NCAA BK PREVIEWS Thursday, Mar 17

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Preview: Panthers (22-12) at Longhorns (20-12)
Date: March 18, 2016 9:50 PM EDT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) For years, Shaka Smart could play the underdog card as Virginia Commonwealth's coach.

Smart's mid-major program beat the big boys all the way to the 2011 Final Four, and his VCU squads won two NCAA Tournament games in 2012 and 2013.

Now, he's in his first year at Big 12 member Texas. And for the first time, Smart leads the Goliath from the Power Five conference against the mid-major in March. Texas (20-12), seeded sixth in the West Region, plays No. 11 seed Northern Iowa (22-12) Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Northern Iowa won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

'Hopefully, our guys understand Northern Iowa's a dangerous team,' Smart said. 'You look at them, they've won 12 out of the last 13 games. They're defending at an extremely high level and they can shoot at every spot. So hopefully, if you really look closely, you realize it's not about what league the team came from, it's about what they do on the court.'

One of the best matchups will be between the guards. Texas' Isaiah Taylor and Javan Felix will try to slow down Northern Iowa's Wes Washpun.

Washpun averaged 16.3 points in the MVC conference tournament and hit the game-winner against Evansville that put the Panthers into the NCAA Tournament.

'So far, we know he's an athletic point guard,' Taylor said. 'He drives a lot. He's a strong, left-handed driver, and he can also pull up for the jumper. We know that he's a good player.'

Taylor averages 14.8 points and 4.9 assists. His assist-to-turnover ratio is 2.7 to 1. Felix averages 10.6 points and 2.2 assists.

'Extremely talented offensive players,' Washpun said. 'They get pretty much wherever they want on the court, from what I've seen so far from watching film.'

Here are five things to watch as Texas and Northern Iowa meet for the first time:

RIDLEY'S STATUS: Cameron Ridley, Texas' 6-foot-10 center, missed much of the season with a broken foot, then played two minutes in the conference tournament loss to Baylor after having not played since Dec. 19. He averages 11.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.

'I go by what the athletic trainer and doctor says,' Smart said. 'So I'm not guaranteeing he'll play that much. It's based on two things: his availability and how the game is going.'

SIMILAR WINS: Both teams have victories over North Carolina and Iowa State. Texas beat North Carolina 84-82 on Dec. 12. Northern Iowa beat the Tar Heels on Nov. 21 when they were ranked No. 1.

ON THE RISE: Northern Iowa was 10-11 after losing to Illinois State on Jan. 23. Since then, the Panthers are 12-1 and haven't allowed more than 69 points in a game. Texas has five wins over ranked teams since the start of the new year.

TEMPO CONTROL: Texas prefers a bit quicker pace than Northern Iowa and takes 5.6 shots per game more than the Panthers. Northern Iowa is more efficient and averages just 9.8 turnovers per game.

HISTORY: Texas has reached the Sweet 16 five times in the past 14 years, but not since 2008. Northern Iowa beat UNLV and Kansas in the 2010 tournament in Oklahoma City for its only trip to the Sweet 16. The Panthers beat Wyoming in last year's tournament.

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Preview: Bearcats (22-10) at Hawks (27-7)
Date: March 18, 2016 9:57 PM EDT

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) Cincinnati will take the floor Friday for the first time since losing a four-overtime thriller to UConn in the American Athletic Conference quarterfinals, and guard Troy Caupain said the Bearcats have recovered from the loss.

'It was tough, but we got a lot of encouragement,' Caupain said Thursday.

'It was not a loss where we keep our heads down,' said Caupain, who scored a career-high 37 points in that game. 'That game is going down in history.'

Ninth-seeded Cincinnati (22-10) takes on eighth-seeded Saint Joseph's (27-7) Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Saint Joseph's won the Atlantic 10 Tournament title to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the 21st time and second time in three years.

Cincinnati ranks among the top teams in the nation in defense, allowing 62.9 points per game, and averaging five blocks per game. Opponents are shooting only 39 percent against them.

Coach Mick Cronin said the Bearcats have to rely on defense because they are not the type of program that draws the most athletic recruits.

'When you have to overachieve, you have to do it with defense,' Cronin said. 'We can't just rely on talent to win.'

The Bearcats will be able to rely on forward Gary Clark, who said he is fully recovered from an ankle injury.

Saint Joseph's is led by forward Isaiah Miles, who averaged 18 points and 8 rebounds and was the league's most improved player. Forward DeAndre Bembry, the A-10 player of the year, averaged 17 points, seven rebounds and more than four assists.

Coach Phil Martelli believes Miles is one of the most improved players in the country, after losing weight in the off-season.

'He led the country in foul outs last year,' Martelli said.

This year, 'his basketball I.Q. is at the next level, where he'll eventually end up,' Martelli said. Miles is a potent symbol for the improvement of the Hawks, who were just 13-18 in 2015, Martelli said.

Their 27-7 record is the second-best in program history, behind the 2004 squad that went 30-2 and reached the Elite Eight.

But Cincinnati presents a stifling defense and a size problem, Martelli said.

Cronin said he is hoping his Cincinnati team will get hot.

'Somebody is going to have to ride the hot hands of a few players' to win in the tournament, Cronin said. 'I want to be known as coach of the team that makes a lot of shots.'

Miles said Saint Joseph's will look for mismatches, and must play aggressive.

Things to watch in the Saint Joseph's-Cincinnati game:

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THE SERIES: Cincinnati leads 3-1, but Saint Joseph's won the last meeting in 1969. In three of the games, the winner scored at least 100 points.

BEARCATS IN THE DANCE: Cincinnati is making its sixth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 30th overall. They have a 44-28 record and won national titles in 1961 and 1962. They played in Spokane in the 2014 tournament, losing to Harvard in the first round. 'We will try to stay a little longer this time,' Cronin said.

HAWKS IN THE DANCE: Saint Joseph's has appeared in 20 previous NCAA Tournaments and are 18-24 in those games.

DOUBLE DOUBLES: The Bearcats have recorded 17 double doubles this season, most in the decade Mick Cronin has been coach. Gary Clark led with eight.

DOUBLE FIGURES: Four Bearcats - Caupain, Farad Cobb, Clark and Octavius Ellis - score in double figures.

NICKNAME: Saint Joseph's forward PierFrancesco Oliva is known as Checco.

