JACKSONVILLE,
Fla. - Take your pick: Duke, California, Cornell or
Wisconsin?
Any of
the four teams remaining in Jacksonville could serve as a
model for NCAA tournament success, with each boasting
talented guards, several seniors and plenty of tournament
experience. They also have extra motivation that comes
from ending recent NCAA tournaments sooner than they
wanted.
Those
common threads helped propel them to wins in the opening
round Friday.
The No. 1
seed Blue Devils, behind seniors Jon Scheyer and Lance
Thomas, dominated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 73-44. California
seniors Jerome Randle, Patrick Christopher and Theo
Robertson carried the eighth-seeded Golden Bears past
Louisville 77-62.
No. 12
seed Cornell, the Ivy League champions who have eight
seniors living in the same house, upset Temple 78-65. And
fourth-seeded Wisconsin used 19 points and some big plays
from senior guard Trevon Hughes to edge Wofford 53-49.
Cornell
(28-4) and Wisconsin (24-8) advanced to the second round
of the East Regional. Duke (30-5) and Cal (24-10) will
meet in the South Regional.
"It's
a great opportunity for us," Cal coach Mike
Montgomery said. "I mean, everybody watches them,
everybody is going to watch that game or be aware of the
fact that Duke is playing, so it's a tremendous
opportunity for us. ... I think it's just a great
opportunity for us as much as anything else."
The Bears
showed all sorts of resiliency in beating the Cardinals
(20-13).
That
disappointing loss in the Pac-10 tournament? Getting sent
across the country to open the NCAA tournament? The
suspension of a starter? The Golden Bears overcame all of
them and didn't flinch when the Cardinals cut into
double-digit leads twice.
"It's
a new seasons for us," Christopher said.
"Regardless of what's happened, we've put it in the
past. ... The time to play well is now."
Randle
and Robertson scored 21 points apiece, Christopher added
17 points and eight rebounds, and the Bears responded to
everything Louisville could muster.
They
jumped out to an 18-point lead, watched Louisville whittle
it down to six, then pulled back out front by 14. They
endured a few anxious moments as the cushion got cut to
62-58 with 6:55 remaining, then stepped on the gas for
good. Cal closed it out with a 15-4 run.
"They
were determined to come out ready to play," said
Bears coach Mike Montgomery, whose team was eager to play
better than it did in last year's first-round loss to
Maryland.
Duke has
similar feelings after failing to get beyond the first
weekend twice in the last three years.
The Blue
Devils led from start to finish against play-in winner
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (18-16). Kyle Singler had 22 points
and had 10 rebounds, and coach Mike Krzyzewski picked up
his 11th 30-win season.
"This
was a springboard for us. We were limiting them to one
shot and rebounding well," Thomas said. "If we
continue doing that we'll beat anybody in the
tournament."
The Blue
Devils have made 10 trips to the Final Four under
Krzyzewski, though none since 2006. Duke survived a
first-round scare against Belmont two years ago, and
Krzyzewski and his players were determined to set the tone
for what it hopes will be a strong run with a sharp
performance.
"I
thought we handled both halfs really well,"
Krzyzewski said. "It wasn't a sloppy game."
Wisconsin
enjoyed an even cleaner game, finishing with just four
turnovers against undersized Wofford (26-9). The Badgers,
who have advanced past the second round just once in the
last four years, relied on defense for this victory.
Jon Leuer
followed a huge jump shot with an even more critical steal
on the other end. He also hit two free throws to seal it.
Cornell
secured its billing as the best team to come out of the
Ivy League in more than a decade against Temple.
Down to
their last chance to experience success on college
basketball's biggest stage, seniors Ryan Wittman, Louis
Dale and Jeff Foote paced the school to its first win in
five NCAA appearances.
Temple
(29-6) lost in the first round for the third straight year
under coach Fran Dunphy.
