SAN ANTONIO -- Kansas wins a remarkable game with a remarkable comeback and Memphis can only wonder what-if?
Final score: Kansas 75 , Memphis 68.
Free throw shooting did, in the end, have an effect on the Tigers season.
That'll do it for us. We thank you for being there.
LITTLE ROCK - Well, the server gremlins thwarted our attempts to summarize the final couple of minutes of this battle but we'll try and give you the same splendid in-game commentary that we had been executing before the snafus occurred.
Memphis won, by the way, 77-74, depsite missing 17 of 32 free throws and despite having several opportunities at the line to avoid having to hold their breath as Jamont Gordon launched what would have been a game-tying 3-pointer as time expired.
Joey Dorsey - The Bear - did indeed awaken from his slumber with a yeoman's effort of 13 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks for Memphis. It was the senior's 25th career double-double. Chris Douglas-Roberts led the Tigers with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists while Derrick Rose had 17 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
"Joey was just a monster today," said Calipari.
"When he plays like that, our team is so much better. He was everywhere. He was helping everybody. He was great today," said CDR.
Jamont Gordon led State with 21 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
. . . Calipari was flat-out exhausted after the game. He coached much of the final portion of the contest with all three of his big men saddled with four fouls each. He would eventually lose Robert Dozier and Dorsey to disqualification but was able to deftly rotate his four-foul trio in and out to allow for presence in the paint.
It's pretty clear that Calipari won't be receiving the National Coach of the Year honors that will likely go to Keno Davis, but the arguments that Calipari is all recruiter and no bench coach need to stop and they need to stop now. You don't have three consecutive 30-win seasons, including a 35-1 record this year, without being able to handle the X's and the O's.
LITTLE ROCK - It took six contests here in Le Petite Roche to get it right, but this one has had all the elements. It's been a battle of epic proportions and we're going back and forth now with Memphis leading 66-59 with 4:35 left.
This one feels like an Elite 8 game and every Tiger basket is being answered with a Bulldog bucket. Just tremendous competition and an electric environment.
. . . Dorsey picked up his fourth foul with 8:33 left on a made basket by Varnado. The free throw tied the game at 52-52. The Tigers now has three players with four fouls (Dorsey, Dozier and Taggart). State has two players with three each (Hansbrough and Bailey). Varnado has four.
. . . Hansbrough dove out of bounds and rolled up the NCAA banners on the scorer's table. He almost got wrapped like a pig in a blanket. Great hustle by 'lil Psycho T.
. . . Memphis's missed free throws have been costly, but they have grabbed at least three offensive boards off those misses.
. . . Dorsey has 12 points and 12 rebounds.
LITTLE ROCK - It took six contests here in Le Petite Roche to get it right, but this one has had all the elements. It's been a battle of epic proportions and we're going back and forth now with Memphis leading 68-59 with 3:35 left.
This one feels like an Elite 8 game and every Tiger basket is being answered with a Bulldog bucket. Just tremendous competition and an electric environment.
. . . Dozier has now fouled out.
. . . Dorsey picked up his fourth foul with 8:33 left on a made basket by Varnado. The free throw tied the game at 52-52. The Tigers now has three players with four fouls (Dorsey, Dozier and Taggart). State has two players with three each (Hansbrough and Bailey). Varnado has four.
. . . Hansbrough dove out of bounds and rolled up the NCAA banners on the scorer's table. He almost got wrapped like a pig in a blanket. Great hustle by 'lil Psycho T.
. . . Memphis's missed free throws have been costly, but they have grabbed at least three offensive boards off those misses.
. . . Dorsey has 12 points and 12 rebounds.
LITTLE ROCK - Charles Rhodes is jujst abusing Robert Dozier inside. With four fouls on him and Taggart, the Bulldogs are just going to continue to go inside with each possession and dare Memphis to stop Rhodes. It's 50-49, Memphis with 9:29 left.
Buckle your seatbelts, folks.
LITTLE ROCK - Getting down tot he nitty gritty here at the Alltel as State has made a nice comeback to trail by just three, 48-45, with 11:04 left in regulation.
Jamont Gordon is starting to carry the Bulldogs back into this one. He drove the length of the floor for a lay-up then on the next possession hit a trey to cut the Memphis lead to five. A Charles Rhodes dunk cut the Tiger lead to three, where we now stand.
Taggart has been awful for Memphis on its past two possessions with two straight turnovers and the "Mr. Fumbles" hands that Calipari abhors.
. . . Free throw shooting is hurting Memphis. They have connected on 5 of 14 and 0 of 4 in the second half.
. . . Foul trouble is plaguing the Tigers as Robert Dozier picked up his third foul of the game when he fell into Barry Stewart on a 3-point attempt just under 15:00. Stewart converted two of three from the stripe. Dozier then picked up his fourth with 14:14 left. He was replaced by foul-plagued Taggart.
. . . Varnado picked up his third foul a few seconds later when he got Dorsey who hit the lay-in.
LITTLE ROCK - Memphis had extended to 13 points early in the half, but State was able to climb back in and now trails 42-36 with 15:31 left in the game.
. . . Dorsey picked up his second and third fouls in the span of a minute and had to go to the becnh with 17:12 left in the game. He was replaced by Shawn Taggart. Taggart then picked up his fourth a minute later and Dorsey was re-inserted into the game with 16:38 left. Dicey times for the Memphis big men.
. . . Memphis has been called for four personal fouls in the first four minutes of the half. State has one. In the first half, both teams were whistled for seven fouls each.
. . .Rose to Dorsey on the back door lob dunk on Tigers' first possession of half put them up 38-27.
LITTLE ROCK - As expected, Memphis was able to use a lot of bodies with the hope of wearing down the fairly shallow Bulldogs. Seven Tigers scored and had 12 bench points. State had five players score and got only 5 points from its bench.
. . . Report from the locke room is that Andre Allen has a slightly sprained right shoulder but will play in the second half. There was nothing physically wrong with Doneal Mack, Calipari probably thought the game was too rough for the lithe guard.
. . . Rebounding edge, Memphis - 27-17 (12 of Memphis's rebounds were on the offensive glass)
Tigers shot 36 percent (13 of 36, 5 of 13)
Bulldogs shot 33 percent (9 of 27, 5 of 11)
Jamont Gordon led State in scoring with 11 points (3 of 8, 2 of 4)
Rose and Kemp led Memphis with nine each (Rose, 3 of 8 and 1 of 3; Kemp 3 of 4, 3 of 4)
Turnovers were State with 4 and Memphis with just 1.
Memphis missed 5 of 10 free throws, State hit 4 of 6.
. . . Taggart is the lone player with 3 fouls.
LITTLE ROCK - The Tigers used an 11-0 run to close out the half and lead 36-27 at the break.
Andre Allen returned to the bench but did not re-enter the game before half.
Memphis's Doneal Mack didn't see action until 1:12 remained in the half. he replaced Shawn Taggart who has three fouls. Mack hit his first show, a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
LITTLE ROCK - Some very intense action as Memphis holds a 27-25 edge with 3:07 left in the first half.
