Florida's Will Richard put up 18 points and Alex Condon added 12 as the Gators earned their first national championship since Coach Billy Donovan’s teams won back-to-back championships in 2006 and ’07.
The post FINAL FOUR: GOLDEN’S GATORS appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>SAN ANTONIO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – All-America guard Walter Clayton Jr. scored 11 points in the final 15 minutes and made the game’s biggest defensive play with four seconds left as the University of Florida rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to edge Houston, 65-63, in the NCAA championship game Monday night in San Antonio.
Florida’s Will Richard put up 18 points and Alex Condon added 12 as the Gators earned their first national championship since Coach Billy Donovan’s teams won back-to-back championships in 2006 and ’07. Florida led for just 17 seconds before seizing its first second-half lead on Alijah Martin’s two free throws with 46.5 seconds to play.
The Gators (36-4) tied the 1998 Kentucky Wildcats for the third-largest rally in NCAA championship annals. Florida’s Todd Golden, 39, became the youngest coach to win an NCAA title since 37-year-old Jim Valvano and North Carolina State stunned Hakeem Olajuwon and Houston with Lorenzo Charles’ last-second dunk in 1983.
Houston (35-5) fell to 0-3 in national championship sgame despite a game-high 19 points from LJ Cryer. The Cougars had the ball for the final shot and Emanuel Sharp went up for a 3-point attempt with four seconds left, but Clayton flew out at him and Sharp had to drop the ball to the floor to avoid a traveling violation.
Condon dove on the floor to secure the ball and the rest of the Gators started celebrating as the clock hit zero for an improbable victory that looked impossible early in the second half.
After Florida was whistled for its fifth foul of the second half with 17:21 to play — including back-to-back offensive fouls before the Gators could take a shot — Florida’s assistant coaches jumped on the court and were whistled for a technical.
Cryer canned one of the technical free throws, then took the inbounds pass in the corner and swished a 3-pointer to push the lead to 40-30. Houston’s J’Wan Roberts soon followed with a jump hook in the lane to put the Gators behind by 12.
Clayton, who scored a career-high 34 points to guide Florida over Auburn in the semifinals on Saturday, missed his first six shots and committed three turnovers before finally getting on the board with 14:57 to play in the second half when he hit two free throws.
The Gators rallied in the second half behind a 14-3 run. When Clayton drove for a lefty layup — his first field goal of the night — and hit the accompanying free throw, Florida pulled even 48-48 with 7:54 to play.
Neither team could build more than a 3-point lead the rest of the way.
After Martin’s two free throws gave the Gators a 64-63 edge with 46.5 seconds to go, Richard stripped Sharp on a drive. Florida’s Denzel Aberdeen added a free throw to make it a two-point game with 19.7 seconds to go, then Houston called its last timeout to set up the unsuccessful final play.
The Cougars led 31-28 at halftime thanks to seven points from Mylik Wilson.
–Field Level Media
The post FINAL FOUR: GOLDEN’S GATORS appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>
The University of Houston's LJ Cryer ignited a 14-point comeback in the final 8:02, and teammate J’Wan Roberts made the go-ahead free throws and Houston stunned Duke 70-67 in a memorable Final Four c
The post Houston Shocks Duke at Final Four appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>SAN ANTONIO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The University of Houston’s LJ Cryer ignited a 14-point comeback in the final 8:02, and teammate J’Wan Roberts made the go-ahead free throws and Houston stunned Duke 70-67 in a memorable Final Four clash between No. 1 seeds on Saturday night at the Alamo Dome.
Cryer shot 6-of-9 from 3-point range and led the Cougars with 26 points, while Roberts had 11 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Emanuel Sharp made massive plays down the stretch and finished with 16 points for Houston (35-4), which will face Florida in the national championship game on Monday night.
Duke’s Cooper Flagg had 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks (35-4) but was whistled for a foul with 19 seconds left that allowed Houston to move in front after the Blue Devils led most of the game.
Houston out-rebounded Duke 42-31 to make up for 37.7 percent shooting from the floor. Duke made just 39.4 percent of its shots after hitting at least 50 percent in each of its first four NCAA Tournament games.
Duke appeared safe when Houston’s Joseph Tugler made contact with the ball when the Blue Devils were attempting an inbound with 1:14 to go. Duke received one technical foul shot and possession.
Kon Knueppel (16 points) made the foul shot for a 67-61 lead, but Houston got a stop on Tugler’s block and Sharp made a major 3-pointer to cut it to 67-64.
James’ inbound pass was stolen by Mylik Wilson, and Houston clawed within one on Tugler’s putback dunk with 25 seconds left. The Cougars then fouled Duke, Tyrese Proctor missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Roberts drew a foul from Flagg on the rebound.
Roberts’ free throws gave Houston its first lead since 6-5. Flagg’s midrange floater with eight seconds left hit the front of the rim and Houston got the rebound. Cryer hit two free throws for the final margin.
Flagg hit a jumper at the 10:31 mark of the second half and Proctor added one free throw for a 59-45 lead, but the Blue Devils missed their next six field-goal attempts.
Cryer had a six-point possession thanks to a flagrant-1 foul call on Mason Gillis under the basket when Cryer made a three. Houston got one foul shot and possession, and Cryer hit a jumper to cut it to 59-51 with 7:43 to play.
