Final Four has some work to catch up with First 64

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The last three games of the 2014 NCAA Tournament are going to have to be dandies, indeed, to equal the best of the first 64 games of the event played over the past two weeks.

*Seven games needed overtimes to determine winners.

*Non-OT games included 13 decided by five or fewer points –six of those by two points and one by a single point.

My, oh, my . . .

Here is one person’s – mine – choice for the Top 10 most entertaining, well-played and compelling (often with difference doses of each) of the 64 already on the books:

 

1. Kentucky 78, Wichita State 76 (Midwest Round of 32/St. Louis): It’s difficult imagine that there was a better – for the “entertaining, well-played and compelling” reasons – game play anywhere, anytime, this season. It also was highlighted by the best individual offensive performance – relative to the quality of opponent – of the tournament, Cleanthony Early’s 34 points (12 of 17 from the field, including four of six attempts from behind the arc, usually with a defender’s hand in his face), with nary a turnover. This was game in which it was obvious that Kentucky’s freshmen were no longer “freshmen”. The Wildcats’ next two victories also served notice to those who doubted them throughout the season that the Shockers – who might be 38-zip and playing Wisconsin Saturday in Arlington – were every bit as good as their lofty record.
2. Kentucky 75, Michigan 72 (Midwest final/Indianapolis): Amazingly enough, the Wildcats picked up their consecutive upset despite playing without sophomore center Willie Cauley-Smith (who is also expected not to play this weekend with the same apparent ankle injury). Aaron Harrison’s 3-pointer, off the handoff from twin Andrew, etched “Harrison” in Wildcat Lore forever, even if Kentucky falls to Wisconsin Saturday night and it proves to be the final game the guards played for the program before departing for the NBA draft. And this game also could also prove to the final game in college for Michigan’s remarkably skilled sophomore Nik Stauskas before he begins workouts in preparation for June 26 draft.
3. Wisconsin 64, Arizona 63 (OT/West final/Anaheim): For much of the season Sean Miller’s Wildcats were as good as any team country – and maybe better than anyone else. But there was just a bit too much Frank Kaminsky for any defender, or combination thereof, Miller assigned to the Badgers’ 7-footer whose jump shot fell every moment his team needed it. Bo Ryan got his first ever. Three Miller-coached teams have ended up one win short of the Final Four. He’ll get there eventually.
4. Connecticut 60, Michigan State 54 (East final/NYC): What a story – Kevin Ollie gets his alma mater into the Final Four in just his second season as the Huskies’ head coach, by way of a win, in Madison Square Garden, over a team a lot of folks had made at least the “co-favorite” (with top seed Florida) to win the national title. And the Huskies had to survive one of those overtime games – with Saint Joseph’s in the Round of 64 – to start the run.
5. Michigan State 61, Virginia 59 (East Round of 16/NYC): If anyone wanted to market the definite 40-minute video on “how to play defense”, this game would suit that aspiration perfectly. Shots – with the exception of a couple of Adreian Payne dunks for the Spartans – don’t come more contested on the college level than they did in this one, folks.
6. Dayton 60, Ohio State 59 (South Round of 64/Buffalo): This upset – coupled with the one two days later over Syracuse – signaled very succinctly what in store on the horizon for the Flyers, or any other program Archie Miller ultimately coaches. The game also ended with this indelible image: Aaron Craft missing a potential game-winning shot in the closing seconds of his remarkable OSU career.
7. Kentucky 74, Louisville 69 (Midwest Round of 16/Indianapolis): The Wildcats trailed big – by 13 points midway through the first half – but trimmed the deficit to three at intermission then at the Cardinals on the ropes most of the second half. Aaron Harrison’s 3-pointer put Kentucky up to stay with 39 seconds to go. Two days later Aaron hit an even bigger one, of course. Two for two against Louisville and Rick Pitino this season, while bouncing the defending national champions from the tourney – that has to please the Big Blue Nation to no end, I would imagine.
8. Texas 87, Arizona State 85 (Midwest Round of 64/Milwaukee): Other than Aaron Harrison’s game-winner against Michigan, there might not have been more emphatic final bucket in the tournament so far than Cameron Ridley’s follow – at the buzzer – of a Jonathan Holmes missed 3 attempt.
9. North Carolina 79, Providence 77 (East Round of 64/San Antonio): Bryce Cotton’s  nice imitation (36 points, five rebounds and eight assists) of a “One-man Show” nearly gave the Friars the Round of 64 victory over the Tar Heels.
10. Stanford 60, Kansas 57 (South Round of 32/St. Louis): The Cardinal’s second upset – Coach Johnny Dawkins’ squad toppled MWC tourney champion New Mexico in the Round of 64 – brought an oh-so-abrupt end to what proved to be a 35-game, one-season college “career” for the Jayhawks Andrew Wiggins. It wasn’t a memorable exit: He had as many turnovers – four – as points while missing five of his six field-goal attempts.