Doggydaddy's Den: DoggyDaddy's Dailies 3/26/16

*****************************************************************************

Here is the link to my ESPN Challenge page.

After Friday's action, here are the leaders -

JerrJerrMorg - 590
Chappette - 550
Jbb1985Knife-edge - 540
Synthia - 530
rja749 2 - 520

Phil - 520
JerrJerrmo - 520
Pinotbear - 520
RVWSleep - 510
Lenkiewicz - 510

We had several folks that got all four games wrong Friday night and are still in the top ten.

What a night!!!!!

*****************************************************************************

Wow, this was an historic night in WCBB. All four lower seeds beat the higher seed. Two No. 1 teams went down tonight. It was just crazy.

I have my take on the four games, but just to list them.

No. 1 South Carolina - OUT
No. 1 Notre Dame - OUT
No. 2 Kentucky - OUT
No. 3 Ohio State - OUT

So who is in?

No. 4 Syracuse
No. 4 Stanford
No. 7 Washington
No. 7 Tennessee

UConn, Baylor, Texas and Oregon State? Better be ready.

*****************************************************************************

Watched the 4 seed Syracuse/1 seed South Carolina game where the Orange upset the Gamecocks, 80-72. Who knew it would start a trend!!!

Two offensive fouls on Mitchell early and Syracuse took an early lead. But it didn't take long for South Carolina to impose their will. Syracuse took several threes and missed. And for some reason, the Orange decided to leave open the best three point shooter in Tina Roy for several shots. She was 5-7 on threes and scored 17 points in the first half as SC took a 43-33 lead. SU was 3-13 behind the arc.

The second half was a different story. Syracuse started hitting threes, going 5-10 and they forced South Carolina into outside shots. SC did get the ball inside to Coates down the stretch but it wasn't enough. The Orange kept pecking away at the lead and once the took it, they did a great job holding on to it. Mitchell and Coates both missed big free throws.

Although I picked South Carolina, I said this in my prediction - "If they can shoot 35% on threes and turn over SC 20 times, Syracuse can win". Well, 34.8% and 18 turnovers is close enough!

What a big blow to the South Carolina team. The second time in three years that they lost in the sweet sixteen game. And a tough final game for Tiffany Mitchell. 3-11 from the field, and 1-8 on threes scoring only 8 points. It should be interesting to see how this team does with the two "star" transfers coming in to play with Wilson and Coates.

*****************************************************************************

Washington had at one point a 13 point lead before Kentucky was able to cut the lead to 5, 35-30 at the half. Epps had 13 points at the half to keep the Wildcats in the game. But they were never able to close the gap. Behind Talia Walton who scored 30 points, Chantel Osahor who had 19 points and 17 rebounds and Kelsey Plum who added 23 points, seven assists and six rebounds, 7 seed Washington beat 3 seed Kentucky 85-72.

I didn't watch much of this game, but it was typical Kentucky in losing in the NCAA. Gives up too many point. They just don't play as good a defense as they proclaim.

Oh, I did predict this upset.

*****************************************************************************

So, two games, and two more SEC teams are done. As I have been saying all year. Overrated teams in an overrated conference.

*****************************************************************************

No. 4 seed Stanford had a terrific first half against Notre Dame. They shot an amazing 65% from the field and 6-9 on threes, giving ND a taste of their own medicine. It wasn't that ND didn't play well offensively. The shot 44% and 3-4 on threes. But the difference was how ND played defense. I was shocked how loose they were. They seemed off their usual tough game. Stanford played very physical in the first half and it really impacted Turner, who was scoreless. And it didn't help ND that Allen had 2 early fouls. So it was 50-39 at the half.

The second half was a lot of back and forth, with Stanford going ahead by as much as 14 points. Allen and Turner carried ND back in the game with terrific play. Turner grabbed a rebound and did her best Stewie impression with an end to end basket. The Irish closed to three 81-78, and then in their next possession Stanford ran the shot clock down to one when Karlie Samuelson hit her fifth three pointer just before the timer ran out. It was a killer shot. Notre Dame could not get closer than four points before Stanford put it away at the foul line. Wow!!

A Sweet Sixteen loss for a team with the best point guard and the best player? Sorry Muffet. Better luck next year. You WILL be the favorites.

*****************************************************************************

7 Seed Tennessee looked good early in taking a big lead over 3 seed Ohio State. Mercedes Russell and Bashaara Graves dominated the Buckeye front line with 13 and 12 points giving Tennessee an 8 point lead at the half. Tennessee did a great job early on Mitchell, holding her scoreless until 40 seconds left in the 1st quarter. But from that point on she scored 11 points, keeping Ohio State in the game. The Lady Vols shot 60.7% from the field in the first half while the Buckeyes shot only 37% and 4-16 on threes. Ohio State was lucky to be only down eight points 43-35 in the first half.

