LSU roars over top seeds, wins Atlanta Regional
In a weekend that saw upsets around every corner, the Atlanta Regional was no exception. Louisiana State University eventually prevailed from the region despite facing top seeded Duke in the Sweet 16 and No. 2 seed Texas in the Elite Eight.
The second weekend of the NCAA Tournament featured many shocking results. Every top seed fell during the weekend, and all of the higher seeded teams going into the Elite Eight were knocked off. One of the more surprising stories was George Mason advancing to the Final Four despite controversy on Selection Sunday as to why the committee even selected them to be in the tournament in the first place.
Tech’s new director of athletics and former LSU senior associate athletics director, Dan Radakovich, will be going to Indianapolis for the Final Four. He will accompany the Atlanta regional representative, LSU, who knocked off Texas to win the 2006 regional 70-60 in overtime.
Despite battling cramps all game and an injured ankle, Tyrus Thomas led the Tigers with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Thomas also blocked three shots.
Freshman Glenn “Big Baby” Davis led all scorers with 26 points and pulled down nine boards. Davis was responsible defensively for stopping Texas forward LaMarcus Aldridge for much of the night. Davis held Aldridge to just four points on 2-14 shooting from the field. The Longhorns lost the game despite having four of their five starters scoring in double figures.
Texas knocked off West Virginia 74-71 in the Sweet 16. Despite jumping out to a 12-point halftime lead, the Longhorns found themselves in a fight by the end of the game. The Mountaineers shot 15 of 33 from behind the arc to keep the game close.
After a Kevin Pittsnogle three-pointer with five seconds to go in the game, Kenton Paulino found himself open after an A.J. Abrams pass to hit the game winning three-pointer as time expired.
Aldridge led the Longhorns offense with 26 points and 13 rebounds. P.J. Tucker also added 15 points and 14 rebounds to vault Texas into the Elite Eight.
LSU upset Duke, 62-54, in the first Sweet 16 game. Despite foul trouble that saw Thomas and Davis on the bench for the latter part of the first half, the Tigers found a way to knock the Duke Blue Devils out of the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in five years.
Shelden Williams scored 23 points in the losing effort for the Blue Devils. J.J. Redick had one of the worst shootings nights of his career in his final collegiate game going 3-18 from the field for 11 points.
“I take responsibility. I think we all could have a little bit better job. The other team forces you into those situations. The game is a game of adjustments and I don’t think we ever completely adjusted to the physicality of this game”, said Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski.
LSU will face UCLA in the second game of the Final Four that starts on Saturday. The first game features Florida against the Cinderella story of George Mason.
Tech hosted the Atlanta Regional at the Georgia Dome and will be hosting next year’s Final Four.
