Bobby Hurley Doesn't Lose That Game: NCAA Block Squares Pool

I am tired and a little hungover, so this will be short.

That was something you just didn't know could happen. A Duke basketball star was called for a late foul then missed a late shot to tie a game late? What? I was there and I still don't believe what I saw. 

Houston is a relentless defensive team. It looks like there are 7 defenders on the floor at times. Here are some notes from the 2nd half of that game:

• Houston outscored Duke 25-8 over the last 8:02 of the game and 9-0 over the last 33 seconds
• Duke had one made basket over the final 9 minutes of the game
• Prior to last night, Jon Scheyer was 79-0 when Duke let by more than 10 points at any time during a game
• This was the 5th largest comeback in Final Four history
• Duke led by 14 or more points in all 5 NCAA tournament games it played this year

So much was going on in this game that just didn't make sense. With 1:14 left, Joseph Tugler committed an insane technical foul and I loudly declared the game over. Houston only shot 38% from the field for the game, but was +11 in rebounding margin and had 18 offensive rebounds! It was a wild game and startling result. 

Of course, Twitter went crazy. Duke fans complaining about foul call on Cooper Flagg. A ton of White Lotus memes (those will never not be funny). And of course, the Cougar jokes. This was my favorite.

Oh yeah, Florida won also. 

On to the blocks. Two games, two first time winners. One game remaining!

Off to play some more in San Antonio. Good luck on Monday

--Your Commissioner 

NCAA Tournament Pool - Elite 8/Day 1 Results

 

So, as expected, the two number 1 seeds, the two overall betting favorites, and the two favorites in our pool both advanced to the Final Four.  But man did Duke and Florida advance in way different ways.  Duke just obliterated Alabama from the jump.  Perhaps the Crimson Tide should have saved some three-pointers from the Sweet Sixteen.  Florida, in quite the opposite fashion, was all-but-eliminated by being down 9 with 4 minutes left.  But then Walter Clayton, Jr. took over - as 1st team All-Americans are wont to do.  Two three-pointers near the end of the game gave the Gators the victory to join me and my crew in San Antonio.  To quote Florida's best player yesterday Thomas Haugh about Clayton, "That's a cold man right there!"  Indeed he is.

Today's games are incredibly important as Auburn and Michigan State are both picked by many to go to the Final Four, as are Houston and Tennessee.  We should see lots of movement in the standings tomorrow.

The Houston - Tennessee game is incredibly important for the bottom part of the standings as well.  If Houston wins, Barkley Sosa of Riviera Beach, Florida locks up last place; but if Tennessee wins, Justine Frank of Charlotte, North Carolina, secures last place.

With Alabama's loss, we lose another champion.  Our champions are:  Alabama, AUBURN, Arizona, Connecticut, DUKE, FLORIDA, HOUSTON, Kansas, Marquette, Maryland, MICHIGAN STATE, Mississippi State, TENNESSEE.

There was more basketball yesterday than just the Division I tournament, as the men's Division II tournament final took place in Evansville, Indiana, where the Nova Southeastern Sharks added to their 2023 championship with another by defeating Cal State Dominguez Hills.  Nova was led by MJ Iraldi's 27 points (and 9 rebounds), but the game was controlled by point guard Dallas Graziani who - when he has the ball is attack, attack, attack.  Attack his defender; attack the pick-and-roll; attack the rim.  The defense cannot let up when Graziani has the ball, and when, like CSDH you only go about 6 deep, that is a problem.  Between Nova's two championship they sandwiched a finals loss on a buzzer beater last year, so they are clearly building a program.

So yesterday I mentioned that the Duke-Alabama game would be a big difference maker in our pool - and it was - but I didn't realize that as many people had Texas Tech in the Final Four as actually did.  So, even though the Red Raiders fell to the Gators, I will award that gutsiness with the Pick of the Day (but no extra points, though!).  So, Congratulations to Ty Hedgpeth of Wilmington, North Carolina, Marcus Jackson or Reston, Virginia, Alyssa Hopps of Quincy Massachusetts, Richa Samuels 2 of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Measha Michaelangelo Williams of Houston, Texas, Jane Reynolds of West Palm Beach, Florida, Ashley Poer 1 of Lake Worth Beach, Florida and Stephanie Henderson of Ft. Worth, Texas.

Stats of the Day

3. Florida won its 29th consecutive game when leading at halftime - the longest active streak in the country.

2.  Duke's Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel are the first pair of freshmen to have 20-5-5 games in the same tournament.

1.  Mark Sears of Alabama, one game after hitting 10 three-pointers, shot 2-12 from the field (1-5 from three) for 6 points against Duke.

Trivia Question:  I mentioned above that Florida's 29 consecutive winning streak when leading at halftime is the longest active streak.  Before yesterday, they were tied with which program?

Players of the Day

15.  Labaron Philon, Alabama - 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals

14.  Sarah Strong, Connecticut - 11 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block

13.  Madison Booker, Texas - 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

12.  Liatu King, Notre Dame - 17 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists

11.  Kennedy Smith, USC - 19 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals

10.  Sedona Prince, TCU - 21 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists

9.  JT Toppin, Texas Tech - 20 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block

8.  Kon Knueppel, Duke - 21 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals

7.  Serena Sandell, Kansas State - 22 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

6.  Walter Clayton, Jr., Florida - 30 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks

5.  Derrion Williams, Texas Tech - 23 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assists, 3 steals

4.  Cooper Flagg, Duke - 16 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block

3.  Hailey van Lith, TCU - 26 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

2.  Thomas Haugh, Florida - 20 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

1.  Paige Bueckers, Connecticut - 40 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 2 blocks

And now for today's walk down (NCAA Tournament) history lane.  Before I begin, I must admit that I have avoided writing about Duke in the past - unless it was to bring out their foibles - primarily because I absolutely loathe their basketball team.  AND I STILL HATE CHRISTIAN LAETTNER.  But even I have to admit it is one of the more storied programs in NCAA basketball history.  Last night they earned their 18th Final Four trip, tied for second most with UCLA (foreshadowing).  So, it is time that I gave the program their due, before I get back to cracking jokes about Christian Laettner and his Stomp Heard Round the World, or Grayson Allen's love of the Dave Mathews Band (he is always "Tripping Billies," and Johns, and Andres, and anyone else).  Sorry, I digress.  Duke's first title came in 1991, but that was a memorable run, so I don't really want to write about that, (UNLV blowout in 1990, beat UNLV in semis in 1991).  And, completely on purpose, I swear, Duke's first Final Four appearance occurred in 1963, but I already wrote about that Final Four from Loyola's perspective all the way back in ... yesterday!!!  So let's examine Duke's second Final Four Appearance, and first final appearance ... 1964.

The 1964 Blue Devils were led by legendary coach Vic Bubas, and the team, fresh off the school's first Final Four appearance the previous year, and with losing 1963 Final Four Most Outstanding Player Art Heyman, had a tremendous regular season.  The team was led by leading scorer Jeff Mullins and his 24.2 points per game and 8.9 rebounds, with significant contributions from Jay Buckley and his 13. 8 points per game and 9 rebounds, and Hack Tison with his 11.8 points per game and 8.6 rebounds per game.  The team went 2-56, and 13-1 in the ACC, which was good enough for first place and to qualify for the NCAA tournament.

Duke, being in essence the #1 seed in the east, received a first-round bye, where they would play the winner of the Villanova-Providence game in the Sweet Sixteen, where Duke had to travel all the way to Raleigh, North Carolina to play.  Duke was all over Villanova from the beginning, building a 49-33 halftime lead, and then they coasted to a 87-73 victory.  Duke was led by Jeff Mullins and his 43 points.  The only other Blue Devil in double figures was Hack Tison, who scored 13.  This win propelled Duke into the Elite 8, where they would meet Connecticut.

Well, "meet" is a relative term as UConn didn't really show up.  Duke led 62-27 at halftime.  Yes, you read that right.  62-27.  The Blue Devils coasted to a 101-54 win, behind 30 points and 8 rebounds from Jeff Mullins, 14 points and 8 rebounds from Hack Tison, and Steve Vacendek added 14 off the bench.  Connecticut's Tony Kimball was valiant in defeat, with his 18 points and 14 rebounds, but he received absolutely no help.  Duke had made its second consecutive Final Four, which was hosted by Kansas City.

