The best four days of basketball of the year is in the books and the Sweet 16 is set. For me, Sunday began with an airport run, returning in time to catch the end of the first half of Marquette – Colorado. Cam Jones was bombing away and Tyler Kolek was showing no rust from his three-week injury absence. Down 11 at the half, Colorado looked like a team that had given all it had to give in the classic 102-100 win over Florida. But at halftime, the elegant swingman, Tristan DaSilva, apparently decided that he was not quite ready to be done. He willed Colorado back into the game with 15 second-half points and put them in a position to win, even if it never felt like they would. Alas, the Buffaloes’ other two pro prospects, senior guard K.J. Simpson and five-star freshman Cody Williams, each of whom had their moments, stared down wide open three pointers in the last three minutes, each of which would have given Colorado the lead. Each of them missed (which doubtless was painful for Florida), Kolek completely controlled play and made every big play down the stretch, and the Golden Eagles moved on, 81-77.
The next two games were snoozers, in my case literally, as I caught up on some badly needed sleep while Purdue exorcised its opening weekend demons against overmatched Utah State. I hear the Boilermakers look good and look forward to seeing them next week. Next, Duke faced off against James Madison, which had been so impressive against Wisconsin on Friday night. The Blue Devils turned the Dukes into a pumpkin with shocking ease, 93-55, with freshman guard Jared McCain playing to his 5-star pedigree with eight three pointers and 30 points. In the late game, San Diego State and the redoubtable Jaden Ledee, averaging 29 a game through two games this weekend, did the same to Yale.
The night games began with high drama even though Clemson never trailed. This time it was Rayj Dennis, a “new modern player”, with two years at Boise St., two more at Toledo and now a year at Baylor, who refused to let the Bears go quietly. Scoring 21 of his 27 points in the second half, Dennis gave Baylor a chance to tie in the last minute. Alas, Baylor’s five-star freshman, Ja’Koby Walters, who played well with 20 points, missed two free throws, Clemson’s R.J. Godfrey, a 56% foul shooter, made four straight, Joseph Girard, III, who last missed a free throw in the third grade, added two more, and that was that. If you are scoring at home, with 6-seed Clemson’s defeat of 3-seed Baylor added to the pasting 11-seed N.C. State (the 11th place team in the ACC this season) put on 6-seed Texas Tech, the beleaguered ACC is now 11-3 against the vaunted Big 12 this season
As Clemson was closing out Baylor, Alabama and Grand Canyon proceeded with a panic attack of a game, with the notable exception of Mark Sears, the Alabama guard who I confess I seriously underrated. The first half was marked by overanxious shooting by the other players on both teams and by an extended and not uninteresting game of Clue as to who committed the technical foul for Alabama. It was Pringle, on the Bench, with the Clipboard.
In the second half, Grand Canyon continued to play frenetic streetball, with striking athleticism, leading me to marvel at how a mid-major team assembled such an amazing group of athletes, and how such a disorganized and undisciplined team could be coached by a member of the respected Drew coaching family, Valpo legend and former Vandy coach Bryce. The Lopes were relentless for 36 minutes, and Tyon Grant-Foster, who had 29, was as gifted as advertised. But in the end, Alabama found some steadiness, between the reliable Sears and unsung freshman Mouhamed Dioubate, Grand Canyon lost steam, and a game that looked like it would end with a bang instead ended with a whimper.
There was no such chaos in Brooklyn, where the UConn machine rolled on, making short work of Northwestern. To its credit, Northwestern kept playing and avoided a blowout, but UConn’s balance, depth and star power—20 points, 9 assists for Tristen Newton, and 14 points, 14 rebounds, 8 blocks for the emerging center, Donovan Clingan—was far too much. Even at this early stage, the Edey-Clingan matchup looms as an intriguing possibility.
It took a while, but the Houston-Texas A&M game delivered as the best game of the day, the best game of the tournament, and one of the best games of any tournament. The athletic and physical Aggies battled all night, but you cannot beat a team as sound, and as physically and mentally tough, as Houston on a night when the Aggies missed 11 foul shots in the first half and when Texas A&M’s own star guard, Wade Taylor IV, who had lit Houston up for 34 in a 4 point loss in December, was held to 5-25 shooting. The Aggies appeared to be dead, down 12 with less than two minutes to play. But the Aggies kept fighting, Taylor, who had 1 point at the half and finished with 21, came alive, and his running mate Boots Radford, who finished with 27 points and 15 rebounds, kept attacking the rim. Somehow Texas A&M was down only three with ten seconds to play. Even after Taylor missed two very tough three pointers, there were 1.2 seconds left and A&M had one last desperation chance to inbound. In one of those “Holy ___” moments that make the NCAA tournament, the last inbound option, Anderson Garcia got the ball wide open at the top of the key and drilled it to force overtime. Not only that, but Houston also was in such deep foul trouble that eventually four of their five starters, including all three guards, would foul out.
