PiRate Ratings College Basketball–Saturday, December 31, 2022

Saturday, December 31, 2022
Home	Visitor	Spread
Abilene Christian	Tarleton St.	2.1
Air Force	Nevada	-3.6
Albany	New Hampshire	1.2
Arizona St.	Arizona	-5.2
Arkansas St.	Louisiana Monroe	4.4
Bradley	Illinois Chicago	13.8
Bryant	Binghamton	13.7
BYU	Portland	8.2
Cal St. Bakersfield	UC Irvine	-9.6
Cal St. Fullerton	Cal St. Northridge	7.1
California	Colorado	-10.8
Campbell	Longwood	-3.0
Canisius	Rider	-1.3
Central Connecticut St.	St. Francis (NY)	1.4
Charleston Southern	USC Upstate	1.9
Charlotte	Louisiana Tech	6.1
Coastal Carolina	Georgia Southern	4.0
Colorado St.	San Jose St.	7.9
Columbia	Yale	-17.1
Davidson	Dayton	-3.6
Delaware	Elon	11.0
Denver	Oral Roberts	-9.3
Detroit	Milwaukee	5.3
Drexel	William & Mary	8.3
Duke	Florida St.	15.9
Duquesne	Rhode Island	7.3
Eastern Illinois	Southern Indiana	-5.0
Eastern Kentucky	Queens	-0.8
Florida Gulf Coast	Jacksonville	5.0
George Mason	Richmond	1.4
Georgia St.	South Alabama	-1.4
Georgia Tech	Virginia	-7.4
Gonzaga	Pepperdine	19.5
Hawaii	Cal Poly	10.7
High Point	Gardner Webb	-0.5
Hofstra	North Carolina A&T	11.5
Houston	Central Florida	16.0
Idaho St.	Northern Colorado	-0.2
Illinois St.	Northern Iowa	-0.7
Iowa St.	Baylor	-1.6
IUPUI	Northern Kentucky	-13.1
Kansas	Oklahoma St.	8.9
Kansas St.	West Virginia	-0.5
Kennesaw St.	Central Arkansas	10.7
Kentucky	Louisville	22.5
Lamar	McNeese St.	-1.7
Lindenwood	Tennessee Tech	-0.6
Long Beach St.	UC Riverside	0.9
Long Island	Sacred Heart	-3.2
Loyola (Chi)	George Washington	7.1
Marshall	James Madison	1.4
Mercer	Chattanooga	0.8
Middle Tennessee	Western Kentucky	3.8
Montana	Idaho	8.3
Montana St.	Eastern Washington	5.0
New Mexico St.	Sam Houston	-1.1
Niagara	Mount St. Mary’s	1.8
NJIT	UMass Lowell	-11.1
North Florida	Austin Peay	3.3
North Texas	Florida Int’l.	16.7
Northeastern	Stony Brook	7.2
Northwestern St.	Texas A&M-CC	1.3
Oakland	Green Bay	11.4
Oklahoma	Texas	-3.5
Old Dominion	Louisiana	1.3
Omaha	UMKC	1.1
Oregon	Oregon St.	15.9
Pacific	Loyola Marymount	-6.8
Princeton	Harvard	6.5
Radford	Presbyterian	8.7
Robert Morris	Cleveland St,	2.4
Sacramento St.	Portland St.	1.7
Saint Joseph’s	Saint Louis	-6.4
San Francisco	San Diego	9.4
Santa Clara	Saint Mary’s	-5.6
Seattle	Cal Baptist	4.2
Seton Hall	St. John’s	2.0
South Dakota	Western Illinois	2.5
South Dakota St.	St. Thomas	3.3
Southeast Missouri St.	SIU Edwardsville	-2.0
Southern Miss.	Appalachian St.	7.2
Southern Utah	UT Rio Grande Valley	13.7
St. Bonaventure	Massachusetts	0.4
St. Francis PA	Stonehill	1.8
Stanford	Utah	0.8
Syracuse	Boston College	8.7
TCU	Texas Tech	2.2
Tennessee St.	Little Rock	3.6
Texas A&M-Commerce	Incarnate Word	8.3
Texas St.	Troy	-2.7
The Citadel	Samford	-3.4
Towson	Charleston	-1.6
UAB	UTSA	22.6
UC Santa Barbara	UC San Diego	12.0
UNC Wilmington	Hampton	17.2
UNLV	San Diego St	-2.6
UT Arlington	Stephen F. Austin	-3.2
UT Martin	Morehead St.	1.9
Utah St.	Fresno St.	13.1
Utah Valley	Utah Tech	8.4
UTEP	Rice	2.0
VCU	La Salle	11.1
Villanova	Marquette	-0.5
VMI	East Tennessee St.	-2.0
Wagner	Merrimack	9.0
Wake Forest	Virginia Tech	-2.3
Weber St.	Northern Arizona	6.0
Western Carolina	Furman	-9.7
Wichita St.	East Carolina	9.7
Winthrop	UNC Asheville	0.2
Wofford	UNC Greensboro	1.3
Wyoming	New Mexico	-4.3
Xavier	Connecticut	-4.2
Youngstown St.	Purdue Ft. Wayne	3.3

PiRate Picks — October 27, 2022

Due to overwhelming new scheduling issues, this feature is truncated this week.

Selection #1: 3, team 10-point Teaser (-130)

Miami (O) + 1 1/2 vs. Akron

Penn St. + 25 1/2 vs. Ohio St.

