(USA Today Sports Images)

Louisville guard Peyton Siva admitted this week he's a big fan of the Oregon football program in the fall because of the speed at which the Ducks play and their constantly changing uniforms.

Obviously, Siva isn't expected to have any trouble putting aside his affinity for the Ducks tonight when Louisville, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, clashes with No. 12-seeded Oregon in the Sweet 16.

The fact that Siva roots for a football team from the Pacific Northwest isn't such a surprise. He attended high school in Seattle and was named Mr. Basketball in the state of Washington as a senior.

(USA Today Sports Images)

Arsalan Kazemi might never have transferred to Oregon where he has been instrumental in the Ducks' Sweet 16 run this season if not for alleged racial discrimination he said he endured for three years from the athletic director at Rice University.

SI.com reported Kazemi, the first Iranian-born player in NCAA Division I history, was allowed to transfer to Oregon without sitting out the customary season because of a hardship waiver he obtained from the NCAA. In applying for the waiver, SI.com reported that Kazemi told the NCAA Rice athletic director Rick Greenspan regularly made derogatory comments of a racial and religious nature to him, two former teammates and a former assistant coach. Kazemi is Muslim.

It's no exaggeration to say that everything comes to a standstill in Lawrence, Kansas when its beloved Jayhawks play basketball.

Case in point: The visitation for 76-year-old Don Shoulberg, who died on Tuesday, will end when KU's Sweet 16 matchup against Michigan tips off at 6:30 local time.

It says so right there in his obituary.

Whether or not this accommodation was made for conflicted visitors, a basketball-mad family or so that Shoulberg's spirit could pay its undivided attention to Bill Self and Co. remains unclear.

[Photo gallery: Best action from the NCAA tournament]

But Shoulberg, a marriage and family therapist who once taught at the school, was said to be a big fan of the Jayhawks. One of the visitors to his guestbook also said that his late friend would definitely be watching as top-seeded Kansas pursues its first national title since 2008:

(Brandon Castel/theozone.net)

Aaron Craft, you may be the most talked about player in March Madness, a pre-med student, the son of a coach, the media's very definition of an All-American team player and the guy who most men from Columbus to Centerville would want as a son-in-law.

But c'mon Aaron. Nothing was going to distract LaQuinton Ross on Thursday night.

Nice try, though.

Thanks to TheOzone.net for snapping such a cool photo. Check out the rest of their celebration over Arizona photo gallery here.

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Gregg Marshall and Demetric Williams (USA Today Sports Images)

LOS ANGELES — At a time when high-profile programs were gauging Gregg Marshall's interest in leaving Wichita State a few years ago, the Shockers coach had a conversation with two colleagues during the NCAA tournament that helped influence him to stay.

On one side of Marshall was Creighton coach Greg McDermott, who left Northern Iowa for Iowa State in 2006 and endured four straight losing seasons before returning to his Missouri Valley comfort zone. On the other side of Marshall was then-Nebraska coach Doc Sadler, who left UTEP for the Huskers job in 2006 and finished in the lower half of the Big 12 all six of his seasons in Lincoln.

"They looked at me and said, 'Be careful what you ask for,'" Marshall said. "That always stuck with me."

Marshall will surely be a hot name on the coaching rumor mill again this spring with Wichita State in its first Elite Eight since 1981, but the Shockers coach was candid after Thursday night's victory over La Salle why it won't be easy to entice him to leave.

[Also: Syracuse Zone beats, batters Indiana into submission]

Seated in a folding chair outside his team's locker room, Marshall declared himself content in Wichita, noting he has a seven-figure salary, a house on a golf course, a supportive fan base and administration and a program formidable enough to contend for league titles and NCAA bids every year. The 50-year-old did not rule out leaving Wichita State if an elite program in a high-profile league showed interest, but he said he has turned down $2 million offers from major-conference schools in the past because he's not eager to mess with happy.

"I'm not in search of anything," Marshall said. "I've got a great life, great family, great community I live in, great school, great administration, great players. What more do I need? More money? That's the only thing. We can obviously make runs in the NCAA tournament from Wichita State.

"This could be a destination job for me. Now it may not be, but I'm just saying I'm not in a big hurry and I never have been."

(USA Today Sports Images)Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall has asked his team the same question at every stage of its NCAA tournament experience. From Selection Sunday when the Shockers earned an at-large berth to an historic victory over No. 1 seed Gonzaga Marshall has been consistent.

"Are you now satisfied," Marshall asks.

He came at his team with that message prior to a matchup with fellow Cinderella La Salle on Thursday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Marshall allowed television cameras into the locker room to record his pregame address.

"Are you now satisfied with a Sweet 16 run or do you want to stick around L.A. and make it an Elite Eight," Marshall asked.

The No. 9 seeded Shockers provided a convincing answer in a 72-58 victory over No. 13 seed La Salle taking control from the start and never looking back. They led by 22 at one point early in the second half before La Salle made a mini run that only served to re-focus the Shockers.

LOS ANGELES — LaQuinton Ross was changing in Ohio State's locker room before Thursday's Sweet 16 matchup with Arizona when a Staples Center employee informed the sophomore forward whose locker he was using.

Much to his delight, it was Kobe Bryant's.

"To find out I had that locker, it felt great," Ross said. "That's one of my favorite players growing up and somebody I model my game after."

A few hours later, Ross sank a shot reminiscent of so many his locker-mate has hit in this building, a thunderbolt that silenced a mostly pro-Arizona crowd and ensured Ohio State an Elite Eight matchup with either La Salle or Wichita State.

With the score tied after a Mark Lyons three-point play capped a late Arizona comeback from a 10-point deficit, Aaron Craft used a high ball screen from Ross to try to create a mismatch but drew a double team instead. As a result, Craft whipped a pass to Ross spotted up to the left of the top of the key and then shouted "knockdown" as his teammate buried the 3-pointer over late-recovering Grant Jerrett with two seconds left to secure a 73-70 victory.

[Slideshow: Best photos of the NCAA tournament]

"I'm glad he listened to me," Craft joked afterward. "Sometimes you have to tell your guys what to do. I don't think he needed me to. It's just habit. He's a great player and it's great to see him knock that down."

Basketball is a very tough game if you can't score. Or pass. Or rebound. Or even hold onto the ball.

Syracuse showed up in the Sweet 16 ready to scrap. Indiana apparently thought it had been scheduled for Friday night. The result? A 61-50 whitewashing ... or, more properly, Orange crushing.

This one started ugly and never got any prettier. Indiana had no answers for Syracuse's zone defense, turning over the ball 10 times in the first 10 minutes and 12 times overall in the first half. The other end of the court was no prettier as the Hoosiers had no answers for Michael Carter-Williams, who had 24 points on 9-of-19 shooting, and at one point Syracuse held an 18-point first-half lead.

[Slideshow: Best photos of the NCAA tournament]

Thanks to strong play near the end of the first half and at the start of the second, Indiana closed to within six, but could get no closer. Battling Syracuse this night was like playing in waist-deep maple syrup; nothing happened quickly or smoothly. No