The Sweet Sixteen has come and gone, and we now find ourselves with only 8 teams remaining. All four #1 seeds are still on the board, but of the #2 seeds, only UConn is still playing, with Houston, Michigan, and Michigan State upsetting Duke, Kentucky, and LSU.
In the East Region, Georgetown won decisively over longtime rival St. John’s. Georgetown’s imposing frontline of Ewing, Mourning, and Mutombo handled Jayson Williams and Walter Berry, while the Johnnies were unable to make up the difference on the perimeter despite excellent play from Ron Artest and Chris Mullin.
Due to Syracuse’s typical early loss, UConn was robbed of another chance at their former Big East rival, and instead made short work of an overmatched Notre Dame squad. Adrian Dantley and Austin Carr found precious few scoring opportunities, while Ray Allen and Rip Hamilton found, and converted, many.
UConn will now face Georgetown in the East Regional Final, which Allen and Iverson are sure to view as a rematch of their epic battle in the 1996 Big East Tournament. Hopefully this one will be as memorable.
In the South Region, Michael Jordan and Co. were simply too fast, too deep, and too good for the upstart Terrapins. Len Bias and Steve Francis made it interesting, but in the end, North Carolina was just too dominant. They’ll be a tough out for anyone, including their next opponent, the Houston Cougars, who beat Duke up on the inside to sneak into the Regional Final. Hakeem Olajuwon, Elvin Hayes, and Clyde Drexler form one of the very strongest frontcourts in the tournament, but Otis Birdsong and Damon Jones may struggle to contain the Tar Heels’ explosive wings.
In the Midwest Region, the Big O Show finally met its ended at the hands of Wilt the Stilt and The Truth. The Bearcats simply couldn’t match up inside against the Jayhawks’ dominant big men, despite stalwart efforts from Robinson and backcourt-mate Nick Van Exel.
Kansas will face a more equitable matchup inside in its next game against Michigan. The Wolverines boast a plethora of talented versatile bigs in Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, and Roy Tarpley, and those players should provide a good show after their upset victory over the Kentucky Wildcats. Michigan’s strong inside play was buttressed by the scoring prowess of some powerful perimeter play from Rudy T, Glen “Money” Rice, and Jalen Rose.
Finally, in the West Region, LJ and Plastic Man ran into the UCLA buzzsaw, as they simply didn’t have enough answers for all of the Bruins’ weapons. UCLA moves the ball too well inside and out, and everyone on the floor can score for them.
This fact won’t escape Mighigan State, who snuck by LSU in an upset. I thought LSU would be able to pound the ball inside consistently with Shaq and Bob Pettit against non-elite players like Kevin Willis and Jay Vincent, but the Tigers lost their way when Pete Maravich succumbed to the temptation to make the game a grudge match between himself and Magic Johnson. Magic was too good for Pistol Pete on this day, and so the Spartans move on to face UCLA in the Regional Final.
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