His new contract is worth a total compensation value of just less than $1 million per year with a base salary between $700,000 and $800,000.

Miller had been making a base salary between $500,000 and $600,000 with a total compensation value - including perks such as a country club membership and a vehicle - of about $800,000.

Bob Huggins

Police say Lavender was drunk and disorderly after they asked him several times to move out of a Cincinnati street intersection "and refused until apprehension," police documents note.

"Somebody mentioned to me they held him to five or six points," Love said. "Hey, I think Beasley's the most talented player in the country. For him to get five or six points shows how good they can be on defense."

Here are just some little tidbits about the Elite 8, which begins tonight:

Of the eight games that comprised the Sweet 16, only one was close in any way. That would be Xavier's overtime win over West Virginia. And the Muskies blew an 18-point lead in that one.

Sure, Western Kentucky made a mad dash to get back into the game against UCLA, but the Bruins then went away.

Every other game was won by double figures with each of the winning teams holding at least a 19 point lead at one point.

• North Carolina won by 21 (and had a 26 point lead)
• Texas won by 20 (had a 23-pt lead)
• Louisville won by 19
• Memphis won by 18 (had a 34-pt lead)
• Davidson won by 17 (had a 21-pt lead)
• Kansas won by 15 (had a 21-pt lead)
• UCLA won by 10 (had a 21-pt halftime lead)

The most glaring example of West Virginia's bungling came at the end of regulation. Star forward Joe Alexander was at the free-throw line with 14 seconds left, looking to convert a three-point play after his quick turnaround tied the score at 64.

Burrell jarred at him, "Come on, you are going to miss this one," and Alexander responded with a comment that, as Burrell put it, "You don't want to put in any [article]." After a longer-than-usual approach, Alexander's free throw rimmed out, and the game went to overtime.

A very interesting occurance has come to Cincinnati fans: the Xavier Musketeers will meet the West Virginia Mountaineers in the Sweet 16. Normally, that doesn't mean much ... but WVU is now coached by Bob Huggins, the former coach at the U of Cincinnati.

You listen to people around town and the buzz is more about Huggins that the Muskies.

Huggins is a god in the Nati. He took a Bearcat program that was lying in the gutter and vaulted them into a Final Four appearance in 1992. Since then, he made Cincy basketball matter as they transitioned from the Metro Conference to the Great Midwest to Conference USA to, ultimately, the Big East.

Huggs never got to coach his team in the Big East as he was run out of town by Cincinnati's president Nancy Zimpher in 2005. You know how some Indiana fans won't come back after Bobby Knight was run off, the same thing has happened to the Bearcats. There are people that have abandoned the Bearcats program and who are elated at Huggins' ability to take West Virginia to the Sweet 16. Even after he left, he still has endorsement deals in the city.