A note - this is the last full post during this tournament pool. Yes, I will drop a standings update, maybe after the Semi-Finals, or perhaps only after the Finals, and I am going to try to do a quick synopsis of who will win on the different scenarios in the final four so that you are all clear as to what could happen, but those will just be quick updates since, as most of you longer-time participants know, I will be in Indianapolis for the festivities. I, along with Sinickal, Tony, and Kev-O, will be plausibly-live blogging our experience and posting those on this site, so you can follow along with us.
But for now, WE HAVE A WINNER!!! No matter what occurs in Indianapolis, nobody can catch our last place participant, Allison Parker of Washington, DC. She is in last place, and she has no possibilities of earning any more points. And yes, this is the same Allison that put little red hearts around every one of her Duke selections, just to try to get under my skin. Well, Duke broke her little read hearts and bracket. She will receive her money back for her efforts!!! Congratulations.
But, she was not alone in having her heart broken by Duke. Duke was the overall number 1 seed in the tournament, and a favorite among a lot of brackets to win the whole tournament. They are removed as potential champions in our brackets, but all teams that remain have entrants that chose them. Once again, our collective champions are: Alabama, ARIZONA, CONNECTICUT, Duke, Florida, Houston, ILLINOIS, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, MICHIGAN, Michigan State, North Carolina, Purdue, St. John's and Virginia.
But, Duke didn't break everybody's heart. I, for instance, had Duke in the Final Four - but I am absolutely ecstatic over UConn's comeback, mainly because of the way it occurred. Duke up 19 at one point, and up 15 at halftime (more on this later). After Duke scored to start the second half, I turned to Racecar as we were watching the game at a local Happy Hour spot, and told her, "UConn is in this game as long as they keep their point differential to almost the same as minutes remaining in the game." In other words, they don't have to do it all at once. And they didn't. They nipped away here-and-there until it was close at the end. And then Braylon Mullins happened.
We could get into the fact that UConn blew it by not fouling immediately upon the inbounds with ten seconds left in the game, or that freshman Boozer-not-named Cameron panicked and tried to pass over two attacking defenders - including Mullins - that were clearly intending to foul him, or that the Boozer-that-will-not-be-drafted-in-the-lottery-this-year didn't even have to advance the ball past the midcourt line and could have just stood there until he was fouled, or that the Duke frontcourt performers were nowhere to be found as outlets for the not-as-good-as-my-twin-brother-Boozer, or any of a number of other mistakes on this play, but the bottom line is Mullins stole the ball, passed it to Alex Karaban - he of the most wins of any player in UConn history, who quickly gave it back to Mullins - the Gatorade Player of the Year from his state last year - who drained a shot that will go down in history. Not just because it was a last second buzzer-beater, and not just because it sent UConn to the Final Four, and not just because it was against Duke, but because it completed this MAJOR comeback!
As soon as the ball went through the hoop, I turned to Racecar next to me at the bar and started singing One Shining Moment!" But don't just take it from me. Take it from fellow Final Four traveler Kev-O, a Kentucky alumnus, who stated in a text, "Oh wow, Duke, what's it gonna be like to see that fucking shit for the next three decades?!" Esteemed television journalist Willie Geist even said, "Every time Duke loses on a buzzer beater, an angel gets its wings."
But, enough making fun, especially since we have at least one Duke alumna in the pool, and it always hurts to lose on that type of play. Duke has historically been on the giving end of those, it was just their turn. And, they had not been playing championship caliber basketball this tournament - and certainly not like Michigan and Arizona. Remember Siena took them to the brink in round 1, and if they just had a sixth man that could stand up and run, they probably would have won, which would have made Barkley Sosa of Riviera Beach, Florida happy as that was an upset selection of hers.
Michigan is just trucking people, as shown by the fact that its victory over Tennessee was the largest margin of victory in the Elite 8 since Michigan defeated Virginia in 1989. That reminds me, here are the Stats of the Day.
Stats of the Day
4. 12 years old - Braylon Mullins age when he hit his game-winner against Duke. Seriously, look at him.
3. 33 points - Michigan's margin of victory which is the largest in the Elite 8 since 1989.
2. 90 points - Michigan has scored 90 points in 4 straight tourney games, the first time since UConn in 1995. (Foreshadowing).
