HENDERSON’S TAKE
National college basketball writer John Henderson gives you a peek behind the scenes at the tournament:
Lone Star hospitality
I always said the only thing pretty about Texas was the women – OK, and the Riverwalk. Although I’ve never taken Lance Armstrong’s advice and visited the Hill Country west of Austin, I haven’t found much geographic splendor in crisscrossing the state from El Paso to College Station with a very unfortunate stop in Odessa in between. But I remember marveling at the urban genius of San Antonio’s Riverwalk. The city lined the narrow San Antonio River with bars and restaurants and shops and greenery. I came here in 1991 and thoroughly enjoyed meandering along the narrow sidewalks and sipping margaritas at a riverside table in the warm Texas sunshine. I was here for a basketball game between Colorado and Texas-San Antonio, which I’m embarrassed to admit I remember. But throw in March Madness this week and the Riverwalk changes. Add the fluorescent orange- clad Tennessee fans and the Memphis fans on tourist barges plying the river, and suddenly urban renewal turns into a salsa Disneyland. And most of the Mexican food is horrific. Suddenly, I longed for Austin’s Sixth Street, glorious in its nocturnal mayhem. Then again, the margaritas down here are tasty.
EXTENDING HIMSELF
Big hands, big feat for OSU’s Oden
Greg Oden didn’t have the touch all night until the final second, when his big left hand went up and swatted away Tennessee’s last chance at a win. The 7-footer scored only nine points – matching his lowest in 15 games – set a season-low with three rebounds and was in foul trouble most of the night, but the sight of the big man fully extended and soaring over his teammates to send Ramar Smith’s shot into the crowd – his fourth block of the game – may be as lasting as Ron Lewis’ 3-pointer Saturday against Xavier.
BABY SHAQS NO MORE
Next they’ll try a mantra
Forget those season-long struggles from the free-throw line. The Memphis Tigers are making them when it counts, with Antonio Anderson hitting two with 3.1 seconds left Thursday night for a 65-64 victory over Texas A&M. Anderson came in shooting 64 percent from the line and was 1-for-4 when he went to the line after being fouled at the end of a wild sequence. The Tigers have been one of the nation’s worst free throw-shooting teams all season. They were so bad, coach John Calipari quit having them shoot in postseason practice and told his players to visualize making them instead. “I got to the line and knew my team was tired,” Anderson said. “Both teams were. I said, ‘Man, let me get this game over with.”‘
SWEET CHARITY
Bruins toe the line
UCLA made 23-of-26 free throws, including 10-of-10 by Arron Afflalo, to beat Pitt. Twelve of the Bruins’ final 18 points came from the line.
South Regional
At San Antonio
No. 2 Memphis 65, No. 3 Texas A&M 64
No. 1 Ohio State 85, No. 5 Tennessee 84
Saturday’s game
Memphis (33-3) vs. Ohio St. (33-3), 2:40 p.m.
West Regional
At San Jose, Calif.
No. 1 Kansas 61, No. 4 Southern Illinois 58
No. 2 UCLA 64, No. 3 Pittsburgh 55
Saturday’s game
Kansas (33-4) vs. UCLA (29-5), 5:05 p.m.
GOING TO SEED
Jayhawks take flight
Kansas kept the No. 1 seeds undefeated in the tournament by eliminating the Salukis. And Memphis wasn’t about to become the second No. 2 knocked out. A look at how each seeding group has fared throughout the tournament:
No. 1: Rock, chalk 10-0
No. 2: Memphis alive 9-1
No. 3: Aggies gone 7-3
No. 4: Salukis done 6-3
No. 5: Vols, ditto 6-3
No. 6: Vandy in 3-2
No. 7: UNLV remains 5-3
No. 8: Done and done 1-4
No. 9: Good showing 3-3
No. 10: Bad news 0-4
No. 11: No shame 2-4
No. 12: No wins 0-4
No. 13: No upsets 0-4
No. 14: No luck 0-4
No. 15: No chance 0-4
No. 16: Yeah, right 0-4
CONFERENCE CALL
Pac-10 moves to the front
Kansas gave the Big 12 a sixth win in the tournament, but UCLA’s win over Pittsburgh made the Pac-10 the most successful league in the tournament so far. A look at how conferences with at least one at-large bid are doing:
Pac-10 (6) 8-3
Southeastern (5) 7-3
Big 12 (4) 6-3
Horizon League (2) 2-1
Missouri Valley (2) 2-2
Mountain West (2) 2-1
Big East (6) 5-5
Big Ten (6) 7-5
Atlantic Coast (7) 6-6
Atlantic 10 (2) 1-2
Colonial (2) 1-2
Western Athletic (2) 1-2