Willie Kemp and Derrick Rose each have nine points for Memphis. Gordon has nine for State.
Rebounding is still in favor of the Tigers, 22-16. Varnado has been credited with five blocks and Dorsey with four.
. . . Andre Allen took a hard foul driving to the hoop from Charles Rhodes and went back to the locker room with a trainer. he was replaced by Chris Douglas-Roberts who made on of two free throws.
. . . Dorsey dunk with 6:20 left, another of the monster variety.
. . . Willie Kemp with back-to-back 3-pointers and State looks like they were allowing him to take both. Kemp can storke it, so that strategy could be quite faulty. he hit his third with 4:27 to go and Hansbrough contesting late.
. . . Calipari yanked Antonio Anderson after Jamont Gordon stuck a 3-pointer in his face. Rose then picked up the Gordon assignment.
. . . Derrick Rose is taking it to the hole on almost every catch. he picked up the second foul on Varnado with 4:56 left in the half. Varnado remained in the game.
. . . Taggrt picked up his second foul with 5:35 left in the half and Calipari will have to stcik with him.
. . . State has a staffer on the bench who is wearing pink pants and a sky blue shirt. Think the dude wanted to be easy to pick out on TV? "Hi Mom, it's me your vibrant son."
LITTLE ROCK - Mississippi State has taken the lead 18-12 on the strength of an 10-3 run. Gordon, hansbrough and Brian Johnson each have 5 points for State. Derrick Rose leads Memphis with six points. The rebounding gap has closed and Memphis now holds just a 15-12 edge.
. . . Memphis is shooting 20 percent from the field (4 of 20) and State is at 41 percent (7 of 17).
. . .Dozier picks up his second personal foul with 8:24 left in the half. He's replaced by Shawn Taggart.
. . . Dorsey has four blocks in the first 12 minutes of the game
LITTLE ROCK - We're knotted at 11-11 with 11:16 left in the half. State's Ben Hansbrough just picked up his second personal foul of the game, but it apears Stansbury will keep his sophomore guard in the game.
Memphis has 14 rebounds already (8 on the offensive glass) to 6 for State.
. . .Dozier with a nice block in the lane on Rhodes.
. . . Gordon's first three of the game made it 9-8 Memphis with just under 13:00 left. A three by Hansbrough with 11:45 left tied the game at 11-11.
. . . State in a 2-3 zone, Memphis going man-to-man.
. . . Great win for Davidson and a near-miss for Butler.
LITTLE ROCK - Memphis leads 6-5 with 15:43 left in the half.
Encouraging signs for the Tigers that both Robert Dozier and Joey Dorsey appear focused and ready to play.
The Tigers have opened with some full court pressure and trapped the sideline at halfcourt to force an early State timeout with a minute and a half gone by.
. . . Ben Hansbrough and Jarvis Varnado each have one foul each for the Bulldogs. Keep an eye on Varnado's situation, if he gets in foul trouble that would be a bad thing for State fans.
. . . World Wide Wes is in the house, sitting about 20 rows behind the Tiger bench.
. . . It's an all-adidas sneaker battle in this one.
. . . Good energy in the building and we're sensing a slight edge in blue-clad fans.
. . . Found some egg shaped candies in the media buffet room and they're tasty little treats and likely to amp me up for another 12 hours. They are from Judson-Atkinson Candies and have a hard outer shell and a soft, sugary inside.
LITTLE ROCK - We got all caught up in the press room watching the fantastic finishes but our responsibility is to you the valued Posting Up reader, so we're back for the tip of this one.
We expect a tight game but ultimately we think the depth of Memphis will wear down the Bulldogs.
Great sign for the Tigers on State's first possession as Joey Dorsey rose above the fray and swatted a shot to set up a Memphis fast break that led to a free throw by Derrick Rose.
LITTLE ROCK - A look at some of the pertinent final stats from Game 1:
Texas won the board battle, 41-30
Texas shot 43 percent for the game (25 of 58 and 8 of 24 in the second half)
Miami shot 40 percent for the game (22 of 55 and 11 of 24 in the second half)
AJ Abrams finsihed with a game-high 26 points. Damion James had 16 points and 16 rebounds.
Jack McClinton had 18 points to lead Miami, Hurdle had 11 and Raymond Hicks had 10 points including 2 of 3 from 3-point land, with both makes coming in the final seconds. McClinton was 5 of 14 from the field and 4 of 10 from 3-point land.
DJ Augustin had 12 points and 8 assists and 3 steals.
Texas shot 12 of 21 from the free throw line and Miami was 19 of 22.
. . . Officials for the next game are Reginald Greenwood, Ted Hillary and Frank Scagliotta. Our tip will be at 4 p.m. local team.
We're going to (Austin) Peay (can't get enough of the sub-regional-themed joke) and we'll be back for the nightcap.
LITTLE ROCK - Miami made a spirited, late comeback but Texas had built too big of a lead in the game's first 36 minutes for the 'Canes to be able to come all the way back. Texas holds on and advances with a well-earned 75-72 win. Miami's Raymond Hicks hit two monster 3-pointers in the final 12 seconds that cut the lead to two, but after a monitor review of time left, the 'Canes were left with 1.8 seconds to try and foul Texas, pray for misses at the line and then score. DJ Augustin airballed the first, hit the second and a baseball pass from Hicks found no receiver as Texas hung on.
Some nice hugs and handshakes as the teams exited the court - lots of commonality and overlap between the two staffs and players.
Free throw shooting down the stretch almost cost the 'Horns the win, but two big ones from AJ Abrams with 9.5 seconds remaining helped to seal the deal.
. . . We'll be back in a bit with final stats and a look ahead to the second game of our doubleheader here at Alltel.
LITTLE ROCK - The 'Canes have cut the Texas lead to six with 1:37 left in the game and the crowd, which had fallen asleep, is suddenly behind Miami in a big way.
Texas leads 68-62 with 1:34 left in the game.
McClinton has come on late and now has 18 points.
. . . Texas will need to make free throws and they'll survive.
LITTLE ROCK - The rebounding edge tells you all you need to know about this one as Texas has a plus-18 edge on the boards (40-22). Texas leads the game 66-52 with 3:30 left in the game. The 'Horns are in cruise control to Houston where they will meet Stanford next Friday night in the round of 16.
The game was tied 8-8 with 16:33 left in the first half and since then it has been all Texas.
. . . James Dews has been one of the lone bright spot for Miami. The sophomore has 8points
. . . McClinton's first field goal of the second half came on a jumper with 5:12 left in the game. He now has 8 points and is one of three 'Canes with 8. Texas has four players in double figures scoring, led by Abrams' 20.
. . . Damion James has 14 rebounds and 15 points for Texas.
. . . Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury got some cheers from the Bulldog faithful as he approached press row to do his pre-game radio show. Most coaches pre-record such things in the bowels of the building, so the sight is a bit odd.
LITTLE ROCK - AJ Abrams now has 20 points and is 6 of 9 from 3-point land. His latest trey gave the 'Horns a 58-43 lead with 11:52 left. Defending the 3-ball must've been overlooked in Frank Haith's gameplan.
