FIBA Basketball
USA - George Mason stun UConn
WASHINGTON (NCAA) - Cinderella has arrived!In one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history, minnows George Mason stunned top seed Connecticut 86-84 in overtime on Sunday night in Washington to reach the Final Four.Jai Lewis had 20 points for the winners, who became only the second 11th seed to ever reach the
WASHINGTON (NCAA) - Cinderella has arrived!
In one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history, minnows George Mason stunned top seed Connecticut 86-84 in overtime on Sunday night in Washington to reach the Final Four.
Jai Lewis had 20 points for the winners, who became only the second 11th seed to ever reach the Final Four. There has never been a lower seed to reach the last four.
Louisiana State University also did it in 1986, but unlike LSU, George Mason do not play in the powerful SEC. They hail from the Colonial Athletic Association.
They are a small university in Fairfax, Virginia, one of the reasons why they enjoyed a homecourt advantage on Sunday in Washington which is just 20 miles away from their campus.
George Mason will take on the Florida Gators, who got 21 points, a career high 15 rebounds and five blocks from their sensational French sophomore Joakim Noah in a 75-62 triumph over top seed Villanova in the Minneapolis Region.
Few would have given George Mason a chance of reaching the last four.
UConn led by 12 late in the first half and then nine early in the second but they couldn't put away the Patriots, who earlier in the tournament knocked off Michigan State, defending champions North Carolina and Wichita State.
Connecticut were gunning for their third NCAA crown since 1999 with the Huskies having won their second two years ago.
How big is the upset?
Before this tournament, George Mason had lost in the first round on their three previous appearances in March Madness, falling in 1989 to Indiana, to Cincinnati 10 years later and then in 2001 to Maryland.
Patriots coach Jim Larranaga said: "After 20 years of trying, I'm honoured to be taking my own team to the Final Four."
Larranaga went to the Final Four as an assistant with Virginia in 1981 and 1984. To a degree, Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun can relate.
"I've been in the same situation as Jimmy when I was at Northeastern," Calhoun said.
"They are overlooked, a lot of their kids were passed over by bigger conferences. It shows what good preparation and heart can do."
Gators back in Final Four
What a run Noah and the Gators are on!
Florida (31-6) controlled the interior and kept Villanova (28-5) in a shooting slump that has stretched throughout the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Final Four for the first time since 2000 and third time in the last 13 years.
One game after shooting 35% but surviving against the bigger Boston College Eagles in the regional semi-finals, the Wildcats were even worse at a dismal 25% (18 of 73), including four of 23 from three-point range.
"I have said this for a long, long time - the greatest equaliser is the three-point line," Gators coach Billy Donovan said. "Because we defended the three-point line, that gave us an opportunity tonight."
Randy Foye again carried the scoring load with 25 points but had little support and watched Noah spearhead a dominant interior attack that left Villanova playing catchup throughout.
"I thought all these guys played an exceptional game tonight," Donovan said. "Jo (Noah) and (Florida center Al Horford) did a great job on the backboard, eliminating and alleviating pressure."
Horford had eight points and Noah added seven to help Florida take a 35-30 lead into half-time.
Corey Brewer scored the Gators' first six points of the second half and Horford - who also had 15 rebounds - had a pair of dunks to give his team a 45-38 lead with 14:37 left.
Horford was done scoring at that point, but Noah was not. He hit a pair of free throws to cap a 6-0 run that made it 51-42 midway through the half and followed a three-pointer by Taurean Green with a basket to give Florida a 56-47 lead.
Lee Humphrey's three-pointer with 6:39 remaining gave the Gators their first double-digit lead at 59-48, and Noah took over from there to keep the Wildcats at bay.
He scored seven straight Florida points, including a dunk and layup that made it 66-54 with 2:51 left.
"Joakim Noah was outstanding," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "We had a tough time disrupting them because he gave so much balance to them and just kept them under control."
Noah, the son of French tennis legend Yannick Noah, was named his region's Most Outstanding Player after third seed Florida knocked out Villanova.
Al Horford was also dominant with 12 points and 15 rebounds.
