(2) Texas 82, (3) Stanford 62: Texas used a strategy appropriate for such a well-known football school: soften up the opposition with a battering ram, and then let the little guys run wild. Longhorn center Dexter Pittman was the blocking fullback in this scenario, wearing down Stanford's towering Lopez twins with his physical play and allowing Rick Barnes' electric backcourt duo of D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams to go off.
Augustin keyed a 20-3 run, starting with just under 13 minutes left in the game, to put away the Cardinal. He finished with a team-high 23 points and seven assists. Stanford star center Brook Lopez scored 26 points and grabbed 10 boards, but was held scoreless after the four-minute mark of the second half.
(1) Memphis 92, (5) Michigan State 74: There's a general perception that the Memphis Tigers are the one seed most likely to be knocked out of this tournament. They play in a soft conference. They're lousy from the free-throw line. They have to get past Texas, and the game will be played in Houston.
John Calipari and the Tigers have heard it all, and they seem to be thriving on it. "No one believes in us" can be a powerful motivator.
The Tigers advanced to the Elite Eight with a convincing victory over the Michigan State Spartans, roaring out of the gate to a 30-point halftime margin and coasting to an 18-point win.
Derrick Rose -- expected to be the first or second player selected in this year's NBA draft -- led the Tigers with 27 points and five assists, despite missing a chunk of the second half to get treatment for a cut to his forehead.
West Region
(3) Xavier 79, (7) West Virginia 75: It's amazing how a 45-minute basketball game can turn on a single two-second play -- but that's what happened in Xavier's win over the Mountaineers.
The score was 75-74 with 30 seconds remaining in overtime. Xavier was inbounding the ball with just two seconds on the shot clock. A West Virginia defender left his man briefly to double-team at the foul line, which allowed Xavier's Stanley Burrell to find B.J. Raymond behind the arc on the far side of the court. Raymond canned the jumper, giving Xavier an insurmountable four-point lead.
The four points must have looked like 40 to Bob Huggins' squad, who struggled all game from the three-point line (1-11 from downtown).
Emerging star Josh Duncan led Xavier with 26 points despite foul trouble. Joe Alexander had 18 points and 10 boards for WVU, but fouled out in overtime.
(1) UCLA 88, (12) Western Kentucky 78: I bet Ben Howland would love to see his team play a complete game. So would the legions of office-poolers who chose UCLA as a Final Four team.
They'll all have to wait until the West Regional Finals on Saturday.
The Bruins rolled to a 21-point lead at halftime... but played terribly after, allowing the 12th-seeded Hilltoppers to make things very interesting. WKU actually outscored the mighty Bruins 58-47 in the second half.
Kevin Love paced the Bruins, as usual, with a career-high 29 points and 10 boards. Love is averaging 22.6 points and 11.3 boards through three tournament games -- the first player to average 20-and-10 in his first three NCAA Tournament games since Iowa State's Marcus Fizer in 2000.