Abrams also had six treys against Austin Peay in the opener.
. . . McClinton continues to struggle from the field and is now 2 of 9 and 2 of 6 from 3-point land.
LITTLE ROCK - Our string of mediocre games here in Little Rock continues with this one as Texas leads 49-36 and Miami doesn't appear ready to mount any kind of real comeback. We have 15:33 left in the game.
A 3-pointer by James with just over 16:00 left gave Texas its biggest lead of the game at 16.
. .. Rick Barnes has now put AJ Abrams on McClinton. It's probably part of a rotation, but Mason should still get most of the checking assignments on the Miami scorer.
. . . The first chaps-clad routine of our favorite dancers was a rousing success. Tough to say if it's the white frilly vests that get us or the brown chaps or a combination of both. Hook 'em horns, indeed.
LITTLE ROCK - This one is going according to script for the Longhorns who are getting production from all their key contributors. Some key lines:
AJ Abrams - 14 points, 5 of 8 form the field, 4 of 7 from 3-point land
Damion James - 9 rebounds, 7 points
DJ Augustin - 5 points, 5 assists and 3 steals
Texas has dominated the boards, 22-15.
Miami shot 11 of 31 from the field (36 percent) and 3 of 11 from 3-point land (27 percent)
Texas shot 17 of 34 from the field and 9 of 16 from 3-point land (56 percent)
Texas has 12 assists on its 17 field goals, Miami has 4 on its 11
. . . Gary Johnson, coming back from an injury for the Longhorns, logged four minutes and picked up two fouls. Big fella Dexter Pittman, who had a great first game, played four minutes for Texas and had two points and three rebounds.
. . . Anthony King was 4 of 5 from the field for his 8 Miami points. McClinton was 2 of 7 from the field.
. . . As expected, hoped for and embraced, the Texas dance teams has chnged into their chaps.
LITTLE ROCK - With remarkable proficiency from the 3-point land, Texas has built an 11-point lead at the half, 43-32. The Longhorns are 9 of 16 from beyond the arc and 17 of 33 form the field. They have effectively contained Miami's Jack McClinton, who has six points in the first half. of course, McClinton also had half a dozen in the first half on Friday against St. Mary's and then exploded for 32 in the second. That's not a realistic expectation today, but it is worth keeping in mind.
Abrams has 14 to lead Texas and King has eight for Miami.
. . . The arena is just about all filled up as most of the second game's fans have made their way off of Main Street in N. Little Rock and into their seats.
. . . It appears the Texas dancers have gone in for a wardrobe change. We're giddy in anticipation.
LITTLE ROCK - Miami has mounted a bit of a comeback and they too are using the three-ball to do it. With 6:38 left in the half, Texas leads 35-26, as Miami has cut into a 14-point deficit.
McClinton's first hoop came on a trey with just under 10 minutes to go in the half. A minute later he hit another to cut the 'Horns lead to eight. he is now 2 of 4 from beyond the arc. A s ateam, texas is 7 of 13 from international waters.
. . . Your daily Texas dance team outfit update: The ladies have started off in a orange sequin halter tops (I think they're halters - they show a lot of belly whatever they are) and black velour, form-fitting pants. We eagrely await the wardrobe change into chaps.
LITTLE ROCK - Texas is out to a blazing start and they have used the 3-pointer to take a 19-8 lead with 13:51 left in the half.
Texas is 5 of 8 from 3-point land and four different Longhorns have hit three balls (James, Atchley, Augustin and Abrams). McClinton is 0 of 3 form the field this far as King leads Miami in scoring with six points.
. . . Texas's best defender, Justin Mason is guarding McClinton. Barnes mentioned yesterday that the No. 24 would now be reserved for players who exhibit the grit and tenacity of Mason and his predecessor in the number, Royal Ivey.
. . . Our sneaker battle is between two Nike schools.
. . . Looks like the Memphis and State fans in the house are 'Cane fans for this one.
. . . If forced to chose between burnt orange and bright orange, I will take the burnt orange. This is true mainly because I got a burnt orange fleece from my sister for my birthday. So, really, it's Karen that prefers burnt orange.
LITTLE ROCK - Happy Easter and welcome back to the Alltel Arena for today's second round games. Our first game, tipping at 1:15 local time, features Texas and Miami. the follow-up will be a mid-south battle with Memphis and Mississippi State.
Things were buzzing in the North Little rock area surrounding the arena as fans pre-lubed for the day of basketball. Tickets are fairly tough to come by because of the local interest with Memphis, State and Texas (which always travels well).
. . . Officials for today's game will be Mike Kitts, Joe Lindsay and Patrick Adams.
. . . Probable starting line-ups look like this:
No. 2 seed Texas (29-6)
AJ Abrams
Damion James
DJ Augustin
Justin Mason
Connor Atchley
No. 7 seed Miami (23-10)
Lance Hurdle
Jack McClinton
James Dews
Dwayne Collins
Anthony King
The feature players to watch are, of course, McClinton who is coming off his 38 point effort on Friday and DJ Augustin. But the interesting thing to us will be the post play, especially that of 'Cane big man Jimmy Graham and King. If they can do damage in the paint, Miami will be able to open up the outside game a bit and be able to stay in it.
Still, despite both teams employing similar tactics from the Rick Barnes/Frank Haith coaching tree, the Longhorns are likely to advance to Houston next weekend and they should do it easily.
LITTLE ROCK - We're on our in-between day here in Le Petite Roche and Miami players and coach Frank Haith are starting their press room/locker room interviews. They will be followed by Texas at 2:15 local time; then Mississippi State at 3:10 and finally Memphis at 3:50.
All practices are closed today at the arena.
We'll plan on filing a column over at the Hang Time blog late this afternoon. if any news breaks here, we'll also be on top of that. In the meantime, enjoy the live-blogging here as half the Sweet 16 is filled out today. We'd also encourage you to check out Jerry Palm's Hang Time re-cap of his off-day game watching. The Palmist captured a wild day form the perspective a bar-sitter and he did it quite well.
Enjoy the action.
LITTLE ROCK - Memphis wins 87-63 and I get to go take some sleepy time cold medicine. All's well that ends well.
We'll check in from interview day on Saturday, but it will be pretty light. Be sure to join in with all the live-blogging form the nation's other sites with the able-bodied posse of CSTV.com live-bloggers.
. . . Pouncer, the Tiger mascot, has whipped out his blue Elvis jumpsuit costume. We get a big kick out of that outift for some reason. There's a special hole in the rear for the tail to protrude through. We wonder if Elvis had a similar trap door.
. . . Amazing sub-regional in Tampa. Two 12-13 games on tap for Sunday. Incredible.
LITTLE ROCK - It has not been pretty and it is definitely the kind of game that John Calipari will use to motivate his troops, but Memphis continues to lead comfortably, 73-55 with 7:45 left in the game.
. .. To go with his monster dunk, Dorsey now has a monster rejection on one of the UTA guards that led to tiger free throws at the other end.
. . . Sitting very close to the same seat that the Austin Peay iron lung band member sat, is now a UTA female band member with lungs of steel. Even the dude next her on clarinet had to shake his head at the latest screech from the basketball-face-painted co-ed.
