Pittsburgh is a great first weekend site for the NCAA Tournament. It is within a few hours of the major cities of both the east and midwest, an easy drive for the fans of dozens of quality basketball schools. Perhaps due to this proximity, along with a right-sized arena and lots of accessible hotels and restaurants, Pittsburgh has been a regular stop on the first weekend circuit.
We have been treated to a lot of great teams, great players and exciting games. But two teams stand out above the rest: the 1997 Coppin State team led by Antoine Brockington and Terquin Mott (the Hooper) that arrived without a pep band and left with 18,000 roaring lifelong fans after blowing out 2-seed South Carolina and then mounting an electrifying comeback against Texas, fueled by steal after steal, before falling, 82-81.
And now the 2024 Oakland University Golden Grizzlies, featuring a classic long-range bomber, national hero Jack Gohlke, a classic undersized power player, Trey Townsend, the equal of any of the many excellent power conference players here this weekend, and a coach in Greg Kampe who has been coaching at Oakland since 1984.
Like Coppin State, the Grizzlies were more than a one-night stand. After taking out mighty Kentucky on Thursday, led by 10 three pointers by Gohlke, Oakland took NC State to overtime tonight, with six more three pointers from Gohlke, who attempted 372 shots this season, 364 of them three pointers, and 30 points and 13 rebounds from Townsend. State had no answer for Townsend as he pounded away from inside and out and fouled out two excellent defenders, Middlebrooks and Diarra. Oakland looked like they had it, shooting for the win at the end of regulation.
But N.C. State is writing its own story. A week ago Friday night, I left Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. with less than a minute to play and State down 58-52 to Virginia (not my proudest spectating moment.) It took a 30-foot bank shot by Michael O’Connell to force overtime. Without that shot, N.C. State’s season was over. Now, a week later, the Pack is in the Sweet 16.
That it took a miracle for N.C. State to make it to Pittsburgh this weekend does not mean that it was a fluke. State handled Duke and North Carolina last week and Texas Tech on Thursday, and they fought through some cold shooting and all the grit and pixie dust Oakland could muster to outlast the Grizzlies tonight.
N.C. State has a talented and balanced team, with four quality guards and three quality big men, including the gigantic but graceful dancing bear, D.J. Burns, who is much more than a carnival act, as he showed again tonight with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. N.C. State was a play away from losing in regulation, but they forced a turnover, almost won with a 60-footer at the buzzer, and then gathered themselves and started hitting shots in overtime, leaving Oakland to the same fate as Coppin State: heroic and courageous underdogs who gave us thrills that people will be talking about for decades.
The Oakland-N.C. State game left 18,000 people emotionally drained.
And the second game was better.
In the immortal words of Ernie Banks: “Let’s play two.” It took two overtimes for 3-seed Creighton to finally survive against 11-seed Oregon. The game featured a matchup rarely seen any more in college basketball, two really good veteran centers. Oregon’s N’Faly Dante was spectacular, with 28 points and 20 rebounds, 2 shots blocked, and countless others altered or discouraged. In a more subtle way, Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner was just as good, with 19 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks, each seemingly at a crucial time.
By the end, Oregon was playing virtually 2 on 5 on offense with the incredible Jermaine Cousinard, who scored 72 points in 2 games this weekend, and Dante combining for 60 of Oregon’s 73 points. Oregon’s talented freshman guard, Jackson Shelstad, clearly gifted but struggling with a cold shooting night, was out with a leg injury and another Oregon starter, Kwame Evans, Jr., was holding his left hand on every stoppage in play. Still, Oregon was in position to win in regulation until Dante, who had dominated the second half, had a heartbreaking miss on the front end of a one-and-one with Oregon up 2 and 27 seconds to play, Oregon’s first foul shot of the game. This opened the door for a clutch jumper by Creighton’s lefty sharpshooter, Baylor Scheierman, to force overtime.
In the first overtime, the shoe was on the other foot. Creighton looked like they had it won until Cousinard hit a deep and contested three pointer to force a second overtime. In the end though, Creighton had four stars, with Kalkbrenner and Scheierman joined by Trey Alexander, a force throughout the game, and Steven Ashworth, who looked overmatched in the first half until ending the half with a very long three, and then grew into Creighton’s most confident player by the end. They played beautifully together, and they were supported by 6 offensive rebounds by reserve freshman forward Jasen Green. In the second overtime, Ashworth hit a three, Kalkbrenner took his only three pointer of the game and drilled it, Oregon hit the wall, and that was that.
Thus ended our great weekend of basketball in Pittsburgh. Our city has been an integral part of our national celebration, and we were blessed with many of the most dramatic games and the most compelling stories. It was an especially sweet and memorable weekend for the host school, Duquesne University, even if the clock struck midnight on the Dukes Cinderella run tonight against powerful Illinois. Next week, the regionals will be played in bigger cities, most of them with bigger arenas. It should be great basketball. But I’ll take four games and then two games any day, especially when it includes the little schools like Oakland and Coppin State that make this, for me, the best sporting event in our country.