It takes a special team to hold it together in those circumstances. Houston did. L.J. Cryer (20 points) fouled out in regulation but Houston’s other two superb guards, Emanuel Sharp (30 points) and Jamal Shead (21 points, 10 assists) made play after play in overtime until they fouled out, too. Eventually the Cougars had to put in a walk-on named Ryan Elvin and even he, like Ollie in Hoosiers, made a crucial free throw with 17 seconds left in overtime. The game hung in the balance until the last 15 seconds, but Houston toughed it out, 100-95.
So, the Sweet 16 is set. In a year of seeming parity and, frankly, mediocrity below the Big Three of UConn, Houston and Purdue, it has been an unusually good year for the high seeds.
4 Number 1 seeds
4 number 2 seeds
2 number 3 seeds
2 number 4 seeds
2 number 5 seeds
1 number 6 seed
1 number 11 seed
Looking at the conferences, all the teams in the Sweet 16 are from multiple-bid conferences. By my quick count:
The two bid West Coast conference is 2-1 and has one team in the Sweet 16, 5-seed Gonzaga. 5-seed St. Mary’s lost to a double-digit seed in the first round.
The three bid Big East is 6-0 and has three teams in the Sweet 16—1-seed UConn, 2-seed Marquette, and 3-seed Creighton.
The four seed Pac 12 is 6-3 and has one team in the Sweet 16, 2-seed Arizona.
The five bid ACC is 8-1 and has four teams in the Sweet 16, including 1-seed North Carolina, 4-seed Duke, 6-seed Clemson and 11-seed N.C. State.
The six bid Big Ten is 6-4, has two teams in the Sweet 16, including 1-seed Purdue and 3-seed Illinois. 5-seed Wisconsin lost to a double-digit seed in the first round.
The six bid Mountain West is 4-5 and has one team in the Sweet 16, 5 seed San Diego State.
The seven bid Big 12 is 6-5 and has two teams in the Sweet 16, 1-seed Houston and 2-seed Iowa State. 6-seeds BYU and Texas Tech lost to double-digit seeds in the first round.
The eight bid SEC is 5-6 and has two teams in the Sweet 16, 2-seed Tennessee and 4-seed Alabama. 3-seed Kentucky, 4-seed Auburn and 6-seed South Carolina lost to double-digit seeds in the first round.
The death of the ACC was yet again premature, to say the least. And kudos to the Big East.
I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend. Looking forward to 12 more games next week. Have a great week.
17-15
The next two games were snoozers, in my case literally, as I caught up on some badly needed sleep while Purdue exorcised its opening weekend demons against overmatched Utah State. I hear the Boilermakers look good and look forward to seeing them next week. Next, Duke faced off against James Madison, which had been so impressive against Wisconsin on Friday night. The Blue Devils turned the Dukes into a pumpkin with shocking ease, 93-55, with freshman guard Jared McCain playing to his 5-star pedigree with eight three pointers and 30 points. In the late game, San Diego State and the redoubtable Jaden Ledee, averaging 29 a game through two games this weekend, did the same to Yale.
The night games began with high drama even though Clemson never trailed. This time it was Rayj Dennis, a “new modern player”, with two years at Boise St., two more at Toledo and now a year at Baylor, who refused to let the Bears go quietly. Scoring 21 of his 27 points in the second half, Dennis gave Baylor a chance to tie in the last minute. Alas, Baylor’s five-star freshman, Ja’Koby Walters, who played well with 20 points, missed two free throws, Clemson’s R.J. Godfrey, a 56% foul shooter, made four straight, Joseph Girard, III, who last missed a free throw in the third grade, added two more, and that was that. If you are scoring at home, with 6-seed Clemson’s defeat of 3-seed Baylor added to the pasting 11-seed N.C. State (the 11th place team in the ACC this season) put on 6-seed Texas Tech, the beleaguered ACC is now 11-3 against the vaunted Big 12 this season
As Clemson was closing out Baylor, Alabama and Grand Canyon proceeded with a panic attack of a game, with the notable exception of Mark Sears, the Alabama guard who I confess I seriously underrated. The first half was marked by overanxious shooting by the other players on both teams and by an extended and not uninteresting game of Clue as to who committed the technical foul for Alabama. It was Pringle, on the Bench, with the Clipboard.
