Top seeds feel the heat
PHILADELPHIA — The record is up to 88-0.
But for about 30 minutes in each of its truly unbelievable games, Albany and Monmouth seemed positioned to make the improbable possible: a No. 16 seed finally beating a No. 1 in the NCAA tournament. And what runs they made.
The thrilling shots and the clutch stops were in supply, and a crowd that always loves to root for the tournament underdogs was erupting after each play. In the end, though, Connecticut and Villanova had too much skill, too much experience and too much to lose — like a legitimate shot at a national championship — to end up on the infamous wrong end of an unprecedented upset.
"There is pressure," Villanova coach Jay Wright said after top-seeded Villanova beat Monmouth 58-45 on Friday in the first round. "You don't want to be the first one seed to go down to a 16 seed."
Albany — which spent a week proclaiming, "Why Not Us?" — took a 12-point lead with 11:34 to play against No. 1 Connecticut, leaving sports bar fanatics and bracket bettors across the country abuzz watching the scoreboard. The Huskies, ranked No. 1 in the country for five weeks this season, then went on a 28-5 run to take command of the game and end up with a 72-59 victory.
So maybe that monumental first wasn't going to happen in Philadelphia. But most seem to agree a No. 16 seed will beat a No. 1 seed sometime soon.
"It's a matter of the stars having to be lined up right and things going well for the 16 seed and not so well for the one seed," Monmouth coach Dave Calloway said. "But that margin is closing a little bit."
Monmouth guard Chris Kenny, who was taunted by the fans a day after his amusing shots at Philadelphia as a second-rate city compared to New York, and the "pathetic" Eagles, believed the talent gap has closed between the nation's elite and the tournament also-rans.
"It will be done," he said. "I do believe that in my lifetime, a No. 16 seed will beat a No. 1 seed."
Allan Ray returned from a scary eye injury to score 19 points, Randy Foye added 17 points and the Wildcats (26-4) advanced to play eighth-seeded Arizona on Sunday in the Minneapolis Regional.
Arizona got 21 points from Hassan Adams and Ivan Radenovic added 18, leading the eighth-seeded Wildcats to a 94-75 victory over ninth-seeded Wisconsin.
The 16th-seeded Hawks (19-15) hardly looked intimidated playing on Villanova's home turf. Monmouth never let Villanova make a serious run and turned the neutral fans in their favor.
The Hawks, who beat Hampton in the play-in game for their first NCAA tourney win, gave everything they could trying to pull off the first 16-over-1 upset.
Dejan Delic led the way for Monmouth, the Northeast Conference champions, in the second half. He scored nine straight points, including a 3-pointer from the right corner with 6:22 left that made it 47-40.
"We thought we had a chance," said Tyler Azzarelli, who had 11 points. "At that moment, we all kind of looked at each other in unspoken words and said we could do this."
The Hawks, weren't finished, yet. Delic, who scored 17 points, calmly made two free throws with 3:52 to go that kept the deficit at 10. Only then did they start to fade, scoring only three more points.
The crowd was still buzzing from that one when the Great Danes (21-11) tried to finish what the Hawks couldn't.
From the start, Albany played as if it belonged on the same floor with one of the nation's perennial powerhouse programs. No one thought Albany could match Connecticut's depth and talent — except for the Great Danes.
Connecticut only led 31-30 at halftime. A 13-0 run early in the second half gave Albany a 43-33 lead. Then the Huskies took over, and sent Albany back home.
Connecticut (28-3) plays Sunday against Kentucky (22-12) in the second round of the Washington Regional. The eighth-seeded Wildcats earned a small dose of revenge for two of their most torturous tourney losses of the past 25 years, getting a career-high 25 points from Bobby Perry to beat UAB 69-64.