"We're the Gator boys," Noah said. "The Gator boys are hot right now...
"Hopefully, we'll get a nice little ring at the end of this."
LSU beat Longhorns in OT
On Saturday, Glen "Big Baby" Davis and freshman Tyrus Thomas led Louisiana State University past Texas and UCLA upset Memphis to book their places in the NCAA Tournament's Final Four.
Davis and Thomas combined for 47 points and 22 rebounds as fourth-seeded LSU completed a surprising run to their fourth Final Four in school history, posting a 70-60 overtime victory over number two Texas in the Atlanta Region.
Facing a Longhorns front line that had been considered among the nation's best all season, Davis and Thomas proved to have all the answers, scoring at will inside and getting numerous second-chance opportunities.
Holding a 38-10 advantage in points in the paint, the Tigers also managed to stay close on the boards with the Longhorns, trailing just 45-42.
"I thought the game was going to come down to a rebounding game and a defending game and I thought we held our own with that team on the boards," LSU coach John Brady said. "I think they're the best rebounding team in the country from a statistical standpoint.
"We rebounded the ball with them quite well."
Meanwhile, the stellar Texas trio of PJ Tucker, LaMarcus Aldridge and Brad Buckman appeared knocked off-balance by the Tigers' impressive athleticism, managing just 27 points on limited opportunities in the paint.
"They're both two tough players," Tucker said. "Glen Davis knocked down some big-time shots over two or three people. Tyrus Thomas got in a groove early and we let him get comfortable.
"So they're good players and once they start to get comfortable, they start playing well."
Beating both of the top two seeds in the region, LSU (27-8) advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 1986.
They will face the winner of the Oakland Region, number two UCLA, on Saturday in Indianapolis.
"I think they've got as good a chance as anybody," said Texas coach Rick Barnes about LSU's title chances.
"Any team playing right now has a chance. In one 40-minute game, anything can happen. They've had a great year."
Despite some dismal struggles from outside, the Tigers held a 50-45 lead after Davis kicked out to Tasmin Mitchell for his lone three-pointer with 4:46 remaining.
A jump hook by Tucker brought the Longhorns within 50-49 with 2:16 left, but Davis answered back with a fadeaway jumper just over a minute later.
In one of the most frenetic sequences in the tournament, Texas were able to overcome a block by Thomas and a near-steal by Darrel Mitchell to get a three-pointer by Daniel Gibson, knotting the score at 52-52 with 32 seconds left.
LSU had some final chances to win in regulation, but Davis missed an ill-advised three-pointer and Tasmin Mitchell also came up short on an attempt from the arc in the closing seconds.
After squandering those opportunities, Brady made sure to huddle his team up before the start of overtime to make sure his players were thinking positive.
"My goal in that timeout was to make sure our players did not feel in any way they could lose that game," he said.
"We had some opportunities down the stretch to score the ball and we didn't do it. I wanted to make sure our team was extremely positive coming out of that timeout and that they had a belief in them that if we did the things necessary, we were going to win the game."
In the extra session, the Tigers forced their will, scoring the opening seven points, including a three-pointer from the top of the key by Davis for a 59-52 edge with 3:05 remaining.
It was just the sixth three-pointer on 23 attempts this season for the 6ft 9in, 310-pounder.
"It's called thinking without thinking," Davis said. "The opportunity is there to make the shot. Most of the time when I'm shooting threes, I'm thinking about it too much. I'm just in rhythm. It felt like a good shot and I made it."
Texas (30-7), ranked as high as second in the nation during the season, appeared to falter under the pressure, committing two turnovers and getting an airball on a pull-up jumper by Gibson in their opening three possessions of OT.
"We didn't execute the first two possessions of overtime," Barnes said. "We got a little discombobulated there."
The Longhorns did manage to pull within 66-60 on a three-pointer by Tucker with 25 seconds left, but Davis and Darrel Mitchell both had two free throws to seal the win.
Davis scored 26 points and Thomas added 21 on 10 of 14 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds en route to being named the region's Most Outstanding Player.
