--William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair

Seven years ago next month, I walked into a press box as a professional for the first time to broadcast a high school baseball game live from Gill Stadium in my hometown of Manchester, New Hampshire. In the intervening time, my work (and I use the term very, very loosely indeed) has taken me many wonderful places. I've been courtside for NYU basketball at the Coles Sports Center in lower Manhattan, and I've been in the press box at Fenway Park in Boston. I've stood on the sidelines at Parker-Gray Stadium in Alexandria with T.C. Williams' 1971 state champions, and I've sat in Heinz Field in Pittsburgh for the 2011 NHL Winter Classic. To top it all off, most recently, I was given a front-row seat to one of the most dramatic games in the chronicles of March Madness.

But that run will have to end for the time being, as today is my last official day at TBD. To be honest, my future is very much unwritten at the moment. I hope to stay in D.C. and it is my resolution to continue writing about sports in the near future whether I get paid for it or not, though what form that resolution might take is very much to be determined (no pun intended).

As the risk of boring you to tears and/or insanity, there are many, many people I have to thank for various courtesies shown to me over the past few months. Naturally the list begins with thanks to Erik Wemple and Paul Volpe -- who initially interviewed me and brought me on board here -- and Jim Brady, TBD's original auteur.

Foremost among current and former colleagues who gave me advice, assistance, guidance, nicknames, and/or a good laugh, I must thank Mike Jones, Dan Rowinski, Dan Daly, David Aldridge, Alex Parker, Britt McHenry, Daniel Victor, Julie Westfall, Steve Buttry, Nathasha Lim, Jeff Sonderman, Sommer Mathis, Mandy Jenkins, Lisa Rowan, Andrew Beaujon, Maura Judkis, Elahe Izadi, Sarah Godfrey, Jenny Rodgers, Sara Kenigsberg, Steve Chaggaris, Amanda Hess, Sarah Larimer, Rebecca Cooper, Heather Farrell, Jay Westcott, Ally Schweitzer, Mitchell Schuler, Dave Jamieson, Ryan Kearney, Kevin Robillard, Justin Karp, Elliot Kort, and Nicole Young.

Special thanks also to Bruce DePuyt, Morris Jones, Glenn Harris and Tim Brant, as well as their various producers, who were perfectly willing to overlook my radio-friendly face and print-friendly voice to have me on TV every so often.

The sports media fraternity is a wonderful thing to be a part of in any city, and I was lucky enough to ride alongside some of the best, friendliest, most intelligent, and hardest-working people in the business. On the print side, my thanks to Jason Reid, Rick Maese, Barry Svrluga, Adam Kilgore, Tom Boswell, Tarik El-Bashir, Katie Carrera, Dan Steinberg, Gene Wang, Michael Lee, Mike Wise, and Cindy Boren of the Washington Post; John Keim, Brian McNally, and Craig Stouffer of the Washington Examiner; Patrick Stevens of the Washington Times and Reed Albers of Washington Post Express. I must also single out Joseph White of the AP -- whose baking skills and passion for cricket and Dr. Who is second to none -- and Ben Standig, a hard-working member of the freelance brigade. 

Of my brothers and sisters in the Internet-only world, I thank John Taylor, Mike Prada, Sean Fagan, Jack Anderson III, and Adam Vingan of SB Nation, Bullets Forever, and Kings of Leonsis; Rachel Levitin of We Love DC, among others; Jenn and Rachel of Nationals Fangirls; John Keeley, Elisabeth Meinecke, and the rest of the merry band at On Frozen Blog; Dave and Cheryl Nichols of Capitals News Network and Nationals News Network; Kyle Weidie and Rashad Mobley of Truth About It; Tom and Tiffany Bridge of We Love DC; Jim Iovino of NBCWashington.com; Matt Terl of Redskins.com; Bill Ladson of Nationals.com; Ed Frankovic of WNST.net and, of course, Ted Starkey, Caps tweeter extraordinaire.

As for the TV and radio division, which includes Internet affiliates: Sky Kerstein and Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan; Chris Russell of ESPN 980; Jonathan Warner, Craig Heist, and Bobby Oler of WTOP and Kelli Johnson, Jill Sorenson, and Chris Miller of CSN, as well as Ryan O'Halloran and Mark Zuckerman of CSNWashington.com, will never have to pay for a meal or drink as long as I'm in their vicinity. (Of course, that offer applies to anyone on this list, but I'm running out of ways to say thank you at this point).

Neither, for that matter, will Gemma Hooley and Chris Nelson of NPR, who are in the midst of putting together one of their brilliant sound-rich documentaries about the current Capitals season. Can't wait to hear it.

For various measures of assistance, I want to thank the following members of the various team PR departments, who, whether journalists wish to admit it or not, play a vital role in the making of the news. In particular: John Dever, Mike Gazda and Bill Gluvna of the Washington Nationals; Tony Wyllie, Matt Taylor, Michael Pehanich and Zack Bolno (former) of the Washington Redskins; Nate Ewell (former), Sergey Kocharov and Kelly Murray of the Washington Capitals; Scott Hall, Daren Jenkins, Brian Sereno and Ketsia Colimon of the Washington Wizards; and Alex Caulfield, Doug Hicks, and Kyle Sheldon of D.C. United. At the college level, hats off to Rose DiPaula at the University of Maryland, Maureen Nasser and Dan Reisig at George Mason University, Mex Carey at Georgetown University, Brad Bower at George Washington University and Nancy Yasharof at American University. Special thanks as well to the players and coaches (they know who they are) who were unfailingly generous with their time and wisdom.

Finally, a brief note of thanks to you, the readers and fans. My main mission at the outset of this enterprise was to bring you as much news and insight as one sportswriter possibly could. Whether I accomplished that is up to you. My other mission was to try and be as responsive to your e-mails, tweets, etc, as I possibly could. That part, I admit, I wasn't nearly as successful at, but I hope you all know that your messages were read and acted on to the best of my ability.

Right, I think that's everything. And would you look at that? It seems I'm all out of pith. In that case, I'll leave you in the very capable hands of Edward Woodward as Breaker Morant. I'd recommend watching the whole thing, but if you're in the mood for straight-up verse, skip to 1:56.

See you soon, hopefully.

Samuel Douglas Chamberlain

Time: 5:15 p.m. Place: Cleveland, Ohio. TV: CBS. The Line: Ohio State by 11.5

Storyline: After a thrilling come-from-behind win over Villanova in Friday afternoon's second round match-up, the sentimental types and fans of George Mason are getting that 2006 feeling, remembering when the Patriots knocked off Michigan State, North Carolina, and Connecticut en route to the Final Four. 

However, this afternoon in Cleveland, George Mason will be faced with their toughest test of the season, as they face the consensus No.1 team in the nation in their home state. There will be very little sentimentality in Cleveland this afternoon as a partisan Buckeye crowd watches Jared Sullinger and company take on the Patriots.

Key Player--George Mason: Luke Hancock, who led George Mason with 18 points and 10 rebounds in Friday's win over Villanova. He'll have his hands full trying to contain Ohio State's frontcourt this afternoon.

Key Player--Ohio State: Jon Diebler,a 50% three-point shooter for the Buckeyes this season who was last held under 10 points in Ohio State's 71-67 loss to Wisconsin on February 12. The Patriots will have to hope that they limit Diebler's opportunities from downtown, otherwise it could be curtains early.

The Pick: Ohio State. On another day, perhaps George Mason could pull off a miracle. But the ability of Sullinger, Diebler, and David Lighty, as well as what will essentially be a homecourt advantage for Ohio State will see the Buckeyes through.

Andrew Smith's layup to give Butler a 70-69 lead with 2.2 seconds to go should have been the end of it. It should have been the best finish of a tournament that has already seen a fair few great ones. It should have been a moment of redemption for Smith, who had seen an earlier point-blank chance roll painfully off the rim with 44 seconds to go. Instead, his contribution is a mere footnote to the most bizarre NCAA Tournament finish since Chris Webber tried to call time out.

"I've never seen anything like that in 39 years of coaching," Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said hours after it was over.

The ball was rolled out to Gilbert Brown on the left side of the floor, by the scorer's table and the benches. As Brown bent down to collect the ball and look for an opening to get a shot off, up came junior guard Shelvin Mack who had scored 30 points on 10-for-16 shooting (including seven three-pointers, one more than the entire Pittsburgh team) and generally ensured that he should never have to pay for food or drink within a 20-mile radius of Hinkle Fieldhouse. But he got too close here, and bumped Brown just as the Pitt senior was preparing to let fly.

"[My] first reaction was make [Brown] pick up the ball," Mack said Saturday night. "When [the inbound pass came] I was running to the sideline, trying to move out the way, but [the play] was coming towards me. I put myself in the best situation to make the ref make a call. Once the call was made, I realized that it was the dumbest mistake of my life."

As with all late calls in close games, there was a natural explosion of anger from the crowd of 18,684, most of whom had long since gone past the point of no return when it came to rooting for the Bulldogs. But as the officials huddled at the scorer's table to determine how much time should be put back on the clock (they settled on 1.4 seconds; crew chief John Higgins later clarified that only the time remaining was reviewable and not the foul call itself), only the most devoted champion of the underdog could see an error in referee Terry Wymer's call.

