Most pundits expected Louisville to be in the national championship game, but no one expected Luke Hancock to play an important role. The Cardinals roster is full of stars, Russ Smith had an excellent tournament before the Final Four, Peyton Siva is a strong point guard and center Gorgui Dieng is a projected first-round draft pick. Luke Hancock was just a sharpshooter off the bench. And then he became the first bench player to ever win the Most Outstanding Player honors in the Final Four.

The junior forward from Roanoke, Virginia was a solid, yet not spectacular, player off the bench this season. He provided some scoring punch at times, knocking down his threes at a 40 percent clip and averaging 8 points per game. His scoring came in waves; five points in one game, 19 the next. He put together a solid streak in the Big East tournament, averaging 11 points per game.

He seemed to lose that momentum early in the tournament. Through the first four games, he shot only 33 percent from 3 and averaged less than 7 points per game. In the Final Four, the sharpshooting Hancock took his game to another level. Against Wichita State, Hancock knocked down three of his five three-pointers and led the Cardinals with 20 points in the 72-68 win. In the National Championship, Hancock made all five of his threes and seven free throws to lead Louisville with 22 points.

His shooting helped pull the Cardinals back into the game after they fell behind by double digits early to Michigan. At one point, he scored 14 straight points for Louisville. Impressively, he managed to play this well while dealing with off-the-court personal struggles of having an ill parent and after witnessing his teammate suffer a gruesome injury in the Elite 8 round.

It’s easy to write off Hancock’s streak as just a player getting hot at the right time but to put in perspective: he is the first bench player in 75 years to earn the Most Outstanding Player honors. He shot 80 percent from beyond the arc in the Final Four and bailed his teammates out of a dangerous hole in the title game.

Louisville’s championship run has plenty of storylines, from their Hall of Fame head coach, to the standout stars and the gruesome injury to Kevin Ware that captivated the country, but it was an oft-overlooked, sharpshooting reserve who stole the stage in the biggest game of all.

Mark Chalifoux is a college basketball contributor for CBS Local Digital Media and can be reached at mark.chalifoux@gmail.com and @markchalifoux on Twitter.

ATLANTA (97.1 The Ticket) ”Everybody’s down a little,” an obviously emotional Mitch McGary said in the locker room after Michigan’s NCAA championship loss to Louisville.

McGary, whose high-flying play earned praise from the Fab Five’s Jalen Rose, among many others, said his only plan for Tuesday was to “wake up and get back at it.”

But he sidestepped one big question — Will he return to Michigan next season?

“I don’t really know,” McGary said. “I’m not going to answer that question right now.”

Discussing Michigan’s special season led by a roster of young players, McGary said the loss at the end doesn’t shade the whole year, saying, “Just to go through the season and make it this far, to fight through that adversity, is just a tremendous accomplishment for this team.”

He added the coaches told players after the game to keep their heads high. “A lot of the coaches, players said they wish they could have been part of this, going off that, that’s something special when people like Cazzi Russell, the Fab Five are saying that and wishing they could have been part of this,” McGary said.

By Andrew Kahn

The preseason No. 2 team finishes 35-5 and wins 16 in a row to close the season, culminating with a national championship. No dominant team in college basketball this year? Maybe not like Kentucky last season, but Louisville is certainly a worthy champion. On Monday, the Cardinals beat Michigan 82-76 for their third title in school history.

Hancock saves Cards, again

In going with the theme of a wild, unpredictable season, Luke Hancock became the first substitute to win the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player. After scoring 20 points to save Louisville against Wichita State in the semifinals, Hancock came off the bench in the first half with his team down 12 and drained four straight three-pointers. The junior transfer from George Mason finished 5-for-5 from deep and scored 22.

Spike!

If Hancock’s performance was unexpected, Spike Albrecht’s was downright shocking. With Trey Burke on the bench with two fouls, Albrecht, whose previous career high was 7 points, scored 17 in the first half. He nailed all four of his three-point attempts in the half, including one from several steps beyond the line. Whether Burke should have been on the bench is a different story. He picked up his second foul with 11:09 left in the first half and sat until halftime. Albrecht ended up with 28 minutes to Burke’s 26.

Missing McGary

The emergence of Mitch McGary—his first start came in the Tournament opener—gave Michigan the inside scoring presence it had been lacking all season. He scored in double digits in each of the previous five Tournament games, including two 20+ point efforts. On Monday night, however, he was limited to just 6 points. Like Burke, McGary had to sit with some foul trouble, but he never looked as comfortable as he had in previous Tourney games.

The King of Kentuckys

Rick Pitino became the first coach to win national titles at two schools (he also won at Kentucky in 1996). The championship capped off an unbelievable week for Pitino, who was elected to the Hall of Fame, had a horse qualify for the Kentucky Derby, and saw his son get a Big Ten head coaching job. Next order of business might be a tattoo for the 60-year-old, who was coaxed into promising to get one should Louisville win it all.

Rematch?

Louisville’s loses a critical player, point guard Peyton Siva, and it’s possible that juniors Gorgui Dieng and Russ Smith declare for the NBA draft. If they return, Louisville will be dangerous again. Michigan would certainly be the preseason No. 1 if everybody comes back. None of Michigan’s rotation players are seniors, but sophomore Trey Burke is expected to leave, and Tim Hardaway, Jr., Glenn Robinson III, and even McGary could join him. It will be an anxious time for Michigan fans as the draft deadline approaches.

Andrew Kahn is a contributor to CBS Local who has written for ESPN the Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. He writes about college basketball and other sports at AndrewJKahn.com. Email him at andrewjkahn@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @AndrewKahn.

Hundreds streamed onto Cardinal Boulevard after Louisville’s 82-76 victory over Michigan on Monday night, screaming, dancing and lighting off small fireworks in revelry that lasted into the early hours.

The celebration got briefly out of hand as it was winding down, with an attack on a police officer that prompted authorities to send in other officers using riot gear. Students quickly fled the area but several scuffles ensued and bottles were thrown, to which police responded with tear gas. Order was restored about 2:30 a.m. after an armored carrier was brought in.

The citywide party could be repeated Tuesday night if the Cardinals’ women’s team beats Connecticut for the NCAA championship in New Orleans. For now, the area is savoring the Cardinals’ men’s achievement.

“This means everything,” said Connor Millay, 19, a Northern Kentucky University student who traveled to Louisville despite facing two tests Tuesday.

“I’ve been waiting for this my whole life,” Millay said. “My dad experienced this. My grandpa experienced this. I needed one of these.”

Elsewhere around town, Cardinals faithful partied in dormitories and around campus, in bars and restaurants and in living rooms after Louisville claimed its third national championship.

Most chose the quiet comforts of home over the noisy crowds that assembled in the Fourth Street Live! entertainment district. But when Louisville emerged victorious at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, emotions were felt everywhere.

“We’ve been waiting for this for the past 27 years,” said Joe Barnes, 61, a University of Louisville alumnus who walked among the thousands of students on Cardinal Boulevard. “This has been one of the best teams that U of L has had. Ever. They’ve showed more spirit, more hustle. They believe in each other.”

Standing ready were a combination of Louisville and campus police and sheriff’s deputies, prepared for large crowds and celebrations that have been commonplace since the Cardinals reached the Final Four and then beat Wichita State in Saturday night’s semifinal.

University spokesman John Drees said more than 5,000 people were estimated to be packed onto Cardinal Boulevard.

“Everybody’s happy,” he said. “Everybody’s celebrating.”

He said police arrested 10 people on charges of drunken and disorderly conduct. Several were injured, two on falls and one with a cut foot.

However, things got out of hand around Cardinal Boulevard and Third Street as the celebration was winding down.

Riot police were called in after an officer was attacked. Students quickly fled the area but several scuffles ensued and bottles were thrown, forcing police to use tear gas. The armored carrier was brought in and order was restored before 2:30 a.m.

The citywide party could be repeated Tuesday night if the Cardinals’ women’s team beats Connecticut for the NCAA championship in New Orleans. For now, the area is savoring the Cardinals’ men’s achievement.

“It’s huge,” said freshman Paul DeNeve. “We have not only won tonight but the women’s team plays tomorrow.”

Including the football team’s Sugar Bowl win over Florida on Jan. 2, he said, “we are arguably one of the nation’s best sports universities right now.”

The men’s championship was a nervous watch for Louisville’s fan base, which saw the Cardinals trail by 12 in the first half before rallying to 38-37 at the break. Louisville eventually went ahead and led by 10 in the second, withstanding Michigan’s attempts to come back.

At halftime, the near-capacity crowd at Cluckers bar was on their feet, leaping in unison after the Cardinals erased that deficit. That boosted confidence in closing the deal on Louisville’s first title in a generation — not to mention, anticipation for how to toast it.

“It’s going to be a party,” said Elliott Benjamin, 21, of Jeffersonville, Ind. “Not like Kentucky (last year). But it’s going to be something.”

Krissy Van Laan and friend Lindsay McDaniel had their spots at the Ri’ Ra’ Irish Pub, staying all the way through and witnessing the mayhem that unfolded immediately afterward.

“Everybody was so excited. It was unbelievable,” Van Laan said. “Once it got down to 4 seconds left, I knew we had it. People were running out in the streets and excited. This is just unbelievable.”

Police officers were stationed in areas where rowdy outdoor celebrations were expected, as they were on Saturday night after Louisville’s win over Wichita State in the national semifinal.

Louisville assistant chief Kenton Bucker said additional police were moved to a two-block area of West Broadway because of fighting and disorderly behavior there this past weekend. There were nine arrests in the area, and crowds stayed out until around 1 a.m.

Buckner said about 200 police officers, sheriff’s deputies, corrections officers and medical staff were working at sites where crowds were likely to gather.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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Luke Hancock’s knack for making big shots was on display well before he transferred to Louisville.

In 2011, Hancock played for George Mason and knocked down a late three-pointer to beat Villanova in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The stage was big, but Hancock wanted more.

He craved something bigger.

He finally got it last night.

Trailing by 12 late in the first half against Michigan in the national title game, Hancock single-handedly propelled Louisville back to within striking distance. The stone cold wing knocked down four three-pointers in the first half, and got the Cardinals to within a single point of the Wolverines at half time.

Hancock finished with 22 points and he only took six shots.

Louisville finished with a national championship.

“These are the 13 toughest guys I’ve ever coached,” said Louisville coach Rick Pitino, who became the first coach in history to win titles at two different schools.

But the toughest guy of the bunch is Hancock.

Peyton Siva was the heart of this team, but the feisty senior point guard doesn’t have Hancock’s ability to make big shots.

Chane Behanan tallied a double-double (15 points, 12 rebounds), and was relentless on the backboards, but he doesn’t have Hancock’s consistency.

The former George Mason wing was named a co-captain for Louisville before he ever played a game for the Cardinals.

He’s a special player that continues to play special in big situations.

The NCAA Tournament is about providing a forum for student athletes to leave a mark.

That’s just what Hancock did over the last two games.

By winning Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four, Hancock now has a seat at the table alongside college basketball royalty.

Pitino has called his crafty wing “Cool Hand Luke.”

After a performance like this, who could really blame him?

Your thoughts on the NCAA title game? Sound off in the comments!

Luke Hancock produced another huge game off the bench, scoring 22 points, and Pitino became the first coach to win national titles at two schools when relentless Louisville rallied from another 12-point deficit to beat Michigan 82-76 in the NCAA championship game Monday night.

This title came on the same day Pitino was announced as a member of the latest Hall of Fame class, a couple of days after his horse won a big race on the way to the Kentucky Derby, and a few more days after his son got the head coaching job at Minnesota.

This was the best feeling of all. The Cardinals (35-5) lived up to their billing as the top overall seed in the tournament, though they sure had to work for it.

Louisville trailed Wichita State by a dozen in the second half of the national semifinals, before rallying for a 72-68 victory. This time, they fell behind by 12 in the first half, though a stunning spurt at the end of the period wiped out the entire deficit.

“I had the 13 toughest guys I’ve ever coached,” said Pitino, who plans to follow through on a promise he made to his players if they won the title – by getting a tattoo.

No one was tougher than Hancock, named the most outstanding player. He came off the bench to hit four straight 3-pointers after Michigan got a boost from an even more unlikely player.

Freshman Spike Albrecht made four straight from beyond the arc, too, blowing by his career high before the break with 17 points. Coming in, Albrecht was averaging 1.8 points a game and had not scored more than seven all season.

While Albrecht didn’t do much in the second half, Hancock finished what he started for Louisville. He buried another 3 from the corner with 3:20 remaining to give the Cardinals their biggest lead, 76-66.

Michigan wouldn’t go away, but Hancock wrapped it up by making two free throws with 29 seconds left.
While Pitino shrugged off any attempt to make this about him, there was no doubt the Cardinals wanted to win a national title for someone else – injured guard Kevin Ware.

Watching again from his seat at the end of the Louisville bench, his injured right led propped up on a chair, Ware smiled and slapped hands with his teammates as they celebrated in the closing seconds, the victory coming just 30 miles from where he played his high school ball.

Any pain he was feeling from that gruesome injury in the regional final, when he landed awkwardly, snapped his leg and was left writhing on the floor with the bone sticking through the skin, was long gone as he hobbled gingerly onto the court with the aid of crutches, backing in a sea of confetti and streamers.
Louisville again came out wearing Ware’s No. 5 on the back of their warmup jerseys, which said “Ri5e to the Occasion” on the front. When the title belonged to the Cardinals, Ware put on a championship cap and got a big hug from Pitino. Then, they lowered the basket so the injured player could cut a strand out of the net.
This one belonged to him as much as anyone on the court.

