Cinderella stories won't have happy endings
Breaking down Friday night's Sweet 16 matchups
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North Carolina rolled, UCLA overcame a scare, Louisville won with ease and Xavier survived an overtime battle. How will the rest of the Sweet 16 games play out?
Here's a breakdown of Friday night's Sweet 16 games, with a little prognostication to go with it ...
SOUTH
Reliant Stadium Houston, Tip-off 7:25 p.m.
No. 2 Texas (30-6) vs No. 3 Stanford (28-7)
Longhorns meet long Lopezes. The burnt orange backcourt of D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams will trump the Cardinal's twin seven-footers, Brook and Robin Lopez. Stanford had a full 45 minutes of trouble last Saturday versus Marquette, a team that leans heavily on backcourt play. Abrams (26 points in each of the tourney's first two rounds) and Augustin are better, and forward Damion James, who had 16 boards and 16 points vs. Miami, will help neutralize Stanford's frontcourt.
Texas 78, Stanford 72
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No. 1 Memphis (35-1) vs. No. 5 Michigan State (27-8)
How long might it take for the Spartans' splendid backcourt of Drew Neitzel and Raymar Morgan to acclimate themselves to shooting threes in a football stadium? Because, with Joey Dorsey playing air-traffic controller in the paint for the Tigers, Michigan State will need to shoot threes to stay close. And something tells me the depth perception problems will affect outside shooting in all four games tonight. Enjoy the Dorsey show. He's Chris Wilcox with even more 'tude, and he cannot wait to send your weak (stuff) into the 5th row.
Memphis 68, Michigan State 60
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MIDWEST
Ford Field, Detroit, Tip-off 7:10 p.m.
No. 3 Wisconsin (31-4) vs. No. 10 Davidson (28-6)
Davidson is the tourney's Merry Pranksters, even going so far as to provide free bus fare, lodging and tickets to any student willing to travel the 650 miles to Detroit for tonight's game. At Davidson, you're either on the bus or you're ... well, please hit the lights as you exit the classroom.
The Badgers are the very last kind of team that darling Davidson wanted to run into: disciplined, experienced and defense-oriented. Stephen Curry, he of the career 33.3 ppg tournament scoring average, meets the nation's No. 1 defense in terms of both points allowed (53.9) and field-goal percentage (38 percent). Then again, as John Cusack once told Ione Skye in Say Anything when she told him that nobody thinks this will work: "You just described every great success story."
Wisconsin 60, Davidson 56
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No. 1 Kansas (33-3) vs. No. 12 Villanova (22-12)
Scottie Reynolds and the Wildcats have likely been blasting that Bowling For Soup song "1985" all tournament long. It's too early to summon memories of that 8-seed that upended Georgetown for the national title, as Clemson and Siena were 7 and 13 seeds, respectively. Reynolds has been brilliant, averaging 23 ppg in the early rounds, but the Jayhawks are just too deep and versatile. Four players average between 11.5 and 13.1 ppg for the Jayhawks, and remember, this is a team that once had a freshman named David Padgett (before he transferred to Louisville).
Kansas 82, Villanova 68
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