. . . Rod Epps has fouled out for UTA. he had zero points
LITTLE ROCK - The Mavericks are still hanging around and trail 65-50 with 11:56 left in the game. Again, Memphis isn't in danger of losing this one, but they also aren't putting it out of reach the way their fans would like.
The Tigers continue to get beat on fast breaks and hustle plays, not to mention put backs. The Tigers also have 5 turnovers this half in 8 minutes. they had five all of the first half.
. . . There are rim rattlers and then there are rim rattlers. What Joey Dorsey threw down with just over 14 minutes left in the game was one for the books. How the basket withstood the trauma, I'll never know.
. . . Taggart picks up his third foul with 11:56 left as Vereen gets after it inside the lane and scores a hard-earned bucket.
LITTLE ROCK - A rather ho-hum continuance of this onw and Memphis is now up 55-40 with 15:52 left in the game.
It's clear Memphis is going to win, but they are not doing it in the fashion the other No. 1 seeds have and it will ikely give rise to more talk of the Tigers being a soft 1-seed.
. . . The Tigers are getting beat on long outlet passes and back door cuts, two things that don't sit well with the coaching staff. Memphis also isn't finishing well around the bucket. Lots of missed bunnies and lay-ups and put-backs.
. . . Dorsey picked up his third foul with 16:25 left and was taken out for Dozier.
LITTLE ROCK - Some pretty remarkable numbers form the first half, to wit:
Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field.
Both teams shot 50 percent from 3-point land.
Memphis held just a 16-13 edge in rebounding despite a noticeable size advantage.
Both teams had 10 or more assists (10 for UTA, 12 for Memphis)
UTA had 10 turnovers, while Memphis had just five. Memphis converted the ten turns for 12 points and has 11 second-chance points as well.
. . . Memphis just didn't play with the intensity that Calipari expects from his team, but the numbers are pretty impressive and they executed well when they had to. UTA probably can't play much better and they're still down 14. There's been too much "Mr. Fumbles" from the Tigers - especially Dorsey and Dozier - and that drives Calipari bonkers.
LITTLE ROCK - Give UTA some credit, they kept this thing from getting out of hand despite a 57 percent shooting half for the Tigers. UTA shot 54 percent (13 of 24) from the field. Both teams were also 50 percent form 3-point land as Memphis hit 5 of 10 and UTA hit 3 of 6.
. . . CDR leads all scorers with 14 and Moffitt and and Vereen each have seven for UTA.
. . . UTA cut the lead to single digits with 2:20 left in the half, 38-29.
LITTLE ROCK - Memphis leads 36-21 with 3:52 left in the half. The Tigers aren't playing great, but CDR has 13 points and UTA continues to turn the ball over (10 so far this half).
. . . The five for five thing appears to be over as Shawn Taggart replaced Robert Dozier after the under-8:00 media timeout. More regular one-for-one and two-for-two substitution patterns have ensued.
. . . No mention of whether Anthony Vereen of UTA is related to Ben Vereen, the entertainer. No idea why I would care, either. he reminds me of a former Calipari player at UMass, Will Herndon. But Herndon could jump out of the gym, not to mention over cars.
LITTLE ROCK - Memphis is out ot a 12-point lead but UTA is certainly kepeing it within reason. Memphis leads 27-15 with 7:41 left in the half.
Memphis has forced six UTA turnovers and only holds a slim 10-9 lead in rebounding.
. . . As we indicated pre-game, Calipari is using the hockey line change approach once again. The second-teamers came in with 13:29 left in the half and was made up of Willie Kemp, Doneal Mack, Jeff Robinson, Andre Allen and Shawn Taggart. The players said they like the pattern of subbing because they are used to playing with each other that way in practice.
The First Five checked back in with 11:38 left in the half and look like they'll remain in.
. . . There's got to be a "Top Gun" joke in here somewhere with the 'Mavericks' involved, but I'm a little weak on that movie. How about: UTA has lost that lovin' feelin after starting out hot.
Yeah, I know. But you try live-blogging for 12 straight hours, you haters.
LITTLE ROCK - The Tigers have been back on their heels a bit to start out but lead 10-6 with 15:19 left in the half.
UTA won the game-opening tip a true moral victory. They even took a 4-0 lead on two buckets from Jermaine Griffin.
But a 3-pointer by Antonio Anderson gave Memphis an 8-6 lead and probably ended the Mavericks' hopes of staying in this one.
. . . Rebounding is even at 4-4. Let's see how long that lasts.
. . . UTA lists on ten players on its roster. Most teams have 14.
. . .UTA is clearly loose and easy for this one. Widebody Larry Posey has been bouncing and smiling since well before the game started.
. . . Two strong sections of UTA fans directly behind the Posting Up Perch, including a string of shirtless dudes spelling out UTAMAVS. The "M" is quite a specimen, as is the "V."
. . . Our sneaker battle is between adidad (Memphis) and Nike (UTA).
. . . With a No. 16 seed basketball team comes a No. 16 seed cheer and dance squad. That's just how it is. The dance portion of the Mavericks' rooters is especially, shall we say, "M" and "V"-like.
LITTLE ROCK - We're about 15 minutes from tip of the nightcap her at Alltel.
Probable starters look like this:
No. 1 seed Memphis (33-1)
Robert Dozier
Joey Dorsey
Antonio Anderson
Chris Douglas-Roberts (leading scorer with 17.2 ppg)
Derrick Rose
No. 16 seed UTA (21-11)
Rog'er Guignard (leading scorer with 13.0 ppg)
Rod Epps
Tommy Moffit
Larry Posey
Jermaine Griffin
. . . Officials for the game are Reginald Greenwood, John Hampton and Wallace Rutecki.
. . . UTA started shooting around at the wrong end of the floor and had to be shuffled off to the other end when Memphis took the court. rookie mistake.
. . . Look for Memphis to revive its platoon system of five in-five out that worked so well in the C-USA Title game against UAB.
LITTLE ROCK - Well, there go the Oregon cheer and dance teams back to Eugene. Little Rock is poorer for the loss. Mississippi State put together an outstanding second half to win this one, 76-69.
Rhodes led all scorers with 34 and Hairston had 22 for the Ducks.
. . . Jamont Gordon had nine assists for the Bulldogs, one off his career high. He laso had six turnovers.
. . . We'll be back with pre-game info for the night cap between Memphis and UTA.
LITTLE ROCK - With 1:14 left in the game, Mississippi State has the ball and a 68-63 lead.
Oregon is 1 of 16 from 3-point land in the second half, after hitting 7 of 17 in the first half. State is now 4 of 17 from beyond the arc (4 of 7) in the second half.
. . . This building will be electric on Sunday if Memphis and State meet in a border war. The teams have not met since 1984-85.
LITTLE ROCK - Oregon is struggling mightily form the field, as they have hit just 5of 21 in the second half while State is 12 of 19 in the second half. State leads 63-58 with 3: 46 left in the game.