“These are my brothers,” Ware said. “They got the job done. I’m so proud of them, so proud of them.”

Peyton Siva added 18 points for the Cardinals, who closed the season on a 16-game winning streak, and Chane Behanan chipped in with 15 points and 12 rebounds as Louisville slowly but surely closed out the Wolverines (31-8).

Michigan was in the title game for the first time since the Fab Five lost the second of two straight championship games in 1993. Players from that team, including Chris Webber, cheered on the latest group of young stars.

But, like the Fab Five, national player of the year Trey Burke and a squad with three freshman starters came up short in the last game of the season.

The first half might’ve been the most entertaining 20 minutes of the entire tournament.

Burke started out on fire for Michigan, hitting his first three shots and scoring seven points to match his output from the semifinal victory over Syracuse, when he made only 1-of-8 shots.
Then, when Burke picked up his second foul and had to go to the bench for the rest of the half, Albrecht took control. The kid whose nickname comes from his first pair of baseball spikes showed he’s a pretty good hoops player, knocking down one 3-pointer after another to send the Wolverines to a double-digit lead.
When Albrecht blew by Tim Henderson with a brilliant hesitation move, Michigan led 33-21 and Louisville was forced to call timeout. The freshman was mobbed on the Michigan bench, like the Wolverines had already won the national title, with one teammate waving a towel in tribute.
Not so fast. Not against Louisville.

The Cardinals kept coming back.

“We just went into war right there with a great Michigan team,” Hancock said. “We needed a rally and we’ve been doing it for a couple of games straight, being down. We just had to wait and make our run.”

Burke, who played only six minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, finished with 24 points and did his best to give Michigan its first championship since 1989. But he couldn’t do it alone. Albrecht was held scoreless after the break, and no one else posted more than 12 points for the Wolverines.
Still, it was quite a run for a fourth-seeded team that knocked off No. 1-seeded Kansas with the greatest comeback of the tournament, rallying from 14 points down in the second half to beat the Jayhawks in the round of the 16.

But they came up against the ultimate comeback team in the final.

“I’ve had a lot of really good teams over the years, and some emotional locker rooms, and that was the most emotional we’ve ever had,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “The team unity we had, the sacrifice we had from five seniors who did not get to play very much, to these young guys buying into the team concept.

“We feel bad about it. There are some things we could have done better and get a win, but at the same time, Louisville is a terrific basketball team. We have not seen that quickness anywhere.”

Louisville had already pulling off a stunning rally in the Big East championship game – down by 16 in the second half, they won by 17 – and another against Wichita State. They surged back again behind their own ace off the bench.

Hancock matched Albrecht from the 3-point stripe. Then, trapping the youngster and knocking the ball away, he set up a fast break that ended with Siva flipping up a lob that Montrezl Harrell slammed through for a dunk, capping a stunning 16-3 run in less than 4 minutes that gave the Cardinals their first lead of the night, 37-36.

Glenn Robinson III made two free throws with two seconds left to give Michigan a 38-37 lead at halftime.
But everyone knew this game was just getting started.
And when it was done, Pitino, Ware and the Cardinals were celebrating in the middle of the mammoth Georgia Dome, assuring the national title will stay in the bluegrass another year.

Last season, it was Kentucky winning it all, the same team that gave Pitino his first title in 1996.
Now, he’s got another one – right down the road in Louisville.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

ANN ARBOR (WWJ) - University of Michigan basketball fans in Ann Arbor took the heartbreaking loss as well as could be expected.

Inside the M Den, the crowd was in high spirits, and just like their home team — fans tried every trick in the book to bring home the title game.

From hat tricks to Hail Marys, students like Thomas Stephenson remained hopeful up until the last seconds that U-M had a fighting chance.

“Trey Burke needs to start heating up, that’s why we’ve got the rally caps on,” he said.

And while the prayers did seem to help bring the score up in the final half, all the spirit fingers in the room weren’t enough to bring home the victory. Louisville rallied from a 12-point deficit to beat Michigan 82-76 in the NCAA championship game Monday night.

Outside, fans began to trickle out and tell their tale of sadness. Student Daniel Cohen said he’s coping, but it’s tough.

“We had a great run, though. I’m not depressed by their effort, they made a great run, I mean, no one expected this, I didn’t expect this,” he said.

The bittersweet ending for some students carried over to the campus’ Diag. Ann Arbor police made three arrests and responded to a handful of furniture fires, but otherwise said it was just a typical night.

For many students, however, it was a night to remember.

“We’re on hunger strike until we win the championship. It’s about the ring, it’s about that championship. We’ve got to get that ‘W,’ you know what I’m saying,” said sophomore Connor Anderson.

MORE: Louisville Beats Michigan 82-76 For NCAA Title

Fans Celebrate Tourney Run, Look Forward To Next Year

A Great Night For Michigan Basketball

Not on this night, not after everything the Cardinals had already been through.

Luke Hancock made four straight 3-pointers in the first half, and Peyton Siva and Chane Behanan had monster second halves to lead the top-seeded Cardinals to their third national title and first since 1986 on Monday night with an 82-76 victory over Michigan.

Hancock finished with 22 points, including a perfect 5 for 5 from 3-point range. Siva had 14 of his 18 points in the second half, and Behanan had 11 of his 12 rebounds in the second half. Behanan also chipped in 15 points for Louisville (35-5).

“We just went into war right there with a great Michigan team,” said Hancock, named the tournament’s most outstanding player. “We needed a rally and we’ve been doing it for a couple of games straight, being down. We just had to wait and make our run.”

A beaming Kevin Ware hobbled onto the court to join his teammates for the final seconds, and he made good on his promise to cut down the nets. He didn’t need to climb a ladder to do it, though, with the basket being lowered as he cut down the final chunk of net. Siva leaped off the floor to hug his family and coach when the final buzzer sounded while Rick Pitino — the first coach to win titles at two schools — ducked as confetti began falling.

Behanan picked up two cheerleaders and, with one in each arm, carried them to the mosh pit that quickly formed at center court.

It is Louisville’s first title since 1986. The Cardinals finished the season with 16 straight wins.

“The University of Michigan, for a young basketball team, to play that well is absolutely incredible. They are a great basketball team,” Pitino said. “We beat a great basketball team probably because I have the 13 toughest guys I have ever coached.”

Louisville wasn’t exactly deep before Ware snapped his tibia in the Midwest Regional final, and Pitino candidly said his absence was going to cause “problems” for the Cardinals. Having Russ Smith revert to his wild and “Russdiculous” ways after being so brilliant in the first five games of the tournament didn’t help matters.

Smith began the night 1 of 10, and finished with nine points on 3-of-16 shooting. It was his worst performance since the Big East title game, and well below the 25 points he’d averaged in the first five games of the tournament.

But adversity means nothing to the Cardinals.

Ware’s gruesome injury — his bone protruded through the skin — would have left most teams reeling. But he became their inspiration instead, urging his teammates to “just go win the game” to get to the Final Four, then accompanying his teammates to his hometown of Atlanta just three days later.

And while his absence left Louisville short-handed, don’t underestimate the emotional lift he provided. The Cardinals tweaked their warm-up T-shirts to read “Ri5e to the Occasion,” with Ware’s No. 5 on the back. He had a seat at the end of the bench, clapping and yelling for his teammates and even hobbling onto the court for a team huddle when things looked bleak against Wichita State on Saturday night.

“It’s not about me, I’ve never been that type of guy,” Ware said. “These are my brothers. They got the job done.”

They also do.

This was the seventh time this year the Cardinals have come back from nine points or more to win, with three of those coming in the last seven games. Someone always steps up, and it wasn’t going to be any different when the stakes were at their highest.

With the Cardinals trailing by 12 — the same deficit they faced against Wichita State on Saturday night — late in the first half, Hancock made one, two, three and then a fourth 3-pointer. As his hand hung in the air after the last one, the Georgia Dome shook with cheers of “LUUUUUUKE!” for the guy who is so respected by his teammates he was made a team captain before he was eligible to play his first game for Louisville.

Siva fed Montrezl Harrell for a monster dunk and, just like that, Louisville had a 37-36 lead just before the half.

Michigan pulled within 54-52 with 12:07 to play on a deep, deep 3 by AP Player of the Year Trey Burke, who sat most of the first half after picking up two quick fouls. But then, Siva and Behanan simply took over.

The Cardinals had three players with three fouls — Hancock and Siva, included — and fears about their shortened rotation had made them cautious in Saturday night’s national semifinal. This time, however, it seemed to fire them up.

The 6-foot Siva looked about 6 inches taller as he scooped up a rebound took it all the way in for a layup, the first of three straight baskets. Behanan seemed to be everywhere under the basket, grabbing one rebound after another. Louisville outrebounded 32-27, including 20-10 in the second half.

Gorgui Dieng may have had a quiet night offensively — he had eight points — but he knocked down a short jumper to extend the lead to 65-61. Siva then scored on a backdoor dunk to make it 67-62 with 6:25 left, and the game was all but over.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

By Andrew Kahn

Tonight, the No. 1 overall seed takes on a team once ranked No. 1 and now playing its best basketball. On one side is Louisville, the favorite when the field was announced, trying to keep the national championship trophy in the state of Kentucky. On the other is Michigan, riding a crop of underclassmen that rival the Fab Five. Louisville’s men will vie for the title on Monday night, and the women play in the title game on Tuesday.

Cards find a way

Peyton Siva was the preseason Big East Player of the Year, but has been inconsistent all season. Louisville has found ways to win when its point guard doesn’t play well. They beat Oregon in the Sweet 16 despite Siva tallying as many turnovers as points (four). He went 1-for-9 against Wichita but the Cards won again, 72-68, to reach the title game. A question Louisville fans would rather not see answered: Can Louisville beat Michigan if Siva struggles? He doesn’t need to outplay Trey Burke, but he can’t disappear either.

Reserves shine for Wolverines

Back-up point guard Spike Albrecht may have played the most impactful four minutes of the college basketball season on Saturday night. He nailed two contested three-pointers—one from outside the Georgia Dome—in the first half and helped Michigan handle Syracuse’s full-court press in the final minutes. Caris LeVert had played 15 minutes all tournament before logging 21 minutes against Syracuse. He hit 3 of his 4 shots (including two threes), grabbed four rebounds, and played solid defense in Michigan’s 61-56 win. Both Albrecht and LeVert are freshmen.

Shockers can’t withstand run

Wichita was able to hold off Ohio State’s furious rally in the final minutes of the regional final. Such was not the case on Saturday, as the Shockers lost their 12-point lead over the final 13 minutes and lost 72-68. Wichita’s hot three-point shooting went cold (6 for 20) and two Louisville reserves—Luke Hancock and Tim Henderson—drained huge threes during the run. A controversial jump-ball call that gave possession to Louisville in the final seconds didn’t help. While many of the high-profile jobs have already been filled, there is still speculation that Gregg Marshall may land somewhere else after this magical run.

Orange offense stalls

Fifteen seconds left, Syracuse down three. Brandon Triche had just fouled out, joining fellow backcourt starter Michael Carter-Williams on the bench. Who would Jim Boeheim turn to for a bucket? After a timeout, freshman reserve Trevor Cooney attempted a low-percentage shot that was rebounded by Michigan. Game over. The Orange overcame subpar offensive performances against California and Indiana, but couldn’t against Michigan. Due to graduation and potential early departures, offense will once again be a question mark for ’Cuse next year in the ACC.

Title game preview

Louisville opens as a small favorite against the young Wolverines. Louisville’s depth is definitely a concern; the fact that Tim Henderson was counted on to make baskets against Wichita is telling. While the Cardinals don’t rely on turnovers as much as VCU, a team Michigan dominated in the second round, they still like to play fast and turn defense into offense. Michigan protects the ball better than any team in the country. Power forward Chane Behanan is a tough matchup for most teams, but Glenn Robinson III is especially vulnerable in the paint. How he holds up will be a key to the game. Louisville’s Gorgui Dieng is taller than Mitch McGary, but McGary is stronger and playing with a lot of confidence. If he can get Dieng in foul trouble, it would open up more driving lanes for Michigan.

Andrew Kahn is a contributor to CBS Local who has written for ESPN the Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. He writes about college basketball and other sports at http://andrewjkahn.com. Email him at andrewjkahn@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @AndrewKahn.

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The season that none of us could predict is set to give us a title game that none of us will forget.

In a year where college basketball was dominated by unpredictability, two high-level schools — Louisville and Michigan, led by two high-level coaches in Rick Pitino and John Beilein – are set to give us a battle tonight that should be everything that everyone who follows the sport deserves.

Pitino is in many ways the standard in the coaching profession.

He took Providence to the Final Four in 1987. He made Kentucky a dominant force in the 1990s before heading to the NBA. And now, in his third trip to the Final Four at Louisville, he’s chasing the one thing that’s eluded him since he returned to college coaching — a national championship.

Beilein meanwhile, is a throwback. This is a man that’s never been an assistant, and is still known as a guy who cuts in his own grass. He’s a coach’s coach, and maybe that’s why so many people have such an affinity for him.

Beilein has reached the pinnacle of his profession by doing the only thing he knows — grinding.

He won at Canisius, and then Richmond, before making his mark nationally at West Virginia. When Michigan called, Beilein didn’t even look at the campus before accepting the job.

Now, he’s going against Pitino for the sport’s richest prize.

