Article:SSR's Battle of the Losers: West and South Region Results; Sweet 16 Matchups

First written on Stupid Sideline Reporters.

South Region
Use this as your guide.

(16) UT Arlington 78 (9) Oregon 68

The upsets continue as UT Arlington becomes the 2nd #16 to advance, and they did it in impressive fashion against the Ducks. You may be surprised that Oregon led only once at 11-10, but found themselves down 47-33 at halftime. Malik Hairston rallied the Ducks though and cut the lead to 65-61 with 5:30 to play, but the Mavericks sealed the upset by scoring the next 8 and never looking back.

http://www.whatifsports.com/ncaab/boxscore.asp?GameID=616403&nomenu=1



(11) Kentucky 66 (15) Cornell 65

A courageous effort by the Big Red saw them not only never take the lead, but fall by one point to Billy Gillespie’s Kentucky side. Kentucky went off to a fast start in this game with Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford lighting it up for a 21-11 bulge. Baskets were traded and Cornell cut it to 34-25 on a buzzer beater heading into halftime.

Cornell stunned the Wildcats with a 15-6 run in 6 minutes and tied it at 40-40 after a Ryan Wittman three pointer. Kentucky answered back and scored 7 more to make it 47-40 led by Perry Stevenson with 12:02 left in the game. The Big Red would not lie down and fought their way back and cut it to 66-65 with 1:28 left. The turning point of the game could’ve gone Cornell’s way when Michael Porter snagged a huge offensive rebound for Kentucky, only to see Perry Stevenson get called for an offensive foul with :33 left.

Last chance for Cornell, and Adam Gore misses it with :12 left, Alex Tyler forced to foul Ramel Bradley with :08 left. It’s a 1 and 1 situation…and Bradley misses, Collin Robinson for the win!!!!! NO!!!! KENTUCKY SURVIVES!

http://www.whatifsports.com/ncaab/boxscore.asp?GameID=616420&nomenu=1



(12) Oral Roberts 72 (13) Temple 68

The Golden Eagles advance to the sweet 16 with a close win over Temple 72-68. Like many of these tournament games, one team would get off to the fast start, and it would be Oral Roberts. Temple fought back and cut it to 33-27 with the first half winding down, but a disheartening finish for the Owls had them down 41-30 all of a sudden.

Midway through the 2nd half, Adam Liberty knocked down a triple to give the Golden Eagles a 57-47 lead. An improbable 10-0 run by Temple and the underdogs led for the first time since the opening tip at 2-0. Final minutes left, and Dionte Christmas hits a go ahead triple for Temple to make it 66-64, but back the other way came Shawn King for his 10th point to tie it at 66-66.

The key moment in the game came when Dionte Christmas missed both of his free throws with 1:28 left, either one would’ve given them the lead. Moses Ehambe, who had the hot hand from three point range, made them pay and broke it open with his 4th three of the game, 69-66 with 1:08 left. Christmas did redeem himself and made both free throws later on to cut it to 69-68 with :49 left. But back came Ehambe to make it 71-68. Mark Tyndale’s desperate attempt to tie it was missed badly with :12 left, and Marchello Vealy hit the front end of the 1 and 1 to seal it 72-68 in an entertaining affair.

http://www.whatifsports.com/ncaab/boxscore.asp?GameID=616789&nomenu=1



(10) St. Mary’s 77 (15) Austin Peay 66

The game was actually closer than the score indicates. The #15 seed Governors hung around against the WCC champion Gaels and were down only 42-35 at halftime. Down 55-48 with 14:43, Austin Peay rallied for an 13-2 run and held the Gaels without a field goal for over minutes to take a stunning 61-57 lead with 6:29 left. However Tron Smith hit a huge three that sparked a 7-0 run by St. Mary’s for a 64-61 advantage.

In the end, with the score tied at 64-64, the Governors allowed St. Mary’s to rattle off 11 in a row in the final 3:55 of the game and St. Mary’s advances to Houston.

http://www.whatifsports.com/ncaab/boxscore.asp?GameID=616793&nomenu=1



And the sweet 16 matchups in Houston are:

(12) Oral Roberts vs. (16) UT Arlington



(10) St. Mary’s vs. (11) Kentucky



West Region
(8) BYU 70 (16) Mississippi Valley State 52

Wow this was bad….a last second three by the Delta Devils avoided them humiliation of being the first team in this tourney to lose by over 20.

http://www.whatifsports.com/ncaab/boxscore.asp?GameID=616794&nomenu=1



(11) Baylor 69 (14) Georgia 58

Boring again….

http://www.whatifsports.com/ncaab/boxscore.asp?GameID=616796&nomenu=1



(10) Arizona 78 (15) Belmont 75

Heartbreak for Belmont yet again as the Wildcats survive to advance to Anaheim. It looked like Arizona was in the driver’s seat starting the game 8-0 up (and up by as many as 16 in the first half before the 43-32 halftime edge), and it got even worse for the Bruins in the 2nd half. With 13:37 left, Chase Budinger put the lead back up to 16, 61-45.

