Creighton in; No. 1 seeds all out
Half of the remaining subject within the men’s NCAA Tournament clinched berths within the Elite Eight, with Kansas State, Connecticut, Florida Atlantic and Gonzaga every profitable their respective Candy 16 video games Thursday night time.
That left four more Sweet 16 games Friday within the males’s subject, with a pair of high seeds vying for journeys to the Elite Eight. Each fell quick.
No. 1 Alabama was knocked out in the first game of the night, dropping 71-64 to No. 5 San Diego State. Within the second recreation, No. 1 Houston was soundly defeated, 89-75, by No. 5 Miami (Florida). No. 15 Princeton’s run ended in opposition to No. 6 Creighton, placing the Bluejays within the Elite Eight for the primary time. They be a part of Purdue, which was shocked by No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson within the first spherical, and Kansas, which misplaced to Arkansas within the second spherical, on the sidelines. This would be the first Elite Eight ever with no No. 1 seed.
No. 2 Texas vs. No. 3 Xavier rounded out Friday night time’s slate.
Particularly, Friday was notable for followers of the Hurricanes, as the ladies’s crew additionally booked its first trip to the Sweet 16 since 1992.
Observe the insanity: Latest Men’s NCAA Tournament College Basketball Scores and Schedules
MEN’S TOURNAMENT: Complete scores and schedule
Observe the insanity: Latest Men’s NCAA Tournament College Basketball Scores and Schedules
THURSDAY’S PLAY: Catch up on all the men’s action from the primary leg of the Candy 16
Observe alongside for reside updates all through the night time.
No. 6 Creighton prevails over No. 15 Princeton
Princeton’s inspiring postseason run has come to an finish.
No. 6 seed Creighton beat No. 15 seed Princeton 86-75 with a powerful second half in a Candy 16 matchup within the males’s NCAA Event.
Creighton (24-12) superior to the Elite Eight for under the second time in class historical past and can play fifth-seeded San Diego State (30-6) Sunday at KFC Yum! Heart in Louisville, Kentucky. Creighton’s solely different look within the Elite Eight got here in 1941.
The Blue Jays are one victory from reaching the Ultimate 4 for the primary time in class historical past.
On Friday, Creighton clung to a 47-43 lead on the half. However the Blue Jays discovered their mark within the second half, and with about 12 ½ minutes to play, went up by 16 factors at 68-52 on Trey Alexander’s layup.
Princeton clawed again, trimming the deficit to seven factors with about 3 ½ minutes left. However it might get no nearer.
Junior heart Ryan Kalkbrenner led Creighton with 22 factors and senior guard Baylor Scheierman added 21 factors.
Senior guard Ryan Langborg led Princeton with 26 factors and senior ahead Tosan Evbuomwan chipped in 24 factors.
For Princeton, the loss derailed its quest for the varsity’s second Elite Eight berth. The primary passed off in 1965, when Princeton reached the Ultimate 4 and future U.S. Senator Invoice Bradley was named Most Excellent Participant.
Princeton additionally was in place to affix Saint Peter’s as the one No. 15 seed to achieve the Elite Eight. Saint Peter’s made its historic run final yr.
— Josh Peter
Texas caps sturdy first half with miraculous shot
Texas misplaced Dylan Disu early, however just about the whole lot else went proper for the No. 2 Longhorns within the first half in opposition to No. 3 Xavier. They hit halftime on a excessive be aware after Timmy Allen’s half-court heave on the buzzer put them up 42-25.
Texas shot 53.1% from the ground whereas the Musketeers transformed on simply 27.3% of their pictures, posting a ghastly 9-for-33 mark.
If the Longhorns stick with it within the second half, they’re going to advance to the Elite Eight for the primary time in 15 years, although the well being of Disu looms giant.
– Jace Evans
Texas’ Dylan Disu exits early, dominated out of recreation
The Longhorns suffered an enormous blow within the opening minutes. Dylan Disu has been dominated out for the rest of the sport with a bone bruise in his left foot.
Disu tried to play by the damage and began for Texas, however he headed again to locker room in discomfort after solely registering one rebound and no shot makes an attempt. Disu returned to the bench with a strolling boot on his left foot.
He was averaging 22.5 factors and 10 rebounds within the NCAA Event, together with an electrical 28-point, 10 rebound double-double in opposition to Penn State within the second spherical.
“We’ve had a subsequent man mentality all yr,” Texas coach Rodney Terry mentioned. “They will play for his or her brother tonight.”
