Wow!! All I can say is wow!! No number one seeds in the Final Four? Only one of the top 8 seeds, only 2 of the top 12 seeds have reached Indianapolis. And a number 11 seed joins the party? Wow!!
George Mason pulled off the upset over top seed (and number two in the nation) Connecticut 86-84 in overtime. They did it with style. They did it with substance. This was no mirage game, where the favorite plays simply so horribly that any decent team could have beaten them. So, exactly how did the Patriots do it. Let's have a look.
- Just say "no" to the fast break. UConn doesn't always run, but they like to run. George Mason stopped the fast break from developing by a) making shots - the Patriots shot 50% for the game, including 9-18 on three pointers, 14 for 25 in the second half (56%) and 5-6 (83%) in overtime. They did it by b) avoiding turnovers - only 11 for the game. They did it by c) hitting the offensive glass, with 13 for the game including grabbing six of their 11 missed shots in the second half and their only missed shot in OT. See the play-by-play review and box score.
- Knock down three pointers. This is the mid-majors simplest way to even the playing field, and the Patriots did it to perfection in the second half. They were 9-18 for the game, but that didn't tell the whole story. In the second half they drained six-of-seven after a much more normal 3-11 in the first half. That those threes in the second half fell with regularity allowed the Patriots to ...
- Get skilled post players the ball one-on-one. It's always great to have one go-to move that you can rely upon, and which the opposition cannot stop, one against one. For Jai Lewis it's the drop step; for Will Thomas it's the jump hook, lefty no less. Even against players 2, 3, 4 inches taller those moves can be effective, and for GMU they were very effective. If you can't stop these moves with one defender, then you need to bring more. But GMU was hitting threes, so you can't bring a perimeter defender off Lamar Butler. And the two big men pass very well, so big-to-big doubles are risky.
All of these enabled GMU to pull off a tremendous upset win over UConn, and they represent the first true "mid-major" entrant in the final four since Indiana State and Pennsylvania in 1979.
"We couldn't get a stop," UConn point guard Marcus Williams said. "We just couldn't. That's only the second time a team has shot 50 percent against us ... They beat us on the glass. They went after every loose ball. They made big shots."
Indeed.
I'm still scratching my head over the other game. Villanova shot poorly against Florida, and certainly some of it was good defense. But Villanova was even missing the open looks they got, as Mike Nardi did several times in the first half, and Allan Ray and Randy Foye did numerous other times. That 'Nova was within 3 points about 10 minutes into the second half was a miracle. But they needed a bigger miracle. Villanova was badly outplayed inside by Horford and Noah, though that was somewhat expected. Villanova has handled that adversity all year by outplaying their opponents on the perimeter, particulary from three point range. Not yesterday. In addition, they defended the perimeter poorly by allowing dribble penetration, gave up fast breaks, and seemed to lose their focus a little each time one of the cement blocks they threw up clanged hard off the rim.
So it's on to Indianapolis with Florida, LSU, UCLA and George Mason. Did anybody have that in their bracket when this started?
