East Regional Semi: 4 Xavier vs. 1 Pittsburgh
College Basketball March 26th. 2009, 5:00pm
Where and When: Boston, 7:27 pm
Announcers: Lundquist and Raftery
Kenpom says: Pittsburgh, 72-67.
Line: Pittsburgh -7
Matchup to watch: Sam Young of Pitt vs. Derrick Brown of Xavier. When DeJuan Blair and his wide caboose get in foul trouble, Young carries the team. Can Brown stop him?
History: It may come as a surprise to you, but here are Xavier’s last three trips in the tourney: 2008 – Lost to UCLA in Elite 8 … 2007 – Lost to second round in overtime to No. 1 seed Ohio State in a game after the Ron Lewis tied the game in regulation with less than five seconds left … 2006 – Led No. 3 seed Gonzaga and Adam Morrison for most of the second half before losing by four in the first round.
Choke City: Pittsburgh has not advanced to the Elite 8 since 1974.
Common opponent: Pittsburgh thumped Duquesne; Xavier lost to Duquesne.
Neat: Xavier coach Sean Miller played at Pittsburgh. Raftery will mention this at least three times tonight.
Impressive: Xavier has wins over Missouri, Memphis and LSU.
The guess: Pitt 68, Xavier 62. Of the four games tonight, this one simultaneously feels like it could be an upset, but also a very predictable Pitt win – close for 35 minutes, and then pull away late.
24 Responses to “East Regional Semi: 4 Xavier vs. 1 Pittsburgh”
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March 26th, 2009 at 5:04 PM
This game is all about Pitt. If the Pitt team that played last week comes tonight, X will beat them. Pitt was terrible on defense last week, and really only has 3 offensive options.
X has depth in the right places to give Pitt problems, especially the Panther team that showed up last weekend in Dayton.
Definitely like X to cover with a good shot to win.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:05 PM
Levance Fields is the worst point guard in the country. Xavier wins this game.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:06 PM
Xavier moneyline.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:08 PM
seriously Bo? best assist/turnover in the country.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:13 PM
Sir- Hes fucking wild and makes bad decisions in vital situations. Hes a fucking retard. He will lose this game for them.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:15 PM
/Fixed
March 26th, 2009 at 5:20 PM
Mullens is going pro.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:29 PM
The only time I’ve seen Xavier play was when Duke absolutely sodomized them. And considering Pitt has much more size and athleticism than Duke in the paint, I’ve got a feeling it could get out of hand. Here’s hoping.
You know what would be awesome, if all these fucking games were on TV
March 26th, 2009 at 5:30 PM
i thought you were kidding with the mullens story
sadly, not
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jh4d_F50kogLXgzXpe3t741ExBLgD975UQI80
forget OSU next year
and forget mullens in the nba
what a joke
i feel bad for whatever team takes him
March 26th, 2009 at 5:34 PM
I don’t. It’s not like somebody’s going to blow a lottery pick on him, and the NBA draft is such a crapshoot after like the first 7 picks anyway.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:35 PM
Turner is supposedly staying, they could make a sweet 16 run next year. Turner/Buford/Lighty is a pretty strong trio.
But yeah, it really is a joke. Doubt hes even a lottery pick at this point.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:36 PM
Don’t know what you mean..
/Direct TV’d
March 26th, 2009 at 5:38 PM
My cable company is giving us the March Madness package free for some reason. Unfortunately they didn’t promote this until Sunday. I got lucky and noticed it Saturday night.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:39 PM
cass – why wouldn’t he go in the lottery? he’s 7 feet tall. take him and stash him, like the kings (i think) did with Hawes. of course hawes had touch inside 15 feet, but that’s another story.
anthony randolph went in the lottery last yea.r
March 26th, 2009 at 5:40 PM
It was no secret that Mullens was going to the NBA, even though he is not ready. The rumors I have heard is that he can barely read and his parents are messed up and involved in drugs.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:45 PM
His parents can taste the pure white China already.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:47 PM
Yeah good point slc Ive heard some things too. Don’t really blame him for leaving, think another year wouldve been wise though.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:50 PM
7 feet doesn’t mean much any more if there’s not a lot of talent and upside to go with it.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:55 PM
Potential!!!!! The drafts worst enemy.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:10 PM
Exhibit A: Brian Zoubeck
/I loves me some Zoubs
March 26th, 2009 at 6:18 PM
TG – was zubek the No. 1 HS recruit in the class of 2008? mullens has always been light years ahead of zoubek.
as someone else said, the nba loves ‘upside’ … which is why mullens is definitely a 1st rounder. i dont think much for his talent, and i pity the team that takes him.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:23 PM
I was just pointing out that 7 feet doesn’t mean anything nowadays.
Hell, in highschool we had a 6′11″ german exchange student on my team that didn’t even get any scholarship offers because he was so uncoordinated.
Anyways, nbadraft.net has him going 17th in their latest mock draft…could move up if some people ahead of him decide to stay in school, but I have a feeling he’ll slide because he really looked terrible this year.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:25 PM
Where would he have gone last year you think? Gotta believe it was higher than he will go now.
March 26th, 2009 at 10:21 PM
My local CBS affiliate is splitting the games between the regular channel and the MyTV channel, so I’m getting all the games.