Tourney Time: Cougs Round 2

They Couged it! The magical season has come to an end. Eight minutes into the second half WSU held the lead at 51-43. They seemed poised to lock down the clamps on Vanderbilt's offense and breeze into the sweet 16. Unfortunately, Southeastern Conference player of the year, Derrick Byars didn't get the memo. With defensive specialist Kyle Weaver guarding him, Byars hit three long range buckets in next six possesions to give Vandy the lead at 52-51. That began the monumental collapse. Weaver had turnovers on three of the next four possesions and finished the game with a season high eight turns. The Seattle Times reported it like this:

"The second (turnover) was a killer, out on top, where Foster picked it, raced the floor and dunked to make it 75-71, Vanderbilt. Then Weaver forced a jumper and finally, Bennett pulled him out of the game.

Maybe he was simply bushed, after 48 grueling minutes. He hinted at that, saying, "I was trying to get guys open shots, I tried to penetrate, and defensively, I was chasing Byars around as well. It was tough."

Excuses. Excuses. Weaver was named to the First Team All-Pac 10 squad this year. He's expected to step up and lead the Cougs. The way he played in the second half, he couldn't even lead a team at my local YMCA. Thirty plus games this year and now he gets tired? Bull shit. He played terrible and should be man enough to take responsibility.

Tourney Time: Zags Round 1

DJ White was dominant in the second half and Roderick Wilmont's six three pointers ended the toughest season in Mark Few's career as head coach at GU. Not having Heytvelt was huge for the Zags. Neither Mallon, Kuso or Pendergraft could handle DJ White in the post. Here's a bit from the Spokesman Review:

"Plagued by bad shooting, poor decision-making, untimely turnovers, a baffling lack of energy and Indiana's solid defensive pressure, the Bulldogs wrote a rather uninspired ending to a crazily uneven basketball season, falling to the Hoosiers 70-57 in what proved to be the final game for seniors Derek Raivio and Sean Mallon.

The 10th-seeded Zags, who led once – and briefly, at that – never found any kind of offensive rhythm against seventh-seeded IU, shooting a season-low 33.9 percent (19 of 56) from the field, missing far too many close-range gimmes and turning the ball over 13 times."

But at least we didn't have to see Adam Morrison break down and cry again. What a pussy.

Tourney Time: Cougs Round 1

Oral Roberts put up a tough fight in the first half. But the suffocating defense of the Cougs took over in the second half. Ivory Clark was a beast swatting away 5 shots along with a couple monster dunks. I knew the Cougs were looking good at halftime only trailing by 2 when they shot 30%. They started making shots in the second half and cruised to the victory. It looks like Vandy will be the next opponent as they are crushing GW currently. From the Seattle Times:

Clark punctuated the victory with a tip-in at 2:05 left to put the Cougars ahead 67-52, throwing up his arms in triumph as the ball fell through the hoop.

The game ended with Clark cradling the ball, then tossing it to the air to celebrate WSU's first NCAA tournament win since beating Weber State in the first round in 1983.

It was WSU's first NCAA tournament appearance since 1994, a first-round loss to Boston College in Washington D.C.

Vandy looked pretty athletic but I still think the Cougs defense will shut them down.