Louisville has been the best team in college basketball for the majority of the season, but the tragic loss of reserve guard Kevin Ware, who suffered a gruesome leg injury against Duke, affects the Cardinals’ perimeter depth.

Will Michigan benefit?

No question.

The Wolverines have the best back court in college basketball in Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr., while burly big man Mitch McGary has blossomed into a burgeoning prospect.

Louisville is the the team that was expected to be here. Michigan is the team that destiny put here.

Down 12 in the Sweet 16 against Kansas, the Wolverines got a deep three from Burke to tie the game late in regulation and send it to overtime. Ever since then Michigan has been like a runaway train.

Is Louisville the team to slow it down?

We can’t wait to find out.

TALE OF THE TAPE

LOUISVILLE

Record: 34-5

Coach: Rick Pitino

Starting Five: Peyton Siva, Russ Smith, Wayne Blackshear, Chane Behanan, Gorgui Dieng

Top Reserve: Luke Hancock

Strength: Front court depth

Weakness: Half court offense

MICHIGAN

Record: 31-7

Coach: John Beilein

Starting Five: Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr., Nik Stauskas, Glenn Robinson III, Mitch McGary

Top Reserve: Jordan Morgan

Strength: Outside shooting

Weakness: Front court depth

PREDICTION: LOUISVILLE 71, MICHIGAN 67

Who do you have in Monday night’s title game? Make your prediction in the comments!

Vegas says Louisville will win by four. It’s familiar territory for this young Michigan team; they’ve been the underdog since late in the regular season. Many people looked at South Dakota State as a possible Cinderella story; Shaka Smart’s VCU was going to roll over the maize and blue. Then Kansas was the impossible opponent, then the Gators were going knock them out. National media carried on about the Syracuse zone like they were 1985 Bears and gave Michigan little chance, a seeming foregone conclusion that Michigan’s offensive firepower would be smothered under a blanket of stifling defense. 

Michigan wasn’t always the underdog. Through the early months of the regular season, the Wolverines looked like they could be built for a deep run in the tournament. The schedule was helpful, they faced tomato soup cans for the first two months of the season. They hung 100 points on Slippery Rock, 88 on CMU, 94 on Northwestern, 95 on Iowa. They looked unstoppable at times but many said the same thing: They haven’t played anyone yet.

The first stiff competition came in Columbus on January 13th, when the Buckeyes brought them the season’s first loss. It was only a preview, because the last two months of the season were far less kind. They lost to Indiana and Wisconsin before they went into the Breslin Center, where MSU dismantled them. The twenty point margin in the final score doesn’t really give an accurate impression of what a beating occurred on prime time national television. The game wasn’t close and sent even the most ardent Wolverine supporters into the corner to lick their wounds.

Then they lost to Penn State, a team that didn’t have a win in the Big Ten yet.

When the season is later examined, there will be some debate about where the season reached its low point, either in East Lansing or Happy Valley. You might also point to the heartbreaking loss at home to Indiana. Either way, they were all horribly humbling humiliations for a team that was once ranked number one in the nation. They looked lost and John Beilein looked ill equipped to help them find their way.  Some people said that Beilein could be on the hot seat.

The Big Ten tournament didn’t offer any hope either, they were bounced by Wisconsin. Everything, especially when they drew South Dakota State in the first round of the tourney, looked like a repeat of last year when they were bounced in the first round by Ohio. Those who were still rooting for the Wolverines, and there were very few at that point, braced for the worst case scenario.

Michigan spent an entire month getting in their own way. They lost in especially embarrassing fashion many times. They absolutely limped into the tournament, not looking at all like the team who beat up on all those aforementioned soup cans early in the season. They looked like the same team who took all those dumb shots last year, throwing prayers from the three-line.

Then in the first round of the tournament, Mitch McGary woke up. They moved the ball better than they ever had during the season, they showed patience to wait for the open look. Burke was suddenly just as likely to send a pass to the low post; they looked like they could play physical near the basket. They certainly picked a good time to exercise all their earlier problems on the post.

Vegas is taking Louisville. Blue finds themselves in a very familiar position, maybe the best one for them. For the first two months, Michigan looked at as the dominant team in the most dominant conference. Then February happened. They’ve been climbing out of the pit since then. In almost every game of the tournament, they’ve been the underdog.

It sounds like they may have the Cardinals right where they want them.

As the final buzzer sounded, a Louisville player tossed the ball high into the air and injured Kevin Ware stood up, thrusting his arms above his head.

It was the 15th straight victory for the top-seeded Cardinals (34-5), who will play the winner of Syracuse-Michigan for the national title Monday night. It is the Cardinals’ first trip to the title game since they won it all in 1986.

Russ Smith led the Cardinals with 21 points, and Chane Behanan added 10.

Cleanthony Early had 24 for the ninth-seeded Shockers (30-9), who nearly pulled off their biggest upset of all. Wichita State had knocked off No. 1 seed Gonzaga and Ohio State on its way to its first Final Four since 1965, and it had a 12-point lead on the Cardinals with 13:35 to play. It was the largest deficit all tournament for the Cardinals, who seemed out of sorts with Ware on the bench, his broken right leg propped up on a chair.

But Louisville had come back to win five games after trailing by nine points or more already this year, including rallying from a 16-point deficit in the title game at the Big East tournament.

This one trumped them all.

Henderson, the walk-on who was forced into increased playing time because of Ware’s injury, made back-to-back 3s to spark a 21-8 run. While Hancock and Behanan were knocking down shots, Smith and Peyton Siva were turning up the heat on the Shockers.

After going more than 26 minutes without a turnover, Siva darted in to strip the ball away from Carl Hall. He fed Hancock, who drilled a 3 that gave Louisville a 56-55 lead, its first since the end of the first half.

Early would give the Shockers one more lead, converting a three-point play. But Siva scored and then Smith stole the ball and took it in for an easy layup that gave Louisville a 60-58 lead with 4:47 left. Louisville fans erupted, and even Ware was on his feet, throwing up his arms and clapping. The Cardinals extended the lead to 65-60 on a tip-in of a Smith miss and another 3 by Hancock.

Wichita State had one last chance, pulling within 68-66 on Early’s tip in with 22 seconds left. But the Shockers were forced to foul, and Smith and Hancock made their free throws to seal the victory.

The Cardinals were the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament, and they steamrolled their way through their first four games, winning by an average of almost 22 points. They limited opponents to 59 points and 42 percent shooting while harassing them into almost 18 turnovers a game, setting an NCAA tourney record with 20 steals against North Carolina A&T.

The presence of Ware was supposed to provide even more motivation for Louisville, which already had some unfinished business after losing to Kentucky in last year’s Final Four. Ware’s tibia snapped and broke through the skin during last weekend’s Midwest Regional final. Yet he’s here in Atlanta, his hometown, and was sitting on a chair at the end of the Louisville bench, his right leg propped up on towels.

The Cardinals have modified their warm-up T-shirts in Ware’s honor – they now read “Ri5e to the Occasion,” with Ware’s No. 5 on the back – and every one of the starters went to shake his hand after being introduced.

But whether it was the emotional roller-coaster of the last week, the expectations or just Wichita State, the Cardinals seemed out of sorts much of the night.

Wichita State may not have the names or pedigree of a Louisville, Syracuse or Michigan. But what the Shockers lacked in star power they more than made up for in hustle and heart. This, after all, was a team with one player (Carl Hall) who salvaged his career after working in a light bulb factory and two more (Ron Baker and Malcolm Armstead) who paid their own ways in their first years.

The Shockers barely seemed to notice that vaunted Louisville press until the final minutes of the game. They didn’t rush shots, working it around until they got a look they like – Louisville was called for more than one foul late in the shot clock, including one on Smith with only a second left – and they were relentless on the backboards.

And that “play angry” defense? Now the Cardinals have an idea of how their opponents have felt. Wichita State bottled Louisville up inside, never letting Gorgui Dieng be a factor, and the Cardinals were continually forced to put up awkward and bad shots from outside.

The conference announced the decision Wednesday after university presidents approved the new moniker earlier in the day.

The Big East football schools were in need of a new name after they agreed to let seven basketball schools break away from the conference to start a new league this summer to be called the Big East. In return, the football schools received about $100 million of a $110 million pot the league had accumulated in recent years from exit and entry fees and NCAA basketball tournament revenue.v

The American Athletic Conference will have 10 members in its first season: Rutgers, Louisville, Connecticut, South Florida, Cincinnati, Central Florida, Memphis, Houston, SMU and Temple.

Rutgers and Louisville are likely leaving after 2013 and are set to be replaced by Tulane, East Carolina and Tulsa in 2014. Navy is scheduled to join in 2015 for football only, and the conference will begin playing a league championship football game.

Nine of the schools set to compete in the American Athletic Conference were at one time part of Conference USA. By 2014, South Florida, UConn, Temple and Cincinnati will be the only schools in the AAC to have been in the Big East.

Commissioner Mike Aresco said the members worked with marketing experts, media partners and asked for feedback from fans to come up with a list of possible names.

“Versions that included the word `American’ led every list,” Aresco said in a statement. “American Athletic Conference represents a strong, durable and aspirational name for our re-invented Conference.”

He added: “Our name is a nod to tradition, but at the same time makes clear our determination to be a Conference with national impact and appeal. The American Athletic Conference will represent core American values of optimism, energy, growth and innovation. We have a broad geographical footprint that represents unity as well as diversity.”

The rebuilt conference has new television deals in place with ESPN and CBS.

“The American Athletic Conference is a brand that suggests a national scope and quality membership,” said Burke Magnus, Senior Vice President, College Sports Programming, ESPN. “It is an exciting time for the new conference and ESPN looks forward to our future together.”

The Big East will now be a basketball-centric conference with old Big East members Georgetown, Villanova, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Marquette, DePaul and Providence, along with Xavier, Butler and Creighton.

Do you like the new name? Be heard in the comments…

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

It happens seemingly every game of the NCAA tournament, most of the season, for that matter: Officials blow their whistles, huddle, then head over to the TV monitors to review a play.

Looking to see if the clock is right, a shot was a 3-pointer or if an elbow to the head warrants a flagrant foul, they watch the replays from all angles as coaches and players huddle, fans in the stands and TV wait for the action to start again.

The goal is to make sure the officials get the calls correct.

But in the process of trying to be right, they’re also disrupting the rhythm of the games, dampening excitement and possibly giving some coaches the advantage of an extra timeout.

“It’s bogging the game down too much, particularly with what we’re actually looking for,” said Turner/CBS analyst Steve Kerr, who will call his third straight Final Four in Atlanta this weekend.

Instant replay has been a part of college basketball since 1986, when the 3-point shot also debuted. The initial purpose was for replays to be used to correct timing and scoring errors and was later expanded to look at whether a player was behind the line on a 3-point shot and flagrant fouls.

Coaches, players and fans have debated the use of instant replay pretty much since the day it was put in place and scrutiny seems to have increased this season as officials have gone to the monitor more and more.

One of the biggest complaints, particularly during the NCAA tournament, has been about officials stopping games to check the game clock, then adding a few tenths of a second back.

A small amount of time like that can make a big difference when the clock is under a second because officials judge whether a player can catch and shoot or not based on certain time increments.

But if they’re stopping the game with 5 or 10 seconds left and adding 0.2 seconds to the clock, that’s a bit excessive for some.

“That’s something that should be talked about,” said Reggie Minton, deputy executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. “I’m not sure I’m an expert on these electronic timers that these officials have that are somewhat triggered by them, but at some point we need to trust the timing mechanism we have and those that are running them that we trust they are going to do the right thing. If it’s obvious something was missed and we’re talking about seconds, then I think we make sure that is corrected. But there maybe is an over-concern about a tenth here and a tenth there.”

Stopping the clock also may give some teams an unfair advantage, giving a coach what’s essentially an extra timeout to diagram a play while the officials look at the replay monitor.

In the second round of the NCAA tournament, Davidson was leading Marquette by a point when it lost the ball out of bounds against the Golden Eagles press. Marquette didn’t have a timeout left, but the officials gathered around the monitor to get the game clock right, giving coach Buzz Williams a chance to call his players over to draw up a play.

The officials added 1.2 seconds to the clock — to 6.7 — and Marquette’s Vander Blue scored on a last-second layup to give the Golden Eagles a 59-58 win and avoid the upset.

“Unfair advantage,” Davidson coach Bob McKillop said after being asked about Marquette getting what was essentially an extra timeout. “Maybe (in that situation) they shouldn’t let them huddle.”

In the West Region semifinals, Arizona coach Sean Miller got extra time to set up a play after officials stopped the game to check the time on a 3-point shot by Ohio State’s LaQuinton Ross. The officials added a tenth of a second to the clock, but Arizona couldn’t hit the tying shot in the final 2.1 seconds.

Kansas had a similar situation late against Michigan in the South Region semifinals, when a review at the scorer’s table gave Jayhawks coach Bill Self extra time to set up a final shot. Like Arizona, Kansas couldn’t pull it off and lost in overtime.

“Whether Bill Self wanted a timeout or maybe he wanted his guys to get the ball and go before the defense could set up, either way the integrity of the game was compromised just so we could fix 0.2 seconds on the clock,” Kerr said. “Who cares?”

Another complaint has been the officials’ penchant to go to the monitor any time a player is hit in the head.

Coaches have bemoaned the overuse of reviews for flagrant fouls and it increased early in the NCAA tournament as players like Creighton’s Doug McDermott, Marquette’s Trent Lockett and Pitt’s Lamar Patterson were assessed flagrants after being called for offensive fouls.

