We have the quotage from the second night of the NCAA Tournament, what was essentially was the appetizer for the main course starting today. Let’s check out what was said on truTV last night.
Notes from the First Four on truTV – Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The 2011 Division I Men’s Basketball Championships continues with second-round coverage today, Thursday, March 17, and Friday, March 18 (12:00 NOON-12:00 AM, ET; both days), with all games available live in their entirety across four national television networks: TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV.
Texas San Antonio (70) vs. Alabama State University (61)
VCU (59) vs. University of Southern California (46)
Studio team: Host Matt Winer Seth Davis and Steve Smith with Indiana University head coach Tom Crean (analysts)Davis on VCU’s chances to beat Georgetown in the next round of the tournament: “If (VCU) can bring that kind of effort on the defensive end in their next game against Georgetown, I think they’re going to have a pretty good chance to beat the Hoyas. They’ve (Georgetown) played bad basketball. They got embarrassed in the Big East conference tournament. I think they’re running low on confidence. This is a good example of a team (VCU) having an advantage; having played two days before, now they’ve got their rhythm, now they’ve got their confidence, they’re going to give Georgetown all they want.”
Crean on UTSA facing Ohio State and their ‘swag’: “Right now for UTSA they will go from the SWAC (Southwest Athletic Conference) to the ‘swag’ because there is no team in the country that has the swagger that Ohio State has and (forward) Jared Sullinger is the key point for them offensively.”
Smith on the Michigan State vs. UCLA second round match-up: “The x-factor for UCLA is (Forward) Tyler Honeycutt. If you look at him he has a chance; he is long defensively and he can get in the lane. The match up for me is (Center) Joshua Smith versus (Center) Derrick Nix. A lot of weight will be moved around in that game.”
Crean on the Utah State vs. Kansas State second round match-up: “I think the Utah State versus Kansas State game is going to match two of the better offenses when it comes to efficiency. They can score inside and they can score outside, they’re battle tested, and I think people underestimate how good Utah State is. They can beat teams in so many different ways and it will be one of the best games of the day.”
Davis on the Old Dominion vs. Butler second round match-up: “I think either one of these teams can give Pittsburgh a difficult time in the (third) round. I think Old Dominion is a veteran team with (Forward) Frank Cassel on the inside and (Guard) Kent Bazemore next to him. Butler is a team that has found its stride in the middle of January then lost some games but rededicated themselves to defense. Without Gordon Hayward they will not score points like they did last year but defensively they are very good.”
Davis on what Wofford needs to do to challenge BYU: “(Point guard) Cameron Rundles is a great point guard but he has to run the club for Wofford and at the same time your point guard is going to be in charge of getting the team back. He will have a big roll and can’t get worn down in the game. (Forward) Noah Dahlman is also going to have to score and get to the foul line. They have to slow the pace down and make BYU guard for a while on the half court and somehow find out how to get to the free throw line.”
Crean comparing Connecticut guard Kemba Walker and BYU guard Jimmer Fredette: “They (both) play incredibly well in tight spaces. They’ve both got range. They’re excellent three-point shooters. But they get inside of that contact with the spins, the step-throughs, the splitting the pick and roll defense. They are just unique in the sense that it’s like a running back coming through a hole and there’s not much of a hole there. They still find a way to get through it and I think that’s what makes those two special. Again, I don’t know either one of them personally, but it’s hard to think that there are many more guys in college basketball that are as competitive as them and bring such a spirit to their teammates.”
Crean on rebuilding the Indiana Hoosiers: “Next year at this time I hope that I am busy and you can do a live look-in somewhere we are. We’re thinking about recruiting some of the newborn kids sometime in April.”
That’s it.
