First, a thank you to the Saint Louis Billikens basketball team for going into overtime last night. The name of the blog has been incarnated. Congratulations to me.
Good win last night for the Billikens against Wisconsin-Green Bay. SLU took GB into double overtime before finally putting together a run to get the 68-62 victory.
Ok, my first thought from last night’s game was that the boys are tired. You can tell that the intensity of Atlantic 10 Conference play, and the added stresses of being a bubble team, missing the NIT, and having classes, is finally taking its toll. Therefore, I was quite impressed that the team continued to play aggressively for an extra 10 minutes. This is the fifth time that SLU has gone into OT (at Charlotte and at George Washington) and the third time for double OT (at Duquesne, Dayton, Green Bay). Notice how all but one were against A-10 teams.
SLU went on its usual drought; they went nine minutes over the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half without scoring a point. The last SLU basket was at 2:19 in the first half and they didn’t score again until 13:35 in the second half. In the mean time, UW-GB put up 15 points.
Just my opinion, but this was probably the worst reffed game I have ever seen.
I had to bite my tongue in OT, but I stand by the fact that the Australians are struggling the most. Christian Salecich, though the hero of OT, has struggled hitting open shots lately and his mate Cody Ellis can’t catch any breaks. Ellis looked good with his jumpers and layups, which got him 14 points, but his three-point shot is all but gone. I believe he air-balled two of his five attempts. But it’s understandable; Ellis was out of shape when he got here and has been going non-stop ever since.
Head coach Rick Majerus was rightfully proud of his team’s performance, but acknowledges the struggles the team is having against fatigue. He mentioned Kyle Cassity as one who’s game is being affected because of fatigue. Willie Reed had a good night, mainly because GB has no big men in the paint. Justin Jordan went down at 6:42 in the second half with a compounded fracture on his thumb. It will require surgery. See you next year, JJ.
The game will fade quickly from memory as the Billikens turn around and play Princeton tomorrow at the Chaifetz. Tip-off is at 8:00 p.m.
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My bracket, along with most of America, is busted. I lost both championship teams, which equals half the Final Four. I have six of the Elite Eight still playing ball, but only eight of the Sweet Sixteen.
To be honest, I’m okay with this. The first and second rounds of the 2010 NCAA Tournament were probably the best four days of basketball I’ve seen in a very long time. You gotta love Northern Iowa beating Kansas or St. Mary’s knocking off Villanova.
One thing is clear: nobody is safe this year. Probably the new favorites to win the tourney are Kentucky and Syracuse, but don’t count out Kansas St. or Ohio St. The Midwest Regional is downtown and could be the most exciting of the four. How far will UNI go??