“We do it too much on anything in the head area, we automatically look at,” Kerr said. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

The key is finding a balance between getting it right and, as Kerr put it, preserving the integrity of the game.

The NBA has geared back its use of instant replay and the process seems to go seamlessly, so the NCAA could look there. Or maybe, as was suggested to Minton, the NCAA can borrow from the NFL model, give coaches a flag to throw for challenging calls in the last two minutes of a game.

“At some point the rules committee is going to have to look at unintended consequences,” said Minton, who coached at Air Force and Dartmouth and was a member of the NCAA rules committee. “If the main concern is that it’s more important to get it right than it is to allow an unofficial opportunity for a timeout, so be it. I would think the overriding concern would be to get it right.”

After all the complaints this season, it’s a topic that’s sure to come up.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

By Mark Chalifoux

A Louisville National Championship seems inevitable now. The Cardinals are the strongest team remaining and now have the emotional component of playing for an injured teammate after Kevin Ware’s gruesome injury Sunday. They have NBA prospects dotting their roster but there’s one player who has been the most integral to their success yet still gets occasionally overlooked and that’s guard Russ Smith.

Russ Smith, nicknamed Russdiculous for his frenetic style of play, has been simply wonderful in the tournament. Smith is a gifted scorer and a playmaker on defense (as evidenced by his 14 steals in the tournament) and has been the real driving force behind Louisville’s rise to the Final Four.

The 6-foot 1-inch junior guard from Brooklyn has averaged almost 19 points per game this season, but he has stepped his game up to another level in the tournament, averaging 26 points per game and shooting near 50 percent. He’s getting to the foul line at an absurd rate (10 or more free throws in his last three games) and his unconventional style has been near impossible for other teams to slow down.

He’s also done this while battling illness this past weekend and after seeing his teammate suffer one of the most unsettling injuries in sports history. His scoring prowess (31 points against Oregon and 23 against Duke last weekend) has always made him a fan favorite but Smith is starting to turn some heads in the NBA with his play in the tournament.

>>More NCAA Tournament Rising Stars

The knocks against him aren’t unfamiliar; he plays off the ball for Louisville and would have to play point guard in the NBA. His play at the point for the Cardinals has been less than inspiring. He’s not the greatest passer or the best decision maker, but his athletic ability has bailed him out in the college level because he can blow past defenders.

His defense stands for itself, however. Louisville is a tremendous defensive team and Smith is an absolute terror for opposing guards. His defense will help set him apart from other guards, but most scouts went into the tournament with plenty of doubts about Smith’s pro potential. Some of them have to do with his inconsistent outside shooting as well.

Smith has done all he can to change hearts and minds with his dominating play in the tournament. His head coach Rick Pitino has been trying to help change minds about him as well, calling him a poor man’s Allen Iverson, a description some pundits are starting to warm too.

One thing is for sure. We have not seen the best of Russ Smith just yet. As stellar as he’s been throughout the season and even more so in the tournament, Smith is poised to really break out in the Final Four. He’s a big time player and his play will decide just how easy it will be for Louisville to cut down the nets.

Russ Smith ties a career high in win over 12-seeded Oregon to advance to the Elite 8:

Mark Chalifoux is a college basketball contributor for CBS Local Digital Media and can be reached at mark.chalifoux@gmail.com and @markchalifoux on Twitter.

John Cahill, Tony Greene, Karl Hess, Lee Jones, John Higgins, Randy McCall and Mark Whitehead have all officiated previous Final Fours, while Mike Eades, Doug Simmons and Terry Wymer will have the opportunity to work their first semifinal or championship game.

The officials were recommended by John Adams, the NCAA’s director of officiating, and approved Monday by the Division I men’s basketball committee.

Three-man crews will work each game with a fourth official on standby. The assignments for the semifinals will be made Saturday morning with the championship officials announced Monday.

Louisville plays Wichita State in the first national semifinal Saturday night at the Georgia Dome. Michigan plays Syracuse in the other game.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Overcoming all sorts of adversity has been the norm for the Syracuse Orange of late.

Player eligibility issues, negative headlines, slumps at inopportune times — something seems to creep up each season for longtime coach Jim Boeheim.

He figures he’s not alone.

“There’s no team that doesn’t have distractions during the course of the year,” Boeheim, who guided the Orange to a school-record 34 victories last season with scandal swirling around his program, said Monday. “That’s part of life, that’s what you have to learn to handle. They focused well all year.”

In large part because of that singular focus, the Orange, seeded fourth in the East Regional of the NCAA tournament, are headed to the Final Four for the fourth time since Boeheim became head coach in 1976. And when they get in a groove with their stifling zone defense, especially at this time of year, they are tough to break down.

Led by versatile 6-foot-6 point guard Michael Carter-Williams, sharpshooting forward James Southerland, and do-it-all swingman C.J. Fair, the Orange are deep, motivated, and intent on bringing a second title to central New York. And this proud, blue collar town, where basketball’s shot clock was invented, is eagerly anticipating that again, just like in 2003.

“The Final Four seems to be very important. It’s a huge thing up here,” said Boeheim, 3-0 in national semifinals. “Our fans really support us, and they like what we do.”

What’s not to like about the past three weeks. Syracuse (30-9) made the Big East tournament final, losing to Louisville, then beat Montana, California, top-seeded Indiana, and third-seeded Marquette in NCAA regional play. It will meet Michigan (30-7) — the South Regional’s No. 4 seed — in the national semifinals at Atlanta on Saturday. Michigan beat Florida 79-59 Sunday to reach the Final Four.

“They have played tremendous basketball over a four-game period, which is not always that easy to do,” Boeheim said of his Orange.

It’s doubtful many saw this deep run into the postseason coming. Syracuse finished its final Big East regular season — the Orange are headed for the Atlantic Coast Conference in July — with four losses in the final five games.

Syracuse’s last home game was a five-point setback to Louisville, which snapped a tie in the final minute on a defensive breakdown. The Orange left Luke Hancock uncovered in the left corner and he drained a back-breaking 3-pointer.

Then, after easily beating DePaul, Syracuse was humiliated by archrival Georgetown for the second time in two weeks, dropping the season finale 61-39. It was Syracuse’s lowest scoring total in 558 Big East games and its fewest points in any game since a 36-35 victory over Kent State in 1962 — before shot clocks and 3-pointers.

There have been few breakdowns since. In the Big East tournament, Syracuse reeled off victories over Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, and Georgetown before bowing to Louisville.

“Once we got to New York and started to play well, we felt we could compete with anybody,” Boeheim said. “We were always a good team. We obviously had a very difficult last part of our schedule and didn’t play particularly well. But our defense was good and once we got to New York and started to play there, we could see that we were fine.

“I wasn’t worried at all about the NCAA tournament. I felt we were in a good place and we would play well.”

Hard to imagine being in a better place, especially after the Bernie Fine scandal last year.

The former associate head coach was fired after being accused by two former ball boys of sexual abuse more than two decades ago but was never charged.

There also were academic issues that forced Southerland to miss six games this season.

In the regional semifinals, Syracuse had 12 steals and 10 blocks in a convincing 61-50 beatdown of Indiana, the lowest offensive output of the season for a team that was averaging 80 points. Then, with a berth in the Final Four at stake against Marquette, which eliminated Syracuse in the NCAA tournament two years ago and beat the Orange 74-71 during the season, Syracuse won 55-39.

The Golden Eagles’ 39 points were a record low for a team in an NCAA tournament regional final since the shot clock was introduced in 1986. Carter-Williams, a sophomore in his first full season and likely bound for the NBA in the near future, finished with 12 points, six assists, one turnover, five steals, one block, and eight rebounds, and was voted the East Regional MVP.

“He’s even picked up his play. Leadership, getting the ball to people, still being able to score when we need him to because we need him to score,” Boeheim said. “He had a great year, but he’s had an even better tournament. That’s hard to do sometimes for a young player.

“He’s really been good in terms of helping his teammates be better. He had eight defensive rebounds against Marquette. I’ve never had a guard get that many defensive rebounds. I’m not sure that there’s been many times that any guard, anywhere, has gotten eight defensive rebounds.”

Syracuse’s octopus-like defense has covered every inch of the court, eliminating passing lanes, consistently depriving opponents of easy baskets down low, and defending the perimeter with abandon. Its four tournament opponents shot just under 29 percent from the field (61 of 211) and a minuscule 15.4 percent (14 of 91) from behind the arc.

“This is the best that we’ve played it,” Boeheim said. “But Michigan presents more problems than anybody in the tournament. They’re the best offensive team in the tournament. We’ve played some really good teams, but we haven’t played anybody as good offensively as Michigan.”

It’s been a decade since a freshman named Carmelo Anthony led Syracuse to its only national championship. It’s such a big deal to the university — and a city that bleeds Orange — that the school has a continuous looping video replay on a television monitor of that 81-78 win over Kansas.

The TV monitor sits along one wall of the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center where the team practices, and smack dab in the middle of that wall is the national championship trophy.

Finding room for another shouldn’t be a problem.

“I think getting to the Final Four is a great thing for the fans and the city,” Boeheim said. “Non-basketball people get involved when we get to the Final Four. Of course, winning the championship is pretty big.”

___

Follow Kekis on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Greek1947

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

By Andrew Kahn

Even with limited drama—none of the regional finals were particularly thrilling—the NCAA Tournament is a wonderful thing, the perfect blend of fairness and unpredictability. The No. 1 overall seed will head to Atlanta where they’ll face a 9 seed that came in second in the Missouri Valley. They’ll be joined by two talented 4 seeds that are peaking at the right time.

1. Final Four is in the Cards

Rick Pitino’s squad returns to the Final Four for the second straight year. Like the other Kentucky basketball powerhouse last season, Louisville is the big favorite to win it all. The Cardinals regrouped after a gruesome injury to a teammate and put together a monster second half against Duke on Sunday. Russ Smith finished with 23 points. It was a great day for Louisville basketball, as the women’s team shocked No. 1 seed Baylor on Sunday night to advance to the regional final.

2. Not that Kansas school

Cue the Shocker puns. Wichita is only the second 9 seed to reach the Final Four, joining the 1979 Penn team. To become the first to reach the finals, they’ll have to get by Louisville. That shouldn’t seem too difficult considering Wichita State has already taken down a 1 seed (Gonzaga) and a 2 seed (Ohio State), dominating their four NCAA Tournament opponents. The Shockers have caught fire at the right time. They hit 34 percent of their threes during the season, but have hit 27 of 60 (45 percent) over the last three games.

3. The New Fab Five

John Beilein has had great success in the NCAA Tournament. Coaching his most talented team of his career, John Beilein has reached his first Final Four. He will face a familiar foe in Atlanta: Jim Boeheim, against whom he is 0-7, most of those losses during Beilein’s West Virginia days. The Wolverines’ epic comeback against Kansas on Friday night—they were down 14 with less than 7 minutes left and five with 21 seconds left—is the Tournament’s best moment so far. Michigan carried that momentum to Sunday, blitzing Florida 13-0 and winning by 20.

4. Orange emerges from East

Syracuse showed signs they were getting it together when they advanced to the finals of the Big East Tournament. Their 2-3 zone baffled No. 1 seed Indiana on Thursday and they smothered cold-shooting conference foe Marquette on Saturday, winning 55-39 to advance to the Final Four. It is Boeheim’s fourth Final Four and his most recent trip since winning it all in 2003.

5. Kevin Ware

It was supposed to be a homecoming of sorts for Louisville’s Kevin Ware. The reserve guard was born in the Bronx but moved to Atlanta when he was 14. His team has advanced to the Final Four, but Ware suffered a horrific leg injury late in the first half of Sunday’s game against Duke. If you haven’t seen it, be thankful, and don’t seek out any replays. Ware’s broken leg left his teammates emotionally distraught. Chane Behanan wore Ware’s No. 5 jersey in the waning seconds of the victory.

Andrew Kahn is a contributor to CBS Local who has written for ESPN the Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. He writes about college basketball and other sports at http://andrewjkahn.com. Email him at andrewjkahn@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @AndrewKahn.

A healthy 20-year-old athlete jumping to block a shot, then landing in some awkward way that caused his lower leg to snap.

And snap may be an understatement. When Kevin Ware’s foot hit the floor, his shin bone shattered in half, and reportedly poked out six inches through the skin.

On a routine play, on a peaceful Sunday afternoon, the last thing you expected to see was a basketball player lying on his back with his mid shin bent at 90 degrees with raw bone sticking out. Not the knee but the shin.

Read more at CBS Denver.

INDIANAPOLIS (CBSNewYork/AP) — With tears in their eyes and Kevin Ware in their hearts, there was no way Louisville was going to lose this game.

Russ Smith scored 23, Gorgui Dieng had 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks, and top-seeded Louisville put aside the shock from Ware’s gruesome leg injury to earn a second straight trip to the Final Four with an 85-63 victory over Duke on Sunday afternoon.

As the final seconds ticked down, Chane Behanan put Ware’s jersey on and stood at the end of the Louisville bench, screaming. Cardinals fans chanted “Kevin Ware! Kevin Ware!”

The Cardinals rallied in support of their injured teammate.

“We won this for him,” coach Rick Pitino said. “We were all choked up with emotion for him. We’ll get him back to normal. We’ve got great doctors, great trainers.”

Ware played his high-school ball in Georgia and the Final Four is in Atlanta, just adding to the emotion for the victorious Cardinals.

