2012 NCAA Tournament: The Sweet 16's Most Disturbing Moments

For all the surprises, last-minute heroics and memorable moments the 2012 NCAA tournament provides to basketball fans nationwide, there are also those moments that make fans cringe.

Although seldom, they are the disturbing, not so pleasant moments of this tournament.

These are the five most disturbing moments of the 2012 NCAA tournament, as the Sweet 16 is now underway.

Duke Blue Devils Fall to Lehigh, Austin Rivers Fails to Deliver

In a No. 2 vs. No. 15 matchup in the early stages of the tournament, the Duke Blue Devils failed to capitalize against Lehigh in what was a 75-70 letdown.

That's right; you read correctly. It was Lehigh.

In spite of finishing the season strong, winning nine of their last 10 games, this was supposed to be a win for Duke.

Yet it was Lehigh that capitalized and made it to the third round of play. Austin Rivers and company faced the music and were sent packing.

After putting forth a strong ACC run and boasting one of the more sound teams in the country, this loss was one that shook the basketball world.

Fab Melo Gone for the Tournament

All season long it was Fab Melo anchoring the troops for the Syracuse Orange, and yet come tournament time, he was deemed ineligible to play in the NCAA tournament.

The anchor, the go-to-guy for the nation-best Orange was to sit out of the tournament and was unable to help his troops win games when they needed it most. To see one of the No. 1 seeds and top teams in the country lose their strongest player is a fact that is hard for basketball fans to swallow (unless, of course, they going up against your team).

Despite advancing to the Elite Eight, this is a team that will undoubtedly miss its big star in the next round. Size will play an integral factor against teams like Kentucky, Ohio State and North Carolina down the stretch.

Creighton Goes After Henson

That's right, ref.

It wasn't once, not twice but multiple times in which the opposing players on Creighton looked to be going after the wrist of UNC Tar Heel star player John Henson.

Upon returning from what was a serious injury to his wrist, Henson was targeted from the start in this third-round matchup. In spite of the pressure on Henson, the team overcame the physicality and took home the win 87-73 to head to the Sweet 16.

To Creighton's credit, they were just trying to pull out a win against a much more talented team. Yet it was a move that had Roy Williams and basketball fans nationwide uncomfortable to say the least.

Norfolk State Gets Pounded by Florida

After putting on arguably the best performance of any team in the nation in their first-round victory over No. 2 seed Missouri, the No. 15 seed Norfolk State was dismantled by Florida.

Yes, they were outright played with.

Norfolk State was the underdog story of the tournament. People expected them to give Florida a hard time in the interior with O'Quinn dominating in the paint as he did against the Tigers.

In the 84-50 win, Norfolk State trailed by a whopping 28 points at halftime. It was a loss that hurt every fan of the game.

The underdog story was taken down hard.

Kendall Marshall Suffers Broken Wrist

There is no one moment that was more difficult to witness than the fall in which Kendall Marshall not only broke his wrist but also erased any chance the Tar Heels had at winning a 2012 national championship.

The point guard talent with the most assists in the nation, Marshall is the engine that has this North Carolina team running. His ability to facilitate the basketball and find players like Harrison Barnes, Tyler Zeller and John Henson in their sweet spots is something this team will miss dearly.

North Carolina is a well-balanced, well-coached basketball team that is poised to make a deep run and compete for a title. Yet without their floor general in Kendall Marshall, their chances have diminished significantly.