USC Kansas State Live Coverage

USC Kansas State Live Play-by-Play Coverage

End of Game

• The Wildcats' Michael Beasley proved he's one of the best in the country after overcoming early foul trouble to score 23. K-State had what sounded like a hometown crowd in Omaha; the noise may have had something to do with USC's stiff play and frequent fouling. But the big win was mainly due to great play by Beasley, and when he was on the bench in the first half, by Bill Walker and Ron Anderson.

Second Half

• 0:00: KState holds it til the buzzer sounds. That's the final: 80-67.
• Crowd chanting 'K! S! U!
• 0:38: Mayo gets a runner, 80-67 with time running out
• 0:46: Gilbert is fouled and misses a free throw. This one is over though...everyone's watching the end of the Duke-Belmont game at this point.''
• 1:12: Mayo gets fouled, makes one of 2
• 1:40: Jefferson gets one down, 76-62
• 2:00: Beasley gets yet another
• 3:01: Beasley makes two more foul shots, 74-60 Cats
• 3:26: Beasley three, KState pulling away
• 3:53: Mayo answers, 69-60
• 4:35: Walker gets his first points of 2nd half, then another quick KState bucket, their biggest lead now, 69-58
• USC running out of time, here.
• Beasley misses a free throw for the 1st time tonight, and misses the 2nd as well, still 61-54
• 6:06: Beasley makes an unbelievable shot as he's fouled but they don't count it
• 7:37: TV TIMEOUT
• 8:38: Jefferson gets fouled and shoots two, makes one, 61-54 Cats
• KState has gotten two quick baskets in a row, Anderson had the last one
• Stewart gets a bucket
• 32-17 rebound advantage for KState
• 10:33: Lewis fouls again, Pullen misses, Hackett rebound
• 11:10: Anderson gets fouled in the act of shooting, it's on Jefferson, his 4th. Misses the first
• 11:32: Walker gets his 3rd foul
• Lewis with a three for USC
• 11:54: Beasley got fouled on the last bucket, makes his foul shot. Beasley has 14 of the Cats last 20
• KState gets two, USC gets 2, I can't keep up with these guys! 53-50 Cats
• Beasley makes both, 49-48 Cats
• 12:40: Trojan foul, 4th on Wilkinson
• And Mayo gives his team the lead by one.
• 13:06: TIE GAME! Mayo gets a bucket and is fouled
• 13:17: Jefferson gets his 11th point and a foul for USC, but misses the foul shot, 2-pt game now
• 13:45: Beasley responds with a dunk
• 14:11: Lewis gets a three after a KState turnover, 45-43. Closest it's been.
• 14:30: Lewis picks up his first fould for USC
• 15:07: Hackett with a reverse, 45-40 Cats
• Beasley makes it a 7-point lead for the Wildcats
• 15:31: Beasley rebounds after a miss and puts it in, plus Jefferson fouls him. KState lead at 6
• Beasley back in
• 15:57: USC's Jefferson steals it and slams it, 42-38 Cats
• 16:20: Trey for Mayo, 42-36
• 16:47: Pullen scores but misses a foul shot for Cats
• 17:02: Wilkinson fouls
• 17:13: Hacket gets fouled and makes both for USC, 40-33 USC
• 17:22: Gibson gets his 4th foul against Beasley and Beasley still makes it, makes his foul shot, 40-31 Cats
• 18:35: Mayo gets a deuce, looking better for USC! 37-31 now Cats
• 18:49: Walker, offensive foul
• 19:28: Beasley gets his 3rd foul guarding Jefferson, Jefferson gets the basket and the foul shot's good

Halftime

• Story at the half is the excellent play of K-State's Bill Walker and Ron Anderson after star freshman Michael Beasley got two early fouls. Walker leads the Cats with 17. For USC, Taj Gibson has played well and has 7 points, but he also has three fouls. It simply looks like the Wildcats simply want it more and have something to prove after falling off at the end of the season. Can Coach Floyd get his Trojans to suck it up and match K-State's intensity?