Virginia + 11 1/2 vs. Miami (Fla)

Selection #2: Money Line Parlay @ +169.53

South Carolina over Missouri

SMU over Tulsa

Selection #3: Money Line Parlay @ +166.75

North Carolina over Pittsburgh

Wake Forest over Louisville

Atlantic Coast Conference Preview

With all the rumored movement of teams from one conference to another, for now the Atlantic Coast Conference appears to be on solid ground. The league’s Grant of Rights deal with its members make it quite difficult, if not impossible for teams to exit the league. Under this deal, any team would have to forfeit all media revenue earned in another conference back to the ACC. An exit fee of $100 million or more would make leaving the ACC for the SEC or Big Ten financially unwise.

Of course, there are always loopholes that can be discovered by crafty legal departments, so impossible is not in the college football vocabulary. Impossible was a word associated with the words “beating Clemson” until last year. The Tigers failed to win the Atlantic Division for the first time 2014. Wake Forest was the surprise winner in the Atlantic, while Pittsburgh won the Coastal Division title. Wake Forest figured to be a contender for the division title again this year until last week, their starting quarterback, Sam Hartman, was ruled out indefinitely due to a non-football issue that required a surgical procedure. Hartman might return late in the season, but his loss will hit the Demon Deacons hard enough to take them out of the conference championship picture.

2022 will be the final year of divisional play in this league. Here are the preseason PiRate Ratings for the league.

ACC Preseason PiRate Ratings

Atlantic Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Clemson	119.7	119.5	120.5	119.9
NC State	118.3	117.3	118.5	118.0
Wake Forest	113.9	113.2	113.2	113.4
Florida St.	111.7	111.0	110.9	111.2
Louisville	111.7	110.5	110.7	110.9
Syracuse	106.4	104.8	104.7	105.3
Boston College	100.5	102.5	100.2	101.1
Coastal Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Pittsburgh	115.9	114.6	114.2	114.9
Miami (Fla.)	115.1	113.7	114.9	114.6
North Carolina	108.0	108.2	107.5	107.9
Virginia	104.0	104.2	102.3	103.5
Virginia Tech	100.9	101.3	98.4	100.2
Georgia Tech	95.6	95.5	93.6	94.9
Duke	84.2	86.7	81.1	84.0
ACC	107.6	107.3	106.5	107.1

Preseason Official ACC Media Poll

		Votes
#	Atlantic	1st Place	Overall
1	Clemson	111	1080
2	North Carolina St.	44	959
3	Wake Forest	6	783
4	Louisville	0	591
5	Florida St.	2	509
6	Boston College	1	469
7	Syracuse	0	201
#	Coastal	1st Place	Overall
1	Miami	98	1036
2	Pittsburgh	38	911
3	North Carolina	18	823
4	Virginia	6	667
5	Virginia Tech	3	592
6	Georgia Tech	1	343
7	Duke	0	220
	Championship	Overall
	Clemson	103
	North Carolina St.	38
	Miami	8
	Wake Forest	4
	Pittsburgh	3
	Virginia	3
	Florida St.	2
	North Carolina	2
	Boston College	1

Poll Taken Prior To Hartman’s Non-Football Medical Condition

The PiRate Ratings are designed to look at just the next week’s schedule of games and not to use to look forward. Nevertheless, here are the predicted won-loss records for the league.

Predicted Won-Loss Records

Atlantic	Conf.	Overall
Clemson	8-0	12-1
North Carolina St.	7-1	11-1
Louisville	5-3	8-4
Wake Forest	4-4	8-4
Florida St.	4-4	7-5
Syracuse	2-6	4-8
Boston College	1-7	4-8
Coastal	Conf.	Overall
Miami	7-1	10-3
Pittsburgh	7-1	11-1
Virginia Tech	4-4	8-4
North Carolina	4-4	7-5
Virginia	2-6	5-7
Georgia Tech	1-7	2-10
Duke	0-8	2-10

Clemson picked to win ACC Championship Game

PiRate Ratings College Basketball–Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Home	Visitors	Spread
Army	American	8.9
UNC Asheville	North Carolina A&T	5.6
Radford	Hampton	7.1
Florida	Mississippi St.	4.7
Alabama	LSU	0.7
Rhode Island	La Salle	14.9
Saint Joseph’s	George Washington	10.4
Quinnipiac	Rider	6.2
Loyola (MD)	Boston U	-0.8
Bucknell	Colgate	-11.6
Creighton	St. John’s	4.0
Navy	Lehigh	14.6
Gardner-Webb	USC Upstate	10.9
Charleston Southern	High Point	-7.0
Longwood	Campbell	4.0
Louisville	Boston College	7.4
NC St.	Virginia Tech	-4.1
Georgia Tech	Wake Forest	-3.4
NJIT	Vermont	-12.0
Binghamton	Stony Brook	-1.8
Hartford	New Hampshire	-2.9
UMass Lowell	Maine	13.4
Maryland-Baltimore Co.	Albany	5.5
Valparaiso	Northern Iowa	-4.5
Furman	Western Carolina	15.0
East Tennessee St.	Mercer	4.0
Wofford	The Citadel	12.6
Villanova	Marquette	11.1
Oklahoma St.	TCU	5.7
Southern Illinois	Indiana St.	4.8
Missouri St.	Illinois St.	11.7
Drake	Bradley	5.5
Texas A&M	Kentucky	-8.0
Rutgers	Iowa	-5.3
Auburn	Georgia	23.9
DePaul	Xavier	-5.9
Pittsburgh	Virginia	-3.7
Wyoming	San Jose St.	18.2
Colorado St.	New Mexico	15.8

Coming later today: Our fourth annual Top 20 Coaches Ready For Prime Time. You will see some familiar names, but you are going to see some names you may not know, including one coach from the Division 2 ranks.

