As Kansas State point guard Angel Rodriguez tried to drive baseline during the last possession of his team's NCAA tournament matchup with La Salle on Friday, Wildcats coach Bruce Weber already regretted not stopping the clock to draw up a final play.

A frantic Weber unsuccessfully tried to get the referees' attention to call timeout with about two seconds to go, a sure sign things weren't going as planned.

Rodriguez wanted to free himself via a Thomas Gipson screen to take game-tying shot, but they botched the timing of the play and the La Salle defender was able to get over the top with ease. Walled off from the rim and lacking any other option but to shoot, Rodriguez hoisted up a baseline prayer from behind the backboard that predictably failed to draw iron, condemning fourth-seeded Kansas State to a 63-61 upset loss to the 13th-seeded Explorers.

"All year we've just went and tried to make a play down the stretch," Weber said. "Once I saw it was bogged up, I tried to call timeout. I know it's tough on the officials because they're focusing on the game. I was sitting right with them. I looked at the clock at 2.2. I yelled it as loud as I could, but we didn't get the call. Sometimes things aren't meant to be."

Kansas State's setback was especially crushing because the Wildcats had to deliver a nearly perfect second half just to have a chance to win the game at all. They rallied from 18 points down at halftime behind superior interior play and relentless defense, holding La Salle to just three made field goals in the second half and to zero in the final 7:55.

Read More »from Atlantic 10 remains perfect in NCAA tournament thanks to botched final Kansas State possession

On the eve of his team's opening-round NCAA tournament matchup against Wisconsin, Ole Miss guard Marshall Henderson offered some insight into his mindset.

"I'm trying to get paid here soon because I'm tired of doing all this stuff for free," he said. "And this is where you make your money, the NCAA tournament."

[Also: NCAA tourney an event made for Las Vegas]

The performance that followed from Henderson was exactly what you'd expect from a trigger-happy gunner trying to make a name for himself and prove he's worthy of earning a paycheck someday. He shot the ball. Often.

Shaking off a nightmarish 1 of 13 start from the field with hardly a care, Henderson caught fire in the final 12 minutes and carried 12th-seeded Ole Miss to a 57-46 upset of the fifth-seeded Badgers. Hendserson scored 17 of his game-high 19 points during the Rebels' game-ending 27-10 blitz, a run he started with back-to-back threes that got him going after an ice-cold start.

The biggest shot from Henderson was a 25-footer with 2:52 left that answered a 3-pointer from Traevon Jackson and extended Ole Miss' lead back to six. That shot appeared to suck the life out of the Badgers and gave the Rebels the energy they needed to finish off the upset.

Why would Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy encourage Henderson to keep shooting despite so many ghastly off-balance jump shots in the first 28 minutes? Well, probably because Kennedy knows the rest of his defense-oriented roster needs a perimeter player to provide instant offense, and Henderson is the best option he has. The 6-foot-2 junior shot only 38.5 percent from the field this season yet led the SEC in scoring at 20.5 points per game.

Read More »from Ole Miss rides the Marshall Henderson coaster to a big upset of Wisconsin

Shabazz Muhammad (Getty Images)

In an era when young players work with the finest trainers, crisscross the country going to tournaments and change high schools three or four times in search of the best showcase for their talents, the lengths families go to groom a pro prospect is well-known.

Still, the Los Angeles Times managed to uncover a nugget about heralded UCLA freshman Shabazz Muhammad that is definitely eye-opening.

According to a story published hours before UCLA's opening-round NCAA tournament game against Minnesota on Friday night, Muhammad is one year older than he and his family have claimed he is. UCLA's men's basketball media guide lists his date of birth as Nov. 13, 1993, but Times reporter Ken Bensinger discovered that his birth certificate on file with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health shows was born exactly one year earlier.

[Also: NCAA tournament Friday viewer guide]

Muhammad's bio on UCLA's official athletics site has since been updated.

Asked about the discrepancy by Bensinger, Muhammad's father, Ron Holmes, initially said it "must be a mistake." He later acknowledged his son is actually 20 years old but expressed concern about the information being reported, even going so far as to offer Bensinger a job in return for his cooperation.

