ESPN Men's Basketball

MILWAUKEE -- Some quick halftime thoughts from a relatively ugly first half in Milwaukee:

• Georgia Tech hasn't quite dominated in the post the way it should. Gani Lawal had a good half, but counterpart Derrick Favors has been relatively invisible. More drastic is the Yellow Jackets' paucity of offensive rebounds -- Georgia Tech didn't grab a single offensive rebound until there were about four minutes left, and even that rebound was quickly slapped away by Ohio State's defense. Thus far, the combination of Dallas Lauderdale and OSU's athletic guards have been enough to keep the Jackets away from the basket.
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Jonathan Daniel/Getty ImagesOhio State's Evan Turner led all scorers with 16 first-half points.
• Some of that might have to do with OSU's defense, which starts as a 1-3-1 full-court trap and then switches either to a half-court zone or into man-to-man, based on the calls relayed by OSU's bench to Turner, who then signals the defense with a hand signal. The half-court zone has been effective because it places a defender on the front and help sides of Lawal, making it difficult for him to get good catches in the post. It's also led to some open jumpers for Georgia Tech.
• Not that it's mattered -- both teams shot putrid percentages in the first half, especially from beyond the arc. Ohio State made just two of its 11 3s; Georgia Tech went 2-for-8. Georgia Tech has done a good job making things difficult for the Buckeyes' shooters. (Jon Diebler especially has felt pressure coming off high screens.) But there have been plenty of open looks, too. OSU just isn't hitting them.
• As I hinted above, this has not been a pretty game. Obviously, the shooting hasn't been great, but we've also had a combined 21 turnovers. Georgia Tech has 12 of them, but still, you have to think the Jackets like this level of ugliness.
• In obligatory Evan Turner Watch news, Turner has played better much than his ugly first-round performance, scoring 16 points and adding three steals, two rebounds and two assists. Not to nitpick, but Turner hasn't been his typically efficient self today: Those 16 points came on 6-of-15 shooting, and he has just as many turnovers as assists. So far in this tournament, Turner has been an ineffective shooter; he's at his best when he's driving to the rim, using his perfect footwork, and scoring layups.
• Is it just me, but when Ohio State fans do their famous "O-H-I-O" chant, are the O's not completely indistinguishable from the I's? I guess the message still comes across. But it is funny to sit and pretend the Buckeyes' backers are chanting I-H-I-I. (OK, maybe it is just me.)

MILWAUKEE -- We're down to the final two games of what has been a fairly well-played -- and certainly well-organized -- regional this weekend. Sure, it lacked the first-round insanity experienced in other parts of the country, but there's still plenty of time. Let's run it down:

Midwest Region: Ohio State (2) vs. Georgia Tech (10), 2:20 p.m. ET


Key to the game: Can Ohio State stop Georgia Tech's size? In a way, Ohio State is a much better, more talented version of the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who Georgia Tech was able to outlast on Friday. The Jackets' strategy was never a mystery. Paul Hewitt wants his team to get the ball down low to forwards Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors -- preferably Lawal, if it's a back-to-the-basket situation -- where the Jackets hold a size-plus-talent advantage over just about anyone in the country. Oklahoma State was a guard-oriented team without the size to really stop Georgia Tech down low. The same goes for Ohio State, which, while much more talented on the perimeter, really only ever plays one center at a time and ignores its bench for huge stretches of most games. Does Ohio State change what it's done successfully thus far? Or do the Buckeyes counter the Jackets' size with their offensive versatility on the other end, daring the Jackets to keep up with the likes of Evan Turner, David Lighty, William Buford, and Jon Diebler all at once?

Player to watch: Turner is the obvious choice here. He struggled in the Buckeyes' easy win over UCSB Friday night. Georgia Tech shut down a similarly talented guard in Oklahoma State's James Anderson Friday. Do the Jackets get the best of Turner? Or does the guard rebound with a Turner-esque performance?

Who has the edge: It's a little easy to make too much of Georgia Tech's size, which does present matchup problems for the Buckeyes, but it's also important to remember why Georgia Tech struggled for so much of the season: Size doesn't equal cohesion. The Buckeyes should prove to be too complete for Hewitt's sporadic team.

West Region: Pittsburgh (3) vs. Xavier (6), 4:50 p.m.