In Kansas City, Duke would face Michigan, which had defeated defending champion Loyola and Ohio in the Sweet Sixteen and Elite 8, respectively.  In the Final Four, Michigan was led by star Cazzie Russell, who scored 31 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.  Bill Buntin added 19 and 9 for the Wolverines.  It was not enough, as Jay Buckley scored 25 points with 14 rebounds, and Jeff Mullins chipped-in 21 points and 8 rebounds as the Blue Devils defeated the Wolverines 91-80 to reach the school's first championship game.

For those of you that remember I used the word "foreshadowing" earlier, will know that waiting for Duke in the finals was the UCLA Bruins.  UCLA was 30-0 and coached by soon-to-be legend John Wooden.  On the court, future NBA stars Gail Goodrich (21.5/5.2) and Walt Hazzard (18.6/4.7) led the team with their play on the court.  UCLA, despite their undefeated dominance, had a tougher road in the NCAA tournament than Duke did.  They beat Seattle 95-90, and then squeaked by San Francisco 76-72 to make it to the Final four.  In Kansas City UCLA defeated Kansas State 90-84, with Keith Erickson leading the way with 28 points and 10 rebounds.  Hazzard and Goodrich added 19 and 14 for the Bruins, propelling them into the finals.

With having played much closer games in the tournament that Duke, UCLA was tested, and they passed jumping out to a 50-38 halftime lead, and extending that to a 98-83 final score for its first championship.  Gail Goodrich scored 27 for the Bruins, and Kenny Washington contributed 26 off the bench for the champions.   Jeff Mullins led Duke, as he had all year, with 22, and Jay Buckley added 18.  Hazzard was named the Most Outstanding Player, and Jeff Mullins ended up the tournament as the leading scorer.

With its first championship in 1964, UCLA burst onto the national scene, and would ultimately win 10 of 12 championships, falling only in 1966 (Texas Western) and 1974 (North Carolina State) in one of the most dominant sporting runs we have ever seen.

Trivia Answer:  University of California - San Diego, which disappointed a lot of people who had them as their guaranteed upset this year!

Elite 8/Day 1 Standings

1.  Max Macon 3 - 115 - HOUSTON/AUBURN

2.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 114 - FLORIDA/DUKE

3.  Preston Holbert - 110 - TENNESSEE/FLORIDA

4.  Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 108 - AUBURN/TENNESSEE

     Measha Leonardo Williams - 108 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON

6.  Brent Bellinger - 106 - DUKE/FLORIDA

7.  Guy Hughes - 105 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE

8.  Bill Ganoe 3 - 104 - DUKE/FLORIDA

9.  Matt Hopps - 103 - FLORIDA/DUKE

     Christina Zanzig - 103 - MICHIGAN STATE/DUKE

11.  Paul Cummings - 102 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON

       Mark Holbert - 102 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Dan Laishley - 102 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Measha Raphael Williams - 102 - DUKE/AUBURN

15.  Dan Barsky 1 - 101 - HOUSTON/AUBURN

       George Walks 3 - 101 - FLORIDA/DUKE

17.  Jonathan Cox - 100 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Eric Inge - 100 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Mike Wolff 2 - 100 - FLORIDA/DUKE

20.  Justine Frank - 99 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Christina Gomez - 99 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Ty Hedgpeth - 99 - DUKE/MICHIGAN STATE

       Measha Donatello Williams - 99 - FLORIDA/DUKE

24.  Max Macon 1 - 98 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Marcus Spruill- 98 - DUKE/St. John's

26.  Rachel Bornn - 97 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Shane Jernigan - 97 - HOUSTON/AUBURN

       Katie Kollmeyer - 97 - FLORIDA/Kentucky

       Javier Rodriguez 2 - 97 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Rich Samuels 1 - 97 - DUKE/FLORIDA

31.  Xavier Conway - 96 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Marcus Jackson - 96 - HOUSTON/MICHIGAN STATE

33.  Alyssa Hopps - 95 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Silas Nichols - 95 - FLORIDA/DUKE

35.  Dustin Lansing - 94 - Alabama/MICHIGAN STATE

       Kingfish Parham - 94 - AUBURN/HOUSTON

       Jonathan Wasserman - 94 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE

38.  Shane Dogmillionaire - 93 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Natalie Moon - 93 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Jeff Plamondon - 93 - DUKE/MICHIGAN STATE

       Rich Samuels 2 - 93 - DUKE/MICHIGAN STATE

42.  Dan Barsky 2 - 92 - HOUSTON/MICHIGAN STATE

       Theo Frank - 92 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Sasha Moon - 92 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Jazz Piasecki - 92 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE

46.  Brent Bellinger 2 - 91 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON      

       Kyle Henderson 1 - 91 - FLORIDA/Clemson

       Adam Jorgensen - 91 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Jane Reynolds & Carolyn Fowler - 91 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON

       Dave Wilson - 91 - FLORIDA/DUKE

51.  Salvatore Plamondon - 90 - Alabama/AUBURN

       Vincent Plamondon - 90 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Chris Simmons - 90 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Jason Spuhler - 90 - FLORIDA/DUKE

55.  Joel Chernoff - 89 - AUBURN/DUKE

       Dave Piasecki - 89 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Steven Usma 2 - 89 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON

       Mike Wolff 1 - 89 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Day Yi 2 - 89 - AUBURN/HOUSTON

60.  Alvaro Gonzalez - 88 - AUBURN/HOUSTON

       Allison Parker - 88 - AUBURN/Alabama

       George Walks 2 - 88 - Alabama/FLORIDA

       Steven Usma 1 - 88 - DUKE/FLORIDA

64.  Sean McInerney III - 87 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Sean McInerney IIII - 87 - FLORIDA/DUKE

66.  Kevin Dick - 86 - FLORIDA/Alabama

       James Garvin - 86 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       John Hedgpeth - 86 - DUKE/AUBURN

       Martha Kroesen - 86 - FLORIDA/Alabama

       Pepe Sosa - 86 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON

       Lily Spuhler - 78 - FLORIDA/Purdue

72.  Jenna Finkelstein - 85 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE

       Colleen Giamberini - 85 - DUKE/FLORIDA

74.  Max Macon 2 - 84 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Kisha Marzouca - 84 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Sean & Barbie McInerney - 84 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE

       Jeremy Spuhler - 84 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Justin Yung - 84 - DUKE/FLORIDA

79.  Karen Katz 1 - 83 - DUKE/Maryland

       Kisha Marzouca 2 - 83 - DUKE/AUBURN

       Chuck Whitcomb - 83 - TENNESSEE/FLORIDA

       Measha Michaelangelo Williams - 83 - HOUSTON/AUBURN

83.  Barbie McInerney - 82 - FLORIDA/Arizona

       Ashley Poer 2 - 82 - FLORIDA/Arizona

       Javier Rodriguez 1 - 82 - DUKE/AUBURN

       Brittany Sosa - 82 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE

       Steven Usma 3 - 82 - AUBURN/HOUSTON

       Stacia Wilkaitis - 82 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Day Yi - 82 - DUKE/St. John's

       Joshua Zdrowak - 82 - DUKE/FLORIDA

91.  Jim Coleman - 81 - DUKE/AUBURN

       Jacey Fowler I - 81 - MICHIGAN STATE/TENNESSEE

       Karen Katz 2 - 81 - HOUSTON/MICHIGAN STATE

       Kline Kroesen - 81 - HOUSTON/AUBURN

       Max Macon 4 - 81 - FLORIDA/DUKE

96.  Si Nichols - 78 - HOUSTON/MICHIGAN STATE

       William Pujals - 78 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Cheryl Spuhler - 78 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE

99.  Ashley Poer 1 - 77 - DUKE/AUBURN

100.  Caroline Spuhler - 75 - FLORIDA/DUKE

101.  Paul Cummings 2 - 74 - HOUSTON/AUBURN

         Carolyn Fowler - 74 - AUBURN/DUKE

         Braeden Helland - 74 - FLORIDA/Alabama

         Jane Reynolds - 74 - Alabama/AUBURN

         Jessica Samuels - 74 - DUKE/Texas A&M

 

