(8) UNLV 71, (9) Kent State 58: Um, aren't the 8-9 games supposed to be evenly matched? This one was an absolute walkover; not nearly as close as the 13-point margin of victory would indicate.
The scary part is, the Runnin' Rebels didn't play particularly well. UNLV shot under 40% from the field and committed nine turnovers in the first half -- and went into the break ahead 31-10. The Golden Flashes couldn't get out of their own way in the first half, going scoreless for nearly eight minutes. They were able to right the ship somewhat in the second half, but it was too late.
Don't be fooled by the impressive-looking scores you saw in the crawl on the top of your screen -- UNLV will need to play much better than this if they're going to be competitive against Kansas.
(12) Villanova 75, (5) Clemson 69: The next time the NCAA holds a regional in Tampa, higher seeds will be begging not to be sent there. Jay Wright's Wildcats continued the run of low-seed dominance in St. Pete, knocking Clemson out of the tournament. Their win in the nightcap followed upset victories by Western Kentucky, San Diego, and Siena in the same building.
As is their trademark, Villanova won with excellent guard play. Scottie Reynolds scored 21 points and Corey Fisher added 17, as the Wildcat guards were able to evade Clemson's frenetic full-court pressure and get to the rack. And as we've seen so often in the tournament thus far, the team that was more accurate from long range won: 'Nova shot better than 50% from three (7-13) while Clemson's percentage was just 27% (9-33).
(13) Siena 83, (4) Vanderbilt 62: Live by the three, die by the three. Vandy earned a spot in the top 25 and a win over number one Tennessee largely on the strength of their perimeter shooting. Tonight, they ran into a hotter set of shooters in the Siena Saints. The MAAC champions hit 9-of-20 from three -- Tay Fisher was six-for-six -- while the Commodores hit just four of 21 (.190).
(11) Kansas State 80, (6) USC 67: Looks like Michael Beasley's NCAA career will go on for a little while longer.
Beasley, the prohibitive favorite to be selected first in this year's NBA draft, did nothing to disappoint future potential employers like the Miami Heat or Memphis Grizzlies, overcoming early foul trouble to pace K-State with 23 points and 11 boards -- his 27th double-double of the season. But the second-best NBA prospect in the game appeared to be Beasley's Wildcat teammate, redshirt freshman Billy Walker, who scored 22. USC's super-frosh O.J. Mayo, who symbolically backed away from recent statements about returning for another season by wearing NBA logo socks for the game, was hounded by K-State's Dominique Sutton and didn't have a major impact; he needed a couple of garbage-time baskets to reach the 20-point plateau.
(3) Wisconsin 71, (15) Cal State Fullerton 56: This game was close for most of the way, as the shooting of Josh Akognon (31 points, five three-pointers) kept the Cal State Titans in the game against the much bigger Big 10 champions. The Badgers pulled away late, helped by a massive 50-27 rebounding margin.
(10) Davidson 82, (7) Gonzaga 76: For the last decade or so, Gonzaga has been everyone's example of a prototype mid-major -- a small-conference team that can run with the big dogs. This year, they got a taste of their own medicine, losing to Big South champion Davidson.
Stephen Curry -- son of former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry -- led the Wildcats with 40 points, 30 in the second half. His career NCAA Tournament scoring average now stands at 35 ppg; he scored 30 points against Maryland in a first-round loss last season.
(2) Georgetown 66, (15) UMBC 47: The Retrievers of the University of Maryland - Baltimore County play an undersized starting lineup and have just two rotation players -- one starter --- who stands over 6'8". Against Georgetown's front line -- anchored by 7'2" center Roy Hibbert, they looked like grade schoolers. And their futile attempts to slow Hibbert down freed up the Hoya perimeter players for open looks at the basket. Four Georgetown players, including sixth man Patrick Ewing Jr., scored in double figures in a balanced attack.