SPOKANE AGAIN: The Hawks' last trip to Spokane was in 2014, when they fell behind 60-11 early in the second half against Gonzaga on the way to a 94-42 loss that was the worst in program history. 'We get the cold shivers when we think of Spokane,' Martelli said.

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Saturday's Match Ups
Up Later......Good Luck !!

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Preview: Shockers (26-8) at Hurricanes (26-7)
Date: March 19, 2016 12:10 PM EDT

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) All it took was a First Four game to validate Wichita State's selection into the NCAA Tournament field, as if it needed any validation.

Now, after statement victories over Vanderbilt and Arizona, there seem to be no limits for these Shockers.

As always.

'I think our body of work and the type of team we are, we felt good about ourselves in terms of getting in,' Wichita State point guard Fred VanVleet said Friday. 'It's just a matter of who, what, where, when, why, that type of question.'

Next up is a second-round game against Miami (26-7), the third seed in the South, on Saturday. The Hurricanes held off a game Buffalo team in the first round and the Shockers (26-8) smothered sixth seed Arizona 65-55 two days after humbling Vandy 70-50 in Dayton, Ohio.

Much of the focus will center on the performance of the veteran backcourts - VanVleet and Ron Baker against Angel Rodriguez and Sheldon McClellan. The Miami duo is a tad older, the Shockers have more tournament experience with five straight tournament appearances and a 9-3 record.

'They're both fifth-year guys, and they've got 10 years' experience - we've got nine - so that's rare,' Shockers coach Gregg Marshall said. 'But it'll be a big key to the game. Maybe one team out-guards, out-performs the other. Maybe they neutralize each other and it becomes a battle of who has the most productive front court. It'll be an interesting battle.'

Rodriguez averages 12.1 points, has 145 assists with 78 turnovers, 52 steals and is 50 of 156 (32.1 percent) on 3-pointers; VanVleet averages 12.2 points, has 167 assists with 50 turnovers, 51 steals, and is 42 of 107 (39.3 percent) from long range.

'They're both very highly competitive,' Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. 'They both are terrific floor generals. They both can shoot the three and distribute the ball. They really keep their team organized. But maybe the most important thing they do is they're both tremendous defensively on the ball. So guarding each other is going to be a real challenge for both of them.'

Another challenge the Shockers have faced is that itinerary. Ohio on Tuesday night (the game against Vandy didn't end until nearly midnight), Providence on Wednesday, late game Thursday, and first game Saturday - just after noon.

'We've been sleeping during the day and then doing things at night, traveling, red eyes. It's been odd. It really has,' Marshall said after pausing when asked what day it was. 'But at this point, you're running on adrenaline. It has been just a very grueling, very taxing several days, but it's been fun all the same.'

Other things to know when Miami meets Wichita State in the round of 32:

DEFENSIVE PROWESS: The Shockers led Arizona by as many as 24 in the second half and their defense was impeccable. Wildcats stars Ryan Anderson and Allonzo Trier combined during the season to average nearly 12 trips to the free throw line per game. Against Wichita State, their combined totals were 0 for 0. Even more impressive: Arizona, which averaged 81.2 points, had 20 baskets and 19 turnovers.

'That's hard to do to any basketball team, but especially a team the quality of Arizona, the quality of athletes, the quality of coaching,' Marshall said. 'But we've been able to do that this year. That's been a trademark of our team.'

HOW ABOUT SOME RESPECT: Miami is the third seed, but it's a 2.5-point underdog to Wichita State. Like the Shockers, the Hurricanes are accustomed to being snubbed. That one-point loss to Northeastern in late November certainly didn't help.

'I think throughout the year, we've been in a way disrespected,' Rodriguez said. 'I feel like, to a lot of people, we haven't done enough to prove ourselves. But at the end of the day, we don't play to prove other people wrong. We play to prove ourselves right, because we know we belong here. This is March, and you see all the brackets getting busted and everything.'

Marshall had a simple explanation: 'We're a 1 seed, but we've got two 1s.'

PAYBACK TIME?: Larranaga took George Mason to the Final Four a decade ago when he was the Patriots coach, and he had to go through Wichita State (63-55) in the Sweet 16 in Washington, D.C. That was a home game of sorts, a short drive from the George Mason campus, and a year before Marshall left Winthrop to take over at Wichita State. But he remembers the game well. 'Hopefully, we can return the favor,' he said.

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Preview: Bulldogs (23-6) at Blue Devils (24-10)
Date: March 19, 2016 2:40 PM EDT

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) At Duke, success in in the NCAA Tournament has become the expectation.

The Blue Devils not only have a Hall of Fame coach in Mike Krzyzewski, but five championship banners he's brought during his 36 years at an academic school that was largely an afterthought on the hardwood before his arrival.

It's why the defending champion and West Region fourth seed Duke (24-10) enters its second-round matchup against 12th-seeded Yale (23-6) Saturday with so much respect for a program that's understandably giddy in the aftermath of its first-ever tournament win.

While Duke certainly has an earned national reputation, with only one player that started in last year's national championship game still on the roster, this is the first taste of March Madness for most of the current Blue Devils. It has created a mutual respect between the schools.

'We've talked about the competition in the Ivy Leagues and how many good teams there are, how many good players,' Krzyzewski said. 'The level of talent in the Ivy League has risen, I think, in the last five or six years, and it's shown with what Harvard has done, Princeton, Yale, obviously.

'Yale is older. They're not just good, but they're good together.'

Coach James Jones is in his 17th season at Yale and led the Bulldogs to their first tournament berth since 1962.

It's been a journey that he said has roots in his childhood when he spent weekends and summers alongside his 76-year-old father, Herman, who works as a presser at a dry cleaner.

'He's had this great belief in himself, and that's kind of worn off on me,' Jones said. '(Working as a presser) it's kind of the hardest work that you'll ever do...It gave me life lessons every day.

'He don't believe in second place, my dad. He would talk about how he's the best presser in the world. `I'm the best. Look at this, I'm the best, I'm the best, I'm the best.' So he kind of wore that into my head as a kid, that you always want to be the best at whatever you do.'

It's a lesson he hopes he's passed along to a Bulldogs' team trying to become the first Ivy League school since Cornell in 2010 to reach the Sweet 16.

The Bulldogs lost at Duke 80-61 in late November, but senior Justin Sears said they are looking forward to getting another shot at the Blue Devils on a neutral floor. A huge Yale contingent was at the Dunkin' Donuts Center for its upset of Baylor, and another big crowd is expected Saturday.

