March 25, 2005 | ESPN.com's NCAA Tournament coverage

Tourney PTPers — Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Deron Williams, Illinois
This was a tough call with several candidates, including Williams' teammate Dee Brown and Louisville's Francisco Garcia.

Williams did a great job helping control tempo by hitting 8-of-12 shots from the field, scoring 21 points (tied for team high with Brown) and dishing out eight assists in 37 minutes. He easily led the Illini to their third straight double-figure win in the tournament, beating Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

TEAM OF THE DAY: Louisville
The Cardinals sent a message that being seeded No. 4 in this tournament was a mistake!

Louisville controlled tempo, shot well on trifectas (11-of-26) and played solid defense in a 93-79 win over No. 1 seed Washington.

The trio of Garcia, Taquan Dean and Larry O'Bannon combined for 60 points as Rick Pitino moved to within one win of becoming the first coach to lead three different schools to the Final Four.

COACH OF THE DAY: Lute Olson, Arizona
He coached the Wildcats to victory in the best game of the night, and perhaps the entire tournament so far.

Olson called the timeout and set up a play that led to Salim Stoudamire's game-winning shot. John Lucas had a final chance to win the game but missed at the buzzer.

SHOCK OF THE DAY: West Virginia makes Elite Eight
The fact that seventh-seed West Virginia got past sixth-seed Texas Tech, 65-60, is not shocking. The fact that the Mountaineers were picked ninth in the Big East preseason poll and were the eighth-seed in the Big East tournament and are among the last eight standing is more than a little shocking.

John Beilein has done a remarkable job and his kids simply fight, scrap and claw to win. This club gets the most out of its ability and plays great team basketball. Next up is Louisville for a trip to the Final Four. Wow!

Dick Vitale coached the Pistons and the University of Detroit before broadcasting ESPN's first college basketball game in 1979. Send a question to Vitale for possible use on ESPNEWS.