If you watched what was another thrilling Regional Semi between the Hoyas and Commodores at The Meadowlands, then you caught the tail end of the dramatic conclusion. Big East Player of The Year Jeff Green was the hero as he made a tough off balance bank shot on the box with two defenders draped all over him with 2.5 seconds left to give second seeded Georgetown a 66-65 win-sending them to their first Regional Final in 11 years.
With two timeouts remaining, Vanderbilt opted for a quick inbounds. However, Alex Gordon’s desperation heave was partially blocked as an excited Hoyas’ bench mobbed the floor to celebrate with their teammates.

John Thompson III’s team fought back from a 13-point first half deficit. After slicing it to two with over a minute left, they were outscored 6-0 to fall behind eight headed to the locker room.

Similar to last weekend’s come from behind victory over Boston College, center Roy Hibbert had a quiet first half with just two points. But early in the second half, that would change as the Hoyas’ coach got his big man involved. Hibbert scored 10 of his 12 in the first 10 minutes on a couple of layups and putback jams.

Though Georgetown came all the way back and even took the lead, Vanderbilt never went away. The fiesty sixth seeds kept making enough outside shots to exchange leads with the stronger Hoyas. SEC Player of the Year Derrick Byars led them with 17 including three-of-seven from downtown. He also finished with a game high five assists. Dan Cage (17 points) and Shan Foster (16 pts) combined for five treys.

It was the supporting cast which kept the Hoyas afloat down the stretch after Hibbert fouled out with 5:43 left. Freshman DaJuan Summers (15 points) made three deep three’s in the second half and New York native Jessie Sapp (6 pts, 5 rebs and 3 dimes) hit two big shots in the final five minutes. When Sapp hit a driving layup with 2:03 remaining, it put the Hoyas ahead 62-60. Ross Neltner split a pair of free throws which cut it to one. Jonathan Wallace (8 pts, two 3’s) responded with a jumper to put the Hoyas back up three with over a minute to go.
But Vandy got four straight free throws from Byars and Cage to suddenly surge ahead 65-64 with just 17.9 ticks remaining. After Georgetown used their final timeout, Sapp got the ball to Green on the right post and he made the difficult shot for points 14 and 15 on an efficient 7-of-11 shooting- breaking the backs of the upset minded Commodores.

Afterwards, there were some questions as to whether Green had traveled by picking up his pivot foot. From our vantage point, it was awfully hard to tell during live action. And while CBS studio analyst Clark Kellogg believed it should’ve been called, veteran color man Billy Packer disagreed near the conclusion of the top seeded Tar Heels’ come from behind 10 point win over USC.

A lot of class was shown by Vandy coach Kevin Stallings didn’t make a big deal over it:

“I’m certainly not going to take away from the dignity of this game. I haven’t seen the replay. Don’t care to. He made a great shot.”

The coach got it. This wasn’t clearcut and if he goes ballistic over it, he would’ve taken away from the dramatic pressure shot Green made to win the game. The degree of difficulty was pretty tough and showed why the 6-9 forward is so versatile. He can beat you inside and outside. The best part is he seems to save his best for last as evidenced by a strong finish which included a huge three-point play to lead the Hoyas past the Eagles last Saturday.

Green on his late game dramatics:

“No. There were a lot of guys in there. I probably got pushed. They didn’t call it. The play was good, and that’s all I can say…Well the play was to try to look for the backdoor. Then after that, just try to get something toward the basket. When I went into my move, I kind of fumbled it a little, hurried up, tried to find it, pick it up. Just tried to get it up off the glass and it went in. That was a good play, a fumble play, a bumble play I had to make. I got lucky, and it went in.“

On picking up his game:

“With Roy [Hibbert] absent I had to step up. He is a big target down there. I had to take his place, get those rebounds he was able to get and do other things. But as a group I think we all had to step up.”

Great stuff from a clutch player.

In the second Regional Eastern semi at Continental Airlines Arena, North Carolina overcame a double digit deficit to the fifth seeded Trojans before reeling them in with a frenetic 18-0 second half run to post a 74-64 win. Trailing 59-49, Heels’ freshman Brandan Wright (game high 21 along with nine rebounds) keyed the run with a couple of putbacks as North Carolina controlled the offensive glass (19-7) with USC 21 year-old freshman Taj Gibson (16 pts, 12 boards and 4 blocks) in foul trouble.

Gibson’s absence spelled the end for Tim Floyd’s Trojans, who wore down and started forcing shots. They also got lulled into Roy Williams’ frenetic pace where the coach utilized his superior depth and speed to come all the way back. In fact, his bench outscored their tired opponents 22-0, making up the difference.

It sets up a highly anticipated North Carolina-Georgetown match-up 25 years later after that infamous 1982 NCAA Title classic in which a kid by the name of Michael Jordan hit an 18 footer to win the championship for Dean Smith in defeating coach John Thompson and Patrick Ewing. The game also featured James Worthy, Sam Perkins and Eric “Sleepy” Floyd.

This time, the winner marches onto the Final Four in Atlanta. It takes place on Sunday. Don’t miss it!

In the other two regional semis, defending champ and top seed Florida defeated No.5 seeded Butler 65-57 and third seeded Oregon held on to beat seventh seeded UNLV 74-70 to advance to a Midwest Regional Final.

The Gators, who are trying to become the first repeat winner since Duke (’91, ‘92) were led by big man Al Horford (16 and 9) and guard Taurean Green (game high 17 including five trifectas). Four of their starters including Joakim Noah (13 and 9) and versatile forward Corey Brewer (11 pts, 5 boards and 2 assists) finished in double digits to overcome a fiesty Bulldog squad who stayed right with them until the final couple of minutes. They held sharpshooter A.J. Graves to 11 points including just 1-of-6 from beyond the arc.

A real positive in this one was that Billy Donovan’s Gators made their free throws to put away Butler. They finished 23-for-28 from the charity stripe. In fact, the trio of Noah (9-11 FT), Horford (8-10 FT) and Brewer (4-4 FT) combined to go an efficient 21-for-25. That’s how it’s done!

In the second Midwest regional semi, Oregon held off UNLV to win by four. They pulled away after a close first half (led 37-33). They were able to build as much as an 18 point lead thanks to star freshman Tajuan Porter. The 5-6 guard lit up the Runnin’ Rebels for a game high 33 points (9-for-17 FG) including a ridiculous 8-of-12 from three-point range. UNLV did mount a late rally thanks to the play of coach Lon Kruger’s son Kevin, who finished with 15. The fifth-year eligible Arizona State graduate transfer also added four rebounds and four assists in a losing effort. Michael Umeh chipped in with 15 including three treys. But star Wendell White was held to just nine on 4-of-11 shooting.

Amazingly, the third seeded Ducks are the lowest seed left in a top heavy Elite 8 which features a tournament record seven 1 and 2 seeds. It’s the first time in NCAA history that all four top seeds have advanced this far. Here are the weekend’s match-ups:

Saturday

Midwest Regional Final- (1) Ohio State (33-3) vs (2) Memphis (33-3), 4:40 ET/1:40 PT

West Regional Final- (1) Kansas (33-4) vs (2) UCLA (29-5), 7:05 ET/4:05 PT

Sunday

Midwest Regional Final- (1) Florida (31-5) vs (3) Oregon (28-7), 2:40 ET/11:40 PT

East Regional Final- (1) North Carolina (30-6) vs (2) Georgetown (28-6), 5:05 ET/2:05 PT

Truly some heavyweight match-ups which CBS and college hoops fans everywhere should love. May the best come out on top and reach Atlanta!