106.  Arlene Amo Hopps - 73 - DUKE/Connecticut

         Brandon Satterwhite - 73 - FLORIDA/Alabama

         Bubba Zdrowak - 73 - FLORIDA/Alabama

         Katie Zdrowak - 73- DUKE/St. John's

110.  Benny Frank Finkelstein - 72 - FLORIDA/Alabama

         Jacey Fowler II - 72 - Alabama/FLORIDA

         Hannah Sosa - 72 - FLORIDA/Alabama

         George Walks 4 - 72 - TENNESSEE/FLORIDA

114.  Chris LaForte - 71 - MICHIGAN STATE/Alabama

         Sean McInerney 1 - 71 - TENNESSEE/FLORIDA

116.  Kyle Henderson 2 - 70 - HOUSTON/FLORIDA

117.  Ferris Spuhler - 69 - Kansas/DUKE

         Logan Spuhler - 69 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE

         George Walks 1 - 69 - AUBURN/TENNESSEE

         Keith Zdrowak - 69 - DUKE/FLORIDA

121.  Quinn Jackson - 68 - Alabama/MICHIGAN STATE

         Steven Usma 4 - 68 - FLORIDA/Kentucky

123.  Tyler Giamberini - 67 - Maryland/Alabama

         Sean McInerney II - 67 - FLORIDA/St. Mary's

         Amanda Staudt - 66 - MICHIGAN STATE/Purdue

         Amy Zdrowak - 66 - AUBURN/Alabama

127.  Biscuit Zdrowak - 63 - HOUSTON/Iowa State

128.  Bill Ganoe 2 - 59 - HOUSTON/St. John's

129.  Dave Marzouca 2 - 58 - Connecticut/Alabama

130.  Dave Marzouca - 57 - AUBURN/Arizona

 

131.  Stephanie Henderson - 55 - AUBURN/Clemson

132.  Wes Wiggins - 51 - Arizona/Louisville

133.  Barkley Sosa - 41 - Mississippi State/Connecticut

134.  Luna Frank - 36 - Marquette/HOUSTON

NCAA Tournament Pool - Sweet Sixteen/Day 1 Results

 

Well, we lost two more champions last night, but neither of those teams destroyed our pool.  That is what happens when, well, chalk happens.  The winning seeds from last night were 1 (Duke), 1 (Florida), 2 (Alabama), and (3) Texas Tech.  Arkansas tried their best to crash the Elite 8 party, but they could not hold onto a 15-point lead in the second half, only to succumb to Texas Tech in overtime.

The lost champions were the Arizona Wildcats and Maryland Terrapins.  Yes, someone selected Maryland as our champion, which isn't as strange a pick as you might think given that they were a 4-seed, and they hadn't lost a game all year by more than 6 points.  Anyway, our champions are:  ALABAMA, AUBURN, Arizona, Connecticut, DUKE, FLORIDA, HOUSTON, Kansas, Marquette, Maryland, MICHIGAN STATE, Mississippi State, TENNESSEE.  Four of the picks are in action tonight:  Houston (against Purdue), Auburn (against Michigan), Michigan State (against Mississippi) and Tennessee (versus Kentucky).  Most won't have much of an effect on the pool as wins by the favorites will either help or hurt most entrants - but boy oh boy does that set up an exciting weekend!

Since all the games were chalk, if you did not correctly have 3 of the 4 winners from last night, you lost ground in the standings.  Sometimes even if you had 3 correct, because we have a new leader, Max Macon 3 of Jupiter, Florida, followed by Bill Ganoe 1 of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and Salvatore Plamondon of Lincoln, Rhode Island.  Salvatore had Maryland defeating Florida, and although a tough, gutsy pick, it cost him first place - at least for the moment.

The Picks of the Day went to all of the entries that correctly picked all 4 winners, and there are a number of those brackets, but CONGRATS anyway to:  Ty Hedgpeth of Wilmington, NC, Paul Cummings of Palm City, Florida, Mike Wolff 2 of Boynton Beach, Florida, Jane Reynolds and Carolyn Fowler of West Palm Beach, Florida, Measha Donatello Williams of Houston, Texas, Christina Zanzig of Stuart, Florida, Martha Kroesen of West Palm Beach, Florida, Dan Barsky 1 of Miami Beach, Florida, Rich Samuels 2 of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Jody Cox of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Justine Frank of Charlotte, North Carolina, Kevin Dick of Alexandria, Virginia, Measha Raphael Williams of Houston, Texas, Day Yi 2 of Forest Hills, New York, Xavier Conway of somewhere near Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Alvaro Gonzalez of Boynton Beach, Florida, Allison Parker of Washington, D.C., Measha Michaelangelo Williams of Houston, Texas, Brandon Satterwhite of Juno Beach, Vincent Plamondon of Lincoln Rhode Island, Ashley Poer 1 of Lake Worth Beach, Florida, Theo Frank of Charlotte, North Carolina, Kisha Marzouca of Boynton Beach, Florida, William Pujals of Charlotte, North Carolina, Max Macon 4 of Jupiter, Florida and Cheryl Spuhler of Acworth, Georgia.

PHEW!!! - That was a lot.  So let's transfer from on-the-paper of the brackets to on-the-court for the games.

Players of the Day

10.  Kon Knueppel, Duke - 20 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists [Ed. Note - He must have been good to make the list b/c Pepster hates this guy as a player]

9.  Aden Holloway, Alabama - 23 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals

8.  JT Toppin, Texas Tech - 20 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist

7.  Richie Saunders, BYU - 25 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals

6.  Derik Queen, Maryland - 27 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals

5.  Johnell Davis, Arkansas - 30 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist

4.  Caleb Love, Arizona - 35 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal [Ed. Note - Pepster did tell you to watch Caleb Love against Duke!]

3.  Cooper Flagg, Duke - 30 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks

2.  Derrion Williams, Texas Tech - 20 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, last-minute three to send the game to overtime, game-winner with about 7 seconds left in OT

1.  Mark Sears, Alabama - 34 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assist, 3 steals - 10 Three-Pointers Made

Trivia Question:  Mark Sears hit 10 three-pointers in Alabama's Sweet 16 victory over BYU.  Who holds the record for most made three-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game, and how many did he hit?

Stats of the Day

6.  Florida committed 12 turnovers in the first half

5.  Mark Sears of Alabama hit 10 three-pointers

4.  69-56:  Arkansas's lead over Texas Tech with 5:00 minutes remaining in the game

3.  Alabama hit an NCAA Tournament record 25 three-pointers; previous record was 21.

2.  If Alabama did not hit any two-point field goals last night, only their three-pointers and free throws, they still would have defeated BYU.

1.  Tyler O"Neill of the Baltimore Orioles, homered in his 6th-consecutive season opener!

Trivia Answer:  Jeff Fryer, Loyola Marymount, 11 (11-15) against Michigan in 1990

The way the games played out yesterday, the most obvious history of the NCAA tournament story was about that 1990 Loyola Marymount team (Hank Gathers death, Bo Kimble scoring 30+ on an off-night and shooting free throws left-handed to honor Gathers, Jeff Fryer hitting threes like nobody's business, and taking them like there weren't no fours - to paraphrase Antoine Walker.  But, I have already done that story in past years.  So then, I was almost hoping for a Maryland victory (except Florida is my champion) so that I can write about that 2002 national championship team with Juan Dixon, Steve Blake, Lonny Baxter, Tahj Holden and Chris Wilcox, but that didn't happen.

But, then it hit me like an Ali Faroukmanesh three-pointer.  (I hear your collective, "Who?").  You know, Ali Farouskmanesh, the shooter of the gutsiest, craziest, most awe-inspiring three-pointer of all time.  Which three-pointer was this, you might aske?  THIS ONE!!!  Now, Faroukmanesh was wide-open on this shot, why was it gutsy and crazy?  Well, before we get to that point, let me just go back to why he is in the news.  Yesterday, Faroukmanesh was named the head coach at Colorado State - yes that Colorado State that just lost to Maryland on a buzzer beater.

So, in 2010, Kansas was the number 1 seed in the tournament, and cruised to a 90-74 victory over 16th-seeded Lehigh, behind 26 points from Marcus Morris, and double figures from Sherron Collins, Cole Aldrich, Xavier Henry and Tyrel Reed.  This brough the Jayhawks into a second-round matchup against the 9th seeded University of Northern Iowa, who had sneaked by the 8th seeded UNLV Running' Rebels 69-66.  In that game Ali Faroukmanesh led the team with 17 points, shooting 5-9 from three-point range, including the game-winner.  This brought us to the matchup against top-seeded Kansas in Oklahoma City.

