"I think what I was proudest about is that Draymond only got 11 shots, and yet when we came out of those timeouts late, we knew who we were going to and how we were going to do it," Izzo said after the game.
Green, player of the year in the Big Ten, has a winning attitude and personality. He's not afraid to get in a teammate's face if he feels he has to. He's also had his share of strong discussions (arguments?) with his coach.
"Barking is his way, like it is mine sometimes," Izzo said. "He's got a voice. He does it in good ways and bad ways, but [players] respect him and take it."
Green was annoyed early by the physical defense of the Billikens, often complaining about the way they were pushing him around when he tried to set up in the low post. But he focused on basketball in the second half and posted his eighth game of at least 15 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists this season. No other college player has more than three such games.
"If had to take a kid right now, I'd take Draymond Green," St. Louis coach Rick Majerus said.
Bad news for Carolina
Well, if your brackets weren't rendered useless enough by Friday night's elimination of both Duke and Missouri, then they're really going to be trashed if North Carolina point guard Kendall Marshall can't play in the Tar Heels' Midwest Regional semifinal.
Marshall suffered a broken right wrist late in the top-seeded Tar Heels' victory over Creighton, and his status for the team's next game is unknown.
Asked about Marshall by CBS's Tracy Wolfson, UNC coach Roy Williams replied, "That's nobody's business."
Marshall, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, shot 7 for 8 from the field and scored 18 points to go with 11 assists in the Tar Heels' 87-73 win over the No. 8 Blue Jays.
Magic runs out
Norfolk State, a No. 15 seed that upset Missouri on Friday, must have thought things were going well Sunday when they got out to a 6-4 lead against No. 7 Florida.
Then the magic ended for the Spartans. The Gators ran off the next 25 points and never looked back in an 84-50 drubbing that sent them to the Sweet 16.
Give credit to Florida coach Billy Donovan, who obviously prepared for Norfolk State as if the opponent was Kentucky. The Gators, who were just 4 of 30 from three-point range in their opening win over Virginia, hit their fifth trey Sunday on only their seventh attempt, and finished 10 of 28 from deep.
It marked the third-largest margin of victory in the round of 32 by a team not seeded first or second.
Seeing them later?
According to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, the top 10 players on his NBA draft list are competing or have competed in the 2012 NCAA tournament.
In order, they are: Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist of Kentucky, Thomas Robinson of Kansas, Bradley Beal of Florida, Harrison Barnes of North Carolina, Andre Drummond of Connecticut, James McAdoo of North Carolina, Perry Jones of Baylor, Jared Sullinger of Ohio State, and Cody Zeller of Indiana.
Zeller's older brother, Tyler, who plays for North Carolina, is 11th.
Did you notice?
Two former Rutgers players were in the NCAA tournament - Mike Rosario of Florida and Gregory Echenique of Creighton. Rosario transferred after the 2009-10 season, while Echenique left the Scarlet Knights midway through the same season.
Creighton won an NCAA tournament game on Friday for the first time since 2002, when one of its stars was Kyle Korver, who went from the Blue Jays to the 76ers.
Florida State center Bernard James, 27, spent three tours of duty in Qatar, Kuwait, and Iraq as a security officer in the Air Force. The 6-10 senior was cut from his high school basketball team as a freshman and never tried out again. He dropped out at age 17 and later got his GED before enlisting in the military.
Contact Joe Juliano at 215-854-4494 or jjuliano@phillynews.com or follow him on Twitter @joejulesinq.
