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Kansas Eliminates Ohio State in the Final Four

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 20:47:52 +0000

In a game that was in the hands of Ohio State, Kansas comes surging back to advance to the National Title game against Kentucky. The final score was 64-62.

: Mar 31, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Elijah Johnson (15) shoots as Ohio State Buckeyes guard Aaron Craft (bottom right) defends during the semifinals of the 2012 NCAA men

Kansas led for a grand total of 3 minutes, 48 seconds and that was all it took to beat the Buckeyes. No one was really expecting the comenack, but that’s March Madness for you. Always expect the unexpected.

“It’s a dream to play the best team in the country, up ’til now, hands down, the most consistent,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “It’s a thrill. And I think it’s even more of a thrill for us, because I don’t think anybody thought we could get here.” -ESPN.com

Kansas’ Thomas Robinson finished with 19 points and 8 rebounds to help the Jayhawks come from behind. Clutch free throws from Tyshawn Taylor and Travis Releford gave this Kansas team the edge in the end of the game.

Ohio State’s William Buford had 19 points on 6 for 10 from the floor last night. He was 13-44 from the field in the tournament entering the game last night. But he stepped it up and almost led OSU to a National Championship berth.

Here’s the box score of the game.

Ohio State Buckeyes
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Jared Sullinger, F	39	5-19	0-2	3-4	6	11	2	1	3	2	3	13
Deshaun Thomas, F	23	3-14	1-7	2-2	2	4	1	0	0	1	4	9
Aaron Craft, G	40	4-11	2-3	1-1	0	0	3	3	0	2	2	11
Lenzelle Smith, Jr., G	34	2-5	2-5	4-4	0	4	2	1	0	2	1	10
William Buford, G	35	6-10	3-5	4-4	2	7	1	1	0	3	3	19
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Sam Thompson, F	12	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	2	1	0	3	0	1	0
Amir Williams, C	3	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0
Evan Ravenel, F	14	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	2	1	0	1	1	3	0
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
		20-59	8-22	14-15	10	30	11	7	7	12	17	62
		33.9%	36.4%	93.3%

Kansas Jayhawks
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Thomas Robinson, F	35	8-18	0-0	3-6	3	8	0	1	0	2	1	19
Jeff Withey, C	34	2-4	0-0	0-0	1	8	0	1	7	4	2	4
Travis Releford, G	38	5-7	1-1	4-4	2	6	1	2	0	0	1	15
Tyshawn Taylor, G	37	3-11	0-3	4-4	0	3	9	1	0	5	1	10
Elijah Johnson, G	28	6-9	1-3	0-0	1	10	1	0	0	4	4	13
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Conner Teahan, G	17	1-5	1-4	0-0	1	1	2	0	0	0	2	3
Kevin Young, F	11	0-2	0-0	0-0	4	5	1	0	1	2	4	0
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
		25-56	3-11	11-14	12	41	14	5	8	17	15	64
		44.6%	27.3%	78.6%

Both Final Four games were close, and all teams should be proud the way they played. I haven’t seen heart/ effort like that in a long time. That’s a great thing to see.

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Notre Dame vs Xavier Preview

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:56:48 +0000

Notre Dame will take on the Xavier Musketeers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The game should be a very close game, a number 7 seed playing a number 10 usually brings in intense match-ups.

Notre Dame will be led by back-court specialist Jerian Grant and Eric Atkins, both are young underclassmen that will be a little inexperienced for the Big Dance. However, the boys have played mostly every minute of every game for Mike Brey’s squad this season. If both guards contribute, Notre Dame will win this game. If either one lags off, the Irish will have to rely heavily on Jack Cooley.

Mar 9, 2012; New York, NY, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Jerian Grant (22) during the first half of the semifinals against the Louisville Cardinals at the Big East Tournament held at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-US PRESSWIRE

For Xavier, Tu Holloway is the guy to watch. I love the way he plays and the talent level he brings to the Musketeers. If he scores around 20 points and 5 assists, he lead the team to a victory. I truly think Notre Dame will contain him, but Notre Dame defense may have an “off” game.

Score Prediction:

Notre Dame 73, Xavier 66.

I think Notre Dame will be too much for #10 Xavier. However, Notre Dame will have to face off against Duke (pending if they win against Lehigh) in North Carolina, so the Irish may be heading home early as well.

Gametime: 9:45pm ET

Channel: CBS

Location: Greensboro, NC

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Notre Dame vs Georgetown Preview

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 19:06:59 +0000

Today is the most important day of Notre Dame’s season so far. They will face 11th ranked Georgetown at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. Notre Dame can secure their quarterfinal berth to the conference tournament with a win against Georgetown and providence this week. Both have to be wins or else Notre Dame will need serious help from other teams.

Both Notre Dame and Georgetwon are coming off losses this past week. Notre Dame feel to Saint John’s while Georgetown lost to Seton Hall. If Georgetown wins tonight against the Irish, they could be well on their well to a double-bye as well.

Key to the game for ND:

Last Saturday against Saint John’s, the Irish went 4-31 from 3-point land. So I’m looking for a big step in their perimeter shooting tonight. If Notre Dame can get around 40% from downtown, I expect them to win. This won’t be an easy game, but shooters Jerian Grant and Scott Martin will have to step up.

Players to watch:

For Georgetown, Hollis Thompson will be the guy to watch. He should play over 30 minutes today and score around 14 points. He has the second highest rebound average on the team and can shoot free-throws very well, just over 71% from the line this year. Expect him to match up with Cooley down low.

For Notre Dame, look for Jerian Grant. Like I said earlier, his perimeter shooting will be vital for ND. If he can get 15-20 points and shoot very well from behind the 3-point line, I fully expect him to be the player of the game.

Score Prediction:

Notre Dame 65, Georgetown 61

Head coach Mike Brey knows what he’s doing, I am very confident that the Irish will bounce back and get this road win we desperately need for the Big East Tournament.

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