that was a complete game by BYU. outstanding effort all the way around, including their big men overcoming the "playing defense while White" fouls that the officials repeatedly called. Sacre, a legitimately good big man,was simply allowed to run roughshod over the BYU bigs ... but they refused to back down. consequently, Gonzulu's size advantage wasn't as impactful as it easily could have been. also, how about the stellar defense by BYU's Jackson Emery and Kyle Collinsworth? Emery, especially, is vastly under-rated. Noah Hartsock also was White-hot on offense, and it was a shame he had to sit so much due to the aforementioned fictitious fouls.
i "wonder" why BYU's backcourt of Jimmer Fredette (the nation's top offensive weapon) and Jackson Emery (one of the nation's elite defenders and a superb shooter/passer) is never given consideration as (among) the nation's best? oh, wait. they're both White. i forgot for a second and was just thinking about their ability to play the game.
Matt Howard is Butler's best player, but give credit where it's due. if it weren't for Mack's early hot shooting (he finished with a game-high 30), the Bulldogs wouldn't have been in the game early.
also, the end of the Butler game exemplified dumb black behavior. not one, but TWO stupid fouls that each could have lost the game for their team. wow. i don't know that i've seen a more bizarre finish to a game in my lifetime.
aplayer whoi've not seen mentioned is George Mason's 6-5 sophomore,
Luke Hancock. known more for being an athleticslasher who is great at creating for his teammates (he leads the team in assists from hiswing spot), it was Hancock's 3-point shooting that led GMU past Villanova. Hancock had a team-high 18, and his 3-pointer with 21 seconds left sealed the deal.
oh, it probably goes without saying, but George Mason
didn't really want to giveHancock a scholarship.
led by another quietly superb performance by Jon Leuer (19 and 7), the starting White quartet (and the men off the bench) of Wisconsin overcame the "physical" play of Kansas State to advance. at least 4 Badgers suffered "incidental" or "accidental" blows to the head from KSU players that left them bleeding profusely.i don'trecall anyof the blood-inducing contactsbeing whistled for a foul, either.