Thursday, March 21, 2013

63 Games to Go

Here are Thursday's games in the 1st Round of the NCAA Tournament (all times Central Daylight Time) (rankings by Ken Pomeroy):

Auburn Hills, Mich.:
11:15 A.M.:  # 10 Michigan St. (25-8) v. # 64 Valparaiso (26-7) (CBS)
1:45 P.M.:  # 37 Memphis (30-4) v. # 18 St. Mary's of Calif. (28-6) (CBS)
6:15 P.M.:  # 11 Michigan (26-7) v. # 102 S. Dakota St. (25-9) (CBS)
8:45 P.M.:  # 22 Va. Commonwealth (26-8) v. # 54 Akron (26-6) (CBS)

Lexington, Ky.:
11:40 A.M.:  # 53 Butler (26-8) v. # 62 Bucknell (28-5) (truTV)
2:10 P.M.:  # 25 Marquette (23-8) v. # 59 Davidson (26-7) (truTV)
5:50 P.M.:  # 2 Louisville (29-5) v. # 225 N. Carolina A & T (20-16) (TBS)
8:20 P.M.:  # 24 Colorado St. (25-8) v. # 19 Missouri (23-10) (TBS)

Salt Lake City, Utah:
12:40 P.M.:  # 7 Pittsburgh (24-8) v. # 32 Wichita St. (26-8) (TBS)
3:10 P.M.:  # 4 Gonzaga (31-2) v. # 171 Southern (23-9) (TBS)
6:20 P.M.:  # 21 Arizona (25-7) v. # 45 Belmont (26-6) (TNT)
8:50 P.M.:  # 17 New Mexico (29-5) v. # 108 Harvard (19-9) (TNT)

San Jose, Calif.:
1:10 P.M.:  # 16 Saint Louis (27-6) v. # 80 New Mexico St. (24-10) (TNT)
3:40 P.M.:  # 20 Oklahoma St. (24-8) v. # 43 Oregon (26-8) (TNT)
6:27 P.M.:  # 34 UNLV (25-9) v. # 60 California (20-11) (truTV)
8:57 P.M.:  # 13 Syracuse (26-9) v. # 144 Montana (25-6) (truTV)

Any other observations will go in the comments.

129 comments:

  1. I'm printing my bracket from the HuffPo this year, so I feel very hip!

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  2. You will notice that the HP refused to acknowledge the play-in games. By my count, in fact, MTSU did not make the NCAA this year.

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  3. The games have not yet tipped off, so TBS is rolling with an episode of "According to Jim":

    "Jim creates an imaginary friend to avoid going to a couple's baby shower with Cheryl."

    I'm a husband myself, and this has to be one of the dumbest things any husband could ever do.

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  4. CBSSports.com updated their printable bracket, so you can have a bracket with the actual 64-team field, and none of those lines that say things like "Liberty/N.C. A&T."

    This makes me very happy.

    Meanwhile, Jim and Cheryl are having a big argument at the airport.

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  5. Oh, Brad Paisley's wife is in this show. I'd forgotten that.

    Now Cheryl and Brad Paisley's wife have organized a dinner party for Jim's "Uncle Gus." (Apparently that's the name of the imaginary friend.)

    But wait! Jim arranges for a telegram reporting that Uncle Gus died in San Diego just this morning. Take that, Cheryl!

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  6. In the final segment, Jim has a pinball machine in the living room -- which he supposedly got from "Gus" in his will.

    Cheryl responds by making a donation for $500 to Gus's favorite charity.

    Jim responds my telling his wife that he actually has to go see his friend, "Sherman." Cheryl insists that there is no Sherman, she would have remembered him from their wedding. But Jim says, "Who do you think was sitting next to Gus?"

    Take that, Cheryl! Jim wins again.

    Next up: TBS is showing "The Opposite," one of the very best "Seinfeld" episodes.

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  7. I've never seen that Jim show, but I actually thought your summary made it sound pretty clever.