Gibson had 15 points and Buckman added 13 and 14 boards for Texas, who shot 30% (21 of 69) and managed just six second-chance points despite 14 offensive rebounds.
Tucker scored 10 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and handed out six assists but second-leading scorer Aldridge added just four points on four off 11 shooting for the Longhorns.
With the loss, Texas were denied a chance to win a third major men's championship in the past calendar year.
The school claimed victories in the College World Series and Rose Bowl against previously unbeaten Southern California.
UCLA returns to Final Four with defensive gem
Second-seeded UCLA, despite an atrocious stretch from the line, got a combined 29 points from Arron Afflalo and Ryan Hollins and stymied the high-powered Tigers for a 50-45 victory in the finals of the Oakland Region.
With a trademark defensive effort, UCLA (31-6) were able to get past their shortcomings and earn a Final Four berth for the first time since their 1995 national championship run.
"I'm really proud of the defense we played today," Bruins coach Ben Howland said. "You look at the stats, the bottom line at the end of the day, we make our foul shots, it's probably not quite as tight as it ends up being.
"We'll work on our foul shots, that I promise you."
Memphis (33-4), who ranked second in Conference USA with a 36% mark from the arc, missed their first 14 three-pointers before making a pair in the final 13 seconds when the game essentially was over.
Defended by Afflalo, Rodney Carney, the Tigers' leading scorer and C-USA Player of the Year, was limited to five points on two of 11 shooting in his final collegiate game.
The Bruins held a lead for the final 37-plus minutes, but never could establish any separation, due in large part to a miserable effort from the line. They were six of 17 in the first half and missed their first four of the second stanza.
Afflalo, who had 15 points and was the lone UCLA player to appear comfortable at the stripe by going nine of 10, made a pair with 14:12 remaining to make it 32-27 and end a one of 10 slide for his club.
He made four straight midway through the half to give the Bruins a 39-31 advantage.
Hollins made a free throw moments later to break a personal string of seven straight misses and opened up a nine-point lead.
The Tigers scored the next six points to close within four but Hollins threw down one of his three dunks to make it 42-36 with 4:16 left.
"I remember being on the bench, thinking that I will never be able to forgive myself for the rest of my life if we lost this game because I missed nine free throws," said Hollins, who was two of 11 from the stripe.
UCLA point guard Jordan Farmar, who had 28 points and seven assists in an 88-80 loss to Memphis on November 23, struggled mightily by missing his first seven shots before making a fadeaway jumper with 3:14 to go and extend the Bruins' advantage to 44-37.
Darius Washington Jr answered 14 seconds later and Memphis had a chance to draw closer but Carney missed another three-pointer and freshman Shawne Williams threw the ball away after making a steal with just over a minute left.
After the turnover, Williams fouled Cedric Bozeman, who made a pair from the line to make it 46-39 with 53 seconds left.
Afflalo added three free throws and Bozeman one more to help offset the Tigers' two late three-pointers.
Only in desperation did Memphis make its shots, ending a frustrating night with just a glimmer of hope.
"We played bad and I coached bad," Tigers coach John Calipari said. "It was everybody. We're all thrown in on this one. We all missed and all turned it over and all didn't play up to snuff. Obviously, I didn't make the game fast enough, which means I didn't coach up to snuff."
Aside from Afflalo and Hollins, no Bruin scored more than four points. Freshman Luc Richard Mbah a Moute of Cameroon, who was instrumental in UCLA's remarkable 11-0 game-ending run against Gonzaga on Thursday, was limited to two points on a two of six effort from the line.
Despite his troubles at the stripe, Hollins had a stellar all-around game. He was six of seven from the field, grabbed nine rebounds and recorded a steal and a block in 31 minutes.
The 7ft senior was named the region's Most Outstanding Player.
Washington was the only Memphis player not to struggle, scoring 13 points. His team-mates combined to shoot 29% (13 of 45) from the floor as the Tigers fell short of their first Final Four berth since 1985.
Afflalo and Bozeman's free throws at the end enabled the Bruins to finish 20 of 39 (51%). They made only two three-pointers of their own and had just four baskets in the second half, defying the odds by pulling away.
