Thursday, March 28, 2013

East Region Tournament Facts

Here are some tournament facts about tonight's East Region Semifinalists:

Marquette is in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2003.  It is their 7th Elite Eight appearance.

Buzz Williams will be coaching in his first Elite Eight.

Syracuse is in the Elite Eight for the 2nd consecutive year.  It is their 9th Elite Eight appearance.

Jim Boeheim will be coaching in his 6th Elite Eight.

This will be the second time that Marquette and Syracuse have faced each other in the tournament in 3 years.  They played each other in the Round of 32 in  2011 with Marquette winning 66-62.

This is the 3rd time that two Big East teams will be facing each other in the Elite Eight.  In the other two games, the lower seed won:
  • 1987 - #6 Providence 88 #1 Georgetown 73
  • 2009 - #3 Villanova 78 #1 Pittsburgh 76
This is only the second time that Marquette has defeated a #2 seed.  Their other victory over a #2 seed was in the 2003 Elite Eight vs. Pittsburgh.  Marquette went to the Final Four that year.

During 2003, Marquette defeated #14, #6, #2 and #1 seeds in route to the Final Four.  So far this year, they have defeated #14, #6 and #2 seeds.

Marquette is 5-7 vs. teams ranked in the Top 5 in the AP Poll.  However, they have won the last 3 times they have played a Top 5 team:
  • 2003 - Defeated #4 Pittsburgh 77-74 in the Sweet Sixteen
  • 2003 - Defeated #1 Kentucky 83-69 in the Elite Eight
  • 2013 - Defeated #5 Miami, Fla 71-61 in the Sweet Sixteen
Syracuse is 5-10 vs. teams ranked in the Top 5 in the AP Poll.  However, they have won their last 3 times they have played a Top 5 team:
  • 2003 - Defeated #3 Oklahoma 63-47 in the Elite Eight
  • 2003 - Defeated #5 Texas 95-84 in the National Semifinals
  • 2013 - Defeated #4 Indiana 61-50 in the Sweet Sixteen
Syracuse is now 4-6 vs. #1 seeds.  They are tied for the 7th most wins over #1 seeds.  All wins have been as a lower seed, which is tied for 5th most upsets over #1 seeds.

Syracuse is 2-7 vs. the Big Ten.  Both of those wins have come in Sweet Sixteen games the last two years.  They defeated Wisconsin last year in the Sweet Sixteen 64-63.

Miami is now 0-2 in the Sweet Sixteen and has never advanced to the Elite Eight in 7 tournament appearances.
Miami is now 1-4 vs. ranked opponents.

Miami's 61 points is the fewest that they have scored in 13 tournament games.  Their previous low was 62 vs. UCLA in the 1998 Round of 64.

Indiana's 50 points is the 5th fewest that they have scored in 96 tournament games.  It is the 7th fewest that Syracuse has allowed in 94 tournament games.

Indiana fails to reach the Elite Eight as a #1 seed for the first time (3 appearances).

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