'It's March, and anything can happen,' Sears said. 'It doesn't matter what you did in the past. It's one game right now, and every team is focused. It's a neutral court...and we're hungry. This could be my last game, I don't know, so I'm going to play like it is my last game. So everyone has a big sense of urgency.'

Here are some things to watch for in Saturday's game.

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ALL ABOUT REBOUNDING

While the Bulldogs don't have a starter over 6-foot-8, they managed to outrebound a bigger Baylor front court in their first-round win. Coach Jones said the first drill they do in every practice is a rebounding drill. Yale outrebounds opponents on average by 10.8 per game. 'It's part of our DNA,' Jones said. 'If you were to interview any one of my guys and you asked them what is our principle on our team, they're going to tell you that we really play hard defensively, we rebound the ball, and we share it.'

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GUARD PLAY

Both Yale's Makai Mason and Duke's Grayson Allen should be pivotal in Saturday's matchup. Mason is coming off a career-high 31 points and 11 for 11 shooting performance at the free-throw line against Baylor. Allen is averaging 21.6 points per game and has scored at least 20 points in 18 games this season.

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PACE AND SPACE

The Blue Devils and Bulldogs have scored at a high rate this season, averaging 81.8 and 75.3 points per game, respectively. Coach K said he isn't expecting that to change in their second matchup. 'Yale will play any pace because they're that good. We're not going to slow them down, and I'm not sure that they will slow us down,' he said. 'It could be a high-scoring game because they score well, and so do we.'

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Preview: Hoosiers (26-7) at Wildcats (27-8)
Date: March 19, 2016 5:15 PM EDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) It seems like a matchup as juicy as Kentucky-Indiana should come in the Sweet 16 at the earliest.

Instead, fans will get the much-anticipated renewal of the rivalry in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 57th meeting between the fourth-seeded Wildcats and the Hoosiers on Saturday promises to be a good one, too.

Kentucky (27-8) and Indiana (26-7) - ranked 10th and 14th respectively in the final poll of the season - haven't played each other since 2012. The hiatus came following a raucous court storming in Bloomington and a dispute over whether to play at neutral sites or on campus.

After dominant first-round wins, the Wildcats and Hoosiers need to go through each other yet again to reach the East Region semifinals.

'I wish we weren't playing them (Saturday). I wish it was later down the road. But it is what it is,' Indiana coach Tom Crean said.

The game pits two of the nation's best point guards in Kentucky sophomore Tyler Ulis and Indiana senior Yogi Ferrell. Ulis was among five Wildcats in double figures with 10 points, adding a team-high seven assists as the Wildcats rolled to an 85-57 win over Stony Brook.

'Tyler is dragging us across the finish line. He's our leader. Our floor general. Our coach on the court,' Wildcats guard Isaiah Briscoe said.

Ferrell was brilliant in a 99-74 thrashing of 12th-seeded Chattanooga in the opening round, notching his first double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 assists.

'They both play extremely hard, extremely smart. (They) know how to create fouls, know how to turn down pick and rolls, know when to speed up their team and when to say, `Hold up, guys, let's play basketball here,'' Kentucky coach John Calipari said in comparing Ferrell and Ulis.

Here are some other things to know for one of the most anticipated matchups of the tournament's first week:

LENGTH VS. STRENGTH

Indiana's free-flowing offense will face a major challenge in Kentucky's ability to stifle opponents with its length and athleticism. Indiana's ball movement, spacing and shot-making were on full display against the Mocs, as the Hoosiers shot 65 percent, hit 10 3-pointers and had nearly twice as many assists as turnovers. But the Wildcats set an NCAA Tournament single-game record with 15 blocks against Stony Brook, which missed 24 of its first 27 shots.

'You've got to move the ball, wear them down a little bit. Try and get those bigs out, penetrate the ball into the lane, kick it out and just find a way. You especially can't go in there and drive in on those bigs,' Ferrell said.

SERIES SHUFFLE

Neither Crean nor Calipari said that the excitement surrounding Saturday's matchup would likely change the status of their once-annual matchup. The sticking point appears to be Calipari's desire to make it a neutral site series.

'When (former Indiana) coach (Bob) Knight was there, it was always a neutral game and that's all I proposed,' Calipari said. 'I even said `Let's play it in Indianapolis every year, play it in the football stadium. We will get 75 or 80,000 people there and it will be a crazy game.' I understand they need home games and that's what they want.'

Crean said he would like to see the schools find a way to play each other regularly, but he didn't sound very optimistic that would happen.

'I don't think anybody has ever closed the door on the series and certainly it's not open right now with anything that makes a lot of sense. But hopefully someday it will,' Crean said.

NOT OVER IT

Crean and Calipari last faced off in the Sweet 16 in 2012 when Kentucky beat Indiana 102-90, a game that still haunts Crean.

'I didn't envision us missing seven layups in that game and two dunks,' Crean said. 'I still look at that one and I see the misses more than I see the 92 points that we scored.'

STAR POWER

Jamal Murray, Kentucky's leading scorer, scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half and added seven rebounds and a pair of blocks in the win over Stony Brook. Isaiah Briscoe was just as effective, with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

'They're fast and athletic and we have to get back in transition and take out their half court sets,' Indiana's Nick Zeisloft said.

HE SAID IT

'Bob Knight, he was the guy that threw the chair, right? That's about all I can associate with him. I don't know. I never really watched a lot of basketball growing up.' -Kentucky forward Derek Willis when asked what his impression of Indiana was. Willis was born in 1995, a decade after Knight famously tossed a chair during a home loss to Purdue.

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Preview: Trojans (30-4) at Cyclones (22-11)
Date: March 19, 2016 6:10 PM EDT

DENVER (AP) Anyone associated with Iowa State's men's basketball team has Philadelphia 76ers big man Nerlens Noel to thank for helping turn around the Cyclones' program.

OK, the shot-blocker went to Kentucky and never attended any classes in Ames - unlike the man who had to guard him every day at practice for two years in high school and two summers of AAU ball.

'I just think it helped me learn different ways to get my shots off, use angles just to get around the defender's hand and to do a good job of using my body,' said senior forward Georges Niang, who has Iowa State a win over scrappy Arkansas-Little Rock from its second Sweet 16 appearance in three years.

'The way I play, it goes to how I played against him every day when I went to high school with him. He has a long, athletic frame and has a quick jumper. So, I think finding a way to use my body was really crucial to finishing at this level,' said Niang, Iowa State's only two-time All-American whose name is pronounced knee-ANG.

