There are two games left in the Elite Eight. March Madness is about a lot of people, at least one of which is on Sunday.
The first No. 15 team in NCAA tournament history to reach the Elite Eight is the Saint Peter's Peacocks. Their quest to keep dancing to New Orleans for the Final Four will depend on the ability of the No. 8 seed North Carolina Tar Heels, who have themselves made a surprising run to the doorstep.
The only remaining No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Kansas Jayhawks, will play the Miami Hurricanes in the Elite Eight for the first time in school history.
The weekend got off to a great start with the Duke Blue Devil punching their ticket to the Final Four with a 78-69 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks.
The team of Myron Medcalf, Jeff Borzello, John Gasaway and Joe Lunardi weighed in on what they saw on Saturday and what they want to see in the final two games.
You can check your March Madness brackets by following this link.
The March Madness schedule is on Sunday.
The Miami vs. Kansas game will be played at 2:20 p.m. The program is on CBS.
The game between Saint Peter's and North Carolina will be played at 5:05 p.m. The program is on CBS.
On paper, it would appear that North Carolina is well-equipped to end Saint Peter's run in the Final Four. I think most of that can be thrown out the window because the Peacocks were out-gunned by Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue. The Tar Heels have a faster pace than the three previous Saint Peter's opponents.
The playing field is even for a lower seed when Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue are ranked in the bottom third. That is not the reason the Peacocks have won, but it is part of the reason they have been in close games. Carolina will try to push the pace and get points when Saint Peter's isn't set defensively, given the Peacocks' elite half-court defense. There is something about this team. The task of slowing down Bacot won't be a shock because they've dealt with the nation's best big men in Oscar Tshiebwe, Trevion Williams,Zach Edey and KJ Williams. R.J. Davis can go for 30 again. One more time, I have the Peacocks Peacocking.
I think the run will end on Sunday, although nothing would surprise me with the team. Saint Peter's could play the Brooklyn Nets and it would feel like they had a chance. If the Peacocks are in a tight game, they will know how to excel. I believe styles impact games. The North Carolina squad is different.
Saint Peter's opponents in the NCAA tournament have made 60 3-pointers. In a single game, none of those teams made more than 33 percent of their attempts. The Tar Heels have made 37 percent of their attempts at 3-point shots through the Sweet 16. Saint Peter's previous opponents did not spread the floor the same way that North Carolina is going to do. The difference in this game will be the dynamic. North Carolina won. I can't wait to see Saint Peter take its shot.
The Heels have a pair of back-to-back 3s from Love and a tip in from Bacot down the stretch.
If there is one thing we have learned from the Peacocks, it is that this will be a close game. The first of the contests went to overtime and the group came out on the positive side. Love and Bacot should be problems for this defense, but we are talking about a Saint Peter's team that has already defeated Oscar Tshiebwe. This isn't a case where an underdog is hitting 3s in a tournament. Saint Peter's did hit its 3s against UK, but has only shot 26% from beyond the arc in two subsequent wins. The East Region has thrown the best at the Peacocks. With the Tar Heels being the lowest seed of all time, I will take the team in a close one.
Every time I am asked about Saint Peter's, my answer has been the same. Nothing seems impossible when the Peacocks are still strutting. The Peacocks averaged just over one point per possession for the season, which is 216th nationally according to KenPom. They are scoring 1.088 points per possession in the NCAA tournament, which would have ranked in the top 70 nationally. Do you trust the three-game sample or the three-month trend? The boring numbers guy says the run ends here.
When I talked to Moore Jr., I asked him how the loss to North Carolina had affected the Blue Dukes. He admitted that the team was a bit distracted and that the week was filled with celebrations. It turned Duke into a disappointment in the eyes of some before the NCAA tournament started. The team believed that the backlash after the loss was as bad as it could get.
You can see the team has confidence. They asked Krzyzewski to switch back to man defense late in the game against Texas Tech, and it worked. They slapped the floor together. They took turns attacking Arkansas in the first half and ended the half on a 3-pointer by Keels that gave them a 12 point lead. I think the Blue Devil can win two more big games and win the national title for Krzyzewski. The program in the field is very talented. There is no team in the field with a higher ceiling. The young Duke players seem to have realized as much this week.
Duke has had one of the most talented rosters in America since the start of the season, and Borzello says that talent has never been the question for Duke. Their resilience and ability to adapt has impressed me about them in the NCAA tournament. They had issues in close games, leading in the final 65 seconds in each of their first four losses. They had to close strong against both Michigan State and Texas Tech. The Red Raiders had the defense and physical presence to knock Duke off its game. The Blue Devil's battled and won. Coach K has utilized a zone defense in each of the last two games to stifle Tech and the Razorbacks. The things we didn't see often from Duke during the regular season are listed. The Blue Devil have shown a sense of desperation in the playoffs and need to win a national championship.
Duke is 80 minutes away from a national title, so there is not much runway left for this or that alleged fatal flaw to trip them up. Jeremy Roach looks more aggressive and effective driving the ball to the rim. Mark Williams had an outstanding game against Gonzaga back in November. A man is hitting corner 3s. The occasional zone is being thrown by Coach K. The only question we had was whether this group of future pros was too inexperienced. One thing this team is not showing at the moment is an inexperienced look. The group looks confident and dangerous.
