Ohio 62 - USF 56
USF brought their good defense to the party, and had made do with mediocre offense this far thanks to the defense. They simply ran into an Ohio team that hit their shots in the second half, especially from behind the arc. Ohio ended up 9/18 from downtown, while USF was only 2/15.
Xavier 70 - Lehigh 58
Lehigh put up a great fight, but Xavier's size advantage was too great. Xavier's center Kenny Frease scored a career high 25 points in the game because Lehigh didn't have anyone on their roster who could handle his size and strength. Add in Lehigh's not being able to buy a bucket as the second half went on, and their engine simply ran out of steam.
Kansas 63 - Purdue 60
What a surprise, a Bill Self team came out flat against a lower-seeded opponent. I will say this, Kansas turned up their defense in the second half, and Purdue was really struggling to get good looks. So much so that it got in Purdue's heads, as their last two offensive possessions (not counting the desperation 3-point attempt) were two of the worst such possessions I've seen in this tournament. They were too concerned about the clock and thus their possessions ended in a steal and a wild 3-point attempt that clanged into a long rebound. Both of these endings allowed Kansas to get out in transition instead of having to work in their half court offense. All in all, a terribly disappointing ending for Purdue, who had held onto the lead for so long, only to see their work undone in the final minute.
Cincinnati 62 - Florida State 56
Admittedly I didn't stay up for the second half of this one. But I'm pretty sure the moral is that more teams should get in bench-clearing brawls in the middle of the regular season. It hurt both Cincy and Xavier in the short term as both teams probably could have been seeded higher without dealing with the fallout and resultant suspensions, but both are in the Sweet 16 despite having to beat higher seeded teams to get there.
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