Houston pulled within 59-55 before Proctor hit two free throws to end a 4:33 Duke scoring drought. Then, Maliq Brown kicked the ball to Flagg in the right corner for a 3-pointer with 3:03 left.
–Field Level Media
The post Houston Shocks Duke at Final Four appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>Scheyer has reached his first Final Four in his third year since succeeding Mike Krzyzewski. But he’s no stranger to the weekend, having made it with Duke as a player (2010) and an assistant (2015, 2022).
The post Final Four: Duke vs. Houston appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>SAN ANTONIO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – As Duke and Houston prepare to battle Saturday night in San Antonio, the story of the Final Four matchup between these No. 1 seeds is a contrast of two basketball powers at different stages of evolution.
The Blue Devils (35-3), appearing in their 18th Final Four and seeking their sixth national title, are the blue blood du jour. They’re the ones with the presumptive No. 1 pick in June’s NBA draft, and the team many believe is the best in the sport.
The Cougars (34-4) have made their seventh national semifinal, on par with the likes of Villanova and UConn. But the program most associated with “Phi Slama Jama” has yet to win its first national championship, and this season Houston has not enjoyed the same attention as Duke or the Southeastern Conference despite winning 17 games in a row.
J’Wan Roberts, in his fifth season at Houston, said this week that being overlooked suits the gritty Cougars just fine.
“We’re probably not the big-name school or whatever. We’re just Houston, in Third Ward,” Roberts said. “We probably don’t get the respect that we need, but I think that’s something that puts a fire under us and us keeping a chip on our shoulder.”
Roberts was a freshman on the Houston team that made the 2021 Final Four. He’s blossomed into the Cougars’ top rebounder (6.3 per game) and vocal leader. The forward is one of four Cougars scoring in double figures (10.7 ppg), behind L.J. Cryer (15.4), Emanuel Sharp (12.7) and Milos Uzan (11.6).
The main X’s and O’s question of this Final Four matchup is how Houston’s No. 1 KenPom defense will counter Duke’s No. 1 KenPom offense — and how Duke phenom Cooper Flagg will fare against the Cougars’ man-to-man.
Duke has shot 56.2 percent from the floor and 47.3 percent from 3-point range this tournament, averaging 91.8 points per game. Houston has allowed just 37.6 percent shooting and 24.0 percent on 3-pointers in four games, allowing only one opponent to exceed 60 points.
“You talk about five guys moving together on defense, they’re the best at it,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “They’re the best at it no matter what you do. You really have to take advantage of that window of opportunity, and then you have to go north-south. You can’t be going east-west against these guys.”
Flagg (18.9 ppg) can score in bunches, but Houston’s lengthy frontcourt of Roberts, Ja’Vier Francis and Joseph Tugler may prioritize neutralizing him and lob threat Khaman Maluach.
Then the Cougars must deal with a Duke backcourt of Kon Knueppel, Tyrese Proctor and Sion James, all of whom are 40 percent 3-point shooters or better.
Scheyer has reached his first Final Four in his third year since succeeding Mike Krzyzewski. But he’s no stranger to the weekend, having made it with Duke as a player (2010) and an assistant (2015, 2022).
“Walking out there (Thursday) for practice, I was just soaking it in like when I was 22 years old walking out for the first time,” Scheyer said.
“… At the same time, I feel we belong here. I feel this is what we’ve worked for. So there’s that combination of amazing pride, wanting to soak it in, but then the incredible hunger and understanding what a challenge this game is going to be on Saturday.”
Scheyer and Houston coach Kelvin Sampson both expressed high respect for one another and revealed that they played a closed-door preseason scrimmage in 2022.
Sampson dubbed Proctor (12.5 ppg) a “professional role player” and complimented James (8.7 points, 4.2 rebounds), Duke’s less-heralded fifth starter.
“The brilliance of Jon is how he insulated those (freshmen) with veteran guys, and they don’t get talked about enough,” Sampson said. “Sion James when he was at Tulane — smart, tough, winner. For them to identify him, evaluate him and say, ‘That’s what we need with these three.’”
–Field Level Media
The post Final Four: Duke vs. Houston appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>“We don’t necessarily enjoy playing each other. It’s not something that excites us. But at the same time, when you’re doing it in the Final Four, it’s a little different.”
The post Final Four: Auburn vs Florida appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>SAN ANTONIO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – When Bruce Pearl was hired in 2014 to rebuild Auburn’s program, he lured Todd Golden away from Columbia to serve as his director of basketball operations.
After Golden spent his first year focused on Auburn’s advanced analytics and metrics and a lot of other duties, Pearl promoted him to assistant coach. Though the Tigers suffered through two losing seasons when they worked together, it was enough to put Golden on the fast track.
He was hired as San Francisco’s associate head coach in 2016, promoted to head coach in 2019 and jumped to Florida in 2022. Though Pearl and Golden haven’t worked together in nine years, they’re as close as ever — and they’re each one win away from their first NCAA championship game appearance.
