LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mike Marra's playing career at Louisville ended last September, when he blew out his knee for the second time in two seasons. But his contribution to the program is perhaps more vital now than when he was a spot shooter off the bench.

Rick Pitino talks with guard Russ Smith (2) and center Gorgui Dieng during last weekend's win over Colorado State. (USA TODAY Sports)A student assistant coach, Marra is in charge of charting Rick Pitino's most cherished statistic: deflections. Every time a Cardinal tangibly impedes the other team's offense – by tipping a pass, blocking a shot, making a steal, swatting a dribble or grabbing a loose ball – Marra dutifully credits that player with a deflection.

This is the hustle meter the 60-year-old Pitino created half a lifetime ago, as the young head coach at Boston University. He took it with him to the NBA, then back to college, then back to the pros, and back to college again. As the game has evolved and changed in countless ways, dedication to deflections has never changed with Pitino.

Deflection totals provide the objective data that answers a

Read More »from Rick Pitino still cherishes one stat above others

Congratulations, Kaleb Tarczewski. You are the sole survivor of the college basketball freshman top 10.

The Arizona center is the only member of the Rivals.com Class of 2012 top 10 still playing in this NCAA tournament. Not only that, he's the only player to even win a game in this NCAA tournament.

Kaleb Tarczewski shoots over Harvard's Kenyatta Smith on Saturday. (AP)Five other top 10 freshmen made the tournament but lost in the first round: Shabazz Muhammad (No. 1) and Kyle Anderson (No. 3) of UCLA; Steven Adams (No. 5) of Pitt; Anthony Bennett (No. 7) of UNLV; and Marcus Smart (No. 10) of Oklahoma State.

Three members of the top 10 saw their teams dispatched to the NIT: Nerlens Noel (No. 2) and Alex Poythress (No. 8) of Kentucky and Isaiah Austin (No. 4) of Baylor.

The other top 10 recruit, Ricardo Ledo (No. 6), was academically ineligible at Providence and never played anywhere.

So it's hardly been a banner year for blue chips. The lightning Kentucky captured last year cannot always be bottled, as the defending champions and UCLA both

Read More »from Florida Gulf Coast, other Sweet 16 teams thriving without highly touted recruits

Injured Miami center Reggie Johnson will not play for the Hurricanes this week in the East regional, but a source close to the team said he "could come back" if the team advances to the Final Four. 

Reggie Johnson goes after a loose ball on Sunday. (AP)The school issued a release Tuesday afternoon saying Johnson would not travel with the team to Washington, D.C., where Miami will play Marquette on Thursday. The Associated Press reported, via a source, that Johnson had surgery on his meniscus Tuesday.

If Miami defeats the Golden Eagles it will play the winner of Indiana and Syracuse on Saturday for the right to go to the Final Four. If the Hurricanes win two games, they hope to have Johnson back in uniform for the national semifinals in Atlanta April 6.

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Johnson has had an injury-plagued season. The 6-foot-10, 292-pound senior missed nine games earlier in the season, eight of them after fracturing a thumb.

After returning from that injury, his contributions have been

Read More »from Miami center Reggie Johnson out for East regional, but 'could come back' for Final Four

There has been a great lamentation arising from Cult of the Coach members in the past couple of days.

Ben Howland was fired at UCLA Sunday and it was a gross injustice, according to the cultists. Tubby Smith was fired at Minnesota Monday and it was more of the same, they said.

(What it might really be is the sprint to Shaka Smart, but that's another column for another day.)

Ben Howland was 233-107 in 10 years at UCLA. (AP)The schools were unreasonable, unrealistic and unfair, the cultists said. They have a warped view of their place in the college basketball hierarchy. They were lucky to have those coaches and will be even luckier to find a replacement as good.

And so forth.

Pardon me for not sharing their outrage.

Howland (three Final Fours) and Smith (one national title) have had excellent careers, probably both worthy of Hall of Fame consideration someday. Both will be snatched up on the open market if they want to continue coaching. But the notion of them as blameless, powerless victims being chewed up

Read More »from Losing, off-court issues justifiably lead to firings of Ben Howland, Tubby Smith

As always, the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament offers something for everyone.

