19 Apr 1 - Blue (Devil) Magic Runs Out (FINAL FOUR)

Volume XXIII, No. 22 - 19 Apr 1: FINAL FOUR Blue (Devil) Magic Runs Out At the EAST Regional in Washington,DC, [E1]Duke had its hands full against conferencemate [E4]Virginia Tech. The Hokies led 38-34 at the break and it was still tight with the D-Blue Devils only leading 62-57 with eight minutes to go. VaTech missed a makeable lob finish that would sent the game into overtime and Duke escaped (75-73 despite 18p16r5a from xKerry Blackshear Jr.). Meanwhile, [E2]Michigan State started fast and led 34-17 deep in the first half; [E3]Louisiana State got as close as 36-40 early in the second half but that was it as the MS-Spartans won going away (80-63 as tAaron Henry[20p6a8r] starred). Thanks to questionable seeding, what could easily have been a matchup in the National Championship took place in the Regional final ... and it didn't disappoint. [E2]MichSt started well and led 14-7 early on but couldn't separate from [E1]Duke; the D-Blue Devils adjusted and led by 9 with five minutes to go with the MS-Spartans leading 34-30 at the break. The second half was tight throughout, tied at 58-58 with six minutes to go; a 5-0 burst put Duke up 66-63 with just two minutes left and a huge three by tKenny Goins gave MSU a 68-66 lead. Going down to the wire for the third(-straight) time wasn't the charm for Duke as [E2]Michigan State edged the D-Blue Devils (68-67 as pCassius Winston[20p10a] starred).      In the WEST Regional at the HONDA CENTER in Anaheim,CA, [W1]Gonzaga and [W4]Florida State faced off for the second-straight year (at the same point of the tournament). This time, the G-Bulldogs got payback on the Seminoles from last year's upset loss. GU pushed the pace early to negate FSU's size, leading 38-27 at the break; FlaSt struggled mightly (shooting 3-for-20 on three-pointers) after that as Gonz won (72-58 only allowing one double-figure scorer). More impressive was [W3]Texas Tech's total shut down of mighty [W2]Michigan (63-44 as the Wolverines only managed 1-for-19 shooting on threes). In the final, the first half was tight throughout with [W1]Gonz leading 37-35 at the break; the second half was much the same, tied at 58-58 with five minutes left; a 5-0 sput gave [E2]Texas Tech a lead it nursed until the end, winning (75-69).      In the MIDWEST Regional at the SPRINT CENTER in Kansas City,MO, [M2]@Kentucky pushed out to a 38-24 lead over [M3]Houston at the break; but the H-Cougars fought back to tie things at 49-49 with four minutes to go; but a 7-0 close by the K-Wildcats ended with a @62-58 win. Meanwhile, [M1]North Carolina only led [M5]Auburn 41-39 at halftime before the A-Tigers turned it on in the second half and won going away over the Tar Heels (97-80 sinking 17 threes as six players posted double-figures). In the final, [M2]@UK started strong but conferencemate [M5]Aub settled in to lead early in the second half; it was tight the rest of the way as regulation finished tied 60-60; the ovetime was all AU, who beat @UK (77-@71[OT] as pJared Harper[26p5a] starred despite 28p13r5to from cP.J. Washington).      In the SOUTH Regional in Louisville,KY, [S1]Virginia couldn't separate from "Cinderella" [S12]Oregon, tight throughout and still tied 45-45 with five minutes to go; from there, the Cavaliers executed and the Ducks didn't as [S1]UVa held on to win (53-49). Meanwhile, [S3]Purdue nearly ran [S2]Tennessee out of the gym in the first half, leading by 15 just before the break; but the Volunteers came all the way back to tie things up at 65-65 with six minutes left; both teams were great down the stretch but only the Boilermakers could keep up that high level in overtime, winning (99-94[OT] as gRyan Cline[27p4a] starred). In the final, it was your classic One-Man-Show from [S3]Purdue versus all-out team effort from [S1]Virginia; the Boilers led by 10 early on but the Cavs closed to 29-30 at the half; the second half was tight throughout as a wild broken play saw [S1]UVa send the game into overtime, tied at 70-70; a costly turnover ended up dooming [S3]Purd as the Wahoos won (80-75[OT] as xKyle Guy[25p10r] starred despite 42p;10/13 3s from gCarsen Edwards). - - - - - - It might not be the ones we expected in a couple of cases, but each of the top four conferences pushed a representative through to the Final Four - - kind of fitting in the stable year of The Carousel. No National Championship or even a Final Four for once-in-a-generation talent fZion Williamson after all (and the Star of Stars from the middle weekend was gCarsen Edwards, actually). (I try hard not to "be happy for the Good Guys" [because there's so much bias that goes into defining the "Good Guys"]. But ... making the Final Four does exorcise the demons from the Virginia program [and coach Tony Bennett] after last year's ignominy. Doesn't matter if they don't win it all. Getting your F4 ticket punched is the definition of elite success.) Meanwhile, it's the first-ever trip to the Final Four for both Auburn and Texas Tech. Bruce Pearl's career has been all over the map with highs, lows and scandals but he's a "Made" coach now and forever. For Chris Beard, the rise has been meteoric: 32-Splash in his first year at Little Rock in 2016 and now Elite 8/Final 4 in back-to-back years at Texas Tech in just his fourth year. Where does he go from here? Does he follow the path of Greg Marshall(Winthrop/Wichita State) and stay put; or does he follow Shaka Smart(VCU/Texas) and go for a name-brand job? (Seems like Final 4 at a B-Major school should be good enough for the long haul.) Oh, by the way, that's 8 Final Fours for Tom Izzo. - - - - - - The NIT was a tale of two paths (to New York). 