McNew's triple-double sends Yo La Tengo over Dan Johnston 60-43

Playing in the newly-constructed Death Star II, James McNew was pumped up.

Patrolling the post for Tengo with those long arms, the 6-foot-11 sophomore forced the Dan Johnston's into a whole bunch of bad shots and sent them down for a rough landing.

McNew put up a triple-double with 13 points, 20 rebounds and a career-high 10 blocked shots to lead the Tengo's past 11th-seeded "DJ" 60-43 in the second round Sunday.

"I've been blocking shots since I was a little kid," said McNew, who grew up just a few miles away in the suburb of Mos Isley. "I was 6 foot in fifth grade. I had a little height advantage, or what have you. That's the one thing I try to do if guys get beat. I just try to go up there and block 'em."

Through out the game, amidst chants of "I've Got It!", coach Tony Signore could be seen gesticulating wildly, which prompted a citation for public indecency. Following the victory, where fans had left the arena with a full 2 minutes remaining, Signore gave the obligatory "They were a tough team, but we were tougher" speech. Said Signore: "They were a tough team, but we were tougher" as the concession clean-up crew paused momentarily, thinking the planned food-fight between the pizza vendors and the beer-men was finally over. "Let me tell ya," yelled Signore, waving a french fry like a light-sabre, "we sliced and diced them. Kinda like the job Jenny Lewis did on ol' Willie Nelson. Of course, 'DJ' was their (Dan Johnston) go-to man, but once he got tied up in translation, transition, tranposition...whatever...THAT's when the tide of the game turned...that's when it came down to all the marbles...that's when...aww, screw it." Signore then threw down the fry, drawing several stone-faced glances from the in-attentive clean-up crews.

Yo La Tengo will now face She & Him in their Sweet 16 match-up.

She & Him outlasts Led Zeppelin 74-69

Thanks to an unexpected scoring binge from senior Mike Coykendall, who has yet to step on to college basketball's biggest stage, She & Him continue their quest for the MSW Trophy. "There's no question that of all the players on our team, Mike wants to keep playing probably more than anybody,'' coach Signore said. He entered the game averaging 4.9 points and was shut out against Coldplay in the first round. So even his coach couldn't believe it when he went 8-for-13 on Sunday. "I was shocked that he did make some of those shots. ... There are certain times when guys just step up and do heroic things," Signore said.

On the other side, John Bonham (Zeppelin) worried that the lack of depth - three Zeps played all 40 minutes and Page played 36 against Nick Lowe - would hinder them against She & Him, which goes 10 deep. Page fouled out with 5:38 to play, but these kids showed plenty of "LZ" cool even without their leader on the floor. "We didn't put our heads down. We kept fighting," guard John Paul Jone said. "And, you know, these guys had a tremendous effort."
Coach Ewing had an entirely different view of the situation: "They blew it, plain and simple. There was obvious communication breakdown. The Black Dog defense was pitiful! Let me tell ya, there's gonna be hell to pay, yes-sir-eee-bob, hell!" Ewing then kicked at a stray french fry which had somehow grazed his cheek during his post-game raging.

Frank LaLonde's PREDICTION: She & Him 221 - Yo La Tengo 2...BUT, Zooey Deschanel WILL be held to less than 100 points.