The Spartans will face the Kansas Jayhawks on Sunday at BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla., in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. They’ll face either Rhode Island or OR in Kansas City.
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“The last eight, 10 minutes, they were really good and I thought that was the difference”, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “We’re all so excited”.
According to dogged reporting by the Kansas City Star, Jackson allegedly vandalized the auto of KU women’s basketball player McKenzie Calvert last December; Calvert’s father was miffed after the university appeared to mete out separate levels of punishment to Jackson and his daughter; and court documents from the incident allege Jackson threatened Calvert physically.
What a swing in fortunes for Purdue in the second round. Let’s talk in strictly basketball terms first: After a 17-point, seven-rebound tourney debut on Friday, Jackson followed up with a dynamic 23-point effort in the second round.
Then there was Mason with 20 and Graham with 18 and Lucas with 10 points and 11 rebounds – including nine in the first half as the Spartans were managing 14 as a team. Both teams swapped the lead multiple times. In between, No. 4 Purdue defeated No. 5 Iowa State.
Even if you didn’t watch Oklahoma State or weren’t familiar with Stephen F. Austin outside of a couple NCAA tournament games, it doesn’t take much digging to know what Underwood likes to do. Those losses sweeten this year’s run. The passengers went through an emergency evacuation.
Once the game ended and OR had narrowly advanced with a hard-fought NCAA tournament win, Tyler Dorsey considered his two missed free throws with 3:36 left and how there might have been no celebrations at all. On Sunday, the Wolverines rode Moritz Wagner, who scored a career-high 26. “I just hit some big shots”.
The Spartans certainly played like anything but an underdog well into the second half against the regular-season Big 12 Conference champions, closing Kansas’ lead to 54-53 following a basket by Alvin Ellis.
The standout freshman scored 14 of his 23 points in the second half, finishing 9 of 16 from the field and ousting a Spartans team from the NCAA Tournament that he very almost joined before signing with the Jayhawks.
The regional semifinals and finals are in Kansas City for the first time since 1995. “They’ll benefit from the return of 6’9″ forward Gavin Schilling from a season lost to knee injuries, which, along with the arrival of 6’10” five-star recruit Jaren Jackson, will provide the size that was glaringly missing this year.
Kansas turned a deflating moment into its launching pad for a 90-70 win.
Tickets from Sprint Center are sold out.
He’s referring to the first-round loss in the Big 12 tournament to TCU.
The Ducks led early behind Dorsey’s fast start, but Rhode Island grabbed momentum late in the first half. The Ducks fell to Oklahoma and Buddy Hield in the West final previous year.
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Oregon, led by former Kansas State and Creighton coach Dana Altman, is in the Sweet 16 for the second straight season.