First Half

• 0:00: Missed three for USC ends the half, it's still a 10-point KState lead
• 0:42: Mayo gets his first foul
• 1:07: Beasley gets 2 and Hackett fouls him, gets the free throw, 10-pt lead again
• 1:28: Johnson hits a 3 for USC to slow the KState momentum
• 2:30: Walker gets another
• 2:53: Mayo gets a trey, 31-24 Cats
• 3:40: Stewart finds Anderson for a bucket, then Anderson steals it and KState gets a bucket to suddenly make it 10 again
• Mayo hits 2 foul shots, lead's down to 6
• 3:56: TV TIMEOUT, Cats up 27-19
• 4:12: USC's Gibson gets his third foul, big problem for the Trojans
• 4:50: USC gets two foul shots in, 27-19 Cats
• 5:12: Anderson dunk for Cats
• 5:40: Walker got nailed by a drive to the basket, no foul
• 6:33: Walker gets 2 for KState, he has 14, Beasley back on the bench
• 6:55: USC's Wilkinson fouls
• 7:12: Kent fouls Jefferson during a shot, Jefferson hits 1 for USC, 23-17 Cats
• 7:51: TV TIMEOUT, Story so far is that other players are stepping up other than Mayo and Beasley
• 8:25: Wilkinson gets a bucket for USC, Beasley is still out for KState but they still lead
• 8:40 Anderson gets his own miss and puts it in for the Cats
• 9:27: Mayo gets fouled, hits both, USC within 7
• Walker made his shot, Cats on a 7-0 run
• 9:51: Bill Walker got a great rebound and then muscled in for a deuce and he got fouled
• 10:27: Beasley gets a bucket
• 10:46: Jefferson gets his second foul
• Jefferson makes 1 of 2 foul shots to make it 16-12
• 11:26: Another TV TIMEOUT
• 11:46: TV TIMEOUT
• 12:00: Walker makes beautiful reverse for K-State, 16-11 Wildcats
• Gibson makes 1 of 2
• 12:21: Anderson's first foul for K-State
• 12:38: Sutton makes it this time, a three
• 12:48: Beasley's back with his 2 fouls
• 13:03: Sutton misses
• 13:39: TV TIMEOUT
• K-State only leads by 1 now, 11-10
• 14:20: Mayo feeds for an alley-oop for USC!
• 14:31: Walker picks up a foul for K-State
• 14:50: 3 by USC, 10 to 8 K-State
• Foul called on USC's Jefferson
• Commentators say the Beasley foul was a phantom call
• TV TIMEOUT
• 15:45: K-State scores again and Beasley commits his 2nd foul shortly after
• 16:19: Walker scores to make it 8 to 3 Wildcats
• Taj Gibson hits one of 2
• 17:30: Beasley commits his first foul
• 17:55: K-State leads 6 to 2
• K-State wins the tip, Stewart misses his first shot

USC Kansas State Bracket

• The big story in this highly anticipated first-rounder is the matchup of two freshman phenoms who are also longtime friends: USC's O.J. Mayo and K-State's Michael Beasley. In fact, the whole game is defined by youth, as the Wildcats' three leading scorers are freshmen and the Trojans' five starters are all either freshmen or sophomores. Frank Martin is in his first year as head coach of the Wildcats after serving as an assistant to Bob Huggins last year; he'll be trying to get his kids fired up after a late-season cooling off period dropped them to an 11 seed. Southern Cal, on the other hand, has "championship" on the tips of their tongues as they beat UCLA at Westwood this year and also played top seeds Memphis and Kansas very tough in non-conference play.

2008 Midwest Region Bracket

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USC Kansas State Pre-Game Analysis

• The experts aren't giving K-State much of a chance in their first NCAA appearance in 12 years. Michael Beasley will easily win NCAA Freshman of the Year and is getting some votes over UNC's Tyler Hansbrough for outright Player of the Year...but he'll likely have to match or beat his 26.5 points per game to keep the Wildcats in it. O.J. Mayo, meanwhile, will need to stay smart as he guides his athletic Trojan team on the court. The edge may go to which team can play better defense and keep their composure on the big stage, and most of the pundits give the nod to USC in both categories.