March Madness 2014: Michigan teams stepping up; Syracuse shooting woes ... - The Star-Ledger

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 23 Maret 2014 | 16.14

Here are the hot topics that emerged from another eventful day of tournament games Saturday:

State of Michigan goes 2-0

Both Michigan and Michigan State advanced to the Sweet 16 with victories Saturday, with the Wolverines turning in the more convincing performance of the two.

The 2nd-seeded Wolverines topped No. 7 seed Texas by a score of 79-65, closing the game on a 21-13 run after the Longhorns pulled within six points late in the game. Despite relying on a core group of freshman and sophomores, the Wolverines played with poise. It's almost as if Michigan has been there before, writes MLive.com's Brendan F. Quinn:

"We're just a confident group and we enjoy playing together," added Nik Stauskas, who scored a team-high 17 points. "Regardless of what the situation is or what's going on, we feel like our best basketball is ahead of us."

That knocked-down-but-never-out posture has come to define this Michigan team as it has won 21 of its last 25 games. Despite only playing two upperclassmen, the Wolverines don't duck when it's time to cover.

A key cog in the Wolverine's success has been guard Nik Stauskas, now a steady scorer a year after making a name for himself with clutch shooting during Michigan's run to the Final Four. Stauskas has developed into much more than a catch-and-shoot artist, but his teammates were still surprised at one statistic he posted Saturday. (via ESPN.com)
  • Michigan State, meanwhile, held a 45-33 lead at the half against No. 12 seed Harvard, but coach Tom Izzo was not about to let up. He knew the Crimson had a run in them and warned his players, but Harvard climbed back into the game anyway.

"In the first half we only had one turnover, which is like a record for us,'' Izzo said. "The difference was in the second half, we got sloppy, and some of that was Harvard, but we turned the ball over 10 times and I think they scored on six of those turnovers.

"If we learn from it, I think it's going to help this team.''

In the end, Michigan State's blistering start proved too much for Harvard to overcome, and the Spartans advance to play the winner of Sunday's game between No. 1 seed Virginia and No. 8 seed Memphis.

Syracuse grounded by the Flyers

The Orange had their chances in the end, but ultimately fell to No. 11 seed Dayton, 55-53. Freshman guard Tyler Ennis could have driven the lane for a layup, where much of Syracuse's offense came Saturday night, but instead opted for a 3-point attempt that would decide the game once and for all. The shot would have been the Orange's first 3-pointer of the game, but instead found the back iron. (via Syracuse.com)

"I think I got a really good look at it," Ennis said. "Coach liked the shot I got. I didn't think I had enough time to get all the way to the basket, so looking back I would take that shot every time."

The freshman's penchant for heroics came up one shot short. Here's more from Ennis in the locker room after Syracuse's season came to an end:

Syracuse had been battling shooting woes all season. Saturday, the Orange ran out of chances and simply couldn't do enough to make up for it, writes Syracuse.com's Bud Poliquin:

They'd dangled over the side of that offensive cliff for a long time, hanging onto that fraying rope that had threatened to snap at any moment. They'd twisted, they'd kicked, they'd swayed.

But they hadn't fallen to the rocks below. Not until Saturday evening, that is. Not until the clanging and the doinking proved to be too much at First Niagara Center where that old rope finally gave way.

Jim Boeheim's guys missed too many shots . . . again. And this time, against a combative bunch of Dayton Flyers in a frenzied Round-of-32 NCAA tournament game before a ranting house of 19,260, it cost them dearly.

On the flip side, there's Dayton. The team nobody counted on to make it this far that is gaining steam with each passing day. People are noticing. Important people, even: (via SI.com)

In his final year at Kalamazoo Central High in Michigan, [Dayton senior Devin] Oliver had been among a group of students to win a video contest where first prize was having President Barack Obama deliver their graduation address. When Oliver got the chance to meet Obama, he challenged him to a game of one-on-one. Now a voice piped up among the players, asking if Oliver had seen a tweet sent out by the official White House account a few minutes before. It read:

The group began to read the message aloud, a word-by-word crescendo, and then suddenly there was a burst of shouting signaling a party reignited: OHHH! WOW! HE REMEMBERED! Once nearly left for dead on the tourney bubble, these Flyers were heading to Memphis for the Sweet 16, and they had everyone's attention now, even the commander-in-chief's.

More NCAA tournament headlines:

Before we go forward let's back up and realize that Dayton would not have even been in this NCAA Tournament without three straight wins to close the regular season, and that the Flyers needed a runner in the final seconds against Ohio State to advance to the Round of 32. My point? That Sweet 16 runs can and often do come out of nowhere, and that's the best way to explain Dayton's 55-53 win over Syracuse that launched the Flyers into the second weekend of this NCAA Tournament. They finished tied for fifth in a conference (Atlantic 10) that Duke's Mike Krzyzewski publicly questioned. Now they're the only A-10 school alive, and Archie Miller is about to get paid, jack.


  • No. 7 seed Connecticut may have technically pulled an "upset" in knocking off No. 2 seed Villanova, but it didn't really feel like one. The Huskies' talent took control and Villanova might have overachieved on its way to a No. 2 seed, anyway. (via YahooSports.com)

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