"I think if it's a foul it should be called a foul, no matter if it's 0.2 seconds left on clock or 39 minutes left on the clock," Mack admitted. "The game is played for a full 40 minutes, I think it should be reffed for a full 40 minutes."

Mack's mortification didn't stop him from exchanging words with Brown as the officials called the teams back to the floor. "We just had a regular conversation," Mack said. "I just asked him where he was from. Simple question, just talk to him a little bit. He responded back. There's no trash talking or anything like that." Good thing, too. Under the circumstances, it would have taken polished brass for Mack to deliver his version of Scottie Pippen's famous "The Mailman doesn't deliver on Sundays" taunt of Karl Malone during Game 1 of the 1997 NBA Finals.  

Brown made the first foul shot and missed the second. Overtime seemed a certainty as Matt Howard, Thursday afternoon's hero, grabbed the rebound and heaved it downcourt. But before the buzzer sounded, the third referee, Antonio Petty, blew his whistle. He'd seen Nasir Robinson's arm come down hard across Howard, as if he was trying to swat a particularly large and distracting insect. That brought about another review ,which resulted in 0.8 seconds being put on the clock, and Howard stood 15 feet away from an improbable win.

There was much fevered talk in the immediate aftermath that Pittsburgh coach Jaime Dixon should have ordered his team to move off the lane prior to Brown's second free throw to prevent just such an occurrence as Robinson's foul. Brown, after all, had made all four of his foul shots in the game to that point. But Brown was only a 79% foul shooter entering the game, not exactly Ray Allen in his prime, and anyway, no coach worth his fine tailored suits would knowingly pass up the opportunity for a game-winning rebound and putback with 1.4 seconds left in a tie game. Besides, who could have expected the events that followed would actually happen?

No, regrettably (for he played a terrific game), blame for this one must fall on Robinson, who said after the game, "I wasn't thinking at all. I was trying to make a play. It was a dumb play and I wasn't thinking at all ... I blame myself. I am smarter than that. I have been playing this game too long to make a dumb mistake like that. I blame myself." In the few hours since the game ended, those lines show every possibility of being Pitt basketball's version of "What a stupid I am!"

By the time Pitt's last (late) heave bounced harmlessly off the rim, everyone in the building, it seemed, had lost the ability to comprehend what they had just seen. Except, that is, the officiating crew of Higgins, Wymer, and Petty, who drew rave reviews from both coaches for their performance and have surely earned themselves a plumb assignment next weekend for their willingness to make difficult (but correct) calls and not surrender to the popular credo of "let the players decide" which is far too often an excuse for official cowardice as opposed to laissez-faire refereeing.

"We do it every day," Higgins said afterward. "It just happened to be a crucial part of the game. You have to do what you have to do as an official.

"If we get it right, we're good. If we get it wrong, we're deadbeats and we're all over SportsCenter. We did what we think is correct."

Connecticut 69, Cincinnati 58

Cincinnati fans could be forgiven for thinking that Kemba Walker is a perfect fit for the NBA. After all, some were no doubt reasoning as they left the Verizon Center, the junior from the Bronx is already getting star calls.

That's slightly unfair to UConn, who did deserve their win on the balance of play, but it wasn't just Bearcat fans who were looking at the 30-14 UConn advantage in free throws attempted with interest. "We didn't want to foul [Walker]," said Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin, who saw Walker attempt as many foul shots (14) as his whole team. Cronin was no doubt thinking of a highly questionable flagrant foul call on Justin Jackson as he attempted to stop a Walker fast break dunk in the first half. Walker made both free throws and Alex Oriakhi made a jumper on the extra UConn possession to give the Huskies a 30-22 lead and cap a 15-2 run.

Cincinnati fans will also be wondering what might have been if Walker had been called for traveling after his drive to the rim was shut off with nine-and-a-half minutes to play and his team up just 47-45. Many blinkered and neutral eyes thought they saw Walker shuffle his pivot foot, but nothing was called, and Walker drilled a big three later in the possession to put Connecticut up five. 

But again, we're being unfair to Walker, who scored 33 points largely through sheer determination and reinforced his special place in the heart of Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun, who knows a bit about determination.

"I listen to him as much as any player since Caron Butler," said Calhoun, who earlier in his press conference had put Kemba in some truly lofty company: "I become more convinced of this every day, having [had] so many great players who have done so many things for us, that Kemba is [in] an elite class. Years down the road when you say Ray Allen, Rip [Hamilton], Emeka [Okafor], Ben [Gordon], certainly Kemba's name will be there."

Calhoun's words are all the more striking when you consider that the first four players named have won championships, and though Kemba and his mostly younger cohorts have brought UConn to a place few thought they'd be three weeks ago, there is a sense that Walker, et. al. will have to reach another level to give UConn its most unlikely Final Four appearance, which would require them to get past two of the following four: San Diego State, Duke, Texas (who UConn played, and beat, in an Austin classic earlier this year), or Arizona.

The Marketing Associate and the Grandfather

But first things first. San Diego State awaits Connecticut in Anaheim Thursday night. That's 34-2 San Diego State, No. 2 seed in the West, playing approximately 90 miles from its own campus. A team Calhoun called "the real deal" and "as athletic as any Big East-type team."  Coincidentally, Calhoun has had most of his tournament success in the West Regional. The Huskies won both their national titles (1999, 2004) and reached all three of their Final Fours (1999, 2004, 2009) coming out of the West. But Calhoun also knows something about having to play in hostile environments. He lost to eventual national champion UCLA in the 1995 West Regional Final in Oakland. He had to play North Carolina in the 1998 East Regional Final at the Greensboro Coliseum. And his 2002 squad gave a noble effort, but succumbed to eventual national champion Maryland in the East Regional final in that most anti-Husky of environs, Syracuse, New York.

But as many have pointed out during the course of this weekend, Jim Calhoun has conditioned himself to relish being counted out and to love coming out of nowhere. "Two years ago, we were in the Final Four," he said Saturday night. "And that's been a tough thing to tell people because no one believes us. We didn't have a particularly good season last year. And I think when you're on a particular level, we necessarily didn't get a pass. We didn't get a pass. And that happens. But I don't think we ever got concerned about that."

His jig of delight after Walker beat the buzzer and Pittsburgh simultaneously in the Big East quarterfinals earlier this month belied Calhoun's nonchalance, but if anybody's earned a pass, it's the 68-year grandfather of six who joked that Saturday's game, which actually stretched into Sunday morning, ended past his bedtime.

Butler coach Brad Stevens, a 34-year-old former player at Division III DePauw University and a former marketing associate at Eli Lilly (who still looks the part, particularly in the spectacles he favored this weekend), is in an analogous position to Calhoun. His team was written off as a title contender for this season on the May day that Gordon Hayward, last year's star man and nearly man, declared for the NBA Draft and the general shrugging continued even as Butler won 24 games and did the Horizon League regular season and tournament double.

Now, Stevens' team heads to New Orleans to face a difficult, but perfectly winnable game against Wisconsin, to be followed (if results allow), by one of two opponents: a BYU team in the process of becoming America's new sweethearts led by Jimmer Fredette, this year's Gordon Hayward (imagine how much spilled ink THAT match-up would attract) or a Florida team that will have lots of fan support and a broad path to the Final Four.

Either way, as they prepare to leave Washington behind, both Stevens and Calhoun knew that there was a very good chance that they would be underdogs. But if history is any guide, that distinction seems to suit both men rather well.

After a missed jumper by Cincinnati's Cashmere Wright, Connecticut came back down the other end, and Walker nailed a three to make it 50-45. He did the same thing to make it 58-50 with 3:52 remaining. Then, with under two minutes to go in a six-point game, Walker made a steal, moved in alongside Roscoe Smith, and fed the Baltimore freshman for a jam that made the score 60-52.

That, essentially, was game over, as the Huskies held on to defeat the Bearcats 69-58 and advance to a Thursday date with San Diego State in the West Regional Semifinal in Anaheim, California.

Cincinnati got the better of the early going, taking an early 17-9 lead after an Ibrahima Thomas layup with 13:22 to go before halftime. But that was the signal for Walker to take over the proceedings, and he proceeded to do just that, scoring the next six points of the game to draw UConn within two. After a Yancy Gates three-point play made the score 20-15, sophomore Alex Oriakhi and freshman Jeremy Lamb got into the act, combining to score eight straight points to start a 16-2 run for the Huskies. 

Walker himself capped off the run, canning a three to make the score 26-22 before being the victim of an intentional foul (at least in the eyes of the officials) by Cincinnati's Justin Jackson, who fouled Walker hard in an attempt to stop a breakaway dunk. Walker made the two foul shots and on the ensuing Connecticut possession, senior Charles Okwandu nailed his only field goal of the half to make the score 30-22. Cincinnatil recovered themselves well, and cut their deficit to 30-26, but Lamb and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel popped up with a three-pointer apiece to make the score 36-28 Huskies at the break.   

