Sweet 16: Big Ten beats WCC (CUSA, A10 eliminated)

In Indianapolis, shooting guard Kevin Pangos has a game-high 14 points to lead the WCC, but the more balanced Big Ten prevailed 87-82 behind the defense of Aaron Craft (Ohio State) and double digit scoring from their other four starters – Ben Brust (Wisconsin), Rayvonte Rice (Illinois), Adreian Payne (Michigan St.) and Frank Kaminsky (Wisconsin).The Elite 8 showdown was set up when the Big Ten beat Conference USA 74-59 behind a dominant performance by Wisconsin Center Frank Kaminsky, who outscored his counterpart 11-5. The 9-seed WCC then pulled a minor upset 79-77 over the A10 with backup center Thomas van der Mars (Portland) providing the difference by outscoring his counterpart Juvonte Reddic (VCU) off the bench 9-5 to provide the winning margin.

 In the mock tournament, all 32 conferences were seeded based on their ratings at www.kenpom.com, and then sent to their likely 2014 tournament sites. The top 10 players to date from each conference were pitted against their counterpart using the Value Add Predictor  to determine how many points each player would score against his counterpart, with the winning team advancing. All players can be looked up at www.valueaddbasketball.com. The following is the Elite 8 box score, followed by the box scores for the two Sweet 16 games that set up the Elite 8 showdown: 

All-Star (1st 5 starters)	B10	87	Elite 8	All-Star (1st 5 starters)	WCC	82
Aaron Craft	Ohio St.	8	PG	Anthony Ireland	Loyola Marymount	7
Ben Brust	Wisconsin	11	SG	Kevin Pangos	Gonzaga	14
Rayvonte Rice	Illinois	12	SF	Stephen Holt	St. Mary’s	10
Adreian Payne	Michigan St.	12	PF	Gary Bell	Gonzaga	11
Frank Kaminsky	Wisconsin	12	C	Brad Waldow	St. Mary’s	8
Roy Devyn Marble	Iowa	3	PG-bu	Christopher Anderson	San Diego	2
Tim Frazier	Penn St.	8	SG-bu	Tyler Haws	Brigham Young	7
Lenzelle Smith	Ohio St.	7	SF-bu	Sam Dower	Gonzaga	6
Nik Stauskas	Michigan	9	PF-bu	Brendan Lane	Pepperdine	8
Amir Williams	Ohio St.	5	C-bu	Thomas van der Mars	Portland	9

All-Star (1st 5 starters)	B10	74	Sweet 16	All-Star (1st 5 starters)	CUSA	59
Aaron Craft	Ohio St.	8	PG	Neil Watson	Southern Mississippi	7
Ben Brust	Wisconsin	9	SG	Tymell Murphy	Florida International	10
Rayvonte Rice	Illinois	9	SF	Brandan Stith	East Carolina	8
Adreian Payne	Michigan St.	9	PF	Rakeem Buckles	Florida International	7
Frank Kaminsky	Wisconsin	11	C	Shawn Jones	Middle Tennessee	5
Roy Devyn Marble	Iowa	5	PG-bu	Alex Hamilton	Louisiana Tech	3
Tim Frazier	Penn St.	5	SG-bu	Michael Craig	Southern Mississippi	3
Lenzelle Smith	Ohio St.	6	SF-bu	Ryan Taylor	Marshall	4
Nik Stauskas	Michigan	8	PF-bu	Vince Hunter	Texas El Paso	6
Amir Williams	Ohio St.	4	C-bu	John Bohannon	Texas El Paso	6

All-Star (1st 5 starters)	A10	77	Sweet 16	All-Star (1st 5 starters)	WCC	79
Chaz Williams	Massachusetts	10	PG	Anthony Ireland	Loyola Marymount	10
Cedrick Lindsay	Richmond	10	SG	Kevin Pangos	Gonzaga	12
Langston Galloway	St. Joseph’s	13	SF	Stephen Holt	St. Mary’s	12
Briante Weber	VCU	9	PF	Gary Bell	Gonzaga	8
Cady Lalanne	Massachusetts	10	C	Brad Waldow	St. Mary’s	8
Tyreek Duren	La Salle	2	PG-bu	Christopher Anderson	San Diego	3
Joe McDonald	George Washington	6	SG-bu	Tyler Haws	Brigham Young	5
Kethan Savage	George Washington	5	SF-bu	Sam Dower	Gonzaga	5
Treveon Graham	VCU	7	PF-bu	Brendan Lane	Pepperdine	7
Juvonte Reddic	VCU	5	C-bu	Thomas van der Mars	Portland	9