Tennessee just dominated the second half on both sides of the ball. Russell had a fantastic game with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Where the hell has this player been all year? The Lady Vols move on to the elite eight with a very good shot at their first final four in a long time playing a team in Syracuse, who they already have beaten already this season.

*****************************************************************************

There are some great games Saturday in the second 4 games of the sweet sixteen. Here is a brief overview of each one.

1 UConn vs 5 Mississippi State
Saturday March 26, 11:30 ESPN

Here is the link to my UConn/Mississippi State Pre Game Report

2 Texas vs 3 UCLA
Saturday March 26, 1:30 ESPN

Texas comes into this game after beat up on Alabama State 86-42 and then taking out Missouri 73-55. Texas is a team that spreads out the offense. There are 11 players with 9 minutes or more per game and Brooke McCarty leads the team with only 11.6 ppg. Very unusual for a team that averages over 70 ppg. Texas, with Boyette and Lang who anchor a great defense, does a good job holding down the scoring of their opponents. They have a +8 margin on rebounds.

UCLA only goes 7 deep with their tournament rotation. But their starting 5 is a solid group of players. They have two tough players in the paint in Billings and Drummer and it should be a great battle in the paint. Korver is the glue on this team and will be a tough matchup for Texas.

In spite of their terrific 30-4 record, I have not been impressed with this Texas team. Not much different than the team that lost by 50 to UConn last season. I thought UCLA looked like the better team when I watched them play USF in the second round. I think the Bruins will pull this one off in a close game played in the 60's.

1 Baylor vs 5 Florida State
Saturday March 26, 4:00 ESPN

This is a matchup of two solid defensive teams. Both play hard nose defense and work hard on the boards. Baylor lost only one game all year, and that was when their terrific point guard Niya Johnson was out with an injury. They have a great combination of great guard play in Johnson and Duke transfer Alexis Jones and the dynamic Nina Davis at forward. They also have several bigs, although very young in Brown and Mompremier.

UConn fans have seen Florida State play against our Huskies. They are a decent team, but I just can't see them matching up with the Baylor backcourt. Romero and Brown will struggle with the quickness of Jones and the trickiness of Johnson. Shakayla Thomas has been the star all season, but she struggled in the two games so far. She needs to do better against Baylor. FSU hasn't had ONE bad loss all season. They have beaten every team they should have beaten. The problem is Baylor is not one of those.

I expect Baylor to win this handily.

2 Oregon State vs 6 DePaul
Saturday March 26, 6:00 ESPN

This is a game between the tough defense of Oregon State vs the offensive firepower of DePaul.

The Beavers have held their opponents to 50 ppg this year and in the NCAA tournament they have turned that up a notch, beating Troy 73-31 and St. Bonaventure 69-40. Behind the shooting of Jamie Weisner and the domination of the boards by Ruth Hamblin, Oregon State looks like a team that can get to the final four.

DePaul is a different story than the teams that Oregon has faced to date. They know how to score and do so in many different ways. UConn fans certainly remember the hot outside shooting that the Blue Demons are capable of. Their point guard, Jessica January, was fantastic against Louisville with 25 points and 5 assists to lead them over Louisville 73-72 and into the Sweet Sixteen.

I usually take the defensive team in this kind of matchup, but I am a big Doug Bruno fan and with almost a week to prepare, I believe he will find a way to score enough to win this game. But it will be close!

*****************************************************************************

*******************************************

In the first two games of the NCAA tournament, UConn gave up 36 points. Not in the 1st period or in the half, but in the first half of both games, COMBINED. Robert Morris scored 15 and Duquesne managed 21. That stat is only the frosting on a defensive effort that has become the calling card of this year's Husky team.

1. Robert Morris had 6 baskets in the first half against UConn and only 15 points. Katie Lou also had 6 baskets, but totaled 17 pts.
2. Their 20 turnovers works out to 1 every minute. In contrast, the Huskies made 20 free throws.
3. The Colonials managed only to make 24% of their shots.
4. They had 3 assists in those first 20 minutes while UConn had 3 blocks.
5. While holding Robert Morris to 15 pts, UConn had 13 steals and 13 assists.

Duquesne played only slightly better, scoring 21 points. The Husky defense was relentless.

1. The Dukes managed 8 baskets. Tuck and MoJeff out scored them 24-21.
2. Duquesne scorched the nets with 23.5% shooting accuracy.
3. For the second game in a row, UConn's opponent had 0 free throws at the half.
4. Duquesne had 5 assists, but 9 turnovers.
5. In the 2nd period, Duquesne scored just 7 points, in 10 minutes. Mo had 8.

Expect more of the same from the UConn defense. Their smothering, switching man to man gives the appearance of 6-7 players on the court at the same time. It not only shuts down opponents, it creates the offense that scored 106 points while only giving up 36. Go Huskies..!!

*******************************************