PiRate Ratings College Basketball Spreads

Sunday, January 2, 2022

Home	Visitors	Spread
Boston College	North Carolina	-6.4
Dayton	St. Bonaventure	0.5
Northwestern	Michigan St.	-1.6
SMU	Central Florida	0.7
St. Louis	Richmond	3.6
Rhode Island	LaSalle	14.9
Penn St.	Indiana	-3.5
Temple	Houston	-15.7
Georgia Tech	Louisville	-3.0
California	Arizona St.	1.5
Nebraska	Ohio St.	-11.3

PiRate Ratings Final Bracketology Prediction

Date	3/14/2021	FINAL
Seed	Team	Team	Team	Team	Team	Team
1	Gonzaga	Baylor	Illinois	Michigan
2	Ohio St.	Alabama	Iowa	Houston
3	Oklahoma St.	Arkansas	Kansas	Texas
4	West Virginia	Purdue	Virginia	Florida St.
5	Tennessee	Villanova	Creighton	Texas Tech
6	Colorado	USC	LSU	Missouri
7	BYU	Oklahoma	Oregon	Clemson
8	Connecticut	San Diego St.	Wisconsin	Florida
9	Virginia Tech	Loyola (Chi.)	Georgia Tech	North Carolina
10	Rutgers	St. Bonaventure	Maryland	VCU
11	Louisville	Michigan St.	UCLA	Syracuse	Utah St.	Drake
12	Oregon St.	Georgetown	North Texas	Winthrop
13	Ohio U	Liberty	UNCG	UCSB
14	Colgate	Morehead St.	Abilene Christian	E. Washington
15	Cleveland St.	Drexel	Grand Canyon	Iona
16	Oral Roberts	Hartford	Norfolk St.	Mount St. Mary’s	Texas Southern	Appalachian St.

1st Four Out

69	Wichita St.
70	Colorado St.
71	Saint Louis
72	Boise St.

1st 4 Games

11 UCLA vs. 11 Drake

11 Syracuse vs. 11 Utah St.

16 Norfolk St. vs. 16 Mount St. Mary’s

16 Texas Southern vs. 16 Appalachian St.

A Quick Look At The Bubble

Thursday, March 11 Prior To Start of Today’s Games

It’s just a little more than 80 hours until the Selection Sunday bids are announced. We will have our final bracketology Sunday around 4 PM EST, unless there is a final tournament game that would affect the seeding.

As of this morning, here is our look at the teams in the gray area, on the bubble.

Let’s start with the teams that we believe are currently in the field if the bids were awarded today, but that are vulnerable to being bumped if other teams play their way into the field.

Louisville: The Cardinals lost in their first ACC Tournament game to fellow bubbler Duke. The Cardinals took a 6-spot dive in the Net Ratings after the loss, and they are in jeopardy of falling out of the tournament if a host of teams play their way in. At 13-7, they finished the season 4-6. UL won just one Quad 1 game, but they were 6-1 in Quad 2 games. Their chances of making the field are still about 85-90%, but they could find themselves playing that extra at-large play-in game.

Xavier: The Musketeers are in a much more precarious position following their immediate Big East Tournament ouster. Xavier fell to 62 in the Net, and they too finished 4-6 after starting 9-2. If a couple of teams still playing advance a couple rounds in their tournaments, it could be lights out for the Musketeers. Their chances of making the field are close to 50-50 today.

Drake: The Bulldogs lost to Loyola in the Arch Madness Championship Game to finish 23-4 with two losses to the Ramblers. A #45 Net with a 6-2 record against Quad 1 and Quad 2 opponents, including one win over Loyola should be enough to keep Drake in a safe spot in this field. Their chances of making the field are about 95%.

Wichita St.: The Selection Committee does not compare teams within the same conference in theory, but when looking at each team’s resumes, they are basically forced to look at who they beat and didn’t beat, and obviously more games are played in-conference, especially this season. Wichita St. is rated behind Memphis in the Net, and their 13-4 record includes a 9-0 mark against Quad 3 & 4 teams. On the plus side, the Shockers finished 9-1 with a win over Houston. The Shockers need to make it to at least the semifinals of the AAC Tournament; a loss to the USF-Temple winner would really jeopardize their tournament hopes. On the good side, Wichita looks to have an express seeding to the AAC Championship Game, so we give them a better than 50-50 chance to Dance.

Syracuse: Yesterday’s pasting of potential Bubble team North Carolina St. has given the Orangemen a legitimate shot to make the field with an upset of Virginia today. SU is now at 39 in the Net. A 1-6 Quad 1 record is poor, but the 5-1 Quad 2 has the Orangemen in position to move into the at-large positive category with a win today. A loss to the Cavs would not totally eliminate SU, depending on what happens in other tournaments. We give SU a 55% chance of making the field. If they stay in the top 40 of the Net, they should get in.

Boise St.: The Mountain West Conference has four teams competing for bids. There might be three awarded. Boise State has 2 Quad 1 wins, and their Net is currently 43. A win over Nevada today is mandatory. If they get that win, then a decent showing against San Diego State tomorrow should be satisfactory. We give BSU a 55-60% chance of making the field.

