Saturday, March 19, 2005

Albuquerque Regional Recap (Day 1 Round 2)

(1) Washington 97 - (9) Pacific 79
Where are all those Washington doubters? They are getting quieter and quieter. Washington just ran all over poor Pacific. Another good shooting night for Washington (56%), 5 players in double digits. Pacific played as good as they could have played and still came up short by 18. As long as Washington plays good defense and an up tempo game they will continue to move on. 97 points in regulation, Wow!

(6) Texas Tech 71 - (3) Gonzaga 69
Gonzaga absolutely controlled the paint and the boards the entire game. The had a double digit lead in the second half. Texas Tech looked better in the paint the second half, but still could not match up well with Gonzaga inside. It all came down to Texas Tech making the shots when it counted and Gonzaga did not. Gonzaga needs more than Morrison. He should not be shooting 6 threes. He definately should not be taking them at the end of the game, problem is Gonzaga has no one else to step up. After the last 3 years I don't want to hear that Gonzaga is not getting respect. As Gonzaga has shown, if you win you get respect. They just haven't got it done the last 3 years. Very big win for Texas Tech and Bobby Knight, say what you will about Knight, but he has turned Tech around into a prime time program.

(7) West Virginia 111 - (2) Wake Forest 105 2OT
A huge win for West Virginia and the Big East. West Virginia fans do not take the next thought as a slam on your school. It isn't. West Virginia played terrific, overcame almost impossible odds and somehow gutted out a terrific victory.

Wake Forest, pathetic. West Virginia looked tired and played tired the entire first half. Wake ran WV up and down the court the entire first half with great success. Then the second half came and I don't know what happened. Didn't push the ball up the court, which kept West Virginia in the game. Somehow they found the strength to gut out a victory. It was amazing, Wake could not make a 3 all game and then drains 5 or 6 3's at the end of regulation and in overtime.

When stats lie: 76% free throw shooting for WV. Not bad, except WV missed almost all the big free throws at the end of regulation and the first overtime which would have put the game away.

As I mentioned before the tournament, the Wake play without C. Paul should send shivers up the spines of Wake fans. When he fouled out, it was all over. I love this West Virginia team, there is no team in the country playing harder than them right now. You have to love and respect that. All non-ACC fans should thank West Virginia because it will spare all the talk of the ACC being undefeated. I will keep the conference standings through the rest of the tournament on this page. I guarantee you will not see them on CBS or ESPN the rest of the tourney, unless all the ACC teams win tomorrow.


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