In the second half, Grand Canyon continued to play frenetic streetball, with striking athleticism, leading me to marvel at how a mid-major team assembled such an amazing group of athletes, and how such a disorganized and undisciplined team could be coached by a member of the respected Drew coaching family, Valpo legend and former Vandy coach Bryce. The Lopes were relentless for 36 minutes, and Tyon Grant-Foster, who had 29, was as gifted as advertised. But in the end, Alabama found some steadiness, between the reliable Sears and unsung freshman Mouhamed Dioubate, Grand Canyon lost steam, and a game that looked like it would end with a bang instead ended with a whimper.
There was no such chaos in Brooklyn, where the UConn machine rolled on, making short work of Northwestern. To its credit, Northwestern kept playing and avoided a blowout, but UConn’s balance, depth and star power—20 points, 9 assists for Tristen Newton, and 14 points, 14 rebounds, 8 blocks for the emerging center, Donovan Clingan—was far too much. Even at this early stage, the Edey-Clingan matchup looms as an intriguing possibility.
It took a while, but the Houston-Texas A&M game delivered as the best game of the day, the best game of the tournament, and one of the best games of any tournament. The athletic and physical Aggies battled all night, but you cannot beat a team as sound, and as physically and mentally tough, as Houston on a night when the Aggies missed 11 foul shots in the first half and when Texas A&M’s own star guard, Wade Taylor IV, who had lit Houston up for 34 in a 4 point loss in December, was held to 5-25 shooting. The Aggies appeared to be dead, down 12 with less than two minutes to play. But the Aggies kept fighting, Taylor, who had 1 point at the half and finished with 21, came alive, and his running mate Boots Radford, who finished with 27 points and 15 rebounds, kept attacking the rim. Somehow Texas A&M was down only three with ten seconds to play. Even after Taylor missed two very tough three pointers, there were 1.2 seconds left and A&M had one last desperation chance to inbound. In one of those “Holy ___” moments that make the NCAA tournament, the last inbound option, Anderson Garcia got the ball wide open at the top of the key and drilled it to force overtime. Not only that, but Houston also was in such deep foul trouble that eventually four of their five starters, including all three guards, would foul out.
It takes a special team to hold it together in those circumstances. Houston did. L.J. Cryer (20 points) fouled out in regulation but Houston’s other two superb guards, Emanuel Sharp (30 points) and Jamal Shead (21 points, 10 assists) made play after play in overtime until they fouled out, too. Eventually the Cougars had to put in a walk-on named Ryan Elvin and even he, like Ollie in Hoosiers, made a crucial free throw with 17 seconds left in overtime. The game hung in the balance until the last 15 seconds, but Houston toughed it out, 100-95.
So, the Sweet 16 is set. In a year of seeming parity and, frankly, mediocrity below the Big Three of UConn, Houston and Purdue, it has been an unusually good year for the high seeds.
4 Number 1 seeds
4 number 2 seeds
2 number 3 seeds
2 number 4 seeds
2 number 5 seeds
1 number 6 seed
1 number 11 seed
Looking at the conferences, all the teams in the Sweet 16 are from multiple-bid conferences. By my quick count:
The two bid West Coast conference is 2-1 and has one team in the Sweet 16, 5-seed Gonzaga. 5-seed St. Mary’s lost to a double-digit seed in the first round.
The three bid Big East is 6-0 and has three teams in the Sweet 16—1-seed UConn, 2-seed Marquette, and 3-seed Creighton.
The four seed Pac 12 is 6-3 and has one team in the Sweet 16, 2-seed Arizona.
The five bid ACC is 8-1 and has four teams in the Sweet 16, including 1-seed North Carolina, 4-seed Duke, 6-seed Clemson and 11-seed N.C. State.
The six bid Big Ten is 6-4, has two teams in the Sweet 16, including 1-seed Purdue and 3-seed Illinois. 5-seed Wisconsin lost to a double-digit seed in the first round.
The six bid Mountain West is 4-5 and has one team in the Sweet 16, 5 seed San Diego State.
The seven bid Big 12 is 6-5 and has two teams in the Sweet 16, 1-seed Houston and 2-seed Iowa State. 6-seeds BYU and Texas Tech lost to double-digit seeds in the first round.
The eight bid SEC is 5-6 and has two teams in the Sweet 16, 2-seed Tennessee and 4-seed Alabama. 3-seed Kentucky, 4-seed Auburn and 6-seed South Carolina lost to double-digit seeds in the first round.
The death of the ACC was yet again premature, to say the least. And kudos to the Big East.
I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend. Looking forward to 12 more games next week. Have a great week.
17-15
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