Alas, when Florida (34-4) takes on Auburn (32-5) in Saturday’s first Final Four semifinal in San Antonio, Texas, only the pupil or the mentor will advance to Monday night against either Duke or Houston. While the Tigers earned the No. 1 overall seed from the NCAA Tournament committee, the Gators are regarded as a slight favorite by the oddsmakers.
“It is (awkward) because the relationship is that close,” Pearl said on “The Paul Finebaum Show.” “But if we have to play each other, let’s do it for a championship, you know? I’m so proud of Todd and so happy for him.”
“Bruce and I texted a little bit on Saturday night, Sunday morning,” Golden said. “And then I FaceTimed with Steven (Bruce’s son and an Auburn assistant) Sunday night after they won. We were just kind of giggling, man. It’s pretty incredible, you know?
“Come a long way from the 2014-15 season at Auburn, where we were playing in the only game on the men’s side on the first day of the SEC tournament. It was us against Mississippi State at the bottom of the league. Fast-forward 10, 11 years and now both of us have our teams in the Final Four.”
Then Golden smiled.
“We don’t necessarily enjoy playing each other. It’s not something that excites us. But at the same time, when you’re doing it in the Final Four, it’s a little different.”
When Golden joined the SEC in 2022, he quickly was reminded what a force Pearl and the Tigers are. Both went all-out to reel in a big transfer from Morehead State named Johni Broome.
Broome, of course, selected Auburn and has developed into a first-team All-American and National Player of the Year candidate. Though he’ll be at less than 100 percent Saturday due to an elbow injury suffered in Sunday’s regional final win over Michigan State, Broome enters the Final Four averaging 18.7 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.
“At the time, I probably had just a misunderstanding of kind of what I thought of myself as a head coach,” Golden said. “Comparing Bruce to myself, you know, Bruce was a lot more accomplished at the time.”
But don’t weep too much for Golden. He still managed to reel in a nice recruiting class that included Belmont transfer Will Richard, a three-year Florida starter who averages 13.3 points per game. The following offseason, Golden attracted Iona transfer guard Walter Clayton Jr. (team-high 18.1 ppg), who merely has developed into a first-team all-American, too.
Auburn didn’t need to watch film of Florida’s 84-79 win over Texas Tech in the West Regional final to learn what type of havoc Clayton and the Gators can wreak. The Tigers lived that movie on Feb. 8 when then-No. 6 Florida visited then-No. 1 Auburn for the schools’ only regular-season meeting.
Similar to the way Clayton poured in 13 points in the final 5:24 to turn a 10-point deficit against Texas Tech into Florida’s first Final Four appearance since 2014, Clayton went berserk for 13 points in 3:40 midway through their Feb. 8 clash, which Florida won 90-81.
The Tigers looked almost unbeatable at that juncture of the season. They were 21-1, had won 14 straight by an average of 19.4 per game and owned No. 1 in the national polls for the last month.
Once Feb. 8 was in the books, Pearl believed more in Florida.
“Paul, I’ve been saying for the last two months that I’ve thought that Florida was the best team in the country,” Pearl told Finebaum.
Golden demurs — to a point.
“Both teams have probably changed quite a bit since Feb. 8,” he said. “But I do think our first game gives us some confidence going into Saturday’s tilt that, you know, we’ve played well against this team before. We understand they’re going to have some tricks up their sleeve and some things they want to do differently this time around, and we’re going to have to adjust as well.”
–Field Level Media
The post Final Four: Auburn vs Florida appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>“I’m going to enjoy this journey and grow as a coach from it. I am going to make sure I keep an eye on my players, and let’s write our own story, and in the end it says, ‘Have Faith.'”
The winner of Saturday’s second-round game is headed to San Francisco for the West Region semifinal next week and a Sweet 16 date with winner of 11th-seeded Drake and third-seeded Texas Tech.
The post St. John’s: Pitino to Face Longtime Rival appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>PROVIDENCE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – One of the major storylines entering March Madness was the legendary coaching talent walking the sidelines in Providence.
A second-round matchup between second-seeded St. John’s (31-4) and 10th-seeded Arkansas (21-13) pits two of the best in Rick Pitino and John Calipari.
The duo last faced off in an NCAA Tournament in 2014 when Pitino was at Louisville and Pitino at Kentucky. They’ve combined to win three national championships and 113 total tournament games and are the only two coaches to advance to Final Fours at three schools.
The storyline is irresistible but Pitino, the active leader in wins, tried to keep the focus on the players suiting up, not the men in suits on the bench.
“I don’t go against coaches, we go against teams,” Pitino said. “He doesn’t have to worry about me. My jump shot is long gone. We’re preparing for his players. He’s preparing for our players. John and I don’t play one-on-one anymore.”
Pitino led the Big East champion Red Storm to their first NCAA win since 2000, beating Omaha 83-53 on Thursday. It was the largest margin of victory in a tournament game in program history.
A 12-2 run out of halftime broke open a 33-28 game and squashed any doubt of an upset.
Leading the Red Storm to their 10th straight win, RJ Luis Jr. made five of the team’s 14 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 22 points (8-of-14 shooting) and eight rebounds.
“I think it’s keep on playing, make adjustments and be relentless in the pursuit of excellence defensively and I think we did that, we accomplished that,” Pitino said.