Butler thought they had the game won when Andrew Smith's layup gave them a 70-69 lead with 2.2 seconds to play. But the officials called a foul on Shelvin Mack, who they ruled had body-blocked Gilbert Brown while the latter was trying to get off a desperation shot. Brown was sent to the line with 1.4 seconds to play and made just one of two foul shots to tie the game 70-70. Off the miss, Howard came down with the rebound and tried to heave the ball downcourt to force overtime. However, in the process, he was hacked on the arm by Nasir Robinson and the officials called a foul to set up Howard's heroics.

Butler came out hot in the first half, making four of their first five three-point attempts to take a 20-14 lead with 11:58 to go in the first half. Five straight points by Mack, who led all scorers with 16 in the first half and finished with 30 for the game, made the score 30-18 to the Bulldogs with 6:12 to go before intermission. The Panthers did have one first half run in them, though, and score the next nine points to cut their deficit to 30-27 and force Butler to use a timeout with 3:39 to go in regulation. Brown's jumper with 3:10 left in the half brought the Panthers to within 30-29, but Butler responded with two more Mack three-pointers sandwiched around a dunk by Howard to take a 38-30 lead into halftime.

Pitt responded brilliantly, however, opening the second half by making five of their first seven shots to tie the game 41-41. Then, with 14:33 left, Brad Wanamaker's jumper gave the Panthers their first lead since the score was 4-2 early in the first half.

 The teams traded punches throughout the last seven minutes of regulation after Brown made three free throws to break a 57-57 tie with 6:19 to go in regulation. Butler battled back to take a 62-60 lead after a three-pointer by Mack and a layup by Howard. Two more foul shots by Howard put Butler up 66-62 with 3:40 left before a three by Brown cut the deficit back to one.

Mack made one of two free throws to make the score 67-65 to Butler with 2:45 to go, but a layup by McGhee and two Wanamaker free throws put Pitt back on top, 69-67 with 1:58 left. After a Smith free throw made it a one-point game, the two sides exchanged fruitless possessions as Smith missed a layup with 44 seconds to go before Pitt committed a shot clock violation with 8.9 seconds left to set up the wild ending.

Mack led all scorers with 30 points, while Brown finished with 24 points. Both Howard of Butler and Robinson of Pitt finished with 16 points.

Then they ran into the Connecticut Huskies, and that was the end of that.

"It was a really bad way to end a terrific season," said Bucknell coach Dave Paulsen after his team trailed by as many as 41 points in an eventual 81-52 loss to the No. 3 seed Huskies Thursday night at the Verizon Center. The truth of the matter is, despite Paulsen's statement that he "didn't feel we competed nearly as well as we could have," the fact of the matter is that not many teams in the nation can defeat Connecticut when they played like they did Thursday night. Kemba Walker set a new UConn record for assists in a tournament game with 12, and the Huskies' young frontcourt dominated proceedings on the boards, outrebounding Bucknell 43-21.

Most importantly for UConn coach Jim Calhoun, he received sizable contributions from freshmen Roscoe Smith (17 points on 7-for-13 shooting) and Jeremy Lamb (16 points on 6-for-9 shooting), which took a lot of the heat off Walker. 

"Bottom line is that when Roscoe and Jeremy [have] been [scoring],we're a different team." said Calhoun Thursday night. "We're just a different team because if you want to do what [Paulsen did], that's been done before and that's fine. You load up with Kemba and ... we ran the pick-and-pop time after time after time. And when Kemba came down the middle, [he] put three guys in there and try and take a charge, block his shot. [Walker] did a wonderful job. He could have had 15, 20 assists tonight. He really could have."

Calhoun will ask for something similar in tonight's third-round match-up against Cincinnati (9:40 p.m., TBS). The game will be a reprise of a February 27 encounter in Cincinnati that ended with Smith and Lamb combining for 28 points, Connecticut shooting 50% from the floor (23-for-46), and the Huskies running out 67-59 victors.

"In our league, I think the team that's the hungriest is probably going to win because the teams are so evenly matched," Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said Thursday night after his team's 78-63 second-round win over Missouri. "I think our guys were overconfident [in February] because we had swept UConn the year before and [our players] didn't understand how good their freshmen were.

"It doesn't mean we'll win the the game [Saturday], but our guys are definitely going to have more respect for their personnel."

Cronin, for his part, was reasonably happy with his team after they throttled Missouri on both ends of the floor. "Your players just gotta attack," Cronin said. "And when we did that, we killed them inside, and second-chance points were big as well."

All hands on deck for UConn, then. They're not playing Bucknell any more.

Pitt vs. Butler (7:10 p.m., TBS)

The first game of tonight's doubleheader will be won and lost on the interior. Both Butler and Pitt scored 28 points in the paint and 19 second-chance points in their second-round wins over Old Dominion and UNC-Asheville, respectively. The key match-ups to watch down low will be the combination of Matt Howard vs. Gary McGhee and Andrew Smith vs. Nasir Robinson. Butler was very lucky that neither Smith or Howard fouled out of Thursday's thriller, but it will be interesting to see how close the officials call the low-post game. If either man gets into early foul trouble, it could be a long night for the Bulldogs.

12:15 p.m. East Region--(7) Washington vs. (2) North Carolina at Charlotte (CBS)

2:45 p.m. West Region--(8) Michigan vs. (1) Duke at Charlotte (CBS)

5:15 p.m. East Region--(8) George Mason vs. (1) Ohio State at Cleveland (CBS)

6:10 p.m. West Region--(5) Arizona vs. (4) Texas at Tulsa (TNT)

7:10 p.m. Southwest Region--(11) Virginia Commonwealth vs. (3) Purdue at Chicago (TBS)

7:45 p.m. East Region--(11) Marquette vs. (3) Syracuse at Cleveland (Tru TV)

8:40 p.m. Southwest Region--(9) Illinois vs. (1) Kansas at Tulsa (TNT)

9:40 p.m. Southwest Region--(10) Florida State vs. (2) Notre Dame at Chicago (TBS)

They're after the jump.

NCAA East Regional--(8) George Mason (26-6) vs. (9) Villanova (21-11)

Time: 2:10 p.m. Place: Cleveland, Ohio. TV: TNT The Line: Villanova -2

Storyline: George Mason went almost two months without a loss -- between January 8 and March 6 -- but their demolition at the hands of Virginia Commonwealth in the CAA Tournament semifinals was a huge factor in the Selection Committee dropping them in to a tough 8-9 match-up.

Villanova, on the other hand, staggered into the tournament like someone who'd overindulged on St. Patrick's Day. The Wildcats lost 10 of their last 15 games, dating back to a 61-59 setback on January 17 against Connecticut. Their horrible stretch was capped off by a stunning 70-69 loss in the Big East Tournament against going-nowhere South Florida. Will they take advantage of the fresh start offered by a tournament berth?

Key Player--George Mason: Cam Long. The senior leader of the Patriots will have to be more efficient than he was in the CAA Tournament semifinal loss to VCU, when he needed 22 shots (20 field goal attempts and 2 foul shots) to score 20 points in the 79-63 defeat.

Key Player--Villanova: Corey Stokes. If he's knocking down three-pointers, then the Wildcats have at least a puncher's chance against the Patriots.

The Pick: George Mason will get the chance to shock the world on Sunday against Ohio State, while Villanova ends their season with 11 losses in 16 games. 

NCAA Southwest Regional--(6) Georgetown (21-10) vs (11) VCU (24-11)

Time: 9:50 p.m. Place: Chicago, Illinois. TV: TNT The Line: Georgetown -6

Storyline: An up-and-down season ended on a downswing for the Hoyas as they lost five of their last six Big East games as well as their senior point guard Chris Wright, who broke his left (non-shooting) hand in a loss to Cincinnati February 23. That injury forced Wright to miss the final two games of the regular season as well as Georgetown's 79-62 loss to Connecticut in the Big East Tournament. However, Wright should be back in action for the Hoyas tonight.

VCU had to sweat out Selection Sunday to see if they were invited to dance, but they proved their worthiness with a 59-46 win over USC in Wednesday night's first round game in Dayton to set up a meeting with the Hoyas.

Key Player--Georgetown: Chris Wright. I'm not sure how much better he makes the team statistically, but I've seen enough of the Hoyas without him to determine that his experience and leadership does make some difference.

Key Player--VCU: Jamie Skeen, the Rams' leading point scorer and rebounder who rounded into a consistent all-around player toward the end of the year. If he gets the better of Julian Vaughn in the low block, an upset could be on the cards.

The Pick: VCU. For the second straight year, Georgetown will go out to a double-digit seed.