Against Kansas, Northern Iowa led by 6 at halftime.  In the second half, Kansas lost star center Cole Aldrich to injury and Northern Iowa took more of a lead.  Kansas, gathered their breath, began pressing, and pulled back into the game, down only 1 with 35 seconds left.  Nothern Iowa has the ball and is facing backcourt pressure as they inbound the ball.  They easily beat the pressure and get the ball into Faroukmanesh's hands on the wing with a Kansas defender near him, and everybody else hustling to get into the Northern Iowa offensive zone.  Translation - there was nobody else there.  Good time to dribble, wait for the foul, hit two free throws and then play defenses with a three-point lead.  But no - Faroukmanesh pulls up and .... swish!!!  Four-point lead for Northern Iowa.  Faroukmanesh hits two more free throws, and Kansas never got any close than that 1-point deficit before Faroukmanesh launched.  Faroukkmanesh finished with a game and team high 16, on 4-10 from three-point range to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

Northern Iowa ultimately lost in the next round to Michigan State 59-52, with the Spartans holding Faroukmanesh to only 9 points, on 1-6 shooting from three-point range.  And since Butler's Gordan Hayward's last-second three-pointer against Duke in the championship game just missed allowing Duke to win 61-59, Ali Faroukmanesh hit the most memorable shot in that 2010 tournament.  It will be interesting to see what he does as a head coach, with a team that definitely has some talent (unless they leave in the portal - but that is a story for another day!).

Sweet Sixteen/Day 1 Standings

1.  Max Macon 3 - 83 - HOUSTON/AUBURN

2.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 82 - FLORIDA/DUKE

     Salvatore Plamondon - 82 - ALABAMA/AUBURN

4.  Katie Kollmeyer - 81 - FLORIDA/KENTUCKY

5.  Marcus Jackson - 80 - HOUSTON/MICHIGAN STATE

     Measha Leonardo Williams - 80 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON

7.  Ty Hedgpeth - 79 - DUKE/MICHIGAN STATE

8.  Paul Cummings - 78 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON

     Preston Holbert - 78 - TENNESSEE/FLORIDA

10.  Bill Ganoe 3 - 76 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 76 - AUBURN/TENNESSEE

       Mike Wolff 2 - 76 - FLORIDA/DUKE

13.  Matt Hopps - 75 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Jane Reynolds & Carolyn Fowler - 75 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON

       Measha Donatello Williams - 75 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Christina Zanzig - 75 - MICHIGAN STATE/DUKE

17.  Brent Bellinger - 74 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Mark Holbert - 74 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Martha Kroesen - 74 - FLORIDA/ALABAMA

       Dustin Lansing - 74 - ALABAMA/MICHIGAN STATE

       Marcus Spruill- 74 - DUKE/St. John's

22.  Dan Barsky 1 - 73 - HOUSTON/AUBURN

       Guy Hughes - 73 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE

       Shane Jernigan - 73 - HOUSTON/AUBURN

       Rich Samuels 2 - 73 - DUKE/MICHIGAN STATE

26.  Dan Barsky 2 - 72 - HOUSTON/MICHIGAN STATE

       Jonathan Cox - 72 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Eric Inge - 72 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       George Walks 2 - 72 - ALABAMA/FLORIDA

30.  Brent Bellinger 2 - 71 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON

       Justine Frank - 71 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Christina Gomez - 71 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Alyssa Hopps - 71 - AUBURN/HOUSTON

34.  Kevin Dick - 70 - FLORIDA/ALABAMA

       John Hedgpeth - 70 - DUKE/AUBURN

       Dan Laishley - 70 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Max Macon 1 - 70 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Barbie McInerney - 70 - FLORIDA/ARIZONA

       Jonathan Wasserman - 70 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE

       Measha Raphael Williams - 70 - DUKE/AUBURN

41.  Natalie Moon - 69 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Steven Usma 2 - 69 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON

       George Walks 3 - 69 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Mike Wolff 1 - 69 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Day Yi 2 - 69 - AUBURN/HOUSTON

46.  Xavier Conway - 68 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 68 - AUBURN/HOUSTON

       Allison Parker - 68 - AUBURN/ALABAMA

       Jazz Piasecki - 68 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE

50.  Kyle Henderson 1 - 67 - FLORIDA/Clemson

       Silas Nichols - 67 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Measha Michaelangelo Williams - 67 - HOUSTON/AUBURN

53.  Kingfish Parham - 66 - AUBURN/HOUSTON

       Brittany Sosa - 66 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE

       Lily Spuhler - 66 - FLORIDA/PURDUE

       Steven Usma 3 - 66 - AUBURN/HOUSTON

       Day Yi - 66 - DUKE/St. John's

58.  Rachel Bornn - 65 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Jacey Fowler I - 65 - MICHIGAN STATE/TENNESSEE

       Shane Dogmillionaire - 65 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Jeff Plamondon - 65 - DUKE/MICHIGAN STATE

       Javier Rodriguez 2 - 65 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Rich Samuels 1 - 65 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Brandon Satterwhite - 65 - FLORIDA/ALABAMA

       Bubba Zdrowak - 65 - FLORIDA/ALABAMA

66.  Sean & Barbie McInerney - 64 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE

67.  Adam Jorgensen - 63 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Chris LaForte - 63 - MICHIGAN STATE/ALABAMA

69.  Vincent Plamondon - 62 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Ashley Poer 2 - 62 - FLORIDA/ARIZONA

       Jane Reynolds - 62 - ALABAMA/AUBURN

       Chris Simmons - 62 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Amanda Staudt - 62 - MICHIGAN STATE/PURDUE (4)

74.  Joel Chernoff - 61 - AUBURN/DUKE

       Jenna Finkelstein - 61 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE

       Colleen Giamberini - 61 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Kline Kroesen - 61 - HOUSTON/AUBURN

       Dave Piasecki - 61 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Ashley Poer 1 - 61 = DUKE/AUBURN

80. Theo Frank - 60 - DUKE/FLORIDA

      Quinn Jackson - 60 - ALABAMA/MICHIGAN STATE

      Kisha Marzouca - 60 - DUKE/FLORIDA

      Sasha Moon - 60 - DUKE/FLORIDA

      Steven Usma 4 - 60 - FLORIDA/KENTUCKY

      Justin Yung - 60 - DUKE/FLORIDA

86.  Karen Katz 1 - 59 - DUKE/Maryland

       Sean McInerney 1 - 59 - TENNESSEE/FLORIDA

       Sean McInerney III - 59 - DUKE/FLORIDA

       Sean McInerney IIII - 59 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Chuck Whitcomb - 59 - TENNESSEE/FLORIDA

       Dave Wilson - 59 - FLORIDA/DUKE

92.  Paul Cummings 2 - 58 - HOUSTON/AUBURN

       James Garvin - 58 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Braeden Helland - 58 - FLORIDA/ALABAMA

       Si Nichols - 58 - HOUSTON/MICHIGAN STATE

       William Pujals - 58 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Javier Rodriguez 1 - 58 - DUKE/AUBURN

       Jessica Samuels - 58 - DUKE/Texas A&M

       Pepe Sosa - 58 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON

       Jason Spuhler - 58 - FLORIDA/DUKE

       Stacia Wilkaitis - 58 - FLORIDA/DUKE

102.  Jim Coleman - 57 - DUKE/AUBURN

         Karen Katz 2 - 57 - HOUSTON/MICHIGAN STATE

         Max Macon 4 - 57 - FLORIDA/DUKE

         Ferris Spuhler - 57 - Kansas/DUKE

106.  Benny Frank Finkelstein - 56 - FLORIDA/ALABAMA

         Jacey Fowler II - 56 - ALABAMA/FLORIDA

         Max Macon 2 - 56 - DUKE/FLORIDA

         Hannah Sosa - 56 - FLORIDA/ALABAMA

         Jeremy Spuhler - 56 - FLORIDA/DUKE

         Steven Usma 1 - 56 - DUKE/FLORIDA

112.  Tyler Giamberini - 55 - Maryland/ALABAMA

         Kisha Marzouca 2 - 55 - DUKE/AUBURN

         Sean McInerney II - 55 - FLORIDA/St. Mary's

115.  Kyle Henderson 2 - 54 - HOUSTON/FLORIDA

         Cheryl Spuhler - 54 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE

         Amy Zdrowak - 54 - AUBURN/ALABAMA

         Joshua Zdrowak - 54 - DUKE/FLORIDA

119.  Arlene Amo Hopps - 53 - DUKE/Connecticut

         Katie Zdrowak - 53- DUKE/St. John's

121.  George Walks 4 - 52 - TENNESSEE/FLORIDA

122.  Caroline Spuhler - 51 - FLORIDA/DUKE

         Biscuit Zdrowak - 51 - HOUSTON/Iowa State

124.  Dave Marzouca 2 - 50 - Connecticut/ALABAMA

125.  Dave Marzouca - 49 - AUBURN/Arizona

         Logan Spuhler - 49 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE

         George Walks 1 - 49 - AUBURN/TENNESSEE

         Keith Zdrowak - 49 - DUKE/FLORIDA

129.  Bill Ganoe 2 - 47 - HOUSTON/St. John's

         Stephanie Henderson - 47 - AUBURN/Clemson

131.  Carolyn Fowler - 46 - AUBURN/DUKE

132.  Wes Wiggins - 43 - Arizona/Louisville

133.  Barkley Sosa - 41 - Mississippi State/Connecticut

134.  Luna Frank - 32 - Marquette/HOUSTON

The SEC is a Basketball Conference! The NCAA Block Squares Pool

Last year, I wrote a post titled "The SEC is the New Big Ten" where I talked about the bizarro world of the Big Ten performing well in the first days of the tournament and the SEC being dogs. You may remember that the highlights last year included Kentucky losing Oakland in the first round, Auburn being bested by an Ivy League school, and Florida giving up 102 points to Colorado. I didn't draw the conclusion at the time, but it was clear that the SEC was a football only conference. 

