USA forthwith Sports provides your March Madness therapy
Syracuse forward C.J. Fair (5) shoots anyplace inch forward Cody Zeller (40) during the first half of an eastern United States regional semifinal in the NCAA college basketball tournament on Thursday.(Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP)
Welcome to a nonher(prenominal) session of Bracket Briefing, our attempt to provide you with essential information on the Big Dance — highlighting the Florida Gulf Coasts of basketball world, and divination the Ali Farokhmanesh moments before they happen.
Soundtrack: Before you read both further, take a comprehend to this morning's jam of the day.
NCAA TOURNAMENT: Updated bracket with scores
At the water cooler: With 12 squads left in the field, devil No. 1 teams — Gonzaga and Indiana — bowed out of the Big Dance. The top overall seed, Louisville, form in the field along with fellow No. 1 seed Kansas. Both teams have been circled on brackets for obvious reasons. They're offend choices. No, they're not bold or daring picks by any stretch of the imagination, but who's betting against Louisville at this manoeuver? merely if there's unrivalled thing Thursday's games reminded us, it's that the better team does not ceaselessly come out on top. Case in brain:
— The team with more endowment (Arizona) doesn't always beat the team that's more battle-tested and defensively sound (Ohio State).
RELATED: Best moments from OSU's win
— Likewise, the team that has more talent (Miami) can be hampered by last-minute injuries and ice-cold shot and lose to a less-talented team with a chip on its shoulder (Marquette) coming off two near-up trim wins in the second and third rounds.
REWIND: Best performances of tourney
— The team that has two of the best imposters in the ground (Indiana) can be shaken and play immensely on a lower floor its capability when a predictable yet undecipherable 2-3 regulate is thrown at them by a well- developed team peaking at the right time (Syracuse).
—The team that caught lightning in a nursing bottle and beat undoubtedly better teams in the previous two rounds (La Salle) runs out of gas against a team that exploits all of its weaknesses (Wichita State) and makes its strengths (guard play) irrelevant.
Now, let's not take anything away from Thursday's winners (Marquette, Ohio State, Syracuse and Wichita State). They played better on this particular shadow. That's the knockout of the NCAAs — There's no seven-game series to allow a Big East or Big Ten team to win either year. There's no BCS system determining teams' fate. It's one game, and if you play kindred Georgetown or San Diego State, you lose to a No. 15 seed with a learn who has a model wife. Only in March.
Another No. 1 bites the dust: The Hoosiers failed to reach the Elite octad for a second consecutive moderate after first appearance the season as the favorite to win the title and earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The 61-50 final marge wasn't indicative of the degree to which Indiana struggled en route to season worsts in scoring and field goal percentage. It also fasten season worsts for turnovers, opponents' steals and blocked shots. memorize the game story here.
Star of the night: Before Ohio State's Thursday night clash with Arizona, LaQuinton Ross was a role player on the Buckeyes roster. Afterward, he was the hero. Or Kobe Bryant, according to his locker. The Buckeyes dressed in the Los Angeles Lakers' locker room Thursday night, and somehow it was sophomore change Ross who drew the Black Mamba's locker.
Ross channeled his inner-Kobe Bean Bryant by drilling a clutch three-pointer with two seconds left to seal a 73-70 conquest for OSU after Arizona's Mark Lyons had knotted the game at 70-all on the previous possession. Read the game story here.
OUTSIDE THE DANCE: Butler coach mum on UCLA job
Marquette earned a trip to the Elite Eight by dispatching Miami.(Photo: Geoff Burke, USA TODAY Sports)
Quote to note: "We're used to people not giving us credit, saying we were no good. If you were to look at our roster, no one would expect us to be a Elite Eight team. Our guys don't get into that much, but it's good to tell apart if you step on to the court, if you don't give us respect, we're going to earn it. We work harder than, I feel, anybody in the country. We don't have the name of North Carolina, Syracuse or Georgetown, but we are still here, we show up every single day, and no matter how anybody feels about. ... Everybody doubting us is practice to us, and I feel homogeneous they should keep doing it, because obviously it's lot us, we don't compulsion to be the — we want to keep being the hunters, we don't want to be the hunted. We want to go after people." — Marquette guard Vander Blue. Read the game story here.
California Love: Wichita State coach Gregg marshall asked his players before a matchup with No. 13 La Salle if they were satisfied with the Sweet 16. "It was an overwhelming no," Marshall said. The Shockers are past(a) shocking, having asserted themselves as a contender after kick out No. 1 Gonzaga last weekend and now set an end to No. 13 seed La Salle's Cinderella run with a 72-58 dispatching. Read the game story here.
"I was impulsive to live with the situation I put myself in," said star sign after guiding Wichita State to a 72-58 victory over La Salle in the Sweet 16 at the Staples Center. "If anything happened, like if I possibly died or something on the court, I told her I would've died happy because I would have died doing something that I loved to do."
Not-so-super reference: The Indiana Hoosiers received a pep talk from coach Tom Crean's brother-in-law, Ravens coach John Harbaugh, before Thursday's game against Indiana. whatsoever the Super Bowl-winning coach conveyed to the team, it seemed the message was lost, as Syracuse turn over Indiana 61-50 to advance to the Elite Eight.
Poor choice of nomenclature: NCAA men's basketball analyst Doug Gottlieb certainly make quite a first impression as he get together co-hosts Greg Gumbel, Kenny Smith, Greg Anthony and Charles Barkley in studio for the CBS pregame show Thursday night. Introduced by Gumbel, Gottlieb made an awkward diversity joke that left all foursome of his African-American co-hosts shaking their heads.
"Cream rising to the crop. I don't know why you guys asked me, I'm just here to bring diversity to the set here. Give the kind of white man's perspective on things from the point guard position."
Materials taken from USA Today
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