NCAA Tournament notes: Coach says Belmont overachieved

Tournament notes » Rebuilding year turns out far better than expected.

The Salt Lake tribune

First Published Mar 21 2013 09:30 pm • Last Updated Mar 22 2013 12:21 am

After being eliminated by Arizona, Belmont coach RickByrd admitted that the Bruins probably accomplished more than he thought they would during the 2012-13 season.

"We lost three all-conference players," he said. "I thought we could be a pretty good basketball team. But I wouldn’t have given them a chance to win the Ohio Valley regular season and tournament, be seeded 11th in this tournament and get votes the last six or eight weeks for the top-25."

Still, losing in the first round to Arizona "is hard. … We thought we could be more competitive that we were tonight. It’s just not any fun in that locker room after a game like that."

Free safety? Strong safety

Wichita State sophomore Tekele Cotton isn’t overly talented, according to his coach Gregg Marshall.

But he’s tough. Tough as nails.

Senior guard MalcolmArmstead called Cotton, who pestered Pitt guard TrayWoodall into having one of his worst games of his career, a "free safety."

"He got a big heart," Armstead said. "He can guard positions 1 through 4."

But Marshall looks at his defensive stopper Cotton, who finished with 6 points, 5 steals, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, as a strong safety.

"I think he’s going to come up and help in run support," he said.

Life of Riley

Miami Heat president PatRiley was at EnergySolutions Arena on Thursday, taking in the second-round action.

Riley, who watched Arizona-Belmont and New Mexico-Harvard, took photos with fans during the games. But the NBA legend wasn’t just in Salt Lake on vacation. Riley was reportedly scouting for his team.

Tough night for Harris

EliasHarris is usually one of the better big men in the country and a complement to KellyOlynyk. He usually is an NBA prospect in his own right.

That wasn’t the case against Southern on Thursday.

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