NCAA Tournament
9:20 AM PT
CBS
Check below for live updates throughout the day
11:45 am: 25.4 seconds left in a tie game against No.2 seed Villanova and No. 15 Robert Morris(!). As Clippers fans, now is a nice time to see what kind of play potential coaching candidate Jay Wright draws up in this situation. -D.J.
11:46 am: Fantastic play. Instead of going with the standard iso by Scottie Reynolds, Villanova’s big man faked the high screen for Reynolds and slipped it. His man overreacted and jumped out to trap or hedge, and Villanova’s big went and set a screen for his wing to curl off of, which led to him being wide open. Of course, Reynolds went one on five like he tends to do and got a floater a blocked, but it was a nice play nonetheless. -D.J.
11:47 am: With .9 seconds on the clock for Villanova, they run a nice BLOB (baseline out of bounds play) to get a wide open chance at an alley-oop. One of the Robert Morris players come out of nowhere though and just barely get enough of the ball to throw the dunk off line. We’re headed to overtime. Your bracket is temporarily okay. -D.J.
12:06 pm: Just realized that if Eddie Jordan ends up getting canned in Philly, Jay Wright would surely get the job offer right? It’s only a matter of time before he jumps to the NBA. And, wow! Big steal by Robert Morris in the Villanova backcourt that turns into an easy layup at the rim. It’s back to a one point game with 35.5 seconds to go. -D.J.
12:10 pm: More wow. Villanova gets a block, then Reynolds sends a deep outlet pass down the court to a wide open Reggie Redding…and he doesn’t take the layup! In a three point game, he doesn’t take the wide open, sure thing layup. Instead, he dribbles out to the three point line and lets himself get fouled. Redding only hits one of two, and Robert Morris guard Karon Abraham drills a three to make it a one point game. After two clutch Reynolds free throws on the other end, Robert Morris has a chance to tie with a three…but misses. ‘Nova wins. -D.J.
12:15 pm: Wasn’t Scottie Reynolds a pro prospect at one point? As little as five years ago, he would have been a surefire first round pick. The League used to love pure scorers like him – things are changing though. Now no one can get over how terrible his efficiency stats and how much of a chucker he is. Even in a draft without a lot point guard prospects, Reynolds is nowhere to be found on draft boards. Interesting. -D.J.
12:34 pm: You’re pretty much destined for basketball greatness if you’re a shooter named Jimner. What a phenomenal name. BYU guard had 37 points in a double overtime win over Florida. -D.J.
12:39 pm: Sam Houston State is playing a triangle and 2 defense. It’s been, what, only about 20 years since we’ve seen the triangle and 2 get used? Love it. Always thought it only existed in theory.-D.J.
12:54 pm: RICH-WHA!?!? RICH-MOND!!!. Sorry. Had to do it. Richmond leading Saint Mary’s 9-4 early on. Love the way Saint Mary’s plays offensively – they run their offense through Omar Samhan, who is a big bruiser in the paint and also has one of the highest PER’s in the NCAA. If teams double or collapse on Samhan, Saint Mary’s has a bunch of shooters who will kill you from the perimeter. It’s a simple, smart offense. -D.J.
12:58 pm: By the way, I’ll argue to the death with people that Patty Mills was more important for his college than any other recruit in the last decade. He never won a championship obviously, but he absolutely put Saint Mary’s on the map with his play. He also opened a recruiting pipeline for Saint Mary’s, and now they have about six players from Australia. By the way, Saint Mary’s has been ridiculously good the last few years. Mills (and Randy Bennett, of course) practically built that program from scratch. -D.J.
1:04 pm: Omar Samhan – perfect example of a great college player who just doesn’t equate to the pros. He’s not athletic enough and he’s too slow for the pro game, but he’s brutally effective in college. He should probably go overseas. -D.J.
1:22 pm: More Australians – possible pro prospect A.J. Ogilvy of Vanderbilt is trying to stay alive and improve his stock. No. 14 seed Murray State is up on Vanderbilt 62-60 with 2:28 to go. -D.J.
1:29 pm: Ogilvy only with 9 points and 6 rebounds. Ho hum. Ogilvy is a strange player – he’s actually put up worse stats as his career has gone on. Probably would have been a first rounder had he come out his freshman year, now he’s on the outside looking in. -D.J.