12:15 p.m. East Region--(5) West Virginia vs. (4) Kentucky at Tampa (CBS)

2:45 p.m. Southeast Region--(7) UCLA vs. (2) Florida at Tampa (CBS)

5:15 p.m. Southwest Region--(13) Morehead State vs. (12) Richmond at Denver (CBS)

6:10 p.m. West Region--(7) Temple vs. (2) San Diego State at Tucson (TNT)

7:10 p.m. Southeast Region--(8) Butler vs. (1) Pittsburgh at Washington D.C. (TBS)

7:45 p.m.Southeast Region--(11) Gonzaga vs. (3) Brigham Young at Denver (CBS)

8:40 p.m. Southeast Region--(5) Kansas State vs (4) Wisconsin at Tucson (TNT)

9:40 p.m. West Region-- (6) Cincinnati vs. (3) Connecticut at Washington D.C. (TBS)

The first ten minutes of the game were closely contested, but Cincinnati took control of the first half with a 21-10 spurt that covered the final 9:22 of the first half. The run started with a driving dunk by Larry Davis that the senior from Houston, Texas turned in to a three-point play at the foul line. That made the score 21-19 to the Bearcats, and from that point, Missouri only recorded two field goals for the rest of the half.

Nothing, apart from shooting just 9-for-31 (29.0%) from the field in the first half, encapsulated the Tigers' poor performance as when junior Laurence Bowers went up for a slam with four and a half minutes to play, only to see the ball slip out of his hand and bounce off the front of the rim.  

Cincinnati stretched the lead to 43-28 early in the second half, but to their credit, Missouri gamely staged a partial rally and cut their deficit to 54-48 on a Justin Safford dunk with 10:12 remaining. But junior forward Yancy Gates, who led all scorers with 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to record his seventh double-double of the season, answered at the other end with a thunderous dunk of his own to goose the margin back to eight points. The Tigers never got closer, and the game was effectively sealed when Gates, who had made just two three-pointers all year, knocked down his second of the night with 4:34 remaining to make the score 70-55 to Cincinnati.

Gates was joined in double figures by Dion Dixon (16 points), Cashmere Wright (11 points), and Sean Kilpatrick (10 points). For Missouri, Ricardo Ratcliffe (13 points), Michael Dixon (11 points), Marcus Denmon (10 points), and Bowers (10 points) all finished with over ten points.

Jim Calhoun's team, the No. 3 seed in the West Regional moves on to play the winner of the Cincinnati/Missouri match-up later tonight. That third round game will take place on Saturday back in Chinatown.

Connecticut got an early jump on proceedings, making five of their first six field goal attempts and opening up a 14-7 lead with four and a half minutes gone in the game. Initially, the Bison were able to keep the game somewhat close, with Bryson Johnson's three-pointer making the score 27-20 in favor of Connecticut with 7:54 left before halftime. But after Johnson's shot, the Bison wouldn't score another point until Mike Muscala's jumper with 31 seconds to play in the half made the score 39-22 to UConn.

In between Bucknell baskets, the Huskies' run consisted of a jumper from Kemba Walker and Roscoe Smith, a three-pointer by Jeremy Lamb, a layup by Walker, and a three-pointer by Shabazz Napier that gave UConn its biggest lead of the game at 39-20 with 1:51 to play before the intermission. In the meantime, Bucknell missed eight straight shots from the floor in a stretch that sealed the 14-seed's fate.

Improbably, the Huskies kept expanding their lead as the second half begin. Connecticut scored 23 of the second period's first 28 points and took a 73-32 lead on an Alex Oriakhi jumper with 8:35 to play in regulation.

Walker was the indispensable man for UConn, scoring 18 points and dishing 12 assists, a new Connecticut team record for the tournament. The old mark of 11 assists was also set in Washington, by Marcus Williams in the 2006 overtime loss to George Mason in the Elite Eight. Walker was joined in double figures by Smith (17 points) and Lamb (16 points). Muscala (14 points) and Johnson (11 points) were the only Bison to crack 10 points.  

On the other hand, the No. 1 seed in the Southeast Region, the University of Pittsburgh, had very little trouble with UNC-Asheville, outscoring the Bulldogs 44-26 in the second half to roll to victory.

After the jump, my thoughts on the action in both games.

(8) Butler 60, (9) Old Dominion 58

Old Dominion coach Blaine Taylor put things in perspective soon after his team fell to Butler, last year's NCAA Finalist, on a buzzer-beating layup by Matt Howard.

"If that's the worst thing that happens to [my players] in their life," Taylor said, "They're going to have a hell of a life."

Apart from taking the long view, Taylor's bon mot summed up the action itself. It could very easily have been his opposite number, Butler coach Brad Stevens, facing the music after a disappointing first-round exit that snapped a nine-game overall winning streak. If they awarded ties in college basketball, it might have been the fairest outcome for that particular game. But someone has to win, and it was the Bulldogs who did it.

"Two really good teams played a really hard-fought game," Stevens said. "I think that's kind of what you envision the eight-nine game to be ... We were fortunate to win because we had the last possession."

Both teams played a flawed game, but Old Dominion will look back at its 5-for-22 (22.7%) shooting line in the second half with particular regret. Likewise, senior Frank Hassell will look at the stat sheet and see 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting, but will no doubt ask himself how he managed to grab only five rebounds.  "They were fronting the play, kind of physical with me the whole game," said Hassell. "We were looking at first side a lot, and they were kind of pushing me out. Once coach could call some plays to get the ball moving from side-to-side and pass more, I could reposition and get the ball deep, and that's what we did."

Butler's win was a tribute to its depth as well, as the duo of Howard and Andrew Smith played much of the game with at least three fouls (four in Smith's case after he fouled Hassell with 15:56 to go).

"Our bench was huge," said Howard. "I mean Garrett [Butcher, who scored six points and grabbed six rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench] did a great job. Five offensive rebounds is huge, and that may in itself be separator in this game."

In fact, it was the difference in the offensive rebounding stats, where Butler beat out the Monarchs 18-13. "We were missing numerous box-outs, and they were just chasing the ball down," was how Taylor explained it.

But of course, the biggest rebound of the game fell to Howard himself. "I actually thought Andrew [Smith] was open on the duck-in," said Stevens. "Shawn [Vanzant] tripped, Shawn made an extraordinarily high-IQ play to throw the ball in the air, Andrew's guy had shown Andrew, tips the ball, keeps it alive, he's jumping with Matt [Howard]'s guy, Matt lays it in."

Cue pandemonium. Cue madness.

(1) Pittsburgh 74, (16) UNC-Asheville 51

This one was much more straightfoward. While I do believe that at some point in my life, a 16-seed will beat a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament. I can say with complete confidence that the hypothetical 16-seed will not have played a grueling overtime game less than 48 hours before, as UNC-Asheville had to do. Nor will it had to have flown to its sub-regional site on a red-eye charter from Dayton, Ohio, as UNC-Asheville had to do. Not coincidentally, the Bulldogs played a fine first half, but were gradually ground down by the Pitt Panthers.

In some respects, it was a miracle that UNC-Asheville was in this game at all. The Bulldogs shot 17-for-55 from the field for the game (30.9%), making just nine field goals in the first half, and eight in the second half. The only saving grace that kept the score 30-25 at halftime was the fact that Pittsburgh made just 11 of their 29 field goal attempts (37.9%) in the first 20 minutes. But the second half, was a different story. Pitt's shots began to fall, UNC-Asheville's stayed out, and that, as the poet said, made all the difference.

"We really just missed some open shots early [in the game]," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "Some finishes around the rim on some offensive rebounds, and some open threes. Ashton [Gibbs] obviously shot much better in the second half [Gibbs went 7-for-10 from the field and 4-for-5 from beyond the arc after halftime]. I think it just kind of opened up."

And what about that 81-77 overtime win on Tuesday night by UNC-Asheville over Arkansas-Little Rock? "I think we probably got a little tired," said Bulldogs guard Matt Dickey. "But I wouldn't say that had an effect for us losing the game."

"College kids stay up later than I do," Coach Eddie Biedenbach said. "Until they come up with a better way to do it, and I'm sure everybody has their opinions, but I'm pleased with the reception we got in Dayton and in Washington, D.C. I thought the way everything was handled was great on [the NCAA's part].

"We had to play better here today." Given the circumstances, I'd say Biedenbach's team, who cut their deficit to three on two occasions early in the second half, played very well indeed. But, as is often the case in the 1 vs. 16 match-ups, they didn't play nearly well enough. 

The Bulldogs, who defeated Arkansas-Little Rock 81-77 in overtime in their first round play-in game in Dayton Tuesday night just to get to this point, made a good fist of their first half effort, as they cut a 12-point deficit to 30-25 at halftime, thanks to a running right-handed shot in the lane by Matt Dickey with less than a second to go in the first half. Pitt had looked as if they would run away with the game in the early going, after Gary McGhee's dunk off an alley-oop pass made the score 23-11 with 7:44 to go until halftime.

But ultimately, it was Pitt junior guard Ashton Gibbs who made the difference. After a pair of free throws by Dickey cut Pitt's lead to 32-29, the native of Scotch Plains, NJ knocked down a three-pointer from the left elbow, then knocked down a mid-range jumper to make the score 37-29 with 17:34 to go in regulation. UNC-Asheville cut the deficit back down to 41-35 on a backdoor layup by J. P. Primm with 15:24 to go, but ultimately, the Panthers' frontcourt size and strength began to tell. In one second-half sequence, Pitt's Nasir Robinson missed the second of two free throws, recovered the rebound of his own miss, was fouled, and missed the second of two foul shots, but was still able to get the offensive rebound.

