So the first half of the Sweet 16 has concluded, and while the winners may not necessarily be so surprising, the methods in which they won could be. The Big East continued to show it's dominance and Memphis became the "Paper Tigers" many thought they might be. This weekend will get us down to the illustrious Final Four, so let's take a look at the matchups for Saturday's Elite 8 games.

(1) UConn vs. (3) Missouri: CBS - 4:40pm
Connecticut lead Purdue wire to wire, and while the Boilermakers kept it close for awhile, UConn pulled away in the second half. The Huskies took the game 72-60, in large part thanks to their 7'3" star Hasheem Thabeet. Thabeet had been mostly quiet through the first two games, but he was clearly the difference on Thursday night. His 15 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 block shots were great, but it was his pure physical presence in the pain that keyed Jim Calhoun's team. Connecticut was able to force Purdue to be a jump shooting team, which didn't fare well for them on this night, connecting on less than 30% of their jumpers. Both the rebounding (48-33) and the foul margin (12-26) were heavily in Connecticut's favor as well, as the Huskies moved on to the West Regional Final.

Missouri is known for their "Fastest 40 Minutes" in basketball and it was fully on display in Glendale on Thursday night. The game started out as a back and forth battle as Memphis kept paced offensively, while neither team's defense looked too great. However, Mizzou started to stretch the lead heading towards the half and a 3/4 court shot Marcus Denmon at the buzzer might have been the nail in the Memphis coffin. Missouri's offense made the vaunted Memphis defense look silly as they continually got the basket for what seemed like layup after layup, pushing the lead to as many as 24 in the second half. Memphis point guard Tyreke Evans had a fantastic game, scoring 33 and helping to close the gap to just 6 points with a little over 2 minutes left, but Mizzou was able to close out the game at the foul line and get the win, 102-91. All 5 Tigers from Missouri scored in double figures and T.J. Tiller lead them with 23.

Many peopled clamored to see UConn/Memphis in the final for this regional, but as I've mentioned before, Memphis' lack of competition in conference play was destined to bite them come tourney time, and that showed up last night. The Missouri Tigers fast paced play and ability to get the basket (and the free throw line as a result) are a tough matchup for anybody. UConn's main weakness this year has been Thabeet getting into foul trouble, and if Missouri keeps pressuring the lane, that might be the result on Saturday. It's going to be difficult for Thabeet to aggressively deny Missouri inside while keeping himself on the court at the same time. Lucky for UConn though, they have some pretty good talent surrounding him. A.J. Price and Jeff Adrien helped them get this far, and they'll need to step it up for the Huskies to make the Final Four. Adrien in particular had a rough night against Purdue, so look for him to bounce back on Saturday. I picked the Huskies to come out of this region in most of my brackets, and I'm not going to change my mind now.

(1) Pittsburgh vs. (3) Villanova: CBS - 7:05pm
Pitt hasn't made it look easy any step of the way so far, and Thursday night's matchup with Xavier was no exception. Pittsburgh's largest lead in a very back and forth game was also the final margin, 60-55 in their favor. It was a gritty game where neither team shot well, but the Panthers were able to rely on their star point guard, Levance Fields down the stretch, who scored two buckets in the final minute to help propel Pitt to the Elite 8. A place they haven't been for the past 35 years. Sam Young chipped in 19 points and DeJuan Blair was a beast as usual, scoring 10, but grabbing 17 rebounds. Jamie Dixon's squad has looked less than impressive so far, but they are also still to play the type of basketball they are capable of.

Villanova flat out embarrassed Duke en route to a 77-54 win in Boston. Their defense keyed them through the first half as Duke remained close, but had a very difficult time getting into the flow of their offense. The 2nd half was all in the favor of the Wildcats as they continued to force poor attempts by the Blue Devils while getting relatively easy baskets of their own. Duke went a paltry 16-60 from the field for the game, including 5-27 beyond the arc. Nova also managed to out rebound the Blue Devils by a 46-32 margin and kept Duke stars Gerald Henderson (1/14) and John Scheyer (3/18) completely in check. For the Wildcats, Scottie Reynolds had 16 points while Dante Cunningham added 14 along with 11 rebounds. The game was marred by a combined 47 fouls, but it was Jay Wright's squad that seemed to be able to stay in rhythm, advancing on to the East Regional Final.

This game is a rematch from late January when Villanova beat Pitt by 10 at home. The Big East rivals should provide a great contest to see who moves on to the Final 4. That first matchup saw Nova come from behind in the 2nd half and pull ahead when Pitt went ice cold down the stretch. DeJuan Blair was rendered mostly ineffective in that matchup due to foul trouble throughout. Junior guard Reggie Redding had his best game as a Wildcat, scoring a career high 18 points, including 10/10 from the foul line. As I mentioned before, Pitt is yet to play the type of basketball it's capable of in this tournament, and they didn't show it in the first matchup in Philly either. If they play to their potential, their size and strength could be too much for a Villanova team built on finesse to handle. That's a big "if" of course. The Wildcats come into this game looking extremely impressive so far through 3 rounds, and this is a team known for upsets. It ultimately boils down to can Nova stay hot or can Pittsburgh finally play to their capabilities. I picked Pittsburgh in my bracket and I can't bail on them now. Jamie Dixon finds a way to get his team to play their best, and the Panthers win a close one.