Hairston is leading Oregon in scoring with 21, while Rhodes is trying to match McClinton's afternoon tally (38) - Rhodes has 33, a career high, surpassing the 30 he had against Auburn earlier this year.
. . . Foul trouble will be an issue down the stretch, meaning foul shooting will also come into play. Catron has already fouled out and six other players have three or more fouls on the two teams. State is 16 of 24 from the line in the game and Oregon is 12 of 14.
. . . Tajuan Porter is either shrinking as the game goes along or we're over-caffeinated. The Detroit-native is listed at 5-6, 150. He may be 5-5 in shoes and 140 with a wet parka on.
LITTLE ROCK - On the strength of a 29-16 second half run, State has taken the lead and brough tthe crowd with them as we have 7:42 left in the game and the Bulldogs leading 57-54. A monster Rhodes dunk with just under 10 minutes left in the game gave State a 53-52 lead.
Varnado has now picked up his fourth personal foul and will need to sit until after the final, under-4:00 media timeout.
A trey by Barry Stewart with 10:50 left cut the Oregon lead to three points. Stewart has six points in the game. The Dogs are now 3 of 16 from 3-point land and have connected on 3 of their last 4.
. . . Hansbrough picked up his third foul with 10:30 left in the game. Varnado picked up his third just two seconds later. Leunen has four for the Ducks (8:01 left in the game) and Catron also has four (picked up with 10:15 left). they are both on the bench.
. . . In other Hansbrough family news, UNC is up 40-plus in the final seconds of its first round game. Oklahoma and Siena also have comfortable leads, but no Hansbrough brothers.
LITTLE ROCK - The Bulldogs hit their first 3-pointer of the game with 13:10 left on a corner trey by Barry Stewart that cut the Ducks' lead to six. It was State's first make in 13 tries. With 11:44 left in the contest, Oregon clings to a 51-43 lead.
. . . Leunen picked up his third foul with 13:45 left. he hacked Varnado as he converted a lay-up. Ernie Kent decided to leave his heady senior in the game for a couple of trips up the court but then replaced him with just under 13 minutes to play.
. . . State is 6 of 10 from the field in the second half while Oregon is 1 of 8 from 3-point land (after hitting 7 of 17 in the first half).
LITTLE ROCK - The pro-Bulldog crowd is getting back into this one as they have started the half on an 8-3 run to cu the Ducks' lead to 41-36 with 15:15 left in the game. Rhodes now has 22 for State and 6 of its 8 in the half.
. . . Rhodes with back-to-back buckets to trim the Ducks' lead to 9 with 16-plus left in the half.
. . . Maarty Leunen had two fouls in the first half and only played 11 minutes but scored nine points in that limited action.
. . . Oregon's Joevan Catron picked up his third foul less than two minutes into the game. He was saddled with two in the first half and limited to 11 minutes.
. . . Alltel is filling up with a lot of Tiger blue for the second half of our double-header in le Petite Roche.
LITTLE ROCK - Charles Rhodes was 5 of 7 from the field, 6 of 8 from the free throw line, had three rebounds and an assist in a monster first half for State to kepe them in the game.
State shot 0 for 10 form 3-point land which Oregon got 21 of its 38 points (7 of 17) from beyond the arc.
Rebounds were fairly even with Oregon holding a 19-18 edge.
Oregon had 10 assists on its 14 field goals while State had 5 on its 10. Porter leads all dishers with four assists for the Ducks. Oregon also has four steals. Turnovers were 5 for Oregon and 6 for State.
LITTLE ROCK - A 3-pointer by Porter with the shot-clock expiring and the half winding down gives Oregon a 38-28 lead going into the locker room.
Charles Rhodes led all scorers with 16 points and Porter had 12 for the Ducks.
We'll be back with halftime stats after we, ah, go Peay.
LITTLE ROCK - The early pace that had us heading for a shootout as slowed considerably as Oregon maintains a seven point bulge, 30-23 with 5:01 left in the half.
Oregon continues to shoot well, at a 48 percent clip, while State is at 38 percent. The Bulldogs have started off 0 of 7 from 3-point land.
. . . The sneaky good Oregon dance and cheer squad is at No. 3 with a bullet after the Texas and Memphis squads. Green and yellow never looked so good.
. . . Just realizing that the names on the back of the Oregon shirts are in that special invisible ink as well. Depending on the angle you look at them from you can either read the name or see nothing but green.
. .. There is no question the State Bulldog mascot is on some kind of performance-enhancing substance. We saw him last year at the SEC Tournament and his jowls were not nearly as filled out. His hind paws have also bulked up a bit. Someone get Arlen Specter on the horn, would ya? We need to launch another (money-wasting) investigation.
. . . (First sign that we're losing it is the immediate preceding note. You have been warned.)
LITTLE ROCK - The best two-way action of the day in this building as we go back and forth, up and down and the Ducks hold a 24-19 lead with 10:16 left in the half. State is 8 of 16 from the field (0 of 4 form beyond the arc), Oregon is 9 of 17 (including 4 of 10 from 3-point land).
Rebounding is even at 8-8 and Rhodes leads all scorers with 10 points and has missed just one shot from the field (4 of 5).
. . . Varnado with a great swat of Taylor on the baseline. There's a reason the dude averages 4.6 bpg.
. . . Leunen with a great up and under move to put Oregon up 4, 19-15. Kid's a player.
LITTTLE ROCK - Oregon is out to an 11-4 lead with 15:19 left in the half and has connected on 3 of 7 3-pointers to start out. Hairston, Taylor and Porter each have a trey for the Ducks.
Early on, it appears the Ducks will settle for the long-ball and State will look to pound it inside. We'll see what adjustments are made by both coaches to counter.
. . . Oregon is wearing unifrom combination 8,655 or thereabouts. At least it's not the black sequin variety they tried during the season. Those were just awful with the invisible ink OREGON across the chest.
. . . Our sneaker battle is between Nike (Oregon) and adidas (State).
LITTLE ROCK - We're near tip time for the evening session.
Memphis assistant coaches, John Robic and Derek Kellogg stopped by the Posting Up Perch on their way to their "scout seats" where they will watch their potential next opponent in the Oregon/Mississippi State winner. Both coaches said the Tigers had a very good shoot around this afternoon at UALR. "Guys we're reall focused in tuned in," said Kellogg, who is starting to see his name be tossed around for some of the open head coaching positions. Like Tony Barbee before him, Kellogg is now ready for his own program, but he's smart enough to know you don't just take any job.
. . . Probable starting line-ups for this one look like this:
No. 9 seed Oregon (18-13)
Malike Hairston - 16.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg to lead team in scoring
Bryce Taylor
Maarty Leunen
Tajuan Porter
Joevan Catron
No. 8 see Miss. State (22-10)
Ben Hansbrough
Barry Stewart
Charles Rhodes - 16.9 ppg 7.7 rpg to lead team in scoring (second in rebounding to Varnado's 7.9rpg)
Jarvis Varnado
Jamont Gordon
. . . Officials are Mike Kitts, Pat Admas and Steve Skiles.
. . . Big pro-Mississippi State crowd for sure.