Key to the game: Team defense. Pittsburgh doesn't have any bonafide stars, but they do play a balanced style that forces their opponents to defend all five players at any given time; there are few opportunities to cheat in help-side against the Panthers. Xavier will have to submit a complete, comprehensive defensive performance to keep Pittsburgh from getting too many open, settled looks. The reverse of that is that Pittsburgh will likewise have to play good team defense against Xavier, whose efficient offense starts with Jordan Crawford, but can just as easily end with Terrell Holloway or Jason Love. Xavier wants to push the pace; Pittsburgh wants to slow it down. When Xavier does run, Pitt will have to pick up Crawford in the secondary break immediately, or they'll be on their heels trying to defend a player whose offensive creativity makes that very difficult to do.

Player to watch: As with Turner above, Crawford is the obvious pick here. As he goes, so goes the Xavier offense. Also keep an eye on Pittsburgh leading scorer Ashton Gibbs. Pitt had six scorers in double figures against Oakland Friday; Gibbs was not one of them.

Who has the edge: Pittsburgh, but only barely. The Panthers are a good enough defensive team to stall Crawford and prevent other players from beating them, and their willingness to control the pace of the game should be enough to slow down Chris Mack's team. But if Crawford gets hot, look out. This one could go either way.

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Halftime thoughts from Georgia Tech 41, Maryland 25.

• This is a total beatdown. And a stunning beatdown at that. Maryland is going to have to do something remarkable to get back into this game.

• This has been the upside-down tournament, at least at halftime. Lower seeds have led or tied at intermission in six of the first seven games. The lone exception turned out to be an upset, when Miami went from down two to winning by five earlier today against Virginia Tech.

• Tech coach Paul Hewitt wasted no time jumping all over his team. Down 4-2, he called a timeout and killed everyone in a gold jersey, screaming in their faces -- particularly big man Gani Lawal. By the 7-minute mark of the first half, when Maryland was calling a timeout down 11, Hewitt was meeting his players on the court with high-fives and congratulations. Give Hewitt an A-plus in motivational work.

• This was the story of Maryland's half: ACC Player of the Year Greivis Vasquez got a breakaway layup that spun around and halfway down the rim, then curled out. Jordan Williams' tip of Vasquez's miss hung on the front of the rim, then fell off. It was that kind of start for the Terrapins. Vasquez has just four points on 2-for-8 shooting, and one of those was goaltended. Credit Tech's Maurice Miller for dogging Vasquez much of the half.

• Tech's guards are on fire, shooting much better tonight than they did against North Carolina, hitting 6 of 8 3-pointers. Maryland, meanwhile, is 0-for-6 from 3-point range.

ATLANTA -- Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg doesn't care that the Hokies played most of the ACC's better opponents only once this season.

And he doesn't care that the Hokies' RPI rating is worse than each of the six other ACC teams in contention to play in the NCAA tournament, either.

The only thing that matters to Greenberg is that Virginia Tech finished 10-6 in ACC play this season after beating Georgia Tech 88-82 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum on Saturday.

"To win 10 games in the ACC is really hard," Greenberg said Saturday, shortly after the Hokies improved to 23-7 overall and earned a first-round bye in next week's ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C. "I don't care what schedule you played. We played the schedule we were given. It's tough to win 10 games."

Ask Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt how hard it is to win 10 games in the ACC.

Even during a season in which defending national champion North Carolina limped through one of its worst seasons in history, his team only won seven ACC games during the regular season.

The Yellow Jackets, despite having potential NBA lottery picks Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal playing in their front court, find themselves firmly on the NCAA tournament bubble heading into next week's ACC tournament. And by finishing 7-9 against ACC opponents, Georgia Tech just gave the NCAA selection committee an excuse to leave it out of the NCAA field.

"I still feel we have a very good shot," Hewitt said, after his team lost for the fifth time in its past seven games. "We have to go to Greensboro and get a couple of wins and see where it falls from there. Thankfully we have a chance to improve it. They're not handing out bids tomorrow, and that's how we have to look at it."

If Selection Sunday were tomorrow, there's a good chance the Yellow Jackets would be excluded. They won only one ACC road game in eight chances, beating North Carolina 73-71 on Zach Peacock's go-ahead shot with 25.7 seconds left after nearly blowing a 20-point lead.

The Yellow Jackets lost at Virginia and Miami, two of the ACC's worst teams. Against NC State, the league's other cellar dwellar, they nearly blew a 16-point lead in the final five minutes before winning by a 73-71 score at home.

