March 29th, 2013: Russ Smith drops 31 on Oregon in Sweet 16
My dad and I made the short two-hour drive to Lucas Oil for the Easter weekend, where it felt like Louisville North as a sea of red flooded the downtown streets of Indianapolis and throughout the stadium. Our seats were so high up, I think I could have touched one of the numerous Colts’ AFC Championship banners if I stood on my tip-toes. No matter where you watched from, Russ put on a dazzling performance against the upset-minded Ducks and it was beautiful to witness, even if it was from Section 637 Row ZZ.
Entering the Sweet 16 matchup with Oregon, Smith was averaging 21.6 PPG in five postseason games. In the First Round vs North Carolina A&T, he put up 23 points on an efficient 10-16 from the field. Against Colorado State in the Round of 32, Russ sent the Rams home after a 27-point performance which drew the attention of NBA star LeBron James via Twitter. Nonetheless, it’s safe to say when the lights shined the brightest, Russ was ready to put on a show.
Smith finished with 31 points, including 12/14 from the stripe, and did a majority of the heavy-lifting with Peyton Siva battling flu-like symptoms and foul trouble. The display of acrobatic layups in transition and clutch buckets with Oregon cutting into the lead late ranks highly on the monumental list of Russ Smith performances.
Miss you, VillenHD.