The Morning Dish – Monday, March 29th
Duke Ends the X-Factor: No. 1 Duke guaranteed that a number one seed would reach the Final Four yet again, as the Blue Devils held off the upset-proficient Xavier Musketeers, 66-63. No. 7 Xavier upset No. 2 Mississippi State and No. 3 Texas and had an opportunity to become the first team to ever knock off each of a region’s top three seeds to reach the Final Four. But the Blue Devils overcame a rough first half to end Xavier’s month-long hot streak.
With two teams filled with deadly long-range sharpshooters, this game easily could have slipped into an offensive war with the hottest team holding on to win. But from the start, this game clearly would be won by better defense. Neither team allowed a field goal until nearly four minutes had expired. The score remained 1-0 for the better part of three minutes. For the rest of the first half, Duke and Xavier traded possessions of great defense. Duke looked to carry a 28-27 lead into the half when sophomore Dedrick Finn sprinted down court and drained a three pointer as time expired, giving Xavier a 30-28 lead at the break.
In the second half, Xavier maintained a slight lead. Seniors Romain Sato and Lionel Chalmers were the Musketeers’ reliable workhorses. Chalmers finished with a team-high 17 points, and Sato scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. But Duke’s defense held Xavier’s sharpshooters in check for most of the second half. Offensively, the Blue Devils pounded the ball inside to sophomores Shelden Williams and Shavlik Randolph. The result was that Xavier’s senior Anthony Myles could not keep the two from scoring and fouled out with more than 12 minutes remaining. Xavier kept the game close, and each team flirted with pulling away from the other until late in the game when one team finally did. Freshman Luol Deng took over. Deng grabbed two of the most important rebounds in this tournament on the offensive end. The first rebound led to a kick out to sophomore J.J. Redick who drained a wide open three pointer. On the next possession, Deng soared through the lane to tip an offensive rebound in and give Duke a comfortable lead down the stretch. Sato’s basket with .8 seconds remaining merely trimmed a five-point lead to three. The Musketeers had no miracles left, and Duke moves on to the Final Four for a cosmic clash of superpowers as the Blue Devils play No. 2 Connecticut in the second national semifinal game Saturday.
Kansas Gets to Know Jack: No. 3 Georgia Tech had several hurdles to pass to beat No. 4 Kansas and reach the Final Four. The Yellow Jackets played with a gimpy leading scorer, junior B.J. Elder. They played what amounted to a road game against Kansas in St. Louis, where thousands of rowdy Jayhawk fans clamored for a third-consecutive Final Four appearance. Those appearances gave Kansas an advantage in postseason experience, while Georgia Tech’s players tasted the pressure of a regional semifinal for the first time. The Yellow Jackets had plenty of excuses for failing to reach the Promised Land.
But sophomore Jarrett Jack refused to offer any excuses. He came to St. Louis to win. And he led Georgia Tech to a 79-71 overtime win against the Jayhawks, scoring a career-high 29 points. He added nine rebounds, six assists and four steals to complete one of the best individual performances in this tournament. Jack needed to step up as Elder played only 12 minutes and scored no points because of an ankle injury he suffered the other night against No. 10 Nevada. Jack and company built an 11-point first half lead as the Yellow Jackets’ defense shut down Kansas’ premier weapons – juniors Wayne Simien and Keith Langford. But after halftime, Kansas rallied as the Jayhawks slashed through Georgia Tech’s defense. Simien finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds, with most of those points coming after the break. Langford finished with 15 points and helped spark the comeback, but he fouled out and could not help Kansas in overtime.
To get to overtime, Kansas rallied in the final minute. Jack made 1-of-2 free throw attempts, giving the Yellow Jackets a 66-63 lead with about 30 seconds remaining. Kansas worked for two points but could not get a good look. The rebound bounced to senior Jeff Graves, who popped the ball out to freshman J.R. Giddens, who stroked the game-tying three pointer that sent the game into overtime. But in overtime, Jack and the Yellow Jackets were too much, holding Kansas to just five points en route to the 79-71 win. Georgia Tech will meet Oklahoma State in the first national semifinal Saturday.
UTEP Calls the Doc: UTEP announced that the next Miners head coach will be assistant Doc Sadler. He replaces former coach Billy Gillispie, who guided the team to a 24-8 record, second-place WAC finish and NCAA Tournament appearance. Gillispie moved on to coach Texas A&M, which failed to win a single game in the Big XII this season. Gillispie and his staff coached the Miners to a great season, despite many critics’ beliefs that the team needed one more year to develop before coming a contender. With the return of five of the team’s seven players who average at least 10 minutes per game, Sadler inherits a well-stocked pantry of talent.
Tonight’s Menu:
• There are two more Final Four spots up for grabs tonight – women’s Final Four spots that is. The men take the night off, and the women will take center stage as No. 1 Penn State will look to knock off the defending national champions, No. 2 Connecticut. Later, take your pick of SEC teams as No. 3 Georgia plays No. 4 LSU for the right to go to New Orleans.