"Bazz is going to blow up in the NBA lets team up and blow this thing up!!!" Holmes texted, according to Bensinger. "I'm going to need a publicist anyway why shouldn't it be you. We can do some big things together."

It's not hard to guess the motivation for Muhammad's family shaving a year off the his age at some point during his childhood.

Read More »from Shabazz Muhammad is apparently a year older than his family has claimed

SAN JOSE, Calif. — As Cal players happily jogged off the floor at HP Pavilion following their 64-61 opening-round upset of fifth-seeded UNLV on Thursday night, the legions of Bears fans in attendance stood and applauded.

Fifty miles north at the Pac-12 office in Walnut Creek, the reaction was probably just as jubilant.

Cal's victory gave the oft-derided Pac-12 a perfect 3-0 record Thursday, matching or surpassing the league's total number of victories in two of the past three NCAA tournaments. In addition to the win by the Bears, 12th-seeded Oregon surprised Oklahoma State and sixth-seeded Arizona swatted away trendy upset pick Belmont.

[Related: Snubbed Oregon shows it's better than a 12 seed]

One impressive day in the round of 64 won't restore the Pac-12's battered basketball reputation, but it's certainly a sign of progress for a league that has seldom been relevant nationally the past four years. If either sixth-seeded UCLA ousts Minnesota or 10th-seeded Colorado defeats Illinois on Friday, the Pac-12 will have its most teams in the Round of 32 since 2009.

"The league needed a day like this," Cal forward David Kravish said. "I don't know why it needs it, but it seems that way. It's a really good conference. I don't know if it got the recognition going into the tournament, but I think the wins we've gotten as a league and hopefully will get in the future, that will really help."

The biggest reason for the Pac-12's battered basketball reputation is the conference simply hasn't earned the respect. When an exodus of NBA talent in 2008 and 2009 coincided with some uncharacteristically weak recruiting classes on the West Coast and coaching turnover at many Pac-12 schools, the league fell into a tailspin from which it is only just starting to emerge.

Read More »from Cal’s upset of UNLV caps 3-0 day for Pac-12, helps battered league win back some respect

SAN JOSE, Calif. — On the white board in Oregon's locker room at HP Pavilion was a bracket with the four teams in its section of the draw and the phrase "Sweet 16" in all caps at the end of it.

The way the Ducks played Thursday afternoon, they just might get there.

Despite insisting the past few days they hadn't felt slighted the selection committee seeded them four to six lines below where most projections had them, the Ducks still sent a message with their performance that they deserved better than a No. 12 seed. They dominated the glass, held potential lottery pick Marcus Smart in check and rolled to a 68-55 victory over fifth-seeded Oklahoma State, earning a date with fourth-seeded Saint Louis in the round of 32.

[Related: How to get away with watching March Madness at work]

"We were kind of surprised being seeded 12th," guard Johnathan Loyd said. "It was a little bit of motivation to go out and prove people wrong, people who were saying we weren't going to get this win."

If the hire of coach Dana Altman was a disappointment for some Oregon fans three years ago, it's safe to say that's no longer the case. Nobody in Eugene is yearning for Tom Izzo, Jamie Dixon, Mike Anderson or any of the other high-profile candidates who turned down the job now that Altman had led the Ducks to a Pac-12 tournament title and an NCAA tournament victory in his third season at the helm.

Expected to finish in the middle of the Pac-12 after graduating three of their four leading scorers, Oregon instead emerged as a surprise team thanks to the quickness and shooting of freshman guards Dominic Artis and Damyean Dotson and the rebounding prowess of transfer Arsalan Kazemi. The Ducks faded a bit in February after Artis broke his foot when the team was 18-2, but they rebounded to win the Pac-12 tournament title last week even as the freshman guard was still struggling to recapture his prior form.

Read More »from Motivated by the selection committee’s seeding snub, Oregon upsets Oklahoma State

(Getty Images)

SAN JOSE --- In New Mexico State's semifinal and title game victories in the WAC tournament last week, enormous center Sim Bhullar was often the best player on the floor.

On Thursday, Saint Louis turned him into a 7-foot-5, 340-pound liability.

Ripping at the ball with help defenders whenever Bhullar touched the ball in the post and capitalizing on his lack of defensive mobility, the fourth-seeded Billikens forced New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies to bench his big man for long stretches of the second half. The result was a 64-44 opening-round NCAA tournament rout that was only in doubt for a few minutes.