In a game that yielded a host of odd statistics, perhaps the most telling was Memphis' five assists against 18 turnovers.
By PA Sport
In one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history, minnows George Mason stunned top seed Connecticut 86-84 in overtime on Sunday night in Washington to reach the Final Four.
Jai Lewis had 20 points for the winners, who became only the second 11th seed to ever reach the Final Four. There has never been a lower seed to reach the last four.
Louisiana State University also did it in 1986, but unlike LSU, George Mason do not play in the powerful SEC. They hail from the Colonial Athletic Association.
They are a small university in Fairfax, Virginia, one of the reasons why they enjoyed a homecourt advantage on Sunday in Washington which is just 20 miles away from their campus.
George Mason will take on the Florida Gators, who got 21 points, a career high 15 rebounds and five blocks from their sensational French sophomore Joakim Noah in a 75-62 triumph over top seed Villanova in the Minneapolis Region.
Few would have given George Mason a chance of reaching the last four.
UConn led by 12 late in the first half and then nine early in the second but they couldn't put away the Patriots, who earlier in the tournament knocked off Michigan State, defending champions North Carolina and Wichita State.
Connecticut were gunning for their third NCAA crown since 1999 with the Huskies having won their second two years ago.
How big is the upset?
Before this tournament, George Mason had lost in the first round on their three previous appearances in March Madness, falling in 1989 to Indiana, to Cincinnati 10 years later and then in 2001 to Maryland.
Patriots coach Jim Larranaga said: "After 20 years of trying, I'm honoured to be taking my own team to the Final Four."
Larranaga went to the Final Four as an assistant with Virginia in 1981 and 1984. To a degree, Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun can relate.
"I've been in the same situation as Jimmy when I was at Northeastern," Calhoun said.
"They are overlooked, a lot of their kids were passed over by bigger conferences. It shows what good preparation and heart can do."
Gators back in Final Four
What a run Noah and the Gators are on!
Florida (31-6) controlled the interior and kept Villanova (28-5) in a shooting slump that has stretched throughout the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Final Four for the first time since 2000 and third time in the last 13 years.
One game after shooting 35% but surviving against the bigger Boston College Eagles in the regional semi-finals, the Wildcats were even worse at a dismal 25% (18 of 73), including four of 23 from three-point range.
"I have said this for a long, long time - the greatest equaliser is the three-point line," Gators coach Billy Donovan said. "Because we defended the three-point line, that gave us an opportunity tonight."
Randy Foye again carried the scoring load with 25 points but had little support and watched Noah spearhead a dominant interior attack that left Villanova playing catchup throughout.
"I thought all these guys played an exceptional game tonight," Donovan said. "Jo (Noah) and (Florida center Al Horford) did a great job on the backboard, eliminating and alleviating pressure."
Horford had eight points and Noah added seven to help Florida take a 35-30 lead into half-time.
Corey Brewer scored the Gators' first six points of the second half and Horford - who also had 15 rebounds - had a pair of dunks to give his team a 45-38 lead with 14:37 left.
Horford was done scoring at that point, but Noah was not. He hit a pair of free throws to cap a 6-0 run that made it 51-42 midway through the half and followed a three-pointer by Taurean Green with a basket to give Florida a 56-47 lead.
Lee Humphrey's three-pointer with 6:39 remaining gave the Gators their first double-digit lead at 59-48, and Noah took over from there to keep the Wildcats at bay.
He scored seven straight Florida points, including a dunk and layup that made it 66-54 with 2:51 left.
"Joakim Noah was outstanding," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "We had a tough time disrupting them because he gave so much balance to them and just kept them under control."
Noah, the son of French tennis legend Yannick Noah, was named his region's Most Outstanding Player after third seed Florida knocked out Villanova.
Al Horford was also dominant with 12 points and 15 rebounds.
"We're the Gator boys," Noah said. "The Gator boys are hot right now...
"Hopefully, we'll get a nice little ring at the end of this."
