NCAA Tournament 2001 - null


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THE NUMBER
19
Jason Williams scored 19 straight points during his 26-point second half, fending off UCLA all by himself during a career-high 34 point performance in the Blue Devils' victory.

Gary Was Sweet,
Now He's Elite

Gary Williams is in charge of an Elite Eight team for the first time in 23 seasons as a head coach. Williams had won 447 games. He had been to five Sweet 16s. But by beating Georgetown on Thursday night, the Terps finally put Williams in Elite company. Simply, amazing.
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Nose For Music
The Stanford band settled on wearing snouts instead of graduation gowns Thursday night.

Question of the Day
Who was Thursday night's peak performer?

ESPN.com's Andy Katz
David Bluthenthal. He was simply sensational in USC's upset of Kentucky. Bluthenthal made five of six free throws down the stretch to ice the game for the Trojans. But he was on fire on the perimeter. The maligned small forward made six of nine 3-pointers for his game-high 27 points. While Kentucky focused its attention on Sam Clancy, Bluthenthal reacted to any double teams and hit open shot after open shot. He became the "X" factor for the Trojans and carried them to the Elite Eight -- a remarkable feat in itself. Bluthenthal was hot throughout the early part of the season before Clancy started to take over. But Bluthenthal reasserted himself Thursday as potentially the team's most valuable player.

ESPN's Dick Vitale
Jason Williams: My MVP of the night was the super-scintillating Williams. The All-America is definitely the best college guard in America and is better than 90 percent of the guards in the NBA. Williams took over the show in the second half against UCLA. After Duke struggled shooting in the first half, Williams picked the Blue Devils up and put them on his shoulders by scoring 19 consecutive Duke points and leading the Dukies to a date with USC.

ESPN's Jay Bilas
Lonny Baxter. Maryland's big man is definitely my MVP for Thursday. He had 26 points, 14 rebounds and dominated the inside against a much bigger team. He controlled the paint against a team that had superior size. That's where Georgetown was expected to make their bid to beat Maryland. But Baxter's work inside was able to neutralize that advantage and he was a huge factor in the Terps' win.

Thursday's Storylines
 
PLAYER OF DAY..............................
Casey Jacobsen. In four games, four players stood out. ESPN's experts have their choices (see below), but all Jacobsen did while playing 30 minutes down the freeway from his hometown of Glendora, Calif., was score a career-high 27 points and hit two 3-pointers to tie the single-season Stanford record of 82 in a season.
 
RANDOM THOUGHT...............................
Should Duke wind up winning the national championship, the Blue Devils could also stake a claim to the Pac-10 crown. The Blue Devils have already beaten UCLA and getting to the Final Four will take a victory over USC on Saturday. Once in Minneapolis, Duke could face Stanford out of the West in the semifinals and then clash with Midwest rep Arizona in the title game.
 
STOCK RISING.....................................
Saul Smith. Talk about getting in the last word. The much-maligned Kentucky point guard and son of Tubby Smith brought the Wildcats back from 21-point deficit with five 3-pointers, four assists, just one turnover and 17 points. By the final seconds, UK fans were actually hoping he'd take the last shot. Alas, he and the 'Cats exited without getting such an opportunity.
STOCK FALLING..................................
Kentucky Fans: Not only won't the Bluegrass faithful have a chance to payback Duke, but ESPN Classic is still showing the '92 East Region Final between Duke and Kentucky on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.
HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU................
The Stanford band, notorious for its outrageous pranks, was ordered not to wear graduation gowns mocking the graduation rate of players in the Cincinnati basketball program. The Bearcats' graduation rate was 0 percent in 2000, 33 percent in 1999, 0 percent in 1998, 0 percent in 1997 and 0 percent in 1996, according to NCAA records. Stanford officials were unable to say who gave the edict to the band. NCAA officials sifted through their hefty bureaucracy, but could neither confirm nor deny the order.


The sixth-seeded Trojans not only ruined the East bracket, but also ruined a trip down memory lane. And we thought the only Cinderella stories left were in the South.

ESPN BRACKETS
Bracket fever has hit ESPN! We have our own Tournament Challenge group, and you can check it out. Check out the featured group Bristol University's Best to see our predictions. SportsCenter anchors Jim Frazier and Dave Revsine lead the way with 590 points.



"The last three games, I've been speechless. I like being speechless in these situations."

USC head coach Henry Bibby on his team's NCAA Tournament run.

GO TO REGION  
GO TO REGION  
GO TO REGION  
GO TO REGION  

Full-Court Press: Sunday, March 18

Full-Court Press: Saturday, March 17

Full-Court Press: Friday, March 16

Full-Court Press: Thursday, March 15

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 USC head coach Henry Bibby credits his team's ability to make shots when needed. (Courtesy: NCAA Prod.)
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 Keith Bogans and the Wildcats made a run, but it just wasn't enough. (Courtesy: NCAA Prod.)
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 Casey Jacobsen has gotten to watch Maryland play many times this year on national television. (Courtesy: NCAA Prod.)
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 Jason Collins knows Stanford made the right moves at halftime to win the game. (Courtesy: NCAA Prod.)
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 Gary Williams receives the praise, but the Terrapins came to play. (Courtesy: NCAA Prod.)
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 Craig Esherick and the Hoyas just couldn't step up to the challenge of Maryland. (Courtesy: NCAA Prod.)
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 Mike Krzyzewski is happy to be back in the Elite Eight. (Courtesy: NCAA Prod.)
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 Steve Lavin feels Jason Williams' run was too much for the Bruins. (Courtesy: NCAA Prod.)
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