LITTLE ROCK - The biggest Oregon booster of 'em all is currently watching his Ducks go through pre-game shooting and stretching, as Nike founder Phil Knight is sittingon the home bench taking in the scene.
Night - shockingly - is wearing black Nikes, black jeans, a bacl shirt, gray sport coact and from what we sae, no socks. What up? Nike doesn't provide foot coverings for the guy?
. . . We're about 40 minutes from tip and the Alltel Arena, which had been cleared following the afternoon session, is once again slowly filling in
. . . Texas Coach Rick Barnes on facing former assistant, Frank Haith, in Sunday's Round of 32 match-up:
"I've watched them play. . . it's going to be a lot like playing ourselves. Frank's done a great job with that program. I told him the other night, 'I hope we win, so we can play each other.' It'll be a hard fought game just because we know each other so well."
. . . How great has the Tampa site been so far? Two OT games and the tournament's two signature upsets to this point.
LITTLE ROCK - Austin Peay made it respectable but Texas finished this one without any problems as the Longhorns move on with a 74-54 win. The Govs did manage to stay with five of texas in the second half (35-30), but texas was too much from the get-go - when they jumped out 9-0 and never looked back.
Abrams finished with 26 for Texas to lead all scorers. Having him and Miami's McClinton on the same court on Sunday could be quite troublesome for the scoreboard operator at the Alltel, not to mention the official scorer. Dexter Pittman had 11 points and ten rebounds in 16 minutes of play for Texas.
Ernest Fields led AP with 14 points.
. . . Rick Barnes emptied his bench with 1:23 left in the game and the 'Horns up by 20.
. . . We're going to get some chow, maybe some fresh air and be back with you for the evening session when Oregon and Mississippi State face off in the first game, followed by No. 1 seed Memphis and UT-Arlington.
LITTLE ROCK - Near ecstasy form the AP fans as the Govs cut the Texas lead to 26 with just over eight minutes play - they're playing for little victories now as Texas leads 68-42 with 7:04 left in the game.
Texas has been able to rest a lot of starters as Rick Barnes prepares for the Round of 32 showdown with ex-assistant, Frank Haith and Miami.
. . . Texas is led by Abrams' 23 points and Babington has 11 to pace the Govs, who are now being out-rebounded 37-27.
. . . An iron-lunged Austin Peay band member of the female persuasion continues to relentlessly harangue the officials in this one. Someone should explain to the young co-ed that when your team is trailing by 30, the officials have very little to do with the events. "They're playing dirty, Ref!" she screams. No, they're playing well.
LITTLE ROCK - The Longhorns lead 51-29 with 15:48 left in the game. The Govs have been outsocred 12-5 to start the half and there are very few signs that they can make a real comeback in this one.
. . . Costume change for the Texas dance team. They are now out of their black velour dance pants and into their brown chaps and white vests. Thought you'd like to know.
. . .Our sneaker battle is between two Nike schools.
LITTLE ROCK - Texas shot 16 of 36 from the field (44 percent) and Austin Peay shot 7 of 28 (25 percent). The 'Horns out-rebounded the Govs 25-17.
Both teams were 4 of 11 form 3-point land and Texas had three turnovers to just four for AP.
AP hit all six of its free throw attempts and Texas is 3 of 5 from the line.
Abrams is 6 of 8 from the field, 3 of 4 from trey-land.
Fernandez Lockett has three personal fouls for AP.
. . . It seems the AP Governor only has four fingers on each hand. Gotta be hard to govern that way.
. . . The AP logo is strikingly similar to that of the Associated Press.
. . . Best cheer and dance squad of this sub-regional goes to Texas so far, but my advance scouting on Memphis indicates they could give the Burnt Orange ladies a run for their money(makers).
. . . Attendance here for the session is 16,060.
LITTLE ROCK - Texas gave back some of its early lead but still leads comfortably going in to the locker room, 39-24.
The Govs started to hit some 3-pointers to get back into a bit. They are 4 of 11 from beyond the arc, after starting off 2 of 8. AJ Abrams has 15 points and Damion James and Dexter Pittman each have eight points and seven rebounds. for Pittman, the seven boards match his career high.
Austin peay was led by six from Todd Babington.
LITTLE ROCK - Okay, we've got our GameTracker up to speed and the ugliness of the score - 32-14 with 3:52 left - is backed up by the ugliness of the box score. The Govs are 5 of 23 from the field and the 'Horns are 13 of 29.
AJ Abrams leads all scorers with 13 points and has been perfect from beyond the arc for Texas (3 of 3). Damion james already has seven rebounds for Texas, which is up 22-14 in the board battle.
The anti-Texas crowd has had nothing to get on the 'Horns about as Rock Barnes's bunch has come out focused and furious.
LITTLE ROCK - With 7:19 left in the first half, Austin peay is showing signs of life, but it may very well be too late as the Govs trail 25-10. We appear to be having some technical issues with GameTracker so our stats are a bit outdated, but Austin peay strated off 1 of 13 from the field while texas was 8 of 15.
The 'Horns held an early 12-7 rebounding edge.
LITTLE ROCK - Texas stormed out to a 9-0 lead and now leads 11-3 with 15:34 to go in the half.
. . . Best part of the Governors' mascot's costume is the monocle he sports on his right eye. He's sort of a poor man's Mr. Monopoly dude.
LITTLE ROCK - We obviously got caught up in the remarkable ending of Western Kentucky and Drake. What a shot!
The Governors of Austin Peay and the Longhorns of Texas have just tipped off.
Your officials for this one are Frank Scagiotta, Rich Batsell and Joe Lindsay.
. . . Great showing og Peay fans and all the fence-sitters seem to be going with AP as well - am Arkansas anti-Texas bias pervades.
LITTLE ROCK - Looks like Stephen Curry from Davidson is out-doing McClinton, as the super sophomore led his Wildcats past Gonzaga with 40 points. But McClinton isn't done yet, as he nails a trey to match his career high with 34 points and then hits two free throws to make it 74-61 Canes. McClinton finsihed with 38 now after just six in the first half.
The Canes advance with a 78-64 win.
We'll be back with the next game's probables and officials in a bit.
LITTLE ROCK - It's mostly mano-a-mano with McClinton (31 points) scoring at one end and Mills (21) answering at the other. With 3:14 left it's 69-61 Gaels and they have the ball.
LITTLE ROCK - Okay, we're not going anywhere. Saint Mary's refuses to allow us to leave our seat. they've cut the lead to single digits, 67-58 with 5:07 left , and if they could figure out a way to defend McClinton, they might still have a shot.
Patrick Mills is now face-guarding him on every possession, a task that could make Mills quite tired for the stretch run. Mills had 19 and has tried 10 treys (hitting 5). McBillClinton has 29 for the 'Canes - he had 34 in his career high against Virginia this year.
LITTLE ROCK - This one is all over but the crying as Miami leads 64-49 with 7:32 left in the game. We're going to head back to the media room and check out the finish of Gonzaga-Davidson - hope you understand. You always have the GameTracker at your side if you need up-to-the-minute stats.
