Saturday, March 23, 2024
ZAGS MAKE 9TH STRAIGHT SWEET 16 AS TOP SEEDS PREVAIL
Larzby alone in first plus MissT-3 jumps 84 places to 39rd
BUILDING A CATAPULT AT VETERANS PARK, CYPRESS, CA (smt) – #5MW-Gonzaga trailed #4MW-Kansas 49-48 early in the second half but then ripped off a 32-4 run (to lead 80-53) to make their 9th straight Sweet 16, winning 89-68. #1W-UNC trailed 28-20 to #9W-Michigan St but went on a 23-3 run to advance to their 36th Sweet 16. #2MW-Tennessee couldn’t shoot from three (3/25), had a ton of turnovers, but still had a 9-point lead at the half and eventually topped #7MW-Texas, who were much worse. #2W-Arizona and #2E-Iowa St were in a battle early in the second half before pulling out double-digit wins. #3E-Illinois led 50-24 and 75-43 in their rout of #11E-Duquesne, finally allowing their coach to retire!
In a clean game, #11MW-Oregon didn’t attempt a free throw until 26.4 seconds left up by 2 because #3MW-Creighton need to foul. But what a big attempt it was, as Oregon could have gone up by 4 but missed the front end of a 1-and-1 which the Bluejays took advantage to tie the game at 62 and send the game to overtime. But we did two overtimes with Creighton scoring the first 15 points in the 2nd OT (eventually outscoring the Ducks 15-2, with Oregon’s only two points at free throws at the end) to prevent the upset.
The earlier game, also in Pittsburgh, saw the two double-digit seeds go to overtime with #11S-NC State prevailing 79-73 over #14S-Oakland (of Michigan, not California). NC State needed to win 5 games in 5 days in the ACC tournament to qualify and now have won 7 games in 12 days.
The Pac 12 lost 2 of 3 teams today (1 more to go) while the ACC went 2-0 (2 more to go). The Big 12 went 1-1 (with 2 more to go).
Jonna (2nd-Tied, 70 pts), MissT-1 (12th-T, 68), and MissT-3 (39th-T, 64; up from 123rd-T yesterday) all went 8-0 for the day, joining 44 others who have done so previously. However, it is Larzby who takes over first with 73 points. Eggman 1 is also tied for 2nd with 9 tied for 4th with 69 pts. Six top four seeds won as the group averaged 5.52 wins. Three went 1-7. Charlie Hustle 2 set a new all-time low with 27 points after three days and can’t get more than 40.
Interestingly, no one picked blue blood Kansas to win but six did have them in their Final Four. 28 picked NC State and 96 had the Zags winning at least two games. The other six were picked by 117 or more entries.
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Tids & Bits – Go Pac 12 as they are 5-2 (6-2 including First Four)… UNC is 36-2 in tourney games played in their home state of North Carolina (14-1 in Charlotte, where this game was played at)… in their 32-4 run, the Zags made 23/30 shots while Kansas missed 21/23 shots… two Oregon players scored all 28 of the second half points for the team… Oakland’s Jack Gohlke had six more threes for 16 in the tourney… my son Spoonceer (194th, 43) was 1 of 3 to go 1-7 including BulbaGrrrl (189th-T, 45) and Charlie Hustle 2… Charlie Hustle 1 fell from a tie for 1st to a tie for 39th… entries averaged 5.5 wins today…
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More rain and winds and why do I prefer watching the games on a phone or iPad than my big HDTV?…
Scott
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