Projo College Hoops

By KEVIN McNAMARA

BOSTON - The media availability has wrapped up here in Boston. There are four high profile programs and coaches in town and everyone seems ready for two outstanding games.

Game 1 has Xavier playing Pittsburgh. The unique dynamic here is that Xavier coach Sean Miller was a star player at Pitt, is from Beaver Falls and would probably love to coach at his alma mater one day.

But his only focus now is beating Pittsburgh. The Panthers are the East's number one seed and after two uneven performances, they need to play well to advance into the Final Four. The Panthers hang their hats on being tough. So does Xavier. "They are the very best at playing that game. Ironically, it's the very best thing that we do. So it will be tested at a high level."

The Duke-Villanova game in the nightcap is filled with intriuge. Both schools want to reach the Final Four and do it in very much the same way. Neither has a dominant inside player and is absolutely loaded with good guards. Gerald Henderson, Duke's star forward, is from Philadelphia and went to prep school with 'Nova coach Jay Wright's children. He nearly signed with the Wildcats but ultimately went to play for Mike Krzyzewski.

How does Krzyzewski plan on beating Villanova? "We have to be ourselves and don;t let (Villanova) or the stage that we're on change what we do. Then you just see if you're good enough," he said.

 Tags  NCAA tournament; March Madness

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