1:34 pm: Big bucket by Ogilvy to cut Murray State’s lead to one with under a minute to go. -D.J.
1:37 pm: Notes on Ogilvy from draftexpress.com: Projecting to the next level, however, it’s doubtful the bigger, stronger, more athletic opponents he matches up with at the center position in the NBA will be so inclined to foul him as much. His arsenal of finesse moves in the post are prone to being blocked at the college level as well, where he doesn’t get outstanding separation, so it’s very questionable how it will translate to the pro level. He also lacks a significant degree of toughness, which is perhaps the most concerning aspect of projecting him to the NBA. -D.J.
1:38 pm: Good looking play from Ogilvy there. Caught the ball in the high post, turned and faced the bucket, and delivered a beautiful bounce pass to Beal who was cutting backdoor. Tiny window, but Ogilvy got it through there. Beal knocks down both his free throws to give Vandy a one point lead. -D.J.
1:41 pm: Murray State coach goes Kim Hughes and lets his Racers race up court with no timeout. Three pointer is no good, but ball goes to Murray State with 4.2 seconds down one. -D.J.
1:43 pm: You’ll be seeing this replay for a long, long time. Nation: Meet Danero Thomas. -D.J.
1:46 pm: Great call by Spero Didas and Bob Wenzel. Wenzel, just as the teams are taking the court with 04.2 remaining: “You’re going to get stagger screen across the baseline. This is a 1-4 set-up. Vanderbilt should switch every screen.” Vandy actually run through each screen. What got Thomas the space? Lance Goulbourne collided with teammate Jeffrey Taylor when he reacted to the pass. — KA
2:09 pm: Some phenomenal interior passing from the Gaels there. I grew up a Zags fan and should probably hate Saint Mary’s, but they’re pretty like-able. -D.J.
2:13 pm: DJ, your generation doesn’t know the rule: Once the tournament starts, you root for your league. That’s especially true for a mid-major conference like the WCC. My grandfather graduated Duke in ’43 but roots for Carolina come tournament time. — KA
2:20 pm: You’re totally right KA, and I understand the logic behind that…but a Dukie rooting for the Tarheels?!? That just feels dirty to me. -D.J.
2:24 pm: Ryan Butler (#44) for Richmond is rocking a white t-shirt with cutoff sleeves underneath his jersey. That’s old school. Makes me long for the Keith Van Horn days. -D.J.
2:25 pm: Samhan has 27 points and 11 rebounds despite battling foul trouble. If he keeps this up, someone will draft him. -D.J.
We’ll be back later tonight, particularly to watch Georgetown’s Greg Monroe. See you then.
5:10 pm: We’re back – a couple of pro prospects outside of Kentucky’s multiple stars in action right now: Georgetown’s Greg Monroe and Washington’s Quincy Pondexter. At halftime, Monroe has 10 points and 4 rebounds. Ten minutes in Pondexter is scoreless, but true to form he’s filling out the stat sheet everywhere else. The senior forward has 3 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block in the early going. -D.J.
5:22 pm: Pondexter is really strong in the post even though he’s only 6-foot 6. He’s got great footwork around the rim and a variety of different post moves. He’s an interesting guy to keep an eye on – Draftexpress.com has him ranked in the late first round on their draft board. -D.J.
5:28 pm: Pondexter has a few problems – he’s short and he’s not a great perimeter shooter. He’s a nice perimeter and interior defender, so he could hold his own on that end. Still not sure how his game will translate to the NBA. He strikes me as a nice bench 15 minute a night option that can provide some scoring pop from the block, but I don’t think he’s starting material in the league.
5:37 pm: Really like that Monroe can put it on the deck a little bit and pass like a guard. He reminds me a lot of Lamar Odom, right down to both of them playing pretty much exclusively with their left hands. -D.J.
5:59 pm: Ohio (smartly) sending multiple guys at Monroe on the block. He’s very unselfish and isn’t forcing much. Georgetown looking bad right now though defensively, down 14 with about ten minutes to play. -D.J.