1BC [e5]ASUN/Lipscomb and [m6]AMER/Wichita State each earned their third-straight road win to make the semifinals. The L-Bisons edged host [e2]ACC/N.C. State (94-@93 on pKenny Cooper's game-winner as tGarrison Mathews[44p8r] dueled 34p9r;15/222fg from fTorin Dorn) -- tMathews broke the opponent scoring record for Reynolds Coliseum (more than all the great ACC legends who played there). The Wheat Shockers beat host [m1]BIG10/Indiana (73-@63). On the other hand, the BIG 12 sent two teams to the semifinals thanks to their third-straight home game win each. [w1]BIG12/TCU handled [w2]BIGE/Creighton (@71-58 as bKouat Noi[25p7r] starred) while conferencemate [s2]BIG12/Texas handled [s4]PAC12/Colorado (@68-55).      In the CBI quarterfinals, [eB1]SUNB/Coastal Carolina road-routed host [eA1]BIG12/West Virginia (109-@91 on pDevante' Jones[32p7a7r] star turn). Meanwhile, [mA1]BIGE/DePaul outpaced [mB1]BIGS/Longwood (@97-89 as bMax Strus[38p5r;15/21fg] starred). Elsewhere, [sA1]AMER/South Florida handled [sB1]WAC/Utah Valley (@66-57) and [wA2]WCC/Loyola Marymount thumped [wB1]IVY/Brown (@81-63). In the semis, [sA1]AMER/SFla shut down [wA2]WCC/LoyMmt (@56-47 allowing no double-figure scorers) while [mA1]BIGE/DPaul beat [eB1]SUNB/CoCar (@92-87).      In the CIT, both SWAC/Texas Southern (over host WAC/Texas-Rio Grande Valley, 94-@85 as cJeremy Combs[27p17r] dominated) and WAC/Cal State-Bakersfield (over host SKY/Southern Utah, 70-67) joined BIGS/Presbyterian with road wins in the second round. Meanwhile, both HORIZ/Green Bay (past CUSA/Florida International, @98-68 as xSandy Cohen III[20p8a10r] starred) and BIGS/Hampton (past conferencemate BIGS/Charleston Southern, @73-67 despite 21p5a8r from tChristian Keeling) also advanced at home. Getting byes into the quarterfinals (and home games, to boot) didn't help either [1x]SUNB/Louisiana-Monroe (lost in triple-overtime to SWAC/TxSo, @102-108[3OT] as pTyrik Armstrong[32p8a] and cJeremy Combs[27p11r] both dueled 22p5a10r from xTravis Munnings) or [1x]ASUN/New Jersey Tech (lost @70-82 to BIGS/Hamp); only [1x]CUSA/Marshall was able to take advantage, beating BIGS/Presb (@83-66). HORIZ/GBay earned its way into the semis, beating WAC/CSB (@80-65). - - - - - - The BIG 12 (4-1) is still going strong with three teams still alive for Week Three of the postseason (one NCAA semifinalist [Texas Tech] and two in the NIT [TCU and Texas]). (Like the BIG 10 last week, the ACC and SEC both had to "eat one of their own" in the NCAAs.) The BIG EAST, the lone B-Major that doesn't have a Final Four representative, at least has a finalist in the CBI (DePaul, with home court advantage in the Best of Three series, to boot).      The AMERICAN (3-1) is the only Mid-Major still playing with both an NIT semifinalist (Wichita State) and a CBI finalist (South Florida).      The Red Swirl HORIZON (Green Bay) and CONFERENCE USA (Marshall) each managed to place a team in the semis of the all-1BC CIT. Meanwhile, the "Flop" ATLANTIC SUN continued its impressive postseason sending Lipscomb to the NIT semis in NYC. Kudos as well to the Flop BIG SOUTH (Hampton, after "eating one of its own") and SWAC (Texas Southern) for earning spots in the CIT semis.      (All together that's four teams from the state of Texas still going ... [and two from Virginia]!) - - - - - - Having slain The Giant just to get to the Final Four, will [E2]Michigan State have a letdown against surprising [W3]Texas Tech? Will [S1]Virginia feel The Monkey is off its back by just making the Final Four (or is it still "NCAA title or bust")? No one has had a better NCAA run than [M5]Auburn (with four Top-25 wins). (I like MichSt over UVa in the final; but any other scenario wouldn't surprise me all that much, frankly.)      There's no reason 1BC [e5]ASUN/Lipscomb can't win one more in the NIT (past [m6]AMER/Wichita State), but that'll probably be it. (Look for [w1]BIG12/TCU to three-sweep conferencemate [s2]BIG12/Texas in the other semi and be too much for the L/Bisons in the final.)      ([mA1]BIGE/DePaul has looked less vulnerable than [sA1]AMER/South Florida so far in the CBI [and gets the rubber game at home in the "Best of Three" final series, to boot] - - 'Nuff said.)      In the CIT, [1x]CUSA/Marshall (hosting MEAC/Hampton) and HORIZ/Green Bay (hosting SWAC/Texas Southern) both have road-tested opponents in the semis. (Look for both home teams to squeak out wins with Marsh claiming the crown as a Consolation Prize in a "What Might Have Been" season.)      It's the second year for the (prize money) 3X3U Tournament. Four-man teams (of seniors who have exhausted their eligibility) representing each of the 32 conferences are put into 8 pools (with "S-curve" seeding based on their own ratings). Friday and Saturday will consist of round-robin games withing each pool. On Sunday, the top two teams from each pool will be seeded into a 16-team bracket and play all day until they reach a champion. -- Ron