“We talked about it every timeout, ‘Get Kevin home,’” Pitino said.

This was the first time Pitino and Mike Krzyzewski had met in the regional finals since that 1992 classic that ended with Christian Laettner’s improbable buzzer-beater, a game now considered one of the best in NCAA tournament history.

This game will be remembered, too, but for a very different — and much more somber — reason.

With 6:33 left in the first half, Ware, who has played a key role in Louisville’s 14-game winning streak, jumped to try and block Tyler Thornton’s 3-point shot. When he landed, his right leg snapped midway between his ankle and knee, the bone skewing almost at a right angle. Ware dropped to the floor right in front of the Louisville bench and, almost in unison, his teammates turned away in horror. Thornton grimaced, putting his hand to his mouth as he turned around.

Louisville forward Wayne Blackshear fell to the floor and Behanan looked as if he was going to be sick on the court, kneeling on his hands and feet. Luke Hancock patted Ware’s chest as doctors worked on the sophomore and Smith walked away, pulling his jersey over his eyes. The arena was silent, and several fans wept and bowed their heads.

Pitino had tears in his eyes as he tried to console his players. Dieng draped an arm around the shoulders of Smith, who repeatedly wiped at his eyes and shook his head. The Cardinals (33-5) gathered at halfcourt to try and regroup before Pitino called them over to the sideline, saying Ware wanted to talk to them before he left.

“Basically, the bone popped out of the skin. It broke in two spots,” Pitino said. “Remember the bone is six inches out of his leg, and all he’s yelling is ‘Win the game, win the game.’ I’ve never seen anything like that.”

News of the injury dominated social media. Joe Theismann whose NFL career ended with a horrific broken leg, said on Twitter, “Watching Duke/ Louisville my heart goes out to Kevin Ware.”

Fans chanted “Kevin! Kevin” as Ware was loaded onto the stretcher, and Pitino wiped away tears again as Ware was wheeled off the court.

“That was a tough one,” Pitino said.

Play resumed about 10 minutes later, but it was clear the Cardinals’ minds were elsewhere. They missed four of their next five shots along with two free throws, and were uncharacteristically sloppy. But they regrouped after a timeout, with Smith’s finger roll sparking a 12-6 run to finish the half that gave them a 35-32 lead.

Smith picked up where he left off at the start of the second half, making all three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt to give Louisville a 38-32 lead, its largest of the game to that point.

But just as he did against Michigan State, Duke star Seth Curry got hot after halftime, making two 3s in the first three minutes. Mason Plumlee dunked to tie the game at 42.

That, however, was all Louisville needed.

Clawing for every rebound, diving on the floor for loose balls and cranking the intensity up even higher on their ferocious defense, the Cardinals were not going to lose. And everyone, Duke included, knew it.

Smith, the most outstanding player of the Midwest Region, made a layup. Peyton Siva had a nice jumper at the top of the key, and then followed with a layup. Just like that, the Cardinals were off on a 20-4 run that sealed the victory.

Siva had 16 points and Luke Hancock added 10 for the Cardinals, who will play Wichita State in the national semifinals next Saturday. The ninth-seeded Shockers (30-8) added to their streak of upsets with a 70-66 victory over Ohio State on Saturday night.

Plumlee finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Curry added 12, all in the second half.

The Blue Devils (30-6) needed Curry to come up big as he did against Michigan State if they were going to have any chance against the Blue Devils. But Curry didn’t take a shot until almost nine minutes into the game, and missed each of his three shots in the first half.

This was only the second time the Blue Devils have reached the regional finals and failed to make it to the Final Four. The only other time? In 1998, when the Blue Devils lost to eventual national champion Kentucky.

The loss prevented Krzyzewski — for now — from tying John Wooden’s record of 12 Final Four appearances.

Is Louisville still your tournament favorite? Share your thoughts below…

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The Wolverines (30-7) scored the game’s first 13 points and maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the game against the SEC regular-season champion Gators (29-8), who lost in a regional final for the third straight year.

Stauskas hit all six of his 3-point attempts, including consecutive makes from the left corner for to give Michigan a 41-17 lead.

Sophomore Trey Burke, the Big Ten player of the year, added 15 points for Michigan. Mitch McGary, another freshman, had 11 points and nine rebounds. He scored eight in the opening 13-0 run.

Kenny Boynton and Will Yeguette had 13 points each for Florida.

The Wolverines, with a steady rotation of six freshen and a sophomore, are headed to Atlanta to play Syracuse (30-9) in a national semifinal game Saturday.  Syracuse is looking to spoil the party.

Michigan hadn’t been to the Final Four since consecutive national championship game appearances in 1992 and 1993, the freshman and sophomore seasons of the Fab Five — Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King.

Webber was gone before that team’s 1994 regional final loss to Arkansas played in the now-demolished Reunion Arena in Dallas, and Howard followed him to the NBA after that.

With four wins in this NCAA tourney, the Wolverines already have more tournament victories than their total from the end of the Fab Five era to this season. They had one win in 1998, and then didn’t even make the field again until 2009.

Despite being the only team to make regional finals each of the last three seasons, the Gators haven’t been to the Final Four since winning consecutive national titles in 2006 and 2007.

Boynton and Erik Murphy, the four-year seniors who came in not long after those titles, will leave without one of their own. They were part of the only Gators class to win consecutive outright SEC regular-season championships, but came up short in the biggest games.

After McGary started the scoring with a layup, Stauskas made a behind-the-back pass to McGary for a slam before making his first 3-pointer less than a half-minute after that.

Burke passed to McGary for a layup before driving for one of his own. McGary’s jumper made it 13-0 only 3:05 into the game.

The Gators were able to recover from an early deficit against Florida Gulf Coast for a 62-50 win Friday night on the raised stage at Cowboys Stadium.

Facing Big Blue it was another story.

Stauskas, who was 2-of-12 from 3-point range the first three games of this NCAA tourney, couldn’t miss against the Gators.

The 6-foot-6 guard from Canada put the Wolverines up by 24 points with 4:08 left in the first half after two consecutive 3s from the left corner in a span of 27 seconds.

Like he did on all of his makes, Stauskas came back down the court with a smile on his face, sharing the moment with the Wolverines fans who made the trip to North Texas.

Not after the way they held off mighty Ohio State in the West Regional final.

Malcolm Armstead scored 14 points, Fred Van Vleet bounced in a big basket with 1 minute left, and ninth-seeded Wichita State earned its first trip to the Final Four since 1965 with a 70-66 victory over Ohio State on Saturday.

Van Vleet scored 12 points as the Shockers (30-8) followed up last week’s win over top-ranked Gonzaga with a nail-biting victory over the second-seeded Buckeyes (29-8), whose 11-game winning streak ended one game short of their second straight Final Four.

Wichita State roared to a 20-point lead with 11 minutes to play after Ohio State played an awful first half, but LaQuinton Ross scored 15 of his 19 points after halftime, leading a ferocious rally to within three points in the final minutes.

But after Tekele Cotton hit a 3-pointer with 2:20 left, VanVleet scored on a shot that bounced all over the rim before dropping. Ron Baker and Cotton hit last-minute free throws to secure the second Final Four trip in Wichita State’s history.

Wichita State is just the fifth team seeded ninth or higher to reach the Final Four since seeding began in 1979, but the second in three years following 11th-seeded VCU’s improbable run in 2011.

The Shockers are also the kings of Kansas, reaching the national semifinals after the powerful Jayhawks and Kansas State both went down.

Deshaun Thomas scored 21 points after missing nine of his first 12 shots for the Buckeyes, who made just 24 percent of their first-half shots. Aaron Craft scored nine points on 2-for-12 shooting for the Buckeyes, who dug a hole too deep to escape with their second-half rally.

But after two weeks of upsets in the wild West bracket, underdog Wichita State was an appropriate choice to cut down Staples Center’s nets. The Shockers’ well-balanced roster managed built that enormous lead with the same consummate team play that they’ve shown throughout the tournament.

Two sections packed with cheering Shockers fans provided all the encouragement necessary for a team that didn’t win the Missouri Valley Conference tournament and was thought to be a bubble team for an NCAA berth. Now, Wichita State is the MVC’s first Final Four team since Larry Bird led Indiana State to the title game in 1979.

Another giant awaits the Shockers in Atlanta next weekend: They’ll face the winner of Sunday’s Midwest Regional final between Duke and Louisville.

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Using its trapping, shot-challenging 2-3 zone to perfect effect for 40 minutes, No. 4-seeded Syracuse shut down No. 3 Marquette 55-39 in the East Regional final Saturday to earn Boeheim his first trip to the national semis since a freshman named Carmelo Anthony helped win the 2003 NCAA title.

“It’s a great thing,” Boeheim joked afterward. “We go once every 10 years.”

Fittingly, a matchup between schools from the soon-to-break-apart, rough-and-tumble Big East became quite a struggle on the offensive end. Syracuse (30-9) was led by senior forward James Southerland’s 16 points. Michael Carter-Williams, a 6-foot-6 guard who is out front in the zone, was named the regional’s top player after having 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists Saturday.

Marquette (26-9) hadn’t scored fewer than 47 points all season — and, indeed, put up 74 in a victory over Syracuse on Feb. 25. But this time, Marquette kept turning the ball over, seeing its shots blocked or just plain missing.

It was much like what happened Thursday in the regional semifinals, when Syracuse knocked off top-seeded Indiana by limiting it to a season-low output, too.

“I don’t think we’ve played as good defensively as these last two games,” senior guard Brandon Triche said. “We held some good teams down.”

All told, Marquette made only 12 of 53 shots — 23 percent — and was 3 for 24 on 3-pointers. Vander Blue, who carried Marquette to the round of eight, was held to 14 points on 3-for-15 shooting. Its 39 points were a record low for a team in a regional final since the shot clock was introduced in 1986.

In the national semifinals at Atlanta next week, Syracuse will face the winner of Sunday’s South Regional final between Florida and Michigan.

Last season, Syracuse fell a victory short of the Final Four, losing to Ohio State in the round of eight.

“We wanted to get over the hump,” Southerland said. “That’s what I told the guys: We’ve still got two more to go.”

The Big East is transforming radically before next season. Syracuse is heading to the Atlantic Coast Conference, while Marquette is one of seven basketball-centric schools departing the conference to form a new league that is taking the Big East name with it.

But talk about a last hurrah.

Not only is Syracuse on its way to the Final Four, but the league also could have a second representative because Louisville is in the Midwest Regional final Sunday against Duke.

In this very same building, exactly three weeks ago, Syracuse wrapped up its final Big East regular-season schedule with a bad-as-can-be performance in a lopsided loss to Georgetown, scoring 39 points — the Orange’s tiniest total in a half-century.

Thanking fans after Saturday’s victory, Boeheim said: “I’m sure some of you were here, three weeks ago today, when it didn’t turn out so good.”

That was Syracuse’s fourth loss in a span of five games, a stumbling way to head into tournament play. Since then, though, Boeheim’s team has won seven of eight games.

“When you bounce back like that, that says a lot about your kids, your team and your character,” Boeheim said. “This is a heck of a bounceback.”

And the secret to success? Defense, naturally.

“We got the right personnel for each key position,” C.J. Fair said. “We got big long guards, we got big long forwards that can cover ground and our centers do a good job holding down the inside.”

Syracuse really needed only one run on offense in the second half, making five shots in a row during a spurt that gave it a 41-28 lead with 9½ minutes left.

With President Barack Obama — a basketball enthusiast who picked Indiana to win the title — and NFL Rookie of the Year Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins sitting in the crowd, Syracuse harassed Marquette into missing 14 of its first 15 tries from beyond the 3-point arc.

Marquette started 1 for 10 overall on field-goal tries, with Blue’s 3-pointer about 1½ minutes in the only make. He celebrated as though it came at the end of the game, not the outset, punching the air and tapping defender Triche on the back while heading to the other end of the court.

After Blue’s 3, Marquette missed its next seven shots.

Davante Gardner ended that drought by scoring inside. Still, four of Marquette’s next five possessions ended with turnovers: Gardner couldn’t handle a teammate’s pass, and the ball bounced off his face; Blue was called for traveling; Fair drew a charge from Blue; Junior Cadougan lost control of his dribble on a wild foray into the lane with the shot clock expiring.

That was part of a stretch — disappointing for Marquette, delightful for Syracuse — in which the Golden Eagles went nearly 6½ minutes without a single field-goal attempt. Forget about putting the basketball through the net; Syracuse was so smothering, Marquette did not even manage to shoot.

That helped Syracuse build a 19-7 lead.

Enter Gardner, a 290-pound reserve forward.

He scored a career-high 26 points in Marquette’s 74-71 regular-season victory over Syracuse on Feb. 25, and he went right to work Saturday.

A 7-minute gap between baskets for Marquette was snapped by Gardner, who grabbed the rebound of his own missed free throw and sank a jumper, beginning a bunch of highlights for him.

Another jumper was followed by a defensive rebound, then an assist on Chris Otule’s bucket. Gardner high-stepped back down the court, yelling and punching a fist, before chest-bumping Otule.

It was part of a run in which Marquette cut its deficit to 21-18 on yet another jumper in the lane by Gardner.

The thing is, the Golden Eagles can play defense, too — what Big East team can’t? — and the teams combined for four turnovers, two blocks and 3-for-16 shooting in the early minutes. For the first half, Marquette shot 27 percent — take away Gardner’s 4 for 5, and his teammates were under 15 percent — while Syracuse was at 36 percent.