At 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds, Niang could be called a tad undersized for a power forward and backup center. His terrific ball-handling skills and shooting touch make him a matchup nightmare for just about everyone who faces him, including the 12th-seeded Trojans (30-4), who play the Cyclones on Saturday.

'He's probably a top-5 player in the country right now. It's going to be a tough matchup for me and for our whole team,' said power forward Lis Shoshi. 'But players like that you've got to stop them as a team. You cannot go 1-on-1 with them because they're really good.'

Niang is the only player in the country averaging 20 points and 6 boards while shooting 50 percent from the field and 80 percent from the line. And he's the only current collegian who's collected 2,000 points, 700 rebounds and 400 assists in his career.

His stellar game has helped put the fourth-seeded Cyclones (22-11) back on the NCAA map.

'Georges is a basketball fanatic,' said teammate Nazareth Mitrou-Long. 'He's not one of those guys that just goes to the gym. He wakes up, watches film, stretches, watches more film, watches the game before, gets some light shots, warms up, then gets in some workouts. He doesn't take this as a joke. It's not a joke. It's everything. It's his life.'

That work ethic rubs off on his teammates, too.

'No question. To be in the huddle and to say things and for people to not say things while you're speaking, you have to have respect from others. And he has that because he leads by example,' Mitrou-Long said.

Other things to know about this matchup:

DIALED IN: Trojans coach Chris Beard is trying to keep his players in the moment. Beating the Boilermakers was yesterday's news. Hanging the Sun Belt Conference championship banner is tomorrow's fun.

'At our banquet this year we'll probably have steak and lobster, not grilled chicken because it's been an unbelievable year,' Beard said. 'There's a lot of things in the past and future, but right now is the precious present.

'Right now is an opportunity to advance to the Sweet 16, right now is an opportunity to live to play another day.'

ROLE REVERSAL: Cyclones first-year coach Steve Prohm came from Murray State, so he knows all about how mid-majors are on a roll in March. They've won their conference tourney to get here and didn't rely on an at-large bid. And they're the ones playing without the weight of expectations.

He's trying to use that knowledge as he manages the minefields of the favorites.

'Both teams will be crushed if they lose, but the mid-major, you're going out there, you're just throwing all your punches. Whatever happens, you know, happens,' Prohm said. 'Obviously at this level you're expected to win. You'll be beyond crushed if you didn't get there and you didn't max out.'

HAGINS HERO: Little Rock's Josh Hagins, who scored 29 of his 31 points after halftime in leading the Trojans past Purdue in double overtime, appreciates the attention but he's not getting caught up in it.

'We're on a mission right now,' Hagins said. 'It was really important for us to wake up this morning just really focused on Iowa State. Everything that happened yesterday, we appreciated it, it was a good team win. Everybody stepped up. But we're already on to the next one.'

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Preview: Bulldogs (22-10) at Cavaliers (27-7)
Date: March 19, 2016 7:10 PM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) The Cavaliers want Virginia coach Tony Bennett to keep himself hydrated.

Butler wants to make him sweat.

The top-seeded Cavaliers (27-7) expect a challenge from ninth-seeded Bulldogs (22-10) on Saturday night in the second round of the Midwest Regional.

'You realize you're more aware that you've got to play at a high level,' Bennett said. 'I think our guys have a belief (that) if we play well, we'll have a chance to advance. They truly understand if we don't, we won't.'

For the Cavaliers, a win will send them to their ninth Sweet 16 and their second in three years.

It also will move the accomplished senior class - led by Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year Malcolm Brogdon and Anthony Gill - to the brink of becoming the most accomplished class in school history.

They made it look easy against No. 16 seed Hampton, rolling to an 81-45 victory in which the only drama came when Bennett collapsed on the court and later blamed it on dehydration, dizziness and feeling ill earlier in the week.

He left the court with a few seconds remaining in the first half, but was back for the final 20 minutes and says his mother was worried about him while he shared a laugh about it over the phone with his father, longtime coach Dick Bennett.

'I've been his assistant and I've seen him jump up quick and have to put his hand on the floor and almost pass out,' he said. 'We were kind of chuckling about that.'

His team is bracing for a battle with Butler.

After beating Texas Tech in the first round, the Bulldogs have won at least one game in nine of their last 10 NCAA Tournaments. And they've taken down No. 1 seeds twice since 2010, when they made the first of two straight national championship game appearances that put the program on the map.

'I wouldn't say that created expectations, but it kind of helps us out because everybody knows who Butler is now,' Roosevelt Jones said. 'Before, when Butler was in the tournament, everybody would be like, `Who's Butler?''

Both teams have shown their shooting touch from 3-point range. Virginia ranks ninth in Division I by making 40.9 percent of their long-range attempts while Butler is 16th at 39.1 percent.

The Cavaliers hit 12 3s in the Hampton win - their most since they made 13 against Long Beach State in November - while the Bulldogs were 5 of 7 from 3-point range in the second half of the Texas Tech win, with Kelan Martin knocking down a pair of critical 3s.

'We know they're an excellent 3-point shooting team but at the same time we're an excellent defensive team,' Brogdon said. 'So the challenge is going to be making all their 3s contested. ... We don't want the 3-ball to be able to carry them throughout the game.'

And what happens when those shots don't fall might be even more important: Virginia - with its deliberate, slow-paced style - ranks 61st nationally in rebounding margin at plus-3.6. Butler is two spots behind at plus-3.5.

'It's going to come down to the little things,' Butler guard Kellen Dunham said. 'Most importantly, I think just getting them off the glass, getting back on defense and making everything just hard, making them shoot over us is going to be the main key.'

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Some things to know about the Butler-Virginia matchup:

ANALYTICS: Virginia enters as the nation's No. 1 team in Ken Pomeroy's advanced stat rankings while Butler is 37th. The biggest difference is in defensive efficiency, where the Cavaliers rank fourth in the nation while the Bulldogs are just 117th.

LEWIS VS. VIRGINIA: Butler guard Tyler Lewis faced Virginia three times in 2013 and '14 when he was at North Carolina State. He played at least 15 minutes in each game but never scored more than four points against them.

COMMON OPPONENTS: Both Butler and Virginia played Miami and Villanova. The Cavaliers went 2-1 against the Hurricanes and beat the Wildcats. Butler went 0-3 against those two teams, losing twice to Villanova and once to Miami.