St. John’s looks to keep the momentum going against Arkansas, which overcame a 0-5 start to SEC play to make the tournament and beat Kansas 79-72 in its Thursday opener behind a season-high 22 points from Jonas Aidoo.
“Gutted it out,” Calipari said.
Aidoo entered the tournament as the team’s eighth-leading scorer (6.4 points per game), but the Tennessee transfer has heated up averaging 15 points and nine rebounds over the last five contests.
“We all know we have something to prove. We went through a lot of adversity, injuries, missing players, let a couple games go,” Aidoo said.
Arkansas used just eight players against Kansas, including New York native freshman Boogie Fland who played in his first game since Jan. 18.
“Boogie for not playing what? How many months? … We can’t have contact because if someone gets hurt I’m down to five,” Calipari said. “So he practiced but there was no contact and he went in and did what he did (Thursday),” logging six points, three assists and three steals.
The Thursday win was Calipari’s 58th all-time in the NCAA Tournament, breaking a tie with Kansas’ Bill Self for the most among active coaches.
Calipari made it clear. He is enjoying this team’s March march.
“Every one of us, including me, had doubts and we all had to convince ourselves we’re going to do this,” Calipari said. “I had a card I read every morning and every night before I went to bed, and it was, I’ve been blessed throughout my life. Forget basketball. I have been blessed.
“I’m going to enjoy this journey and grow as a coach from it. I am going to make sure I keep an eye on my players, and let’s write our own story, and in the end it says, ‘Have Faith.’”
The winner of Saturday’s second-round game is headed to San Francisco for the West Region semifinal next week and a Sweet 16 date with winner of 11th-seeded Drake and third-seeded Texas Tech.
– Field Level Media
The post St. John’s: Pitino to Face Longtime Rival appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>St. John’s held the Mavericks to 7-of-34 field-goal shooting (20.6 percent) and outrebounded them 31-19 in the second half.
The post March Madness: Coach Cal Awaits appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>PROVIDENCE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – RJ Luis Jr. made a career-high five 3-pointers and second-seeded St. John’s found its shooting stroke en route to an 83-53 victory over No. 15 seed Omaha in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night in Rhode Island.
St. John’s (31-4) earned its first tournament win since 2000. Coach Rick Pitino and the Big East champs will face John Calipari and No. 10 seed Arkansas in the second round Saturday.
Luis led all scorers with 22 points and added eight rebounds. He made 5 of 8 attempts from deep as St. John’s — a 30.4 percent 3-point shooting team entering the night — matched a season high with 14 3-pointers to counter Omaha clogging the lanes.
Simeon Wilcher scored 13 points for the Red Storm. Kadary Richmond had 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Zuby Ejiofor added 10 points, seven boards, four assists and three blocks.
JJ White posted 15 points and five assists to lead Omaha (22-13), which was playing in its first Division I NCAA Tournament after claiming the Summit League championship.
Marquel Sutton scored 11 for the Mavericks, and Isaac Ondekane pulled down 10 of his 11 rebounds in the first half.
St. John’s missed its first five shots and let Omaha stake out a 7-0 lead, prompting an early timeout from Pitino. After Richmond got the Red Storm on the board, Luis scored eight St. John’s points in a row, bookended by a pair of 3-pointers.
The Mavericks moved ahead 20-14 before St. John’s turned the tables. Wilcher cut the lead in half with a 3-pointer, prompting a 16-2 run that featured triples by Deivon Smith, Ruben Prey and another from Wilcher.
Omaha scored six in a row to cut it to 30-28, but Vince Iwuchukwu got inside for a bucket that turned into a three-point play with two seconds left, giving St. John’s a 33-28 halftime edge.
Luis kept the Red Storm 3-point party going by making one 14 seconds into the second half. Teammate Aaron Scott splashed a trey, then Luis and Wilcher went on a two-on-one that ended in an alley-oop dunk by Luis, giving St. John’s firm control at 43-30.
Luis knocked down another two triples to hand St. John’s its first 20-point lead with 13:14 to go. Critically, the Red Storm had assists on their first eight made field goals of the half with no turnovers.
St. John’s held the Mavericks to 7-of-34 field-goal shooting (20.6 percent) and outrebounded them 31-19 in the second half.
–Field Level Media
The post March Madness: Coach Cal Awaits appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the spectacle of the best of College Basketball (Men’s and Women’s) with a love of the game and not the X and O marks on a piece of paper, otherwise known in American culture as “your bracket.”
The post March Madness Tip-Off appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>While We’re Young (Ideas) – Special NCAA Edition
 |
By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk
PROVIDENCE – Highly respected sports industry guru Tony Ponturo, he of multi-time nominee and winner for both the Most Powerful Man in Sports and in the theatre industry, wrote a thought-leadership book entitled, “Revenge of the C+ Student.” Ponturo, a two time TONY Award winner for his efforts on Broadway, reviving “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” and producing 2010 Best Musical “Memphis,” helped make the brands “Bud” and “Bud Light” household names on a worldwide basis. Just ask The Budweiser Clydesdales.
Ponturo spent 26 years selling Bud, the exact same amount of time this columnist spent working for David Stern at the National Basketball Association. Looking at those two parallel lines, and enlightened by Ponturo’s book and his transcript, I’d love to author a similar sports business practice book and I’d call it, “At Least I Was Good at Geography.”