Indeed, as Gardner almost single-handedly got his team back in the game with half of Marquette’s initial 18 points, Syracuse went through an 0-for-6 blip.

But Southerland hit a 3, off a pass and screen by Carter-Williams, to put the Orange ahead 24-18 at halftime.

After helping cut down the net to celebrate Saturday, Southerland was asked whether he thought this sort of thing was possible when his team was leaving the same arena on March 9 after losing meekly to Georgetown.

“We just did a good job of recovering from that,” Southerland explained, “and not sulking.”

Do you think ‘Cuse can go the distance?  Let us know…

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KANSAS VS. MICHIGAN

Key matchup: Jeff Withey vs. Mitch McGary

Don’t be surprised if: Kevin Young has a major impact on this game.

X-factors: Ben McLemore (Kansas), Glenn Robinson III (Michigan)

The skinny: Michigan might be the most talented offensive team in college basketball. The Wolverines have a terrific back court with Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. along with a plethora of role players that can stretch the defense. The one thing Michigan doesn’t have? Experience. And that’s where Kansas may have a distinct edge in this game. Four of the Jayhawks’ starters — Elijah Johnson, Travis Releford, Kevin Young, and Jeff Withey all played during last year’s run to the national title game. It says here that will be the difference.

Prediction: Kansas 67, Michigan 60

FLORIDA VS. FLORIDA GULF COAST

Key matchup: Scottie Wilbekin vs. Brett Comer

Don’t be surprised if: Florida plays one of the best defensive games we’ve seen in the NCAA Tournament

X-factors: Mike Rosario (Florida), Chase Fieler (Florida Gulf Coast)

The skinny: Florida Gulf Coast is without question the story of the tournament — but they’re not going to beat Florida. Billy Donovan’s team will be locked in on both sides of the floor, and should be able to slow down the Eagles’ transition game. Keep an eye on Florida forward Will Yeguete, who could have a big role because of his intangibles.

Prediction: Florida 71, Florida Gulf Coast 62

NCAA PICKS: Rothstein, Moose, Evan, Giglio, JJ pick ‘em all

LOUISVILLE VS. OREGON

Key matchup: Oregon’s guards against Louisville’s press

Don’t be surprised if: Oregon uses Dominic Artis and Johnathon Loyd together in the back court to offset Louisville’s pressure.

X-factors: Carlos Emory (Oregon), Gorgui Dieng (Louisville)

The skinny: The Cardinals are playing like the best team in college basketball. Louisville’s bench of Kevin Ware, Stephan Van Treese, and Montrezl Harrell have been terrific, and Russ Smith is performing like an elite guard. Oregon has been phenomenal in their first two NCAA Tournament games, but it says here their run ends against the Cardinals.

Prediction: Louisville 79, Oregon 70

DUKE VS. MICHIGAN STATE

Key matchup: Derrick Nixvs. Mason Plumlee

Don’t be surprised if: Tom Izzo plays Denzel Valentine for longer than usual to exploit’s Duke’s lack of size in the back court

X-factors: Keith Appling (Michigan State), Rasheed Suliamon (Duke)

The skinny: This battle between two of the sport’s blue bloods has the makings to be one of the best games of the entire tournament. The keys to this game will be how Duke deals with the Spartans on the back boards, and how Michigan State contains Ryan Kelly — and that’s where Branden Dawson comes into play. Tom Izzo has used Dawson in spurts this season at power forward, and his versatility could make him a candidate to check Kelly with regularity. This is a game that could very well come down to the final possession.

Prediction: Duke 71, Michigan State 70

Do you agree that FGCU’s run will end Friday? Make your case in the comments!

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Michigan coach John Beilein briefly lost track of how long it’s been since the Wolverines reached the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament.

Sixteen years, he said. No, 18. Wait. 19.

He was right the third time, but here’s how to make it a little simpler. The Fab Five era of the early 1990s was the last time the No. 4 seed Wolverines (28-7) made it this far.

For top-seeded Kansas (31-5) — their opponent in the South Regional semifinals Friday night — Fab Five means something more like five trips at least this far in the past six NCAA tournaments, not to mention a championship in 2008 and another appearance in the title game last year.

The way Beilein figures it, Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. were the only players in his rotation who had any NCAA experience last week, and the Wolverines won twice anyway for the first time since Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard led the way a year after Chris Webber broke up the original class of freshmen by leaving for the NBA.

“It was all new to them then,” Beilein said of the early rounds in suburban Detroit. “And the next step is new to all our guys. I didn’t see our kids affected by that. I think we’re more affected by the opponent right now than how long it’s been or where it’s at.”

Now that Beilein mentions it, the site is noteworthy as well. Cowboys Stadium is about 15 miles from now-demolished Reunion Arena in downtown Dallas, where Howard, Rose, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King played their last game together in a loss to Arkansas in the regional finals. When Webber was still with them, those five lost in back-to-back championship games in 1992-93.

“I actually talked to Jimmy King on Monday,” said freshman Mitch McGary, who had 21 points and 14 rebounds in the win over Virginia Commonwealth that sent the Wolverines to Texas. “He came in and spoke in one of our classes. He knows what to experience from it. And it’s the same game of basketball. He just said go have fun and play your game.”

McGary is one of three freshmen who start alongside Hardaway and Burke, a national player of the year candidate who leads Michigan at 18.8 points per game. The Jayhawks have four senior starters with 45 NCAA games between them.

“I wouldn’t look at it as an advantage because Michigan is a great team,” said Travis Releford, who led Kansas with 22 points in a win over North Carolina that sent the Jayhawks to what will be the school’s 30th game in the round of 16. “We’re not going into it thinking that we’ve been here more times than them.”

Michigan spent a week at No. 1 in the poll before going 6-6 leading into the NCAAs. That included a blowout loss to Michigan State and a slow start against 13th-seeded South Dakota State in the tournament.

Hardaway and Glenn Robinson III — both sons of former NBA players — offset a rough game for Burke in the tournament opener with 21 points apiece before McGary took charge in the next round. The late-season swoon made more sense after four Big Ten teams were among the final 16 for the second straight year.

The Jayhawks had their first three-game losing streak in eight years in the middle of Big 12 play, including a nearly inexplicable loss just down the road at TCU. It was one of just two conference wins for the Horned Frogs, who held Kansas to 19 percent shooting in the first half and 30 for the game.

Now Kansas is dealing with a slump from leading scorer Ben McLemore, a freshman and the only non-senior starter. He played just 24 minutes — his fewest since before conference play — and went 0 of 9 from the field against North Carolina. He had a career-low two points after scoring just five in the Big 12 tournament championship against Kansas State.

“It’s not like a pitcher with a no-hitter going into the seventh, nobody talk to him,” said Kansas coach Bill Self. “So we try to work with him, but not work with him from a situation where, hey, you know you’ve got to do this, you’ve got to do that. He’s trying hard.”

McLemore, who averages 15.8 points and is the team’s leading 3-point threat, didn’t mind watching Releford and 7-footer Jeff Withey take over against North Carolina. Withey, the leading shot blocker in tournament history, had 16 points and five blocks for the lone Big 12 survivor among five entrants.

“When I was on the bench, I was still having fun,” McLemore said. “It was just great to see them do all their things without me on the court.”

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Los Angeles, CA (CBS) — The dream run was bound to end. La Salle had defied so many odds to reach the Sweet 16. They played four guards. They were small and fast—and small and fast can only last so long against those thoroughbred teams that have speed, and size, that can shoot—and are hot. White hot.

That’s what La Salle ran into Thursday night at the Staples Center. One of those teams. A Wichita State team that seemed to have all the properties Elite Eight teams are supposed to have. A team with size, speed and is scorching hot.

The Shockers (29-8) took off and never peered back in trampling La Salle, 72-58, to advance to the Elite Eight of the tournament against West region No. 2 seed Ohio State on Saturday. The Explorers’ amazing season closed at 24-10.

La Salle had to dig out of a deep hole from the outset.

Less than seven minutes into the game, Wichita State surged out to a 17-3 lead. La Salle never led, though the Explorers pulled within 19-11 and 25-17. It was as close as they would get.

La Salle trailed 38-22 at halftime on 8-for-30 shooting (26.7 percent), and 3-for-8 from three-point range. The Explorers were outrebounded 27-14. The Shockers did to the small Explorers what Boise State, Kansas State and Mississippi didn’t do—that’s get the ball inside. The Shockers scored 24 of their 38 first-half points in the paint.

Ramon Galloway and Tyrone Garland, two major reasons why La Salle reach the Sweet 16, were a combined 4-for-19 in the first half. La Salle rushed their shots and had trouble shooting over the taller, out-stretched arms of the Shockers.

Ron Baker threw daggers into La Salle’s chances. His trey in the opening of the second half gave the Shockers their largest edge, 44-22, with 18:49 left to play. Baker ripped the Explorers again later in the second half, nailing another three-pointer off a La Salle turnover that gave the Shockers a 47-32 lead, with 14:05 left.

With 10:48 remaining, a pair of Sam Mills’ free throws pulled the Explorers within 51-40. But each time La Salle clawed within sniffing range, the Shockers would rebound a miss, after a bad shot, or beat the smaller Explorers on the boards again.

Jerrell Wright emerged in this tournament for the Explorers, and played well again against Wichita State, scoring 16 points. Garland and his “Southwest Philly Floater” also had 16, Galloway concluded an impressive La Salle career with 11.

Wichita State was led by Malcolm Armstead’s 18, Carl Hall’s 16 points and eight rebounds and Baker’s 13.

And though there was an overflow of emotion pouring out of the Explorers after the game, many La Salle fans, many Philly hoops fans, will always remember this team. It’s the team that revived La Salle basketball, with its first NCAA berth in 21 years, and the first time the program won three NCAA Tournament games since the Explorers were NCAA runners-up in 1955.

Even when they were struggling, they still fought. They still played hard.

Galloway will be the only major loss for Explorers’ coach John Giannini, who returns Wright, Garland, Tyreek Duren and the nucleus of a team that could begin next season as a top-25 program.

It was an end. But in many ways, this La Salle team marked a beginning.

Syracuse limited Indiana to its lowest point total of the season, forced 19 turnovers, compiled 10 blocks and held the normally efficient Hoosiers to 33 percent shooting.

After getting past preseason No. 1 Indiana, Syracuse (29-9) will face No. 3 seed Marquette on Saturday night in an all-Big East matchup for a berth in the Final Four. Coach Jim Boeheim and the Orange haven’t been to the national semifinals since Carmelo Anthony led them to the 2003 title.

Marquette beat No. 2 seed Miami 71-61 in Thursday’s first game in Washington.

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The third-seeded Golden Eagles took a double-digit lead in the first half and never relinquished it, quite the contrast from their nail-biters earlier in the NCAA tournament. They shot 54 percent from the field and held the Hurricanes to 35 percent. Miami missed 18 of 26 3-point attempts.

Marquette (26-8) will face either top-seeded Indiana or No. 4 Syracuse in the East Regional final on Saturday.

Shane Larkin scored 14 points for the second-seeded Hurricanes (29-7), who matched the best NCAA run in school history.

(© 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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MARQUETTE VS. MIAMI

Key matchup: Davante Gardner vs. Julian Gamble

Don’t be surprised if: Miami freshman big man Tonye Jekiri sees extended minutes up front since Reggie Johnson is out with a knee injury

X-factors: Junior Cadougan (Marquette), Rion Brown (Miami)

The skinny: Jim Larranaga’s team returns to the site where he had his greatest achievement as a head coach. Larranaga took George Mason to the Final Four in 2006 in Washington DC, and that is the location where Miami will try to replicate the same feat — it will not be easy. Marquette is the toughest team in college basketball, and has a versatile and skilled roster that allows them to play different ways. The Hurricanes have had a dream season, but Marquette is due to finally get past the Sweet 16 under Buzz Williams.

Prediction: Marquette 66, Miami 64

INDIANA VS. SYRACUSE

Key matchup: Indiana’s guards defensively vs. Michael Carter-Williams and Brandon Triche

Don’t be surprised if: Tom Crean uses Remy Abell as a defensive specialist against Syracuse’s guards

X-factors: Christian Watford (Indiana), James Southerland (Syracuse)

The skinny: Indiana is the best offensive team in the country when they’re running the floor. The question is, will Syracuse’s 2-3 zone be able to slow down the Hoosiers? Jim Boeheim has always ran with any opponent he’s ever faced, but slowing the tempo against Indiana may actually play into the Orange’s favor. The Hoosiers struggled against Temple on Sunday when they had to generate offense in the half court, and the same thing could occur against Syracuse. The Orange also have 15 fouls to use from the center position against Cody Zeller with DaJuan Coleman, Rakeem Christmas, and Baye Moussa Keita. Indiana has been the best team in the country for the majority of the season — and we’re picking them to win — but they’ll have to play much better than they did on Sunday against Temple.

Prediction: Indiana 78, Syracuse 70

EXPERT PICKS: Rothstein, Malusis, Roberts, Giglio & Jastremski

ARIZONA VS. OHIO STATE

Key matchup: Mark Lyons vs. Aaron Craft

Don’t be surprised if: Arizona uses Brandon Ashley for long periods defensively on Deshaun Thomas

X-factors: Kaleb Tarczewski (Arizona), LaQuinton Ross (Ohio State)

The skinny: The Wildcats are the most talented team in the West Region — but they don’t have a player like Craft. The Buckeyes’ junior point guard is as special a player as there is in college basketball, and his tenacious on-ball defense will be a major key in this game. Still, Arizona’s overwhelming size could give Ohio State loads of trouble on the boards. We like the Wildcats.