We have been treated to a lot of great teams, great players and exciting games. But two teams stand out above the rest: the 1997 Coppin State team led by Antoine Brockington and Terquin Mott (the Hooper) that arrived without a pep band and left with 18,000 roaring lifelong fans after blowing out 2-seed South Carolina and then mounting an electrifying comeback against Texas, fueled by steal after steal, before falling, 82-81.
And now the 2024 Oakland University Golden Grizzlies, featuring a classic long-range bomber, national hero Jack Gohlke, a classic undersized power player, Trey Townsend, the equal of any of the many excellent power conference players here this weekend, and a coach in Greg Kampe who has been coaching at Oakland since 1984.
Like Coppin State, the Grizzlies were more than a one-night stand. After taking out mighty Kentucky on Thursday, led by 10 three pointers by Gohlke, Oakland took NC State to overtime tonight, with six more three pointers from Gohlke, who attempted 372 shots this season, 364 of them three pointers, and 30 points and 13 rebounds from Townsend. State had no answer for Townsend as he pounded away from inside and out and fouled out two excellent defenders, Middlebrooks and Diarra. Oakland looked like they had it, shooting for the win at the end of regulation.
But N.C. State is writing its own story. A week ago Friday night, I left Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. with less than a minute to play and State down 58-52 to Virginia (not my proudest spectating moment.) It took a 30-foot bank shot by Michael O’Connell to force overtime. Without that shot, N.C. State’s season was over. Now, a week later, the Pack is in the Sweet 16.
That it took a miracle for N.C. State to make it to Pittsburgh this weekend does not mean that it was a fluke. State handled Duke and North Carolina last week and Texas Tech on Thursday, and they fought through some cold shooting and all the grit and pixie dust Oakland could muster to outlast the Grizzlies tonight.
N.C. State has a talented and balanced team, with four quality guards and three quality big men, including the gigantic but graceful dancing bear, D.J. Burns, who is much more than a carnival act, as he showed again tonight with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. N.C. State was a play away from losing in regulation, but they forced a turnover, almost won with a 60-footer at the buzzer, and then gathered themselves and started hitting shots in overtime, leaving Oakland to the same fate as Coppin State: heroic and courageous underdogs who gave us thrills that people will be talking about for decades.
The Oakland-N.C. State game left 18,000 people emotionally drained.
And the second game was better.
In the immortal words of Ernie Banks: “Let’s play two.” It took two overtimes for 3-seed Creighton to finally survive against 11-seed Oregon. The game featured a matchup rarely seen any more in college basketball, two really good veteran centers. Oregon’s N’Faly Dante was spectacular, with 28 points and 20 rebounds, 2 shots blocked, and countless others altered or discouraged. In a more subtle way, Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner was just as good, with 19 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks, each seemingly at a crucial time.
By the end, Oregon was playing virtually 2 on 5 on offense with the incredible Jermaine Cousinard, who scored 72 points in 2 games this weekend, and Dante combining for 60 of Oregon’s 73 points. Oregon’s talented freshman guard, Jackson Shelstad, clearly gifted but struggling with a cold shooting night, was out with a leg injury and another Oregon starter, Kwame Evans, Jr., was holding his left hand on every stoppage in play. Still, Oregon was in position to win in regulation until Dante, who had dominated the second half, had a heartbreaking miss on the front end of a one-and-one with Oregon up 2 and 27 seconds to play, Oregon’s first foul shot of the game. This opened the door for a clutch jumper by Creighton’s lefty sharpshooter, Baylor Scheierman, to force overtime.
In the first overtime, the shoe was on the other foot. Creighton looked like they had it won until Cousinard hit a deep and contested three pointer to force a second overtime. In the end though, Creighton had four stars, with Kalkbrenner and Scheierman joined by Trey Alexander, a force throughout the game, and Steven Ashworth, who looked overmatched in the first half until ending the half with a very long three, and then grew into Creighton’s most confident player by the end. They played beautifully together, and they were supported by 6 offensive rebounds by reserve freshman forward Jasen Green. In the second overtime, Ashworth hit a three, Kalkbrenner took his only three pointer of the game and drilled it, Oregon hit the wall, and that was that.
Thus ended our great weekend of basketball in Pittsburgh. Our city has been an integral part of our national celebration, and we were blessed with many of the most dramatic games and the most compelling stories. It was an especially sweet and memorable weekend for the host school, Duquesne University, even if the clock struck midnight on the Dukes Cinderella run tonight against powerful Illinois. Next week, the regionals will be played in bigger cities, most of them with bigger arenas. It should be great basketball. But I’ll take four games and then two games any day, especially when it includes the little schools like Oakland and Coppin State that make this, for me, the best sporting event in our country.
