March Crazy: No. 1 seed leaves Arizona; Duke stays

The project was dominated by Hakeem Olajouvon and Clyde Trexler in the early 1980s – San Antonio – the last Houston to make the 8th round of the NCAA Tour in a row in a very different era of college basketball. Two were named the Nicemith Hall of Fame, and the most famous was the Phi Slama Jama.

Houston, number one in this year’s competition. At standard 5, it easily sent its first two opponents, no. 12-Row University of Alabama Birmingham & Nos. 4-Seat Illinois, and the Cookers seemed to handle Arizona, the Southern Region’s first class. , Thursday night, defeated the Wildcats 72-60 in the 16th round.

Arizona became the third No. 1 seed to fall in this competition Gonzalez lost earlier Thursday night And Baylor was knocked out in the 32nd round. The only number left. 1 is Kansas, which plays in the 16th round against Providence on Friday.

The Houston players were easily snapped up by the Arizona defenders for the parade. They smashed the attacking glass to create more possessions. Their athletic blocks occupied a significant portion of the seats at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, about a three-hour drive from the university campus and shot their fans.

They turned great security into an effortless crime.

In the first half, Houston guard Jamal Shate intercepted a cross-court pass from Arizona center Christian Koloko and took a quick break. In possession of Arizona’s next offensive, Fabian White Jr. blocked the driver’s attempt at Azulas Dupellis’s, and attached a rebound to set up another lab in another basket. These are indicators of why Houston entered the competition with one of the top-ranked defensive teams in Division I.

At the end of the first half, the Cookers, the winners of the American Athletics Conference, beat Arizona 18-4 in the paint, keeping Arizona 1 out of 6 in the laps.

A big reason for Arizona’s ability to get to the free-throw line and put the Houston players in foul trouble is that the Wildgates’ half-time deficit was just 6 points.

Days Moore, one of Houston’s opening guards, averaged 30 minutes per game, spent most of the first half on the bench with three errors and finished fourth within 10 minutes of the second half. He finished with just 3 points.

Allowing turnover and second chance points in the first two rounds against Wright State and Texas Christian hurt Arizona. Despite going on runs to reduce it to 4 or 3 points, untimely turnover prevented the Wildgates from reducing the distance to Houston’s lead. Houston received 24 points off turnover compared to Arizona’s 6 points.

The Cougars have never won the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, not out of the six tournaments for the final four, not even with some of the most acclaimed players in basketball history. Sportiness and grid took this Cougars team so far, and on Thursday the Cougars were determined to ensure that the drought did not continue for another season.

As the final seconds crossed the clock, the Arizona players were already bowing on the court with tears as they began to celebrate – not the first No. 1 player to leave the NCAA tournament early, and certainly not the last. .

– Alanis Thames

Duke’s view is the final four.

San Francisco – for most of the night – Mike Kryzewski took his usual place on the Duke Bench – in the third seat from the scorer’s table – and stayed there. His hands trembled, sometimes resting on his cheek, other times gesturing down from the bench or pointing where he wanted a player to position himself on the field.

But as the clock ticked – and the tension increased – Khrushchev was at his feet. This, if it was the final game of his upstairs career, he would at least stand down and call plays, plan crime and advise on defense.

It happened as Duke Khrushchevsky’s life was extended another night to beat Texas Tech 78-73 to advance to the final four. Earlier, the Blue Devils had already beaten the Jacks this season, but Konsaka, who lost to Arkansas, destroyed the path of the No. 1 overall seed Konsaka in parentheses.

Adonis Arms hit the 3-pointer with 13.1 seconds left in the Texas Tech 75-73. After Texas Tech called a deadline, the Red Riders fouled AJ Griffin, who made two free throws with 12.9 seconds remaining. Duke then made a deliberate mistake to filter the time from the clock, and when the Arms missed another 3-pointer and caught the Paulo Panchero rebound, Khrushchev threw his hands into the air.

When he heard the buzzer noise, he clasped his hands together and started walking towards the Texas deck bench, enjoying a day of training.

Pancero scored 22 points to buy the Blue Devils another day, with Jeremy Roche breaking the Texas Tech defense to add 15 points and 5 assists, and center mark Williams added 16 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks.

But it was only at the defensive end that Duke found some of the most necessary resolutions, including resurrecting their ground with one minute left to play, which annoyed the crowd.

