Memo to K-State: CURTIS MF'ING KELLY

As forlorn as Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen were after K-State just coughed up their chance at a Final Four, they really have only their decisionmaking to blame. It was unbelievably aggravating to watch the dynamic K-State guards ignore big man Curtis Kelly for the entire second half. Particularly damning was one possession where Kelly realized Gordon Hayward, who couldn't handle him in the post, was on him down low. Kelly screamed for the left side side to be cleared out, which, for once, it was; sealed off Hayward on the low left block effectively; and begged for the ball from Clemente on the left wing. Clemente promptly....passed all the way to the right corner for a bad shot. What?!?

The second half was a maddening progression for any K-State supporter to watch, with missed layup followed by bad shot followed by defensive lapse. I have nothing but admiration for the game the Wildcats played on Thursday night, there are few college basketball games in history that will ever top it. And today you could understand Pullen and Clemente trying to put a struggling team on their backs. But their failure to keep feeding their only consistent offense in the second half doomed their comeback attempt, and their succession of clanged jumpers and turnovers from over-dribbling should sting for a long time.

All that said, an absolute standing ovation to Butler for poise and execution down the stretch. Coach Brad Stevens has made this team into a high-basketball-IQ force in the clutch, with tremendous baskets by Gordon Hayward and Ronald Nored down the stretch cinching a homecoming for the ages for the Bulldogs. As I said to Shankar last week, when you're having trouble picking a tourney game, go with basketball IQ, and I dare say the number of clutch situations in this tourney has proved me right. Of course, I picked K-State to the Final Four over...Syracuse. Oh well.

I'm officially rooting for Butler to win it all. As a Memphis fan, the prospect of a Final Four with Tennessee, Kentucky, and Duke looms as a possibility too horrifying to contemplate....As for now...GO MOUNTAINEERS!