The March Madness road of a pair of No. 1 seeds ended on Thursday night, as the Arizona and the Gonzaga both fell short of the Elite Eight. The first overall seed in the tournament, the Zags, fell to the fourth-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks 74-68 in the Sweet 16. The fifth-seeded Houston Astros advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row with a 72-60 victory over the Arizona Wildcats, which means that they will face the winner of the game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks.
The Duke Blue Devil's victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the second round of the NCAA tournament captured the interest of the college basketball universe and beyond.
The team of Jeff Borzello, John Gasaway and Joe Lunardi weighed in on everything they saw Thursday night and look forward to the Sweet 16 on Friday.
You can check your March Madness brackets by following this link.
Friday's March Madness schedule.
The Saint Peter's vs. 3 Purdue game will be aired on PBS. The program is on CBS.
Providence vs. Kansas will be played at 7:29 p.m. The time is at 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846
North Carolina plays UCLA in a basketball game. The program is on CBS.
Iowa State vs. Miami will be played at 9:59 pm. The item was listed on the TBRS.
Duke closed the game strong against Michigan State and Texas Tech. When Virginia Tech defeated the Blue Devil by 15 in the conference title game, we didn't see it coming. Jeremy Roach has been outstanding. The sophomore put up 30 points on 21 shots over the last two wins, and Roach added five assists against the Red Raiders. This young team is developing before our eyes, and we knew Coach K's rotation was talented.
I never thought I would write about Roach, but he has been one of the NCAA tournament's top stars. A player who was moved to the bench on multiple occasions this season was a reserve in the last nine games before the NCAA tournament. Duke needs one of its perimeter players to step up and create shots off the dribble, and Roach has answered the call.
He had 15 points and five assists against Michigan State and 15 points and five assists against Texas Tech, and he made a couple of clutch shots late in the game. If Mark Williams can stay out of foul trouble, I think Duke will win the game.
The entire team was elevated by the level of intensity from Paolo Banchero. Duke has a Final Four look for the first time since the November wins over Kentucky and Gonzaga. With the storybook ending for Coach K now within sight, Arkansas has both Duke and destiny as opponents in the Elite Eight. The combination is too much to overcome.
KylerEdwards dropped in three clutch 3-pointers in the second half as Houston upset No. 1 Arizona to advance to the Elite Eight.
The fatal flaw of Arizona was that they played the team ranked second in the country. Houston is an incredibly tough team that thrives on the offensive glass and on the defensive end. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they have had issues with both defensive rebound and taking care of the ball, and they haven't faced a team as physically imposing at both ends of the floor like Houston.
The free-flowing, up-tempo system was never able to get the Wildcats into it. The will of Arizona was imposed by the Cougars, and Houston was not able to respond because of its own comfort zone. Bennedict Mathurin struggled, Azuolas Tubelis couldn't get going, and Kerr Kriisa didn't make shots until it was too late. It was too much to overcome against a well-coached team.
This is a case where Arizona was placed with a No. 5 seed, which is about as strong as the Cats. The two mainstays, Christian and Mathurin, started slowly. That is something that a strong Arizona team can overcome against most opponents. Both teams crashed the offensive glass, but UH held the other team to 34% shooting inside the arcs. Houston played with a swagger that is very familiar to anyone who watched the team reach the Final Four. Arizona went from unranked in the preseason to a top seed in the tournament.
In a 77-point contest, the Razorbacks won with defense. It looks like a standard Drew Timme performance in the box score. Timme was made to take 19 shots to get those points, because Arkansas collapsed on him with multiple defenders. His teammates couldn't hit 3s when he passed out. The team was just 5-of-21 from the range. Two of the worst performances from the floor in the last three years occurred within the last six games, the other being the loss at Saint Mary's. The Razorbacks had the best defense in the league in SEC play and they can repeat that performance against the Blue Devil in their next game.
Pick the winner of the games in the NCAA tournament from the Sweet 16 to the championship. The tournament challenge had a second chance.
In its last 14 NCAA tournament starts, the team averaged 82.9 points per game. The only other time it scored less than 70, it won. The Arkansas defensive game plan is a credit to it. It will be interesting to see the Razorbacks try for a repeat performance against Duke, as the Zags were never comfortable at the offensive end. Arkansas is 40 minutes away from its first Final Four in almost three decades, and we shouldn't put anything past the Muss Bus at this point.
Arkansas thought it needed to keep Gonzaga from getting easy baskets in transition in order to win the game. The Arkansas transition defense did a good job of keeping the Zags from getting fast-break points. Andrew was not able to get a head of steam and get baskets against the defense, he was 2-for-11 on the night. The recipe for slowing down the Zags is to force them to create offense against a set half-court defense. Arkansas made them do that.
The coach of the Saint Peter's team joins GameDay to discuss the team's run to the Sweet 16.
This is a Saint Peter's team that eliminated Kentucky. The Peacocks working wonders contrary to my expectations would not be a first. The team is shooting better against NCAA tournament teams than it did in the MAAC. In theory, that shooting could cool off at some point, but it is just as likely that a game with the Boilermakers will be a high scoring affair.
Borzello was surprised to see Saint Peter's beat Kentucky and the Peacocks beat Murray State. I am not counting them out. Despite being at a severe disadvantage when it comes to size down low, I think they will cause issues for Purdue at that end of the floor. The concern comes at the other end of the floor, but it is worth noting that the Boilermakers have struggled defensively for most of the second half of the season. The Peacocks have a chance if Saint Peter's keeps making shots like it did in the first two rounds.
After the victory over Kentucky, Lunardi was even more shocked. The result was not shocking, but the Wildcats had no idea. That rationale does not apply to Purdue, which should be prepared for whatever the Peacocks have left in the tank.
North Carolina blew a 25-point lead in the second half but still won 93-86 in overtime.
I am looking forward to seeing blue bloods clash as North Carolina takes on UCLA. The Tar Heels didn't have a lot of quality wins this season. They won the season finale at Duke by a large margin, but it still seems like this group is being overlooked. The Tar Heels force misses in the paint while limiting you to one shot because Brady Manek is a volume scorer on both sides of the ball. A win against the Bruins would make a statement to the doubters, but it is not going to be easy.
The team is very good on both sides of the ball. I hope Jaquez is able to play against UNC after recovering from his ankle injury. He is the heart and soul of the Bruins. UCLA will get a lot of first shots. The Heels don't force many turnovers and the Bruins take good care of the ball.
You can watch every Men's NCAA Tournament game live. March Madness is live.
I will be in Chicago for the opener between Kansas and Providence. The Jayhawks were my preseason pick to win the national championship and the only thing that can still happen is in my personal brackets. The Friars were one of my favorite teams to watch all season because of their story and their ability to win. The term "Crushed" has never been applied so well. I am glad I will be in the house to find out who won.
Borzello said that one double-digit seed is going to be 40 minutes from the Final Four. There should be a great battle on the perimeter. The guard trio of Charlie Moore, Kameron McGusty and Isaiah Wong are unafraid to take big shots in late-game situations and are among the best in the country. Iowa State is an elite defensive team that imposes its style on its opponent. That leads to games in the 50s. Will Miami be okay with that? Brockington and Hunter are going to have to make shots for the Cyclones, which they did in the first round against LSU. The game will be decided by the backcourts.
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