Saturday, March 29, 2014

NCAA Tournament, Day 6, Part 2

Wow, what a pair of games.

Kentucky 74 - Louisville 69




Unbelieveable game. At the beginning, it looked like Louisville was going to run Kentucky right out of the gym as they jumped out to an 18-5 lead. But Kentucky weathered that storm and got back within 3 at halftime. And they simply kept grinding down low against Louisville.

Louisville was swarming around the ball, but Kentucky limited the damage (12 turnovers is a respectable number against the Cardinal defense).

Two big reasons UK pulled the upset?
1) Three-point shooting: UK wasn't good (4-14), but Louisville was worse (4-15)
2) Free-throw shooting: UK was 22-27, Louisville a putrid 13-23


Michigan State 61 - Virginia 59

This was a great defensive, physical battle. Michigan State hit just a couple of extra shots in this one, and they made their free throws. That was the difference.

Adrian Payne gets MVP honors for this game. He was a consistent presence in the paint at both ends, and came up with a huge three-pointer followed by an assist to push Michigan State ahead to stay in the final minute.

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