How the times have changed, right? This year, the SEC received 14 tournament bids and advance seven teams to the Sweet 16! The Big Ten? Still a pretty good basketball conference. Their entries shot out to a 10-0 start and have 4 teams remaining. The biggest takeaway this year is that the power conferences are stronger than ever, and there are no Cinderella's to be found. Just a few additional thoughts before we get to the pool results:

• Despite an exceptional effort from the two-time defending champions, the Big East has no teams
  
  remaining in the tournament. This is noteworthy since the Big East has won 7 of the last 13 National Championships. As a Syracuse alum, I can't stress enough how much I miss the conference. Oh, and Hoya Suxa!
• The ACC has only one team remaining and they are a wagon! Duke is clearly the most talented team in the field, and they are dog walking teams in the early rounds. It is kind of amazing that in his third season at the helm, Jon Scheyer is making people forget that other guy who used to coach at Duke. 
• The Big 12's four remaining teams in the tournament include BYU, Arizona and Houston. None of these schools were in the conference as recently as the 2022-23 season. Conference realignment is weird. I mean, who caught that late night Big Ten - Big 12 clash between Oregon and Arizona? Riveting. 
• One buzzer beater all weekend and it came from Cooper Flagg's high school teammate and confident because he is from Baltimore baller Derik Queen. It is here that I always like to point out that Maryland is the last Big Ten team to win a National Championship in basketball. 
• How about the Pitino family. St. John's shot 21 for 75 (28%) from the field and 2 for 22 (9%) on 3-pointers in a loss to Arkansas on Saturday afternoon. That is atrocious! Star guard RJ Luis Jr. was benched in this game after going 3 for 17 and 0 for 3 from the 3-point line. Again, atrocious. After that debacle was over, Rick Pitino got on a plane and went to Cleveland to watch his sone Richard's New Mexico team fall to Michigan St. Tough weekend weekend all around.
• Oh, and then there is John Calipari. In his last four years at Kentucky, he missed the tournament once, got knocked out in the first round twice, and got knocked out in the round of 32 in the other appearance. He quits Kentucky for the traditionally better program at Arkansas this year and they are rolling into the Sweet Sixteen. No need to weep for Kentucky though as they are also there with a roster that does not contain a single player from last years team under Calipari. Just, wow!

On to the block squares pool where your commissioner is off the schneid! I have a long way to go to catch Johnny Aranza, who won a 3rd square in the second round yesterday, but I have arrived. Look out, I intend to win more!

We are on to the Sweet Sixteen Thursday, and the value of squares doubles. the next 8 games are worth 100 each! Good luck everyone.

--Your Commissioner 

2024 NCAA Tournament Pool Sweet 16/Day 2

 

The Sweet 16 is over, and we already have a mathematical winner.  That's it - Pool is over.  Wait, it is a winner for last place.  Congratulations to Alyssa Hopps of Quincy, Massachussetts, who is currently in 137th place, with no possibility of earning any additional points.  You will be receiving your entry fee back (or at the least person that paid your fee will).  Before making fun of Alyssa's performance just note that she is likely the best current basketball player in this pool.  And that includes the few of you that hooped in college.  With regard to the other end of the pool, we have a lot of movement at the top.  But I will get to that later.

Social Media Post of the Day

1.  Michigan State Representative Matt Maddock, the self-proclaimed "Trump Endorsed, Ranked Most Conservative State Representative, Freedom Caucus, Anti-communist, Husband of Michigan's Most Wanted Republican" posted this on Thursday ...

For those that can't, don't know how, or won't enlarge that, it is a picture of three buses at Detroit Metro airport with a police escort.  The post reads, "Happening right now.  Three busses just loaded up with illegal invaders at Detroit Metro.  Anyone have any idea where they're headed with their police escort?"

Well, I actually do, because it was the Gonzaga basketball team that landed in Detroit to play in last night's Sweet Sixteen game against Purdue.  Now, to be honest, throughout the last couple of decades many higher-seeded teams have considered the Gonzaga Bulldogs to be illegal invaders into the bastion that is the upper-echelon of the NCAA basketball elite.  See, you all thought I was going to get political with this, but it is all about the baskeball.

Sadly, it isn't all about the basketball anymore for Gonzaga, which fell to the number 1 seed Purdue 80-68, behind the stellar play of Zach Edey - who along with Terrence Shannon has been the best player in this tournament.  Gonzaga, on the other hand, is back on its way to invade Spokane, Washington.

Purdue will move on to play the Tennessee Volunteers, who eliminated Creighton 82-75 despite a fantastic game from Baylor Scheierman, who had 25 points and 6 boards.  He was no match for Tennessee's Dalton Knecht, who scored 24, and added 6 rebounds, 5 assists, two steals, and 1 block.

On the other side of the bracket Duke outlasted Houston 54-51, after Houston's All-American leader Jamal Shead left with approximately 16 minutes left due to an ankle injury sustained in the game.  Not to say that the game would have been different, but Jeremy Roach, whom Shead was primarily guarding, scored 12 of his 14 points after Shead's injury.  Yes, injuries are part of the game, but they are also part of the story.

Duke advances to play its old ACC foe North Carolina State, who continued its surprise run defeating Marquette 67-58.  This was a weird game to watch as NC State took a big lead and as Marquette kept chipping away, they just couldnt' get close enough.  NC State was offensively discombobulated the entire lsat 12:30, but from about the 12:30 mark until the under 8 minute time-out, Marquette could barely score either. 

With North Carolina State being an 11-seed  and defeating 2-seed Marquette, bonus points were in play.  However, none of the 4 people that selected North Carolina State into the Elite Eight had them defeating Marquette.  So no bonuses awarded.  But kudos to Logan Spuhler of Acworth, Georgia, Clair Bullock of Columbus, Ohio, Barkley Sosa of Riviera Beach, Florida and Colleen Giamberini of Boynton Beach, Florida for selecting the Wolfpack.  Wait, did I say 4?  I meant 5.  The Pick of the Day is awarded to John Hedgpeth of Wilimington, North Carolina who not only selected North Carolina State, but also chose Duke, Purdue and Tennessee.  He had a perfect 4 for 4.  His only flaw was that he also did not have North Carlina State over Marquette, so no extra 5 bonus points.  Either way, John passed a lot of of entries as he flew up the Leaderboard.  Congratulations, John.

We lost four champions last night, Creighton, Gonzaga, Houston and Marquette, leaving us with 7 possible champions - basically everybody but Clemson.  Our remaining champions are ALABAMA, Auburn, Arizona, Baylor, CONNECTICUT, Creighton, DUKE, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Gonzaga, Houston, ILLINOIS, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, Marquette, Michigan State, North Carolina, NORTH CAROLINA STATE, PURDUE and TENNESSEE.  So, out of the 12 remaining teams in the tournament, entries have each of them as their champion, except Clemson.

Stats of the Day

2.  North Carolina State's Mohamed Diarra had 11 rebounds in the first half; Marquette had 12.

1.  Indiana's women's basketball team hit more three-pointers (13) in their loss to South Carolina yesterday than South Carolina has ever given up in a single game since Dawn Staley became their coach in the 2008-2009 season.  Also, Dawn Staley has been the coach since the 2008-2009 season!