AT HOME IN RALEIGH: Gill has been tough to stop in NCAA Tournament games at PNC Arena. The native of High Point - about a 90-minute drive west of Raleigh - averages 16.3 points in three career postseason games here and scored 19 in the Hampton win.

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Preview: Huskies (25-10) at Jayhawks (31-4)
Date: March 19, 2016 7:45 PM EDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Perry Ellis has a sage look about him, with calm eyes, a trim beard and a receding hairline that actually suggest he's in his 30s like the internet jokesters contend.

No, he didn't play at Kansas with Wilt Chamberlain or Danny Manning, just Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins.

Yes, these fine four years for Ellis are finally nearing an end. He's naturally been playing like he doesn't want this seemingly infinite college career to end.

'Definitely, it's a drive in my game,' said Ellis, who has put up 20 or more points in five of the last six games. 'Just knowing this is my last go-round, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to try to win.'

The Jayhawks (31-4) have only reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament once with Ellis, a trip to the regional semifinals his freshman season. They were sent home in the round of 32 each of the last two years, but Ellis has been peaking at the right time for a team that brought into the field a bounty of talent as well as the pressure of the No. 1 overall seed.

Kansas coach Bill Self called Ellis as consistent of a player he's had in 13 seasons there.

'He's a rock. He's a guy that we look to score when we're struggling,' Self said. 'He certainly plays a much bigger role than what I think a lot of people give him credit for nationally.'

The Jayhawks will play No. 9 seed Connecticut in a second-round South Region game on Saturday. As much as the trio of Devonte' Graham, Frank Mason III and Wayne Selden Jr. hog the highlights and get this team going, Ellis will be a significant part of the scouting report for the Huskies (25-10).

'Every three levels he can score at,' UConn coach Kevin Ollie said.

Ellis, the once-heralded recruit from Wichita who stayed in his home state, probably needed the full stay to better develop into an NBA prospect unlike the steady stream of one-and-done star players who pop in and out of college basketball these days. The 6-foot-8 Ellis has a forward's skill set that could be caught between the '3' and the '4' positions in the pros.

'We get a false sense of when we're making shots, we forget about Perry,' Graham said, praising his teammate and friend's steadiness and efficiency. 'So we've always got to play through `P,' on any given day.'

Here are some key angles to know about the game:

UNBEATEN OLLIE: The Huskies are 7-0 in the NCAA Tournament with Ollie as the head coach, a remarkable record buoyed by their 2014 national title, but the 43-year-old has downplayed his work on the bench in March.

'I'm just trying to make substitution patterns and read the game. I do my best coaching in practice,' said Ollie, emphasizing the relationship-building he's done with his players to earn their respect.

SVI HIGH: Kansas sophomore Svi Mykhailiuk has predictably come along slowly, considering the transition from his native Ukraine and the fact that he's still only 18, but he gave the Jayhawks a welcomed jolt with a career-high 23 points in the first-round victory over Austin Peay. The long-range shooting specialist hit four of five attempts from 3-point range.

'All indications are that he's very, very happy,' Self said. 'I think frustration does set in when you don't play as much as you want to or play as well as you know you can when you get opportunities. ... At times, he can look a certain way and look great, but he's been a little inconsistent. I think that's pretty apparent, but I think a lot of that's just youth.'

FREE-THROW SECRET: The Huskies lead the country in foul shooting, with six of their top seven scorers making 80 percent or more. Ollie's practice strategy is to randomly blow his whistle amid the intensity of the workout and force a focus on free throws when they're tired. The losers in the contest must sprint some more. If the players make 11 in a row, though, the coaches have to run.

'It spurs them on,' Ollie said.

WAYNE'S WORLD: Selden, who had 14 points the blowout of Austin Peay, grew up in Boston and was heavily recruited by UConn.

'Early that was like a dream school. A lot of guys from Boston went there. It almost seemed like there was a pipeline,' Selden said. 'When I visited Kansas, it fit me right.'

EARLY-ROUND SUCCESS: UConn is 32-5 on the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament in the last 20 appearances since 1990, under coach Jim Calhoun and now Ollie. The Huskies have 10 trips to the final eight in that span.

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Preview: Bulldogs (27-7) at Utes (27-8)
Date: March 19, 2016 8:40 PM EDT

DENVER (AP) The big man has not played himself completely out of college basketball.

Not out of this year's NCAA Tournament, either.

When Gonzaga and Utah meet Saturday, with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line, the game will feature two of the best big men in America - 7-foot Jakob Poeltl of the Utes vs. 6-11 Domantas Sabonis of the Bulldogs.

And while it won't resemble Kareem Abdul-Jabbar leaning on Robert Parrish, this one could feel like something of a throwback - a game that could very well be won and lost in the post.

'It's certainly a story line that's going to have a lot to do with the outcome - how they guard (Poeltl), how we guard Sabonis, collectively, how it all plays out,' said Larry Krystkowiak, who coaches the third-seeded Utes.

The advent of the 3-point line nearly three decades ago put an increased value on guards who can shoot and big men who can flash to the wing. That took an emphasis off post play, which, in turn, makes something like Saturday's game a once-in-a-blue-moon event.

Of the two, Poeltl, whose mom played for the Austrian women's volleyball team, is more of the pure post player, while Sabonis, son of former NBA star Arvydas Sabonis, plays inside-out more.

Sabonis averages a double-double, while Poeltl is one rebound short. Their stats in the wins Thursday were eerily similar. Poeltl: 16 points and 18 rebounds. Sabonis: 21 points and 16 rebounds.

'I think we can all agree that he's a very talented player,' Poeltl said. 'I'm definitely looking forward to taking on the challenge.'

Stopping Sabonis seemingly gets tougher by the day. Already an NBA prospect, Sabonis has improved quickly this year, with Gonzaga leaning on him more because of the season-ending injury to their other big man, Przemek Karnowski, in December.

Mark Few, coach of the 11th-seeded Zags, said Sabonis 'likes being coached, kind of craves it, soaks it all up, seeks it out,' and that sends a strong message to the rest of the team.

Krystkowiak, who spent a decade banging around in the post in the NBA in the `80s and `90s, said 'I'm curious as you,' to see how this matchup plays out.

'Typically the guards are the ones shining,' he said. 'We need some of that to happen as well. But this is unique, having a couple true, throwback 5-men that are the heads of their respective snakes.'

