Kansas State - La Salle Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about Kansas State and La Salle:

Post-Game:
With La Salle winning, the Atlantic Ten is now 6-0.  The 6 wins is one shy of the Atlantic Ten record which is 7 set in 1993.

La Salle wins two games in a tournament since 1955 when they lost in the National Championship game to San Francisco.

The Atlantic Ten is 7-11 against the Big Twelve.

La Salle is 3-1 in games decided by 3 or fewer points.  Kansas State is 7-4 in those such games.

Kansas State is now 7-2 when ranked vs. an unranked opponent.  Their other loss was in the 1988 Elite Eight vs. Kansas.

 Kansas State now has a tournament worst 0-4 record on March 22.

Pre-Game:
Kansas State and La Salle have played each other once before in the tournament.  Kansas State defeated La Salle 66-53 in the 1988 Round of 64.

Kansas State has won their first tournament game in the each of their last 4 tournament appearances and has been in the Round of 32 the last 3 years.

Bruce Weber is the 9th coach to coach for Kansas State in the tournament which is tied for second most with UCLA behind Western Kentucky which has had 12 coaches.

Kansas State has faced one Atlantic Ten team in past tournaments.  They defeated Xavier 101-96 in the 2010 Sweet Sixteen in 2 OT.

Kansas State has been a #4 once before.  In 1988, they advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to Kansas.

Kansas State is 4-4 and La Salle is 3-1 when playing in the state of Missouri. 

Kansas State is 0-3 on March 22 which is tied for the worst record on this date.

Tournament Streaks - Seeds

Here are the current streaks of appearances by seeds:

Consecutive Years Seeded #1
There are no repeat #1 seeds for the second straight year.  It is only the second time that has happened.  1987 and 1988 was the other time.

Duke holds the record with 5 straight #1 seeds from from 1998 to 2002.

Consecutive Years Seeded #1 or #2
1. Duke 6
2. Kansas 4
    Ohio State 4

Duke's current streak is tied for the all-time record.  They also had 6 straight from 1997-2002.

Consecutive Years with Top 3 Seed
1. Kansas 7
2. Duke 6
3. Ohio State 4
4. Georgetown 2
    Marquette 2
    Michigan State 2

North Carolina holds the record with 11 from 1979 to 1989.

Consecutive Years with Top 4 Seed
1. Kansas 13
2. Duke 6
3. Syracuse 5
4. Ohio State 4
5. Louisville 3

Kansas's current streak is the all-time record.

Consecutive Years with Top 5 Seed
1. Kansas 13
2. Duke 6
3. Syracuse 5
4. Ohio State 4
    Wisconsin 4

Kentucky holds the record with 14 from 1992 to 2005.

Consecutive Years with Top 6 Seed
1. Duke 17
2. Kansas 13
3. Syracuse 5
4. Georgetown 4
    Ohio State 4
    Wisconsin 4

Duke's current streak is the all-time record.

Consecutive years with Top 7 Seed

1. Duke 17
2. Kansas 13
3. Syracuse 5
4. Georgetown 4
    Notre Dame 4
    Ohio State 4
    Wisconsin 4

Duke's current streak is the all-time record.

Consecutive years with Top 8 Seed
1. Kansas 24
2. Duke 18
3. Ohio State 5
    Syracuse 5
5. Georgetown 4
    Kansas State 4
    UNLV 4
    Notre Dame 4
    Wisconsin 4

Kansas breaks North Carolina's record of 23 straight from 1979 to 2001

Tournament Streaks

As Selection Sunday approaches, I thought I would take a look at some active streaks that are in jeopardy.

Consecutive Tournament Appearances:

1. Kansas 23
2. Duke 17
3. Michigan State 15
4. Gonzaga 14
    Texas 14
    Wisconsin 14

Texas' string of appearances will end at 14 while the others are definite locks.

Other streaks in jeopardy:
Xavier - 7
Brigham Young - 6
Purdue - 6
West Virginia - 5

Consecutive At-Large Appearances:
1. Texas 14
2. Marquette 7
3. Brigham Young 6
    Xavier 6
5. Syracuse 4
    Wisconsin 4

Texas, Brigham Young and Xavier will all miss the tournament this year, so Marquette will now have the most consecutive at-large apperances.  Syracuse and Wisconsin are in, but their streaks would be snapped if they win their conference tournaments.