Another three by Gibbs, this time from the right elbow, followed two foul shots by Gilbert Brown and made the score 46-35 with 14:34 to go. Though UNC-Asheville tried to keep the Panthers in their sights, yet another three by Gibbs made the score 53-39 with nine minutes to play before Brown hit from beyond the arc to make the score 56-39 with 8:26 to go and ensure that the 1-over-16 streak would stay alive at 105.

Gibbs led all scorers with 26 points for Pitt, while Dickey led UNC-Asheville with 21 points of his own. Robinson chipped in 12 points for the Panthers, while Brown added nine points and nine rebounds. Primm poured in a total of 14 points for the Bulldogs.

Howard's heroics were set up after ODU's Kent Bazemore hit two foul shots with 31.2 seconds to play to tie the game at 58-58. Eschewing a timeout, Butler's Shawn Vanzant drove down the right side of the lane, but lost his balance and tried to flip a desperation shot at the basket. The ball was tapped around the interior before Howard got a hold of the ball and laid it off the glass to send the hundreds of Butler fans at the Verizon Center into hysterics.

The second half was full of more twists and turns than your average suspense novel. The Bulldogs appeared to be in trouble after Howard and his frontcourt mate, Andrew Smith, picked up their third fouls early in the second period. Smith went on to pick up a fourth foul, but remarkably, neither team saw a player foul out despite combining to shoot 34 free throws in the second half.

Butler responded well to the adversity and took a 49-43 lead, the largest either team enjoyed in the game. But the Monarchs battled back to take a 50-49 lead on two foul shots by Keyon Carter, and the stage was set for a dramatic finish. Butler appeared to have the game put away again when two Howard free throws made the score 58-52 with 2:43 remaining. But ODU came again, and scored the next six points to set up Howard's heroics.

The two teams played a back-and-forth first half that saw the lead change hands 12 times before Frank Hassell's putback layup with three seconds to go gave Old Dominion a 29-27 lead at the half. The big difference in the first 20 minutes was the strength of ODU's bench -- which outscored Butler 10-2 before halftime -- and the Monarchs' defense, which held Butler to just 37.9% shooting (11-for-29) from the field in the first half.

Senior Hassell led all scorers with 20 points for the Monarchs, but he was the only player on his team to finish in double figures. Howard and Shelvin Mack finished with 15 points apiece for Butler, while Smith chipped in with 11 points.

"Part of it was who we were playing," said Wizards coach Flip Saunders when it was all over. "Part of it was who we had playing."

When the Wizards take the floor Tuesday night against Chicago (8:00 p.m., CSN), they will do so without the above-mentioned three as well as Josh Howard, who only played 11 minutes before his knee "acted up," as Saunders put it. 

All of that is well and good. But it doesn't excuse what took place in front of an announced crowd of 17,921 at the Verizon Center Monday night, the vast majority of whom were streaming out into the unusually warm night long before the end of the third quarter. By that point, the Wizards had fallen behind by 28 points, and, remarkably, it would get worse.  

If the defining moment of Saturday night's game was Blake Griffin's emphatic rejection of John Wall midway through the second quarter, than the defining moment of Monday night came on the very first possession. Public address announcer Ralph Wesley had barely finished exhorting the crowd to stand at their seats until the Wizards' first basket when JaVale McGee swept down the lane and contorted his body just enough to try a ridiculous finger roll attempt that George Gervin in his prime would have had trouble with. With the seven-foot-tall McGee as the protagonist, the ending was more predictable: the shot came nowhere near the rim and fell into the grateful arms of Kendrick Perkins. Russell Westbrook converted a layup at the other end, and the Thunder went on to score the next six points before Nick Young's jumper gave the Wizards their first points.

The Wizards did do well to keep the margin respectable in the first quarter, but never managed to actually take the lead in the game; not even by a point, not even for a few seconds. The Thunder, who were playing the second game of a back-to-back stretch, never needed to get out of second gear as they rested all of their starters during the fourth-quarter. You couldn't blame Scott Brooks for depriving fans the sight of Durant in crunch-time, as the Thunder were up 95-70 after 36 minutes, and there was no further need for pointless butchering.

Saunders, who's been through a lot personally over the last two weeks, and who's been through a lot professionally over the last year-and-a-half, slumped into the media room looking as tired and withdrawn as he'd been at any point this season. His team has lost by greater margins this season (three times, to be exact: the opener against Orlando, Nov. 17 against Boston, and Feb 28 against Chicago), but never before had they looked so lifeless, so bereft of energy and ideas.

"You have to bite your lip, and I do actually have a callous on my lip, but you try and let them play through some things" said Saunders in response to a question about (who else?) McGee, whose poor performance crested with two stupefyingly stupid turnovers on back-to-back possessions in the fourth quarter. The first came when McGee fired an outlet pass between two of his teammates and out-of-bounds, the second when he attempted a behind-the-back pass. The remnants of the Verizon Center crowd were, for the most part, too incredulous to boo.

"If this weren't a rebuilding situation, he'd have a tough time [getting off the bench]," Saunders said of his center. "You can't play that way. That's losing basketball." In that moment, Saunders, who has so often preached style over substance and playing within limitations with regard to McGee, looked like a teacher by proxy, hoping that if he couldn't get the message through, someone in the media could. Unfortunately, as the media approached the locker room, they were met by McGee himself, making an early exit ahead of Monday's red-eye flight to Chicago. No time for interviews or teaching moments, not Monday night, anyway.

"The best part is," Saunders said near the end of his press conference with his special brand of deadpan sarcasm, "we have to go to Chicago and play a team that's playing really well." His team, on the other hand, has lost 11 of 12 since gaining their first road win against the Cleveland Cavaliers on February 13. Perhaps the prospect of catching Chicago on an off-night is the best thing going for the Wizards right now. Lord knows little else is.

The Thunder kept most of the fans standing by their seats waiting for Washington's first basket for 2:02 of game time. Meanwhile, Russell Westbrook (twice), Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka recorded field goals to give Oklahoma City the early 8-0 advantage before Nick Young's 18-foot fadeaway jump shot put the Wizards on the board.

Things rarely got better for the home team after that, though the Wizards  (who never led in the game) did well to keep to margin to single digits for most of the first quarter. But the Thunder really put the game beyond doubt in the second quarter, outscoring the Wizards 35-23 to take a 68-47 lead into halftime. The second 12 minutes included eight points from Durant, and a lively stretch of play from Daequan Cook off the bench. The fourth-year player from Ohio State went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in the quarter, hitting all three treys in a stretch of 2:03 to push Oklahoma City's lead from 37-28 to 46-30.

The Thunder put the result beyond all reasonable doubt in the third and fourth quarters, when they pushed the lead as high as 110-79 on a three-pointer by Cook with 6:14 to go in the game. The contest was so lopsided that Durant's services were only needed for 28 minutes as he scored 32 points on 9-for-16 shooting to lead all scorers. He was joined in double figures by Westbrook (18 points, 12 assists), James Harden (16 points), Cook (18 points, all from beyond the arc), and Ibaka (10 points). For the Wizards, John Wall, Trevor Booker, and JaVale McGee all finished with 14 points, while Young added 11 points and Jordan Crawford and Kevin Seraphin each chipped in with 12.

George Mason, regular season champions of the Colonial Athletic Association, were assigned a No. 8 seed in the East Region, and will play Villanova in their first game on Friday in Cleveland.

The full list of seedings and second-round pairings, along with a full television schedule of games, is after the jump. Remember, the traditional Thursday and Friday start of the tournament will be preceded by four so-called "First Four" games that will be played in Dayton, Ohio this coming Tuesday and Wednesday. Those four games are now considered to constitute the first round of the tournament and are marked with an asterisk in the pairings list. Games involving D.C.-area teams and games played at the Verizon Center are in bold.

The Final Four will be contested at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas on Saturday, April 2, with the national championship game taking place on Monday, April 4.

Also, for the first time in the tournament's history, every game can be seen on one of four TV channels: CBS, TNT, TBS, and Tru TV.