To wit, I give you this year’s brackets for NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball.
In the East, we have:
- No. 2 Alabama
- No. 3 Wisconsin
- No. 4 Arizona
- No. 5 Oregon
- No. 6 BYU (Utah)
- No. 7 St. Mary’s Moraga (California)
- No. 14 Montana
In the West, we have:
No. 1 Florida
No. 2 St. John’s (New York)
No. 3 Texas Tech (Lubbock, Texas)
No. 4 Maryland
No. 5 Memphis (Tennessee)
No. 6 Missouri
No. 8 UConn (Hartford, Connecticut area)
No. 9 Oklahoma
No. 14 UNC Wilmington (North Carolina)
No. 16 Norfolk State (Norfolk, Virginia)
There’s a few more.
In the South, there’s Michigan State (Lansing), Marquette (Wisconsin), Yale (New Haven, Connecticut), and Michigan (Ann Arbor) – four schools where you can’t get much further North, unless Canada does become the 51st State and UConn is south of Yukon.
In the Midwest, the bracket claims, UCLA (Los Angeles), Gonzaga (Spokane, Washington), Utah State (Logan, Utah), and then a slew of Southeastern or Southern schools like Wofford (Spartanburg, South Carolina), High Point (North Carolina), Clemson (South Carolina), Kentucky, McNeese (Lake Charles, Louisiana), Tennessee and Georgia.
There are other examples, but you surely get the point.
In recent years, the NCAA made adjustments to the brackets so an Eastern team such as St. John’s (full disclosure as my alma mater) can play in the West Regional but remain in Providence, Rhode Island to do so. But, success in Providence sends teams in that pod to San Francisco while a successful weekend in Seattle for Arizona or Oregon sends a team to Newark New Jersey.
The tournament itself increased from 64 to 68 teams in 2001, so we’ve been bickering about this stuff for decades. Still, there is no resolve and it’s pretty bad when there’s no Big East team in the East.
Admittedly, this is nothing new being reported. The days of a truly East vs West NCAA Tournament went out with the 16 team set-up which gave the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in New York the golden opportunity of securing a very deep field in the late ‘60s and early ‘70’s. As the times changed and the Big Dance played to a bigger ballroom of dancers, the money kicked in and TV programmers maxed-out the billions being spent.
Suffice it to say, the names of the regionals should no longer be East, West, South and Midwest, and maybe the NCAA should take a page out of the NHL’s book and rename the basketball regionals something like:
- Lester Patrick
- Conn Smythe
- James Norris
- Charles Francis Adams
Joking aside, it’s time to rid the tournament of its D- grade in Geography, as the Men’s and Women’s basketball committees divvy-up the schools with goals other than to stack them to represent a region of the USA.
May it be suggested:
- Dave Gavitt Division (East)
- John Wooden Division (West)
- Ray Meyer Division (Midwest)
- Guy Lewis Division (South-Texas-Southwest representation)
Those names, in tribute of Dave Gavitt (founder of the BIG EAST), John Wooden (the great UCLA coach), Ray Meyer (coached Chicago’s DePaul University from 1942 to 1984) and Guy Lewis (coach of University of Houston from 1956 to 1986). To pay proper respect to college basketball in the United States, the Most Outstanding Player from each division would be recognized and awarded with:
- Gavitt MOP received the Patrick Ewing Trophy
- Wooden MOP honored with the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Trophy
- Meyer MOP receives the Oscar Robertson Trophy
- Lewis MOP honored with the Junior Bridgeman Trophy
Should the tournament choose to expand, we could very easily add:
- Gonzaga Division (Northwest) – MOP award John Stockton Trophy
- Coach K Division (Southeast) – MOP gets the Michael Jordan Trophy (apologies to Grant Hill, Ralph Sampson, Artis Gilmore and Len Bias).
Those two divisional mentioned do not need further explanation, I hope.
 |
The bottom line as the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament begins, is that the famed, crack committee did a pretty good job of selecting the right teams and fairly distributing them across the four existing regional pods, sans the Group of Death they sent out West.
The West is so stacked, a hot team like Florida, after its No. 1 vs No. 16 tilt against Norfolk State, will have a rough road to the Final 4, including:
- Winner of UConn v.Oklahoma
- Winner of Memphis v. Colo State/or/Maryland v. Grand Canyon
- A Regional Final against No. 2 St. John’s or others (Kansas/Texas Tech) etc
There’s gotta be a better way.
 |
PICKS: Here are a few picks that are going into a combination of my two or three bracket submission with friends and family. (Note: I always bang out one bracket on Selection Sunday night and set it aside). Then with more thought and research I do another bracket for use in pools.