Players of the Day

10.  Kyle Filipowski, Duke - 16 points, 9 rebounds

9.  DJ Horne, North Carolina State - 19 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist

8.  Kam Jones, Marquette - 20 points

7.  Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina - 22 points on 10-12 shooting

6.  Graham Ike, Gonzaga, 18 points, 10 rebounds

5.  Braden Smith, Purdue - 14 points, 8 rebounds, 15 assists

4.  Dalton Knecht, Tennessee - 24 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block

3.  Aziaha James, North Carolina State - 29 points, 5 assists

2.  Baylor Scheierman, Creighton - 25 points, 6 rebounds

1.  Zach Edey, Purdue - 27 points, 14 rebounds

I don't know how I failed to mention this.  Nobody is talking about it, but I am pretty sure that Jamal Shead of Houston was injured when Duke's Kyle Filipowski tripped him.  Filipowski, knowing that you cannot fully embrace your inner Grayson Allenness until you have multiple trips in one year, needed at least one more after his intentional hit job on North Carolina's Harrison Ingram.  Now, he claims he didn't do it on purpose and didn't even know Ingram was there, but the video doesn't lie; Filipowski BE TRIPPIN'!

So, maybe Filipowki didn't actually trip Shead, but Grayson Allen does have multiple trips.  Here is a walk down memory lane with a GRAYSON ALLEN TRIPPING COMPILATION.

Of course, none of that compares to the travesty surrounding the greatest non-ejection in NCAA Tournament history, which happened in the Elite 8 in Philadelphia in 1992 when wannabetoughguy (yes, all one word) Christian Laettner stomped on all around nice guy and great citizen Aminu Timberlake and SHOULD HAVE BEEN EJECTED!

And no, I am not bitter.

Here is what we have to look forward to today, Illinois is an 8 1/2 point underdog to defending champion - and rolling like they are in Ibiza - Connecticut.  Both are champions in our pool, so this is a big game.  Illinois is going to have to come out of the gates firing, and it needs a big game from Terrence Shannon who, along with Purdue's Zach Edey, is playing the best of anybody in this tournament.

In the second game, 6-seed Clemson and 4-seed Alabama meet for the first time since Clemson upended Alabama on 44-16 on January 7, 2019 in Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.  Alabama is an incredibly high-scoring team that can be very exciting.  Can Clemson slow them down to crash the party?

Have fun watching the games, and always double check your brackets in case I made a scoring error.  Remember today's games are worth 8 points each.  And, as you will see, there is room to make up on the leaders, if you have your championship game intact, as well as most of your Final Four.  For now, here is your Leaderboard.

Tournament Standings after Sweet Sixteen/Day 2

1.  Blake Jackson - 96 - DUKE/Arizona

2.  Bill Ganoe 3 - 91 - North Carolina/Houston

     Max Marion 3 - 91 - PURDUE/Baylor

4.  Allison Parker - 90 - North Carolina/DUKE

5.  Ty Hedgepth - 86 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

     Marcus Jackson - 86 - Kansas/ALABAMA

7.  Miles Jackson - 85 - Kentucky/CONNECTICUT

     Brian McMahon - 85 - CONNECTICUT/Kentucky

     Jeff Plamondon - 85 - CONNECTICUT/Marquette

10.  Braeden Helland - 84 - Auburn/Creighton

11.  George Fox 2 - 83 - CONNECTICUT/DUKE

12.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 82 - NORTH CAROLINA/TENNESSEE

       Javier Rodriguez - 82 - PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Chris Simmons - 82 - TENNESSEE/CONNECTICUT

       Measha Williams 3 - 82- PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Justin Yung - 82 - North Carolina/PURDUE

17.  Jody Cox - 81 - Marquette/Arizona

18.  Rich Samuels 4 - 80 - Houston/CONNECTICUT

19.  Lee Pagan - 79 - Arizona/PURDUE

       Cassi Spruill - 79 - Houston/ILLINOIS

       Jeremy Spuhler - 79 - CONNECTICUT/TENNESSEE

       Bubba Zdrowak - 79 - DUKE/Arizona

23.  Daniel Barsky 1 - 78 - CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       Rich Samuels 2 - 78 - PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Measha Williams 1 - 78 - Houston/CONNECTICUT

       Josh Zdrowak - 78 - Arizona/Kentucky

27.  Paul Cummings 2 -77 - CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 77 - PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       John Hedgpeth - 77 - DUKE/North Carolina

       Marcus Spruill - 77 - North Carolina/PURDUE

       Cheryl Spuhler - 77 - CONNECTICUT/Marquette

       Amanda Staudt - 77 - Arizona/PURDUE

33.  Kevin Dick - 76 - Kentucky/North Carolina

       Carolyn Fowler - 76 - North Carolina/TENNESSEE

       Mark Holbert - 76 - North Carolina/Kentucky

       Matt Hopps - 76 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

       Max Macon 2 - 76 - PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Si Nichols - 76 - CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       William Pujals - 76 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

40.  George Walks 3 - 75 - PURDUE/Baylor

       Amy Zdrowak - 75 - PURDUE/Baylor

42.  Joel Chernoff - 74 - North Carolina/Houston

       Kyle Henderson 1 - 74 - Creighton/CONNECTICUT

       Jacey Reynolds 2 - 74 - North Carolina/TENNESSEE

       Rich Samuels 5 - 74 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

       Measha Williams 2 - 74 - Houston/Auburn

47.  James Coleman - 73 - CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       Sean McInerney 2 - 73 - CONNECTICUT/Creighton

       Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 73 - CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       Matt Okell - 73 - North Carolina/Houston

       Dave Piasecki - 73 - Florida/Auburn

       Keith Zdrowak - 73 - PURDUE/Baylor

53.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 72 - PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Shane Jernigan 2 - 72 - Auburn/PURDUE

       Brittany Sosa - 72 - PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Logan Spuhler - 72 - Arizona/DUKE

57.  Bill Ganoe 2 - 71 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

       Ashley Poer - 71 - Iowa State/Houston

       Silas Nichols - 71 - CONNECTICUT/Kentucky

       Jane Reynolds - 71 - ALABAMA/TENNESSEE

       Pepe Sosa - 71 - Arizona/Kentucky

62.  Paul Cummings 3 - 70 - CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       Justine Frank - 70 - CONNECTICUT/Marquette

       George Walks 4 - 70 - PURDUE/North Carolina

65.  Paul Cummings 1 - 69 - PURDUE/Iowa State

       Derrick Lowe - 69 - Kentucky/North Carolina

       Ryan Rodriguez - 69 - DUKE/Auburn

       Katie Zdrowak - 69 - Arizona/PURDUE

69.  Skip LaForte - 68 - Michigan State/Houston

       Max Marion 2 - 68 - Kentucky/CONNECTICUT

       Sasha Moon - 68 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

       Rich Samuels 1 - 68 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

       Rich Samuels 3 - 68 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 68 - Kentucky/Iowa State

75.  George Fox 1 - 67 - PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Kyle Henderson 2 - 67 - Houston/CONNECTICUT

