March 2012 | Page 14 of 28 | Zagsblog
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Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
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Articles, Memphis

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Will Barton broke down in tears on the dais and took all the blame.

“I was selfish, man,” he said following No. 8 Memphis’ 61-54 loss to No. 9 St. Louis here at Nationwide Arena. “I’ll never forget this game. I let my team down.”

Memphis led by as many as eight points in the second half, but after Barton put up a layup that didn’t hit anything but the backboard, teammate Chris Crawford went off.

“Why the f*** are you taking that shot?” Crawford said, according to courtside sources.

Articles, Georgetown

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jason Clark concedes he felt like he wasn’t living up to the hallowed Georgetown tradition.

The tradition of John Thompson Jr., Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning.

“Definitely, you feel that way because Georgetown has a tradition of winning, so when you do lose in the first round it’s kind of tough,” Clark, a first-team All-Big East pick, told SNY.tv in the Georgetown locker room at Nationwide Arena.

Entering Friday’s second-round game against Belmont, Clark and fellow senior Henry Sims had never won an NCAA or NIT game. Neither had any of the younger Georgetown players.

Articles, N.C. State

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Take one look at N.C. State’s loaded recruiting class for 2012 and you know they don’t need any immediate help in that area.

The Wolfpack already have three McDonald’s All-Americans in point guard Tyler Lewis, combo guard Rodney Purvis and wing T.J. Warren signed, sealed and delivered.

Yet in the world of recruiting, you can never have enough good publicity and there is no better publicity than a run in the NCAA Tournament.

So N.C. State’s 79-65 victory here over San Diego State — the program’s first NCAA win since Herb Sendek was coach in 2006 — can only help Mark Gottfried’s club on the recruiting front.

Articles, UConn

LOUISVILLE,  Ky. — A year after their storybook season ended with “One Shining Moment,” UConn’s postseason came to a sudden halt with a “One and Done.”

Playing in their first NCAA Tournament game since beating Butler for the championship last April in Houston, the Huskies were ousted in their first game by Iowa State, 77-64.

“It was definitely a roller-coaster season, up and down,” junior forward Alex Oriakhi said. “But as far as I’m concerned, I would definitely say it was a disappointment. To have a team more talented than we were last year and fall this short, it was definitely a disappointment.”

The future is full of question marks for the Huskies, who face a potential postseason ban for 2013.

Here are five of them:

Articles, Kentucky, Michael Gilchrist, St. Patrick

LOUISVILLE,  Ky. — Derrick Gordon and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are former teammates at St. Patrick High School and brothers for life.

Like all competitors, they put their relationship on hold for a couple of hours Thursday night when they faced off in the NCAA Tournament at the KFC Yum! Center.

But now that the game is over and No. 1 overall seed Kentucky is moving on, Gordon would like to see his friend and former teammate cut down the nets next month in New Orleans.

“One of us had to lose,” Gordon said after scoring 12 points in top-seeded Kentucky’s 81-66 rout of No. 16 Western Kentucky in a South Regional first-round game.

Articles, Marquette

LOUISVILLE,  Ky. — Marquette coach Buzz Williams knows he’s in for an extremely hostile environment Saturday when his team faces Murray State, a Kentucky school playing in the state of Kentucky that is expecting to have an arena full of local fans.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve played an NCAA Tournament game on the road,” Williams cracked after the No. 3 Golden Eagles destroyed No. 14 BYU, 88-68, in a West Regional game at the KFC Yum! Center. “But we’ll figure out how to do that between now and Saturday.”

Marquette got huge games from Big East Player of the Year Jae Crowder, who tallied 25 points and 16 rebounds, Darius Johnson-Odom (20 points) and Davante Gardner (15 points, 6 rebounds).

Murray State is one of three Kentucky schools playing here — along with Kentucky and Western Kentucky. There are four total in the tournament (Louisville beat Davidson earlier in the day in Portland, Ore.).

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