We were back in action on Thursday night, finding out who would play in the South and West regional finals:
- Game 1 was the most unlikely Sweet 16 matchup of the weekend. Nevada was a 7-seed who needed two huge comebacks to survive the first weekend. Loyola-Chicago was an 11-seed who had to hit two clutch shots late in the game (possibly with the help of some divine intervention) to find their way to Atlanta for the South regional semifinals. Something had to give in this game. Early on, it looked like Nevada would not need a 3rd consecutive comeback. The Wolfpack raced out to a 20-8 lead in the first eight minutes of the game. But then Nevada went cold. It was a combination of poor shot selection and strong Rambler defense. The drought allowed Loyola-Chicago to grab a 4-point lead at the half, 28-24. Nevada's chances of winning got much bleaker in the second half as Loyola-Chicago made their first 13 shots from the field, not missing until there was less than 10 minutes to go in the game. Most of those shots were reverse layups as the Ramblers kept cutting and driving past the Wolfpack. Loyola-Chicago went up 12 and it didn't look like Nevada had another comeback in them. But then they didn't really need one. Loyola-Chicago stupidly tried to run the final 9 minutes off the clock. Possession after possession went by where they either got a shot clock violation or they hoisted up an off-balance three-pointer with 1 second left to go on the shot clock. They let the Wolfpack back into the game and Nevada took advantage. With 3 minutes to go, the game was tied. The Ramblers hit a crucial three to take the lead again, but Nevada would trim the margin to 1 before missing on multiple three-point attempts with a chance to get the lead back. Down 1 with 36 seconds remaining, the Wolfpack opted not to foul as Loyola-Chicago milked the clock. The Ramblers put up another tough 3 right before the shot clock expired, but this one fell for them. Up 4 with six seconds left, this one was over. Nevada would hit a 3 with one second left to tighten up the score, but it was not enough. Sister Jean's team will play for a spot in the Final Four on Saturday as Loyola-Chicago wins 69-68.
- Game 2 started a half-hour after the Nevada vs. Loyola-Chicago game did, so there was quite a bit of overlap. I could have flipped back and forth frantically trying to catch all of the action, but there was no need. Texas A&M had advanced to the Sweet 16 by blowing out defending champ North Carolina, but they would be on the wrong end of the whuppin' against Michigan. The Wolverines were already up 17 just ten minutes into the game. By halftime, their lead was 24. The Aggies would get no closer than 18 in the second half. The capper came when Michigan emptied its bench in the final minute and one of their guys who doesn't see much playing time nailed a three to put the Wolverines up by 27. Michigan advances to the West regional final with a 99-72 beatdown of Texas A&M.
- Game 3 was all about three gentlemen: Chris Rastatter, Earl Walton, and Jamie Luckie. Don't recognize those names? That's because they aren't McDonald's All-Americans. Those three guys were the referees assigned to the Kansas State-Kentucky game. They might have needed oxygen after it was all said and done because they were blowing their whistles all night long. It was a painful game to watch as nearly every play seemed to end with a foul. Kentucky shot 23 free throws in the first half alone! They needed it because they couldn't hit anything from the field. Kansas State was clearly the better team, but they only led by 4 at the half. The second half was more of the same as each team dealt had to navigate their way through massive foul trouble. Things began to look dire for Kansas State as they lost their backup center to fouls. Then they lost their starting center. Then their leading scorer was relegated to the bench. With a minute to go, the game was tied and the tallest guy left in their lineup was 6'4". Facing a huge size disadvantage, Kansas State tried to use their speed and it worked as they made a driving layup with 17 seconds to go. Kentucky made the mistake that you see way too often in these games by trying to hit a go-ahead three rather than simply taking advantage of their height to tie the game. This was a particularly bad decision since you had to believe Kentucky would win if the game went to overtime. Kansas State rebounded the missed three and had a chance to close it out with two free throws, but they only hit one of the two, giving Kentucky one last opportunity at a tying three. Kentucky tried to bank one in, but their poor shooting sent them home. Kansas State will meet Loyola-Chicago in the South regional final.
- It's pretty rare that the pre-game warmups will have a major effect on a game, but it happened in the last matchup of the evening. Gonzaga lost a key member of their team when big man Killian Tillie aggravated a hip injury and was declared out of the game. That had a huge effect on the Bulldogs, as Tillie is a three-point threat who usually lures the big men from opposing teams out of the lane. With Tillie unavailable, Florida State's big men were allowed to sit in the paint. The Seminoles have several seven-footers that would hold a block party all night long. Gonzaga's guards had to dramatically alter their shots if they drove into the lane. Gonzaga's forwards had their post moves rejected time and time again. It became apparent very early on that Gonzaga didn't have a great game plan for compensating for the loss of Tillie. They fell behind by 12 quickly. They would come back and take the lead, but it felt like that was due to a cold spell by Florida State more than a run by Gonzaga. The Seminoles would re-establish a 9-point lead by halftime. The Bulldogs would creep within 4 or 5 points several times in the second half, but it still never felt like they were making a serious run. A real run would feel like the 16-6 one put together by Florida State to close out the game. Another 9-seed is heading to the Elite Eight as Florida State will face off against Michigan in the West regional final.
We have new leaders in each of the pools and they both chose Loyola-Chicago and Michigan to reach the Elite Eight. In the main pool, Jen Shields has taken the lead by three points over Scott Brown, wit Jenn Nichols another point back in third. In the gamblers pool, Nick Moreno is now in a very strong position to win. He not only has a one-point edge over Jimmy O'Connor (my apologies, I didn't realize it was Jim's son who had picked the bracket which led for 4 straight days), but Nick also predicted that Villanova would beat Michigan in the national championship. Those two teams are the favorites on their respective halves of the bracket, so Nick will be hard to catch. As she is in the main pool, Jenn Nichols holds third place, one point out of the runner-up spot.
To see the complete standings, please click here.
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