My reaction from the games on Thursday night

What a night!

UConn toyed with Purdue just for kicks and giggles. Pittsburgh and Xavier went down to the wire just like I said they would. Mike Anderson and Missouri brought life back to the phrase "40 minutes of hell", and Villanova exposed Duke for the frauds they truly are.

Pitt 60 vs. Xavier 55

Pitt looks like they have been sleep walking the whole tournament, but I just think this is the way they play. When they need to get a stop, DeJuan Blair makes a deflection on a pick and roll that turns into a layup. When they need a bucket, Levance Fields hits 3 pointers from mid court. When they miss a shot, DeJuan Blair and Sam Young crash the offensive boards.

They're like the old man you see on television who's lived through multiple hurricanes in the same house without a scratch. Quite frankly, there is no such thing as a Terror Dome for the Panthers because they live in the Terror Dome.

UConn 72 , Purdue 60

Purdue had a great year, but watching them against UConn was like watching a house cat play with a dying rat for its own amusement before deciding to put the rodent out of its misery.

Missouri 102 , Memphis 91

Who turned the clock back to the mid 90's? When did Nolan Richardson's Razorbacks start wearing that mystery shade of gold? Those were the questions that came to mind as I watched Mike Anderson's underrated Missouri squad go after the vaunted Memphis Tigers for 40 minutes.

Missouri didn't sneak up on Memphis people. They beat Memphis at their own game. It's been a long time since one of John Calipari's teams have been put on their heels for an extended period of time, but that's just what Missouri did to them. Granted, Memphis showed how talented they are by staging a comeback to get back to within six points, but they were out of gas by that point.

Villanova 77 , Duke 54

Can we please stop letting Dick Vitale throw ridiculous amounts of gas on the Blue Devils every year as possible title contenders. Duke isn't quite as overrated as Notre Dame is in football, but their image is growing bigger in the Golden Domers' rear view mirror by the second.

It's funny what happens to the Blue Devils every year when the officials aren't calling charges on obvious flops. It's amazing to see what happens to them when they play against teams with real athletes in the post. You saw the game just like I did. They were no match for Villanova! Texas, for all of their faults, would have put up a better showing than Duke.

I know there's a Duke fan out there saying things aren't that bad, but it's pretty hard to make that argument when you realize Thursday's loss was the most lopsided for Duke in the tournament since UNLV was beating their heads in during that horror movie known as the 1990 National Championship Game.

What part of rebounding and post presence does Coach K not understand? Duke will never be a threat to do anything serious in the tournament again until they get a guy who can actually control the paint. If you're a Duke fan, you should start writing letters to Coach K right now telling him how the Josh McRoberts, the Shavlik Randolphs and the Brian Zoubeks of the world will no longer fly in Durham.

If the recruiting doesn't change and they don't get a better big man coach than "Wojo", (Yes, that Wojo!) all they can do is call Elton Brand or Carlos Boozer to see if they're interested in using the rest of their eligibility.