Saturday, March 26, 2011

Men's Elite Eight Notes

Two teams were determined today for next week's NCAA Division I men's basketball Final Four, the University of Connecticut and Butler University. In UConn's 65-63 victory over Arizona, the teams traded big runs toward the end, as shown in the following diagram (which you can click on to enlarge):

Arizona trailed 50-41, before going on a 14-2 run, which advanced the Wildcats from 41 to 55 points and the Huskies only from 50 to 52 (play-by-play sheet). However, UConn immediately struck back with a 10-0 spurt, advancing themselves to 62 points while, of course, leaving U of A at 55. It was nip and tuck the rest of the way, with the Huskies pulling it out.

In today's other regional final to send a team to the Final Four, Butler topped Florida 74-71 in overtime. The Gators led 51-40 with 9:25 left in regulation, but the Bulldogs unleashed a quick 9-2 burst to pull within 53-49 at the 6:39 mark (play-by-play). From there, Butler continued to whittle away at Florida's lead, forcing overtime with regulation ending at 60-60.

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