77.  Melissa Gaynor - 66 - ILLINOIS/South Carolina

       Tyler Giamberini - 66 - Arizona/Kansas

       Quinn Jackson - 66 - Iowa State/Gonzaga

       Dan Laishley - 66 - Houston/CONNECTICUT

       Lily Spuhler - 66 - Kansas/North Carolina

       Mike Wolff 1 - 66 - DUKE/North Carolina

       Jonathan Wasserman - 66 - Kentucky/ILLINOIS

84.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 65 - Kentucky/Auburn

       Jenna Finkelstein - 65 - Florida/CONNECTICUT

       Dawn Lamb - 65 - CONNECTICUT/Marquette

       Chris O'Neil - 65 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

       Kingfish Parham - 65 - Auburn/Oregon

       Jessica Samuels - 65 - Florida Atlantic/Houston

       Day Yi - 65 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

91.  Jacey Fowler 1 - 64 - North Carolina/PURDUE

       Cheryl Spuhler - 64 - Iowa State/Marquette

93.  Max Macon 1 - 63 - CONNECTICUT/TENNESSEE

       Max Marion 2 - 63 - North Carolina/Marquette

       Kisha Marzouca 1 - 63 - Arizona/DUKE

       George Walks 1 - 63 - North Carolina/Kentucky

       Keith Wynne - 63 - CONNECTICUT/Marquette

98.  Michael McNally - 62 - Gonzaga/Baylor

       George Walks 2 - 62 Baylor/Gonzaga

       Coco Wynne - 62 - Creighton/ILLINOIS

101.  Max Macon 3 - 61 - Florida/North Carolina

         Max Macon 4 - 61 - Houston/North Carolina

         Jamie Toole - 61 - Houston/Arizona

104.  Clair Bullock - 60 - NORTH CAROLINA STATE/North Carolina

         James Garvin - 60 - PURDUE/Iowa State

         Natalie Moon - 60 - CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

107.  Brent Bellinger - 59 - ILLINOIS/PURDUE

        Adam Jorgensen 1 - 59 - CONNECTICUT/Creighton

        Adam Jorgensen 2 - 59 - Houston/CONNECTICUT

        Nick Kuehl - 59 - Auburn/Marquette

        Max Marion 4 - 59 - Houston/Iowa State

        Noel Martinez - 59 - PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

113.  Daniel Barsky 2 - 58 - PURDUE/Baylor

         Barbie Curlett 1 - 58 - Houston/CONNECTICUT

         Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 58 - TENNESSEE/Arizona

         Katie Kollmeyer - 58 - Arizona/Houston

         Sean McInerney 1 - 58 - Marquette/North Carolina

         Chris Pettit - 58 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

119.  Barbie Curlett 2 - 56 - CONNECTICUT/Marquette

         Arlene Amo Hopps - 56 - North Carolina/DUKE

         Karen Katz - 56 - PURDUE/Auburn

         Savannah Grace Pressly - 56 - Florida Atlantic/Marquette

123.   Shane Jernigan 1 - 54 - CONNECTICUT/Marquette

124.  Kisha Marzouca 2 - 52 - Arizona/Houston

         Jason Spuhler - 52 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

126.  Guy Hughes - 51 - Houston/Iowa State

         Anne-Marie O'Neil - 51 - PURDUE/Arizona

         Barkley Sosa - 51 - CONNECTICUT/Gonzaga

         Mike Wolff 2 - 51 - North Carolina/Florida

130.  Colleen Giamberini - 50 - CONNECTICUT/NORTH CAROLINA STATE

         Dave Marzouca 2 - 50 - Arizona/DUKE

132.  Noel Martinez 2 - 49 - Auburn/TENNESSEE

         A.J. Ripin - 49 - North Carolina/Houston

134.  Stephanie Henderson - 48 - Marquette/CONNECTICUT

135.  Dave Marzouca 1 - 47 - Wisconsin/CONNECTICUT

         Hannah Sosa - 47 - Florida/Arizona

137.  ALYSSA HOPPS - QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, 35 - North Carolina/Kentucky - CLINCHES LAST PLACE AND ENTRY FEE RETURNED

2019 NCAA Tournament Pool Standings - Sweet Sixteen/Day 2

And we have our first number 1 seed knocked out of the tournament as Auburn is still hitting three pointers against North Carolina.  Auburn has been absolutely red hot as they ran through the SEC tournament before winning their first three games in the NCAA.  North Carolina definitely missed the usual contributions from Nassir Little, who only played 13 minutes after being stricken with the flu.  This was the last collegiate game for Luke Maye, who has left his impression in NCAA Tourney lore with his last second shot to beat Kentucky in what seems like 1967 in the Elite 8, sending North Carolina to the Final Four, which they would win.  It should be noted that it was nice that Luke Maye stayed at UNC long enough for his grandson to see him play.  (Ok - the shot was in 2017).

Auburn likely lost starting power forward Chuma Okeke, however, with a torn ACL suffered late in the game.  That will affect their chances of earning a place in the Final Four.

North Carolina was a champion in our pool, and in the finals and final four in a lot of brackets that did not have them winning it all.  Auburn's run has wrecked a bunch of pools, but not those of Dave Piasecki #1 of Gainesville, Florida, Barkley Sosa of Palm Beach Gardens, FL, Hilary Kroesen of Port St. Lucie, Florida, Arlene Amo Hopps, of Quincy, Massachusetts, Michael Litsey of Los Angeles, California and Samantha Sheehan of Jupiter, Florida, all of whom selected Auburn at least into the Elite 8.  But, none of them had Auburn, Michigan State, Duke and Kentucky yesterday like the joint bracket for Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds of Greenacres, Florida.  They win the "Pick of the Day".

In the second game in Kansas City, the Houston Cougars brought 33 wins into the Sweet Sixteen, but could not make it 34 as Kentucky defeated Houston 62-58.  Houston was a champion in our pool, and a couple of other entrants had them either in the Final 4 or in the finals itself.  The Wildcats took the lead for good on an aptly named  Tyler Herro 3 pointer with 25 seconds remaining.

In the Washington, D.C. regional, Michigan State pulled ahead from LSU to win 80-63 as four players scored in double figures for the Spartans.  In the late game the Duke Blue Devils seem to be playing a "How many games are we going to let our opponents have a tip-in at the basket to tie/win as Virginia Tech's Ahmed Hill missed a tip-in off a missed Ty Outlaw 3 pointer with 4 seconds left that would have tied the game and sent it to overtime.  Duke's Cam Reddish missed the game with an injury, and will be a "game time decision" for tomorrow's game against Michigan State.

Duke, Kentucky and Michigan State survived, but we lost the aforementioned champions, leaving us with 6 remaining.  Our champions - with the 8 remaining champions in bold are:  Duke, Florida, Florida State, Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina, Purdue, Syracuse, Tennessee, Villanova, Virginia.

We are guaranteed to lose one of our champions today as Virginia plays Purdue in Louisville.  Gonzaga plays Texas Tech in the first game from Anaheim.  If watching the games tonight, pay attention to the rims in the KFC Yum Center during the Virginia/Purdue game.  I don't know what it is, but they make an inordinate amount of noise, or at least they did on Thursday night.  I sure hope that they get that fixed before tonight's game.

OK, I admit that I phoned in the history lesson yesterday, but nothing from Thursday's games stood out to me.  With traditional blue bloods Duke, Michigan State and Kentucky advancing, that leaves Auburn for today's tournament history lesson.  Since Auburn's best - and most well known - player is Charles Barkley, I could write about him, but most people know about Barkley (namesake of pool entrant Barkley Sosa in fact).  What you may not know is that this is only Auburn' second appearance in the Elite 8.  So for our trip down memory lane, I give you the 1986 Auburn Tigers, War Eagle, Plainsmen.  A school so good it has 3 nicknames.

Auburn, behind senior sharpshooter Chuck Conners Person (of course a sharpshooter, or Rifleman if you will, is named Chuck Conners), and sophomore Chris Morris finished second in the SEC behind Kentucky.  Person would go on to a prolific 12 year NBA career, notably with the Indiana Pacers were he won Rookie of the Year in 1987.  Despite such a strong season, Auburn lost its opening game in the SEC Tournament to Mississippi State 65-63, and were penalized by earning a 8 seed and being shipped out west.  (This was before the NCAA assigned games via the "pod system" as they do now - which I can explain if anyone wants to know how this works now.

Auburn beat the 9th seeded Arizona Wildcats 73-63 in Long Beach, California, giving them a matchup with the top seeded St. John's Redmen (their mascot then, not now).  St. John's was paced by future NBA Star Mark Jackson, along with Walter Berry, Willie Glass and Matt Brust, but even with that collegiate star-power, St. John's was no match for Auburn which defeated St. John's 81-65 behind Chuck Person's 27 points.  Auburn advanced to the regionals in Houston, Texas, where they first matched up with the 4th seeded UNLV Running Rebels.  who were loaded with talent.  UNLV was led by future number 2 overall pick Armen Gilliam, Jarvis Basnight, Freddie Banks and Gary Graham.  As an aside, Gary Graham played on perhaps the greatest high school basketball team of all-time, the 1981-1982 Baltimore Dunbar High School team consisting of Tyrone "Mugsy" Bogues (Wake Forest/NBA), Reggie Lewis (Northeastern/NBA, Reggie Williams (Georgetown/NBA) and David Wingate (Georgetown/NBA), along with Graham.  Tim Dawson, Keith James and Mike Brown also played collegiately at Miami, UNLV and Syracuse.  This team was so loaded that Reggie Lewis - who became a 2-time conference player of the year at Northeastern, a first round NBA pick of the Celtics, an NBA All-Star and captain of the Celtics - could not even break into the starting lineup.  If you would like to know more about this team, please go read The Boys of Dunbar by Alejandro Danois - it is AMAZING.

But, I digress.  So Auburn handled UNLV 70-63 behind Person's 25 points and 11 rebounds, along with 10 assists for point guard Gerald White.  Armen Gilliam scored 21 and Freddie Banks added 20 for the Runnin' Rebels, but it was not enough as the Tigers advanced to the Elite 8 to face Louisville.

