Another Great day on Saturday of NCAA March Madness with the most insanity coming in the conclusion of the Pittsburgh-Butler game. If you didn't see it, it is so hard to explain but I will do my best here. Pitt is leading by a score of 69-68 when Butler goes for the win on the last shot. They get a 4 foot bank shot to drop with just under 3 seconds to go for a 70-69 lead and a what appears to be a win. Pittsburgh is shocked and does not appear to know what to do. They inbound a long pass up near the half court sideline. It becomes a race between Gilbert Brown (Pitt) and Shelvin Mack (Butler) to the ball. Brown secures the ball and Mack runs into him enough to knock him off balance before he goes out of bounds. The refs call a foul and go to the monitors to review the time. Brown will get two shots and a chance to win it for Pitt. While the refs are at the monitors, Brown is waiting at the free throw line and Mack is standing in the lane about 3 feet away and jawing with Brown. It appeared at the time to be trash talk but he later stated that he was just having a casual conversation. The refs come back and put 1.9 seconds on the clock. Brown hits the first to tie it at 70-70 but misses the next. Butler rebounds the miss but Pittsburgh is called for a foul on the rebound. Butler (Howard) goes to the line with .9 seconds and sinks the first (71-70) and intentionally misses the second. Pitt bobbles the miss and fires a three quarter court shot that hits the rim. However, due to the bobble, time expired and the shot would not have counted. It was an emotional and crazy a finish I have seen in a tournament game. I felt bad for both teams however Butler proved they are a good team and belong among the best. They were out rebounded by Pitt by 10 boards and Pitt shot 52% from the floor and Butler still beat them. One of the main reasons was the outstanding individual performance of Shelvin Mack. Mack scored 30 in this game on 10-16 shooting from the field including 7 - 3 pointers. Mack is a strong, 6'3 215 guard that can shoot and up until this game was very underrated nationally. Watch how this all changes after tonight. With the loss Pitt becomes the first #1 seed to fall in the tournament. However, the other three (Duke, Kansas & Ohio St) still have their second games to be played on Sunday. Ohio St and Kansas are not in any jeopardy of losing but Duke could get challenged by Michigan. Duke and Michigan match up very well and have a lot of similarities with top point guard play (Irving, Morris) and very good perimeter shooters however Duke has the size advantage on Michigan and I think it all comes down to the team that is more effective in knocking down the perimeter shots.
I should probably watch my predictions, so far I have not been to accurate. In my prior blogs I said to watch out for a few teams who could upset or make a run. I called for Washington to make a run (still alive) St. John's, Vandy and UNLV were all bad calls as was Oakland and Penn State. Michigan is the only other one that has a chance to help my predictions out. Speaking of accuracy, I need to correct my post from yesterday, it was Brandon Knight and not Doron Lamb that scored the winning basket for Kentucky and his only two points of the game. This is a good segway into the next individual stand out performance in a Saturday game......Brandon Knight.
Brandon Knight from Kentucky, took the momentum he had from the winning basket with 2 seconds left to beat Princeton, and carried it over to Saturday. Brandon was another recipient of our Outstanding Individual Stand Out performances for Saturday. He scored 30 in leading Kentucky to a hard fought 71-63 win over West Virginia.
Our third recipient for Individual Performance Stand Out (IPSO) for Saturday is none other than Jimmer Fredette. Is it just me or doesn't all these references to his first name of "Jimmer" remind you of a Seinfeld skit. "Jimmer is unbelievable", "what time does the Jimmer show start for BYU", "Did you see Jimmer make that 38 footer". I think the best sign before the BYU - Gonzaga game was one that referenced NBA great John Stockton whose son David Stockton plays for Gonzaga. It said something like John Stockton is really here to see the Jimmer show.
A show is what Jimmer put on. Fredette scored 34 including some incredibly long bombs that were nothing but net. This guy can flat our shoot from anywhere inside the gym. There is no hesitate for him once he steps over half court. He led BYU to a surprisingly easy 89-67 win over favored Gonzaga.
IPSO award #4 goes to Kemba Walker from Connecticut who never seems to tire and just keeps getting it done. Kemba scores 33, including 14 of 14 at the charity stripe in helping Connecticut to come back from an early 10 point first half deficit to defeat Cincinnati, 69-58 and advance to the Sweet 16.
IPSO award #5 goes to the gutsy play of Florida's stocky PG Ervin Walker. He came up with some outstanding and clutch baskets down the stretch and was the difference maker in this game that helped Florida defeat UCLA 73-65. Walker scored 21 points on only 5-8 shooting from the field but that included 3 - 3 pointers and some acrobatic driving shots. His clutch shots down the stretch sent UCLA home for another year.
Our final IPSO award is probably the most deserving especially in a losing role. Kansas St guard Jacob Pullen became the all time scoring leader in K-State history by scoring his career high, 38 points, on 60% shooting from the field including 6 - 3 pointers. He played an unbelievable, never say die game but unfortunately for the Wildcats they came up a little short as Wisconsin hit the free throws down the stretch to beat them 70-65. Pullen was visibly shaken by the defeat following the game and it was clear that he left everything (blood, sweat and tears) on the court Saturday but he will not have to worry about his future... it will be in the NBA.
So once again the Individual Performance Stand Outs for Saturday
Shelvin Mack - Butler (30); Brandon Knight- Kentucky (30); Jimmer Fredette - BYU - (34); Kemba Walker - Connecticut (33); Ervin Walker - Florida (21); Jacob Pullen - Kansas St (38).
One final note before I head to bed to dream about what lies in store for us tomorrow, Wisconsin is 21-42 from 3 pt land in the first two games. If they keep shooting like this the Sweet 16 match up with Butler should be something to see.
Good night from Your Basketball SNOB
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