Halftime: No. 6 Creighton beating No. 15 Princeton 47-43
In what’s been a topsy-turvy NCAA Event, Princeton is aiming to change into simply the second No. 15 seed to achieve the Elite Eight. The Tigers are hanging, trailing No. 6 Creighton 47-43 at halftime.
Each groups are taking pictures properly from the sphere – a formidable 62.1% for Creighton (18-for-29) to Princeton’s 51.4% (19-for-37) – and are pretty evenly matched in different main classes. Princeton large man Tosan Evbuomwan leads all scorers with 15 factors. Three Creighton gamers are in double-figures, led by Baylor Scheierman’s 13 factors. Scheierman is 3-for-3 from deep, a part of a 6-for-12 effort from past the arc for the Bluejays.
Saint Peter’s is the one different No. 15 seed to achieve the Elite Eight, undertaking the feat final season.
– Jace Evans
Mattress Mack loses $4M on Houston
It’s March disappointment for Mattress Mack.
The pockets belonging to Jim McIngvale, the Houston furnishings chain proprietor generally known as Mattress Mack, are thousands and thousands of {dollars} lighter after the Houston Cougars’ 89-75 loss to the Miami Hurricanes.
He positioned a number of bets totaling about $4 million for the No. 1 seed to win the nationwide championship. If Houston received the NCAA Event, McIngvale would have won $35 million.
All No. 1 seeds eradicated earlier than Elite Eight as Houston falls to Miami
Down goes one other No. 1 seed.
The Hurricanes knocked out the Cougars with an 89-75 victory to advance to the Elite Eight for the second straight yr. And the boys’s basketball crew is in good firm – Miami’s ladies’s basketball crew additionally superior.
For Houston, its dream of taking part in within the Ultimate 4 in its hometown is over.
Miami shot lights out the whole recreation, ending 51.7% from the sphere and 11-for-25 from past the arc. Seven of these made threes got here from Nijel Pack, who led the pack with a game-high 26 factors. Norchad Omier recorded a double-double, (12 factors and 13 rebounds) and Isaiah Wong added 20 factors.
Miami led 42-36 on the half, and that lead continued to swell. The Hurricanes led by double digits for a lot of the second half and by as a lot as 17 factors.
Wooga Poplar put an exclamation level on the 14-point win with a slam dunk with 1:07 left within the recreation. This would be the first ever Elite Eight with no No. 1 seed after No. 5 San Diego State took down No. 1 general seed Alabama.
Contributing: Josh Peter
No. 5 San Diego State knocks out No. 1 Alabama
Oh, how the mighty fell on Friday.
Prime-seeded Alabama buckled late in a 71-64 loss to fifth-seeded San Diego State and had been eradicated in the Candy 16.
The Crimson Tide squandered a nine-point lead within the second half as its quest for the primary nationwide championship in class historical past got here to an abrupt finish.
San Diego State was merely an excessive amount of taking part in aggressive protection that stifled the Crimson Tide’s potent offense and hitting a number of clutch pictures in turning its second-half deficit right into a lead within the last minutes.
Alabama went up 48-39 on Nick Pringle’s dunk with 11:39 left to play. However San Diego State stormed again because of a 12-0 run that was began by eight consecutive factors by Darrion Trammell. The lead grew to 9 on Jaedon LeDee’s jumper with 3:45 remaining.
Alabama would shut inside two within the last minute, however San Diego State hit its free throws late to clinch the victory.
– Josh Peter
Half: No. 5 Miami 42, No. 1 Houston 36
Miami appears to observe within the footsteps of the ladies’s basketball crew, which advanced to the Elite Eight for the primary time ever early Friday. And the Hurricanes obtained off to begin, taking pictures 46.9% from the sphere and 6-for-14 from past the arc (Nijel Pack has 4 of these 3s). Miami has two gamers in double digits – Pack (14 factors) and Isaiah Wong (12 factors) – and it solely turned the ball over one time in the whole half.
Marcus Sasser leads the Cougars with 11 factors. Jarace Walker added seven factors and 7 rebounds. However Houston must take higher care of the ball – it registered six turnovers.
Half: No. 5 San Diego State 28, No. 1 Alabama 23
The No. 1 general seed trails the Aztecs by 5 heading into halftime. Nothing appeared to go proper for Alabama within the first half. The Crimson Tide shot 27.6% from the sphere and went 1-for-11 from three. Brandon Miller was restricted to 4 factors after choosing up two fast fouls within the first 5 minutes of the sport.