Colorado St.: Wins at San Diego St. and at Utah St. had the Rams at the top of the MWC in January, but CSU has swooned since and is in danger of playing themselves out of the field. With a Net of 50, a quarterfinal round loss to Fresno St. today would be a dagger in their hearts or dancing shoes. The Rams must win today, and then they might have to beat the Utah St.-UNLV winner tomorrow. If they play USU, it could be an eliminator game.

UCLA: The Bruins are March Madness royalty. The humans on the Selection Committee will find a way to justify placing them in the Dance. A quarterfinal win in the Pac-12 Tournament would more than suffice along with their moving into the top 40 in the Net. UCLA has a 75-80% chance to make the field.

Michigan St.: The Spartans will be hurt if the Net Ratings prove to be as important as the first 16-team pre-selection made by the Committee a month ago. MSU is a low 67 in the Net, but they are coming off a win over 1-seed line Michigan and have 5 Quad 1 wins. The Big Ten schedule, along with a win at Duke, should be enough for Sparty to celebrate with a Dance ticket on Sunday. A win over Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament sets it in stone.

Ole Miss: The Rebels have work to do. They would not be in the field if the Selections were made today, but Ole Miss has a path to get in. They absolutely must defeat South Carolina today and then will have to upset LSU tomorrow to raise their Net of 53 up to the low 40’s at worst. Two wins over Missouri and one over Tennessee are not enough to warrant their selection. Their chances of making the Dance are around 30%.

Utah St.: The Aggies are just outside the Field today, but they swept San Diego State and have a resume ready to move them into the field with a win over UNLV today and then a win over Colorado State in a knockout game tomorrow. If they don’t win two games, they lose out.

SMU: The Mustangs need a lot of help to get in. Teams above them on this list have to play their way out of the field, and SMU needs to do damage in the AAC Tournament, maybe make it to the Championship Game against Houston (not Memphis). A 55 Net is too low to warrant a bid. Their chance to get in is about 20%.

Memphis: It’s awful that the only a desperation heave at the basket by an out of control Houston player could keep the Tigers out of the field. Memphis had a chance to move up into the 40’s in the Net and now sits at 52, which is not good enough. Memphis will have to make it to the Championship Game of the AAC Tournament and face Wichita State in that game to still have an at-large shot. More realistically, the Tigers may need to qualify automatically at this point.

Seton Hall & St. John’s: These two teams face off today in the Big East Tournament. The winner stays alive, while the loser can only think about NIT Selection. The winner still has work to do, maybe needing another tournament win, especially over top-seed Villanova. If Georgetown beats the Hoyas today, then the winner of the SH-SJ game must beat GU tomorrow. St. John’s might still need one more win after that.

Duke: The Eastern equivalent of UCLA, the Blue Devils are March Madness royalty. Like a heavyweight champion in a boxing match, if it goes 15 rounds, the champion will at the least win on a split decision. Duke will qualify for that split decision today if they beat Florida St. The Committee will invent the reason to leapfrog the Blue Devils over eight teams to get them in the Field. A loss today would make them 13-12 with a Net in the 50’s, so they need that win today.

Saint Louis: The Billikens were greatly harmed by a multiple-game cancellation in the regular season. Wins over LSU and St. Bonaventure in the regular season are not going to be enough, and SLU lost to the Bonnies in the A-10 Tournament. It’s not going to be a happy Sunday in the Gateway to the West.

PiRate Ratings College Basketball Spreads

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Home	Visitor	Spread
Richmond	Massachusetts	7.2
VCU	Saint Louis	2.6
Virginia Tech	Georgia Tech	2.1
Louisville	Notre Dame	2.3
Liberty	North Alabama	14.8
TCU	West Virginia	-9.6
Baylor	Iowa St.	25.6
Kansas St.	Oklahoma	-12.9
Texas	Kansas	2.3
Villanova	St. John’s	8.4
Georgetown	Connecticut	-3.0
Campbell	High Point	3.7
Michigan St.	Illinois	-9.2
Nebraska	Penn St.	-6.4
Ohio	Akron	0.5
Central Michigan	Miami (O)	-3.3
Northern Illinois	Buffalo	-13.2
Eastern Michigan	Bowling Green	-6.9
Arizona St.	Washington	8.0
Georgia St.	Appalachian St.	6.1
Georgia	LSU	-5.3
Auburn	Florida	-0.8
Missouri	Ole Miss	0.1
Prairie View A&M	Arkansas-Pine Bluff	14.3
Texas Southern	Mississippi Valley St.	26.4
San Diego	Pacific	-2.7

PiRate Ratings College Basketball Spreads

February 17, 2021

Home	Visitor	Spread
Richmond	VCU	-0.1
Central Florida	South Florida	2.2
Pittsburgh	NC St.	2.3
Louisvile	Syracuse	2.7
North Carolina	Northeastern	13.5
Wake Forest	Duke	-6.8
Kansas St.	Kansas	-15.4
Butler	Marquette	-0.6
Seton Hall	DePaul	10.2
Maryland	Nebraska	8.9
Indiana	Minnesota	1.9
Loyola (Chi.)	Valparaiso	20.7
New Mexico	Wyoming	-2.7
Boise St.	Utah St.	0.1
USC	Arizona St.	10.7
Vanderbilt	Kentucky	-3.8
Tennessee	South Carolina	8.6

The Greatest NCAA Tournament That Never Was–Round Three Sunday

Welcome back to the See BS Studio.  I’m  Bernie Johnson along with my colleagues Charles Ruffley, Clark Post, and Kenny Jones, and we’re ready to bring you the final eight games of the Round of 32.  By the end of the day, the Sweet 16 will be set.