Louisville defeated Auburn 84-76 despite a game-high 23 points from Chuck Person, as all 5 Louisville starters scored in double digits.  Louisville - led by senior do everything point guard Milt Wagner, senior big man Billy Thompson, and freshman phenom and future #1 overall NBA pick "Never Nervous" Pervis Ellison, would go to Dallas and defeat 11 seed LSU and 1 seed Duke to win the national championship.

Auburn has not returned to the Elite 8 until now.

And for now - good luck in your brackets tonight.  Each of tonight's games are worth 8 points.

One note - I apologize to Tara Elliott of Asheville, North Carolina, as I thought her name was Tara Telliott (at least that is what it looked like to me on your bracket).  That has been corrected.

Feel free to double check your scores.  Let me know if you see a discrepancy.  Otherwise, enjoy the start of the Sweet Sixteen.

1 - Measha Williams #3 - 100 - Gonzaga/Virginia

2 - Matt Hopps - 98 - Duke/North Carolina
     Carolyn Fowler - 98 - Gonzaga/North Carolina

4 - Max Macon #2 - 96 - Tennessee/Michigan State

5 - Marcus Jackson - 94 - Virginia/Duke

6 - Ty Leatherman - 93 - Duke/Virginia
      Justin Yung - 93 - Gonzaga/Virginia

8 - Melanie Scherr - 92 - North Carolina/Duke
     Measha Williams #2 - 92 - Gonzaga/Virginia

10 - Max Marion #2 - 91 - Duke/North Carolina

11 - Katie Kollmeyer - 90 - Tennessee/Duke
       Steven Usma #3 - 90 - Kentucky/Duke

13 - Mac Kroesen - 89 - North Carolina/Duke
       Steven Usma #4 - 89 - Duke/Kentucky

15 - Chris Kroesen - 87 - North Carolina/Michigan State
       Max Macon #4 - 87 - Duke/Houston

17 - Bill Ganoe #1 - 86 - North Carolina/Duke
       Steven Usma #1 - 86 - Duke/North Carolina
       Measha WIlliams #1 - 86 - Gonzaga/North Carolina

20 - Brian Hinaman - 85 - Duke/North Carolina
       Colonel Kareem Montague - 85 - Virginia/Duke
       Ashley Poer #2 - 85 - Virginia/Michigan State

23 - Scott Bieterman - 84 - Duke/Kentucky
       Paul Cummings - 84 - North Carolina/Duke
       Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds - 84 - Kentucky/Michigan State
       Debbie Igdaloff Nieman - 84 - Duke/North Carolina
       Dave Piasecki #1 - 84 - Florida/Kentucky

28 - Karen Katz - 83 - Gonzaga/Houston

       Philip Kroesen - 83 - North Carolina/Duke
       Silas Nichols - 83 - North Carolina/Michigan
       Barkley Sosa - 83 - Kentucky/LSU

      Brittany Sosa #1 - 83 - Duke/North Carolina

      Steven Usma #5 - 83 - Virginia/Gonzaga

34 - Alvaro Gonzalez - 82 - Duke/Tennessee

       George Walks #2 - 82 - North Carolina/Duke

       William Pujals - 82 - Duke/North Carolina

37 - Alyssa Ave - 81 - Purdue/Michigan

       Dan Barsky #2 - 81 - Duke/North Carolina
       Chad Phillips - 81 - Florida State/North Carolina

       Kyle Sheehan - 81 - Duke/Kentucky
       Amy Zdrowak - 81 - Duke/Virginia

42 - Coby Kroesen - 80 - North Carolina/Duke

       Jonathan Wasserman - 80 - North Carolina/Duke

44 - Sean McInerney - 79 - Duke/North Carolina

       Dave Piasecki #2 - 79 - Florida/North Carolina
       Annette Pritchard #2 - 79 - Duke/North Carolina

       Pepe Sosa - 79 - Kentucky/Michigan State
       Krystal Travers - 79 - Kansas State/Florida State
       Harrington Wax III - 79 - North Carolina/Michigan State

50 - Duncan Merchant - 78 - Duke/Houston

        Rich Samuels #2 - 78- North Carolina/LSU
        Mike Zachary - 78 - Duke/North Carolina

53 - Jacey Fowler #2 - 76 - North Carolina/Florida State
       Adam Jorgensen - 76 - Michigan State/Virginia

       Hilary Kroesen 76 - Kentucky/Gonzaga

       Martha Kroesen - 76 - Gonzaga/North Carolina
       Jason Spuhler - 76 - Duke/North Carolina
       Jeremy Spuhler - 76 - Tennessee/LSU

59 - Arlene Amo Hopps - 75 - Villanova/Virginia Tech
       Michael Litsey - 75 - Michigan/Virginia
       Max Macon #1 - 75 - Virginia/LSU
       Mango Merchant - 75 - Gonzaga/Virginia
       Allison Parker - 75 - Kentucky/Michigan
       Annette Pritchard - 75 - Gonzaga/North Carolina
       Robert Tanen #2 - 75 - Gonzaga/Virginia

66 - Jenna Finkelstein - 74 - Gonzaga/Tennessee
       Eric Inge - 74 - Duke/North Carolina
       Max Marion - 74 - Duke/Virginia

69 - Scott Hansel - 73 - Duke/Kentucky
       Anthony LaPira - 73 - Duke/Tennessee
       Matt Nieman - 73 - Virginia/Gonzaga
       Chris Petit - 73 - North Carolina/Duke
       Jane Reynolds - 73 - Duke/Kentucky
       George Walks #3 - 73 - Florida State/Kentucky
       Wes Wiggins - 73 - Gonzaga/Virginia

76 - Sasha Moon - 72 - Duke/Tennessee
       Traci Sheehan - 72 - Michigan State/Tennessee
       Michael Spicer - 72 - North Carolina/Buffalo
       George Walks #5 - 72 - Gonzaga/North Carolina

80 - Bill Ganoe #2 - 71 - Gonzaga/North Carolina

       Dana Mandelbaum - 71 - North Carolina/Duke
       Jeff Pamondon - 71 - Duke/Tennessee

       Brittany Sosa #2 - 71 - Gonzaga/Virginia

84 - Dan Barsky #1 - 70 - Gonzaga/North Carolina

      Jacey Fowler #1 - 70 - Villanova/Texas Tech

       Ashley Poer #1 - 70 - Duke/Tennessee
       Steven Usma #2 - 70 - Virginia/Michigan State
       Josh and Katie Zdrowak - 70 - North Carolina/Duke

89 - Glen Merchant - 69 - Duke/Houston
       John Santucci - 69 - Kansas/Michigan
       George Walks #4 - 69 - Duke/Virginia

92 - Rachel Bornn - 68 - Duke/Kentucky
       Edy Pecan - 68 - Syracuse/Kentucky

94 - Skip LaForte - 67 - Michigan State/North Carolina
       Max Macon #3 - 67 - Gonzaga/Kentucky

      Cheryl Spuhler - 67 - Duke/Tennessee

       Joshua Zdrowak - 67 - North Carolina/Michigan

98 - Jordyn Sheehan - 66 - Duke/Tennessee

        Samantha Sheehan - 66 - Duke/Tennessee

        Robert Tanen #1 - 66 - Florida State/North Carolina

101 - Jean Calixte - 65 - Duke/North Carolina

         Kingfish Rod Parham - 65 - Duke/Tennessee

         George Walks #1 - 65 - Kansas/Duke

         Biscuit Zdrowak - 65 - Virginia/Michigan State

105 - Abigail Sosa - 64 - Tennessee/Duke

106 - Tara Elliott - 63 - North Carolina/Duke

         James Garvin - 63 - Duke/Virginia

         Rich Samuels #1 - 65 - Duke/Kentucky

         Meredith Tanen - 63 - Gonzaga/Virginia

110 - David Olson - 62 - North Carolina/Duke

111 - Liz Carew - 61 - Kentucky/Duke

        Hilary Kroesen #2 - 61 - Kansas/Marquette

         Ira Schulteis - 61 - Duke/North Carolina

         Hannah Sosa - 61 - Virginia/Duke

115 - Jennifer Armstrong - 59 - Duke/Wisconsin
          Robert Hosmer - 59 - Duke/Virginia

117 - Kline Kroesen - 58 - North Carolina/Michigan

118 - Luis Briones - 57 - Duke/Villanova

119 - Griffey Parker - 56 - Houston/Duke
         Katie Zdrowak - 56 - Duke/Tennessee

121 - Jessica Samuels - 52 - Virginia/Gonzaga

122 - Keith Zdrowak - 48 - Duke/North Carolina

123 - Cubbie Kroesen - 47 - Kentucky/Marquette