Denver, the defending national champions, will present a tough matchup for the Nittany Lions. There’s no superstar (outside of Sister Jean, of course), but a handful of sharpshooters who can come up clutch. The regional round is up next. But Mrs. Ruiz didn’t see him watching it and we each reacted to a insane play by jumping out of our seats.
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Game 1: Villanova (32-4) vs.
LONG WAIT: The last time Florida State was in a regional final, two-sport point guard Charlie Ward was months away from claiming the Heisman Trophy as the Seminoles’ quarterback, the Fab Five ruled at MI – and the Seminoles were blown out by a Rick Pitino-coached Kentucky team featuring Jamal Mashburn. If these guys struggle, then it’ll be a good indicator of which team is going to advance to the Final Four. It was packed shoulder-to-shoulder as the East’s No. 1 seeded Wildcats took on the fifth seeded Mountaineers, of West Virginia.
Texas A&M. The Aggies’ up-and-down season is trending the right direction at the right time. The Cougars’ freshman guard and her teammates closed out their season last week in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament against South Dakota.
Purdue will likely be without center Isaac Haas, who fractured his right elbow in the opening round win. Taking down Texas A&M might be a little more hard if he can’t find a brace the NCAA is OK with. While last night’s games featured plenty of underdogs, including an 11-seed and two #9s, tonight’s slate of Sweet 16 games will feature more traditional powerhouses. The Ramblers knocked off Nevada 69-68.
Syracuse. Those complaints about the Orange getting into the field of 68 dissipated quickly with wins over TCU and Michigan State. He’s expected to return. A lottery pick next year, he could help the Blue Devils cut down the nets this year. The Tigers are a physical team and have an excellent defense but slowing down Jayhawks and star Devonte’ Graham wont’ be easy. Yet they were seeded ahead of West Virginia at No. 3.
As good as the Zags are at the line late, Zach Norvell Jr.is Mr.
Every year, the NCAA gives an inordinate number of tourney spots to high-profile schools that could easily go instead to ballclubs from lesser-known conferences. With Zaire Smith’s athleticism, Evans’ playmaking, I really like Texas Tech. He makes the Red Raiders go.
BC-BKW-NCAA-Texas A&M-Notre Dame, 1st Ld-Writethru, 437 Notre Dame back in Elite 8 after beating Texas A&M 90-84AP Photo WAYK106, WAYK102, WAYK101, WAYK104, WAYK103Eds: APNewsNow.
In two upset victories in the NCAA Tournament, we’ve seen Loyola Chicago attractive share the ball to find the flawless shot on every offensive possession. Lauren Cox had 15 points before fouling out, while Morris added 14 points and Dekeiya Cohen 12. The Wolf Pack’s final points of the first half came on Cody Martin’s dunk with 7:57 remaining.
After the tight-knit group of friends enjoyed a smorgasbord of snacks and compared one another’s brackets, Wudel admitted that Nagle filled out the best bracket and recalled an especially memorable March in which he and Strong accidentally startled their classmates in English class.
0-Perfect brackets picked through the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. The Wolf Pack didn’t score in the final 7:55 before the break.
DeVoe had a career-high 31 for Clemson (25-10), which couldn’t replicate the magic it showed in beating Auburn by 31 to reach its first Sweet 16 in 21 years.
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And the second could go to another 9-seed.
