UConn, Florida, Arizona First Teams to Advance to \\\\\\\'Elite 8\\\\\\\' Round of NCAA Tournament 03/27/2011
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Derrick Williams scored a career-high 32 points and his Arizona teammates showed they're not just a one-man team, upsetting defending national champion Duke 93-77 Thursday night to reach the final eight for the first time since 2005. The top-seeded Blue Devils (32-5) were sent packing from a regional semifinal for the second time in three years. Coach Mike Krzyzewski, with 900 wins, will have to wait until next season to resume his pursuit of Bob Knight's record as the winningest men's coach in Division I history. Williams scored 25 of his points in the first half before his teammates came up big in the final 20 minutes. Lamont Jones added 16 points and Solomon Hill 13. Williams had 13 rebounds to help his team dominate the boards, 40-27, while playing 15 minutes from his hometown of La Mirada. Fifth-seeded Arizona (30-7) will play Connecticut (29-9) on Saturday in the West Regional final. The third-seeded Huskies defeated No. 2 San Diego State 74-67 in the other semifinal. Duke's Kryie Irving scored 28 points in his most minutes since returning at the start of the NCAA tournament after missing 26 games with a toe injury. Kyle Singler added 18 as one of three Blue Devils in second-half foul trouble. Nolan Smith was held to eight points — well under the senior's 21-point average. Add Comment ANAHEIM, Calif. – Derrick Williams scored a career-high 32 points and his Arizona teammates showed they're not just a one-man team, upsetting defending national champion Duke 93-77 Thursday night to reach the final eight for the first time since 2005. The top-seeded Blue Devils (32-5) were sent packing from a regional semifinal for the second time in three years. Coach Mike Krzyzewski, with 900 wins, will have to wait until next season to resume his pursuit of Bob Knight's record as the winningest men's coach in Division I history. Williams scored 25 of his points in the first half before his teammates came up big in the final 20 minutes. Lamont Jones added 16 points and Solomon Hill 13. Williams had 13 rebounds to help his team dominate the boards, 40-27, while playing 15 minutes from his hometown of La Mirada. Fifth-seeded Arizona (30-7) will play Connecticut (29-9) on Saturday in the West Regional final. The third-seeded Huskies defeated No. 2 San Diego State 74-67 in the other semifinal. Duke's Kryie Irving scored 28 points in his most minutes since returning at the start of the NCAA tournament after missing 26 games with a toe injury. Kyle Singler added 18 as one of three Blue Devils in second-half foul trouble. Nolan Smith was held to eight points — well under the senior's 21-point average. The three teams the Detroit Pistons faced last week during an 0-3 road trip shot the lights out. That is nothing new for opponents of the Pistons. Opposing teams are shooting 48.4 percent from the field this season against the Pistons, the highest shooting percentage allowed by any NBA team. The Pistons have not allowed opponents to shoot a higher percentage from the field in 25 seasons. The 1985-86 Pistons allowed opponents to shoot 49.2 percent, yet still managed to finish the season 46-36 (.561). This year’s Pistons are 23-44 (.343) heading into Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Raptors. "We worked hard on it and the guys got after it," Pistons coach John Kuester said Monday after practice. "We’ve just got to continue to improve on it." Pistons guard Tracy McGrady said the key to playing good defense is trying to play good defense. "(It’s an) effort thing," McGrady said. "That’s what defense is about. It’s an effort thing. Everybody can play defense. You just have to want it."http://signechimes.blog.co.uk/ The Pistons hit a new low during their three-game road trip against San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Denver. Those teams combined to shoot 56.7 percent (127-for-224), and the Pistons lost all three games. The Spurs made their first 14 shots Wednesday in a 111-104 victory. The Nuggets made their first eight shots Saturday on their way to a 131-101 rout of the Pistons. Ben Wallace did not play during the road trip and has not played since Feb. 23, three days before taking a nine-day absence from the team due to the death of his oldest brother. The four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year said communication on the court is important, but working hard is even more important. "You’ve got to communicate and talk to each other, but you’ve got to put in a lot of effort," he said. "Defense doesn’t come easy. Defense isn’t one of those things you can just talk about and then go on the floor and it’s going to happen." Last season, the Pistons allowed teams to shoot 48.0 percent from the field. The Pistons had allowed opponents to shoot better than 45.0 percent just two times in the 14 seasons before that.  First Post! 03/11/2011
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