. . . An emailer checked in from Storrs, Connecticut to say: "This whole “David vs. Gonzaga” thing on CBS’s bottom scoreline would be perfect if I didn’t have so much trouble viewing Gonzaga as Goliath."
LITTLE ROCK - Miami's Jack McClinton (no relation to Bill or Hillary) is having a half for himself. He's 4 of 7 from the field, has 18 points and has boosted Miami to a 52-38 lead. The Gaels have scored just six points in over eight minutes of second half play.
They'll have to re-name Clinton Boulevard, McClinton Boulevard if he keeps this up. He's creating archives for the McClinton Library. I'll stop now.
. . . Miami's Brian Asbury picked up his thrid personal foul with 14:14 left on an offensive foul where they scored the bucket. We've been seeing that call a lot lately.
. . . Miami's has hit 3 of 5 3-point attempts this half after going 0 for 6 in the first.
. . . Could be heading for a Miami-Texas match-up for a Sweet 16 berth. In most years that would be a heck of a football game.
LITTLE ROCK - Miami has come out on an 15-3 run to start the second half and the focus has been getting into the paint. The 'Canes lead 42-35 with 15:22left in the game. Saint Mary's Omar Samhan picked up his third foul on a put-back dunk by Anthony King, less than two minutes into the half. Thirty seconds later Yusef Smith picked up his third personal for the Gaels and the strategy of going inside by Miami was paying off huge.
Miami's Jack McClinton has 10 second half points in four minutes of play and 16 for the game.
. . The Texas band entered to a loud round of boos from the Arkansas faithful with 18:12 left in the first game. Austin Peay will have virtually the entire arena behind them.
LITTLE ROCK - Patrick Mills leads all scorers with 11 points (3 of 4 from 3-point land) while Miami was paced by Jimmy Graham's seven points.
Rebounds were even 18-18, as were turnovers (8-8). Diamon Simpson of Saint Mary's leads all rebounders with five, Dwyane Collins paced the Hurricanes. Gaels shot 41 percent from the field and the 'Canes went for 39 percent.
Miami is 0 of 6 from treyland while the Gaels are 5 of 11.
Pretty even except for the 3-point shooting. Miami will need to hit some threes if they want to win this one.
LITTLE ROCK - St. Mary's goes into the locker room with a 32-27 halftime lead.
. . . A trey form Golden gave Saint Mary's its biggest lead of the game, 32-25, with just over a minute left.
. . . Brian Asbury picked up his second foul for Miami with 1:51 letf in the half.
. .. St. Mary's dance team performs at half, sans go-go boots. I miss go-go boots.
. . . We'll be back with halftime stats and an at-the-half post, as allowed by NCAA Liveblogging rules.
LITTLE ROCK - The Gaels have pushed the lead to 25-21 behind some dead-eye outside shooting, including two straight 3-pointers.
Mills hit a deep, NBA 3-pointer with just over four minutes left to give the Gaels a 22-19 edge, that was followed on St. Mary's next possession by a trey from Todd Golden to put St. Mary's up 25-19. The Gaels are 4 of 10 from beyond the arc and Miami is 0 of 6.
. . . Our sneaker battle is being waged between Nike (Miami) and adidas (St. Mary's).
. . . Game officials are also wearing the blue NCAA patch. Does that mean they're all on the same team, players and refs alike?
. . . Raymond Hicks of Miami picked up his second foul with 4:28 left. He was replaced by Graham.
. . . Sebastian the Miami mascot can really boogies. His "Wooly-Booly" dance was one for the ages.
LITTLE ROCK - St. Mary's is up 14-13 with 7:57 left in the half and both teams continue to struggle from the field. St. Mary's is at 6 of 17 and Miami is at 5 of 17.
Bald and beefy Jimmy Graham leads the 'Canes with 5 points and Mills still paces the Gaels but has missed his last two shots.
LITTLE ROCK - We're even at 9-9 with 11:40 left in the half. Miami has gone to a larger line-up that is frustrating the inside players of St. Mary's and has helped lead to the 7-0 Miami run.
The teams are a combined 7 of 24 from the field.
. . . Looks like Mike Kitts is the alternate official, sitting at the scorer's table.
. . . Arena appears to be about two-thirds full.
LITTLE ROCK - Saint Mary's is out to a 9-2 lead behind five points from Patrick Mills.Miami is 1 of 6 form the field early on.
. . . Patrick Mills' stroke is so sweet. His trey put the Gaels up 5-2. His 2 of 2 from the field.
. . . Dude next to me is already writing his gamer as if the Gaels have won. That'sgetting ahead of the curve.
. . . Lots of Arkansas gear in the crowd, as you'd expect. The Hogs' fans are waiting anxiously to root against Texas in the seocnd afternoon game, a feud that got stirred up by some innoucuous comments from Rick Barnes this week.
LITTLE ROCK - Just about set for tip here. The Alltel is still filling in.
. . . We've switched to a combo of Southern Mint Tea and Honeybush Caramel. Delicious and soothing. We are the only one drinking tea in the media corps, as we have had to open both tea bag boxes. We're also a one-ounce bag of Planters nuts into the day.
. . . St. Mary's dance team members wear go-go boots. We like go-go boots.
. . . A friendly reminder from the corporate Daddy about CBS College Sports Network programming:
In-Studio Analysts Include Greg Anthony, Bruiser Flint, Tom Pecora, Ron Hunter and Steve LappasNetwork To Air First-Round Out-of-Market Match-Up Today
Saint Josephs vs. Oklahoma
CBS COLLEGE SPORTS NETWORK for the second straight day will feature comprehensive, all-day, live NCAA Tournament programming, including one first-round out-of-market game. NCAA MARCH MADNESS CENTRAL POWERED BY PONTIAC G8 airs today from NOON to MIDNIGHT, bringing viewers all the action and excitement surrounding the tournament, including exclusive in-progress game highlights, live look-ins, press conferences from every team at every site and expert analysis.
As part of the network’s complete coverage, CBS College Sports will air today’s first-round match-up of Saint Joseph’s vs. Oklahoma (7:10 PM, ET) on an out-of-market basis. The broadcast is fully produced by CBS Sports with its announcers and graphics. Immediately following CBS Sports’ live game action tonight and throughout the tournament, CBS College Sports Network airs the official highlight show of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, NCAA MARCH MADNESS HIGHLIGHTS POWERED BY PONTIAC G8.
Today’s live programming features a variety of college basketball analysts, including Greg Anthony (UNLV), Drexel coach Bruiser Flint, Hofstra coach Tom Pecora, IUPUI coach Ron Hunter and CBS College Sports Network’s Steve Lappas. Greg Amsinger and Adam Zucker serve as anchors. Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton will be a guest analyst during the network’s tournament coverage this weekend.
Special in-studio guests on yesterday’s show included former college players Mike Conley Jr., a member of last year’s Ohio State team, and Casey Jacobsen, who was a first-team All-American at Stanford.
NCAA MARCH MADNESS CENTRAL POWERED BY PONTIAC G8 is produced by Deb Gelman.