Since beating Clemson and Wake Forest in consecutive home games in late January, the Yellow Jackets haven't beaten anybody of consequence. They've beaten four opponents since Jan. 29 and each of them at home: Division II Kennesaw State, NC State, North Carolina and Boston College.

That's hardly the resume of an NCAA-worthy team.

"We're just focusing on getting us back together mentally and physically," Hewitt said.

Hewitt might want to focus on his team's lack of defense. In their past two games, the Yellow Jackets surrendered 91 points in an 11-point loss at Clemson on Tuesday night, and then 88 points to a Hokies that played without junior guard Dorenzo Hudson, their second-leading scorer.

Virginia Tech came into the game ranked last in the ACC in 3-point shooting, but went 9-for-17 beyond the 3-point arch against the Yellow Jackets.

"We did not do a great job of defending, but at the same time give Virginia Tech credit," Hewitt said. "They made some big shots."

Junior guard Malcolm Delaney made many of them, matching his season-high with 32 points. Tech's defense allowed the Hokies to spread the floor whenever they wanted to, and Delaney worked his magic from there.

"Delaney does a good job of penetrating," Hewitt said. "He did a good job of getting into the paint. He does a great job of drawing fouls. You've got to put good pressure on him and deny him when he gives it up."

Now the pressure is on the Yellow Jackets as they head to Greensboro.

The Hokies are probably in pretty good shape, but Greenberg isn't taking any chances.

"I said before the season we'll win as many games as we can and see what happens," Greenberg said. "We've had the same mindset all season, even when we lost three games in a row. That's been our focus all season -- control what we can control."

If you're a coach presiding over a talented but disappointing team, calling out fans and media on Twitter is never a good idea. It's even less of a good idea if your team fails to back up it on the court.

Such is the lesson learned by Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt, who took to his Twitter account two weeks ago in the hopes of scolding assorted Georgia Tech stakeholders -- local media, critical fans, and so on -- about "quitting" on this year's decidedly fading Yellow Jackets. After today's loss to Virginia Tech at home, those Yellow Jackets have officially gone from potential Sweet 16 team to early tournament flame-out -- if they make the tournament at all.

Hewitt's team is filled with talent, talent that, for whatever reason, hasn't congealed over time. Instead, they seem to be getting worse. Georgia Tech has lost five of its past seven, and uber-talented forwards Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal haven't developed into the dominant frontcourt attack promised when Favors, a McDonald's All-American and surefire 2010 lottery pick, committed to Hewitt last year.

The next concern, as always, is the NCAA tournament. Joe Lunardi has listed Georgia Tech as a No. 10 seed in his latest bracket, which was drawn up before today's loss. It seems unlikely Georgia Tech would fall out of the tournament merely thanks to today's misfortune; they've been a steady inclusion since the season started, after all, and there are plenty of bubble teams doing their best to keep the field friendly to fading squads like the Yellow Jackets. It probably also helps that the selection committee isn't explicitly valuing in a team's last 12 games as more important than its early season performance, as in past years.

But a bad loss in the ACC tournament will make the selection committee -- and Georgia Tech fans, and Paul Hewitt -- awfully nervous. For good reason.

ATLANTA -- Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech must think today's ACC regular-season finale at Alexander Memorial Coliseum is as important as everybody else believes it is.

Bodies were flying to the floor during the first half. The players were exchanging words walking into the tunnel to their locker rooms at halftime. Hokies coach Seth Greenberg was chirping at officials during his walk off the floor.

Even though the Hokies are playing without junior guard Dorenzo Hudson, their second-leading scorer, they have a 45-39 lead over the Yellow Jackets at the half.

Both teams really need to win this game to feel better about their chances of getting an NCAA at-large bid. The Yellow Jackets need a victory here to finish 8-8 in the ACC standings. I still the Yellow Jackets are in OK shape for an at-large bid because of their high-end victories and tougher ACC schedule. But a 7-9 finish would at least give the NCAA selection committee a justifiable reason to keep them out of the 65-team field.

With a win over Georgia Tech, the Hokies would finish 10-6 in the ACC. They played one of the country's softer schedules and played most of the ACC's best teams only once in an unbalanced schedule, but I seriously doubt the NCAA is going to leave out a 10-6 ACC team.

Junior guard Malcolm Delaney is once again carry the Hokies, scoring 17 points and dishing out seven assists in the first half. Junior forward Jeff Allen has eight points, and Terrell Bell of nearby Stone Mountain, Ga., scored seven in the first half.

