BEST PERFORMANCE
North Carolina trounces first two opponents scoring a combined 221 points
The Tar Heels are running on all cylinders finding little resistance against Mount St. Mary’s and Arkansas in the first two rounds.  The best news for Carolina has to be that point guard Ty Lawson appears to be at full strength after suffering from a high ankle sprain that limited his effectiveness earlier in the year.  Inconsistent sophomores Deon Thompson and Alex Stepheson both scored in double figures in both games and have grabbed a combined 31 rebounds.

WORST PERFORMANCE
Oklahoma loses by 30 to Louisville
The Sooners were completely blown off the court by the Cardinal from the opening tip.  Many thought the six-seed they had received was too generous, and they seemed determined to prove those critics right in this game.  Oklahoma led 9-8 with 14:34 left before being outscored 36-13 to end the half, and the rout was on.  Freshman Blake Griffin scored just 8 points, and senior Longar Longar scored just 2 points.  It was clear that the Sooners did not belong on the same floor as Louisville.

DRAMATIC MOMENT
Tennessee prevails in overtime 76-71 over Butler
The Vols had better hope their point guard play improves somehow between now and Thursday.  J.P. Prince, thrust into the starting lineup into the lead role in place of Ramar Smith, made two costly turnovers at the end of regulation and almost handed Butler the contest.  Luckily for the Vols, Mike Green could not get off a clean shot at the buzzer and the best the Bulldogs could do was play for overtime.  The superior depth for Tennessee finally overwhelmed Butler in overtime.

UNSUNG HERO
Derek Low, Washington State
The senior guard for the Cougars has averaged 14.5 points over the first two rounds hitting five 3-pointers.  He will need to keep up his shooting for Wazzu to have a shot against North Carolina in the next round.  Low is also sneaky quick on defense, and he will need to play well on that end of the floor to help keep Ty Lawson in check.

REGIONAL OUTLOOK
North Carolina has the lowest probability of the four top seeds at 42 percent because of the tough competition remaining in its bracket.  Washington State will present the toughest defensive hurdle the Tar Heels have faced all year making scoring 100 points a third time in a row a remote possibility.  Either Louisville or Tennessee is capable of matching up athletic with Carolina as well.  All of the four remaining teams are Final Four caliber, but the Tar Heels are obviously still the favorite.

MIDWEST REGIONAL

BEST PERFORMANCE
Stephen Curry, Davidson
Is there any other possible choice?  Curry has been unquestionably the star of the tournament twice putting on second half clinics to lift 10th seeded Davidson into the Sweet Sixteen.  Curry scored 40 points against Gonzaga including 8-10 from three-point land.  He followed up that performance with an even better one dropping 30 against Georgetown rallying his team from a 17-point second-half deficit.  In both games Curry was at his best when the game mattered most scoring 55 points combined after halftime in the first two rounds.  In the span of a weekend Curry announced to the nation that he is more than just Dell’s son, but a transcendent player all his own.

WORST PERFORMANCE
No. 5 Vanderbilt never leads against No.12 Siena
The Commodores came into the tournament riding high seeded fourth in the Midwest after spending most of the regular season chasing Tennessee in the SEC.  Instead of living up to that billing as a potential Sweet Sixteen team, they came out completely flat and were embarrassed 83-62 by Siena, the champions out of the MAAC.  Shan Foster, the SEC Player of the Year, built his reputation as a sharpshooting wing but it was Siena’s Kenny Hasbrouck who declared himself the star on the big stage.  Hasbrouck scored 30 points shooting 9 of 14 from the field.  Tay Fisher added 19 on a perfect 6-6 from three-point range.  Foster finished with 13 points to finish out a career that ended at least one game too soon.

DRAMATIC MOMENT
Villanova comes back from 18 points down to beat Clemson
The Wildcats have more tournament wins as a lower-seeded team than other program since 1979.  They of course have a history of dramatics winning the 1985 title as an 8-seed.  Even this season, Villanova came back from 21 points down with just 8 minutes remaining to eke out a win against LSU so this game was nothing new.  Scottie Reynolds scored 21 points and Corey Fisher added 17 as the Wildcats weathered the early Clemson pressure and rode their guards to victory.  Clemson finished the year with its potential unfulfilled ending the careers of Cliff Hammonds and James Mays.

UNSUNG HEROES
Andrew Lovedale and Jason Richards, Davidson
Curry rightfully has been getting all of the positive ink, but Davidson has reached the tourney’s second weekend on a strong team effort.  Lovedale, undersized at 6’8’’, has battled and fought inside scoring 23 points and grabbing 18 huge rebounds.  Richards has added 35 points and 14 assists with just 4 turnovers handling the ball as the point guard and getting Curry the ball in positions to score.  Bob McKillop has built up the Davidson program on great role players like Lovedale and Richards, and Curry’s star would not shine so brightly without them.

REGIONAL OUTLOOK
Kansas looks to be the beast of this region, but they may not have to play a team seeded higher than eighth to reach the Final Four if it is matched up with Davidson in the Elite Eight.  No.12 seed Villanova has done well to win two games, but it is unlikely to match the talent and depth of the Jayhawks.  Davidson has proven it can beat anyone and certainly is capable of beating Wisconsin, but the Badgers have been playing awfully well sharing the ball and defending with toughness.  All in all, it will be an upset if Kansas does not come out of this region to reach San Antonio.