* * * * *
LITTLE ROCK - Twenty-five minutes until tip and the early advantage with fan support apeears to go to the Hurricanes. Long trip for the St. Mary's fans, but there is still a loyal group already taking their seats opposite the Gaels' bench in section 118. A large ocontingent of orange and Green is found in section 106, opposite the Posting Up Perch.
We are positioned at the very end of the press row table, opposite the benches. We are facing the home bench and will have a great view of under-the-basket action when it's down our end. Clearly, we don;t rate as high as Jerry Palm, who we read was positioned center court for his games yesterday. Palm works in mystery ways.
. . . Probable starters:
Miami
Lance Hurdle
Dwayne Collins
James Dews
Jack McClinton
Anthony King
Saint Mary's
Ian O'Leary
Patrick Mills
Todd Golden
Diamon Simpson
Omar Samhan
. . . Officials for first game are Ted Hillary, Rick Hartzell and Brent Meaux.
. . . NCAA Committe Member on site is Chris Hill, the Utah AD.
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas -- Welcome back to the Alltel Arena in Le Petite Roche for today's first round games. The Saint Mary's Gaels have just taken the floor for pre-game warm-ups and arena personnel are settling into their positions. Miami took the floor about two minutes after the Gaels.
As for your proud Posting Up Poster, we're playing a bit hurt today with what can only be described as the C-USA Flu, which we picked up during last weekend's conference tournament. Dan Wolken from the Commercial-Appeal reports that the C-USA Bug hit a lot of folks with teh same symptoms - congestion, headache, cough, general ickiness.
Fortunately, we're loaded up on cold medications, we've got an endless supply of Southern Mint Tea from the media snack table, a pocket-full of Advil and several Halls Vitamin C drops. We will play through the pain and you won't notice a drop-off in live-blogging prowess. Who knows? The cold meds could enhance the experience.
. . . Some discussion in the local newspaper today about using "Little Rock" on the familiar scorer's table instead of "North Little Rock" where the Arena is technically located. We're happier with the Little Rock moniker for dateline purposes.
. . .Patrick Mills is wearing a long sleeve shooting jersey that reads, "SMC Believes in We" on the front chest and "March is a Brotherhood" on the back.
. . . The now-familiar "We are the game" is emblazoned on the front of the team benches' individual seats.
. . . This is the first year of the blue NCAA patch on the players' uniforms. Could it be the first step to sponsors' logoes on the uniforms? Probably not, but never say never with the NCAA.
. . . It is sunny in the 70s today in The Pebble (afterall, what is a little rock, if not a pebble?) and the hotel pool looked awfully tempting this morning. I'm not going to win any of the bracket pools I'm in, so I might as well be able to enjoy some chlorinated water, right? Maybe post-game, late night with my groupies.
LITTLE ROCK - There's about nine minutes left in the Tigers' session and Calipari is about to call it quits after a few more rounds of free trhow shooting.
We too, will call it quits until tomorrow morning when we'll be with for the whole day beginning about 11:30 a.m. EDT.
Enjoy the rest of tonight's action on CBS and we'll be back with you soon.
LITTLE ROCK - Big men are now taking feed in the paint at one end of the floor, while guards are taking kick-outs from the lane for 3-pointers from various spots.
Assistant coach John Robic is helping to feed alley-oops off the backboard to the bigs. Joey Dorsey has "Send it in Jerome" wirtten all over his first couple.
. . . Lots of shooting going on to help the players get used to the background, but not a lot of actual practicing or drilling, which was done during the Tigers's real practice earlier today. Both groups - bigs and littles, which are hard to decipher with this team - are switching ends every couple of minutes to get a feel for both ends.
. . . "Does anybody come out here (for open practice) and do anything?" Calipari just asked some NCAA officials, who said that Austin Peay had actually done some drills and really got after it. "My biggest thing at this time of year is to avoid injuries. If I need to do stuff to get them better at this time of year, then I didn't do enough during the year."
. . . Dorsey just windmilled a dunk to the delight of teh crowd. Big, big man Piere Niles had a nice dunk and then Derrick Rose pass to himself on the bounce, and slammed it over his head. Calipari blew the whistle immediately after the huge gasp let out by the crowd. He didn't want to see his star freshman - or anyone - do something silly. "You happy now," Calipari said to the fans behind the scorer's table. "I did that for you guys. I stopped it for me."
LITTLE ROCK - The Tigers have taken the floor to a smattering of boos but mostly cheers.
. . . Tiger Athletic Director R.C. Johnson is on the floor with teh team, chatting up some of the NCAA officials sitting at the scorer's table.
. . . At each end of the court - divided into littles and bigs - the Tigers are all shooting from beyond the arc.
. . . Calipari is now talking with Eagle and Spanarkel, which we think was a pretty formidible 70s disco band.
. . . Calipari's son, Bradley, is helping to rebound for the guards.
. . . Calipari's wife, Ellen, and oldest daughter, Erin, are in the second row behind the Tigers bench taking in the open session.
. . . What a lackluster bunch of early games. It appears every contest will have been decided by eight points or more. Starting to remind me of the start to last year's tournament, which was saved with the VCU upset of Duke in Buffalo.
LITTLE ROCK - The Mississippi State Bulldogs are just finishing up their open practice and next on the docket is Memphis. SInce they are likely to have the largest fan support, we figured we would live-blog the Memphis session before cllaing it quite from the Alltel Arena for the day.
Memphis will go through a very light workout having already practiced over at Arkansas-Little Rock's practice facility earlier today. The center sections of the lower bowl are populated with fans but there's probably no more than one thousand total fans in the building.
. . . Rick Stansbury is currently chatting up Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel, who will call the games for CBS.
Little Rock, Arkansas -- Welcome to the Alltel Arena for the Friday/Sunday games involving No. 1 seed in the South, Memphis vs. UT Arlington; Miami vs. St. Mary's; Mississippi State vs. Orgeon; and Texas vs. Austin Peay.
We flew into Memphis (for old times sake) and drove the two hours west on I-40 to arrive at Alltel a bit late (some radar trouble coming out of Boston). Pretty uneventful ride, but I'm relatively sure that Jesus loves me. And that truckers in Arkansas think the right lane is THEIR lane.
We're in the midst of open practices here with Austin Peay just finishing up (they followed St. Mary's). Miami goes at 1:30 local time, Texas at 2:15, Miss. State at 4:25, Memphis at 5:10, oregon at 5:55 and UTA at 6:40. A smattering of fans have entered the arena for the practices and the media throng is growing steadily in the media work room, where we're watching the finish of Xavier and Georgia.
A highlight quote from the St. Mary's presser after the jump. . .
Continue reading "Little Rock: Welcome to the Alltel Arena" »
By this point in your bracketeering, you already know all you need to know about your picks and you're simply flipping the coin for the 7-10s.
We probably can't offer much more perspective than you already have. But we can offer different prisms through which to watch the games emanating from Little Rock, Arkansas on Friday and Sunday. We'll be there starting Thursday and while the arena will be our main base, there are potential off-day blogging spots that could be utilized, so stay tuned to Posting Up from Lil Rock. . .
In order, our Friday slate of on-site, NCAA-approved live-blogging (aka the 5-1-5-2 rule) looks like this:
