NCAA Tournament Round-Up: Second Round, Day Two

By Ray Bennett
Friday March 18, 2011

The Second day of the 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament got off to a moderate start on Friday afternoon. The action included easy victories by top seeded teams, a non-power conference team beating their major-power conference counterpart, and a close finish in the West region. Here's a quick recap of the games from this afternoon. The evening games will be added later on tonight.

Last second block lifts Arizona past Memphis

The Arizona Wildcats needed a clutch block from forward Derrick Williams to get past the Conference U.S.A. champion Memphis Tigers 77-75. The game was a close contest, with Memphis leading by as much as ten before halftime. Arizona got a spark from Williams that started a huge scoring run that led to a three point halftime lead at 43-40. They added seven more in the first two minutes of the second half, extending their lead to eight.

Memphis answered with an onslaught of their own, scoring 13 straight points to reclaim the lead at 53-48 about five minutes into the second half. Both teams then traded scoring runs throughout the second half. With the game tied at 68-68 with under two minutes remaining, Arizona guard Lamont "MoMo" Jones hit the go-ahead three-point field goal with 1:35 left. Memphis had a chance in the final minute to try to force overtime. Down by three with five seconds left, guard Joe Jackson hit the first free throw after a quick Arizona fowl. After missing the second free throw, forward Wesley Witherspoon grabbed the offensive rebound. He tried to put up the potential game-tying basket when Williams blocked the shot, effectively ending the game.

Williams led the Wildcats with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Jones added 18 of his own for the West region fifth seeded team. Memphis was led by brothers Antonio and Will Barton, who scored 17 and 12 points respectively. Arizona will play their third round game on Sunday against Texas, who held off a late surge from Oakland University of Michigan with a 85-81 win. Their games were played at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Michigan puts on second half shooting clinic; beats Tennessee by 30

The Michigan Wolverines battled back from an early first half deficit to beat the Tennessee Volunteers 75-45. Michigan's huge scoring display began late in the first half, going on a 16-6 run to lead 33-29 at halftime. The team came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders, hitting nearly all of their shots in the second half, including a 16-0 run. Tennessee couldn't get anything going in the half, not scoring in over an eight minute time frame.

Zach Novak led the Wolverines with 14 points and 10 rebounds, including two key three-point field goals in one of the huge second half scoring run. Four other Michigan players also scored in double figures: Tim Hardaway, Jr. (11), Stu Douglas (11), Matt Vogrich (11), and Jordan Morgan (10). The Wolverines also became the first team in tournament history to win a game without making a single free throw, going 0-1 from the line. Michigan will face Duke, who cruised to a 87-45 win against Hampton, on Sunday at the Time Warner Cable Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

George Mason beats struggling Villinova

The George Mason Patriots, who are most famous for their deep run in the 2006 tournament, rallied from a 10 point first half deficit to win against the East region's ninth seeded Villinova Wildcats 61-57. The Patriots outscored the Wildcats 32-22 in the second half after trailing 35-29 at halftime. Their comeback was led by Luke Hancock, who led the Patriots with 18 points.

Hancock hit the go-ahead three-pointer to give his team the lead with 21 seconds left. Villinova, needing a two to tie the game, had guard Corey Stokes take the potential game-tying shot. However, his shot hit the top of the backboard. George Mason forward Mike Morrison then grabbed the rebound and slammed it home, winning the game for the at-large Colonel Athletic Conference team.

The Villinova loss capped off an end of the season six game losing streak. This latest collapse was the defining moment for their season in which they were ranked as high as No. 5 in the coaches poll. George Mason will play Ohio State, who won against Texas-San Antonio 75-46, for a chance to move on to the round of sixteen on Sunday. The game will be played at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH.

Florida State holds off Texas A&M

The Southwest region's tenth seeded Florida State Seminoles relied on their defense to eek out 57-50 victory over the seventh seeded Texas A&M Aggies. Florida State, who leads the nation in opponent field goal percentage, held the Aggies to 31.4 percent shooting in the game. Both teams were in a battle throughout most of the game.

Texas A&M led 26-23 at halftime when Florida State strung together a 13-0 run to take the early second half lead. The Aggies tried to catch up with the Seminoles, trailing by as little as two with 7:10 remaining. Florida State guard Derwin Kitchen gave his team full control of the game after a three-point play with 4:48 remaining. Kitchen led the Seminoles with 15 points and 7 rebounds. Their next game is against Notre Dame, who won their second round game against Akron 69-56, on Sunday at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

Update: 12:50 A.M. Eastern Time

Marquette gets past Xavier

The Marquette Golden Eagles, seeded eleventh in the East region, moved on to the third round by beating the sixth seeded Xavier Musketeers 66-55. Marquette practically held the lead the entire game thanks to poor shooting from Xavier. The closest Xavier was from the lead was midway in the first half. The Musketeers loss snaps a three year streak of them playing in the round of 16. Michigan State also had the same streak of three straight sweet sixteen appearances snapped on Thursday.

The Golden Eagles were led in scoring by guard Darius Johnson-Odom, who had 19 points in the game. Johnson-Odom shot 4-for-6 from beyond the three-point line. Guard-forward Jimmy Butler scored 15 points for Marquette while forward Jae Crowder scored 10. Andrew Taylor led the Musketeers in scoring with 16 points. Kenny Frees and Dante Jackson were also in double figures for Xavier, scoring 12 and 10 points respectively. Marquette will face the winner of the Indiana State/Syracuse game on Sunday in Cleveland.

Illinois dominates UNLV

The Illinois Fighting Illini, led by stand-out star forward Mike Davis, defeated the UNLV Runnin' Rebels 73-62. Davis led the Illini with 22 points, tying a season high set on February 1st against Penn State. Guard Demetri McCamey added 17 points and 7 assists of his own. Guard D.J. Richardson was also in double figures with 10 points.

Illinois started the game with a early 15-0 run. The Illini led by as much as 25 in the second half to the easy victory over UNLV. Heading into the tournament, Illinois had lost 10 of their last 16, bringing into question how they even got into the 68 team field. Those questions were answered on Friday with what seemed to be an easy rout. The ninth seeded Illinois play their third round game on Sunday in Tulsa versus the Southwest's number one seed Kansas Jayhawks, who defeated Boston University 72-53 earlier in the evening.

VCU upsets Georgetown

The Virginia Commonwealth Rams continued their journey in the NCAA tournament with an upset victory over the Southwest region's sixth seeded Georgetown Hoyas 74-56 in Chicago. The Rams played their way into the round of 64 on Wednesday by defeating USC in a First Four game. VCU obtained the lead midway through the first half. Georgetown, who has not won a game in a month heading into Friday's match-up, looked sluggish throughout the game.

The Rams were led in scoring by senior guard Brandon Rozzell. Rozzell scored 26 points and shot 6-10 from beyond the three-point line. Other players in double figures for the Rams include Joey Rodriguez with 17, along with Bradford Burgess and Jamie Skeen who each scored 12. The leading scorer for Georgetown was sophomore forward Hollis Thompson. Thompson had 26 points along with 7 rebounds. Next for VCU is No. 3 Purdue, who easily defeated No. 14 St. Peter's 65-43.

Washington holds off Georgia

The Pac-10 tournament champion Washington Huskies staved off a late push by the Georgia Bulldogs, winning their second round game 68-65 in Charlotte. The hotly contested game was considered by many to be one of the games to watch in the second round. Both teams did not disappoint those in attendance at the Time Warner Cable Center on Friday night.

Both teams were tied at 28-28 at halftime. Washington took early control of the second half, leading by as much as 9 leading into the final five minutes. Georgia stormed right back in the final minutes cutting the deficit down to one with 16 seconds left off a three-point field goal. After Washington missed the second free throw off a one-and-one, Georgia tried to hit a deep three to try to force overtime. The pass was tipped by Washington guard Isaiah Thomas. Georgia guard Travis Leslie picked up the ball and heaved it pass half-court. However, the shot hit the top of the backboard at the buzzer, leaving the Huskies with the win.

Thomas led the Huskies with 19 points and 7 assists. Scott Suggs had 10 points of his own for the Huskies. Georgia was led by Trey Thompkins, who led all players in scoring with 26. Thompkins also had 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Washington will face North Carolina, who walloped Long Island 102-87, on Sunday.