Games 50-41

Game 50:  Norfolk State 86 Missouri 84, 2012 1st Round
Trendy Final 4 pick Missouri never knew what hit them as Norfolk State won a game by playing nearly flawless.

Game 49:  South Alabama 86 Alabama 84, 1989 1st Round
South Alabama had been angling at playing the Tide for some time but Wimp Sanderson didn't think it was worth it and after the Tide jumped out to a 49-33 lead at half, it appeared he was right.  But to the Jaguars credit, they never gave up, taking an 83-81 lead with 91 seconds to go, their 1st lead of the game.  Alabama nailed a 3 with 34 seconds left.  South Alabama held for the final shot but after some mismanagement, guard Junie Lewis would find himself wide open and hit a game winning 3 with 4 seconds left.

Game 48:  Arkansas 74 Louisville 73, 1981
Arkansas' U.S. Reed hit the only half courter in tournament history to win a game.

Game 47:  NC State 69 Pepperdine 67, 1983 1st Round
NC State barely made it out of the 1st round in their magic run to the 1983 title.  At the end of the 1st overtime, coach Jim Valvano switched Cozell McQueen to Lorenzo Charles side on the free throw line in case Derreck Whittenburg missed the front end of a one-and-one to tie the game.  Sure enough, he did and the ball came to McQueen who calmly layed it in with his strong hand, his left, to send the game to diuble overtime where the Wolfpack would win.

Game 46:  Maryland 76 UNC-Wilmington 75, 2003 1st Round
Defending champ Maryland appeared ripe for the picking.  Wilmington's John Goldsberry, who averaged 5ppg went off, nailing 8-8 on 3's.  Maryland lead by 1 late but fouled with 5 seconds left.  Wilmington hit both.  Maryland managed to get the ball to Drew Nicholas who would hit an off balance, fadeaway 3 at the buzzer winning the game.

Game 45:  Stanford 79 Rhode Island 77, 1998 Elite 8
In what was one of the greatest final two minutes of a game in tournament history, Stanford's Arthur Lee cemented his place in history by carrying the Cardinal to the final 4.  Lee forced a steal with :26 left leading to a Mark Madsen break away,  Madsen powered through a foul attempt making the dunk and following FT to give the Cardinal the lead for good.  At the 2 minute mark, Rhode Island had lead 66-60.  Stanford scored a remarkable 19 points in the final 2 minutes.

Game 44:  Georgetown 50 Princeton 49, 1989 1st Round
No 16 has ever beaten a 1 but this one was as close as they came.  Despite being a 25 point 'dog, the Tigers held the ball with a chance to win but Kit Mueller's shot was blocked by Alonzo Mourning securing a a hard fought Hoya win.

Game 43:  Duke 79 UNLV 77, 1991 National Semifinals
UNLV entered the game riding a 45-game winning streak and was stacked with stars.  A year earlier, UNLV had throttled the Devils by 30 in the National title game.  In that game, the Devils PG, Bobby Hurley played despite a severe case of the flu and was no match for the voracious Rebel d.  But in this game, a healthy Hurley matched up against the Rebs' just fine and helped lead the Devils to an upset for the ages.  This is the last time Duke was cheered on a neutral court replacing UNLV as the villain for the next 20+ years.

Game 42:  Santa Clara 64 Arizona 61, 1993 1st Round
Again, the NCAA booked a team poorly.  They booked Santa Clara in a hotel in Salt Lake City for only one night and since the hotel was booked for the rest of the weekend, Santa Clara would be leaving after the 1st round.  As a 15-seed, their prospects didn't seem good and when the Wildcats took a 46-33 lead, it appeared there was no reason for concern but led by Canadian Frosh, Steve Nash, the Broncos came back and held a 64-61 lead.  Damon Stoudamire's 3 missed at the buzzer and Santa Clara was moving a hotel where disappointed Wildcat fans had left early.

Game 41:  Marquette 51 UNC-Charlotte 49, 1977 National Semifinals
Led by Cornbread Maxwell, UNC-Charlotte had made the Final 4 after only 5 years at Division 1.  They held their own against the battle tested Warriors who despite jumping out to a 23-9 lead, let the 49ers back in the game.  The game was tied late when Marquette's Butch Lee made a full court inbounds pass with 3 seconds left towards Bo Ellis.  The ball sailed over Ellis' head and Maxwell deflected it.  Unfortunately, the ball went to Marquette's Jerome Whitehead who dribbled, went up, and had it deflected again by Maxwell.  the ball bounced off the backboard through the rim just after Whitehead let go of the rim.  The refs went to the monitor who allowed the shot and sent Marquette to the Final for Al McGuire's final game.

COMING NEXT:  Games 40-31