    I'm so happy for you that you got that TV in your office several years ago.

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  8. Oh, it's a pretty good show -- but I feel obliged to note that no real husband would get away with this sort of thing.

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  9. That's true. Of course, George's opposite strategy would never work either.

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  10. That episode has two of my favorite moments:

    1. Where George goes up to the pretty girl and the diner and tells her that he had no job and lives at home with his parents.

    2. Where Elaine is sitting in the diner at the end saying "I'M GEORGE! I'M GEORGE!"

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  11. What actor does fuzzy-headed and annoyed confusion better than Julia Louis-Dreyfus?

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  12. So far we're at halftime of two very boring games. Michigan State leads Valpo 35-18; Butler leads Bucknell 21-14.

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  13. By the way, if you dislike the CBS announcers as much as I do, you can hear all the games on http://www.dialglobalsports.com.

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  14. I hate these generic floors they use in the NCAA Tournament. If the game is in Rupp Arena, I want to see the giant UK logo.

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  15. From Lexington, Jamal Mashburn is doing color commentary in the Butler/Bucknell game. He sounds great.

    Butler leads 29-21 with 15:50 to go.

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  16. I hate these ads that make fun of traditional light bulbs. If the new light bulbs are so great, there should be no need for government ads attacking the old light bulbs.

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  17. With 12:04 to go, Butler's lead is now only 31-30.

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  18. With 11:21 to go in the game, Butler trails 32-31.

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  19. With 10:56 to go, Bucknell leads 35-31. Butler calls time.

    Butler is 0-12 from three-point range in this game. They're the only time I've seen all year that can't make three's in Rupp Arena.

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  20. With 9:55 to go, Bucknell leads 37-31.

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  21. With 8:39 to go, Butler leads 39-37 -- the Bulldogs have just hit back-to-back three's.

    Bucknell calls time.

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  22. Michigan State has beaten Valpo 65-54.

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  23. With 6:08 to go, Butler leads 43-42.

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  24. Mom didn't think she had TruTV. I had to get on her cable provider's web site to look up her channel listings. She's been watching Michigan State instead of Butler so far.

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    1. It's the old Court TV. It would be interesting to know whether the name change has helped them.

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  25. Butler is tough. With 2:59 left, the Bulldogs lead Bucknell 49-42. Given that Butler is 2-16 from three-point range, that's a pretty good margin.

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  26. TruTV just showed a commercial for a program called Hard-Core Pawn. That's probably the end of my mom's watching TruTV, regardless of how gentlemanly she and her gal pal find Butler's coach to be.

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  27. Jamal Mashburn says that Butler "plays a smart brand of basketball." Hard to disagree with that, although it's also pretty hard to watch.

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  28. Rotnei Clarke, who used to torment UK when he played for Arkansas, just nailed an extremely difficult three-pointer to pretty much put this game away for Butler. The Bulldogs lead 56-45 with 1:21 to go.

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  29. Wow ... that three-pointer by No. 15, Clark, at the end of the shot clock to put Butler up by 57-45 was pretty tough.

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    1. I was so happy when he left Arkansas.

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    2. "All glory to God," Rotnei Clarke says at the start of his post-game interview. My favorite moment in Tubby Smith's career at Kentucky was, right after he won the national championship, he wrenched the microphone from Jim Nantz's grip and spent about five seconds giving a testimony before going into whatever else Nantz was asking about.

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    3. I hadn't thought about it, but that moment--if I'm remembering it correctly--was probably pretty informative to Nantz's keeping the microphone from Ray Lewis after this last Super Bowl.

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    4. By the way, I predict RayRay is back by Week 4 now that Ellerbe and Reed have left the Ravens.

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  30. Matthew, what's your problem with this coach?

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    1. I think he comes across as a complete arrogant jerk in the interviews I've heard with him. I have no patience for people like that. In fact I'm sick of coaches who act that way.

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    2. My mother formally un-invites your mother to coffee.

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  31. More ugly basketball from the Pitt Panthers. At the half, they trail Wichita State 26-21.

