40 Acres Sports

Interesting matchup going on in the NCAA Tournament right now on CBS, Bradley is facing Pittsburgh. Now the announcers have noticed it too.

I’m easily amused.

Paulino has a sore knee, so A.J. Abrams and J.D. Lewis will see more playing time.

Couple of upsets over the last two days that should serve to remind the Horns that this is March Madness and anything can happen. I imagine Rick Barnes mentioned to the guys that #1 seed Connecticut was down twelve to #16 Albany with about ten minutes to go.

First Half

• The defense is forcing Penn to take shots they probably don’t want to. Long threes with the shot clock running down with a defender in their face.
• Three minutes in and someone finally scores. Texas is getting some good shots and is just a little rusty right now. They’ve got to start early getting the ball to LaMarcus Aldridge inside.
• Aldridge has position right under the basket and we don’t get the ball to him.

Penn 0, Texas 2

• 5 minutes in and still only 3 total points on the board. The Quakers haven’t gotten off a single decent shot.
• Just as I type that last comment, Penn nails an open 3 pointer and ties the game at 3.
• Aldridge is giving the ball up too easily. There’s not a guy on the floor that can guard him and he needs to realize it.
• How many people are at the game? I can here individual people yelling “hey” at the Penn free throw shooter. Or is it mic placement?
• AJ Abrams turns the damn ball over as usual. Protect the ball young man.

Penn 8, Texas 9

• About 11 minutes remaining in the first half and we’re letting them hang around because we’re useless on offense. It’s hard to pull away from a team if you only score 20 points per half.
• Still playing good D. I’m not sure if Penn has anybody that can really kill us from beyond the arc. We’re dominating on defense, shooting decently on offense, we’ve just got to stop turning the ball over.
• Nasty rejection by Aldridge.
• Brad Buckman has missed several shots from point blank range but keeps getting his own rebound.
• Terrible call by the official as they call Abrams for a block as he takes a forearm to the chest. He’s set and the Quaker bowls him over and they call AJ for the foul.

Penn 11, Texas 13

• Seven minutes left. Daniel Gibson just passed up an open 3 and drove and blew a layup. He had a lane to the basket but he can be afraid to pull the trigger.
• And we’re done by one. Maybe I spoke too soon about their long range shooting. Of course they’re getting more open looks lately.
• Buckman hits Texas’ first three of the game with 4 and a half left.

Penn 16, Texas 16

• 3:41 remaining. We should think about scoring some points. I think that would be useful.
• They seem to be calling random crap away from the ball on us inside. Announcers didn’t see anything either.
• 90 seconds left and we don’t have a single point from our guards.

Penn 22, Texas 22

• The announcers made it sound like Gibson undercut the Penn player on purpose. It’s kind of hard to intentionally back into a guy who you don’t see coming.

Penn 23, Texas 22

• We have about 6 seconds not to go into halftime freaking down to #15 seed Penn.
• Abrams can’t get the ball down court because of the pressure (Penn was intentionally trying to foul him but the refs didn’t notice) and we only get off a halfcourt heave. Going into halftime down 2. It’s not like Penn is playing well, we’re just handling the ball like crap and shooting even worse. We’ve had open shots and inside looks, and often had trouble even hitting rim on those looks. It’s an awfully late start, maybe it’s past our guards’ bed time.

(more …)

Tonight at 8:40 PM CST Texas will be playing their first round matchup against the Penn Quakers, in what amounts to essentially a home game at the American Airlines Center. Texas is making their 8th straight trip to the NCAA tournament with Penn making it to the big dance 9 times in the last 12 years.

LaMarcus Aldridge, might possibly be playing in his first and last postseason with the Longhorns. Aldridge had big games against the likes of Memphis and Villanova, but has struggled lately and did not finish the season strong. He will have to step up his game if the Longhorns want to make a real run at the National Championship.

Daniel Gibson also needs to get off to a good start. When he gets going early in the game, it is usually a sign of good things to come for the Longhorns. Gibson’s and Aldridge’s play will be important in the early rounds, so that they can take pressure of PJ Tucker having to do everything.

Penn brings the Ivy League’s leading scoring Ibrahim Jaaber, who is averging 18.4 ppg and 3.4 steals. Penn has two key players, Steve Danley and Eric Osmundson, coming off of injury that will have to step up if they have any chance of pulling off the upset.

All-in-all, Texas should be able to dominate the frontcourt in this game and come up with the easy victory.

McNamara looked tired/hurt/crappy. Aggies pull upset, Sooners get upset.

Why do so many Louisiana teams leave the state out of their directional name?

After watching LSU tonight, the Blue Devils might not make it to the Elite 8.

From Bevo Beat:

An unspecified numbeer of tickets for the Friday night session of first-round NCAA men’s basketball — the session featuring Texas vs. Penn — will go on sale at 2 p.m. Thursday. Those tickets will cost $50. The tickets will be sold online at www.ticketmaster.com, by phone at (214) 373-8000 and at the American Airlines Center box office.

I wonder what kind of seats they’re going to be? I tried to get tickets on Sunday and they were all way upper deck and right behind the basket. Maybe a school or another ticket vendor didn’t sell theirs, and these will be better tickets.

$1.99 per game of $19.99 for the entire tournament. (via)

Thanks so much for reminding me yesterday and already so early today against Kansas why I can’t stand watching college basketball. The way you guys are so inconsistent and allow violent contact inside on shots while calling ticky tack touch fouls away from the ball is really great. I also like that you seem to decide every game instead of letting the players do so.

College basketball makes the WWE look well officiated. I half expect to see a Jayhawk player hit PJ Tucker across the back with a chair while the refs call a foul on Kenton Paulino for getting shoved.