TEAMS CONSIDERED HOT: These teams were playing the best over the past few weeks and into their conference tournaments:
- Florida
- Duke
- Houston
- Auburn
- Tennessee
- Michigan State
- St John’s
- Alabama
- Texas Tech
- Iowa State
FACTS: In the Round of 64, the higher seed wins 71.5% and that includes No. 8 v. No. 9 which are really equal … In the Second Round, the better seeds win at a 73.1% clip. After that, the advantage for the higher seeds declines gradually:
- Sweet 16 – 63.8% victory pace for higher seed
- Elite 8 – 55%
In terms of vulnerable seeds since 2009, the No. 6 seeds are (29-31) against the No. 11s. In just the last 10 years, No. 11 seeds are 22-18 vs. No. 6
Applying the 6 vs 11 raw data to this particular year’s bracket set-up surfaces a few interesting upset possibilities:
- In the East bracket, can No. 11 VCU upset No. 6 BYU in Denver where you have to figure in the travel and altitude?
- In the South, No. 6 Ole Miss has to play the hot play-in winner of North Carolina.
- In the West, No. 6 Missouri (22-11) has a tough draw vs. No. 11 Drake (30-3).
- And, in the Midwest bracket, No. 6 Illinois will face play-in winner Xavier, a team that finished the Big East regular season quite strong with seven straight victories to close out the season before meeting and losing to Marquette at the Garden.
The teams entering the tournament that have executed the best in terms of both Offensive and Defensive efficiency:
- Auburn
- Duke
- Florida
- Houston
- Arizona
- Tennessee
- Louisville
Not to bore anyone with a full Round-by-Round, Pick-by-Pick selection show, (see Jay Bilas’ column on ESPN.com as he does a much better job than everyone else put together), I’ll simply list my Regional Finalist predictions. Yes, they are rather high seeds.
- East: Duke vs. Wisconsin
- Midwest: Houston vs. Tennessee
- South: Auburn vs. Michigan State
- West: Florida vs St. John’s
No matter what – whether your bracket is torn up tomorrow or your favorite team survives and advances – it’s time for March Madness. Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the spectacle of the best of College Basketball (Men’s and Women’s) with a love of the game and not the X and O marks on a piece of paper, otherwise known in American culture as “your bracket.”
TL
The post March Madness Tip-Off appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>In the Round of 64, the higher seed wins 71.5% and that includes No. 8 v. No. 9 which are really equal
The post TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook | Special appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>Bracketology: NCAA Fails Geography 101
By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk
PROVIDENCE – Highly respected sports industry guru Tony Ponturo, he of multi-time nominee and winner for both the Most Powerful Man in Sports and in the theatre industry, wrote a thought-leadership book entitled, “Revenge of the C+ Student.”Ponturo, a two time TONY Award winner for his efforts on Broadway, reviving “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” and producing 2010 Best Musical “Memphis,” helped make the brands “Bud” and “Bud Light” household names on a worldwide basis. Just ask The Budweiser Clydesdales.
Ponturo spent 26 years selling Bud, the exact same amount of time this columnist spent working for David Stern at the National Basketball Association. Looking at those two parallel lines, and enlightened by Ponturo’s book and his transcript, I’d love to author a similar sports business practice book and I’d call it, “At Least I Was Good at Geography.”
To wit, I give you this year’s brackets for NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball.
In the East, we have:
- No. 2 Alabama
- No. 3 Wisconsin
- No. 4 Arizona
- No. 5 Oregon
- No. 6 BYU (Utah)
- No. 7 St. Mary’s Moraga (California)
- No. 14 Montana
In the West, we have:
- No. 1 Florida
- No. 2 St. John’s (New York)
- No. 3 Texas Tech (Lubbock, Texas)
- No. 4 Maryland
- No. 5 Memphis (Tennessee)
- No. 6 Missouri
- No. 8 UConn (Hartford, Connecticut area)
- No. 9 Oklahoma
- No. 14 UNC Wilmington (North Carolina)
- No. 16 Norfolk State (Norfolk, Virginia)
There’s a few more.
In the South, there’s Michigan State (Lansing), Marquette (Wisconsin), Yale (New Haven, Connecticut), and Michigan (Ann Arbor) – four schools where you can’t get much further North, unless Canada does become the 51st State and UConn is south of Yukon.
In the Midwest, the bracket claims, UCLA (Los Angeles), Gonzaga (Spokane, Washington), Utah State (Logan, Utah), and then a slew of Southeastern or Southern schools like Wofford (Spartanburg, South Carolina), High Point (North Carolina), Clemson (South Carolina), Kentucky, McNeese (Lake Charles, Louisiana), Tennessee and Georgia.
There are other examples, but you surely get the point.
In recent years, the NCAA made adjustments to the brackets so an Eastern team such as St. John’s (full disclosure: it’s my alma mater) can play in the West Regional but remain in Providence, Rhode Island to do so. But, success in Providence sends teams in that pod to San Francisco while a successful weekend in Seattle for Arizona or Oregon sends a team to Newark, New Jersey.
The tournament itself increased from 64 to 68 teams in 2001, so we’ve been bickering about this stuff for decades. Still, there is no resolve and it’s pretty bad when there’s no Big East team in the East.
Admittedly, this is nothing new being reported. The days of a truly East vs West NCAA Tournament went out with the 16 team set-up which gave the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in New York the golden opportunity of securing a very deep field in the late ‘60s and early ‘70’s. As the times changed and the Big Dance played to a bigger ballroom of dancers, the money kicked in and TV programmers maxed-out the billions being spent.
