Month: March 2009

Pittsburgh: Blair Powers Panthers Past Buccaneers

Sophomore forward DeJuan Blair was unstoppable for Pittsburgh, which needed his dominating inside presence to cover up for poor ball control in the Panthers’ 72-62 win against No. 16 East Tennessee State. Pittsburgh committed 18 turnovers, which allowed the Buccaneers to hang around for most of the game. Pitt did not stretch the lead to double digits until the final seconds of the game.

Missouri: Tigers Pull Away From Big Red

No. 3 Missouri worked its way past No. 14 Cornell 78-59 to move into the second round. The Tigers didn’t use any long run to blow open the game, they simply played consistent pressure defense that held the Big Red to 37 percent shooting. Senior forward Leo Lyons had a strong game for Missouri with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Oklahoma State: Eaton Delivers Win for Cowboys

Senior guard Byron Eaton charged through the lane and delivered an off-balance layup — and drew a foul — to give No. 8 Oklahoma State a 77-75 win against No. 9 Tennessee. Neither team led by more than three points in the final eight minutes in one of the most tightly contested games of the NCAA Tournament so far.