The 14 consecutive at-large bids for Texas is an all-time tournament record.

Consecutive years with at least a Top 4 seed:

1. Kansas 12
2. Duke 5
3. Syracuse 4
4. Kentucky 3
    Ohio State 3
    Wisconsin 3

Kansas, Duke and Ohio State are safely Top 4 seeds. ESPN Bracketology had Syracuse at a 4 in yesterday's bracket, but with their run in the Big East tournament, they will most likely continue that streak.  Wisconsin was on the 5 line, so they are on the borderline of receiving a Top 4 seed.  Kentucky will definitely not be a Top 4 seed and may not even make the tournament.

Consecutive appearances in Round of 32:

1. Kansas 6
    Purdue 6
    Wisconsin 6
4. Gonzaga 4
    Syracuse 4
6. Kansas State 3
    Kentucky 3
    Ohio State 3

For the teams making the tournament, we will have to wait until Thursday or Friday to find out if they continue the streak, but Purdue's streak will come to an end and Kentucky's streak is in serious jeopardy.

Consecutive appearance in Sweet Sixteen:

Kentucky and Ohio State have both been to the last 3 Sweet Sixteens.  Kentucky's streak is most likely to end even if they make the tournament.  Ohio State has a great shot to return.  Five teams (Florida, Kansas, Marquette, North Carolina and Wisconsin) have all been to the Sweet Sixteen the last two years.  All have a legitimate shot of returning with North Carolina projected as the lowest seed (#7) on yesterday's bracketology.

Biggest Win over #1 Ranked Team

With Miami's 27-point win over #1 Duke last night, I wondered what the largest defeats by #1 teams in the tournament have been.

The following are the largest margin of defeat for teams that were ranked #1 in the AP Poll entering the tournament:

• #2 UCLA defeated #1 Houston 101-69 (32 points) in 1968 National Semifinals
• #4 Kansas defeated #1 North Carolina 84-66 (18 points) in 2008 National Semifinals
• #9 Marquette defeated #1 Kentucky 83-69 (14 points) in 2003 Elite Eight
• #2 Cincinnati defeated #1 Ohio State 71-59 (12 points) in 1962 National Championship
• #8 Michigan State defeated #1 Louisville 64-52 (12 points) in 2009 Elite Eight
• #3 Michigan State defeated #1 Indiana State 75-64 (11 points) in 1979 National Championship
• #2 UCLA defeated #1 Michigan 91-80 (11 points) in 1965 National Championship
• #5 Duke defeated #1 Temple 63-53 (10 points) in 1988 Elite Eight
• #5 Cincinnati defeated #1 Kansas State 85-75 (10 points) in 1959 Elite Eight

The largest margin of defeat for a #1 team in the Sweet Sixteen is #13 Florida over #1 Duke 87-78 in 2000.

The largest margin of defeat for a #1 team in the Round of 32 is UCLA over #1 DePaul 77-71 in 1980.  That game is also the largest margin of defeat for an unranked team over a #1 team.

Between 2006 and 2009, the #1 team was defeated by 8 or more points each year.  Only one other time in tournament history had there even been consecutive years in which the #1 team lost by 8 or more points (1959 and 1960).

Best Individual Game Performances in the 2012 Tournament

Best Individual Game Performances in the 2012 Tournament
Points - Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State - 31
3-point FG Pct (min 5 att) - Laurent Rivard, Harvard - 85.7% (6-7)
3-point FG Made - Brady Heslip, Baylor - 9
FG Pct - Miles Plumlee, Duke - 100% (9-9)*
FG Made - Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State - 13
FT Pct - Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky - 100% (10-10)*
FT Made - Brian Conklin, Saint Louis; Gary Browne, West Virgina; Michael Kidd-Gilchrist - 10
Rebounds - Tyler Zeller, North Carolina - 22
Offensive Rebounds - Jordan Henriguez-Roberts, Kansas State - 11
Defensive Rebounds - Draymond Green, Michigan State - 15
Assists - Kendall Marshall, North Carolina - 11
Steals - Brent Arrington, Mississippi Valley - 7
Blocks - Jeff Withey, Kansas - 10
*Most attempts for those that shot 100%