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At least a half-dozen NBA scouts and executives were at the Wolstein Center, including Cavs General Manager Chris Grant and San Antonio Assistant General Manager Danny Ferry. They came to see two conference MVPs — the Vikings’ Norris Cole of the Horizon League and Andrew Goudelock from the Southern Conference. Charleston’s 64-56 victory was not what anyone expected, be it the scouts or the two teams’ coaches.
CSU had a 15-8 edge in second-chance points, 14-3 on fast-break points. They committed only six turnovers while forcing 15. It was CSU, 40-20, in points in the paint.
“Our bench even outscored them, 8-3, and our bench never outscores anyone,” said Waters. “In 30 years of coaching, I never lost a game like this.”
So why did the Viking lose?
“It was 1-for-25,” said Charleston coach Bobby Cremins. “They shot 1-for-25, and that was the end of things.”
Cremins meant that CSU was 1-of-25 on 3-pointers. They missed their last 22.
Norris Cole put 18 agonizing points next to his name in the box score, but was 6-of-22 (0-of-8 on 3 pointers). In four years, he has never shot so many airballs, glass balls, or balls that simply had no chance to go in. He even missed two free throws, breaking a streak of 30 in a row.
Waters had a message for the scouts at the game: “A smart scout sees that he held their best player to 13 points and only 12 shots. . . . Norris just had a bad shooting night. . . . He’s one of the best players I’ve ever recruited in regards to the total package. Not just the basketball player he is, but also his leadership. [Terry Pluto / The Plain Dealer]
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Butler beats Pitt in the final seconds: “There were actually three acts to this grand finale, an operatic drama that packed more action into 10 ticks of a clock than some teams can cram into a season.
Pitt had the ball and a 69-68 lead, but instead of bleeding the clock for a good shot, Ashton Gibbs heaved a disaster after the shot clock already expired.
With eight seconds left, Butler inbounded the ball to Shawn Vanzant and the player who set up the winner against Old Dominion appeared to do it again. He drove down the right side of the lane and dumped the ball to Andrew Smith. The sophomore laid it in and Butler led 70-69 with three seconds left.
“Here I am, I think we won it after Andrew’s shot,’’ Howard said. “And there were still two more possessions. How does that happen?’’
How it happens is two great players make bad decisions and an officiating crew thrusts itself into the endgame maelstrom, calling two fouls in the final three seconds that put an anticlimactic finish on a game that deserved better.
“We do it every day,’’ crew chief Frank Higgins said. “It just happened to be a crucial part of the game. You have to do what you have to do as an official.
“If we get it right, we’re good. If we get it wrong, we’re deadbeats and we’re all over SportsCenter. We did what we think is correct.’’ [Dana O'Neil / ESPN]
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Garfield Heights beats Mentor, heading to state semi’s: “The victory sends the once-beaten Bulldogs, ranked first in the final statewide poll, to Friday’s state semifinals at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus. They will play second-ranked and once-beaten Columbus Northland at 8:30 p.m. Northland, state champs in 2009, defeated Westerville South, 80-62, also on Saturday.
Garfield Heights used its best shooting night of the season — a blistering 72.7 percent from the field — and dominance on the backboards to stop Mentor (21-5) one game short of making a repeat trip to the final four.
Led by a scintillating first-half performance by guard Trey Lewis, solid contributions from Mike McQueen and Tony Farmer and an uncharacteristic shooting night by the Cardinals, Garfield Heights took control late in the first quarter and played its way to a stunning 17-point lead.” [Tim Rogers / The Plain Dealer]
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Beat George Mason and you’re in the Sweet-16: “After taking care of business against the Roadrunners of UT-SA (whose playing style did not live up to their nickname), Ohio State now takes on the team whose 2006 tournament run is the very definition of the NCAA “Cinderella”. Eighth-seeded George Mason comes to a hostile Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland looking to begin another magical run to the final four against the top-seeded Buckeyes.
The Patriots defeated Villanova 61-57 in the 2nd round (remember when the first round was actually called the first round?) in a classic 8 vs. 9 match-up. After trailing by 10 in the first half, GM rallied in the 2nd half to tie the game 54-54 with 1:34 remaining. They then fell behind 57-56 with 31 seconds remaining, but forward Luke Hancock hit a 3-pointer from the right side with 20 seconds left to give the Patriots the lead for good.
Ohio State is 3-0 all time against George Mason, and 9-2 all time against teams from the Colonial Athletic Association. One of those losses came in an NCAA tournament game back in 1982 as the Buckeyes fell to James Madison 55-48.” [Joe / Eleven Warriors]
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Fab Five Coach heading back to Sweet-16: ”San Diego State couldn’t shoot straight most of the night and turned ball over at the worst of times. Then, a final burst of magnificent athleticism allowed the Aztecs to survive and play again.
Billy White had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Kawhi Leonard sealed San Diego State’s exhausting, 71-64 double-overtime victory against Temple with a steal and a slam dunk in a third-round NCAA tournament thriller on Saturday.
“We were tired but we knew that we had to win this game,” Aztecs point guard D.J. Gay said after playing all 50 minutes. “We just wanted it a little bit more. We just sucked it up.”
White sank the go-ahead jumper and Leonard made two free throws as the second-seeded Aztecs (34-2) finally put away the pesky Owls (26-7).
Ramone Moore scored 17 for No. 7 seed Temple, which was coming off a 66-64 last-second victory over Penn State in the second round. San Diego State, never an NCAA tournament winner before this season, advanced to the West regional semifinals Thursday in Anaheim, Calif., against the winner of Saturday night’s Cincinnati-Connecticut matchup.
Chase Tapley matched his career best with four 3-pointers — in five attempts — but it was the soaring ability of coach Steve Fisher’s team that finally made the difference.” [Dennis Dodd / CBS Sports]