1. 134-1 - The overall records in the NCAA Tournament of number 1 seeds when holding a 15-point lead at halftime. Prior to yesterday it was 134-0.
OK, so I admit, it probably isn't exactly foreshadowing if the thing being foreshadowed is only 2 sentences after the foreshadowed occurrence. But here we are in the 1995 men's tournament, one of my absolute favorite tournaments. I will start by giving the rundown of the UConn Huskies, and the 4 straight games in which they scored 90 points.
UConn entered the tournament 26-4, and earned the second seed in the west bracket, and played its first two games in Salt Lake City, Utah. This team was absolutely loaded, especially in the backcourt with Ray Allen at the 2, Doron Sheffer at Kevin Ollie at the point (they ran a 3-guard lineup), and Donny Marshall and Travis Knight in the front court. Three-point shooting specialist Brian Fair played significant minutes off the bench. In the first game, the Huskies overmatched Chattanooga, which was led by Maurio Hanson's game-high 28 points, but fell to UConn 100-71. The Huskies spread out the scoring with 5 players in double digits, led by Donny Marshall's 22. In the second round, Cincinnati awaited, led by strong man Danny Fortson. UConn was able to flummox the Bearcats leader on offense, as he was limited to 20 minutes because of foul trouble and ultimately fouled out. Donny Marshall again led UConn in scoring with 25 points and 7 rebounds, with Ray Allen adding 24 and 5 himself, as UConn advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in Oakland, California with a hard-fought 96-91 win.
In the Sweet Sixteen, UConn had to play the Maryland Terrapins, led by future number 1 overall NBA draft pick Joe Smith, Keith Booth, Duane Simpkins, and one of the best names in college sports history - Exree Hipp (pronounced X-Ray). The Terrapins were gamely led by Smith and Johnny Rhodes, who each scored 22 points, but that wasn't enough as the Huskies won 99-89. Donny Marshall led the way with 27 points and 9 rebounds. Ray Allen added 18 points and 11 rebounds, Travis Knight scored 15, Doron Sheffer had 12 points with 7 assists, and Eric Hayward hit double figures off the bench with 12. In the Elite 8, the number 1 seeded UCLA Bruins would prove to be a formidable competition to the Huskies, but even UCLA could not hold UConn under 90 points, surrendering 96. The good news for UCLA is that they won the game by scoring 102. The team was led by superstar Ed O'Bannon and his brother Charles, slick point guard Tyus Edney, uber-athletic wing Toby Bailey and man mountain George Zidek. Against UConn, Bailey proved to be too much to handle scoring 26 points and adding 6 rebounds and 9 assists. Edney scored 22 and dished 10 assists. The O'Bannon brothers each scored in double digits, as did J.R. Henderson, Jr. off the bench. UCLA advanced to the final four, but none of that would have happened had Tyus Edney not made this miraculous play in the second round to defeat Missouri, after the Tigers took a one-point lead with 4.8 seconds remaining. All Edney did was go COAST-TO-COAST.
In the semi-finals, UCLA would face the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who had "Big Country" Bryant Reeves, and a bunch of spare parts. Reeves scored a game high 21 and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds in Okie State's first round 73-49 victory over Drexel. He then bettered fellow future-NBAer Antonio McDyess of Alabama to a draw (26 points and 7 rebounds to 22 and 17!). Randy Rutherford's 18 allowed the Cowboys to coast to an easy 66-52 win. Wake Forest was next in East Rutherford in the Sweet 16. The Deamon Deacons were loaded, with Tim Duncan - Yes, THAT Tim Duncan, and Randolph Childress, dominating most games. Duncan only scored 12 points in this game, but grabbed 22 rebounds, while Childress led with 22 points, but on 6-16 shooting. Reeves was somewhat neutralized by Duncan, scoring only 15 with 9 rebounds, but Randy Rutherford shone again, with a game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds, to get to the Elite 8. Another dominant big man in Marcus Camby awaited as the UMass Minutemen were soaring. UMass was no one-man team however, as Lou Roe and Dana Dingle ran the wings, with Carmelo Travieso handling point guard duties. This was not enough firepower to defeat Oklahoma State as Reeves exploded for 24 and 10, and Rutherford added another 19. Their defense was astounding, holding UMass to only two double digit scorers, led by Travieso's 11. The Final Four it is.