SOUTH REGIONAL

BEST PERFORMANCE
Jack McClinton, Miami
McClinton scored a career high 38 points in a first round blowout of 10th-seeded St.Mary’s.  The Hurricanes trailed by five at halftime, but came out firing behind the 6-1 guard outscoring the Gaels by 19.  In fact, McClinton matched St.Mary’s by himself scoring 32 points after halftime.  Even more impressive was the fact that McClinton was not at full-strength having had a fever for a couple days before the game.  He followed up that performance by scoring 18 in a close three-point loss to Texas.

WORST PERFORMANCE
Oregon collapses against Mississippi State
The Ducks were inconsistent all year after losing the leadership of point guard Aaron Brooks to the NBA, and that could not have been any more apparent in their first round game against Mississippi State.  Oregon led by as many as 13 points using their balanced efficient offense to build a solid lead.  Then down the stretch the Ducks went cold shooting just 2-for-21 from 3-point range in the second half and allowed Charles Rhodes to score 34 points.  The Ducks will lose their best players in Bryce Taylor, Malik Hairston, and Marty Leunen to graduation and Ernie Kent’s job may now be in question.

DRAMATIC MOMENT
Brook Lopez hits acrobatic shot with 1.3 seconds left in overtime to lead Stanford over Marquette 82-81.
Brook Lopez scored just two points in the first half.  He made up for lost time and then some filling up the stat sheet with 28 points after the break including 8 of Stanford’s 11 points in overtime to lead the Cardinal to an amazing victory against a game Marquette squad.  The last two points came on a baseline leaner from an impossible angle that circled the hoop before falling through for the final margin.  For all his heroics on offense Brook made the defensive play of the game blocking Marquette’s final shot in regulation to preserve a tie and send the game into overtime.  His twin brother Robin added 18 points and 9 rebounds, and Mitch Johnson tied the record for most assists in a 1st or 2nd round game with 16.  All this helped Stanford overcome the ejection of their coach Trent Johnson in the first half and into the Sweet Sixteen.

UNSUNG HERO
A.J. Abrams, Texas
Backcourt mate D.J. Augustin gets all the ink, but Abrams is the one leading the Longhorns having dropped 26 points in back-to-back contests including 6 threes in each game.  The diminutive guard is shooting 58.6 percent from the field over the first two rounds including a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.  Usually 5-11 shooting guards do not succeed at the elite high major level, but Abrams has made it work tirelessly working to get open shots and honing deep range on his jumper.  Abrams is shooting 46 percent in tournament play (including the Big 12 postseason), and his play will be crucial against Stanford as a counter to the Lopez twins inside.

REGIONAL OUTLOOK
Top-seeded Memphis has looked eminently beatable due to its shaky foul shooting and poor execution in the halfcourt.  The other three teams remaining are capable of ousting the Tigers.  The Stanford-Texas match-up will again provide another stark contrast in styles.  The Cardinals prefer to slow it down and pound the ball inside to the Lopez twins.  Texas would rather speed up the game, and are much more perimeter oriented with Abrams and Augustin leading the way.  Texas’ best inside player is Damion James, but he is just 6-foot-7.  Connor Atchley has more size, but he is almost an exclusively perimeter player.  Michigan State will look to its senior Drew Neitzel to lead them against Memphis.

WEST REGIONAL

BEST PERFORMANCE
Kevin Love, UCLA
The freshman center put the Bruins on his back and refused to let them be the first top seed to fall out of the tournament.  Love score 19 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and blocked 7 shots.  His numbers were all the more impressive due to the slow-paced nature of the contest.  Love twice made incredible fall away shots in the last 3-minutes, once to tie the game and then to give the Bruins their first lead of the second half.  Point guard Darren Collison got the winning bucket with nine ticks left, but it was Love who kept the Bruins in the game, and their title hopes alive.

WORST PERFORMANCE
Duke
The Blue Devils barely survived its first round match-up with Belmont, and probably should have lost that game.  Then against West Virginia they were obliterated on the boards 45-19, including giving up 18 on the offensive end.  Senior DeMarcus Nelson finished his career with whimper scoring just 8 points over the final two games shooting just 3 for 17 from the field, 6 turnovers, and 7 fouls.

DRAMATIC MOMENT
Ty Rogers sinks game-winning three to lift Western Kentucky over Drake
The Hilltoppers will face an uphill battle against top-seeded UCLA, but they never would have reached this point without the dramatic last second shot by Rogers to stun Drake in the first round.  After the first Thursday went largely to form, Rogers kicked off a topsy-turvy weekend in the tournament nailing a 27-foot three-pointer from the right wing to lift Western Kentucky 101-99 in overtime.  The shot was made all the more dramatic by the fact that Rogers had three defenders surrounding him, but that didn’t matter as the shot fell through the nets with 0:00 reading on the clock.  Drake had battled back from 13 points down in the second half and was poised to escape with a victory until Rogers got his hands on the ball.

UNSUNG HERO
Joe Mazzulla, West Virginia
Usually the back-up point guard to Darris Nichols, Mazzulla was inserted into the lineup for 31 minutes by Bob Huggins in order to counter the guard-heavy Duke squad.  The move proved a stroke of genius as the 6-2 native of Rhode Island responded with 13 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists.  He also knocked down 7 of 8 free throws to help ice the game down the stretch.  Nichols played 38 minutes, but it was Mazzulla who had the ball during crunch time.

REGIONAL OUTLOOK
Despite a close call against Texas A&M, UCLA still has a wide open path to the Final Four.  The Bruins will take on No.12 Western Kentucky and then either West Virginia or Xavier.  AccuScore has them rated as the most likely team to reach the Final Four at over 59 percent.  Xavier is the next likely team to come out of the region at just 20 percent.