SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Nearly three decades after one of the most incredible games in NCAA history, the Princeton Tigers delivered another match with a shock 59-55 victory over second seed Arizona on Thursday.
After leading for most of the match, the tight defense and sharp pass of the 15th seed Princeton kept the Tigers running for more runs in the second half, including a run. 9-0 to close the match. With about two minutes left, Ryan Langborg took the lead to give the Tigers the lead.
Up to that point, the Tigers had only reached the free-throw line once in the game. But when Arizona struggled, the Wildcats fouled freshman Caden Pierce with 21 seconds left to play, and he calmly sank both shots to make it 58-55.
Courtney Ramey and Kerr Kriisa of Arizona each missed a three-pointer effort in the final seconds, and when Tosan Evbuomwan won the rebound with three seconds left, Arizona fouled. Evbuomwan took the first free throw, missed the second, and when the clock ran out, the Tigers rushed into each other to celebrate. It was their biggest win since the team sent UCLA to the NCAA tournament in 1996.
Second loss to Arizona as 2nd seed; The Wildcats also lost to Santa Clara in 1993. The 15th seed is currently 11-138 every game against the 2nd seed. —Scott Miller
Furman toppled Virginia with a timely steal and a quick goal.
Less than three hours into the men’s round of 64, 13th seed Furman delivered a dangerous finish, knocking out 4th Virginia, perhaps best known for dropping out of the first game as a fourth. way was the top seed of the tournament Five years ago.
This time, it looks like the Cavaliers will stop a weaker team rally. Virginia and Furman took the lead for the final five minutes of the game until Virginia rallied 4 points, 67-63, with 19 seconds left. Garrett Hien fouled and took both free throws – and then a foul on a Cavaliers cross.
Virginia’s Kihei Clark tries to pass the ball halfway but is blocked by Hien. He quickly passed it to JP Pegues, who scored 3 from the flank with about two seconds left. Final score: 68-67.
Furman coach Bob Richey said in a post-match press conference: “We got them trapped, I made a mistake, but good God knows that and they can’t hear me.
Virginia started the game 8-0 and built a seemingly comfortable lead, with a double-digit lead with less than 11 minutes remaining. But Furman was far ahead and finished the game with 5:42 left, setting up a furious finish.
The loss will hurt the Cavaliers, but they can find a glimmer of their recent past: After their 2018 first-round loss to the University of Maryland-Baltimore CountyThe Cavaliers returned the following season to win the championship. — Oskar Garcia
Missouri’s defense forces suppressed Wyoming.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Wyoming is around. As soon as they find a loophole in 3-point territory, the 10th-seeded Aggies will, on their minds, sprint through Missouri.
But that never happened. Seventh seed The Tigers, a team seen as potentially nasty victims in the first round of the men’s NCAA tournament, won 76-65.
Missouri’s pressurized defense thwarted the fifth-placed Aggies nationally in 3-point scoring on the field, leaving them 0 to 11 in the first half and just 4 to 24 in the game. Wyoming went 0 to 13 ahead of young defender Steven Ashworth, who finished sixth nationally by 3 percentage points (0.443), eventually winning one with 17:51 remaining. For the game, the Tigers drew Ashworth with a score of 2 to 10 from the land of 3 points.
“Our approach is to put pressure on the entire court,” said Missouri defense attorney D’Moi Hodge. “We know what they want. They want the jumps. We tried to force them into the basket to get them to score two goals, to help the big man score.
“Get them to make tough thirds, put them on lousy shots,” added Hodge. “That helped us in the long run.”
Missouri ranked first in the nation with a plus 5.9 gross margin. The Tigers almost matched that number on Thursday: They were forced to have 15 Wyoming spins and only committed themselves to 10. —Scott Miller
Kansas competes without Coach Bill Self.
Kansas coach Bill Self missed Thursday’s NCAA first-round game against Howard as he continues to recover from a recent health issue.
Norm Roberts, the Kansas assistant coach who served as the head coach of St. John’s, continued to coach the team in Self’s absence.
Myself, 60 years old, missed the Big 12 tournament last week after going through a procedure to treat blocked arteries in his heart. The Hall of Fame coach was discharged from the hospital on Sunday.
Kansas (22-7) won 13-5 in the Big 12, winning the 17th regular-season championship of Self’s 20-year tenure, but lost to Texas, 76-56, in the Big League finals. 12 on Saturday. The Jayhawks, who won the NCAA championship last year, are the third seed overall — and number one in the West — after this season, despite losing three starts to the 2022 title-winning team. — Adam Zagoria
Michigan is recovering just in time.
BATON ROUGE, La. – The Michigan women’s team may be getting healthy at the right time.
The Wolverines played all February without Laila Phelia, who injured her leg. Phelia, a sophomore guard, is one of three Michigan players to average at least 16 points per game. The team went 4-3 without her, but she returned for the Big Ten Conference tournament.