On the other side of the semi-finals was North Carolina and Arkansas. I won't belabor any stories of Arkansas, as I have previously discussed their 1994 team in a previous year's update. Here is that update of the champion ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS from 2022. But in the semi-finals, the Razorbacks defeated a loaded, AND I MEAN LOADED, North Carolina squad 75-68. The stars for the Tar Heels that year were Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse, ably assisted by Jeff McInnis, Donald Williams, Dante Calabria (who I played a lot against in an over-40 league), Pat Sullivan, Shammond Williams and Serge Zwikker. Williams had 18 points to lead the Tar Heels, but shot 7-19 from the floor. Stackhouse added 18, McInnis 13, and Wallace scored 19, with 10 rebounds and 5 technical fouls (OK I made that last one up). Arkansas was paced by Corliss "Big Nasty" Williamson's 21 and 10, Dwight Stewart contributed 15 off the bench, and Clint McDaniel added 13, to send the Razorbacks to the title game.
In the championship, UCLA's Ed O'Bannon had one of the best championship games scoring 30 points, grabbing 17 rebounds, dishing 3 assists and creating 3 steals. He was ably aided by Taby Bailey's 26 and 9, and even George Zidek scored 14. The Razorbacks just couldn't repeat 1994's magic, as the starters shot 15-43 for the field, and were paced by Clint McDaniel's 16 points. UCLA won the championship 89-78, and Ed O'Bannon was named the MOP (although seriously a case could have been made for Bailey!).
But when I say favorite tournaments, look at some of the players I mentioned just in this recap of a few teams: Ray Allen, Donny Marshall, Danny Fortson, Ed O'Bannon, Toby Bailey, Tyus Edney, Bryant Reeves, Tim Duncan, Randolph Childress, Marcus Camby, Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, Jeff McInnis, Donald Williams, Corliss Williamson, Scotty Thurman. That tournament was LOADED!!! Much as expert say this year's freshman class is loaded. And none of them even mention Braylon Mullins!!!
And speaking of UConn's victory, WE ONCE AGAIN HAVE A NEW LEADER!!! Jason Spuhler of Acworth, Georgia has taken over first place. Good for you Jason. However, as you will see in the standings, Jason has Houston winning it all, so it is still a free-for-all among a lot of the top scorers, including Rich Samuels of Palm Beach Gardens, and Jim Coleman of Boynton Beach, Florida, who sit in second and third. Remember, 16 points per game in the semi-finals and 28 for the championship game, so if you have teams alive, you have a chance. And speaking of top scorers ...
Players of the Day
10. Blanca Quinonez, UConn - 20 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
9. Elliot Cadeau, Michigan - 8 points, 3 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
8. Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame - 22 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
7. Cameron Boozer, Duke - 27 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks
6. Taina Mair, Duke - 21 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals
5. Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan - 27 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks
4. Sarah Strong, Duke - 21 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 5 steals, 3 blocks
3. Braylon Mullins, UConn - 10 points, 1 rebound - 1 really huge buzzer beater!
2. Lauren Betts, UCLA - 23 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 5 blocks
1. Tarris Reed, UConn - 26 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks
And now for what you all really care to see - the standings. Remember, I am only human and you can feel free to check me on my calculations. I will be happy to review if you have a different number than I. I will, however, check your entire bracket for errors, and abide by the recount. Onto the standings ...