Prediction: Arizona 69, Ohio State 66

LA SALLE VS. WICHITA STATE

Key matchup: Tyreek Duren vs. Malcolm Armstead

Don’t be surprised if: Rohan Brown plays 15-20 minutes for La Salle to help offset Wichita State’s size and power.

X-factors: Rohan Brown (La Salle), Cleanthony Early (Wichita State)

The skinny: The two unlikely members of the Sweet 16 square off in what should be a fascinating contrast in styles. La Salle has the most underrated perimeter in college basketball, and needs to play smaller to accelerate the tempo. Wichita State is a hard-nosed team that wants to play in the mud. La Salle should get a boost with the return of front court big man Steve Zack, but there’s no telling how effective he’ll be in his first game back from injury. The Shockers’ style should give the Explorers fits — but there’s just something about this group from North Philadelphia that we can’t get enough of.

Prediction: La Salle 76, Wichita State 72

Which teams do you see advancing? Sound off in the comments!

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State’s Adreian Payne blocked a shot and made a long jumper on ensuing possessions, providing another glimpse of his vast potential and boosting his stock as an NBA prospect.

At least two teams in the league top executives who have witnessed Payne play in this NCAA tournament, and his latest performance had to impress anybody watching in person or on TV.

The 6-foot-10, 240-pound forward had 14 points, 10 rebounds, a career-high five blocks — a school record in the NCAA tournament — and two steals in a 70-48 win over Memphis that put the Spartans in the round of 16.

Payne may be a pivotal player when third-seeded Michigan State faces second-seeded Duke on Friday night in Indianapolis. He’s likely to match up against Ryan Kelly, who has helped the Blue Devils win 20 of 21 games when he’s healthy enough to play.

Payne’s improved play has been impressive, yet it pales in comparison to his off-the-court story.

He has befriended a little girl during her bout with cancer and has become a scholar-athlete honoree after being diagnosed as cognitively disabled as a child.

Payne acknowledged his life has a lot of elements that would make for quite a book.

“It is very interesting,” he said. “I think it’s good to get your story out there because there’s other kids just like you, or me, and if they see or read about somebody that has had it just like them, it gives them hope that they can do something, too.”

Payne grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and was more interested in exploring the creek in the backyard with his brothers than shooting hoops at the park.

He was relegated to going to school with other cognitively disabled students from kindergarten through ninth grade, joining the rest of his classmates for gym and art.

When Payne was in the ninth grade, his path crossed with Richard Gates, who was a math teacher then and became the superintendent two years later. The educator saw a student whose future looked bleak if a change wasn’t made.

“He couldn’t read in the ninth grade,” Gates recalled Wednesday in a telephone interview. “We had lowered the bar for Adreian, expecting nothing and getting nothing.”

Gates strongly advised Payne’s late grandmother, Mary Lewis, who raised him after his mother died when he was 13, to get him out of the school district’s special-education program.

“I told her that she would have to refuse the recommendations from the specialist so that he could be in regular-ed classrooms,” Gates recalled. “She bought in and Adreian went from hiding in class to being the kid who would go to the board in precalculus class.”

A few years later, Payne did well enough in school to be an Academic All-Big Ten honoree and won Michigan State’s scholar-athlete award as a sophomore.

And if he doesn’t skip his senior season to enter the NBA draft, he should have an interdisciplinary-studies degree in May 2014.

“I’m on the path to graduate on time,” Payne said “Next year, I will not have a full schedule like a normal senior. I could’ve graduated early, but I wouldn’t be able to play, so I can’t.”

Lacey Holsworth probably can’t fathom Payne going pro.

The seven-year-old girl from St. Johns was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a fetal-nerve cell cancer, when back pain while dancing led to the discovery of a football-sized tumor that had engulfed her kidney. Another tumor wrapped around her spine after she was so weak her father had to carry her into a hospital on Dec. 28, 2011. She lost feeling below her belly button and couldn’t walk on her own for several months.

A month into a long hospital stay, Michigan State’s basketball team visited her in the hospital. Payne plopped down next to her and instantly started to form a bond. When Holsworth was told only a couple of players could stay in her hospital room, she pointed at Payne.

“Ever since then, she has been all about Adreian,” said her mother, Heather Holsworth.

Chemotherapy has taken her hair, but not her spirit. She wears a long, blond wig.

“Now, she thinks she’s Barbie,” her mom says with a smile.

And she looked like one, too, while wearing a pink tutu during Michigan State’s practice on Monday. Joined by her mother, father and three brothers, she locked in on Payne’s every move.

What does she like about him?

“His smile and his hugs,” she said.

When Payne’s day was done on the court, his biggest fan was waiting with brownies in a brown bag. He bent over to give her a hug and chatted for a few minutes before sitting down for an interview with a group of reporters.

Lacey Holsworth, though, wanted to give Payne one more hug before she went to dance class. She left her family briefly for one more embrace.

“She calls me her big brother and I call her my little sister,” Payne said later. “We’re very, very close. … It’s just another thing God blessed me with to be able to help other people. It’s just me being me, helping people.

“It gives me something other than basketball to do and to think about.”

Holsworth’s relationship with Payne, which includes frequent calls and texts with him through her parents’ cellphones, also seems to help her. Even though the family found out she is not ready for a bone-marrow transplant and needs more chemotherapy on Tuesday at Michigan Mott Children’s Hospital — where the little girl was decked out in green and white and turned down maize-and-blue garb — her condition is improving.

“Most people her age and at her stage don’t make it,” her father, Matt, said softly. “Doctors are confident they can help her beat this and I have no doubt (Payne) is helping, too. He makes her smile and takes her mind off the pain and anxiety she has every day.”

___

Follow Larry Lage on Twitter: http://twitter.com/larrylage

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Philadelphia, PA (CBS)— These last two weeks, La Salle coach John Giannini has spent more than a few occasions hinting, cajoling and just flat out reminding people, in and outside of Philadelphia, that the Explorers are a pretty good basketball team. They were before the NCAA Tournament began.

It just took last week and the “Southwest Philly Floater” to slap the country around and get on board with what Giannini and his small, talented team already knew.

Now comes another test for La Salle, the West regional No. 13 seed, Thursday 10:15 EST at the Los Angeles’Staples Center in the Sweet 16 round against No. 9 seed Wichita State, which has also done a few things not many expected in this topsy-turvy tournament, like unseating West regional No. 1 Gonzaga.

About La Salle (24-9):

Along with Florida Gulf Coast, the Explorers have turned into the darlings of the tournament. Unlike the Eagles, La Salle has a strong possibility of reaching the Elite Eight. Florida Gulf Coast will have to wrestle mighty No. 3 seed Florida and appears the Florida Gulf Coast’s high wire act is about to get yanked.

The Explorers, meanwhile, are riding a three-game winning streak. They won their first two tournament games virtually without Tyreek Duren, their top player, not controlling the game the way he’s capable. Duren’s ability rose at crucial moments in the Explorers’ victory over Mississippi and he’s bound to have another strong game against Wichita State.

La Salle is shooting 51.6-percent during the tournament, 43.6-percent from three-point range.

Ramon Galloway has led way, averaging 21.3 points and 4.0 rebounds a game. But this tournament has also served as a coming out party for junior guard Tyrone Garland, whose driving layup with 2.5 seconds gave the Explorers the Mississippi victory and sent the playground phrase “Southwest Philly Floater” viral. Garland is scoring 13.7 points a game coming off the bench, Jerrell Wright has been impressive, averaging 14 points and Sam Mills is dropping 11 a game.

As a team, the Explorers are averaging 72.5 points a game, though are also giving up 66.2.

About Wichita State (28-8):

The Shockers are favored, but that doesn’t mean anything. They’ve lived by the trey. They blew out Pitt in their first game by 73-55 and reached the Sweet 16 with their surprising 76-70 upset over Gonzaga.

The Shockers have done it shooting 44.4-percent from the floor and were incredibly impressive from beyond the arc against Gonzaga, making 14 of 28.

Junior Cleanthony Early, a 6-8 forward, has led the way averaging 18.2 points and seven rebounds in the Shockers’ tournament victories. After him, it gets a little iffy. Malcolm Armstead blew up for 22 against Pitt, but shot 2 of 9 (1-6 from 3-point range) against Gonzaga. Ron Brown was 0-for-5 against Pitt, and Carl Hall has been steady, going 3-for-6 in each of the Shockers tournament wins.

What could happen:

La Salle gets off to another great start, as the Explorers did against Kansas State, and holds off a late charge by the Shockers. Duren is the key. If he plays the way he’s capable of playing, the way he has this whole season, and as he did against Mississippi, the Explorers will be in good shape.

The fear is Wichita State’s size. Hall and Early are each 6-8. Senior center Ehimen Orukpe is a 7-footer who apparently does little but put his arms up. But the Shockers do have more imposing size that can cut the Explorers’ drives. There is a chance Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall slows the game down, opts to go in a different direction than what’s worked so far, and tries pounding away at La Salle inside.

Here’s thinking Marshall doesn’t. La Salle wins another thriller, 83-82.

Joseph Santoliquito is a contributing sports blogger for CBS Philly.

Teague came from Virginia Commonwealth, which doesn’t have a football team, and so immersing himself in the sport was one of his top priorities. One thing Teague did know, and know well, was basketball. He and associate Mike Ellis have long prided themselves on being plugged in to the coaching world and familiar with what is needed to identify quality coaches and build a strong program.

So when Teague made the bold decision to fire basketball coach Tubby Smith, he did so knowing that his first big hire at Minnesota was right in his wheelhouse.

“I mean, it’s our job, or my job to conduct a search and I feel good about that,” Teague said when he announced Smith’s firing on Monday. “I feel like we’ve got a lot to sell.”

When he was at VCU, Teague got the program going when he hired Anthony Grant, who eventually left for Alabama. Teague filled that opening with Shaka Smart, who has become one of the hottest commodities on the coaching market after leading the small school to the Final Four. Teague also was an administrator at basketball power North Carolina, helping to expand his circle of connections within the sport.

The process ramped up at VCU, where Teague and Ellis used the school’s Villa 7 Consortium to expand their connections. The school started Villa 7 in 2004, bringing head coaches, assistant coaches and university administrators together for a glorified cocktail party that allowed connections to be made, resumes to be exchanged and mock interviews to be conducted.

Teague hired both Smart and Grant after meeting them at Villa 7 gatherings. Other Villa 7 alumni who could be considered for the Gophers job included Marquette’s Buzz Williams and Butler’s Brad Stevens, who would be considered an even longer shot than the highly coveted Smart.

“We are going to look for the right fit for the program,” Teague said. “Doesn’t have to be the candidate that everybody thinks we should get. It’s going to be the right fit for our student athletes.”

Former Timberwolves coach and Minnesota alum Flip Saunders is another possibility to replace Smith, a highly respected coach who helped lift the Golden Gophers out of the rubble created by an academic fraud scandal. Smith had the big name that can sell tickets and also ran a clean program, two necessities for Minnesota in the wake of the cheating that wiped the Final Four appearance in 1997 from the record books. And even though progress under Smith had clearly hit a wall in the previous two seasons and many of the team’s players were failing to show the improvement expected as their careers carried on, firing him still proved to be a highly scrutinized decision.

Teague was criticized nationally for the decision, with several high-profile analysts and coaches essentially asking how dare a program such as Minnesota fire a coach with such an esteemed reputation. Those pundits and colleagues ignored Smith’s 46-62 record in Big Ten play and the coaching staff’s inability to make in-game adjustments.

Teague said he felt the program needed a fresh perspective, and that’s something he’s bringing to the table as well. With no strong roots in the state, Teague isn’t buying into the long-bemoaned “limitations” that keep Minnesota from vaulting into the upper echelon of the Big Ten. Those around the program have long said the athletic department doesn’t invest enough in the revenue-producing sports of football and men’s basketball; that the university’s academic standards are too rigorous to get some of the more talented recruits admitted; that the professional sports in town diminish the attention paid to the Gophers.

“If we live in the past, we are going to get drug down by the past,” Teague said. “We have to look forward and we have to work hard while looking forward and be encouraged by that.”

Teague is working to raise money to upgrade facilities, sees the university’s location in a metropolitan area as an asset and has made big changes to support staff in an effort to get away from the “this is how we’ve always done it” mentality.

For the first time in a long time, someone is foisting real, demanding expectations on this program. Placing seventh in the Big Ten isn’t enough. Winning one game in the NCAA tournament isn’t enough. Settling won’t be tolerated. That approach worked at VCU. Now it’s time to see if it translates to Minnesota.

“It’s my job to be to make decisions about the visions of the program and where we are going as far as our trajectory,” Teague said. “And it was really a matter of the overall, where we were and where we wanted to go.”

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

While many Michigan State fans would never dream of wanting their rival Wolverines to advance in the NCAA basketball tournament, Spartan head coach Tom Izzo will be doing just that. He was asked by the Stoney and Bill show Wednesday if he will be rooting for the Maize and Blue, “I am. I really am. I am never going to like my rival, but I decided watching SEC football in recruiting and everything else to change. I have great respect for John Beilein and what he has done at Michigan, but just as important our conference even this year as good as it was always takes a beating and I am tired of it.”