Suffice it to say, the names of the regionals should no longer be East, West, South and Midwest, and maybe the NCAA should take a page out of the NHL’s book and rename the basketball regionals something like:
- Lester Patrick
- Conn Smythe
- James Norris
- Charles Francis Adams
Joking aside, it’s time to rid the tournament of its D- grade in Geography, as the Men’s and Women’s basketball committees divvy-up the schools with goals other than to stack them to represent a region of the USA.
May it be suggested:
- Dave Gavitt Division (East)
- John Wooden Division (West)
- Ray Meyer Division (Midwest)
- Guy Lewis Division (South-Texas-Southwest representation)
Those names, in tribute of Dave Gavitt (founder of the BIG EAST), John Wooden (the great UCLA coach), Ray Meyer (coached Chicago’s DePaul University from 1942 to 1984) and Guy Lewis (coach of University of Houston from 1956 to 1986). To pay proper respect to college basketball in the United States, the Most Outstanding Player from each division would be recognized and awarded with:
- Gavitt MOP received the Patrick Ewing Trophy
- Wooden MOP honored with the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Trophy
- Meyer MOP receives the Oscar Robertson Trophy
- Lewis MOP honored with the Junior Bridgeman Trophy
Should the tournament choose to expand, we could very easily add:
- Gonzaga Division (Northwest) – MOP award John Stockton Trophy
- Coach K Division (Southeast) – MOP gets the Michael Jordan Trophy (apologies to Grant Hill, Ralph Sampson, Artis Gilmore and Len Bias).
Those two divisional mentioned do not need further explanation, I hope.
The bottom line as the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament begins, is that the famed, crack committee did a pretty good job of selecting the right teams and fairly distributing them across the four existing regional pods, sans the Group of Death they sent out West.
The West is so stacked, a hot team like Florida, after its No. 1 vs No. 16 tilt against Norfolk State, will have a rough road to the Final 4, including:
- Winner of UConn v.Oklahoma
- Winner of Memphis v. Colo State/or/Maryland v. Grand Canyon
- A Regional Final against No. 2 St. John’s or others (Kansas/Texas Tech) etc
There’s gotta be a better way.
They were partying at West End Johnnies at an NCAA Regional in Boston
PICKS: Here are a few picks that are going into a combination of my two or three bracket submission with friends and family. (Note: I always bang out one bracket on Selection Sunday night and set it aside). Then with more thought and research I do another bracket for use in pools.
TEAMS CONSIDERED HOT: These teams were playing the best over the past few weeks and into their conference tournaments:
- Florida
- Duke
- Houston
- Auburn
- Tennessee
- Michigan State
- St John’s
- Alabama
- Texas Tech
- Iowa State
FACTS: In the Round of 64, the higher seed wins 71.5% and that includes No. 8 v. No. 9 which are really equal … In the Second Round, the better seeds win at a 73.1% clip. After that, the advantage for the higher seeds declines gradually:
- Sweet 16 – 63.8% victory pace for higher seed
- Elite 8 – 55%
In terms of vulnerable seeds since 2009, the No. 6 seeds are (29-31) against the No. 11s. In just the last 10 years, No. 11 seeds are 22-18 vs. No. 6
Applying the 6 vs 11 raw data to this particular year’s bracket set-up surfaces a few interesting upset possibilities:
- In the East bracket, can No. 11 VCU upset No. 6 BYU in Denver where you have to figure in the travel and altitude?
- In the South, No. 6 Ole Miss has to play the hot play-in winner of North Carolina.
- In the West, No. 6 Missouri (22-11) has a tough draw vs. No. 11 Drake (30-3).
- And, in the Midwest bracket, No. 6 Illinois will face play-in winner Xavier, a team that finished the Big East regular season quite strong with seven straight victories to close out the regular season before meeting and losing to Marquette at the Garden.
The teams entering the tournament that have executed the best in terms of both Offensive and Defensive efficiency:
- Auburn
- Duke
- Florida
- Houston
- Arizona
- Tennessee
- Louisville
Not to bore anyone with a full Round-by-Round, Pick-by-Pick selection show, (see Jay Bilas’ column on ESPN.com as he does a much better job than everyone else put together), I’ll simply list my Regional Finalist predictions. Yes, they are rather high seeds.
- East: Duke vs. Wisconsin
- Midwest: Houston vs. Tennessee
- South: Auburn vs. Michigan State
- West: Florida vs St. John’s
No matter what – whether your bracket is torn up tomorrow or your favorite team survives and advances – it’s time for March Madness. Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the spectacle of the best of College Basketball (Men’s and Women’s) with a love of the game and not the X and O marks on a piece of paper, otherwise known in American culture as “your bracket.”
TL
The post TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook | Special appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>
Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner has spent this week anticipating another chance to play for a Big East championship.
The post Big East: Creighton Faces UConn appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>NEW YORK – Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner has spent this week anticipating another chance to play for a Big East championship.
The four-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year is one step closer to achieving his goal, but standing in second-seeded Creighton’s way is a semifinal matchup with third-seeded UConn, which appears to be peaking again.
Creighton (23-9) has won three straight and the 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner has scored 79 points in those games. The Bluejays needed 32 from the senior center when they outlasted DePaul for an 85-81 double-overtime win on Thursday in the Big East quarterfinals.