Other notables about the Gonzaga-Utah game Saturday:

TURNOVERS: The teams are similar in so many ways, including one that neither coach is proud of. Both committed 20 turnovers in their victories Thursday. Part of it was because the opponents they faced played high-risk, high-reward defense. But still. Twenty turnovers? 'I don't think that sits well with either of us,' Few said. 'It doesn't sit well with me.'

OH, THAT GUY: Sabonis isn't the only big man, or the only guy who can score, for the Bulldogs. Their leading scorer this year is 6-10 Kyle Wiltjer, who averages 20.5 points a game. He only had 13 against Seton Hall, and struggled from the floor, going 5 for 14. He's not to be ignored, of course, and Krystkowiak certainly won't. 'It's not going to be on any one person,' the coach said. 'We've to have a multitude of guys locked in and focused on trying to stop him.'

SOUND FAMILIAR?: The only other time the Bulldogs have entered the tournament as a No. 11 seed, this happened: They traveled to Denver, beat a team from the Big East, then faced a powerhouse out of Utah. That was in 2011, when the Zags beat St. John's to start, but got knocked out by 'The Jimmer' - Jimmer Fredette of Brigham Young.

REBUILDING: Krystkowiak's first year at Utah coincided with the program's first season in the Pac-12. It wasn't pretty. Half the roster left or got kicked off. The Utes went 6-25. Some might see this as a quick turnaround. 'When you do the math on it, it's about 1800 days,' the coach said. 'Didn't seem real fast to me.' The key to rebuilding, in Krystkowiak's words: 'First thing is, we're never going to cheat because I don't want to be held hostage by any situation that's out of our control. Second thing is, we're not going to recruit any turds. We've stayed pretty true to that.'

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Preview: Friars (24-10) at Tar Heels (29-6)
Date: March 19, 2016 9:40 PM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil have been the high-scoring 1-2 punch powering Providence's offense all year, guiding the Friars to another 20-win season and their first NCAA Tournament win in nearly two decades.

The challenge now is to put up enough big numbers for the ninth-seeded Friars to have a shot at upsetting No. 1 seed North Carolina in the Tar Heels' home state in Saturday's second round of the East Region.

'We've had it all year like that,' Providence coach Ed Cooley said Friday. 'We're not going to change. We are who we are. They are who they are.'

That dynamic certainly creates an interesting conflict. Providence (24-10) centers its attack largely on two big scorers while North Carolina (29-6) boasts a deep roster with a wealth of potential double-figure scorers on any night.

The 6-foot-9 Bentil is averaging 21.1 points and the 6-4 Dunn - the Big East player of the year - is averaging 16 points. The two account for nearly half of Providence's points and made shots as well as 57 percent of their made free throws this year.

They had 35 of Providence's 70 points in the first-round win against Southern California on a last-second basket from Rodney Bullock.

'I tell them if they don't do it, we're not going to win,' the fifth-year coach said their scoring load all year. 'I don't ask them. The one thing you don't do is ask 18- to 22-year-olds (anything).'

The Tar Heels were feeling good about their defensive play after a three-game run to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title last week. But some familiar issues that have plagued them over much of the past two years - namely a lack of a defensive edge - resurfaced in the first half of Thursday's opener against 16-seed Florida Gulf Coast.

The Eagles shot 60 percent in the first half and trailed just 41-40 at the break before the Tar Heels roared out of halftime to turn it into a rout.

Bentil and Dunn are capable of taking advantage if UNC repeats that flat defensive start.

'Those are two pros,' said UNC sophomore Theo Pinson, one of the team's top perimeter defenders. 'You just have to go out there and try to contain them as much as you can. We've been doing that all year basically with it going through the ACC. We've been playing a lot of pros. Those guys are right up there with them.'

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Some things to know about Saturday's Providence-North Carolina matchup:

HOMECOURT EDGE: The Tar Heels are 32-1 in home-state NCAA games with the only loss coming in 1979. And they're playing roughly 30 minutes from their Chapel Hill campus, so expect another blue-clad crowd. 'That's kind of what you expect pretty much at home, I guess,' Providence sophomore Kyron Cartwright said.

CONFIDENCE BOOST: Providence hadn't won an NCAA game since 1997 before the USC win. Cooley is hoping the momentum carries over. 'It's one going down in history for us,' Dunn said of the win.

JUMPSTARTING MEEKS: UNC junior forward Kennedy Meeks struggled in the Florida Gulf Coast game, looking slow to get off the ground and having shots blocked by smaller players while scoring four points on 2-for-9 shooting. Meeks sounded ready to move on, noting that his performance 'looks bad' on film but adding: Saturday 'will be better though. Trust me.'

3-POINT SHOOTING: Neither team is a great outside-shooting club. Providence is shooting 32.3 percent from 3-point range, while UNC is shooting 31.5 percent. But they combined to make 16 and shoot 36 percent in their opening-round games. Of note, UNC's senior Marcus Paige - who has struggled with his shot for much of the year - has had some big scoring games in this arena against rival North Carolina State.

FAMILIAR FACES: The Tar Heels and Friars are meeting on the tournament's first weekend for the second time in three years. UNC won that matchup as a No. 6 seed, edging the 11th-seeded Friars 79-77 in the 2014.

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Preview: Hawkeyes (22-10) at Wildcats (30-5)
Date: March 20, 2016 12:10 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) It's not the only thing being talked about around the Villanova basketball team but it sure takes up a lot of the discussion.

The Wildcats have another chance to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. They haven't been there since their run to the Final Four in 2009. This senior class will go down as the winningest in school history but it hasn't gotten past the second round.

The final chance for those seniors is Sunday when the second-seeded Wildcats face seventh-seeded Iowa in the South Regional at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

'Everyone has the right to think what they want, say what they want. We played in those games. We haven't come through in the second round of the tournament,' senior guard Ryan Arcidiacono said. 'I can't really tell people how they should look at our senior class or myself in particular.'

His classmate, Daniel Ochefu, said the talk has been going on for a while.

'Everybody's been talking about this game for the whole year, even in the summertime before the season started,' the center said. 'So the fact that the game is here and we can finally just get it done. Hopefully, we'll get the win, and people will stop talking about it.'

Junior Josh Hart said everyone will judge Villanova on this game.

'They're not going to judge us on being Big East champions, Big Five champions or anything that we did in the regular season. Our whole year the questions have been about this game. Obviously we didn't know the opponent but it's about this game, this round,' Hart said. 'So we know we're going in focused, ready for a dogfight and playing a great team. I'm not sure how they got a draw to be a seven seed. They're a heck of a team.'

