College Basketball 3/26/10 NCAA Sweet 16
Saint Mary's Gaels (28-5) (WCC)-Baylor Bears (27-7) (Big 12)

By Mark-Friday, March 26th 2010 7:25 PM EST
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Saint Mary's had their ticket punched to the Sweet 16 after taking out cold shooting Villanova 75-68. The Wildcats hit 36% on the day and passed up a number of open shots, choosing to drive in to the teeth of the Gaels defense for closer looks or looking for the foul. They generally found neither and with Scottie Reynolds struggling with his shot once again Nova didn't have a go to scorer. SMC was at the opposite end of the scale because Omar Samhan avoided foul trouble and simply went over the top of the Wildcats interior for 32 points on 13-16 shooting. Saint Mary's finished the day connecting on half of their attempts and when sent to the line they made Nova pay on 20 of 26 accuracy. At the final horn, the Gaels made shots and rebounded while the Wildcats did neither and are going home after running in to a better team.

Baylor handled Old Dominion 76-68 to advance to the Sweet 16 for the third time in school history. The Monarchs played from behind the entire game and trailed by ten at the break. The Bears spent the final 20 minutes fending of several Monarchs runs before putting some distance between them in the closing minutes. Strong Baylor shooting (52%) proved to be the difference with ODU being a more conservative offense that depends on strong D to keep the score managable. With their defense struggling to control the explosive Baylor attack the Monarchs needed to score quickly and were taken out of their comfort zone. LaceDarius Dunn scored a game high 26 points to go along with six rebounds to lead four players in double figures. After falling in the NIT Championship last season, the Bears have their sights set on a bigger prize this year but Saint Mary's is the next mountain to climb.

SMC offense: 80 ppg 17 apg 37 rpg 49%
SMC defense: 66 ppg 10 apg 33 rpg 42%
Baylor offense: 77 ppg 14 apg 39 rpg 49%
Baylor defense: 66 ppg 13 apg 33 rpg 38%

Saint Mary's will go to number one weapon Omar Samhan who has yet to be stopped this season while they have a number of options on the outside waiting for the defense to collapse on Samhan. Baylor is loaded all the way around and look like they are quick enough to to defend the outside while helping out on the interior. If successful they win but if the Gaels hit some long balls watch out. I'm counting on the former.