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  32. If the whole tournament is going to be dominated by Big East/Big 10 slugfests, these games are going to be hard to watch.

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  33. Butler wins 68-56. Solid radio job by Mashburn.

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  34. A couple of months ago, I was sitting in my car in a drive-through line and I had a great, great idea of how to do a bracket pool in a different way, but now I've forgotten it. I might start driving around with one of those little handheld tape recorders, talking into it. Madisonville is such a small town that I'd come to be known as the micro-cassette doofus pretty quickly. That'd be pretty fun.

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  35. There are some hideous games being played today. At the half, Saint Louis leads New Mexico State 29-16.

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  36. Over at Rupp Rafters, a UK fan who is worried that Kentucky's expectations for next season may be too high, drops the following quote from Martin Luther King:

    "No social advance rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of dedicated individuals."

    That's a great quote.

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    1. I looked up this quote. It comes from a speech given on September 23, 1959 to the Southern Christian Ministers Conference of Mississippi. Here is a longer version with the exact quote:

      "It is a fallacy to say that time will cure all problems. If time is not aided by human effort, it becomes a powerful ally of the insurgent and primitive forces of irrational emotionalism
      and social stagnation. Even a casual look at history reveals that no social advance rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle; the tireless exertion and passionate concern of dedicated individuals."

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  37. Three years ago, in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, Saint Mary's upset Richmond and Villanova to reach the Sweet 16 -- where they were promptly crushed by Baylor.

    Ever since then, the college hoops world has acted as if St. Mary's was really great, but the Gaels haven't actually done too much. With 7:18 left in the first half, they trail Memphis 19-11.

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  38. With 15:35 left in the second half, Wichita State leads Pitt 32-26.

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  39. Here are the latest scores:

    Memphis 32, St. Mary's 22 (Half)
    Wichita St. 47, Pitt 37 (7:49 left in 2d half)
    Saint Louis 39, N. Mex. St. 31 (12:57 left in 2d half)
    Davidson 12, Marquette 7 (12:56 left in 1st half)

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  40. Has anyone had these Dorito tacos from Taco Bell? Are they any good?

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    Replies
    1. I have not. I might try one before the end of this weekend.

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  41. Pittsburgh's going down. They trail Wichita State 67-53 with 1:16 to go. That's an ugly result for Ken Pomeroy, who had Pitt as the 7th-best team in the country.

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  42. New Mexico State is going down. They trail Saint Louis 60-40 with 2:38 left in the game.

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  43. Final: Wichita St. 73, Pitt 55. The Shockers are the first team to score more than 70 points in the tournament.

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  44. Final: Saint Louis 64, New Mexico St. 44. The Billikens join fellow A-10 member Butler in the Round of 32.

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  45. We've now completed the first game of the day at each location:

    Auburn Hills, Mich: Michigan St. 65, Valpo 54
    Lexington, Ky: Butler 68, Bucknell 56
    Salt Lake City, Utah: Wichita St. 73, Pitt 55
    San Jose, Calif: Saint Louis 64, N. Mex St. 44

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  46. All along, Go Heath! All along™!

    Pete Thamel ‏@SIPeteThamel 41m
    Old Big East news: The group is trending toward using the word "Metro" when they re-name the league in the next few weeks.
    2:34 PM - 21 Mar 1

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  47. At the half, Davidson leads Marquette 25-23.

    We have yet to have a game where both teams scored 30 points in the first half.

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  48. So far, none of today's games has been as well-played -- or as entertaining -- as the UK/Robert Morris game.

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  49. "No social advance rolls in on the wheels of inevitability."

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  50. Memphis tried to blow their game with St. Mary's, but they hung on to win 54-52.

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  51. Bill Rafferty fell over himself praising Saint Mary's after its loss.

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  52. Travis Ford's Oklahoma State is behind by 19-12 against Oregon. If this upset holds, it would wreak havoc on my bracket, as I have OSU going all the way to the championship before falling to WKU.

