First four teams reach the Elite Eight
No. 11 Dayton 82, No. 10 Stanford Cardinals 72
The Dayton Flyer and head coach Archie Miller have shocked the world and advanced to the Elite Eight by outplaying the Stanford Cardinals all night. Dayton returns to the elite eight for the first time since 1984. The Flyers used their deep bench and team basketball to roll past the Cardinals. Jordan Sibert, the 6 foot 4 junior guard scored a team high 18 points . On the other hand, Stanford tried to rely on a 6 man rotation and were plagued by foul trouble. Chasson Randle scored a game high 21 points in the loss. This year's Cinderella team will now take on the no. 1 overall seed the Florida Gators.
No. 6 Baylor Bears 52, No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers 69
The Baylor Bears zone defense was no match for the Wisconsin Badgers who sliced and diced their zone all game. The Badgers jumped out to a 14 points lead at halftime and never had to look back. Frank Kaminksy led the way in scoring with 19 points. Ben Brust knocked down three 3-pointers for the Badgers, one more than the whole Bears' team made all night (2-15). Cory Jefferson was the high scorer for Baylor with 15 points. This was Baylor's third Sweet 16 trip in five years. Wisconsin's Head Coach Bo Ryan is returning to the Elite Eight with hopes of knocking off the Arizona Wildcats, the top seed in their region. Bo Ryan has won 700 games but never been to the Final Four. Coach Ryan would love to take his team back to the Final four where Wisconsin has not been since 2000 under their last coach Dick Bennett.
UCLA Bruins 68, Florida Gators 79
The Florida Gators have won their 29th straight game and are returning to the Elite Eight for the fourth year in a row. Sophomore guard Michael Frazier II led all scorers with 19 points. Frazier hit five big time 3-pointers, grabbed 6 rebounds and dished out 3 assists (all above his season averages). UCLA had a similar problem to the Baylor, they couldn't knock down a 3-pointer to help close the gap (3-18 from down town). UCLA had a great season and were back in the sweet 16 for the first time since 2008. The Bruins could not muster much offense against coach Billy Donovan and his Florida Gators' physical defense. The Gators held UCLA's potent offense under 70 points, well below their season average (81.5 PPG).
San Diego State Aztecs 64, Arizona Wildcats 70
The Pac-12 player of the year, Nick Johnson had a miserable first half, and the Aztec led the Wildcats 32-28 at the half. Nick Johnson scored all 15 of his points in the second half to rally Arizona and lead them to victory over San Diego State. Actually, Johnson was held scoreless by the Aztecs for the first 37 minutes before he realized he was the Pac-12 Player of the year. He scored 10 of his points at the line, made a field goal and hit a 3-pointer in the last 2 minutes and 45 seconds of the game when it mattered most. Super Freshman Aaron Gordon and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson both chipped in with 15 points apiece. Arizona's coach Sean Miller will join his brother Archie in the Elite Eight. The Aztecs were trying to reach the final eight for the first time in school history but Xavier Thames and his 25 points just weren't enough for SDSU and head coach Steve Fisher.
By Steven Spector -3-28-14