It took a very long time for the comeback to develop, but when it did, it was 78-73 Arizona with under 2:00 to play. Andy Wicke’s two FTs cut it to 78-75 with 1:36 to go. Arizona turned it over on the next possession, Will Peeples to tie it for Belmont! Not a chance, and with :28 left, Jerryd Bayless missed a jumper but Juwann McClellan grabbed the offensive board and Belmont was unable to foul and that ended the run for Belmont.

http://www.whatifsports.com/ncaab/boxscore.asp?GameID=616799&nomenu=1



(4) UConn 78 (5) Drake 76 OT

Drake sees their game end in OT heartbreak again. UConn overcame a sluggish start, only to take a 12 point lead near the end of the half, only to see it shrink to 34-28 at halftime, but Craig Austrie, AJ Price and Jeff Adrien put up impressive first half performances.

Hasheem Thabeet in the 2nd half connected from the paint and gave the Huskies their largest lead of the game, 49-36. The Bulldogs clawed their way back and cut it to 61-56 with 3:39 remaining, setting up for a dramatic regulation finish that I’ll narrate as if I was Gus Johnson:

“3:13 to go, Young for three!!! OHHHHHH!!! It’s a 61-59 game!! Wiggins for UConn, NO!!! Emmenecker to the bucket!!! HE HAS TIED IT!!!!! 61-61!!! OH THE BULLDOGS HAVE RALLIED FROM 13 DOWN TO TIE IT UP!!! Price back in for UConn, Price, RISE AND FIRE FOR THREE!!! BIG TIME SHOT BY PRICE!!!!!!! Brent Heemserk, no, gets the board, the STICKBACK BY HEEMSERK!”

(Fast forward to :40 left)

“Leonard Houston, fouled! Jeff Adrien fouls him and Drake can take the lead. Houston misses the first…..ties it at 64-64!!!”

“Adrien WITH :07!!! ADRIEN NEAR THE PAINT!!! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! UConn LEADS IT WITH :02 LEFT!!!!!!!!”

“THE FULL COURT PASS, HEEMSERK WITH THE CAAAAAAAAATCH!!!! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE BULLDOGS FORCE OT!!! OH MYYYYYYYY!!!!!”

Thank you, you’re a great crowd. UConn were not flattened and scored the first 5 in OT, back to Gus Johnson for the finish:

“Korver for three..and he answers Price’s three. Robinson, no good from three, Houston, KORVER FROM THREE AGAIN!!! OH HE IS ON FIRE!!! DRAKE LEADS 72-71 WITH 1:59!!”

“Adrien, and UConn back on top, courtesy of Jeff Adrien! Back and forth they go! HOUSTON!!! YES!!! DRAKE LEADS AGAIN!! Austrie, STOLEN BY JOSH YOUNG!! KORVER FEELING IT!!! CONTINUE FEELING IT YOUNG FELLA!!! DRAKE 76-73!!!!”

“Adrien, spectacular game from Adrien! :53 left, 76-75 Drake leads!! This, is April Action folks!”

“:25 left, Robinson STEALS IT FOR UCONN!!! ADRIEN TO AUSTRIEEEEEEEEEE!!!OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! UCONN!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! :12 to go!!!!”

“YOUNG TO FORCE DOUBLE OT!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!! AND UCONN IS GOING TO ANAHEIM TO PLAY IN THE SWEET 16!!! 78-76 in OT OVER DRAKE!! WHAT A FINISH!!!”

http://www.whatifsports.com/ncaab/boxscore.asp?GameID=616805&nomenu=1



So here are your West Region sweet 16 matches:

(10) Arizona vs. (11) Baylor



(4) UConn vs. (8) BYU





And the full sweet 16:

South

(12) Oral Roberts vs. (16) UT Arlington



(10) St. Mary’s vs. (11) Kentucky



Midwest

(4) Vanderbilt vs. (16) Portland State



(6) USC vs. (7) Gonzaga



East

(8) Indiana vs. (13) Winthrop



(10) South Alabama vs. (14) Boise State



West

(10) Arizona vs. (11) Baylor



(4) UConn vs. (8) BYU



If you don’t see me update the tournament tomorrow in all likelihood all update it on Monday for you. This is April Action folks!