We forget how long the season is and how many versions of the same team we can see. Everyone who said Duke had the highest ceiling in the country was correct. It took longer because of several bumps along the way. The Blue Devil will be favored over either North Carolina or Saint Peter's in the national semifinals because of revenge and the latter because of an overwhelming talent advantage, and who among us would doubt Coach K if his career ends next Monday night?
After a hard fought win against Houston, the team advanced to the Final Four.
It was a far cry from the 2016 and especially the year of the national champion in terms of overall talent. The system still works when it's perfect. Houston did what it does defensively, limiting the Wildcats to 29% shooting, yet the Cougars never led, rarely threatened and were chasing the game throughout. Even when Houston got within a bucket at 42-40, my first thought was thatVillanova wouldn't panic. John McKay would appreciate the efficiency of the Wildcats. They are hoping that they have a healthy Justin Moore in New Orleans.
This group is a long, long way from the record-setting shooters of the 2016-18 era, yet here is Villanova again. That is what makes me think. A way to win is what the Cats find. Four tournament opponents combined to convert just 21% of their tries from beyond the 3-point line, and they received the good stroke of an opponent shooting 1-of-20 on 3s. Jay Wright's team has started to flash a little Houston-style offensive rebound after holding its last four opponents to just 46% shooting on 2s. The shot volume recorded on the road to the Final Four has been excellent. The 16 points scored by Samuels should get him a medal. These guys are basketball players. It is hoped that Moore is fit to play.
Pick the winner of the games in the NCAA tournament from the Sweet 16 to the championship. The tournament challenge had a second chance.
The consistency is what it is for Medcalf. The way this group finished the season is similar to the way the national championship team did in 2016 and. The two teams that we saw on Saturday had more grind-it-out games, but the ones that we saw on the final day of the season were equally successful. In its last 15 games, the team has a 14-1 record. The one game it lost was at the hands of the Huskies, who scored five points in the last 21 seconds to win. It has not always been pretty. This team doesn't have any of the above. They have been solid for nearly two months.
It was difficult to watch Moore cry on the sideline with his teammates. That is not a good sign. If he is unavailable in New Orleans, it will change the ceiling of the team.
Borzello says they are unflappable. Jay Wright has won two national titles and now reaches three Final Fours in the last six NCAA tournaments. Houston is supposed to take opponents out of their comfort zones and make them uncomfortable. On Saturday, it was Villanova. Houston was forced to adjust its offense and guard for 30 seconds by the Wildcats. They did not commit live-ball turnovers and limited the offensive glass. The principles of discipline, ball movement, playing off two feet, and switch defensively are what wins games for Villanova.
It might be a stretch for Moore to play next week, since he didn't get off the bench after the buzzer sounded and went to the locker room on crutches. If Moore is out, that puts a lot of pressure on Daniels, who has been the sixth man in the rotation. Daniels has made several key shots off the bench in the last two games, and he will likely take Moore's spot in the lineup. Chris Arcidiacono and BryanAntoine will have to step up in New Orleans.
Christian Braun throws it to Ochai Agbaji, who finishes with a two-handed jam.
Bill Self is worried. Jim Larranaga calls his defense the "scramble", and it gave both Iowa State and Auburn fits, so Miami is the best team left in the tournament on that side of the ball. The Hurricanes defense was just average in the conference. I will take Kansas here. The numbers speak of defensive principles but also ghastly shooting from beyond thearc by the two teams. USC made nine 3s and 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 888-739-5110 The Jayhawks' perimeter shooting against Providence was terrible, but I still like their chances with Ochai Agbaji, Christian Braun and Remy Martin.
If this was a month ago, I might have been more worried about Kansas than I am now. I think the Jayhawks have solved their playmaking and point guard issues with the return to form of Martin. Over the last five games, he has averaged 16.0 points, 3.6 assists and less than a turnover. The way Miami is playing lately has been great; the three guards of Charlie Moore, Kameron McGusty and Isaiah Wong have been great at both ends of the floor, forcing turnovers and making big shots. They will test Kansas, but the Jayhawks have more up front. I think the Jayhawks have enough to beat the Hurricanes if Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun can make shots.
You can watch every Men's NCAA Tournament game live. March Madness is live.
I think any coach that watches what Saint Peter's has done is concerned about Miami sending his team home. There is a tournament. This development is similar to an NBA team making a key trade just before the deadline. We wondered how Kansas would look if Martin was healthy and comfortable. He has changed the team and taken the pressure off Agbaji. That balance is a great development for the squad. In the NCAA tournament, Martin has made 40% of his 3-point attempts and 64% of his shots inside the arcs. You combine that with a Kansas team that is playing defense around the rim and you can see the Jayhawks winning by double digits.
Kansas is the best team left in the tournament by seed and on the court. The Jayhawks would be the top seed if the current version of Martin had been available all season. If you asked Self in October if he would take an Elite Eight match up against a 10-seed, we all know the answer. The sleepless night belongs to Miami.
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