Temple
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
UPDATE: Tyrone Garland hit the game-winning shot with 2.5 seconds left to lead La Salle past Mississippi, 76-74, in Kansas City. The Explorers are headed to the Sweet 16 in Los Angeles. They'll play Wichita State in the West Region semifinal on Thursday.
The "Southwest Philly Floater," as Garland called it in a television interview after the game, will go down as one of the great shots in Philadelphia college basketball history.
What a remarkable run it has been for La Salle. John Giannini and his players deserve every minute of the celebrations they'll have when they get back to Philly.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Click here for Saturday's TV schedule.
Sunday (all times are Eastern):
12:15 p.m.: W2. Ohio State vs. W10. Iowa State at Dayton, Ohio (CBS/Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson)
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
UPDATE (3:50 p.m.) - No. 9 Temple advanced past No. 8 N.C. State with a 76-72 win in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
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I have been covering college basketball in Philadelphia for a decade now, and I can't remember heading into a day as wild as this one promises to be.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Here's a transcript of Temple's press conference ahead of Friday's game against N.C. State in Dayton.
THE MODERATOR: We're being joined by Temple student‑athletes, Jake O'Brien, Scootie Randall, and Khalif Wyatt.
Q. Khalif, you guys have been here so many times, and you've struggled in the first round except for one game. What's going to be different about this time? Have you guys even talked about the difference maybe in this year compared to years past?
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Here's a transcript of N.C. State's press conference ahead of Friday's NCAA tournament game against Temple in Dayton.
THE MODERATOR: We're now being joined by NC State student‑athletes Lorenzo Brown, Scott Wood, Richard Howell, and C.J. Leslie.
Q. So you guys last year, nobody had any experience in the NCAAs. This year, obviously, you have that experience. Does that help you guys feel more comfortable?
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
For a while, I had talked myself out of doing a bracket this year. I wanted to have the discipline to not bother, to just sit back and enjoy watching games without caring about pools or being held to predictions.
Well, just hours before the start of the first round, I got talked back into it. So here are my picks.
Let's get the hardest part over wtih first. I have all three Philly teams losing in the second round. I don’t like any of the matchups.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
The NCAA has published its overall ranking of seeds in the NCAA Tournament. It's similar to the S-Curve, in that it compares all 68 teams in the field to each other.
It's a pretty close approximation to where the actual seeds ended up. But you'll see exactly where teams got bumped up or down a line in order to make second-round matchups. It looks like Villanova got moved up a seed line from a 10-seed, where it naturally fell, to a 9-seed.
Also take a look at where La Salle landed. The Explorers were the second-to-last at-large team brought into the field of 68. Middle Tennessee State was officially the "last team in." La Salle ranks No. 49 on the overall seed list, and MTSU ranks No. 50. All of the teams below that point are conference champions.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Here's where the local teams are headed:
Villanova: No. 9 in the South region, will play No. 8 North Carolina in Kansas City on Friday.
Temple: No. 9 in the East region, will play No. 8 N.C. State in Dayton on Friday.
La Salle: No. 13b in the West region, will play No. 13a. Boise State in the first round in Dayton on Wednesday. The winner will play No. 4 Kansas State on Friday in Kansas City.
Join me for a live chat as the 2013 NCAA men's basketball championship bracket is revealed.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association's All-District teams have been announced, and as you would expect, the Big 5 is well-represented in the district that includes our region.
I am a member of the USBWA, and though I've voted for All-District honors in the past, I didn't this year because I don't feel I've watched enough live games to cast a well-informed ballot. Still, there are hundreds of USBWA members across the country, so I have a lot of respect for these awards.
Here are the honorees for District II, which includes Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, as well as New York, D.C. and West Virginia:
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Georgetown at Villanova
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
Venue: The Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pa.
TV/Radio: ESPN2 (Mike Patrick and LaPhonso Ellis)/WHAT 1340-AM
Temple at Fordham
Reach Jonathan at jtannenwald@phillynews.com or 215-854-2330.
