenix Region
No. 8 Alabama 70, No. 1 Stanford 67: Stanford’s run of dramatic finishes ended on Saturday after Alabama used a run of 16 straight points to take the lead for good before hanging on at the end for a 70-67 win in Seattle. The Crimson Tide (19-13) made 12 free throws in the final 62 seconds to hang on, though Earnest Shelton missed two free throws in the final seconds that could have put it away. Kennedy Winston led Alabama with a game-high 21 points and 7 rebounds, while the Cardinal (30-2) was led by 15 points and 11 rebounds by Justin Davis in his final college game. Stanford became the first No. 1 seed to be eliminated despite a 43-27 edge on the boards.
No. 5 Syracuse 72, No. 4 Maryland 70: Syracuse led by double digits for much of the second half, then nearly blew a 16-point lead before hanging on to beat Maryland, 72-70 in Denver. Maryland (20-12) made several runs to eventually cut the lead to 71-70 in the final seconds. Hakim Warrick led Syracuse (23-7) with a game-high 26 points and 9 rebounds, while Craig Forth had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Maryland got 16 points and 9 rebounds from Travis Garrison and 16 points and 8 rebounds from Jamar Smith.
No. 2 Connecticut 72, No. 7 DePaul 55: In a game featuring two coaches who spent years together on the sidelines in Storrs, Connecticut was never in serious trouble in their 72-55 win over DePaul in Buffalo. Neither team scored for the first 3:15 of the game, but once the scoring began it was all Huskies as they scored the first 11 points and later ran off 12 unanswered points and led by double figures the rest of the way. Ben Gordon had 18 points to lead four players in double figures for the Huskies (29-6), while Drake Diener led DePaul (22-10) with 15 points and 10 rebounds. The game featured DePaul head coach Dave Leitao, an assistant for Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun for 16 years at Northeastern and Connecticut after he played for Calhoun at Northeastern. Calhoun left the bench with an upset stomach in the second half, but was fine after the game.
NIT First Round Games: Two first round games in the NIT were held on Saturday. Villanova (18-16) got 23 points from Allan Ray and 21 from Randy Foye in its 73-63 win at Virginia (18-13). Boise State (23-9) held on for a 73-70 win over visiting Wisconsin-Milwaukee (20-11), getting 20 points from Aaron Haynes.
Tonight’s Menu
• In Orlando, No. 3 North Carolina State takes on No. 6 Vanderbilt (Phoenix region) and No. 2 Mississippi State takes on No. 7 Xavier (Atlanta region).
• In Columbus, No. 1 Kentucky takes on No. 9 UAB (St. Louis region) and No. 4 Cincinnati takes on No. 5 Illinois (Atlanta region).
• In Kansas City, No. 2 Oklahoma State takes on No. 7 Memphis (East Rutherford region) and No. 4 Kansas takes on No. 12 Pacific (St. Louis region).
• In Milwaukee, No. 3 Georgia Tech takes on No. 6 Boston College (St. Louis region) and No. 3 Pittsburgh takes on No. 6 Wisconsin (East Rutherford region).