Let’s go out to the Midwest Region, where the number one-seed UCLA Bruins of 1968 will battle the eight-seed 1962 Cincinnati Bearcats.  It should be a great matchup inside between two great centers.  So, take it away Brad Messler, Steve Blabbin, and Evan Dryburn.

 

MIDWEST REGION

 

Balanced Bruin Offense With 5 In Double Figures–UCLA Runs Away From Bearcats

 

1 UCLA 1968	75
8 Cincinnati 1962	59

After a close first half, in which the Bearcats never trailed by more than five points, UCLA pulled away with a 14-3 run in the second half and stayed 12 points or more ahead the rest of the way.

Two free throws by Tom Thacker and a three-pointer by Tony Yates gave Cincinnati their only lead of the day at 27-26 late in the first half, but UCLA countered with a three-pointer by Lynn Shackleford and an offensive putback by Kareem Abdul Jabbar to give the Bruins the lead for good.

 

Boxscore
UCLA	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	C	6	11	0	0	4	6	4	8	12	2	0	4	3	2	16
Mike Lynn	F	4	7	0	0	2	2	2	7	9	1	1	0	0	3	10
Lynn Shackleford	F	6	13	2	4	3	4	1	4	5	3	2	0	1	1	17
Lucius Allen	G	5	12	1	3	2	4	0	2	2	2	4	0	5	3	13
Mike Warren	G	4	10	2	5	4	5	0	1	1	6	3	0	3	2	14
Jim Nielsen		0	1	0	0	1	2	2	3	5	0	0	1	1	3	1
Kenny Heitz		1	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	2	0	2	1	2
Bill Sweek		1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	1	2	2
Team										3
Totals		27	57	5	13	16	23	9	28	40	15	12	5	16	17	75
Cincinnati	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Paul Hogue	C	3	7	0	0	1	2	1	8	9	2	0	1	3	4	7
George Wilson	F	1	4	0	0	0	0	1	4	5	1	0	0	1	4	2
Ron Bonham	F	5	14	0	0	3	5	2	3	5	4	1	0	3	2	13
Tom Thacker	G	4	12	2	8	4	5	1	4	5	2	3	0	5	3	14
Tony Yates	G	5	10	3	6	3	4	0	1	1	3	1	0	6	3	16
Tom Sizer		2	6	2	6	1	2	1	3	4	0	1	0	2	5	7
Team										3
Totals		20	53	7	20	12	18	6	23	32	12	6	1	20	21	59
Player of the Game	Mike Warren

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
UCLA	34	41	75
Cincinnati	31	28	59

 

 

Blue Devils Come From Behind With Big Finish To Knock Off Rival Tar Heels

 

4 Duke 2015	76
5 North Carolina 2017	66

 

After a close first half, North Carolina pulled ahead by 11 points at 49-38 after Joel Berry and Luke May hit back to back three pointers, and then a steal by May that led to a basket by Justin Jackson, gave the Tar Heels their biggest lead.  Duke then began mounting a steady comeback, cutting the lead to eight at 52-44, to five at 56-51, and finally down to just two points at 62-60.  After the teams traded one made foul shot to make it 63-61 Carolina, Matt Jones tied the game at 63-63, and then Tyus Jones drove into the lane to hit a basket and draw a foul on Theo Pinson.  After Jones made the foul shot, Duke led 66-63.  The Tar Heels could manage just one three-point basket, while they sent the Blue Devils to the foul line.  Duke hit 7 of 8 at the charity stripe to salt the game away.

 

Boxscore
Duke	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Jahlil Okafor	C	6	12	0	0	0	1	2	5	7	1	0	0	1	4	12
Justise Winslow	F	4	11	1	5	2	3	1	4	5	2	2	2	1	3	11
Quinn Cook	F	4	10	1	4	0	0	1	6	7	3	0	0	3	1	9
Matt Jones	G	6	9	4	6	0	0	1	3	4	2	1	0	2	2	16
Tyus Jones	G	1	3	0	0	8	10	0	2	2	1	3	0	2	3	10
Grayson Allen		2	5	1	3	3	4	0	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	8
Amile Jefferson		2	4	0	0	2	2	1	2	3	3	1	2	0	2	6
Marshall Plumlee		2	5	0	0	0	0	2	1	3	0	0	0	1	2	4
Team										2
Totals		27	59	7	18	15	20	8	24	34	13	8	4	11	18	76
North Carolina	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Kennedy Meeks	C	1	3	0	0	3	4	1	6	7	2	1	2	4	2	5
Isaiah Hicks	F	2	5	0	0	1	2	3	6	9	1	0	2	2	1	5
Justin Jackson	F	6	15	2	7	3	5	2	4	6	3	0	0	1	2	17
Theo Pinson	G	1	3	0	1	2	2	1	1	2	4	1	0	3	5	4
Joel Berry	G	6	14	3	8	3	4	1	5	6	2	2	0	6	2	18
Tony Bradley		1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
Nate Britt		0	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	1	2	0
Luke May		5	9	2	4	3	3	0	2	2	1	1	0	1	2	15
Seventh Woods		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Team										3
Totals		22	53	7	21	15	20	9	25	37	13	5	4	18	18	66
Player of the Game	Matt Jones

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
Duke	34	42	76
N. Carolina	36	30	66

 

 

Indiana Solves The Arkansas Press And Dominates On The Glass

 

Indiana looked to be vulnerable in the first half as Arkansas forced nine turnovers with their full court press, and the Razorbacks led by as much as 10 points.  In the second half, The Hoosiers did not turn the ball over in the backcourt one time and committed just five frontcourt turnovers.  Meanwhile, Indiana outrebounded Arkansas in the second half 24-9 to win going away.  Scott May scored 19 of his game high 28 points in the final half.