EAST (Newark--March 25 and 27)

Cleveland--March 18 and 20

(1) Ohio State vs. (16) Texas-San Antonio/Alabama State,*  Friday, 4:40 p.m. (TNT)

(8) George Mason vs. (9) Villanova, Friday, 2:10 p.m. (TNT)

*Game will take place Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Dayton, Ohio (Tru TV)

Tampa--March 17 and 19

(4) Kentucky vs. (13) Princeton, Thursday, 2:45 p.m. (CBS)

(5) West Virginia vs. (12) Alabama-Birmingham/Clemson,* Thursday, 12:15 p.m. (CBS)

*Game will take place Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. in Dayton, Ohio (Tru TV)

Cleveland--March 18 and 20

(3) Syracuse vs. (14) Indiana State, Friday, 9:57 p.m. (Tru TV)

(6) Xavier vs. (11) Marquette, Friday, 7:27 p.m. (Tru TV)

Charlotte--March 18 and 20

(2) North Carolina vs. (15) Long Island University, Friday, 7:15 p.m. (CBS)

(7) Washington vs. (10) Georgia, Friday, 9:45 p.m. (CBS)

SOUTHWEST (San Antonio--March 25 and 27)

Tulsa--March 18 and 20

(1) Kansas vs. (16) Boston University, Friday, 6:50 p.m. (TBS)

(8) UNLV vs. (9) Illinois, Friday, 9:20 p.m. (TBS)

Denver--March 17 and 19

(4) Louisville vs. (13) Morehead State, Thursday, 1:40 p.m. (TBS)

(5) Vanderbilt vs. (12) Richmond, Thursday, 4:10 p.m. (TBS)

Chicago--March 18 and 20

(3) Purdue vs. (14) Saint Peter's, Friday, 7:20 p.m. (TNT)

(6) Georgetown vs. (11) Southern Cal/Va.Commonwealth,*  Friday, 9:50 p.m. (TNT)

*Game will take place Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. in Dayton, Ohio (Tru TV)

Chicago-March 18 and 20

(2) Notre Dame vs. (15) Akron, Friday, 1:40 p.m. (TBS)

(7) Texas A&M vs. (10) Florida State, Friday, 4:10 p.m. (TBS)

SOUTHEAST (New Orleans--March 24 and 26).

Washington--March 17 and 19

(1) Pittsburgh vs. (16) UNC-Asheville/Arkansas-Little Rock,* Thursday, 3:10 p.m. (Tru TV)

(8) Butler vs. (9) Old Dominion, Thursday, 12:40 p.m. (Tru TV)

* Game will take place Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Dayton, Ohio (Tru TV)

Tucson--March 17 and 19

(4) Wisconsin vs. (13) Belmont, Thursday, 7:27 p.m. (Tru TV)

(5) Kansas State vs. (12) Utah State, Thursday, 9:57 p.m. (Tru TV)

Denver--March 17 and 19

(3) BYU vs. (14) Wofford, Thursday, 7:15 p.m. (CBS)

(6) St. John's vs. (11) Gonzaga, Thursday, 9:45 p.m. (CBS)

Tampa--March 17 and 19

(2) Florida vs. (15) UC-Santa Barbara, Thursday, 6:50 p.m. (TBS)

(7) UCLA vs. (10) Michigan State, Thursday, 9:20 p.m. (TBS)

WEST (Anaheim--March 24 and 26)

Charlotte--March 18 and 20

(1) Duke vs. (16) Hampton, Friday, 3:10 p.m. (Tru TV)

(8) Michigan vs. (9) Tennessee, Friday, 12:40 p.m. (Tru TV)

Tulsa--March 18 and 20

(4) Texas vs. (13) Oakland, Friday, 12:15 p.m. (CBS)

(5) Arizona vs. (12) Memphis, Friday, 2:45 p.m. (CBS)

Washington--March 17 and 19

(3) Connecticut vs. (14) Bucknell, Thursday, 7:20 p.m. (TNT)

(6) Cincinnati vs. (11) Missouri, Thursday, 9:50 p.m. (TNT)

Tucson--March 17 and 19

(2) San Diego State vs. (15) Northern Colorado, Thursday, 4:40 p.m. (TNT)

(7) Temple vs. (10) Penn State, Thursday, 2:10 p.m. (TNT)

"These Sunday afternoon games are like our version of Monday Night Football," said Mike Knuble, whose 16th goal of the season was the game-winner at 3:51 of sudden-death overtime. "They're fun to play in, and it presents challenges for both teams, having to get up and go so early."

Both teams had prolonged stretches where they were on top. Chicago dominated the early portions of all three periods, while the Capitals came on strong late. Capitals coach Joel Quenneville said his team "[wasn't] very good," but in reality, the Capitals shaded the play by only the smallest of margins over the 65 minutes. Though in fairness to Quenneville, Chicago was lucky to take the game to overtime to secure their point.

Beginning with Brooks Laich's goal to make the score 3-2 to Washington with 13:37 remaining in the third, the Caps piled into the Chicago zone with every intention of either scoring a fourth goal or killing off the game through forechecking. And they appeared on their way to achieving the latter goal when Marcus Johansson was called for hooking while attempting to clear Washington's defensive zone with 1:50 remaining. The odds of stopping the Blackhawks on any two-man advantage are never good, and with Chicago crashing the net in desperation, the game-tying goal by Jonathan Toews with 38.5 seconds to go in regulation felt very much like an inevitability.

If the Blackhawks had managed to go on and get the extra point, no one would have felt worse about it than Johansson, who proved again Sunday that he was up to the task of centering a first line that featured Knuble and Alex Ovechkin on the wings. He was active right from the face-off, getting away seven shots in all, leading the rush into the zone, and generally making life difficult for the Chicago defensemen. As it was, the Swedish rookie redeemed himself by finding Knuble down low in overtime for the game-winning goal.

"I am sure Marcus wanted to work doubly hard on that shift, because he felt responsible for them getting the tying goal" said Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau, who called the last minute hook on Johansson "a chintzy call."

"Real heads-up play by Marcus," said Knuble. "It would have been very easy for him to bury his head there and try to jam it through, but I kind of laid my stick to the side and he put it on the tape. It was a very smart play." 

Another player who was redeemed by the overtime victory was goaltender Braden Holtby, who, while not at fault for Toews' scrambled equalizer, could have stopped Nick Leddy's opening goal, and definitely should have stopped Tomas Kopecky's goal that made the score 2-2 early in the second. However, Holtby recovered well enough to make the unquestionable save of the game, when he denied Michael Frolik's point-blank chance with 2:48 remaining to preserve what was at the time a 3-2 Washington lead.

"I knew I wasn't feeling as good as [earlier this week]," said Holtby, who was making his fourth straight start on the back of his first NHL shutout Wednesday night and a 40-save performance against Carolina Friday night. "But I knew that I would just have to battle, whether it was a 2-1 game, a 1-0 game, or a five-goal lead. I knew that I would have to keep as sharp as I could."

"You know, you just don't feel perfect every day," said Holtby, when asked if he was feeling unwell. More likely he was suffering the combined effects of Daylight Savings Time kicking in earlier today, as well as having to face a  high-powered Blackhawks offense in a 12:30 p.m. faceoff when it still felt like 11:30 a.m for most.

The Capitals won''t play at home again until March 29 and will travel to Montreal, Detroit, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Ottawa, and Montreal again. With a playoff place all but secure and with a three-point cushion over Tampa Bay in the Southeast Division race, Boudreau was quick to shoot down any questions relating to the playoffs.

"The playoffs are a different animal," he said when asked if he considered the upcoming trip to be a dress rehearsal. When asked if he was shooting for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, Boudreau replied, "I don't want to think about getting the number one seed. You gotta believe an 8 [seed] can beat a 1. I think it's happened before," he concluded as the assembled media giggled.

OK, the playoffs are still a month away, but it's never too early to plan ahead. And on Sunday afternoon's evidence, it'll be hard to find too many people who'll say no to these teams meeting between four and seven times in early June.

My Three Stars

1. Mike Knuble-A game-winning overtime goal (his first since February 26).

2. Marcus Johansson-Provided an assist to Knuble on the latter's game-winner, and was the hardest-working man in red on the ice before that.

3. Boyd Gordon-His shorthanded goal 1:25 after Chicago had taken the lead brought the Caps right back into what had been a very one-sided game up to that point.

Washington thought it had won the game in regulation on Brooks Laich's goal with 13:37 left.  The goal was disarmingly simple as a centering pass by Eric Fehr from behind Crawford's net was deflected by Matt Hendricks into the path of Laich, who had set up camp in the slot. Laich's one-timer gave the Chicago goalie absolutely no chance.

But the Blackhawks tied the game on the power play with 38.5 seconds to go as Jonathan Toews stuffed the puck past Braden Holtby in a scramble down low. At the time, Chicago was playing 6-on-4 as Johansson was serving his second hooking penalty of the game and Crawford had been pulled for an extra attacker.

The Blackhawks drew first blood just 4:46 into the game when a shot from the point by Nick Leddy appeared to deflect off of John Carlson in front and slipped through the pads of Holtby, but the Capitals leveled the score just 1:25 later.

With Johansson in the penalty box after being called for his first hooking penalty, a shot from the point by Chicago's Brent Seabrook rebounded out to the left point. Patrick Sharp whiffed on his attempt to keep it in the zone and Boyd Gordon was off to the races on a shorthanded breakaway. The fourth-line center reached the top of the left face-off circle before slapping a shot past Crawford for his third goal of the season.

The Capitals took the lead into the first intermission after Jason Arnott's power play tally at 19:06. After a flurry of action in front of Crawford's net, the puck came back to Arnott at the point and his slap shot found the back of the net, but not before taking a couple of deflections in front of the net and off the goal posts.

Washington's lead didn't last long, however, as Chicago equalized just 3:09 into the second period on a rather fluky goal. Tomas Kopecky, after holding the puck in the corner to Holtby's right, fired a knuckling wrist shot from below the goal line. Improbably, the puck grazed off Holtby's back and nestled into the net at the goalie's left post to tie the game at 2.  

