2008-09 SEASON REVIEW 1187 2009 NCAA Tournament As the No. 1 overall seed for the first time in First Second Regional Regional school history, the Cardinals blitz in-state rival Round Round Semifinals Finals Morehead State. With the win, No. 1 seeds Ạ improve to 100-0 against No. 16s since the 1 Louisville 74 Tournament expanded in 1985. 16* Morehead State 54 Ạ Louisville 79 Cleveland State jumps out to a 15-4 lead in the Siena 72 8 Ohio State 72 (2OT) first half and stuns the Demon Deacons, who 9 Siena 74 briefly held the No. 1 ranking during the season. Louisville 103 ạ Norris Cole leads the winners with 22, while Arizona 64 5 Utah 71 leading Wake scorer gets only 10. 12 Arizona 84 Arizona 71 After crushing Arizona, Louisville falls victim to Cleveland State 57 4 Wake Forest 69 Michigan State’s aggressive defense and coach 13 Cleveland State 84 ạ Rick Pitino benches star Louisville 52 Ả for the last five minutes of the first half. The Indianapolis Michigan State 64 Ả 6 West Virginia 60 Spartans earn their fifth Final Four trip in 10 11 Dayton 68 years, the most of any school in that span. MIDWEST Dayton 43 Kansas 60 Despite losing all five starters from its 2008 3 Kansas 84 championship team, Kansas reaches the Sweet 14 North Dakota State 74 Kansas 62 ả 16 and plays Michigan State tough before losing. Michigan State 67 ả The Jayhawks’ Cole Aldrich has 17 points and 14 7 Boston College 55 rebounds for his third straight double-double. 10 USC 72 USC 69 Michigan State 74 2 Michigan State 77 15 Robert Morris 62 Michigan State 82 Playing before a Connecticut 73 record Final Four 1 Connecticut 103 crowd of 72,456 at 16 Chattanooga 47 Ấ Connecticut 92 Detroit’s Ford Field, Texas A&M 66 much of which is 8 BYU 66 National dressed in Spartan 9 Texas A&M 79 Semifinal Connecticut 72 green, MSU lets UConn Purdue 60 ấ get close with a minute 5 Purdue 61 remaining. But Durrell 12 Northern Iowa 56 Purdue 76 Summers, a Detroit Washington 74 native, nails a three to 4 Washington 71 bring a ray of sunshine 13 Mississippi State 58 Connecticut 82 to a city and state that Glendale Missouri 75 have been devastated 6 Marquette 58

WEST by the meltdown of the 11 Utah State 57 Marquette 79 auto industry. Missouri 83 3 Missouri 78 National Final 14 Cornell 59 Missouri 102 Memphis 91 The Tar Heels take the pro-MSU 7 71 crowd out of the game early, 10 Maryland 84 Maryland 70 opening a 17-7 lead in the first five Memphis 89 minutes and building it to 55-34 at 2 Memphis 81 intermission, setting title-game 15 Cal State Northridge 70 records for biggest halftime margin North Carolina 89 and most points in a half. Although 1 Pittsburgh 72 the Spartans get back to within Michigan State 72 16 East Tenn. St. 62 Pittsburgh 84 13, the outcome is never in doubt. Oklahoma State 76 Guard , who missed 8 Oklahoma State 77 several late-season games with a 9 Tennessee 75 Pittsburgh 60 toe injury, leads the Heels with 21 Xavier 55 points and a record eight steals. 5 Florida State 59 (OT) 12 Wisconsin 61 Wisconsin 49 Detroit Xavier 60 4 Xavier 77 13 Portland State 59 Four Tar Heels who Pittsburgh 76 considered going Boston Villanova 78 pro after the 2007-08 EAST 6 UCLA 65 11 VCU 64 season—Ty Lawson, UCLA 69 , Villanova 89 3 Villanova 80 and 14 American 67 —score

Villanova 77 22, 20, 18 and 12 points, REVIEW ANNUAL Duke 54 7 Texas 76 respectively, as UNC 10 Minnesota 62 National overwhelms Villanova. Texas 69 Semifinal The Wildcats have Duke 74 2 Duke 86 no answer for 15 Binghamton 62 Hansbrough, who also Villanova 69 grabs 11 rebounds. North Carolina 83 1 North Carolina 101 16 Radford 58 Ầ North Carolina 84 LSU 70 With coach Jim Calhoun hospitalized for apparent 8 LSU 75 dehydration, the Huskies are led by associate 9 Butler 71 North Carolina 98 Ấ head coach George Blaney. Calhoun, who is also Gonzaga 77 battling cancer, is released in time for UConn’s 5 Illinois 72 second-round game against Texas A&M. 12 Western Kentucky 76 ầ Western Kentucky 81 Gonzaga 83 As the Huskies prepare to play Purdue in 4 Gonzaga 77 Glendale, Ariz., a story breaks alleging that UConn 13 Akron 64 North Carolina 72 violated NCAA rules in recruiting Nate Miles, Memphis Oklahoma 60 ấ who transferred to the College of Southern Idaho 6 Arizona State 66 before the season. Coach Jim Calhoun promises SOUTH 11 Temple 57 Arizona State 67 to cooperate with a university investigation. Syracuse 78 3 Syracuse 59 UNC wins a primary for new President Barack 14 Stephen F. Austin 44 Obama, whose bracket has them going all the Syracuse 71 way. Obama won’t say if he consulted brother- Oklahoma 84 Ầ 7 Clemson 59 in-law Craig Robinson, the Oregon State coach 10 Michigan 62 whose team finished with an 18–18 record. Michigan 63 Oklahoma 73 Without ace defender Chester Frazier, Illinois 2 Oklahoma 82 loses to Western Kentucky and first-year coach 15 Morgan State 54 ầ Ken McDonald. WKU has Danced under 11 Opening round: Morehead State d. Alabama State 58-43 ! Team participation later vacated different coaches—the most in NCAA history.