LSU beat Longhorns in OT
On Saturday, Glen "Big Baby" Davis and freshman Tyrus Thomas led Louisiana State University past Texas and UCLA upset Memphis to book their places in the NCAA Tournament's Final Four.
Davis and Thomas combined for 47 points and 22 rebounds as fourth-seeded LSU completed a surprising run to their fourth Final Four in school history, posting a 70-60 overtime victory over number two Texas in the Atlanta Region.
Facing a Longhorns front line that had been considered among the nation's best all season, Davis and Thomas proved to have all the answers, scoring at will inside and getting numerous second-chance opportunities.
Holding a 38-10 advantage in points in the paint, the Tigers also managed to stay close on the boards with the Longhorns, trailing just 45-42.
"I thought the game was going to come down to a rebounding game and a defending game and I thought we held our own with that team on the boards," LSU coach John Brady said. "I think they're the best rebounding team in the country from a statistical standpoint.
"We rebounded the ball with them quite well."
Meanwhile, the stellar Texas trio of PJ Tucker, LaMarcus Aldridge and Brad Buckman appeared knocked off-balance by the Tigers' impressive athleticism, managing just 27 points on limited opportunities in the paint.
"They're both two tough players," Tucker said. "Glen Davis knocked down some big-time shots over two or three people. Tyrus Thomas got in a groove early and we let him get comfortable.
"So they're good players and once they start to get comfortable, they start playing well."
Beating both of the top two seeds in the region, LSU (27-8) advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 1986.
They will face the winner of the Oakland Region, number two UCLA, on Saturday in Indianapolis.
"I think they've got as good a chance as anybody," said Texas coach Rick Barnes about LSU's title chances.
"Any team playing right now has a chance. In one 40-minute game, anything can happen. They've had a great year."
Despite some dismal struggles from outside, the Tigers held a 50-45 lead after Davis kicked out to Tasmin Mitchell for his lone three-pointer with 4:46 remaining.
A jump hook by Tucker brought the Longhorns within 50-49 with 2:16 left, but Davis answered back with a fadeaway jumper just over a minute later.
In one of the most frenetic sequences in the tournament, Texas were able to overcome a block by Thomas and a near-steal by Darrel Mitchell to get a three-pointer by Daniel Gibson, knotting the score at 52-52 with 32 seconds left.
LSU had some final chances to win in regulation, but Davis missed an ill-advised three-pointer and Tasmin Mitchell also came up short on an attempt from the arc in the closing seconds.
After squandering those opportunities, Brady made sure to huddle his team up before the start of overtime to make sure his players were thinking positive.
"My goal in that timeout was to make sure our players did not feel in any way they could lose that game," he said.
"We had some opportunities down the stretch to score the ball and we didn't do it. I wanted to make sure our team was extremely positive coming out of that timeout and that they had a belief in them that if we did the things necessary, we were going to win the game."
In the extra session, the Tigers forced their will, scoring the opening seven points, including a three-pointer from the top of the key by Davis for a 59-52 edge with 3:05 remaining.
It was just the sixth three-pointer on 23 attempts this season for the 6ft 9in, 310-pounder.
"It's called thinking without thinking," Davis said. "The opportunity is there to make the shot. Most of the time when I'm shooting threes, I'm thinking about it too much. I'm just in rhythm. It felt like a good shot and I made it."
Texas (30-7), ranked as high as second in the nation during the season, appeared to falter under the pressure, committing two turnovers and getting an airball on a pull-up jumper by Gibson in their opening three possessions of OT.
"We didn't execute the first two possessions of overtime," Barnes said. "We got a little discombobulated there."
The Longhorns did manage to pull within 66-60 on a three-pointer by Tucker with 25 seconds left, but Davis and Darrel Mitchell both had two free throws to seal the win.
Davis scored 26 points and Thomas added 21 on 10 of 14 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds en route to being named the region's Most Outstanding Player.
Gibson had 15 points and Buckman added 13 and 14 boards for Texas, who shot 30% (21 of 69) and managed just six second-chance points despite 14 offensive rebounds.
