Player of the Round: The Pittsburgh Panthers survived yet another scare in the second round, defeating Oklahoma State 84-76. Senior Sam Young put the Panthers on his back, scoring 32 points and pulling down 8 rebounds. Young played all 40 minutes of the game and did not record a single foul.
Best Team Performance: Villanova left no doubt against UCLA, starting fast out of the gates with a 19-2 run en route to a dominating 89-69 victory. The Wildcats received good scoring production from just about everyone, as six of their players finished the game in double digits, including Dante Cunningham, who led the team with 18. They outperformed UCLA in every aspect of the game, winning the rebound battle 39 to 26, and the turnover battle 11 to 20.
Looking Ahead: The top four seeds have all arrived at the sweet sixteen, and the first game features Pittsburgh and Xavier. Xavier had some impressive wins early in the season, and they have good height, but they lack solid guard play needed to beat Pittsburgh. And that's the least of their troubles, because Pitt's two leading scorers are its big men.
Duke takes on Villanova in a matchup of teams capable of lighting up the scoreboard. Villanova enters the game averaging 77 points on the season, and the Wildcats have eclipsed the 80 point mark in 8 of their last 14 games. How will Villanova come out after narrowly escaping against American and then blowing out UCLA? Duke has only reached one elite eight in the last seven seasons, but history may also benefit them. Duke's only tournament loss to Villanova came in 1955, and the the Blue Devils have beaten the Wildcats in their last two tournament contests.
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