6:07 pm: Monroe turning it over quite a bit – seven turnovers so far. He’s in a tough spot – every time he touches it he’s getting absolutely swarmed. -D.J.
6:12 pm: Good D by Monroe by just keeping his arms straight up and not picking up another foul. Georgetown fighting back into it. -D.J.
6:13 pm: Monroe starting to take over in the comeback here. Strong sweeping move to his left for the layup, then a beautiful pass from the post to a cutting teammate for the assist. -D.J.
6:17 pm: Eric Gordon’s former teammate at Indiana Armon Bassett is tearing the vaunted Georgetown D up – he’s got 26 points. 84-74 with 3:40 to go in this one.
6:22 pm: Georgetown looks done. Greg Monroe is probably going to go late lottery, depending on how he works out. Very possible that the Clippers take a long hard look at him. Monroe, Griffin, Kaman and Jordan would be a very nice frontcourt for the future. Love that Monroe can operate at the high post as a facilitator. You’ve got to imagine his game would mesh well with Griffin. -D.J.
6:24 pm: Ali Farokhmanesh with a huge three for Northern Iowa to give them the lead over Vegas with only 1.6 seconds remaining. ONIONS! -D.J.
6:42 pm: Quincy Pondexter – maybe a Carl Landry type player? Offensively Pondexter is definitely not a perimeter player – that guy loves the post. -D.J.
7:00 pm: Pondexter is climbing up the draft boards as we speak. With the game tied and time winding down, UW cleared it out for Pondexter at the top of the key in an iso situation. Pondexter broke his man down off the dribble, went left, put his man on his back, jumped and kissed it off the glass. UW up two, great play by Pondexter. -D.J.
7:06 pm: Marqutte heave is no good, UW wins it in the upset. Pondexter finishes with 18 and 11, including the game winner. Very impressive. -D.J.
7:56 pm: Al-Farouq Aminu from Wake Forest will probably be selected before the Clippers pick, but if he falls to the late lottery he’s a gem. Aminu has 10 points and 8 boards in the first half. The dude is a beast on the glass. Damion James, who has seemingly been in college for at least nine years now, is having a rough go of it. Only 5 points and zero rebounds, assists or steals. He’s not really making an impact right now. -D.J.
8:41 pm: From draftexpress.com: “Any lingering doubts scouts may have had about the type of prospect Al-Farouq Aminu were likely relieved in New Orleans. He showed the whole package.” -D.J.
8:49 pm: Aminu has 18 points and 13 rebounds with a couple of made threes. If he can hit that jumper consistently, he’ll be a scary pro. Wake Forest up 64-60 with about three minutes to play. -D.J.
9:03 pm: Texas just tied it up with a three that hit every part of the rim and fell through. 49 seconds left, Wake Forest ball. Great opportunity to see where Aminu likes to get the ball here. -D.J.
9:05 pm: Attempted a pick and roll with Aminu, guard C.J. Harris drew the foul. Hit one of two. 68-67 Wake Forest. Texas comes back without a timeout, and L.D. Williams gets a huge rejection at the rim. WF recovers the ball. -D.J.
9:12 pm: Crazy turn of events in the WF game. L.D. Williams turns it over, and Damion James goes to the line down one with ten seconds left. James hits the first, and with a chance to win it, misses the second. He followed his own shot and stripped Aminu of the ball, but Wake Forest recovered and raced up court then turned it back over to Texas. James tried a three-quarters court heave at the buzzer that was on line but missed. We’re going to overtime. -D.J.
9:17 pm: Wake Forest collapsing in overtime. After two made threes, James came up with a big steal and got fouled on the other end. He has a chance to make it a three possession game here with free throws. -D.J.
9:26 pm: Not a whole lot from James or Aminu here in overtime. No chances with the ball. Come tourney time, guards have the most to gain in terms of stock because they have the ball in their hands an awful lot. -D.J.
9:30 pm: Wow! What a way to end the games tonight. After two missed free throws from Texas, Ishmael Smith of Wake Forest nailed a jumper to win the game, 81-80.
Definitely one of the best days of tournament action I can remember.
We’ll be back tomorrow with a live interactive chat, so come on in and talk hoops with us tomorrow! Have a good night everyone.