If you like a little Madness in your March, this year's grand prize is Florida Gulf Coast – the first No. 15 seed to advance this far. The Eagles were the saviors of a first weekend that was a little light on drama, plot twists and talking points (beyond ripping the refs, that is).

The toast of a 75-year-old sporting event is a basketball program that wasn't created until the 21st century, and brings with it the insouciance of youth. This tournament's One Shining Moment to date is the ridiculously brazen alley-oop FGCU point guard Brett Comer tossed to Chase Fieler with less than two minutes left in the monstrous upset of Georgetown Friday night.

FGCU's Chase Fieler dunks over SDSU's DeShawn Stephens. (AP)In dismantling the Hoyas and San Diego State with a succession of audacious dunks, fast breaks and YOLO passes from Comer, the Eagles have been so entertaining and improbable that they have muted the buzzfeed-ish backstory of the head

Read More »from NCAA's Sweet 16 offers plenty: flashy dunks, traditional powers, new rivals and more

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Buzz Williams' stay here began with a trip to a local hospital for his wife's emergency appendectomy.

It ended with the Marquette basketball coach shaking his shoulders, shimmying his hips and pumping a fist at midcourt in Rupp Arena. His team is still dancing by the slimmest of margins, so he danced, too.

In between those startling events were the two most tense and dramatic games of the NCAA tournament to date. The great escape Thursday against Davidson was followed by the gritty survival Saturday against Butler. Combined margin of victory: three points.

"I shouldn't have done that," Williams said sheepishly about the impromptu dance after his postgame TV interview. "I was really excited. … My wife's been in the hospital over half our stay here. It's been a crazy, crazy four days in Lexington."

Williams packed a whole lot of March Madness and medical mayhem into those four days.

The Golden Eagles flew into town Tuesday night. Buzz said that by 3 a.m.

Read More »from Buzz Williams' wild weekend in Kentucky included two dramatic wins, one appendectomy

John Thompson III and March Madness have got to stop meeting like this.

Thompson is the coach of the Georgetown Hoyas. At least until the NCAA tournament, when his team suddenly turns into the Washington Generals.

John Thompson III talks to his players during a timeout against Florida Gulf Coast. (USA TODAY Sports)In five straight trips to the Big Dance, the Hoyas have been busted out by a double-digit seed. Friday night was the latest and worst: a 78-68 loss for the Big East co-champions to No. 15 seed Florida Gulf Coast. Last year it was a loss to No. 11 North Carolina State. The year before that it was No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth. In 2010 it was No. 14 Ohio. The Hoyas missed the tournament in 2009, but in '08 they were eliminated by No. 10 Davidson.

Georgetown's seeding: No. 2 this year, No. 3 last year, No. 6 in 2011, No. 3 in '10, No. 2 in '08.

So only one conclusion can be drawn: after going to the Final Four in 2007, Georgetown has simply been an atrocious NCAA team. JTIII has been JTI and done.

Now, it's true that Davidson '08 was an

Read More »from John Thompson III's Hoyas continue disturbing NCAA tournament pattern

LEXINGTON, Ky. – You're up, Marquette.

You're the latest team tasked with trying to eliminate the Butler Bulldogs. You're favored by just about every metric, but Butler has a way of defying those expectations. Marquette might as well be trying to kill Bruce Willis in an action movie.

Coach Brad Stevens talks with his team in the first half against Bucknell on Thursday. (USA TODAY Sports)To be sure, this is a different Butler team from the one that made back-to-back national championship games in 2010 and '11. As coach Brad Stevens pointed out Thursday, only two players in his top seven were on those teams. There is no Gordon Hayward, Matt Howard or Shelvin Mack on this roster.

But there is Stevens himself, and from him flows the Butler identity. He is the biggest reason the Bulldogs have won 11 of their last 13 NCAA tourney games, despite being seeded to go 3-2. He is the biggest reason Butler has morphed from a cute little Horizon League power to a viable Atlantic-10 contender to, next year, a member of the repurposed Big East.

Stevens presents himself in such a calm,

Read More »from Butler's keys to success: Brad Stevens, defense