MARCH GLADNESS

1. UCONN BELIEVE IT

This tournament was supposed to be the Duke Invitational, but Connecticut didn’t back down to its supposedly invincible opponent. With Connecticut ahead, 75-74, and Duke’s Trajan Langdon driving toward the basket, Ricky Moore stood his ground and forced Langdon to travel with 5.4 seconds left in the game’s defining moment.

2. NO NIGHT AT BEACH

After their semifinal victory over Michigan State, many of Duke’s players were seen reveling on the beach at 3 a.m., only nine hours before a practice that was never held because Coach Mike Krzyzewski felt they were ready for the game of their lives. Low ebb was to follow.

3. FINALLY, A FINAL FOUR

Jim Calhoun, the Huskies’ razor-witted New Englander of a coach, makes it to his first Final Four after losing three times in the Elite Eight in the 1990s. Instead of gloating, an emotional Calhoun thanks and remembers the players who never made it and Joe McGinn, the former team manager who died March 9.

4. KENTUCKY GOES HOME

The run finally ends, after three consecutive NCAA title games and two national championships in three years. Kentucky’s Wayne Turner, stopped one step short of a fourth consecutive Final Four by Michigan State, leaves the court in a Wildcat jersey for the last time. He kept trying to envision Kentucky cutting down the nets, he said. “But all I could see was green and white.”

5. ONE LITTLE SLIP-UP

Trailing by two points with 10 seconds left and a chance to reach the Final Four, St. John’s point guard Erick Barkley starts to drive to the right of the lane, gets bumped and loses the ball--his only turnover of the game. Ohio State holds on, 77-74, and a disconsolate Barkley leaves the court with his jersey pulled over his face to hide his anguish.

6. GONZO GONZAGA

The anti-Cinderellas--”If we get a glass slipper handed to us, we’re going to crack it over your head,” guard Richie Frahm said--beat three higher-seeded teams (Minnesota, Final Four veteran Stanford and Florida) before a hard-fought 67-62 loss to Connecticut left the Zags a step short of the Final Four.

7. THE BUCKEYE REVIVAL

A season after going 8-22, Ohio State makes it to the Final Four by beating St. John’s in a tight game, and Coach Jim O’Brien--whose wife, Christine, died in 1991--gathers his two daughters into his arms for a family embrace on the court at Knoxville’s Thompson-Boling Arena.

8. WALLY’S WHIRL

A crowd at an Ohio pro wrestling match cheers as Wally Szczerbiak--the seldom-televised scoring wizard-teen idol from nearby Miami of Ohio-- climbs into the ring for a curtain call before the Sweet 16. Miami of Ohio upset Washington in the first round and halted Utah’s attempt to return to the Final Four before losing to Kentucky.

9. KENTUCKY’S DEEPEST LOSS

News of the death of recruit John Stewart, a 7-foot high school senior from Indianapolis who had signed with the Wildcats, moves Kentucky Coach Tubby Smith and some of the players to break down with emotion after their first-round victory over New Mexico State in New Orleans.

10. “THE SHOW” GOES ON

Harold “The Show” Arceneaux, a little-known player from Weber State, shoots down tradition-bound North Carolina by scoring 36 points in a 76-74 first-round upset, sending the Tar Heels home after one game for the first time since 1980.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Tournament Leaders

Through Monday’s Game

SINGLE-GAME SCORING

43--Wally Szczerbiak, Miami of Ohio vs. Washington, first round

36--Harold Arceneaux, Weber St. vs. North Carolina, first round

34--Marcus Wilson, Evansville vs. Kansas, first round

32--Harold Arceneaux, Weber St. vs. Florida, second round

31--Johnny Hemsley, Miami vs. Lafayette, first round

31--Ryan Robertson, Kansas vs. Kentucky, second round

29--Scott Padgett, Kentucky vs. Kansas, second round

28--Richard Hamilton, UConn vs. Texas-S.Antonio, first round

28--Desmond Mason, Oklahoma State vs. Syracuse, first round

28--Scott Pohlman, Auburn vs. Oklahoma St., second round

28--Shawnta Rogers, George Washington vs. Indiana, first round

28--Donald Watts, Washington vs. Miami of Ohio, first round

SINGLE-GAME REBOUNDS

17--Dusty Rychart, Minnesota vs. Gonzaga, first round

15--Elton Brand, Duke vs. Michigan State, semifinals

15--Kevin Freeman, Connecticut vs. Gonzaga, regional final

15--Eduardo Najera, Oklahoma vs. N.C. Charlotte, second round

15--George Reese, Ohio State vs. Detroit, second round

14--Kevin Ault, SW Missouri State vs. Wisconsin, first round

14--John Bennett, Delaware vs. Tennessee, first round

14--Mark Madsen, Stanford vs. Gonzaga, second round

14--Chris Mihm, Texas vs. Purdue, first round

14--Isiah Victor, Tennessee vs. Delaware, first round

14--Fred Williams, Alabama-Birmingham vs. Iowa, first round

13--Elton Brand, Duke vs. Connecticut, championship

13--Steve Francis, Maryland vs. Creighton, second round

13--Mark Madsen, Stanford vs. Alcorn State, first round

13--Danny Moore, SW Missouri State vs. Wisconsin, first round

13--Eduardo Najera, Oklahoma vs. Arizona, first round

13--Galen Young, N.C. Charlotte vs. Oklahoma, second round

SINGLE-GAME ASSISTS

12--Doug Gottlieb, Oklahoma State vs. Auburn, second round

11--Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State vs. Kentucky, regional final

11--Doug Gottlieb, Oklahoma State vs. Syracuse, first round

11--Kareem Reid, Arkansas vs. Iowa, second round

10--Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State vs. Duke, semifinal

10--Ed Cota, North Carolina vs. Weber State, first round

10--Khalid El-Amin, UConn vs. Texas-San Antonio, first round

9--8 tied

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Richard Hamilton, Forward: Connecticut

Trajan Langdon, Guard: Duke

Elton Brand, Center: Duke

Khalid El-Amin, Guard: Connecticut

Ricky Moore, Guard: Connecticut.