Keeping up the trend of great games and stunning upsets, the Sweet 16 did not let anyone down on Thursday night. From Syracuse not being able to overcome Butler, to West Virginia having a bit of trouble with Washington to Kentucky not exactly impressing me against Cornell to the spectacular double overtime battle between Xavier and Kansas State.
Regardless of what game you were watching, you got your money’s worth. But if there was one team that really showed some talent and ability to rise to the occasion, it was Xavier. Jordan Crawford and Terrell Holloway both knocked down some huge threes – from distance – to keep their school in the game and force the two OTs. On the other side, the mighty mite, Jacob Pullen of K-State, was stunning. Scoring 28 points and keeping his team alive for the win. All three of those guys probably had some scouts drooling over their potential and might have moved up a draft board or two.
Kentucky wasn’t as impressive as I thought they would be. It seemed like their offence didn’t get completely rolling until towards the end of the game. Really, if Cornell had been hitting their threes, this game might have ended a bit different.
Really, I’m glad that Syracuse lost. A zone defence can only get you so far and this proved that the scheme wasn’t enough to pull a school through. Andy Rautins, Wes Johnson and Scoop Jardine were nothing special down the stretch and that highly benefitted the Bulldogs. It looks like missing Onuaku for the third straight game was enough to get this No. 1 seed bounced.
As for West Virginia, they might have been the most convincing winner of the night, but they did have their slow stretch and didn’t really pull away until late. Pull something like that against Butler and the Bulldogs could be bound for Indianapolis.
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