The Aztecs fared barely higher, taking pictures 32.4% from the sphere and 2-for-8 from three. Darrion Trammell has a game-high 9 factors. San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher mentioned the tempo of the sport has favored the Aztecs, who’ve restricted Alabama’s second-chance factors with 10 offensive rebounds.
Alabama’s Brandon Miller in foul bother early in opposition to San Diego State
Brandon Miller obtained off to a tough begin. He headed to the bench simply 5 minutes into Alabama’s Candy 16 matchup after choosing up two fast fouls. He wasn’t in a position to get it achieved on the opposite finish of the ground both, taking pictures 0-for-4 from the sphere and turning the ball over twice.
Miller entered the sport midway by the primary half. Coach Nate Oats mentioned they had been taking the chance as a result of “we obtained to win or go residence.” He added, “We’re taking part in him.”
How one can watch the boys’s Candy 16
The lads’s Candy 16 spherical resumes Friday night time, with motion in Louisville, Kentucky, and Kansas Metropolis, Missouri.
►No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 5 San Diego State
Time/TV: 6:30 p.m. ET, TBS
►No. 1 Houston vs. No. 5 Miami-Florida
Time/TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, CBS
►No. 6 Creighton vs. No. 15 Princeton
Time/TV: 9 p.m. ET, TBS
►No. 2 Texas vs. No. 3 Xavier
Time/TV: 9:45 p.m. ET, CBS
Saban clarifies: Remark not about Nate Oats
Alabama soccer coach Nick Saban says he wasn’t referencing the school’s basketball program when he remarked, “there is no such factor as being within the fallacious place on the fallacious time.”
And Crimson Tide males’s basketball coach Nate Oats did not take it that approach, both.
Saban had used that phrase on Monday to elucidate why he was suspending defensive back Tony Mitchell after his arrest on a drug charge.
Oats had used the phrase “fallacious spot on the fallacious time” when describing why he wasn’t suspending Alabama star Brandon Miller after police testified that he transported the gun that had been utilized in a taking pictures that killed Jamea Harris.
Miller has not been charged with a crime.
— Mike Brehm
Princeton basketball’s No. 1 fan: The nice Invoice Bradley loves what he is seeing
After Princeton’s males’s basketball crew picked aside Missouri within the NCAA Event’s Spherical of 32, turning into simply the fourth No. 15 seed ever to advance to the Candy 16, the Tigers drew accolades from throughout the hardwood universe.
But there is one fan’s praise that probably means the most.
“I’m more than happy with how they’re doing,” Invoice Bradley mentioned through cellphone Monday morning. “They boxed out on rebounds, hit open pictures, spaced the ground very properly, performed good protection. They performed with a objective.”
Bradley is the gold normal for New Jersey faculty basketball – a three-time All-American who in 1965 led Princeton to the Ultimate 4 and was named nationwide participant of the yr. He additionally led the US to the gold medal within the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and went on to assist the New York Knicks win NBA titles in 1970 and 1973 earlier than turning into a three-term U.S. senator representing the Backyard State.
— Jerry Carino, Asbury Park Press
For top-seeded Houston, basketball is a household affair
Lauren Sampson remembers driving on the crew bus in frigid winters as a preschooler throughout her father’s first head teaching job at Montana Tech, athletic tape affixed across the home windows in a dropping effort to stave off the chilly.
Her household instructed her the crew’s video games had been her events and let the little lady run the present.
“They gave me a mic and I’d say: ‘Welcome,’” she recalled. “After which they might sew bells into my recreation attire so they may hear me as I used to be wandering round.”
Her youthful brother, Kellen, remembers utilizing Washington State services as his private playground when dad ended up there a number of years later. He as soon as slipped into the UCLA locker room when the Bruins got here to city — he was no older than 5 — and wasn’t found till coach Jim Herrick was halfway by his pregame speech.
“He checked out me and mentioned: ‘Hey, little fella’s obtained to go,’” he mentioned.
A long time later, the siblings are at their father’s aspect and each play key roles on coach Kelvin Sampson’s staff as Houston makes a run at its first championship.
— Related Press
Because the second weekend of the boys’s and girls’s NCAA Event start, we enter probably the most recognizable rounds in sports activities – the Candy 16 and Elite Eight.
However how did the the regional semifinals and finals get their names?
The lads’s NCAA Event started in 1939, when it had simply eight groups in comparison with the 68 groups now, but it surely hasn’t used the Candy 16 or Elite Eight phrasing for everything of the event’s historical past, and it wasn’t till not too long ago the NCAA started to market the third and fourth rounds because the phrases.
Here’s how the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight came about:
— Jordan Mendoza
