Washington, D.C. Region – Regional Semifinals: No. 11 George Mason was in control from the outset against No. 7 Wichita State and rolled to a 63-55 win over the Shockers to advance to the Elite Eight. In leading wire to wire, the Patriots (26-7) held the Shockers to 32 percent shooting, including a 3-24 showing from three-point range. Folarin Campbell led four Patriots in double figures with 16 points, with Tony Skinn and Lamar Butler each adding 14 and Will Thomas scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds for his second double-double in the tournament. Paul Miller led Wichita State (26-9) with 16 points and nine rebounds.
If No. 1 Connecticut manages to win the national championship this season — and with fellow No. 1 Duke done, the Huskies are the clear favorite — junior point guard Marcus Williams easily will be the tournament’s most valuable player. Once again, with Connecticut in dire straits, Williams shouldered the responsibility for rallying the team. Connecticut beat No. 5 Washington 98-92 in overtime, but not before the Big East version of the Huskies needed to overcome another second-half double-digit deficit against the Pac-10’s Huskies.
Washington seemed in control of the game at 53-43 before Brandon Roy picked up his third personal foul, then followed that with a technical foul for talking trash in the face of Rudy Gay. Officials assessed a double technical, but that gave Roy four fouls. With Roy out of the lineup, Connecticut rallied. With less than 30 seconds remaining, Washington still led by four. Williams drove to the hole and picked up a foul while making a layup. After hitting the free throw to cut the lead to one, Justin Dentmon hit two free throws to give Washington a three-point lead. As time ran down, Williams dished to Rashad Anderson who hit a deep three-pointer from the wing to tie the score at 82, forcing overtime. By the end of the game, Washington had five players foul out, and Connecticut escaped with the victory. Williams scored a career-high 26 points in addition to eight assists and four rebounds. [3/24/06]