The Bluejays scored the final 11 points of regulation after struggling offensively throughout, and Kalkbrenner hit the go-ahead basket in double overtime after Creighton lost an eight-point lead in the first overtime.
“Like I’ve been saying ever since I decided to come back for another year, I haven’t gotten the Big East Championship yet,” Kalkbrenner said after making 14-of-21 shots in 47 minutes Thursday. “So to come back for another day and get another shot at staying another day and getting a shot at the championship is huge.
“I really, really, really want this championship, and I’m going to play my butt off to get it. Yeah, it means a lot to be able to come back another day.”
Creighton (23-9) has won three straight and the 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner has scored 79 points in those games. The Bluejays needed 32 from the senior center when they outlasted DePaul for an 85-81 double-overtime win on Thursday in the Big East quarterfinals.
The Bluejays scored the final 11 points of regulation after struggling offensively throughout, and Kalkbrenner hit the go-ahead basket in double overtime after Creighton lost an eight-point lead in the first overtime.
“Like I’ve been saying ever since I decided to come back for another year, I haven’t gotten the Big East Championship yet,” Kalkbrenner said after making 14-of-21 shots in 47 minutes Thursday. “So to come back for another day and get another shot at staying another day and getting a shot at the championship is huge.
“I really, really, really want this championship, and I’m going to play my butt off to get it. Yeah, it means a lot to be able to come back another day.”
The Huskies (23-9) are on a five-game winning streak and seeking their second straight title after beating Marquette for their first Big East crown since 2011 on the way to a dominating second straight national championship.
UConn’s past five wins are by an average of 16 points. The Huskies earned their fourth double-digit victory of this streak when they pulled away down the stretch for a 73-56 victory over sixth-seeded Villanova in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
“It’s March,” UConn forward Alex Karaban said. “We’re desperate for championships here so we want to play our best basketball right now. There’s no better time.”
Karaban fueled the latest win when he scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half. Karaban sank two of his four 3s when the Huskies ended the game on a 22-5 run over the final 7:58.
The teams split a pair of single-digit games during the regular season, and Kalkbrenner was held to 18 points in those games combined as others had career performances for both teams.
The Bluejays earned a 68-63 win at UConn on Jan. 18 when Jamiya Neal scored a career-high 24 points. The Huskies notched a 70-66 victory at Creighton on Feb. 11 when freshman Liam McNeeley scored 38 points.
“Obviously every game is different,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley said about facing Creighton and Kalkbrenner. “Yeah, that defensive scheme is really challenging. There’s opportunities in the paint. They may not be all the way at the rim. There’s opportunities for us to drop, the deep drop that he plays to get to the logo, which are tougher shots but their scheme and what he is as a defensive player is obviously going to be a challenge.”
– Field Level Media
The post Big East: Creighton Faces UConn appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>St. John’s improve to 10-0 at Madison Square Garden this season and 19-0 in games played in New York
The post Big East: St. John’s Crushes Butler appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – St. John’s Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr scored 20 points as top-seeded St. John’s used big runs in both halves and never trailed in a 78-57 victory over ninth-seeded Butler in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament on Thursday afternoon.
The sixth-ranked Red Storm (28-4) won their sixth straight, advanced to the semifinals for the second straight season and will face Marquette in the first semifinal Friday. The game was tied once and the Red Storm led for the final 37:18 to advance to the semifinals in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1999 and 2000.
A day after getting emotional in a ceremony to accept his Player of the Year award, Luis made 8 of 18 shots and helped St. John’s improve to 10-0 at Madison Square Garden this season and 19-0 in games played in New York City.
Kadary Richmond added 15 to go along with nine assists and eight rebounds. Aaron Scott also contributed 15 points with five steals as the Red Storm shot 47.2 percent.
After never trailing in its opening-round win over Providence, Butler (14-19) never recovered from an early deficit and saw Jahmyl Telfort and Pierre Brooks II produce quiet showings by going a combined 4-for-20 from the floor.
Patrick McCaffery led the Bulldogs with 16 points, but Telfort was to 11 and Brooks was limited to five on 1-of-10 shooting from the floor.
Butler shot 34.5 percent, misfired on 21 of 30 3-point attempts and committed 15 turnovers.
Finley Bizjack added 10 for Butler before exiting with an ankle injury a little over five minutes into the second half.
Luis hit two 3s and scored eight points as St. John’s scored 15 straight points and opened an 18-3 lead on his corner 3 with 12:29 left. Butler made a small dent with Luis resting and cut the deficit to 31-21 on a basket by Boden Kapke with 4:23 left.
After McCaffery hit a 3 to cut the deficit to 33-24 with 2:32 left, the Red Storm held a 37-26 lead by halftime.
Bizjack’s basket moved Butler within 39-31 less than two minutes into the second half, but St. John’s ripped off 10 straight for a 49-31 lead on a layup by Luis with 15:29 left.
After Butler cut the deficit to 56-40, Luis hit a reverse layup and a jumper in the lane to push the lead to 64-47 with just under seven minutes left to essentially clinch it.
– Field Level Media
The post Big East: St. John’s Crushes Butler appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.
]]>