[Photo gallery: Best photos of the NCAA tournament]

"We kind of exploited the big guy the way we wanted to," Saint Louis center Rob Loe said. "He stays pretty deep the whole game and he doesn't really close out on shooters, so we used that to our advantage. Especially when they sit in that zone, there was a hole in the middle."

If Saint Louis was considered a dark horse Final Four hopeful before Thursday's game, the Billikens certainly looked the part against New Mexico State. They held the Aggies to four points in the opening nine minutes and to 16 points at halftime, giving the Aggies life briefly with a flurry of turnovers early in the second half before quickly slamming the door shut.

The effectiveness of the Billikens defensively was to be expected, but the ease in which they scored despite the presence of Bhullar was more eye-opening.

Read More »from Saint Louis exploits 7-foot-5 Sim Bhullar’s lack of mobility, rolls to opening-round rout

Neither Rob nor I are ready to give up on Florida yet despite its woes in close games (USA Today Sports Images)

On the eve of the opening Thursday of the NCAA tournament, I chatted with NBCSports.com's Rob Dauster about some intriguing potential matchups, why Louisville doesn't want to see Saint Louis in the Sweet 16 and who we think should be on upset alert the next two days:

RD: The most interesting part about this year's tournament, to me, is that after spending five months talking about how wide-open the field is, 90% of the people filling out brackets are picking Louisville to win the national title. I get it. They've got a dominant defense. They've lost just once since late January. They embarrassed Syracuse in the Big East title game. I'll admit, I think the Cardinals are probably the best team in the country right now

And I also have them losing in the Sweet 16 to St. Louis. I went into detail about it already so I won't elaborate too much here, but talk me off the ledge, Jeff. Why am I wrong about the Billikens?

JE: Here's the thing: You're not wrong. Saint Louis is a terrible matchup for Louisville. The Cardinals thrive in an up-tempo game in which they can force turnovers and turn those into transition points. The Billikens play at a slow pace and feature eight seniors who rarely get frazzled or turn the ball over. The Cardinals are vulnerable in a half-court game against a team who can force them to rely on their erratic outside shooting. The Billikens are a well-schooled, defense-oriented team capable of executing that game plan.

So why am I still riding with Louisville? In spite of those advantages, Saint Louis isn't going to have an easy time scoring either. Plus, I'm willing to bet on Rick Pitino with superior talent and five days to prepare a game plan to offset some of those issues. I believe Saint Louis will be the toughest game Louisville sees in the midwest regional – yes, more challenging than Duke or Michigan State in a regional final – but I think the Cardinals will find a way.

So, Rob, I see you have Gonzaga in the title game? What has you sold on the Zags?

Read More »from Some NCAA tournament bracket banter with NBCSports.com’s Rob Dauster

Jim Boeheim (Getty Images)

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The mediator at the podium had just finished saying Jim Boeheim's news conference would begin in about 10 minutes Wednesday evening when up walked the Syracuse coach himself.

It was an odd day for Boeheim to be early given the nature of the questions that awaited him, but it fit with the defiant attitude Boeheim adopted throughout his 15-minute press conference in advance of Thursday's NCAA tournament matchup with Montana.

[Also: The top 10 NBA prospects playing in the NCAA tournament]

He cracked jokes about telling his daughter who teaches at Montana not to wear an orange sweatshirt this week. He disputed the notion his team had endured a rough patch prior to the Big East tournament. And when it was time to address the elephant in the room – a CBSSports.com report alleging that Syracuse basketball has been under NCAA investigation for years for transgressions major and wide-ranging in nature – Boeheim refused to show a hint of concern.

Asked about Wednesday's report, Boeheim quipped that it was the "same story they had last year at this time," referencing a Yahoo! Sports report last March that the NCAA was investigating if Syracuse violated its team drug policy.

Asked if he was worried the report would be a distraction for his players Thursday, Boeheim said, "I doubt seriously they know about it."

Asked if it bothered him the story was published on the eve of the NCAA tournament, Boeheim said he didn't care at all.

Read More »from Jim Boeheim insists report of NCAA investigation won’t be a distraction