With Rodriguez, not VanVleet, serving as the game’s defining figure, third-seeded Miami held off the 11th-seeded Shockers 65-57 on Saturday at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Advertisement
Jimmy from The Bronx is going to the Sweet 16. “Sweet 16!” in the closing seconds. “Obviously, everybody wants to advance”, said Rodriguez, who was 9 for 11 shooting and had five assists and four steals.
Miami’s Davon Reed, left, Angel Rodriguez and Sheldon McClellan.
In just a few dizzying minutes, Wichita State has made it a ballgame. Nothing surprises me. You’re playing in the NCAA Tournament against quality teams, quality coaches. “The team played awesome”. “I just felt good”.
Not really, although Mittie’s Horned Frogs outlasted the Owls 70-57 in Staley’s second-ever NCAA trip as a college coach. They will face the victor of Sunday’s Iowa-Villanova game.
There was much talk before the game about the Shockers feeling disrespected for their low seed.
The victor will advance to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for regional play. A 1980’s song that the players on the court weren’t even alive to hear its debut, of course.
“They should rename the Dunkin Donuts Center the Angel Rodriguez Park”, Larranaga said.
Granted, everything is set up to be non-partisan during the NCAA Tournament, from neutral announcers to the NCAA-branded insignia on the court.
“Anytime you can’t get stops, it just takes your rhythm completely for the offensive end”, Wichita State’s Fred VanVleet said. The Hurricanes would rebound quickly and take back the lead. That stretch where he committed five turnovers in four minutes not only breathed some life into the corpse that was Wichita State in the first 10 minutes, but it kept Miami from putting the nail into the Shocker coffin. They heard their point guard Angel Rodriguez keep saying, “Stay together!”
Wichita State (26-9) ends its season after winning Tuesday in Dayton and Thursday in Providence and putting in many air miles with little sleep in between.
Wichita State had 10 turnovers and is shooting a paltry 24 percent (7 for 29). He will need a good one to help get his team back into the game.
-Miami improved to 2-0 all-time against Wichita State.
Folks came into this game rightly talking about the Shockers’ defense, but they also failed to realize that Miami’s is good, too, ranking 18th in the nation in field goal percentage defense, at 39 percent. The Shockers got the margin down to ten before the Hurricanes turned up the energy a bit following a timeout.
Miami was a slight underdog against the Shockers entering Saturday’s matchup for a berth in the Sweet 16.
On Saturday, Rodriguez led those battles from start to finish. From 43-42 behind, the Hurricanes scored the next six points.
Advertisement
Zach Brown hit a 3 and VanVleet followed with a steal and another 3, both baskets in a span of 11 seconds, and Morris’s hook in the lane off a steal by Baker closed the gap to nine with almost 16 minutes left, plenty of time for a comeback for the team that won a play-in game then upset sixth-seeded Arizona.
