WOW!!! That is all I can say. Jalen Suggs - welcome to the pantheon of NCAA Tournament memorable last second shots, joinging the likes of Kris Jenkins, Lorenzo Charles, Christian Laettner, Bryce Drew, Tate George, Danny Ainge and Ali Faroukmanesh.
I, and many others, expected one close game and one blowout last night, and that is exactly what we got - in reverse order. Baylor, for the majority of the year the number 2 ranked team in the country, just annihilated Houston from the get-go, whereas UCLA gave Gonzaga everything they could handle, taking the Bulldogs to overtime, which culminated in the Jalen Suggs banked-in game-winning three- pointer at the buzzer from Damian Lillard territory.
So, we get the game between the teams that have basically been the best 2 teams all year. Who would have thought it?
With Houston out of the tournament, only 2 chamions remain in our pool, and, obviously, whether Gonzaga or Baylor wins will determine the winners of the pool. If Gonzaga wins, then our current leader, William Pujals of Charlotte, North Carolina wins the pool, with Brent Bellinger 1 of Austin, Texas in second and Measha Williams 3 of Houston, Texas in third. If Baylor wins, Edy Pecan of the Greater West Palm Beach, Florida and Steven Usma 3 of Miami, Florida tie for first, and Brian Hinaman of Parrish, Florida finishes third. I have not yet done the computation to break the tie, so if Baylor wins, our winners will be surprised too! Matt Hopps of Quincy, Massachusetts, currently sits tied for second, but has Michigan as the winner.
While we await tomorrow night's final between Gonzaga and Baylor, Houston joins the rest of our dismissed champions: Alabama, Florida, Florida STate, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Michgan State, Ohio State and Virginia.
Most entrants had at least 1 game correct. If you had both, you rocketed up the standings. If you had zero, you fell.
Stats of the Day
3. As Juwan Howard was the first person to be a number 1 seed in the NCAA tournament as a player and a coach, I then wanted to see if any players of the year had success as coaches on the college level. As it turns out, South Carolina women's basketball coach was a Naismith Award winner as player of the year, and has also coached in the Final Four.
2. Speaking of South Carolina women's basketball, although the Gamecocks lost in the Final Four to Stanford, in the Elite 8 South Carolina held Texas to 0 points for the entire fourth quarter. ZERO POINTS!!!
1. This is the fifth time that the NCAA championship game has been played by the teams ranked 1 and 2 in the preseason poll since 1961 (when the preseason poll started). It is, however, the first time since Duke defeated Arizona in 2001.
Players of the Day
8. Marcus Sasser, Houston. Sasser was the only Cougar not overwhelmed by Baylor, scoring 20 points with 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
7. Cody Riley, UCLA. Riley had 14 points and 10 rebounds, but 6 important points late in the game to keep UCLA close.
6. Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga. The freshman phenom finished with 16 points, 5 rebounds, 6 asissts, 2 steals and 1 block.
5. Jared Butler, Baylor. In an ominous sign for Baylor opponents, Butler is starting to find his shot, finishing 4-5 from 3 points range for 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
4. Joel Ayayi, Gonzaga. For long stretches of the game, Ayayi was Gonzaga's best player. He scored 22 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
3. Drew Timme, Gonzaga. He finished with 25 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, but had 6 straignt Gonzaga points to start overtime.
2. Johnny Juzang, UCLA. Scored 29 points on 12-18 shooting, and 3-6 from three point range. Also added 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. He has been the best player in the tournament.
1. Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga. Just for the last buzzer-beating shot that put Gonzaga into the finals and kept UCLA out of the second overtime.
Plays of the Day
3. Under ordinary circumstances, Andrew Nembhard's three-pointer to send the game into overtime would have been the big shot in a game. It barely registers last night, which is why I want to mention it.
2. Under ordinary circumstances, Jalen Suggs' block of Cody Riley's dunk with the game tied 77-77 and 2:01 left, and then his subsequent half-court pass to a streakng Drew Timme would be a player's most memorable play of their college career. Click through to watch this amazing play. But then ...
1. Jalen Suggs calls GAME!!!
Jalen Suggs' shot was preceded by Johnny Juzang's missed shot, offensive rebound putback to tie the game at 90. Not only did Suggs win the game and rip the heart out of UCLA fans everywhere, he deprived Juzang of his place in tournament history. Which reminds me ..
The 2016 Final Four took place in Houston, at NRG Stadium about 4,286 miles outside of town. (OK, slight exaggeration, but it is about as far out of town as a stadium can get and still be listed as being in the same city. At least State Farm Stadium says it is in Glendale, Arizona and not Phoenix.) This was a rather boring Final Four as Villanova just dumptrucked Oklahoma 95-51, whil Syracuse kept is semi-final game relatively close, losing to North Carolina 83-66. But, then we get to the Finals between Villanova and North Carolina. That game happened on April 4, 2016, exactly 5 years ago. Villanova won 77-74 behind Phil Booth's 20 points off the bench, whereas North Carolina was led by Marcus Paige's 21 and Joel Berry II's 20 points. But, this ending was very similar to last night's game.
North Carolina led by 5 at halftime, before Villanova gradually caught up and then took the lead late. North Carolina then eventually completed their comeback from being down 6 with 1:52 left in the game. The Tar Heels comeback culminated in a Marcus Paige double-clutch off-balance three-pointer to tie the game with 4.7 seconds left. Paige was all set to be remembered by history. Then, Kris Jenkins happened. To quote Villanova coach Jay Wright when Jenkins put up the shot, Bang! And yes, he said it before the ball had even went through the hoop. BANG indeed!
And yes, your Tournament Host was there. Here is the court immediately after the shot, from behind the Villanova basket.
I would also be remiss if I did not mention a bit about the immediate past history of the Baylor Bears men's basketball team. While the Bears' women's team has had a ton of recent success, being champions in 2005, 2012, and 2019, and adding another Final Four in 2010, and Elite 8s in 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021, Baylor's men's team has not been in a Final Four since 1950, and the Final game since 1948, where they lost to the Kentucky Wildcats. (See, I made a Kentucky reference without menting the Johnny Juzang transfer.)
Scott Drew took over the program in 2003, and has been the head coach for 18 years. But what was the state of Baylor men's basketball in 2003 when Drew arrived? In about as awful a place as any team could be. See, in the summer of 2003, June 12 to be exact, Baylor player Patrick Dennehy was murdered by Carlton Dotson, his teammate on the Bears. Dennehy and Dotson were concerned about their safety earlier in the summer, so they each purchased two pistols and a rifle, and practiced shooting outside of Waco, Texas. Dennehy spoke to one of his friends and mentioned that some threats were made to Dotson, but that they would be going out to a party the next night, but neither arrived at the party. Over the next few days, Dennehy didn't call his partents of Father's Day, his roomate came home and found his dogs not fed, and nobody had seen Dennehy in over a week. A missing person's report was filed, and on June 25, Dennehy's Tahoe was found in a shopping mall in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with its license plate removed. Ultimately, the police were led to Dotson, who spoke with the FBI, and on July 25, Dennehy's body was found in a gravel pit outside of Waco, Texas. Dotson ultimately pled guilty in 2005, and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. He is eligible for parole later this year.
For more information on this story, Showtime produced a documentary about it called Disgraced.
Not many coaches would have wanted to walk into a situation like that, except Scott Drew did, and now he is in the National Championship game.
Now, on to the standings. As always, feel free to let me know if you think your score is incorrect, and I will be happy to double-check it.
1. William Pujals - 119 - Gonzaga
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