Izzo has tightened up the reins a bit on his team this tournament run, banning cell phone use during team functions such as bus rides and meetings, “I was amazed how much fun it was just actually watching the players talk, It made me realize how screwed up this country is with cell phones which we kind of condone”

Izzo also touched on the ability of Gary Harris, the Derrick Nix-Keith Appling towel incident, and Friday’s game with Duke. The entire interview can be heard below.

» More Columns

1. Louisville’s press

2. Damyean Dotson’s upside

3. Denzel Valentine’s versatility

4. Quinn Cook’s ability to distribute

5. Cleanthony Early — the most underrated sixth man in college basketball

6. La Salle’s perimeter

7. Solomon Hill’s leadership

8. Aaron Craft

9. Kevin Young’s intangibles

10. Michigan’s offense

11. Scottie Wilbekin’s poise

12. Florida Gulf Coast

13. Victor Oladipo’s athleticism

14. James Southerland’s range

15. Buzz Williams’ postgame interviews

16. Miami’s mission

THIS AND THAT:

- Josh Pastner’s decision to stay at Memphis creates a major quandary with the situation at USC. Trojans athletic director Pat Haden had targeted Pastner after Jamie Dixon – Haden’s intitial top target — opted to return to Pitt. The decisions by Dixon and Pastner, coupled with the vacancy at UCLA, makes Haden’s decision that much more critical. USC was set to be one of the premier jobs in this year’s coaching carousel. Now they’re not even the top open job in their own city. This is a pivotal hire for Haden. We’re hearing that Syracuse assistant Mike Hopkins is still in the mix. Another candidate could be Washington’s Lorenzo Romar, who has deep roots in Southern California.

- George Mason’s decision to join the Atlantic 10 makes sense for both sides. The conference needed a strong brand-name program to replace Xavier and Butler, and Mason’s location, tradition and facilities are beyond ideal. Paul Hewitt’s ability to recruit players that could have went to a higher level than the CAA out of high school (Erik Copes, Patrick Holloway) should make this transition much easier.

- Siena has always been a very good job. It could become a great job if the Saints are the next program to jump to the Atlantic 10. The Albany-based school has always gotten great fan support, and was still averaging close to 6,000 people at home games this season despite a subpar year. If Siena joins the Atlantic 10, that number could get closer to 8,000 or 9,000 for home games, depending on the opponent. Nothing appears to be imminent, but this is a storyline to watch moving forward.

- It is no longer fashionable to go on a big run in the NCAA Tournament and jump for a bigger pay day. Shaka Smart, Brad Stevens and Tommy Amaker have proven at VCU, Butler and Harvard that there’s something to be said for enjoying where you are rather than jumping to a job in a BCS league. Gregg Marshall at Wichita State is now another example. Marshall will have the best job in the Missouri Valley Conference now that Creighton has joined the Big East, and the Shockers could annually win 25 games and their league because of what Marshall has built. Don’t mess with happy.

- Miami’s Reggie Johnson will miss the Hurricanes’ Sweet 16 game against Marquette due to a knee injury. A big deal? It could be. Miami did play a large chunk of the season without Johnson, but having an extra big body defensively to deal with Golden Eagles big man Davante Gardner wouldn’t hurt.

- Marist has interviewed NJIT’s Jim Engles, Rhode Island College’s Bob Walsh and Stony Brook assistant Jay Young for their head-coaching vacancy, per a source. We’ve followed Engles for the past five years and still can’t believe how good of a job he’s done at NJIT. After going 1-30 during his first season, Engles led the Highlanders to a 16-12 record this year and a first-place finish in the Great West Conference. Impressive.

- Jackson State made a really strong hire in Wayne Brent. I had the chance to watch Brent work last summer at the Reebok Breakout Classic in Philadelphia, and the guy has the ability to be a star in this business. Brent has always been connected to high-major players, and should hit the ground running next year in the SWAC.

- Former Sacramento Kings head coach Reggie Theus is heavily in play for the vacancy at Cal State Northridge, according to multiple sources. Theus is currently coaching the Los Angeles D-Fenders in the NBDL, but has told many people privately that he’d love to return to college. Theus coached New Mexico State from 2005-2007 and led the Aggies to the NCAA Tournament once.

- Former Georgia coach Dennis Felton is one of the leading candidates for the vacancy at Old Dominion, per a source. Felton hasn’t coached in college since 2009, and has spent the past few years doing various jobs in the NBA. Felton worked for Old Dominion athletic director Wood Selig when he was at Western Kentucky.

Which Sweet 16 matchup are you most looking forward to watching? Let us know in the comments section below…

By Mark Chalifoux

Mark Lyons had a solid career at a perennial basketball power and helped lead his team to the Sweet 16—last season. This season, he helped lead another basketball power, this time Arizona, to the Sweet 16, and has been even more impressive in this run.

In 2012, Lyons, then a redshirt junior at Xavier, helped lead the Musketeers to the Sweet 16 with wins over Notre Dame and Lehigh. However, that Sweet 16 came after a tumultuous regular season that left the guard at odds with head coach Chris Mack. Part of that was stemming from Lyons role in a postgame brawl with rival Cincinnati that was one of the major storylines of the 2011-2012 season.

Lyons and Mack decided to part ways and Lyons took advantage of an NCAA exemption to play his final season for the head coach that originally recruited him to Xavier, Arizona’s Sean Miller. The Wildcats had a roster of talented young players and a deep frontcourt and Miller needed a tough point guard to help pull the pieces together. Enter Mark Lyons.

The 6-foot 1-inch combo guard became the first player to reach the Sweet 16 in consecutive seasons with different teams by improving his defense and taking over the point guard duties at Arizona after playing as a shooting guard at Xavier. Lyons has had his ups and his downs but saved his best basketball for the tournament. Lyons played stout defense and poured in a career-high tying 27 points in Arizona’s 74-51 blowout win over Harvard.

>>More College Basketball Rising Stars

Lyons got those points by making 12 of his 17 shots and also had three assists. His number line doesn’t look too different from last season at Xavier, as Lyons has averaged 15.4 points per game for Arizona (up from 15.1 at Xavier) and nearly three assists per game. However, he’s also greatly improved his free throw shooting (up nearly 10 percentage points) and became a much better defender this season.

He’s shooting much better from beyond the arc in the tournament (nearly 50 percent after shooting in the low 30s for much of the season) and is averaging 25 points per game after the first two wins. The road gets tougher for Lyons as Arizona has a match-up in the Sweet 16 against Sean Miller’s former mentor, Ohio State head coach Thad Matta (the two coached together at Xavier).

Lyons will be facing one of the best perimeter defenders in college basketball in Ohio State guard Aaron Craft. As stout as the Wildcats interior is, the Lyons v. Craft matchup will be the key to advancing to the Elite 8. Lyons hasn’t drawn much interest from NBA decision makers, but he has the athleticism to play professionally somewhere and if he finishes the tournament strong, he could work his way into the second round of the draft.

The Wildcats haven’t truly been tested yet in this tournament, so the final chapter in Mark Lyons tumultuous, yet very successful, college career starts this weekend.

Mark Lyons hits game winner in win over No. 5 Florida:

Mark Chalifoux is a college basketball contributor for CBS Local Digital Media and can be reached at mark.chalifoux@gmail.com and @markchalifoux on Twitter.

Appling practiced Monday with his banged-up right shoulder in a protective wrap after taking a pad off his left knee.

He hurt his shoulder in Saturday’s win over Memphis with 8:35 left in the game and didn’t return. He has been playing with a sore knee.

Appling hopes he doesn’t have to play with any protection when the third-seeded Spartans play the second-seeded Blue Devils on Friday night in Indianapolis.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound junior is Michigan State’s leading scorer, averaging 13.3 points a game, and has a team-high 3.4 assists per game.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The Florida Gulf Coast star walked into a restaurant on campus Monday and was quickly surrounded. People wanted autographs. People wanted photos. People just wanted to yell words of encouragement.

A school that opened a mere 16 years ago finds itself front-and-center in March Madness, one of only 16 college basketball teams left from a field of 68, hoping to win the NCAA national championship.

“I had no idea it was going to be like this, but I’m loving it,” Brown said as he made his escape from the shop. “I feel like we’re getting a lot of America behind us. I guess you could say we’re a part of America’s team at this point.”

And the Eagles spent the day savoring their moment.

Lines in the campus bookstore snaked from one side to the other, more than 100 people waiting for the chance to pay for their FGCU shirts and hats. Phone lines were jammed by those seeking tickets for this weekend’s South Regional, and even the university president half-seriously wondered if he would be able to obtain what he needed. And as they arrived at classes, players were met with applause.

“It’s so brand new,” Eagles coach Andy Enfield said Monday, as emails popped into his mailbox at a fairly dizzying rate. “No one knows – no one knew – what FGCU stood for, the letters. Now it puts our university in a national spotlight and rightly so, because this is a great place. It’s a young, vibrant university with just a lot of energy. I’ve been trying to tell that story to a lot of people.”

The Eagles play Florida in the South Regional semifinals Friday night, two wins from a most-improbable trip to the Final Four. Seeded 15th in their region, FGCU knocked off both No. 2 Georgetown and No. 7 San Diego State in Philadelphia over the weekend to keep their season going.

Enfield’s lone mistake so far in the NCAA tournament may have been what happened when he went to bed around 5:30 a.m. Monday, roughly two hours after the Eagles landed home in Fort Myers after punching their ticket to the regional semifinals.

Before Enfield went to sleep, he forgot to silence his ringer. Suffice to say, he was awakened long before he wanted.

“It’s part of the moment,” Enfield said. “We’re happy to sacrifice a little sleep for the success of our program.”

Here’s maybe the best way to explain what’s happening right now with FGCU: In a state where the Gators are back in the regional semifinals, where the Miami Hurricanes (who lost to FGCU early this season) are still alive in the field and look very much like a title contender, and as the Miami Heat took a 26-game winning streak into their game at Orlando on Monday, it’s the Eagles who might be the best story.

LeBron James picked them to win one game in his bracket. Not two, though.

“Just a hunch,” the NBA’s reigning MVP said.

The Eagles – 26-10 overall and 13-5 in the Atlantic Sun Conference – are starting their own tradition, since they have no real tradition yet. Of the 19 banners that sway in their gym to commemorate various accomplishments, the earliest entry on them is for a women’s volleyball trip to the NCAA Division II tournament in 2004.

“You come from a small school like that, and everyone just kind of looks at us like a mid-week prep game. `All right, we’ll get our win mid-week and then we’ll get ready for conference play,’” said Chris Sale, a former FGCU pitcher now with the Chicago White Sox. “I don’t think that’s the way it’s going to be from here on out.”

That’s right, even baseball’s pros have Dunk City fever. College hoops guru Dick Vitale tweeted Monday, “Hanging at Spring training talking hoops with Orioles – everybody talking Eagles of FGCU.”

The school has about 11,300 students, half of whom come from the state’s southwest section. The campus – which includes a manmade lake and actual beach where students flock – sits on 760 acres of land donated by Ben Hill Griffin III. And that lends a certain irony to this Eagles-Gators matchup, given that Florida’s football team plays its home games in what everyone calls The Swamp but what officially is named for Ben Hill Griffin Jr.

FGCU is in such infancy as a school that its oldest alumni probably have yet to turn 40.

“I’ve been in higher ed for a long time, worked at several institutions, and I have not experienced anything like this phenomenon,” FGCU President Wilson Bradshaw said. “What has happened in the last three or four days has been exceptional. We’re getting, I’m getting, my staff members are getting emails and texts from all over the country, and it’s been very gratifying.”

The interest has been overwhelming, at least to the servers that host the school’s athletic department website. It crashed twice Sunday night, and other university sites were seeing huge upticks in visits.

Will Morse, a former soccer player at the school and now a graduate student, was waiting to buy a white sweatshirt at the bookstore. He hoped the investment of his time would lead to his parents making an investment of $200 for student tickets to this weekend’s games at Cowboys Stadium near Dallas.

“It’s for my mom’s best friend. I don’t know,” Morse said. “They live in Colorado and they became fans overnight, and they wanted a sweatshirt for their birthday. So I’m the kid who’s trying to make sure my parents buy me tickets.”

And the wait in those long lines lasted about as long as FGCU’s games have taken so far in this tournament.

“I think everybody’s shocked, mostly,” said senior Kristi Hurson. “We went out to watch the game Friday and were all joking that this wasn’t going to be a big deal. And then it was.”

Her friend and fellow shopper Erica Turczyn used three words to describe the mood on campus right now – crazy, nuts and chaos.

“Professors canceled classes today, some of them,” Turczyn said. “I don’t know how anyone can focus right now.”

Give FGCU guard Brett Comer some credit. He was trying to focus, anyway.

Comer got three hours sleep before waking up Monday to hit his statistics class. As he arrived, his professor asked why he was there.

“A lot of students didn’t seem to make it to class today,” Comer said. “But I was.”

He won’t be at any classes later this week. The team’s annual banquet is scheduled for April 2. Someone in the lobby of the arena saw that sign Monday and asked if it would be canceled if the Eagles make the Final Four.

A good question, one that no one even a few days ago would have imagined would have ever been uttered at FGCU.

“Our heads have not gotten bigger,” Bradshaw said. “But we really are excited about the attention that we’re getting. And I’ve said this before: If it takes our very successful basketball team to get people to come to our website and learn more about Florida Gulf Coast University – and there is so much more – then I’m fine with that.”

Will FGCU keep the buzz going, or will their magical run end in the Sweet 16? Be heard in the comments…

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)