Michigan also played its last two games in February without Leigha Brown, the fifth-year keeper, who scores 18 points per game for the lead and has 5.9 assists per game, ranked 15th in Division I.
At the end of February, the Division I selection committee deemed Michigan a top 16 seed, which would allow Werewolves to host the first and second rounds on campus in Ann Arbor. But Michigan closed the month with three losses in four games, including a loss under ,500 Wisconsin.
Michigan dropped to sixth seed, forcing it to move to the Louisiana State campus, where it will play 11th-seeded UNLV on Friday at the Pete Maravich Convention Center.
But the team has seen positives in a time period that its leaders have missed. Second-year guard Jordan Hobbs starts every game in February and posts three double-digit games. Greta Kampschroeder and Cameron Williams also increased their roles.
“A lot of people have had the experience they probably wouldn’t have if Laila were still there,” said Emily Kiser, a graduate striker who averages 16.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, said in a press conference. “So I think we’re coming back stronger from it.”
Kiser looks forward to a physical match against UNLV, the team taking part in the tournament has won 22 consecutive matches. But Michigan will join with the top three scorers – Brown, Phelia and Kiser – back together.
“Because other teams can’t do that, just taking away a player we can have other options,” Phelia said. — Evan Easterling
Trauma can play an important role.
ALBANY – Some of the top teams in the men’s NCAA tournament are facing serious injuries to key players.
Houston guard Marcus Sasser, player of the year at the United States Athletics Championships, suffered a groin injury during the semi-finals of the conference tournament. Houston was still selected as the 1st and 2nd seed overall behind Alabama despite the uncertainty surrounding the All-American first team since Hakeem Olajuwon.
On Wednesday, ahead of Houston’s Thursday night game against 16 Northern Kentucky, Coach Kelvin Sampson told reporters that Sasser would be “one of those infamous game-time deciders.”
Entirely fit, Houston could have had the best serve in college with Sasser, who averaged 17.1 points and 3.2 assists, and Jamal Shead, who averaged 10 ,3 points and 5.4 assists. But without Sasser, Houston could have trouble scoring.
Miami’s Norchad Omier is a 6-foot-7 striker from Nicaragua who averages 13.6 points and 9.7 rebounds; he also plays an important role as an enormous physical in the team’s defensive scheme. Omier missed much of Miami’s Atlantic Coast Conference semi-final against Duke with an ankle injury, but he looked fine during Thursday’s on-court practice at the MVP Arena in Albany.
Miami coach Jim Larranaga said in advance: “We’re going to put him in practice today and see how he does. “If he is good, we are good. If he doesn’t, we’ll know that and we’ll adjust.”
Several other teams are also missing key contributors. Tennessee’s point guard, Zakai Zeigler, tore his ACL in the win over Arkansas on Feb. 28. Xavier played without forward Zach Freemantle, who has been out since January 28 with an injury. at the foot. And UCLA is without Jaylen Clark, one of the nation’s best defenders, because of an Achilles injury.
Going into Thursday’s game against No. 15 UNC Asheville, No. 2 Bruins are also weighing whether to use freshman Adem Bona, who is battling left shoulder pain following an injury against Oregon in the tournament. Pac-12 fight. He was involved in “some things” during Wednesday’s training session, head coach Mick Cronin told reporters.
“He’s going to have to go through some pain at some point if we keep playing,” Cronin said. “But he will never let his career be harmed.” — Adam Zagoria
Obama chose Iona as a nasty candidate.
ALBANY – Coach Iona Rick Pitino has admired former President Barack Obama. Now, he’s an even bigger fan.
When Obama posted his NCAA tournaments on Twitter on Wednesday, he picked Pitino and Gaels No. 13 to beat No. 4 Connecticut in the men’s first round, in their meeting Friday afternoon, and then beat VCU before losing to Kansas in the round of 16.
“I’ve always said that President Obama is one of the smartest presidents we’ve ever had, and it proves it,” Pitino said on Thursday.
Obama had the Baylor Men’s Quarter Finals against Duke in one national semifinal and Houston against UCLA in the other. The former president chose Duke over Houston in the final.
In the Women’s Four Finals, Obama picked all the first seeds, with South Carolina, the defending champion, beating Indiana in the final.
Pitino, 70, has been linked with the opening of the St. John, after the school fired Mike Anderson last week after four seasons.
“I have a great team coming back,” Pitino said on Thursday, adding, “I would be in a special position to consider leaving.”
In addition to his time coaching at Kentucky and with the Knicks and Celtics, Pitino, a Naismith Hall of Famer who also previously coached the Big East in Providence, led the Brothers to the 1987 Finals, and in Louisville, where he guided to the NCAA Championship in 2013. That title was vacated after the NCAA ruled that the school paid escorts to help recruit players. Pitino has denied that he knows anything about the escort scandal. — Adam Zagoria
