On the brink of an upset that would shake up the entire West Region, the Memphis Tigers got help from an unlikely hero in sophomore guard Roburt Sallie, who exploded for 35 points after just averaging 4.5 a game this season as he led Memphis to an 81–70 victory over Cal State-Northridge.
“Coach said keep shooting,” said Sallie following the game.
And kept shooting he did. After coming off the bench, Sallie was the spark the No. 2 seeded Tigers (32–3, 16–0 C-USA) needed, hitting 10 three-pointers en route to his 35 points.
“I never made 10 three-pointers before,” said Sallie of his lights-out shooting. He hit 10 three-pointers on only 15 attempts.
Sallie’s unlikely onslaught came because of No. 15 seeded Northridge’s (17–14, 11–5 Big West) focus on the Tigers more prominent offense threats, like senior guard Antonio Anderson and senior forward Robert Dozier. Those two were well defended all game.
“They kept leaving me open. I got a lot of open looks today and I just hit the shots” said Sallie.
Despite the 11-point victory, the Tigers struggled with the Matadors all game as they led by only three at halftime, and with about seven minutes to go in the game, Northridge was up 64–61 before the Tigers went on a 20–6 run to close out the game.
Cal’s Poor Shooting
Live by the three, die by the three—a good way to describe the team with the best three-point shooting percentage in the country going into the tournament, and the latter part of the statement sums up the first round loss to Maryland, as the Terrapins defeated California 84–71 in the first round of the West Regional on Thursday.
“If we’re not shooting the ball well, we struggle, which was clearly the case tonight,” Cal head coach Mike Montgomery said of the loss.
The No. 7 seeded Bears (22–11, 11–7 Pac-10) could never get in a groove beyond the arc as they shot just 7 for 24 from the land of plenty, after finishing the season shooting 43 percent from long range.
The poor shooting came more from No. 10 seeded Maryland’s (21–13, 7–9 ACC) pressure defense than actual poor shooting, as Cal struggled just to get good looks and into a rhythm.
“I don’t truthfully know if Maryland did anything different than other [teams] did, but they got us out of our rhythm a little bit,” Montgomery said. “Maybe that’s a consequence of their press, but we never seemed to get in any sort of rhythm. It’s very difficult for us to compete against a good team without shooting the ball well.”
Maryland’s offense was paced by none other than junior guard Greivis Williams, who had 27 points to go along with five rebounds and two steals. Senior forward Dave Neil also had 15 points for the Terrapins while junior forward Theo Robertson had 22 points and six rebounds in the loss for Cal.
Maryland will look to upset No. 2 seed Memphis in the second round on Saturday.
Butler Falls to LSU
Butler’s bid to be this year’s Cinderella team ended in the first round at the hands of LSU in a 75–71 defeat.
The No. 9 seeded Bulldogs (26–6, 15–3 Horizon) were led by sophomore forward Matt Howards’s 22 points and eight rebounds while the No. 8 seeded Tigers (27–7, 13–3 SEC) were led by senior guard Marcus Thornton’s 30 points and four steals.
After being bounced in the first round for the first time since 2000, despite being feared by many as a team ready to make some major upsets, Butler head coach Brad Stevens realizes there is not much to take away from the loss, except looking forward to next year.
“The chance is now gone, and, you know, nothing is guaranteed” he said. “For us, we have to be terrific in the regular season if we don’t win our conference tournament, and we recognize that. So you have to maximize every day.”
LSU now moves to the second round of the South Region to take on No. 1 seeded North Carolina on Saturday.
Matt Sugam also writes for The Daily Targum at Rutgers.