The Wildcats (30-5) advanced with an 86-56 victory over UNC-Asheville, while Iowa (22-10) beat Temple 72-70 on a tip-in at the overtime buzzer.

The Hawkeyes haven't been past the second round of the NCAA Tournament since 1999 but they haven't had to hear about it as much as the Wildcats.

'We don't listen to outside noise very much,' Iowa guard Mike Gesell said. 'Everyone has opinions, and obviously we haven't made the Sweet 16 in a while, and that's a difficult task. Once you get into March Madness, every single team is a good team. It's tough just to make it into this tournament. So you really have to value every single game.'

Things to know about the Wildcats and Hawkeyes meeting in the second round:

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PAST TIME: The schools have met once before in the NCAA Tournament, a 55-54 Villanova victory in the second round in 1983.

GOOD D: The Wildcats are 25-1 this season when holding opponents under 70 points. Iowa averages 77.9 points per game.

TAKING CARE OF THE BALL: Iowa had just three turnovers in the overtime win over Temple, one off the NCAA Tournament record set by North Carolina in 1997. The Hawkeyes average 10.2 turnovers per game while Villanova averages 11.1.

SHOOTING 3s: Villanova's Kris Jenkins is shooting 42.7 percent from 3-point range over the past 19 games (56 for 131). Iowa's Jarrod Uthoff and Peter Jok both set an Iowa NCAA Tournament record with 10 3-point attempts against Temple and they have combined for 142 3s this season with Jok going 78 for 192 (40.6 percent) from beyond the arc.

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Preview: Lumberjacks (28-5) at Fighting Irish (22-11)
Date: March 20, 2016 2:40 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) Notre Dame forward Bonzie Colson was in the locker room, still digesting a first-round victory against Michigan when he got the inevitable question: What do you know about your next opponent?

For Colson and the Fighting Irish, that meant No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin, which beat three seed West Virginia on Friday night in the NCAA Tournament. The Lumberjacks take a 21-game winning streak, longest in the nation, into their East Region matchup Sunday with sixth-seeded Notre Dame at Barclays Center.

Colson had caught a few minutes of the Southland Conference champions and, of course, one guy stood out.

'Their point guard, Walkup, I don't know what his name is. He can score,' Colson said.

Right guy, wrong position, but a totally understandable mistake.

The 6-foot-4 Walkup, a two-time conference player of the year, does everything for the Lumberjacks.

Walkup was a matchup nightmare for West Virginia, scoring 25 of his 33 points in the second half by beating the big men off the dribble and overpowering smaller players. Coach Brad Underwood says Stephen F. Austin plays 'position-less basketball' and Walkup is the focal point.

'He's one of the most resourceful, efficient players I've ever coached,' Underwood said. 'Certain nights, he has 10 points, 15 rebounds. He's our school's all-time leading rebounder. He led us in assists. He led us in steals. His best position is the point because he's such a good passer. His versatility is a big part of our success.'

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said in three years playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Irish have not faced a player with a better basketball IQ than Walkup.

'His stuff is the kind you see with a crafty NBA veteran who's been in the league 10 or 12 years, who just takes advantage of young guys,' Brey said.

At Deer Park High School in Pasadena, Texas, near Houston, Walkup had one setback after another. He tore the ACL in his left knee as a freshman and then tore it again.

He started to take off as a junior. He played point guard in high school, but for an AAU team that had Cameron Ridley, now at Texas, Ryan Manuel, who played for SMU, and SFA teammate Trey Pinkney, he played power forward.

Walkup was having a big senior year when he broke his right foot halfway through the season. The injury took so long to heal he redshirted as a freshman at SFA.

Ask Thomas' father, Raymond, about his son's recruitment and Dad lets out a little laugh.

'I'm sure scouts looked at him and said, `Well, he's a 6-4 white guy and he can't shoot and he plays the plays the four. And we don't need that,' said Raymond Walkup, who took a few minutes to do a phone interview while visiting the Freedom Tower with his wife, Lisa, on Saturday.

Thomas Walkup would have ended up at Houston Baptist if not for his former AAU coach, Jim Thrasher, giving previous Stephen F. Austin coach Danny Kaspar the hard sell.

Walkup is the third of four brothers, including former Texas A&M player Nathan. Thomas Walkup said even with all the injuries, playing in the NCAA Tournament like his brother was always the goal.

'It was difficult there for a little bit of time, but I knew this is all I ever wanted to do,' Thomas said.

Now he's become the bearded face of a first weekend of the NCAA Tournament that has been highlighted by upsets. The Lumberjacks are one of a record 10 double-digits seeds to win first round games.

Raymond Walkup said he's OK with Thomas' beard, which has not been shaved since Nov. 1.

'Mom cares more about the haircut and the beard than I do,' Dad said.

Some things to watch when Stephen F. Austin and Notre Dame play for a spot in the Sweet 16 in Philadelphia.

IRISH VERSATILITY

Brey said the Irish like to play a similar style to SFA in that they have versatile players. It helped them beat Michigan 70-63 on Friday night.

'We have the ability to switch a lot of stuff. We switched a lot of things last night in the second half that helped us really be good defensively to win the game,' Brey said. 'I think you have to do that against this group.'

NOT SO SWEET

In 16 seasons under Brey, the Fighting Irish have played in the NCAA Tournament 10 times, but gotten as far as the round of 16 only twice.

LITTLE BIG MAN

Walkup gets the accolades but 5-9 point guard Pinkney is equally as important to the Lumberjacks for his pesky pressure defense and ball-handling. In 35 minutes against West Virginia's press, he had zero turnovers.

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Preview: Rams (25-10) at Sooners (26-7)
Date: March 20, 2016 5:15 PM EDT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said his team sees Virginia Commonwealth simply as a good team heading into their second-round NCAA Tournament matchup on Sunday.

The Rams aren't in a Power Five conference - they play in the Atlantic 10. And VCU was one of a record 10 double-digit seeds that won in the opening round - the 10th-seeded Rams knocked off seventh-seeded Oregon State to advance in the West Region.

But No. 2 seed Oklahoma (26-7) also is aware that VCU is not a typical double-digit seed. The Rams (25-10) went to the Final Four in 2011 and are in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight year. The Sooners will try to avoid the upset and reach the Sweet 16 for the second straight year.

