CRAZY EIGHTS

Three more exciting basketball games last night. Oklahoma let Butler back in the game late, but Ebi Ere was on fire and the Sooners never really let us believe that they could get beaten by the Bulldogs. Besides that, the other games seemed to follow a similar pattern. Texas had control until T.J. Ford got into foul trouble with over ten minutes left and Connecticut went on a run to make it a great game. Brandon Mouton hit some big shots for Texas and Ford sank some clutch free throws in the final minute to barely escape the Huskies. In like fashion, Michigan State had complete control of their game until Maryland started putting on the full court press and really rattled the point guard-challenged Spartans. In the end, it was a freshman, Paul Davis, who scored Michigan State's last six points, including the eventual game winner, and the Terps senior guard Steve Blake who missed a potential game-winning three at the buzzer. And in yet another squeaker, Syracuse led most of the game, but Auburn nailed four threes in the final minute and a half to pull within one point. The game appeared to be over after the last three went in, but the refs reviewed it and put three tenths of a second back on the clock. The Orangemen inbounded and the game was over, but if there were thirty seconds left in that game instead of three tenths, the Tigers could have pulled the upset.