Griffin: 4-for-7 field goals, 8-for-9 free throws, 16 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist

Wall: 5-for-9 FG field goals, 2-for-4 free throws, 12 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds.

The stats don't appear to be so disparate, but on the floor it was plain to see who the more polished first-year man was. Griffin displayed a variety of low-post moves, including a spinning right-handed hook shot that would be the envy of any NBA power forward not named Tim Duncan, as well as an up-and-under swim move that would make an NFL defensive end proud.

During that all-conquering first quarter, it seemed that there would only be two outcomes whenever Griffin got into the low post: he would either score from the field or score from the line. Trevor Booker, Griffin's initial marker, had picked up two fouls 4:07 into the game. When Wizards coach Flip Saunders, forced to pick from a depth-challenged lineup (more on that later), threw Yi Jianlian into the fray, Griffin drew three fouls on the Chinese sub in the space of 2:33. Until Wall hit two free throws with 2:29 left to go in the first half, Griffin himself had shot more foul shots (11), than the entire Wizards team (10).

And if you wanted a moment that encapsulated the whole evening, there it was with 2:40 left in the second quarter: Wall driving to the bucket, looking to go over Griffin, and Griffin reaching out his hand and driving the ball (and Wall with it) to the floor, cleanly, I hasten to add.

"I got a couple of questionable calls that I didn't agree with," said an obviously frustrated Booker in the locker room after the game. "Sometimes it goes that way."

"Blake got a lot of calls, got our guys in foul trouble," said Josh Howard, who returned to the starting lineup after missing the previous three games, when he was asked if Griffin physically beat down his opponents. "I wouldn't consider that physicality."

Wall has shown a tendency throughout this season to go into hero mode when he feels that things are beginning to slip away from the Wizards, and with his team trailing by as many as 19 points in the first quarter, he shifted into overdrive very quickly, as the 9-to-2 shots to assists ratio after 12 minutes can attest. Though the final statistics show that Wall fought Griffin to a standstill (the Clipper outscored the Wizard 26-25, assists and rebounds went 8-2 and 7-5 in the other direction), the fact of the matter was that Wall was outdone in terms of efficiency by his old Kentucky teammate, Eric Bledsoe. Where Wall needed 33 shots (23 field goals, of which he made 9, and 10 free throws, of which he made 7) to score 25 points, Bledsoe required just 23 shots (14 field goal attempts, of which he made 9, and 9 free throws, of which he made 5) to score 23 points. Griffin, for the record, needed 28 shots to score his 26 points.

"I know the type of player he is," Wall said of Bledsoe. "He wants to push the ball back at you. If he sees any lanes or any gaps, he's going to explode at you."

Bledsoe's performance, not to mention the 17 rebounds grabbed by DeAndre Jordan Saturday night underscores another, often-unmentioned advantage Blake Grffin has in this hypothetical duel with Wall: Griffin's working with better teammates. It was obvious Saturday, as the Wizards were missing Andray Blatche (shoulder), Rashard Lewis (knee), and Cartier Martin (knee), but even if all three had played, given their body of work over the course of this season, it seems unlikely that there would have been a significant change in events. For example, the front line of Griffin, Jordan, Chris Kaman, Ryan Gomes, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Jamario Moon helped the Clippers outrebound the Wizards (led by Booker, JaVale McGee, Howard, YI, Maurice Evans, Kevin Seraphin, and Hamady N'Diaye) 50-38. Considering the Wizards came into Saturday night averaging 40.7 rebounds per game, it's hard to see how such a difference could be negated.

"It's tough being shorthanded," Wall said. "It's a great opportunity for young guys to get an opportunity to play. It's tough not having everybody out there, but whoever is out there, you have to play with them."

So no, this battle is not exactly being fought on equal footing. Wall was thrown into the deep end of a disintegrating team whose official disintegration was not yet complete by the time he arrived. Since the trade of  the still-largely-popular Gilbert Arenas to Orlando back in December, and with an ever-changing cast of characters around him, Wall has had to learn to be The Man on the fly, a task which, luckily for everyone who has a stake in the Wizards future, he has warmed to rather well.

Griffin, on the other hand, has flown under the radar by comparison. The old sobriquet that used to be applied to the Chicago White Sox -- "The Second City's Second Team" -- fits the Clippers perfectly when it comes to the pecking order of Los Angeles basketball (In fact, if you throw UCLA in there, the Clippers come in a distant third in the hearts and minds of that city's hoopheads). Having missed all of the 2009-10 season with a broken kneecap, Griffin has had to deal with jokes, some springing from genuine concern for his well-being, but most coming from incredulity at the sorry state and luck of the Clippers franchise, that his career might end at any moment. To his credit, he doesn't appear to be letting all that bother them.

"I'm trying to stay aggressive and keep getting to the hole," Griffin said after the game Saturday. "Mentally the injury [last year] really made me focus on getting better for this year. I was able to push myself and it has really made me appreciate playing every day now, and I am having a blast doing it. It really is a blast to be on the court and I cherish that feeling."

NBA Commissioner David Stern no doubt will hear their sound bites with a sigh of relief and consider the future of his league in good hands, despite the pending labor strife scheduled to begin after this season. That larger uncertainty mirrors what's coming in both young men's careers. It is very much an open question as to whether Wall and Griffin will end their careers where they started them (A big-money move by Griffin when he hits free agency, barring severe injury, is already being whispered as a fait accompli in some quarters).

But until those days arrive, all that John Wall and Blake Griffin are left with is their fledgling careers, and their many early challenges. And there is no shame in admitting that the out-of-towner is just a little farther along in dealing with both.

In truth, the Clippers were in control of the proceedings for most of the evening. Washington's last lead in the game occurred with 8:18 to go in the first quarter, when a Nick Young fadeaway jumper gave the Wizards a 10-9 lead. The Clippers proceeded to go on a 16-1 run and went up 25-11 on a Griffin three-point play with 4:11 to go in the first. The Clippers kept pressing and stretched their lead to as much as 32-13 on another three-point play, this time by Chris Kaman with 2:26 left in the first.

The Wizards staged a rally of their own and pulled their deficit back to 38-27 after one quarter, 64-55 at halftime, and 68-65 after Wall made two free throws with 8:36 left in the third. But the Clippers came out with renewed energy after a timeout, and closed the quarter on a 23-8 spurt capped by DeAndre Jordan's fast-break dunk with 39.1 seconds left in the third to put the Clippers up 91-73 after three.

That was, in essence, the ballgame, but there was still another quarter to play, and the Clippers used the time to extend their margin even further. This time, it was a jumper by Wall's former Kentucky teammate, Eric Bledsoe (23 points), that gave the Clippers their largest lead of the night, 106-79 with 6:30 left in the game.

Six Clippers finished in double figures, led by Griffin, who scored all 26 of his points in the first half. Joining him were Mo Williams (22 points), Chris Kaman (14 points), Bledsoe, Jordan (10 points, 17 rebounds), and Al-Farouq Aminu (10 points). Wall led all Washington scorers with 25 points and eight assists, and outrebounded Griffin, seven to five. He was joined in double figures by Nick Young (15 points), Jordan Crawford (16 points), Trevor Booker (13 points) and JaVale McGee (12 points).

But the phrase "playoff-type games" doesn't always apply to these relatively rare occurrences. There are also games like Friday night's 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, games that involve desperate teams. These games, which might not get as big of a slice of the spotlight, are usually far, far trickier to win.

"It's a lot like playoff hockey right now," said Matt Hendricks, who scored the game-winning goal on a rebound with 12:36 left in regulation.

"These are more fun than blowouts," said Mike Knuble a reference to Wednesday night's 5-0 win over Edmonton, in which the Oilers were, as the saying goes, lucky to get nil.

The Carolina Hurricanes have spent most of this season ricocheting around the league's bottom three Eastern Conference playoff sports, but they came to Verizon Center Friday night finding themselves two points outside of the playoff places, a victim, in large part of the resurgence of the Buffalo Sabres. With the edge of their season visible on the horizon, the Hurricanes came out with renewed intensity, and made their intentions clear from the start, squeezing off five shots on goal before Washington was able to pull the trigger against Cam Ward.

Oddly enough, however, though Washington was outshot in each of the three periods (13-9, 12-10, and 16-7), the Caps never had the appearance of being out of the game. Indeed, they should have scored the first goal of the game after Chimera wristed a shot off the goalpost just five minutes into the opening period.

But both goalies were at their sharpest Friday night, and the teams rolled on and on in a stalemate, barely pausing for breath, until Tuomo Ruutu gave Carolina the lead with 35.1 seconds remaining in the second period. Habitual observers of this year's team will recall the December 9 game against the Florida Panthers, in which the visitors broke a scoreless tie very late in the second period and prompted a memorable, profanity-laced tirade from Bruce Boudreau. Back then, the Caps slumped to a 3-0 defeat. This time, inspired by a game-tying goal from Alexander Ovechkin 47 seconds into the third, Washington turned the game on its head.

"I didn't think we were particularly sharp tonight," Boudreau admitted. "They had 40 shots on goal [actually 41']. I think they were carrying the play and they were beating us to the puck. We made the plays in the third period we needed to win, and that was it. I think they are probably pretty frustrated right now." 