Forward Gani Lawal led Georgia Tech with nine points in the first half, and freshman Derrick Favors had six points and four rebounds. Tech's other players basically ignored their low-post stars during the first seven or eight minutes, but the forwards touched the ball more frequently in the final 12 minutes of the half. With Allen sitting out the last four minutes of the half with four fouls, look for Tech to attack the paint early in the second half.

The Atlanta Tipoff Club, which awards the Naismith each year, has narrowed its preseason list of 50 "watch" players down to the much more manageable 30 -- what it calls its midseason candidates list, even if, on Feb. 24, the whole "midseason" thing is a bit of a misnomer. But that's beside the point. The point is that we have 30 players to mull over now. True, most of the list won't even crack consideration for the final player of the year award, which is almost certainly going to go to Ohio State's Evan Turner or Kentucky's John Wall. But the tally is fun to look at anyway.

One minor quibble: The list of 30 manages to include six ACC players -- just one behind the Big East's leading seven -- without including Virginia Tech guard Malcolm Delaney, who happens to be leading the conference in scoring with 20.2 points per game for a 21-5 Tech team that's overcome its horrid nonconference schedule to (probably) play its way into the NCAA tournament. Nothing against Al-Farouq Aminu or Gani Lawal or Sylven Landesberg or Trevor Booker but it's hard to see how you could include those four and leave Delaney off the sheet.

Anyway, the full list is after the jump. Other quibbles? Let's hear 'em in the comments.

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The Morning After is our semi-daily recap post. Try not to make it awkward.

No. 18 Georgia Tech 66, No. 16 Clemson 64: Sometimes size is all you need. That's the prognosis over Georgia Tech's last-second win over Clemson Tuesday night, wherein Trevor Booker fouled Zachary Peacock on the arm with three seconds remaining, putting Peacock on the line to hit the game-winning free throws. Booker shouldn't feel too bad; he led Clemson in points (19), rebounds (nine), steals (three) and blocks (two), and in the all-important "impressive breakaway dunk that causes a "SportsCenter" anchor to inexplicably and awesomely reference 'Lost In Translation'" category with one. (Check the highlights here if you don't believe me.) In the end, though, the Georgia Tech win came down to size, specifically the size possessed by Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors. Favors went for 17 and 14, and finally appeared to be breaching his uber-prospect potential -- this was one of those "oh, THAT'S why" games -- and he and Lawal scored a combined 66 percent eFG. Their work on the interior also gave Georgia Tech a decided offensive rebounding advantage, and in a tough, somewhat ugly conference game, that was enough to make the difference.

Wichita State 60, No. 22 Northern Iowa 51: Those of you who tuned in to Purdue-Illinois expecting a raucous Assembly Hall crowd had to feel a little disappointed; every time I dialed up the Big Ten on my remote, the Orange Krush and company were downright demure. Not so in Wichita. There, the Shockers played the streaking Northern Iowa Panthers for a shot at the Missouri Valley regular-season crown and, even more importantly, a chance to prove that the MVC isn't just a one-bid league in 2009-10. The Shockers opened up small lead after small lead against UNI, guarding the Panthers all the way out to 25 feet and holding what is usually a good 3-point shooting team (29.9 percent on the season) to a dismal percentage (11.8 percent). Wichita State made the most of its possessions by grabbing offensive rebounds, and Northern Iowa could never erase the deficit.

It's a huge win for the WSU program generally and coach Gregg Marshall specifically, and it gets Wichita State right back in the hunt in the MVC, which is all Marshall and company could ask for Tuesday night. Thanks to some impressive play and a rowdy home crowd, the Shockers got it.

No. 15 Purdue 84, Illinois 78: This is a held serve, isn't it? Sure, road wins are tough, and road wins at Assembly Hall are tougher, but you would expect a good Purdue team to go into Champaign and beat a mediocre Illinois squad, would you not? That's fair, yes?

OK, so the Boilermakers have had their share of troubles these last three games, but this team is still talented, well-coached, deep (except at point guard, where it's very shallow) and experienced. Methinks the Boilers -- who got back to their efficient ways Tuesday night, scoring 1.12 points per possession (even as they allowed more than a point per possession on the defensive end) -- will be just fine.