 

3 Indiana 1976	82
6 Arkansas 1994	71

 

Boxscore
Indiana	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Kent Benson	C	9	14	0	0	2	4	4	5	9	2	0	2	2	3	20
Scott May	F	9	16	3	5	7	8	2	6	8	5	1	0	3	1	28
Tom Abernathy	F	4	8	3	6	3	4	1	4	5	1	0	1	1	3	14
Bobby Wilkerson	G	2	6	0	2	1	2	2	7	9	3	3	2	4	4	5
Quinn Buckner	G	2	5	0	1	2	4	1	4	5	4	2	0	2	2	6
Wayne Radford		1	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	1	0	0	1	3	2
Jim Wisman		0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	1	0
Rich Valavicius		2	3	1	1	2	3	0	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	7
Team										4
Totals		29	56	7	16	17	25	10	30	44	19	6	6	14	18	82
Arkansas	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Dwight Stewart	C	1	4	0	2	1	2	2	2	4	2	0	0	1	5	3
Corliss Williamson	F	5	9	0	0	1	2	1	5	6	3	1	0	0	3	11
Ken Biley	F	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
Scotty Thurman	G	6	15	4	11	5	6	2	1	3	2	1	0	3	5	21
Corey Beck	G	2	6	0	1	0	0	0	2	2	4	3	0	2	2	4
Darnell Robinson		4	9	0	0	0	2	2	3	5	0	0	0	1	2	8
Clint McDaniel		2	7	1	4	3	4	0	3	3	0	0	0	1	3	8
Lee Wilson		1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	2
Divar Rimac		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alex Dillard		3	6	3	6	3	4	0	0	0	2	1	0	1	2	12
Ray Biggers		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Team										4
Totals		25	61	8	24	13	20	7	19	30	13	6	0	9	24	71
Player of the Game	Scott May

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
Indiana	37	45	82
Arkansas	42	29	71

 

 

15-seeded Cougars Advance To Sweet 16 In Exciting Game

 

15 Houston 1968	108
10 UCLA 1975	101

In what turned out to be the most exciting game of the day, Houston and UCLA staged one of the finest offensive performances in Simulated NCAA Tournament History by combining for 209 points.

The pace of the game was fast from the onset, as the teams were tied 25-25 just eight minutes into the game.  Elvin Hayes was virtually unstoppable all day, and a 12-point scoring burst in the final six minutes of the opening half gave the Cougars a six-point halftime lead.

The teams traded the lead for most of the second half with UCLA’s last lead coming at the six minute mark at 87-86.  Houston enjoyed a quick 10-3 run to make it 96-90, and the Bruins could not overcome the run.

 

Boxscore
Houston	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Elvin Hayes	C	15	25	0	0	9	13	8	14	22	2	0	5	4	3	39
Ken Spain	F	7	15	0	0	4	7	2	10	12	1	2	2	2	3	18
Theodis Lee	F	4	9	1	3	4	6	1	5	6	3	1	1	1	5	13
Don Chaney	G	7	13	4	8	5	6	1	4	5	7	3	0	3	4	23
George Reynolds	G	4	12	2	6	2	3	0	1	1	5	1	0	5	4	12
Tom Gribben		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	3	0
Larry Cooper		0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	0	1	0	1	2	0
Carlos Bell		1	3	0	0	1	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	3	3
Vern Lewis		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	1	0
Team										3
Totals		38	77	7	17	25	37	13	38	54	20	8	8	19	28	108
UCLA	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Richard Washington	C	5	11	0	0	3	4	3	6	9	0	0	1	2	5	13
Dave Meyers	F	8	14	0	0	7	10	3	8	11	1	0	1	1	4	23
Marques Johnson	F	10	22	2	6	4	6	2	7	9	3	2	1	4	3	26
Pete Trgovich	G	7	15	3	8	3	4	0	4	4	4	3	0	2	4	20
Andre McCarter	G	1	6	1	4	2	3	0	1	1	6	1	0	5	5	5
Ralph Drollinger		3	7	0	0	1	2	2	3	5	1	0	2	1	3	7
Raymond Townsend		2	5	2	4	1	2	0	1	1	3	1	0	1	5	7
Jim Spillane		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Wilbert Olinde		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Team										5
Totals		36	80	8	22	21	31	10	30	45	18	7	5	16	35	101
Player of the Game	Elvin Hayes

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
Houston	61	47	108
UCLA	55	46	101

 

 

WEST REGION

 

Overall Top Seed Romps Again

 

1 UCLA 1972	94
8 Connecticut 2004	61

 

The top seed in the tournament looked infallible for most of the game, as the Bruins began the game with a 16-1 lead before the Huskies could hit their first basket.  UCLA began to empty the bench in the first half once the lead swelled past 30 points, which allowed UConn to make its only run of the day cutting a 42-12 lead to 44-19 at the half.

