NCAA Tournament Day 3 – East Region

MSU and UConn are on the Sweet 16.

(4) Michigan State over (12) Harvard 80-73

Michigan State continued their strong late season play and gave further evidence that their number four seed was a mistake. After a monsterous win over Deleware and a career night for Adrien Payne they were able to carry their good form into the round of thirty two matchup with NCAA tournament upset specialists Harvard. For much of the year Brendan Dawson has been an enigma on this Michigan time, he has struggled to consistenly play well and always bring focus. However, Dawson showed what he could do when completely dialled in last night, he posted an extremely 26 points (12-15) and nine rebounds (3 offensive). If Dawson can keep that level of play up the rest of the tournament the Spartans will be hard to beat, Payne showing up in round one, Dawson in round two, who will step up next for Michigan State? Potential 2014 lottery pick Gary Harris had a much better game, he finished with 18 points, two rebounds five assists and three steals. Harris has shown he is a two way player and is very versatile, the only think dampening his draft stock is streaky shooting and his six foot four inch frame. Adrien Payne was much quieter this game totaling just 12 points, four rebounds. He wasn’t as efficient, going just 4-10 from the field, and he also ended his streak of never missing a free throw in the NCAA tournament finishing 3-4 from the line.

Harvard managed to stick around for long periods in this game and did push the Spartans, ultimately they just didn’t shoot well enough with only one player finishing the night shooting over 50 percent. The Crimson were lead by Junior Wesley Saunders who went head to head with Gary Harrus, Saunders finished with 22 points, three rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Steve Moundou-Missi also notched a double double with 11 points 10 rebounds and two blocks. Despite going out in the round of thirty two, the Crimson can be proud of how they performed on the national stage.

Next Up: Winner of Virginia/Memphis

(7) UConn over (2) Villanova 77-65

You can call this one an upset, but many analysts (including myself) saw this one coming, Villanova hadn’t really ever proved themselves against good competition, they didn’t have a win against a ranked team since November 30^th in overtime against Iowa. UConn on the other hand ended the season strongly in the AAC with wins against nationally ranked Cincinatti (twice) and Memphis, with their only loss coming against last years champion Louisville. Shabazz Napier was superb, he lead the Huskies in points, assists, field goals made, shooting percentage, and three pointers made — he did it all. Napier finished the game with 25 points (9-13) five rebounds and three assists. The Huskies also got solid play by two rotation players in Terrance Samuel ( 11 points) and Lasan Kromah (12 points). The key to the UConn team is Napier, against tougher opposition eh can’t afford to have a bad shooting night or it is gameover for the Huskies, however if he can keep up his current level of play UConn could go on run like they did with Kemba Walker in 2010.

Villanova never looked like a two seed; they seem to come undone at their first major hurdle. The Wildcats had 16 turnovers which significantly helped UConn’s offence, they also made just 18 field goals  shooting just 35 percent from the floor. Their guard play was what really let them down with 10 turnovers between starting backcourt of Hilliard and Arcidiacono. Despite coughing the ball up, Hilliard and Arcidiacono were actually their only offensive spark, both hit three shots from behind the arc and finished with 13 and 18 points, respectively. With an early loss to Seton Hall in the Big East tournament and now an early loss to the lower ranked Huskies the Wildcats will be sick with the feeling of underachievement.

Next up: Winner of Iowa State/UNC