Key games this week:

NCAA

Thursday:

COLLEGE 3-POINT/SLAM DUNK CONTEST @MinneapolisMN/TARGET/
• {College 3-Point/Slam Dunk Contest}

Friday:

FINAL FOUR @MinneapolisMN/US_BANK/
• {Open Team Practices} - FREE
• {College All-Star Game} - FREE

Saturday:

FINAL FOUR @MinneapolisMN/US_BANK/
• [S1]Virginia v [M5]Auburn
• [E2]Michigan St v [W3]Texas Tech

- - - - - -

Monday week:

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP @MinneapolisMN/US_BANK/
• {[S1]Virginia/[M5]Auburn} v {[E2]MichiganSt/[W3]TexasTech}

NIT

Tuesday:

Semis @NewYorkNY/MSG/
• [w1]TCU v [s2]Texas (TX)
• [e5]Lipscomb v [w6]Wichita St

Thursday:

Final @NewYorkNY/MSG/
• {[w1]TCU/[s2]Texas} v {[e5]Lipscomb/[w6]WichitaSt}

CBI (COLLEGE BASKETBALL INVITATIONAL) Finals (Best of 3) on-campus

Monday:

• @ [sA1]S Florida v [mA1]DePaul

Wednesday:

• @ [mA1]DePaul v [sA1]S Florida

(Friday, if necessary):

• @ [mA1]DePaul v [sA1]S Florida

CIT (COLLEGEINSIDER.COM TOURNAMENT)

Tuesday:

Semifinals on-campus
• @ [1x]Marshall v Hampton
• @ Green Bay v Texas So

Thursday:

Final on-campus
• {[1x]Marshall/Hampton} v {GreenBay/TexasSo}

3X3U (CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT)

Friday:

Pool Play Day1/2 @MinneapolisMN/MALL_OF_AMERICA/

Saturday:

Pool Play Day2/2 @MinneapolisMN/MALL_OF_AMERICA/

Sunday:

16s, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Finals @MinneapolisMN/MALL_OF_AMERICA/