'The tape we've seen so far on them, that our guys have seen - it gets their attention pretty easily,' Kruger said. 'They know we have a tough challenge, and we'll have to play well to have a chance to win tomorrow.'

Still, Kruger made sure his team was aware of how the first round went for the big boys.

'Anytime you can be here today is a good start,' Kruger said. 'Tournament games are hard to win, as evidenced by the last couple days. A lot of good teams aren't playing today, and I told our guys that - to appreciate the opportunity and not take anything for granted and enjoy it.'

First-year VCU coach Will Wade said his team doesn't view itself as an underdog, but the Rams will play loose.

'This is when we've done good work in the past, and we need to show up and put our best foot forward,' Wade said.

Here are some things to look for in Sunday's matchup:

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HANDLING HIELD: Oklahoma's Buddy Hield, the nation's No. 2 scorer, was held in check for much of Friday's game against Cal State Bakersfield, but he scored 16 of his 27 points in the final 14 minutes.

'He is a gifted scorer,' VCU guard Korey Billbury said. 'He can score at all three levels. If you can run him off the three point line, he pulls up. If you take away his pull-up, he can get to the bucket.'

NOT JUST MJ: VCU features Melvin Johnson, a 6-foot-4 senior guard who averages 17.2 points per game and has made 105 3-pointers this season. Johnson scored 12 points against Oregon State on 5-for-15 shooting, but his teammates shot better than 50 percent. JeQuan Lewis scored 21 points and Mo Alie-Cox added 20 against the Beavers.

COACHING EXPERIENCE: Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger is 63 and got his first head coaching job in 1982. Wade, 33, was born in 1982 and recently was thought to be younger by a bus driver.

'The bus driver thought I was one of the players when I got on the bus,' Wade said. 'I said, `No, sir, I'm the head coach.' He said, `Really, you're making the decisions here?''

Kruger said he respects Wade and is impressed with how he runs the team.

'You don't think about him being a young coach, you think about him being a very good coach when you watch his teams play,' Kruger said.

PRESSURE DEFENSE: VCU likes to press and trap, which could create problems for an Oklahoma squad that can be turnover prone. The Sooners average 12.9 turnovers per contest, while VCU forces 15.2.

HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE: The game will be played at Chesapeake Energy Arena, about a 30-minute drive north of Oklahoma's campus.

'It would be ideal if we could take away the crowd, but I doubt that will happen,' VCU guard Melvin Johnson said. 'But most importantly, we want to even out the start. I feel like if they get off to a great start with the kind of atmosphere they're going to have tomorrow, it could be a long night.'

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Preview: Blue Raiders (25-9) at Orange (20-13)
Date: March 20, 2016 6:10 PM EDT

ST. LOUIS (AP) Middle Tennessee State made mush of millions of brackets when the plucky Blue Raiders sprung an upset of national title contender Michigan State, but there was at least one youngster happy with the outcome in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

'I got an email, we got a second-grader, I guess everybody in their class probably got a team picked,' Middle Tennessee coach Kermit Davis said, 'and she emailed us and said that we've got Middle Tennessee.

'I'm sure they took it home to their mom and dad and they laughed,' Davis said.

Nobody is laughing now.

The No. 15 seed in the Midwest Region proved it belonged by staring down the Spartans in an outcome that was hardly a fluke - the Blue Raiders (25-9) never trailed in the game. Now, they have an opportunity to dethrone another member of college basketball royalty in No. 10 seed Syracuse on Sunday.

'There was no doubt in that particular game, the best team won,' said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who caught the end of it after his own first-round game. 'From beginning to end, they played the best.'

The Orange (20-13) were a controversial at-large selection after a miserable finish to their regular season. Boeheim spent nine games on the shelf early on as penance for an NCAA investigation into academic misconduct and improper benefits, and a one-and-done loss to Pittsburgh in the ACC Tournament left many bewildered that the selection committee slid them into the field.

Syracuse made all of that stuff moot with a sound thrashing of seventh-seeded Dayton.

'It felt like new life once we got into the tournament,' Syracuse guard Trevor Cooney said. 'Everyone has the same record. We just have to relax and play. That's what we did the other day.'

Flawlessly executing their 2-3 zone, they started the second half on a 15-3 run that grounded the high-flying Flyers. Malachi Richardson provided the offense with 21 points, Tyler Roberson the defense with 18 rebounds, and the perennial March heavyweights made a bold statement to all their naysayers.

That postseason ban last season? No longer even a memory.

'Just getting to the tournament is a great feeling,' Orange guard Michael Gbinije said. 'With us, going through the coach situation, having a lot of ups and downs, it's just a great feeling. I feel like we did enough to get in and now that we're here, we're just having fun with it.'

As the Blue Raiders and Orange meet on Sunday, here are some of the main story lines:

BRINGING ENERGY: It wasn't 3-point sharpshooter Giddy Potts or Reggie Upshaw, who scored 21 against the Spartans, who caught the attention of Syracuse. It was often-overlooked Perrin Buford whose hustle stood out on the game tapes. 'With all his energy, he's a guy that I think we can match up with pretty well,' Gbinije said. 'We have to match his intensity.'

SCOUTS HONOR: Orange assistant Gerry McNamara was given the monumental task of scouting Michigan State - which turned out to be a waste of time. Instead, fellow assistant Adrian Autry's advance work on the Blue Raiders has become the foundation for the Syracuse game plan. 'Both guys prepare like we're going to play that team, up until the game is over,' Boeheim said, 'and then we all focus on Middle Tennessee State.'

TRANSFER U: The Blue Raiders' roster includes six junior college players and two transfers from four-year schools in Jaqawn Raymond (North Carolina State) and Jacorey Williams (Arkansas). 'Transferring was a big step. I didn't know what to expect,' Raymond said. 'But this experience has been one of the top moments of my life. I wouldn't change anything.'

NO RESPECT: The Blue Raiders thought they were good enough to receive a No. 13 seed, so they had a chip on their shoulder after Selection Sunday. 'So there's no pressure,' Upshaw said. 'As you saw yesterday, we can compete with anybody in the nation.

2-15 UPSETS: Boeheim was experience on the other side of a 2-15 upset. His second-seeded Orange were the first to lose since seeding began in 1985 when Richmond beat them in 1991. 'You live with that loss for a long time,' he said. 'It's what you do when you lose in this tournament. I've lost more than a few games. But I finally realized that everybody loses in this tournament - every coach, every team somewhere along the line. It's not easy. But it's not easy when you lose and you're an underdog, either.'