FanNation

Deitsch: Looking toward Rutgers-UConn

Writer: Richard Deitsch
Game: Connecticut-Old Dominion
Post time: 3:57 p.m., Sunday

GREENSBORO -- The end of the Rutgers-George Washington game can't come soon enough because today has been interminable. Greensboro Coliseum is half-empty and the upper tier is covered by black curtains. Black is an appropriate color. It's rainy outside and the atmosphere reminds me of a Knicks game. Rutgers leads George Washington 42-32 with 9:22 left in the second half and UConn beat Old Dominion 78-63 in the first game.

Mandel: Nobody quite like Curry

Writer: Stewart Mandel
Game: Davidson-Kansas
Post time: 3:20 p.m., Sunday 

DETROIT -- During the off day between games here Saturday, a fellow writer and I tried to come up with a recent college player one could compare to Davidson star Stephen Curry. We couldn't.

What Curry has accomplished the past three games -- averaging 34.3 points, highest in the tourney (minimum three games) since Loyola Marymount's Bo Kimble in 1990 -- would be remarkable for anyone, nevertheless a diminutive, 6-foot-3 shooting guard.

McGarr: Collison stays out of foul trouble

Writer: Elizabeth McGarr
Game: Xavier-UCLA
Post time: 11:07 p.m., Saturday 

PHOENIX -- Darren Collison admitted he had to play smarter after he fouled out of UCLA's Sweet 16 game against Western Kentucky with 5:39 left to play. "That was the first time I've been fouled out -- ever," Collison said Friday. "It was a weird feeling. It was like I got benched real early in the game."

Saturday's 76-57 win over Xavier was a different story. Collison played 37 minutes, committed one foul, and tied with teammate Kevin Love for a game-high 19 points.

Staples: Louisville not completely out of it

Writer: Andy Staples
Game: Louisville-North Carolina
Post time: 10:07 p.m., Saturday

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- If you're only glancing at the score, North Carolina's 44-32 halftime lead might make it seem as if the Tar Heels are crushing Louisville. That isn't the case.

Against any other team in the country -- with the possible exception of Memphis during Friday's first half -- Louisville would be much closer. North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson's speed makes trapping him in the backcourt nearly impossible but the Cardinals kept trying for much of the half. As a result, the Tar Heels scored 12 fast break points. Perhaps the best indicator of just how good this North Carolina team is: Louisville shot 52 percent in the first half and is still down by a dozen.

Staples: A well-schooled fan base

Writer: Andy Staples
Game: Louisville-North Carolina
Post time: Saturday, 9:48 p.m.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- One of the lovelier aspects of a Louisville-North Carolina matchup is the hoops savvy of just about everyone in the building. As someone who has covered the SEC -- where the non-Kentucky fans typically can't come up with anything more creative than "You suck!" -- for the past four years, it's awfully refreshing.

For example, when Louisville guard Terrence Williams tattooed a Wayne Ellington floater with a "Don't bring that weak mess up in here" swat, the North Carolina cheerleader sitting on the far left in the front row on the baseline raised her left index and middle fingers and quickly thrust her hand down. That's right, at Louisville-North Carolina, even the cheerleaders know the sign for goaltending.