After a 20-10 run to start the second half, the Bruins led by 35 points, when they started to remove the starters.  Until Emeka Okafor hit an old-fasioned three-pointer on the final possession, UCLA backup center Swen Nater had matched him point for point.  Nater played just 12 minutes to Okafor’s 33.

Boxscore
UCLA	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Bill Walton	C	7	11	0	0	3	5	5	9	14	4	2	4	2	3	17
Jamaal Wilkes	F	6	9	2	3	4	4	1	6	7	1	1	1	1	3	18
Larry Farmer	F	5	7	2	3	1	2	2	5	7	1	3	1	1	2	13
Greg Lee	G	3	7	1	3	3	4	0	3	3	2	1	0	3	3	10
Henry Bibby	G	3	8	2	5	5	6	0	2	2	5	2	0	2	2	13
Tommy Curtis		2	5	1	3	1	2	0	1	1	3	1	0	2	1	6
Larry Hollyfield		2	6	1	3	0	0	1	1	2	1	1	0	1	2	5
Swen Nater		3	5	0	0	2	3	2	3	5	0	0	1	0	2	8
Vince Carson		1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	2
Andy Hill		0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Jon Chapman		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gary Franklin		1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2
Team										3
Totals		33	64	9	21	19	26	11	32	46	18	11	7	13	21	94
Connecticut	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Emeka Okafor	C	4	8	0	0	3	6	2	7	9	1	0	2	1	4	11
Josh Boone	F	3	7	0	0	0	2	2	4	6	0	1	0	3	2	6
Rashad Anderson	F	4	11	3	9	3	4	1	5	6	2	2	0	2	4	14
Ben Gordon	G	5	16	3	12	4	4	0	2	2	3	1	0	5	3	17
Taliek Brown	G	3	8	0	0	2	5	0	2	2	3	1	0	3	4	8
Denham Brown		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	2	0
Hilton Armstrong		1	2	0	0	1	2	1	2	3	1	0	0	3	3	3
Charlie Villanueva		1	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	2
Shamon Tooles		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Team										2
Totals		21	57	6	22	13	23	7	24	33	10	5	2	18	24	61
Player of the Game	Bill Walton

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
UCLA	44	50	94
UConn	19	42	61

 

 

Smaller, Quicker Miners Steal Way To Victory

 

12 Texas Western 1966	71
13 Louisville 1986	59

Louisville, a team known for an excellent full court press through the years, fell victim to the man to man press by Texas Western.  The Miners stole the ball 16 times in the game, while forcing 25 Cardinal Turnovers.

After an early 8-5 Louisville lead, back to back steals by Bobby Joe Hill led to a basket and two foul shots to give the Miners their first lead at 9-8.

Later in the half, after Louisville recovered to take a 24-22 lead, steals by Willie Worsley and Orsten Artis led to easy baskets to put TW up 26-24.  A missed three-point attempt by Milt Wagner, led to a fast break basket for the Miners when Harry Flournoy grabbed the rebound and found Artis, who then passed to Willie Cager for the layup.  Up 28-24, The Miners led the rest of the way.

Louisville cut the lead from eight to three with eight minutes to play, but a 8-0 run put the game away.

 

Boxscore
Texas Western	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Nevil Shed	C	3	6	0	0	2	3	4	4	8	0	0	1	1	2	8
David Lattin	F	4	11	0	0	2	3	2	3	5	2	2	0	3	2	10
Harry Flournoy	F	4	10	0	0	3	5	4	9	13	1	0	2	2	1	11
Orsten Artis	G	3	9	2	5	3	4	0	2	2	4	4	0	4	3	11
Bobby Joe Hill	G	4	11	2	6	3	4	0	1	1	3	4	0	3	2	13
Willie Cager		4	7	2	3	4	5	2	3	5	2	3	1	2	2	14
Willie Worsley		1	4	1	2	1	2	0	0	0	2	3	0	2	1	4
Team										3
Totals		23	58	7	16	18	26	12	22	37	14	16	4	17	13	71
Louisville	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Pervis Ellison	C	6	13	0	0	2	4	2	4	6	0	0	2	4	4	14
Billy Thompson	F	5	11	0	0	0	0	1	5	6	3	1	0	2	2	10
Herbert Crook	F	3	8	0	2	2	3	1	3	4	1	1	1	5	5	8
Jeff Hall	G	3	6	2	4	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	3	3	8
Milt Wagner	G	3	7	1	3	4	5	0	2	2	4	2	0	5	2	11
Tony Kimbro		2	4	1	2	1	2	1	2	3	2	1	0	3	4	6
Kevin Walls		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	8	0	0	0	1	1	0
Mark McSwain		1	2	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	0	0	0	2	2	2
Team										2
Totals		23	51	4	11	9	14	6	27	35	12	5	3	25	23	59
Player of the Game	Harry Flournoy

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	Final
Texas Western	33	38	71
Louisville	26	33	59

 

 

Siegfried’s Three Sinks Marquette

 

3 Ohio St. 1960	72
11 Marquette 1977	70

 

Larry Siegfried connected on a three-point shot in Ohio State’s final possession to give the Buckeyes their only lead in the second half, and then a last-gasp shot by Bernard Toone missed and was rebounded by Joe Roberts to send Ohio State to the Sweet 16.