Tucker scored 10 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and handed out six assists but second-leading scorer Aldridge added just four points on four off 11 shooting for the Longhorns.
With the loss, Texas were denied a chance to win a third major men's championship in the past calendar year.
The school claimed victories in the College World Series and Rose Bowl against previously unbeaten Southern California.
UCLA returns to Final Four with defensive gem
Second-seeded UCLA, despite an atrocious stretch from the line, got a combined 29 points from Arron Afflalo and Ryan Hollins and stymied the high-powered Tigers for a 50-45 victory in the finals of the Oakland Region.
With a trademark defensive effort, UCLA (31-6) were able to get past their shortcomings and earn a Final Four berth for the first time since their 1995 national championship run.
"I'm really proud of the defense we played today," Bruins coach Ben Howland said. "You look at the stats, the bottom line at the end of the day, we make our foul shots, it's probably not quite as tight as it ends up being.
"We'll work on our foul shots, that I promise you."
Memphis (33-4), who ranked second in Conference USA with a 36% mark from the arc, missed their first 14 three-pointers before making a pair in the final 13 seconds when the game essentially was over.
Defended by Afflalo, Rodney Carney, the Tigers' leading scorer and C-USA Player of the Year, was limited to five points on two of 11 shooting in his final collegiate game.
The Bruins held a lead for the final 37-plus minutes, but never could establish any separation, due in large part to a miserable effort from the line. They were six of 17 in the first half and missed their first four of the second stanza.
Afflalo, who had 15 points and was the lone UCLA player to appear comfortable at the stripe by going nine of 10, made a pair with 14:12 remaining to make it 32-27 and end a one of 10 slide for his club.
He made four straight midway through the half to give the Bruins a 39-31 advantage.
Hollins made a free throw moments later to break a personal string of seven straight misses and opened up a nine-point lead.
The Tigers scored the next six points to close within four but Hollins threw down one of his three dunks to make it 42-36 with 4:16 left.
"I remember being on the bench, thinking that I will never be able to forgive myself for the rest of my life if we lost this game because I missed nine free throws," said Hollins, who was two of 11 from the stripe.
UCLA point guard Jordan Farmar, who had 28 points and seven assists in an 88-80 loss to Memphis on November 23, struggled mightily by missing his first seven shots before making a fadeaway jumper with 3:14 to go and extend the Bruins' advantage to 44-37.
Darius Washington Jr answered 14 seconds later and Memphis had a chance to draw closer but Carney missed another three-pointer and freshman Shawne Williams threw the ball away after making a steal with just over a minute left.
After the turnover, Williams fouled Cedric Bozeman, who made a pair from the line to make it 46-39 with 53 seconds left.
Afflalo added three free throws and Bozeman one more to help offset the Tigers' two late three-pointers.
Only in desperation did Memphis make its shots, ending a frustrating night with just a glimmer of hope.
"We played bad and I coached bad," Tigers coach John Calipari said. "It was everybody. We're all thrown in on this one. We all missed and all turned it over and all didn't play up to snuff. Obviously, I didn't make the game fast enough, which means I didn't coach up to snuff."
Aside from Afflalo and Hollins, no Bruin scored more than four points. Freshman Luc Richard Mbah a Moute of Cameroon, who was instrumental in UCLA's remarkable 11-0 game-ending run against Gonzaga on Thursday, was limited to two points on a two of six effort from the line.
Despite his troubles at the stripe, Hollins had a stellar all-around game. He was six of seven from the field, grabbed nine rebounds and recorded a steal and a block in 31 minutes.
The 7ft senior was named the region's Most Outstanding Player.
Washington was the only Memphis player not to struggle, scoring 13 points. His team-mates combined to shoot 29% (13 of 45) from the floor as the Tigers fell short of their first Final Four berth since 1985.
Afflalo and Bozeman's free throws at the end enabled the Bruins to finish 20 of 39 (51%). They made only two three-pointers of their own and had just four baskets in the second half, defying the odds by pulling away.
In a game that yielded a host of odd statistics, perhaps the most telling was Memphis' five assists against 18 turnovers.
By PA Sport