Day 3

We are witnessing the death throes of the once mighty Pac 12 conference, which will soon be reduced to two teams: Washington State (I postdoc'ed there) and Oregon State. They are going out in style, undefeated through the first round of the Big Dance. The Pac-12 highlight so far was the KJ Simpson baseline jumped to upset Florida. Previously Arizona beat Long Beach State, Washington State sneaked by Drake and Oregon knocked off South Carolina.

The Gators and Gamecocks represent the SEC, which is not representing. With the Florida loss, the SEC was 1-5. The night games on Friday included easy wins by Texas A&M and Alabama to keep the first round from being a complete SEC disaster.

It's going to be really weird to have a second class Pac-12 going forward. Washington State and Oregon State are not pleased to be left behind, to say the least. It is likely existential for their athletic programs. However, the Pac-12 success in this tourney will end up being a windfall for those schools and them only. Turns out, there are byzantine NCAA rules governing tourney payouts (is anyone surprised). Bottom line, by the time the cash is transferred there will only be two Pac-12 schools and those two will split it. The Pac-12 has earned over $3 million from this tourney, which will increase by over a million more even if the conference loses all its remaining games. Cold comfort, perhaps, but I hope Washington State and Oregon State at least get to chuckle on the way to the bank.

As noted above, Arizona defeated Long Beach State (by 20) in the first round. I previously mentioned that their mascot is "Beach" so I was interested to see how they manifested sand and ocean in mascot form. I was thus confused that the mascot on the Long Beach State sideline looked an awful lot like a shark. Turns out, LBS historically were known as the 49ers. The mascot was Prospector Pete. He was forcibly retired in 2018 because, according to the university president "we came to know that the 1849 California gold rush was a time in history when the indigenous peoples of California endured subjugation, violence and threats of genocide.” They even moved a huge bronze statue of a prospector on the main quad to points unknown. One might roll their eyes and say that this is woke culture run amok. But the fact is that Long Beach students, which include a higher than typical percentage of indigenous people, have opposed the mascot/association since at least the 1970s. It's not just a small fringe group.

One group that isn't on board with this change is the athletics department. The AD refuses to accept the Shark (which is named Elbee) but didn't want to antagonize the higher administration. So he decided that the sports teams would be called "Beach" (which ended up being prescient when Barbie came out). The exception is the baseball team, which goes by the Dirtbags. Setting politics aside, Beach is clearly the better mascot.

I acknowlege that not all of your are as obsessed with Kentucky as I am. But this video is interesting generally. When UCLA started making googly eyes at Calipari several years back, the UK AD signed him to a "lifetime" contract. Cal was running the most successful program in the sport at the time, so I'm not sure what choice he had. Turns out, it might not be quite the albatross we all assumed. The school that agreed to absolutely insane contracts is Texas A&M. Check it out.

Arizona was firmily in control in the first half, leading by 17 with 2:30 to go until the break. Dayton woke up and went on a 10-0 run to go into the half only down 7. The Flyers (the Wright brothers are from Dayton) got to within 3 in the second stanza. Both teams started slowly in the second and then a shootout broke out. Arizona could not defend spindly center DaRon Holmes in the pick and roll. When they did, Dayton's Kobe Elvis (epic name) would pick and pop for a 3. The problem for the Flyers is that they weren’t defending anything, particularly transition. Basically, a whole lot of matador defense on both sides. I wasn’t mad. Five minutes of game time with neither team missing didn't hurt my feelings at all.

Didn't last. Arizona made adjustments and Holmes made a habit of missing the front end of one and ones. He got frustrated and got a tech for an, uh, let’s call it aggressive screen. Arizona won easily by 10.

The Dayton Fighting Dan Jacksons (he's from there too) are doing really well under Anthony Grant. Evidently he was an assistant at Stetson early in his career. I remember him from his days as the head coach at Alabama. He didn't exactly turn the Tide into a national contender in four years, but his teams won consistenty and were obviously well prepared. I was surprised when they fired him (after finishing second in the SEC!). Good to see coach Grant succeeding, despite the loss today.

Former UNC point guard Caleb Love led the Wildcats with 19.

Mark Few and Bill Self are arguably the best coaches in the college game. Self game-planned his team to a one-point lead at the half. However, the Jayhawks have two great players on the roster and only was was active for this contest. And Mark Few made some adjustments at the half. The result was a Gonzaga team that came out of the locker room and immediately went on a 15-0 run. Ballgame. The Bulldogs dominated the second half, winning by 21. 

This is the 9th straight Sweet 16 for Gonzaga. Respect.

Hunter Dickinson ends his brilliant college career with 15 points (on 6-15 shooting). 

The play by play announcer for Gonzaga-Kansas was Brad Nessler, a consummate pro who has been in the business for decades. On color was former UNC star and NBA journeyman Brendan Haywood, who was quite impressive. These two humans could not be more different, but they worked great together - it was like listening in on a two hour conversation between two knowledgeable friends. Refreshing. Announcers usually are notable only when they are distracting/annoying (ahem, Vitale).

Michigan State started hot, racing out to a 12-point lead. Hubert Davis, after giving a memorably amped-up sideline interview, coached his team to a 23-3 run to end the half. UNC by 9. Sparty made a game of it for a while in the second, but couldn't match the Heels firepower losing 85-69.

Carolina is now 5-0 against MSU in the Big Dance.

The Heels don't have much of a bench, which tallied only 10 of their 85 points. 

A little too much defense in this one for my taste. Or inept offense (Iowa State shot 40% from 2 and still won by 11). Either way, not my preferred style. The Cougs scored a pitiful 56 points for the game. 

