THE GAME EVERYONE TALKED ABOUT (SORT OF)

Hoya Saxa, Bitches
#10 Georgetown 70, #21 Marquette 68 (OT)

In back rooms and dark robes across the land, Jesuits with steepled hands nodded with approval at this matchup even as it showcased all that is good and bad with college basketball. The good – exciting play down the stretch, star power with Roy Hibbert, and a loud presence by the fans from “the good land.” The bad – Georgetown throwing the game away (literally) with 20 turnovers, Marquette countering with pisspoor shooting, and Tom Crean chugging Diet Pepsi on the sideline. Because just that’s weird, dude.

Future lawya Jonathan Wallace led the way for the Hoyas with his usual combination of scrappy defense, clutch shooting, and boneheaded turnovers that kept the game close. John Thompson III displayed the proper attitude towards the game and the Big East regular season after the game by saying they Hoyas “will count their money when [the season] is done.”

That kind of quote, of course, gives us all the excuse we need to post this ridiculous video.

TWO WINS THAT SHOULD SCARE THE BEJESUS OUT OF COACHES AND FANS

History, Talent, Refs Overwhelm Pack
#6 Duke 87, N.C. State 86

For the first 35 minutes, N.C. State did everything necessary to beat the more talented Floorslappers – fought for high percentage shots (resulting in 54% shooting), created open looks from outside (7-13 from 3-point range), nailed their free throws (22-23 to that point), and took advantage of good luck (16 points off 8 Duke turnovers).

And then, the wheels fell off for the Wolfpack (again). Yup – nothing but hard play and sharp shooting by Duke and bad luck for State down the stretch determined this outcome ….

Duke haters, please enjoy ripping apart that egregiously bad call. Ugh. Anyway, the win was Krzyzewski’s 800th and keeps alive the Devils’ hopes for a #1 seed. But State gave more talented teams a blueprint for beating Duke in the coming weeks.

Big Love Snips the Bud
#4 UCLA 68, Arizona 66

Was this game in Tuscon? Yes. Do the Wildcats have some talent? Yup. Did ‘Zona need this game more than UCLA? Sure. But Arizona came into the game at 17-11 with a sub-.500 Pac-10 record. This is my point with UCLA – they let less talented teams hang with them much longer than they should – and they needed 24 and 15 from their freshman star Kevin Love to squeak out a two point win.

Meanwhile, gotta love Lute Olson showing up for Senior Night. “Hey guys – how’s it going? Nope, nope … everything is totally good on my end. No problems whatsoever. Say, you haven’t seen a leprechaun on a unicorn around here anywhere? No? Could you bring me some tapioca, then?” (Ha! Ees funny beecoz he is old!)

THREE GAMES I CAN’T GET WORKED UP ABOUT

Longhorns lo…hey, O’Reilly’s Tools!
Texas Tech 83, #5 Texas 80

There is about a 27% chance that Bobby Knight noticed that his son did what he struggled mightily do by beating the Longhorns on Saturday. This is up from the 8% chance that would have existed before Knight signed on with ESPN, since he’s undoubtedly surrounded by a wall of monitors with every game. But dammit, that liverwurst sandwich in the pre-production room isn’t going to eat itself.

More delicious than all your Big XII – even if they came on toasted rye.

Hey! Scoring!
#19 Michigan State 103, #12 Indiana 74

Aaaaaaaand here is the game in which reality caught up with the Hoosiers. You’d like to think they’ll put it back together, but that’s an awful lot of points to give up to the offensively challenged Spartans. Dakich et al have two weeks to regroup before the games start to count.

Orange Lose; Hate Being a Color
Pittsburgh 82, Syracuse 77

Oooooo bubblicious teams square off holla!!! If there is such a thing as East Coast Bias, surely it must apply to games like this. Yes, the ending was exciting – we always enjoy watching Syracuse players exhibit the mental skill of a gnat. But since none of these teams have any shot of winning more than a game or two (max) in the tournament. Easy and cheap copy – but who gives a shit?

FOUR GAMES WORTH ONE LINE APIECE

#13 Louisville 68, Villanova 54: Goddammit, Louisville might actually be good – hide the children.

Mississippi State 68, Florida 59: Gator fans weep as boys from Starkville make off with their at-large hopes, tall boys of Natty Ice, and a wardrobe full of carpenter jorts.

#8 Stanford 60, #22 Washington State 53: Something is seriously wrong with the order of major college sports when brain schools are regularly pwning their big state school brethren…

Arkansas 78, #18 Vanderbilt 73: That’s more like it.