Duke Call came here with victories against State Fullerton and Michigan, then a tough test, marching late without an ankle-injured Griffin. Khrushchev later appeared to be as filtered as his players – and was eager to move forward.

Krzyzewski, 75, made the rare move last June to announce his retirement at the end of this season. It will continue for another game on Saturday against Arkansas.

Texas Tech did not make it easy. According to Ken Pomeroy’s statistics analysis, the Red Riders have the most efficient defense in the country, forcing the ball to one side of the track and then overloading their defense in that direction. When the Red Riders came into the final moments of winning the national title in 2019, defense architect Mark Adams was an assistant.

Adams, 65, who spent his life hitting junior college and small college basketball bushes, had to recreate the list. Kevin Opener was one of the newcomers who helped lead Oral Roberts in an amazing run to the 16th round last year.

On Thursday night at this point the opener was very high at home, hitting a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. But that is not enough to make progress.

– Billy Joke

San Antonio – Villanova were patient and accurate, leading by 6 points in a game that felt close with eight minutes remaining. The players zipped the ball around the Michigan defenders, waiting for the best scoring opportunity. Finally, Villanova’s Redshirt senior guard Caleb Daniels caught the ball in the paint and drove forward, his body running into the front of the 6-foot-11 Wolverine’s mouse diabetic as the ball went through the hoop. The whistling of an officer set in a 3-point play following.

The Wildgates did not celebrate with their fans. They returned to the defense. Wolverines with the number 11-seeds will respond, as they did throughout the evening. With a pair of jump shots and a few free throws, Villanova’s lead, once in the 9th half, was 4.

But No. 2 Villanova, after playing a long way from his best game, established enough cushion to cross the Wolverines 63-55 on Thursday, gaining a driving lap through Jermaine Samuels and a 3-pointer in its next possession. In the 16th round in San Antonio.

Coach Jay Wright’s Wildgates, one of the two remaining Big East teams in the NCAA Tournament along with Providence, have shown that the conference is all theirs until another program gets out of their 3-point-shooter hands. But there was no team Ranked 4th In the regular season, for the fourth time since 2017 this month at Madison Square Garden will be looking for more than just the Wildcats winning convention championship.

“We were beaten. We need to rest,” Wright said. “Let’s learn a little bit by watching the movie.

Villanova beat Michigan in the national title match in 2018, but got bad luck from the tournament: in 2019, the Wildcats were defeated by Burdock in the second round, and last year they were knocked out by Baylor in the 16th round. , Eventually the champion.

But now, the Wildcats are one victory away from the seventh final four appearances in show history, in which they have won two national championships since 2016 and have developed strong NBA talent.

Sacramento Kings’ Donde Divincenso, Phoenix Sons’ Michael Bridges, Dallas Mavericks’ John Brunson and many more have come through the program in recent years.

Colin Gillespie, Villanova’s sharpshooting graduate student bodyguard, will lead the Wildgates with nearly 16 points per game this season, entering the draft to establish himself as one of the best 3-point snipers in men’s basketball. Gillespie scored four of 10 3-point attempts against Michigan, finishing with 12 points playing all but one minute.

Villanova, as a team, did not shoot the ball properly from beyond the curve. In 30 3-point attempts, Villanova made nine, while the Wolverines were 6 for 18 at depth.

During the Wolverines’ up-and-down season in Michigan, Coach Juan Howard surprised many by reaching this round. Five-game suspension After a post-game clash with a Wisconsin coach. But the Wolverines had enough advantage to win against the little wildcats. Michigan dropped earlier than its leading scorer and big man Hunter Dickinson, and he found success, finishing with 15 points and 15 rebounds despite a misplaced problem. Villanova inserted a short line and made two quick errors on Dickinson in the first half, and he finished with four errors.

“We never ran anywhere with anyone like Hunter Dickinson,” Wright said after the game. “Man, this dude is a handle. He possesses size, circumference, strength, skill, intelligence, and competitiveness. We meet some good guys in the middle, but I think he’s the best we’ve run this year.

But on a normal shooting night for both teams, Michigan missed several important shots, which, unusually, were around the edge and half of its free throws.

“We look good,” said Eli Brooks, a Michigan graduate student guard. I think we got the look we wanted. We did not take shots.

– Alanis Thames