Carolina had good reason to be frustrated, as they should have scored a game-tying goal with less than three minutes to play after the referees incorrectly ruled that Braden Holtby had held onto Cory Stillman's shot when, in fact, he had never come close to having control of it. The puck was turned into the net shortly after the whistle by Jay Harrison, but the official was already waving his arms to stop the play. 

But the win itself, however ill-earned, however sharp or not sharp the Caps played, can be seen (and was seen, by a couple of the players) as another exhibit in the case for George McPhee's trade deadline acquistions. Washington has won all six of the games it's played since the deadline, and both Hendricks and Knuble spoke to the effect the influx of veterans has had on the team.

"I think everyone's playing their best hockey right now," said Hendricks. "You know, we have guys who want to improve, but for right now we need to hold each other accountable."

"I think we're all happy that it's not November or December that we're putting this streak together," said Knuble. "And the new additions have been great. It shows that [McPhee] is listening and watching this team and is taking the proper steps to help us."

And so far, all is going according to plan.

My Three Stars

1. Braden Holtby- Followed up his first career NHL shutout with 40 saves, and the Capitals needed every one of them.

2. Alex Ovechkin-Continued his recent good play with a vintage performance, throwing his body around and scoring his 28th goal of the seaon.

3. Matt Hendricks-Showed great alertness to follow up Jason Arnott's break and score the game-winning goal midway through the third period.

The winning goal came at 7:24 of the third period when Jason Arnott, who had just come out of the penalty box after serving a two-minute hooking penalty, picked up the loose puck in the neutral zone and set off on a breakaway. Carolina goalie Cam Ward made a brilliant stop with his left pad to deny Arnott, but Ward had no answer for Matt Hendricks, who had been trailing the play. Hendricks flipped the puck over Ward's prone form to score his eighth goal of the season.

Carolina took the lead with 35.1 seconds to go in the second period as Tuomo Ruutu finished a move that was started by Bryan Allen behind the Hurricanes net. The defenseman whipped a long pass up the boards to Cory Stillman in the neutral zone. Taking a couple strides in from the left point, Stillman dropped a pass off to Ruutu, who skated through the high slot to the top of the right face-off circle and wristed a shot past Holtby for his 16th goal of the season. It was the first goal that Holtby had allowed since being recalled from Hershey on March 3.

It didn't take long for the Capitals to tie the game up. Forty-seven seconds into the third period, Mike Knuble fed Marcus Johansson, who skated into the Carolina zone with Alex Ovechkin on his left. Johansson left the puck for Ovechkin, who unleashed a wicked wrister into the net to tie the game, 1-1. It was Ovechkin's third goal in the last two games (28th of the season) and extended his point streak to seven games.

As it turned out, whatever fears existed were unfounded.

For once this season, the Capitals treated a last-place team like all good teams should treat last-place teams: They got ahead, they took advantage of Edmonton's miscues (and there were many), and they never gave the Oilers a sniff of getting back into the game.

It ended 5-0, but the last three goals were window dressing. It was really over at 10:32 of the second period, when Eric Fehr, making his first appearance since January 14, poked the puck past a stranded Nikolai Khabibulin to make it 2-0. Even against a team like Edmonton, which had scored the 5th-fewest goals in the league entering last night's game, a 1-0 lead is still very fragile. One bad bounce, a deflection that veers right instead of left, and all your work is undone.

But with the exception of a shorthanded breakaway chance by Andrew Cogliano seconds before Alex Ovechkin went up the other end and broke the scoreless tie, the Oilers never did look like scoring one goal in the game, never mind two or three. The Capitals showed no intention of letting the Albertans get even a consolation marker, as they held their visitors to just one shot on goal in the third period before a late flurry pushed the total up to five. 

Neither the absent Backstrom (who is still feeling the effects of a fractured left thumb) nor Mike Green (more on him in a bit) was missed tonight, with the returning Fehr's two goals providing more than enough offensive firepower. Mention must also be made of Marcus Johansson, who filled in admirably for his countryman between Ovechkin and Mike Knuble on the first line and drew high praise from his coach:

"What I thought was good," said Bruce Boudreau, "was that Marcus played his game. Usually young guys get with Alex and they feel obligated every time they touch the puck to give it to him, and Marcus played the way he plays and Alex played off him."

Mind you, that wasn't completely true the entire night. It certainly wasn't true on Ovechkin's second goal of the evening (Washington's third), on which he and Johansson played a game of cross-slot catch at a distance of about five feet before the Russian ended the frivolity with a blast past a helpless Khabibulin. In the locker room after the game, I asked Johansson whether he didn't at least think about trying for a goal of his own. The Swede, who is demure even by NHL rookie standards, paused and said. "I think everyone knew who was going to shoot that."

Ovechkin, for his part, joined a very select group in recording his 600th career point a little more than a month before the end of his sixth NHL season. Only nine other players have notched their first 600 points within their first six NHL seasons. They are: Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Peter Stastny, Mike Bossy, Jari Kurri, Dale Hawerchuk, Bryan Trottier, Denis Savard, and Paul Coffey.

There are no accidents on that list, folks, and there are no frauds. All are Hockey Hall of Famers, and with the exception of Stastny and Savard, all are Stanley Cup winners. Many, myself included, have written and speculated about various aspects of Ovechkin's game and health throughout this season. But despute all that, lo: His 72 total points are good enough for 5th place in the NHL, just 12 behind the league leader, Vancouver's Daniel Sedin. It's no accident that over the last six games, while Ovechkin has recorded at least a point in every single outing, the Capitals have gone 6-0-0. At the same time, Ovechkin, like his team, is in the process of vindicating those who warned that you write both off at your own peril. 

My Three Stars

1. Braden Holtby-Followed up his first career NHL shutout (22 saves) by getting the Player of the Game treatment from TSN in Canada, which included giving an on-camera interview to a (presumably) captive nationwide audience. He's come a long way from flopping around on the deck during that shootout loss to the Rangers back in January.

2. Alex Ovechkin-Look at that list of players who hit the 600-point mark before the end of their sixth NHL season again. Wow. And Ovechkin crossed that threshold in fine fashion with a three-point night (2 goals, 1 assist).

3. Eric Fehr-You can never have too much scoring depth, and Fehr hit another high point in a trying season with two goals on the night.

Injury Update

Mike Green (head) has been placed on long-term injured reserve by the team retroactive to February 25. Long-Term Injured Reserve status requires a player to miss a period of both 10 games and 24 days. He will be eligible to return March 22 for the game at Philadelphia.

The Oilers managed to keep pace with Washington for one period, but the Capitals finally broke the visitors' resistance with a pair of power-play goals in the second period. Seconds after Braden Holtby denied a shorthanded chance for Andrew Cogliano, Alexander Semin sent a cross-ice pass to Arnott, who was stationed at the half-boards along the right side of the zone. Arnott spotted Ovechkin at the back post and held the puck for just a beat before flipping it the captain's way. Ovechkin banged the puck into the open net for his 26th goal of the season at 5:38 of the second period, and Arnott was given the primary assist as well as a standing ovation from the Verizon Center faithful when it was announced that the recent New Jersey Devil had reached the 900-point plateau.

After Edmonton goalkeeper Nikolai Khabibulin was penalized for playing the puck outside the league-approved trapezoidal area, the Capitals struck again at 10:32 of the period to make the score 2-0. But this time, there was an element of good fortune about the goal. Ovechkin, stationed at the left point, passed the puck to Carlson, who skated to the right face-off circle and unleashed a trademark bomb of a slap shot that Khabibulin was able to turn aside.

However, the Russian netminder couldn't hold the rebound, which deflected off Oiler defenseman Tom Gilbert and back toward the net. Waiting on the doorstep was Eric Fehr, playing his first game since January 14, when he suffered a separated shoulder that forced him to miss 22 games. Fehr accepted the welcome-back present and scored his 9th goal of the season, which also gave Ovechkin (who was credited with the secondary assist), his 600th career point, placing him alone in third place on Washington's all-time scoring list. Fehr's goal also marked the first time that the Capitals had scored two power play goals in a game since last November 26, when Washington scored two power play goals in a 6-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Ovechkin recorded career point No. 601 with 3:10 gone in the third period as he and linemate Marcus Johansson combined to force Edmonton defenseman Kurtis Foster to turn the puck over in his own zone. In on a 2-on-0 break, Ovechkin and Johansson exchanged three quick passes before the captain did the honors, firing into the roof of the net over a sprawling Khabibulin.

Fehr added a second at 7:47 of the third, and again, there was an element of good fortune as Khabibulin made a disgracefully poor decision to come way out of his net to play a dump-in. Jason Chimera, using his characteristic speed, beat Khabibulin to the puck along the left boards and found a wide-open Fehr in the slot for what was, essentially if not technically, an empty-net goal.

Semin added the final goal of the game at 15:30 as he finished off a 2-on-1 with Marco Sturm, who picked up his first point as Capital, and slammed a shot past Khabibulin at his near post. Dennis Wideman, who earned a secondary assist on the goal, picked up his 200th career point on the goal.