PLAYER WHO SHINED IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Every time Miami needed a big play in the opening two rounds, point guard Angel Rodriguez delivered one. He drew a foul and sank two free throws when Buffalo cut the Hurricanes' lead to four in the final two minutes on Thursday. He threw a daring, pinpoint alley-oop pass from mid-court to halt Wichita State's momentum midway through Saturday's second half. And then he put Wichita State away down the stretch, scoring 10 points in the final 2:07, including an off-balance runner and a step-back 3-pointer. Rodriguez averaged 26 points in two games, shot 15-for-26 from the field and got to the foul line 19 times. For a player who can be feast or famine, this was a very timely hot streak.
PLAYER WHO SHRANK IN THE SPOTLIGHT
With starting guards Tyrone Wallace and Jabari Bird both sidelined due to injury, shorthanded Cal desperately needed a big performance from its most talented perimeter player. To say the least, Jaylen Brown did not deliver. Brown scored four points on 1-for-6 shooting and committed seven costly turnovers against Hawaii's ball-hawking defense in a 77-66 first-round loss. Worse yet, he was in self-induced foul trouble throughout the game and picked up his fifth on a silly reach-in with 6:22 to go. The poor performance was the culmination of a brutal five-game stretch in which Brown went 9-for-48 from the field. The heralded freshman is still a projected top-15 NBA draft pick, but he needs to develop a pull-up jumper and play with more consistency.
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