    Travis Ford is, of course, from Madisonville. Per this UK site, ex-Wildcats make up a significant percentage of the Madisonville business community, with Fred Cowan, Gary Gamble and Mike Phillips reportedly all here and operating businesses. And then Frank Ramsey is just up the road in Dixon, when he isn't shopping at our Kroger.

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  53. This could be an ugly afternoon for the Big East. Davidson leads Marquette 49-42 with 3:47 to go.

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  54. At the half, Gonzaga leads Southern 34-31. This is the first tournament game where both teams scored more than 30 points in the first half.

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  55. Meanwhile, Marquette has fought back. They trail 58-57 with 5.5 seconds to go, and they have the ball. Timeout Former Warriors.

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  56. Marquette drives to the basket and SCORES! They lead 59-58 with 1 second to go.

    This has been a heartbreaker for Davidson, which led 53-46 with only 1:36 to go.

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  57. Final: Marquette 59, Davidson 58. A devastating loss for Davidson, which pretty much fell apart in the last 30 seconds.

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  58. Meanwhile, at the half, Oklahoma State trails Oregon 37-26.

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  59. Here's what has happened so far:

    EAST REGION:
    Butler and Marquette advance to the next round, where they will play each other. Back on November 19, 2012, in Maui, Butler beat Marquette 72-71.

    SOUTH REGION:
    No results today.

    MIDWEST REGION:
    Memphis and Michigan State have won and will meet in the next round.
    Saint Louis advances and awaits the winner of Oregon/Oklahoma State.

    WEST REGION:
    Wichita St. has advanced and will play the Gonzaga/Southern winner.

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  60. OK, now truTV is showing a documentary about UK basketball. Did you know that UK lost to Texas Western in the 1966 NCAA final?

    Oh, good night, now they're interviewing Tipton. I've seen enough.

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  61. With 13:28 to go in the game, Gonzaga leads Southern 43-40. Kevin Grevey is the radio color commentator for this game, with the excellent Dave Sims doing the play-by-play.

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  62. Gonzaga is now pulling away; they're up 50-41 with 10:13 to go.

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    1. So's Oregon--ahead of Oklahoma State by 14 with about seven to play.

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  63. We tuned in out here in Moscow, ID to watch the end of the Gonzaga game.

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  64. OK, I'm back. Gonzaga beat Southern 64-58.

    Oregon pretty much dominated Oklahoma State, and cruised to a 68-55 victory.

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  65. So we're done with the afternoon games:

    EAST REGION:
    Butler 68, Bucknell 56
    Marquette 59, Davidson 58

    SOUTH REGION: No games.

    MIDWEST REGION:
    Oregon 68, Oklahoma St. 55
    Saint Louis 64, New Mexico St. 44
    Memphis 54, St. Mary's 54
    Michigan St. 65, Valparaiso 54

    WEST REGION:
    Gonzaga 64, Southern 58
    Wichita St. 73, Pittsburgh 55

    Ken Pomeroy is 5-3 so far; he missed Oregon, Memphis, and Wichita St.

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  66. With 11:22 to go in the first half, U of L leads N.C. A & T 20 to 7. Pitino is great in games like this.

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  67. Great when he has a really good team. Don't forget they got upset my Morehead just a few years ago.

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  68. Belmont is doing a terrible job of representing the OVC so far. They trail Arizona 14-4 with 11:25 left in the half.

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  69. At the half, U of L leads N.C. A & T 47 to 31. Now there's some offense.

    Meanwhile, Michigan has a halftime lead of 30-26 over S. Dakota St.

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  70. Kevin Grevey said that the first half of the Arizona/Belmont "was not a good performance by either club." He's right. Belmont has been terrible, and Arizona has been sloppy. At the half, Arizona leads 32-20.

    Belmont made 41.8 percent of its three-point shots in OVC play. They are 2-12 from three-point range in this game.

