No. 1 seed Gonzaga beat No. 11 Xavier 83-59 in the West Region final, while No. 3 OR defeated No. 1 Kansas 74-60 in the Midwest Region final.
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It helped the Ducks out so much that Josh Jackson, who sat out a good part of the first half after drawing a pair of early fouls, didn’t score until 11:26 remained in the game. 3 seed, is 32-5. The Ducks were able to hold it together in the end and win by a point, but they’re going to have to play for their lives if they want to beat the unstoppable Jayhawks.
Of that group, 31 percent have the Ducks advancing.
BRIDGEPORT-There was a lot of talk from Maryland about a lack of tickets available to its fans for the Regional Final in Bridgeport Monday night.
Ionescu led all players with 21 points and seven assists, and added six rebounds.
Star players often make the difference in a Tournament ending during the second weekend, and a team moving on to the Final Four.
OR led for almost 24 minutes but never put the Wolverines away.
The top-seeded Jayhawks got off to a slow start against No. 3 OR, scoring three points in the first five minutes.
Kansas played in the Elite Eight on Saturday for the seventh time since Bill Self took over the program in 2003, and lost for the fifth time.
Senior Brionna Jones became the Maryland single-season scoring record holder but the third-seeded Terps fell to tenth-seeded OR, 77-63, in the Sweet Sixteen Saturday.
Another hero stepped up for the Ducks in the form of Jordan Bell, who had two critical offensive rebounds in a game that didn’t feature very many of them. “It just shows that we have some great fans and great supporters in Jayhawk Nation”.
Jones couldn’t even get going inside because of the stifling defense against Maryland.
For Kansas, Frank Mason III scored 17 first-half points, more than half his team’s total. As Jordan Bell and Tyler Dorsey have reinforced this Tournament – coming off the stellar regular season Dillon Brooks put together – it’s evident that OR has three. We’ve just got to keep our foot on the gas; like UCLA, they can make quick spurts, hit threes and make layups. The top-seeded Jayhawks stormed past fourth-seeded Purdue, 98-66, in the Midwest Regional semifinals in Kansas City. Five minutes into the second half, Ryan Cline’s 3-pointer pulled Purdue within 58-54.
“We felt like we had all the pieces to the puzzle to get to the Final Four”, Graham said, “Today, we just came up short”.
“Dana and I have known each other a long time”, Self said.
“We been the underdogs all three games, and that’s the mentality we take …”
On a night that featured 51 fouls and only 34 made baskets, Mathews delivered the big shot that sent the Bulldogs (35-1) to their third Elite Eight in school history.
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OR has come ready to play in their biggest games of the season to this point.