Standings after the Elite 8/Day 2
1. Jason Spuhler - 110 - Houston/ARIZONA
2. Rich Samuels - 107 - ARIZONA/Duke
3. Jim Coleman - 101 - ARIZONA/ILLINOIS
4. Stephanie Henderson - 100 - ILLINOIS/ARIZONA
Jeff Plamondon 1 - 100 - MICHIGAN/Florida
Steven Usma 2 - 100 - Duke/ARIZONA
7. Max Macon 2 - 99 - Florida/ARIZONA
Measha Williams (Buddy Canes 1 Bracket) - 91 - Duke/ARIZONA
9. Benny Merchant - 98 - MICHIGAN/UCONN
Glen Merchant - 98 - Duke/ARIZONA
Silas Nichols - 98 - MICHIGAN/UCONN
12. Jonathan Cox 2 - 97 - Houston/ARIZONA
Monte Lambert 1 - 97 - Houston/ARIZONA
14. Ashley Poer 1 - 96 - MICHIGAN/Houston
Pepe Sosa 1 - 96 - ARIZONA/Florida
Chuck Whitcomb - 96 - Duke/MICHIGAN
Katie Zdrowak - 96 - UCONN/MICHIGAN
18. Kyle Henderson - 95 - UCONN/Gonzaga
19. Jenna Finkelstein - 92 - Florida/ARIZONA
20. Brent Bellinger A - 91 - ARIZONA/Florida
Brent Bellinger B - 91 - MICHIGAN/Michigan State
Floyd Fonte 1 - 91 - MICHIGAN/Florida
Mango Merchant - 91 - ARIZONA/Duke
Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 91 - ARIZONA/Michigan State
25. Daniel Barsky 1 - 90 - ARIZONA/Florida
Colleen Giamberini - 90 - MICHIGAN/Houston
John Hedgpeth - 90 - Duke/MICHIGAN
Ty Hedgpeth - 90 - Duke/ARIZONA
Steven Usma 1 - 90 - ARIZONA/Michigan State
Justin Yung - 90 - MICHIGAN/Duke
31. Carolyn Fowler - 89 - UCONN/Purdue
Shane Jernigan 1 - 89 - MICHIGAN/Duke
Adam Jorgensen - 89 - ARIZONA/ILLINOIS
David Kennedy - 89 - Duke/MICHIGAN
Mac Kroesen - 89 - MICHIGAN/ILLINOIS
Martha Kroesen - 89 - Florida/MICHIGAN
Measha Williams (Canes 2 Bracket) - 89 - ARIZONA/UCONN
Mike Wolff 1 - 89 - Duke/MICHIGAN
39. Steven Usma 5 - 88 - Florida/Iowa State
40. Daniel Barsky 2 - 87 - Houston/ARIZONA
Paul Cummings - 87 - Duke/Purdue
Crew Ferguson - 87 - Duke/ARIZONA
Si "Papa Si" Nichols - 87 - ARIZONA/Michigan State
Brittany Sosa - 87 - Florida/ARIZONA
Cheryl Spuhler - 87 - Florida/PURDUE
Josh Zdrowak - 87 - Duke/MICHIGAN
47. Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 86 - Alabama/Duke
Shane Jernigan 2 - 86 - ILLINOIS/MICHIGAN
Annette Pritchard 1 - 86 - Florida/ARIZONA
50. Karen Katz 2 - 85 - ARIZONA/Michigan State
51. Jonathan Cox 2 - 85 - Duke/ARIZONA
52. Mitchell K (Lamb) - 84 - ARIZONA/Houston
53. Joel Chernoff - 83 - MICHIGAN/Duke
Gracie Fonte - 83 - Florida/MICHIGAN
Hazy Frank - 83 - MICHIGAN/Michigan State
56. Max Macon 4 - 82 - Purdue/Duke
Chris Simmons - 82 - ARIZONA/Florida
Steven Usma 3 - 82 - Duke/MICHIGAN
59. Mark Holbert 2 - 81 - UCONN/Purdue
Matt Hopps - 81 - ARIZONA/Michigan State
Guy Hughes - 81 - Florida/MICHIGAN
Karen Katz 1 - 81 - ARIZONA/Houston
Salvatore Plamondon - 81 - Florida/MICHIGAN
Bubba Zdrowak - 81 - Florida/MICHIGAN
65. Randy Bennett - 80 - MICHIGAN/Florida
Megan Corrado - 80 - Houston/ARIZONA
Paul Cummings 2 - 80 - ARIZONA/Michigan State
Vincent Plamondon - 80 - Duke/Purdue
Amanda Staudt - 80 - ARIZONA/ILLINOIS
Measha Williams (Canes 3 Bracket) - 80 - Duke/ARIZONA