No. 8 Tennessee 63, Alabama 56: Tennessee won for three reasons Tuesday night. One, the Volunteers didn't turn the ball over. Like, at all. Two, the Volunteers got to the free throw line at an extraordinary rate, especially for a road game -- someone should tell the referees in Tuscaloosa what home-court advantage is supposed to mean -- and three, Wayne Chism. Chism scored all of his 11 points in the final seven minutes of the game, helping the Volunteers close out another SEC win, this one on the road. The question now is how long Tennessee can keep this up. After all, it's still four scholarship athletes down, including Tyler Smith, the Vols' best all-around playmaker before his dismissal. Can Tennessee keep rolling? Hey, it's come this far.

Some thoughts from Georgia Tech's upset of Duke:

Few teams have the inside talent of Georgia Tech. That tandem of Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors proved to be too tough for Duke. For Tech, this win was huge. Plenty of people jumped off the bandwagon after the Yellow Jackets lost to Georgia in Athens. Newsflash: Georgia Tech ALWAYS loses to Georgia in Athens. Even Lethal Weapon Three (the 1990 Final Four team) lost there.

Bobby Cremins never won in Athens, so it was not as bad a loss as some would make you believe. The big key for Georgia Tech was that it used Lawal extensively late in the game. At times the Tech guards have been selfish in clutch situations. In this case, Lawal was the focal point of the offense, which is the right thing to do -- Iman Shumpert is kind of just "another guy" and Derrick Favors rarely sees the ball at the block.

Tech got some huge free throws from freshman Mfon Udofia and "only" turned it over 15 times. It's a good start for the Yellow Jackets as we continue to search for a consistent challenger to Duke for the conference title.

Speaking of the Blue Devils, Jon Scheyer continues to seemingly do everything right while Kyle Singler struggles. Tech used longer, bigger defenders on Scheyer and that slowed him some, but he still went for 25. Meanwhile, Singler seems to be a little uncomfortable on the perimeter still as his passing is just OK and he does not have the first step to create space for himself. The result is a lot of contested jumpers off stepback moves and the 2-for-13 shooting speaks for itself.

In terms of professional prospects Scheyer is probably not an NBA player, but his Jewish faith allows him to get an Israeli passport and he would be one of the most coveted players EVER for a team like Maccabi Tel Aviv. Singler on the other hand -- and I love his overall offensive repertoire -- is kind of a tweener, but he has 20 more games to show improved guard play. Nolan Smith tweaked his ankle today. The Devils are not deep in the backcourt, so an injury would be problematic. By the way, Duke has now lost five of its last seven conference road games and are 0-2 overall on the road this season.

The Blue Devils are still very solid, but they do not have any legit inside scoring with Singler on the wing and they cannot have one of their big three have a bad game offensively if they want to win on the road.

Five things to know from Monday's action:

1. Georgia Tech’s Gani Lawal scored 29 points and attempted 19 free throws in just 17 minutes of action in the Yellow Jackets' 95-64 win over Chattanooga. The last player to score that many points in 17 or fewer minutes was Duquesne’s Kieron Achara in 2007. However, no player this decade has attempted that many free throws in 17 minutes or fewer.

2. There aren’t too many players for whom 25 points is considered an off night. However, for Houston’s Aubrey Coleman -- the nation’s leading scorer at 26.7 ppg -- it tied his second-lowest output of the season. His teammate Kelvin Lewis added 24 points in the win over Troy to raise his season average to 17.9 ppg. Coleman and Lewis are the top scoring duo in the nation, just ahead of Washington’s Quincy Pondexter (22.1) and Isaiah Thomas (20.4).

3. Tasmin Mitchell pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds to go with 24 points in LSU’s 77-60 win over Southeastern Louisiana. The last LSU player with 20-plus points and 18-plus rebounds in a game was Glen “Big Baby” Davis in 2005. Mitchell’s 24 points lofted him two spots on LSU’s all-time scoring list, where he is now ninth.

4. In the first seven games of the season combined, South Carolina Upstate’s Josh Chavis had scored 50 points and was 11-of-30 from 3-point range. On Monday, he exploded for 10 treys on his way to a career-high 34 points . However, the Spartans lost to Florida Gulf Coast 86-82 in an Atlantic Sun battle. Chavis’s previous career highs were 20 points and five 3-pointers. The 10 bombs are tied for the fourth-most in D-I this season, and tied with Rotnei Clarke for the most by a player who did not connect on a two-pointer.

5. More Atlantic Sun? Campbell had connected on at least one 3-pointer in 364 consecutive games -- until Monday. The Fighting Camels were 0-of-6 from 3-point range in a 79-59 loss to UNC Wilmington. It was the first time since December 27, 1996 against Boise State that Campbell failed to hit from long distance.