The Final Countdown

The NCAA Tournament starts to come to an end for another year, this year the final four is Louisville, Michigan, Wichita State, and Syracuse. The newest members are the Louisville Cardinals who defeated the Duke Blue Devils and the Michigan Wolverines who took down Florida in a landslide.

The Wolverines beat the Gators by exactly 20 points, 79-59. Nik Stauskas was the main reason that the Wolverines won, he 22 points and literally couldn't miss. He went 7-8 from the field and 6-6 from the 3 point arc. Trey Burke played just as well if not better, Burke had 7 assists, 8 rebounds, and 15 points, at point guard for the Wolverines of Michigan. Patric Young and his Gators were out of it almost the whole game and his 8 rebounds and 7 points couldn't do anything about it.

As for the Cardinals Russ Smith was probably the top performer in this game, his only competition was Mason Plumlee of Duke. Plumlee had 12 rebounds and 17 points, Smith had 23 points and a pair of steals. Gorgui Dieng played great for the Cardinals as well as Russ, maybe better. He had 14 points and 11 rebounds to push his team to a 22 points victory of 85-63.

Post who you think will win the tournament in the comments box as well as the runner-up!

By David B.

Cardinals Attack

  Today, Big East foes were facing off in front of a crowd of 31,000.  After Syracuse had upset Louisville earlier in Big East play, the Cardinals were seeking revenge.  The Orange were riding on a two game-losing for the second time this season.  This game was low scoring and close throughout.  C.J. Fair got hot in the middle of the first half, with a halftime score of only 23-19 Louisville.  Syracuse couldn't get their shots to fall in, many of them rattling out of the rim.  Syracuse, however, came back in the second half strong and on fire.  They couldn't be contained and got the crowd fired up.  In fact, Syracuse was playing so well, the fans started to do the wave throughout the whole stadium.  However, in the last 90 seconds, Syracuse turned the ball over and Louisville took the lead.  The Orange couldn't score and couldn't contain the Cardinals.  Since Syracuse couldn't score enough, the final score was 58-53 Cardinals.  Gorgui Dieng did an amazing job for Louisville with 11 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.  None of the Syracuse players could contain him.  Michael Carter-Williams was the leader for the Orange, and had 11 points, 7 boards, 6 assists, and 1 steal.  I think the real players of the game should be Russ Smith from Louisville and C.J. Fair for Syracuse.  Russ Smith scored 18 points to go along with 1 steal, 5 assists, and 2 rebounds.  Peyton Siva only had 1 steal, 4 assists, and 1 rebound.  He didn't have any points in this game.  In the whole season against Syracuse, Siva only scored 2 points.  C.J. Fair had 19 points, 1 block, 1 steal, and 6 rebounds.  He got Syracuse fired up by scoring 6 straight points for the Orange while getting the crowd loud too.  I don't think he receives enough credit.  Fair is scoring many of the Orange's points and played 38 minutes against Louisville.  Also, DaJuan Coleman returned and played for the first time in about four weeks after suffering a knee injury.  Louisville did a great job of getting behind the 2-3 zone and getting passes into the paint.

By Ameen I.

Big East Thriller

  A classic rivalry took place; Louisville at Notre Dame.  Most of their recent meetings have gone into overtime, but this game was even more special.  Five overtimes.  With a low-scoring game, the halftime score would be 27-24 Notre Dame.  The Fighting Irish were really fighting for this win.  Louisville came out hot in the second half.  The Cardinals forced turnovers early in the second half, including a great steal leading to a dunk plus the foul.  The second half was all Louisville, until the last :50 seconds.  The reason being was Jerian Grant.  He scored 12 points in a span of about :50 seconds.  Grant had three three-pointers and a layup, plus a foul.  Jerian had a total of 19 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds.  He didn't score until the last minute.  Grant did foul out, but the Irish kept on fighting.  In fact, Notre Dame linebacker, Manti Te'o, was at the game, and was spotted when Louisville was coming out of he tunnel for the second half.  Pat Connaughton led the Irish in rebounding and assists.  he had a total of 16 points, 7 assists, and 14 rebounds; a double-double.  The reason the Irish won this game was Garrick Sherman.  He had the tip-in in the fourth overtime to send the game into the fifth overtime.  Scoring 20 points to go along with 6 rebounds, Sherman is going to be a great part of Notre Dame.  Jack Cooley had a total of 11 points, 1 assists, and 11 rebounds.  Again, another double-double.  Chane Behanan led Louisville in points and rebounds, with 30 points, 15 rebounds, and 1 assist.  Gorgui Dieng had a team lead 5 assists to go along with 17 points and 13 boards.  Russ Smith took most of Louisville's last shots, but none of his shots fell in.  He had a total of 21 points, 3 assists, and 10 rebounds.  The final score would be 104-101 Notre Dame in a thriller.  One of the referees was a referee for two games in one day.  He was a referee in the Depaul and Marquette game.  The referee drove three hours to South Bend, Indiana.  The referee that was supposed to be there was caught up in the snowstorm affecting all of the Northeast.  This game was the longest in Big East history in the regular-season.  The longest ever in Big East history was in the Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden.  The matchup was Syracuse and Uconn in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament.  It went into six overtimes, with Syracuse on top.  The Irish have been golden all year long.  The following picture is Garrick Sherman in an interview with ESPN about his late tip-in.

By Ameen I.