71. Trey Angus - 79 - Duke/MICHIGAN
Sean McInerney 2 - 79 - MICHIGAN/Florida
Sean McInerney 3 - 79 - Florida/MICHIGAN
William Pujals - 79 - Duke/MICHIGAN
George Walks 4 - 79 - Florida/MICHIGAN
76. Paul Cummings 3 - 78 - MICHIGAN/DUKE
Rylee Montague - 78 - MICHIGAN/Michigan State
Henry Transecki - 78 - Florida/Iowa State
Jonathan Wasserman - 78 - Duke/MICHIGAN
Biscuit Zdrowak - 78 - BYU/Duke
81. Duncan Merchant - 77 - ARIZONA/Duke
82. Blake Jackson - 76 - ARIZONA/Florida
83. Barbara Curlett - 75 - Florida/MICHIGAN
Javier Rodriguez 1 - 75 - Duke/MICHIGAN
Hannah Sosa - 75 - Florida/Purdue
Day Yi 2 - 75 - Duke/MICHIGAN
87. Braeden Helland - 74 - Florida/MICHIGAN
Paul Kludt - 74 - Florida/Purdue
Mike Litsey - 74 - Florida/MICHIGAN
Dave Piasecki - 74 - Florida/Iowa State
91. Ashley Poer 2 - 73 - ARIZONA/Duke
Steven Usma 4 - 73 - MICHIGAN/Florida
George Walks 2 - 73 - ARIZONA/Kansas
Day Yi 1 - 73 - St. John's/ARIZONA
95. Dwayne Cushman - 72 - Duke/ARIZONA
Max Macon 3 - 72 - Houston/ARIZONA
Natalie Moon - 72 - Duke/Iowa State
Kingfish Parham 2 - 72 - Duke/Arkansas
Annette Pritchard 2 - 72 - ARIZONA/Duke
Pepe Sosa 2 - 72 - ARIZONA/Florida
101. Alyssa Hopps - 71 - Duke/MICHIGAN
Jonathan Wasserman 2 - 71 - MICHIGAN/Duke
Keith Zdrowak - 71 - ARIZONA/Duke
104. Justine Frank - 70 - Florida/MICHIGAN
Sasha Moon - 70 - Florida/ARIZONA
Jeff Plamondon - 70 - ARIZONA/Houston
Lily Spuhler - 70 - Florida/ARIZONA
Amy Zdrowak - 70 - Duke/MICHIGAN
109. Jenna Finkelstein - 69 - Florida/ARIZONA
Keith W. (Lamb) - 69 - Houston/ARIZONA
Jane Reynolds - 69 - Florida/MICHIGAN
Javier Rodriguez 2 - 69 - Duke/ARIZONA
Jasmine Tran - 69 - Florida/Alabama
George Walks 1 - 69 - Duke/ARIZONA
115. Skip LaForte - 68 - Michigan State/ARIZONA
Monte Lambert 2 - 68 - ARIZONA/Florida
117. Floyd Fonte 3 - 67 - Michigan State/MICHIGAN
Matt Thibaut - 67 - Florida/MICHIGAN
Stacia Wilkaitis - 67 - Florida/ARIZONA
120. Stephanie Soplop 2 - 66 - UCONN/Purdue
121. James Garvin - 65 - Florida/Purdue
Mark Holbert 1 - 65 - ARIZONA/Florida
Katie Kollmeyer - 65 - MICHIGAN/Michigan State
Max Macon 1 - 65 - Florida/Purdue
Caroline Spuhler - 65 - Florida/Texas Tech
126. Arlene Amo Hopps - 64 - UCONN/Virginia
127. Floyd Fonte 2 - 63 - Iowa State/Houston
Marcus Jackson - 63 - Duke/MICHIGAN
George Walks 3 - 63 - Kansas/Gonzaga
130. Megan Cox - 61 - Virginia/Duke
Jacey Fowler - 61 - North Carolina/Alabama
132. Sean McInerney 1 - 60 - Duke/Iowa State
133. Quinn Jackson - 58 - Kentucky/MICHIGAN
134. Dawn Lamb - 55 - Kansas/Gonzaga
135. Stephanie Soplop 1 - 54 - Florida/Miami
Mike Wolff 2 - 54 - Duke/Texas Tech
137. Kingfish Parham 1 - 52 - ARIZONA/Florida
138. Colbie (Lamb) - 51 - Kansas/Iowa State
139. Barkley Sosa - 50 - UCONN/Gonzaga
140. Keith W 1 (Lamb) - 49 - Kansas/Iowa State
141. Allison Parker - 47 - Virginia/North Carolina
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