2011 NCAA Tournament: No drama in early evening matchups as Florida, UConn, BYU, and Wisconsin advance
By Paul Jordan
#2 FLORIDA 79 #15 UCSB 51
Finally a top seed won the way that top seeds are supposed to win. The Florida Gators, seeded #2 in the SE region, jumped on the UCSB Gauchos early and did not let them breathe the entire game, rolling to a win. Chandler Parson’s three pointer gave Florida a 10-1 lead just 3:00 into the game. The Gator’s attack did not stop then as Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker hit back to back treys to boost the Gator lead to 26-13 with 7:23 left in the first half. Florida built on the lead to take a 43-19 halftime lead.
The assault continued through the second half with the Gators eventually taking a 33 point lead before the Gauchos trimmed the score to the final 28 point margin. Erving Walker led the Gators with 18 points and hit 4-6 treys. Kenny Boynton scored 13 for UF and Vernon Macklin and Chandler Parsons both scored 10. Parsons added 10 assists and 7 rebounds. Orlando Johnson had 21 points for the Gauchos.
Florida will face the winner of Michigan State /UCLA.
#3 UCONN 81 #14 BUCKNELL 52
The Connecticut Huskies also reversed the trend of shenanigans by the lower seeds with a impressive win over the Bucknell Bison. Connecticit took an 11-5 lead over Bucknell just three minutes in thanks to a three-pointer by Jeremy Lamb. The Bison played on even terms after that for most of the first half however, and trailed 27-20 when Bryson Johnson hit a trey with just 7:54 left in the first half. Kemba Walker then sparked 12-0 run while the UConn defense clamped down, holding the Bison scoreless for seven minutes. When Buffalo finally scored again, it was to narrow the halftime deficit to 39-22.
The Huskies killed any thoughts of a Bison comeback in the second half by extending the lead to 50-25 with just 3:00 gone in the second half. At that point, the only question left unanswered was how big the final margin would be. Kemba Walker led the way for UConn with 18 points, followed by Roscoe Smith with 17 and Jeremy Lamb with 16. The Bison were led by Mike Muscala with 14 points.
The Bison put up a game effort for much of the first half, but as the case with most #3 vs #14 matchups, the talent of the higher seed is too much to overcome. Uconn controlled the game on the boards as they diubled up the Bison 41-20. UConn advances to face the winner of Cincinnati/Missouri later tonight.
#3 BYU 74 #14 WOFFORD 66
Despite being double and triple teamed all night, Jimmer Fredette still managed 32 points as he led his BYU Cougars to a school record 31st victory. The Wofford Terriers actually did a pretty good job controlling Fredette and his team mates during the first half and held a 25-21 lead with about 5:00 left, but Fredette keyed a 9-0 run and BYU took a 33-29 halftime lead.
A Fredette layup put the Cougars up by 8 early in the second half at 37-29 and they maintained a 5-8 point lead for the rest of the game. Whenever the Terriers would cut into the margin, Fredette would answer and put a stop to any run. To their credit, Wofford kept the game from becoming a blowout by focussing on Fredette and making the other Cougars hurt them. Despite forcing most of his shots and going just 2-9 from long range, Fredette was clearly the best player on the court. He also dished out seven assists to go with his 10-25 “off shooting night”. BYU also got double digit scoring from Jamar Diggs, Cameron Rundles, and Terry Martin.
Wofford was led by Noah Dahlman’s 22 points and 9 rebounds. BYU advances to face the winner of the St. Johns/Gonzaga game.
#4 WISCONSIN 72 #13 BELMONT 58
Jon Leuer scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half and Wisconsin methodically dispatched Belmont 72-58 on Thursday night, the Badgers’ fifth consecutive NCAA tournament-opening victory. Jordan Taylor added 21 for the fourth-seeded Badgers (24-8), 14 in the first half.
There was much talk of Belmont, a No. 13 seed, being a surprise tournament team, but the Bruins never hit their stride against the Badgers, who made 12-of-22 3-pointers, led by Taylor’s 5-of-9.
It was an impressive rebirth of the Wisconsin offense after a 36-33 loss to Penn State in the lowest-scoring game in Big Ten Tournament history. Wisconsin was 2-of-21 on 3-pointers in that one. Mike Hedgepeth scored 17 and Kerron Johnson 13 for the Atlantic Sun champion Bruins (30-5), still searching for their first NCAA tournament win after four tries.
Wisconsin will face the winner of Kansas State/Utah State on Saturday.
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