The last time Washington State made the Sweet 16 (in 2008), Tony Bennett was the coach. They must really hate offense on the Palouse.

NC State's center, DJ Burns, is a treat. He's listed at 275 pounds. No shame, but he's easily 30 above that. He's one of those big guys who's not quick, at all, but surprisingly nimble. He's consistently effective in the low block. His go-to is to spin to his left and bank a shot high on the backboard. Every shot he shoots seems to be a bank shot. His size, skill and exuberance have made him a crowd favorite. My name needs a nickname worthy of all that personality.

Oakland famously plays an amoeba 1-3-1 defense, which makes life hard inside but tends to leave the corners open. [Editor's Note: Kentucky did not put shooters in the corners despite me yelling at the TV the whole game for them to do so. Back to the Notes.] NC State put Burns in the high post and let him work. He scored 24 points. He's also great passing out of the post, leading to 4 assists. Did I mention those 11 rebounds?

This was the game of the tournament so far. The Wolfpack led virtually the whole game, but Oakland would not go away. Tres Thompson was absolutely outstanding for the Grizz: 30 and 13. Jack Gohlke knocked in 22, but shot a more mortal 6-17 from deep in this one.  This pair willed the Grizz to a 2-point advantage down the stretch but ultimately had to settle for overtime.

NC State lost two players to fouls in the extra stanza (Burns was not one of them). Didn't matter because Oakland was clearly gassed; they missed 10 of their last 11 shots in the game. The Pack moves on with an entertaining win 79-73. 

Counting the ACC tournament, NC State have won 7 games in 12 days.

Oakland's Trey Townsend, the under-sized Oakland center who lit up both Kentucky and NC State, is an Oakland legacy. Both of his parents, Nicole Leigh and Skip Townsend, played hoops for Oakland back in the day. Skip, a solid 6-9, also played for coach Greg Kampe, who is in his 40th year with the Grizz. Skip is a credentialed sports photographer who worked both Oakland games in the tournament (he has the pics to prove it).

Trey is a skilled player, but there's no question that all the attention Kentucky and NC State gave Gohlke on defense opened up the middle. Still, the guy is probably 6-4 and yet he finds a way to score in the post against much, much taller players. Props.

The game was in Pittsburgh, so no surprise that new Steeler acquisition and former NC State player Russel Wilson was in the house.

It's impossible for me to describe a game with a combined score of 120 as good, but this one was close anyway. Tennessee was the better team, but Texas had some bad luck with a couple shots going mostly through the hoop before bouncing out down the stretch. Vols move on, 62-58.

Uber physical contest, filled with bruises and blood. Again, not my style. But that's what we tend to get in March (for some reason), today in particular.

Tennesee went 3-25 from deep (12%) and 34% from 2...and still won.

Remember Max Abmas from Oral Roberts' Cinderella run in 2021? He's at Texas now. He only had 10 tonight (8 boards too) but the kid is fun to watch.

Tennessee's Dalton Knecht had 18, but shot a miserable 1-8 from 3. Disu for Texas went 4-18. No one played well in this game. The refs let them play, which resulted in wrestling rather than basketball in this case.

Florida Atlantic coach Dusty May to the Wolverines. In anticipation of announcing May as their new coach, Louisville set up an auditorium full of folding chairs in the athletic department lobby. True story. But little brother is now 0-2, striking out with Scott Drew and now Dusty May. May says he was blown away by the Michigan alumni network. He's also a Big 10 guy, having previously served as a grad assistant at Indiana.

I'm watching Creighton right now. They have absolutely zero athleticism but are discliplined on both sies of the ball. I would take a run at Greg McDermott, who is criminally underpaid.

I have some thoughts on Illinois, which I'll save for the Sweet 16. Cliff's Notes version: Brad Underwood can coach. Maybe little brother should go after him.

 Who needs sleep? Not Oregon and Creighton, who needed two overtimes stretching well into Sunday to decide which fowl would soar to the Sweet 16.

This game followed NC State-Oakland in PPG Paints Arena. The folks in Pittsburgh sure got their money's worth.

The Ducks Jermaine Couisnard continued his supernova performance from the first round, adding 32 more points to the scoring column. Oregon went inside-outside, with N'Faly Dante (pride of Mali) muscling to 28 points and an impressive 20 rebounds. The problem was that was about all they got, with the rest of the team combining for only 13 points. In the second half and both overtimes, Couisnard and Dante scored all of their team's points save 2.

The game went back and forth all night, with 14 lead changes in regulation. Overtime seemed preordained. Every time Creighton would seem to take control, Couisnard would drop a dagger 3. Like the one he calmly nailed at the start of the first OT while face guarded right in front of the Creighton bench.

Neither team had much in the tank in the second overtime. Two Bluejay starters played all 50 minutes and another 49. On the other side, Couisnard, who had handled the ball and initiated the offense all game, was toast. He lost his legs and even his layups started coming up short. Creighton started the second OT with a pair of 3s, the second from their defensive specialist. That was the inflection point, with the Bluejays cruising to a 13-point win from there.

4/5 of the Creighton starters scored between 18 and 21. The rest of the team got 8. But 4 on 2 is not great math, even when the duo is as transcendent as Couisnard and Dante.

This was Greg McDermott's 325th win at Creighton, two short of the record set by current Oregon coach Dana Altman at the Omaha school.

Creighton make the round of 16 for the third out of the last four years.

It's popular to say that Creighton isn't a mid-major, but they are. That's not a knock. A program in a secondary league was always a target to have their players poached (see Davion Mintz to Kentucky a couple years back), and even moreso in the NIL era. It's a testament to McDermott that he's maintained excellence and consistency under those conditions.