Marquette was able to slow the pace down, using up 24 to 28 seconds on the shot clock per possession and limiting Ohio State’s offensive rebounding strength.  With Bo Ellis scoring 11 of his 13 points in the first half, the Warriors led by a bucket at the break.

Butch Lee kept Marquette’s offense moving in the second half, as the Warriors kept the lead between four and seven points until the three minute mark.

After a 6-6 foul shooting mark in the first half, Marquette players missed several crucial foul shots down the stretch, as the Warriors could only hit 7 of 12 free tosses.  Ohio State rebounded the ball on all the missed foul shots, and they scored on five consecutive possessions to cut a 68-61 lead to 70-69.  After a Jim Boylan turnover, Ohio State tried to get the ball inside to Jerry Lucas or in the mid post to John Havlicek, but Marquette’s zone defense plugged the middle, forcing Siegfried to take the three-pointer as the shot clock expired.

 

Boxscore
Ohio St.	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Jerry Lucas	C	9	14	0	1	2	2	3	7	10	2	0	1	2	3	20
Joe Roberts	F	3	9	0	0	0	0	2	5	7	1	0	0	1	4	6
John Havlicek	F	6	12	2	4	4	5	2	6	8	3	2	0	1	2	18
Larry Siegfried	G	5	11	3	6	5	8	1	4	5	4	1	0	3	2	18
Mel Nowell	G	2	6	1	3	3	4	0	1	1	3	1	0	5	3	8
Dick Furry		1	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	1	0	0	2	2	2
Team										3
Totals		26	55	6	14	14	19	9	25	37	14	4	1	14	16	72
Marquette	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Jerome Whitehead	C	5	12	0	0	1	2	3	4	7	1	0	1	2	4	11
Bo Ellis	F	5	11	0	0	3	5	1	8	9	2	2	2	1	3	13
Bill Neary	F	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	2	2
Butch Lee	G	6	13	4	10	5	6	0	1	1	2	1	0	4	3	21
Jim Boylan	G	2	6	1	3	2	2	0	2	2	5	2	0	2	2	7
Bernard Toone		4	7	0	0	2	3	2	5	7	0	0	0	2	2	10
Gary Rosenberger		2	3	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	6
Team										2
Totals		25	55	7	16	13	18	6	22	30	11	5	3	12	17	70
Player of the Game	Larry Siegfried

 

 

Tar Heels Win Overtime Thriller

 

10 North Carolina 1982	86	OT
2 Kansas 2008	78

 

Darnell Jackson missed the front end of a 1 and 1 foul opportunity, and James Worthy’s field goal tied the game up at in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime.  In overtime, the Carolina Trio of Worthy, Sam Perkins, and Michael Jordan took the game over to give the Tar Heels a ticket to the Sweet 16.

Reserve forward Chris Brust came off the bench and hit two crucial baskets when Kansas had begun to stretch the lead.  Brust’s two baskets sandwiched one by Matt Doherty in a 6-1 Tar Heel mini-run that cut the KU lead to two points.  Moments later, Perkins fouled Jackson, and Jackson missed the foul shot that allowed Carolina force overtime.

Boxscore
North Carolina	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Sam Perkins	C	8	15	0	0	4	6	3	6	9	0	0	2	2	3	20
James Worthy	F	8	13	0	0	7	8	3	8	11	2	0	2	2	2	23
Matt Doherty	F	2	5	2	4	2	2	0	2	2	1	1	0	1	3	8
Michael Jordan	G	4	9	2	5	8	9	2	5	7	4	1	1	1	2	18
Jimmy Black	G	1	4	1	4	2	3	0	2	2	5	2	0	3	3	5
Jim Braddock		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	1	2	0
Chris Brust		2	3	0	0	2	4	1	3	4	0	0	0	2	3	6
Buzz Peterson		1	2	1	2	3	4	0	1	1	2	1	0	1	2	6
Team										3
Totals		26	51	6	15	28	36	9	28	40	15	5	5	13	20	86
Kansas	Start	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Darnell Jackson	C	8	14	0	0	3	5	3	4	7	2	0	1	2	4	19
Darrell Arthur	F	5	7	0	0	2	3	1	6	7	1	0	0	1	4	12
Brandon Rush	F	1	4	1	4	2	2	3	3	6	3	1	0	3	5	5
Russell Robinson	G	5	12	3	8	3	4	0	2	2	4	2	0	2	3	16
Mario Chalmers	G	5	15	3	11	5	6	0	1	1	2	1	0	1	4	18
Sherron Collins		2	6	1	4	1	2	1	4	5	1	0	0	1	5	6
Sasha Kaun		1	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	4	2
Rodrick Stewart		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Cole Aldrich		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Team										2
Totals		27	61	8	27	16	22	8	21	31	13	4	1	10	33	78
Player of the Game	James Worthy

 

Score By Halves
Team	1	2	OT	Final
North Carolina	33	37	16	86
Kansas	36	34	8	78

 

The Sweet 16

 

East Region–Thursday

 

1974 North Carolina St. vs. 1978 Kentucky

2019 Virginia vs. 1987 Indiana

South Region–Thursday

 

1970 UCLA vs. 1964 UCLA

2018 Villanova vs. 1992 Duke

 

Midwest Region–Friday

 

1968 UCLA vs. 2015 Duke

1976 Indiana vs. 1968 Houston

 

West Region–Friday

 

1972 UCLA vs. 1966 Texas Western

1960 Ohio St. vs. 1982 North Carolina