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  71. In a match-up of two former national champions, California (the 1959 champ) trails UNLV (the 1990 champ) 26-25 with 2 minutes to go in the first half.

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  72. At the half, Cal and UNLV are tied at 28, as two more teams fall short of the 30-point mark.

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  73. OK, here's what been going on.

    Louisville beat N.C. A & T by 79-48.

    Michigan beat S. Dakota St. by 71-56.

    Arizona leads Belmont 64-53 with 5:24 to go.

    Cal leads UNLV 48-43 with 8:46 to go.

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  74. In the first round last year, UK beat Western 81-66.

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  75. Do you know what I really miss? I miss guys who could make shots from all over the floor.

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  76. Belmont is embarrassed by Arizona, 81-64. The Bruins went 8-27 from 3-point range, and they were out-rebounded 42-18. Not a great year for the OVC.

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  77. Given the generally low quality of play throughout the day, I had hopes that maybe the SEC wasn't as bad as everyone thought. But Colorado State has jumped out to an early 15-7 lead over Missouri with 14:44 left in the first half.

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  78. The A-10, on the other hand, is looking very good. Virginia Commonwealth has jumped out to a 30-13 lead on Akron with 9:24 left in the first half.

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  79. Cal leads UNLV 61-58 with 9.8 seconds to go. They foul the Running Rebels to send them to the line.

    UNLV misses the first FT.
    UNLV makes the second FT.

    Cal leads 61-59.

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  80. Cal is fouled with 8.0 seconds to go.

    They go to the line, where they are 4-10 today.

    Cal misses the first FT.
    Cal makes the second FT.

    Cal leads 62-59.

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  81. With 6.5 seconds to go, Cal fouls UNLV.

    The Rebs make the first FT.
    They make the second.

    Cal leads 62-61.

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  82. Cal is fouled with 1.6 seconds left -- the UNLV people are furious, as they had been trying to foul for five seconds.

    Cal makes both FT's to go up 64-61.

    Cal then intercepts the inbounds pass with 0.7 seconds to go.

    The Bears miss both FT's, but time expires and the Bears win 64-61.

    The Pac-12 is now 3-0, the same record as the Metro-7.

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  83. OK, that's all from me for tonight. Go Heath out.

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  84. Well, well, well ... dear, old 14th-seeded Harvard has a four-point lead on third-seeded New Mexico with just over three minutes to play ...

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  85. Harvard's now up, 61-55, and another half of a minute is gone ...

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  86. 1:29 to go ... 63-58 as a New Mexico guard fakes a three, lets a defender fly by and then throws in a three ...

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  87. 64-58, 48.3 seconds ... a Lobo at the linebo ... make ... make ... 64-60 ...

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  88. Kentucky's former secretary of state, now director of Harvard's Institute of Politics ...

    Trey Grayson ‏@KYTrey 4m
    It's gonna come down to FTs. I believe! #GoCrimson
    11:08 PM - 21 Mar 13

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  89. 47.1 seconds ... and, indeed, Harvard is headed to the line after burning two timeouts and even just then getting the ball in bounds ... make ... miss ... 65-60 ...

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  90. Two New Mexico misses, and a Harvard No. 1 sprints away with a run-out rebound ... fouled ... miss ... make ... 66-60 ...

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  91. 19.3 seconds ... New Mexico fouled ...

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  92. Two more good for the Lobos ... 66-62 ... Harvard fouled at 17.3 ... make ... make ... 68-62 ... STEAL, HARVARD! ... That'll do it. Harvard wins for a 14-3 upset, surely the biggest of the day, right?

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  93. Trey Greyson went to Edgewood Dixie Heights High School, which wasn't much of a hoops power when he was there. He went to Harvard for undergrad, and then he did graduate work at UK from 1994 through '98. There were some pretty good Wildcat basketball teams in those years.

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  94. Trey Grayson ‏@KYTrey 19 Mar
    Glad I listened to Cal's post-game radio interview. Made me feel better. Already psyched for next year! #BBN
    9:57 PM - 19 Mar 13

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