SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Last call was approaching at Dick’s Last Resort on Friday, the most popular watering hole on the Riverwalk. If you want a pulse on the NCAA Tournament, order a margarita in this sprawling, open-air bar and watch the Southwest Regional go by.
Florida State’s nationally ranked Golden Girls dance team, college basketball’s equivalent of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, commandeered one table and every male eye in the joint.
Virginia Commonwealth’s fans, fresh off an overtime win over the Seminoles, walked in with smirks on their faces, only to be greeted by the Golden Girls’ chants of “V-C-WHO?! V-C-WHO?!”
If you think Kansas fans travel well to the Coors Events Center, see them at an NCAA Tournament. They’re everywhere. San Antonio is awash in blue.
Fortunately, in my experience, Kansas fans are among the classiest in all of basketball. They’re modest, polite and intelligent. About their most arrogant act I saw at Dick’s was a surprisingly sober male student wearing a blue T-shirt reading, “Damn, We’re Good.”
Richmond fans? Didn’t see a one. I was told they left town at halftime.
San Antonio vs. Houston.
The Final Four starts in Houston on Saturday, and I will gladly hand the baton to my esteemed colleague, Tom Kensler. This is my third tournament in San Antonio, and it is to Houston what a Picasso is to graffiti on the side of a bus station.
You can feel the pulse of college basketball on the Riverwalk. All day, fans stroll the tree-lined riverbanks, drink margaritas and iced tea and eat Mexican food.
Houston sprawls like an oil spill. March Madness in Houston is three guys arguing about seeding in a Marriott bar. The air is among the dirtiest in the Western Hemisphere, the traffic makes L.A. look like Fargo, and it has two seasons: steam bath and Feb. 1.
FSU flop.
Florida State has the best shooting defense in the country and one of the most inept offenses. It’s the Baltimore Ravens of college basketball.
Its mind-numbing Sweet 16 overtime loss to VCU was a prime example. It didn’t get a shot off in time at the end of regulation. Instead, point guard Derwin Kitchen dribbled aimlessly in the backcourt before shooting an airball after the buzzer.
“I misjudged the clock and didn’t realize how much time was left,” Kitchen said. “That was poor judgment on my part.”
Then in overtime, the Seminoles committed four turnovers, not counting Bradford Burgess’ unmolested layin to win it with seven seconds left.
“It was a mistake on me,” Kitchen said. “I was guarding Burgess, and I turned my head the wrong way and he slipped (by). I thought we had somebody under.” Northern Iowa an inspiration.
Want a reason for Kansas’ easy three wins — besides playing a No. 16, a No. 9 and a No. 12 seed? Last year’s second-round loss to ninth-seeded Northern Iowa.
“The reminders that have occurred, whether it be directly or indirectly, that these guys received was last year’s 33-3 season wasn’t a great season because of that last game,” KU coach Bill Self said. “It’s hard to have a great season unless you play well in the postseason.”
Southwest Regional
No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth (27-11) vs. No. 1 Kansas (35-2)
12:20 p.m., KCNC-4: David had a better matchup with Goliath. VCU struggled against Florida State’s height on the boards and offensively. Kansas is even taller and stronger. Kansas won’t rattle VCU’s poise with fiery leader Joey Rodriguez and a group of Rams relaxed and under no pressure. But the Jayhawks are the last top seed left and are playing angry.
East Regional
No. 4 Kentucky (28-8) vs. No. 2 North Carolina (29-7)
2:55 p.m., KCNC-4: Kentucky coach John Calipari keeps whining about his team’s youth, but those kids knocked off the top-seeded team in the field. Let’s see how they do against the Tar Heels’ towering front line and a defense that thoroughly stuffed Marquette. North Carolina will have to do the same to a tougher foe, freshman sensation Brandon Knight.
John Henderson, The Denver Post
Mack a master in the clutch
Mack attacks.
Shelvin Mack, right, scored 27 points, including a 3-pointer in overtime to put Butler ahead for good, as the Bulldogs held on to defeat Florida.
Power to the midmajor.
Butler knocked off three higher seeds from major conferences to reach the Final Four — top-seeded Pittsburgh, fourth-seeded Wisconsin and second-seeded Florida — in succession.
Rolling onward.
Connecticut has nine pressure- packed victories in 19 days, first winning the Big East Tournament and now moving to the Final Four.
Wildcats merely wild
Cold as ice.
Just two days after shooting 54 percent to blow out defending champion Duke, Arizona shot just 39 percent against Connecticut. That includes 4-for-21 from 3-point range, including two misses in the final 10 seconds.
Keep on shooting.
Florida’s Erving Walker was 0-for-7 at the time, but that didn’t stop him from attempting a game-winner at the end of regulation. He finished 1-for-10.
Bad-shooting Bulldogs.
Yes, Butler won, but the Bulldogs made just 10-of-20 free throws in regulation and shot 40 percent (24-of-60).
The Associated Press
