MIDWEST:
(5) Butler 57, (12) Old Dominion 46: Butler defeated ODU 57-46 and A.J. Graves led the way with 18 points. Four players scored in double figures for ODU, but none of them scored more than 11 and that was the extend of their offense. Butler shot almost 10% better from the field and Butler made 9-24 from the 3 point line. DTN Pick: Butler.
(4) Maryland 82, (13) Davidson 70: Maryland beat Davidson, 82-70, but the Terrapins struggled with Davidson most of the game. Stephen Curry (remember, his dad's Dell) scored 30 for the Wildcats. The Terrapins were led by Mike Jones (17 pts), but it was the balanced scoring of Maryland that won the day as 6 players scored in double figures. Also, Davidson shot .343 from the floor for the game and .278 from 3-point range. DTN Pick: Maryland.
WEST:
(6) Duke 77, (11) VCU 79: What joy! Duke lost in the 1st round of an NCAA game, losing to 11th seed Virginia Commonwealth. I find it utterly amazing that this actually happened. State of the game, Duke had 17 turnovers, Paulus had 6 of them and Nelson had5. That will lose you some games and VCU's 11 turnovers will win you some games. DTN Pick: Duke.
(3) Pittsburgh 79, (14) Wright State 58: The Panthers were just too much for the Raiders. Pitt shot 54.5% from the field and 47.6% from the 3-point line and 5 players scored in double figures. Wright St. was out rebounded by 17 and shot only 33.3% from the field. DTN Pick: Pittsburgh.
(7) Indiana 70, (10) Gonzaga 57: I really thought the Zags would have a better chance here, they appeared to have a deeper frontline, but that just wasn't the case. Rodrick Wilmont had 22 points and made 6-11 of 3-pointers. Forward D.J. White had 16 pts and 10 boards. Gonzaga was just outmatched in the front court as the Hoosiers outrebounded the Zags 40-27. DTN Pick: Gonzaga.
(2) UCLA 70, (15) Weber State 42: UCLA dominated this game. UCLA had 18 assists and only 11 turnovers while Weber State had 8 assists and 17 turnovers. Afflalo led the way for the Bruins and Collison was incredibly efficient with 14 points and 8 assists. Check out Bruins Nation, a UCLA Bruins blog. DTN Pick: UCLA.
EAST:
(1) North Carolina 86, (16) Eastern Kentucky 65: The Tar Heels simply out-manned E. Kentucky. Hansbrough had 21 and Terry had 18. NC shot an astounding 64.9% fromt he field. Check out Carolina March, a North Carolina Tarheels blog. DTN Pick: North Carolina.
(8) Marquette 49, (9) Michigan State 61: I couldn't have been more wrong on this game, I thought Marquette's guards would dominate, but there just wasn't much help behind James and Matthews. MSU's defense was outstanding and the Spartans shot 53.7% from the field. Nietzel and Gray had 12 and Morgan had 14. DTN Pick: Marquette.
(6) Vanderbilt 77, (11) George Washington 44: GW was horrible from the field, shooting only 27%. Only one player shot better than 50% (King) and no one scored in double figures. Vandy was led by Shan Foster 18 points and 4 three pointers. DTN Pick: Vanderbilt.
(3) Washington State 70, (14) Oral Roberts 54: I was very, very wrong here. Balanced scoring and not turning the ball over, only 6 TOs, were the keys to the Cougars success. ORU's Caleb Green only managed 13 points off of 4-16 from the field. DTN Pick: Oral Roberts.
(7) Boston College 84, (10) Texas Tech 75: Double T Nation Review. DTN Pick: Texas Tech.
(2) Georgetown 80, (15) Belmont 55: Georgetown dominated Belmont, which was expected. The Hoyas shot 54.7% from the field. Hoya big man Roy Hibbert had 10 points and 13 boards, but was led by Sapp with 20 pts. No Hoya played more than 33 minutes and they should be well rested. DTN Pick: Georgetown.
SOUTH:
(1) Ohio State 78, (16) Central Connecticut State 57: There's not too much to look at here. Oden had 19 pts and 19 boards and Jamar Butler hit 5-6 from beyond the arc. CCS managed only 17 points in the first half and apparently were completely overwhelmed. Check out Around the Oval, a Ohio State Buckeyes blog. DTN Pick: Ohio State.
(8) BYU 77, (9) Xavier 79: Xavier slipped past BYU and it was former OU guard Drew Lavender who led the way. Lavender finished with 17 points and Justin Doellman led the way with 23. BYU was led by Keena Young with 24 and Mike Rose with 15. This was a close game throughout, the biggest disparity being the difference in free throws, Xavier (23-29) and BYU (10-13. Check out Provo Pride, a BYU Panther blog. DTN Pick: Xavier.
(6) Louisville 78, (11) Stanford 58: Louisville jumped out to an early lead behind some outstanding pressure defense. The Cardinals may not be a #6 seed Stanford's size was irrelevant as Padgett and Sosa had 16 a piece. Stanford managed only 20 points in the 1st half and Brook Lopez had 18 for the Cardinal. Check out Card Chronicle, a Louisville Cardinals blog. DTN Pick: Louisville.
(3) Texas A&M 68, (14) Penn 52: The Aggies had a little bit of a scare against Penn. Jones was big for the Ags, scoring 14 and grabbed 11 boards while Law had 20 points. Kirk played surprisingly well and had 16. Zoller for the Penns was as advertised and had 19 points and 7 boards. Texas A&M out rebounded Penn 34 to 23. Check out The 12th Man Child, a Texas A&M Aggies blog. DTN Pick: Texas A&M.