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Day 1 of the 2023 NCAA Tournament
Penn State destroyed Texas A&M. You'll remember that some (ahem) felt that A&M, which finished second in the SEC, were disrespected by the selection committee who slotted them as a 7 seed. Tonight, they were thoroughly outclassed by the 10th seeded Nittany Lions, who basically couldn't miss: 48% from the field, 59% (!) from 3, 82% from the line. This was the first NCAA tournament win for Penn State in 22 years.
Other than A&M, the SEC was perfect on the first day with wins by Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Missouri and Tennesse.
I'm resisting the urge to say "Houston, we have a problem". But, clichés aside, Houston may be in trouble. Their star, Marcus Sasser (the first Houston All-American since Hakeem Olajuwan in 1984) aggravated his groin injury in the first half and was done for the evening. The short-handed Houston team had all they could handle with Northern Kentucky before winning 63-52. Northern Kentucky shoots a lot of 3s - they have the green light as soon as they cross half court, Tonight they missed almost all of them (5-34 from deep, that's not even 15%). Auburn is next up for Houston. This is not one of Bruce Pearl's great teams, but they are far more talented than NKU. Sasser shouldn't play on Saturday - if he does he will not be anywhere near 100%. After the game, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said that Jamal Shead also has an injury (leg). Shead sured didn't play well - 6-15 from the field and 6 turnovers. Did I mention that the Auburn game will be played in Birmingham? Keep an eye out for an upset on Saturday.
Northern Kentucky have a unique mascot - they are the Norse.
13 seed Louisiana narrowly lost to Tennessee (58-55). But they have a Hall of Fame mascot. The Ragin' Cajuns!
What the hell is that a picture of, you may be asking. Here's a hint: the nickname of the Louisiana mascot is Cayenne.
Tough break that Iowa had to face off against Auburn in Birmingham. The Hawkeyes sure weren't intimidated by the partisan crowd. Auburn was the better team, but they could not put Iowa away. Johni Broome was terrific for the Tigers with 19 points, 12 boards and 5 blocks.
Auburn's KD Johnson was undercut in the first half, causing him to cartwheel in the air, coming down hard on his behind. Scary play. Johnson came back to participate in the second half.
Leftovers (literally)
The brisket I smoked yesterday turned out great. Thanks for asking. Hickory smoke; cumin and smoked paprika-based rub.
The classic brisket sandwich is, of course, the Rueben. A sandwich I love even though sauerkraut is not my favorite thing. In Phily, they switch out cole slaw for sauerkraut. It's called a Rachel and that's what I had at tea time. It was delicious. Back to basketball.
Alabama destroyed Texas A&M Corpus Chrisi 96-75. Bama's star, Brandon Miller, was held scoreless. He has a groin injury that he suffered in the SEC tourney title game. Next to the upsets, that's the revelation of the day. The other Miller news is that Alabama hired an armed security guard to protect him at the tourney beacuse of unspecified threats related to his role in the murder of Jamea Harris.
Coach News
Rick Pitino, who is 70 years old, says he wants to coach another 10 years. He also says the speculation linking him to the St. Johns and Georgetown jobs is not a distraction for his team. Sure, Rick. His completely focused Iona team plays Friday.
Kansas blasted Howard 96-68 today without coach Bill Self on the bench. Doctor's orders. His ability to coach on Saturday is in doubt after he had a heart cathaterization including the placement of stints to treat blocked arteries.
Madness! Princeton over Arizona.
There are two teams representing New Jersey in this year’s tourney and neither of them are Rutgers. [Editor's Note: Jersey Governor Phil Murphy blasted the NCAA selection committee stating that "Rutgers should have made the tournament. Full stop." The Scarlet Knights were the top overall seed in the NIT. They lost Tuesday to Hofstra on Rutgers' home court. Back to the Notes.]
Princeton’s star is Torisesan “Tosan” Evbuomwan. His nickname is pronounced pretty much as you would expect (Toe-san), his last name is not (Owomma). Tosan is English of Nigerian descent. His parents are both over-achievers. Mom was the first female commercial pilot in Nigeria (sadly, she died of cancer in 2012). Dad is a gynecologist. Tosan grew up doing English things like playing soccer, cricket and rugby. Given his height (he’s now 6’8”) he finally picked up basketball when he was 15. His under-18 coach suggested that they send highlights to American college coaches. Tosan’s father agreed, but insisted on limiting the scope to the Ivy League. Seven schools ignored them; Princeton sent an assistant to Newcastle, England. To say he was impressed may be an understatement. His report back to Tiger’s coach Mitch Henderson: Tosan is “a brilliant blinding light from heaven”. Judging Princeton academics to be acceptable, Tosan Evbuomwan enrolled in 2019. He was the 2022 Ivy League Player of the Year.
Princeton knows how to finish halves. They went to the break after scoring the final eight points of the half. They finished the game on a 9-0 run, winning 59-55. Tosan was the only Tiger to score in double digits, with 15 (also 7 boards and 4 assists). Arizona scored a season low 55 (on 42% shooting, 18% from deep). This season Zona averaged 83 points per game (fourth in the country). Princeton played a lot of zone; Arizona obviously had no luck shooting over it. On offense, the Tigers ran a few “Princeton sets” resulting in layups off back-door cuts. Sadly, long-time Princeton coach Pete Carril didn’t live to see this one (he died in August, 2022 at 92).
In the video, they show Tosan missing a free throw. They don't show the one he had just made to ice the game. Just before that Princeton's Caden Pierce (Ivy League Freshman of the Year with an excellent surname) hit two freebies to give the Tigers a three-point lead. Those were the only free throws they hit all night (3-5).
Arizona is the first #2 to lose to a 15 seed. Twice. The last time was a loss to Santa Clara in 1993. Santa Clara’s point guard: Steve Nash.
The Virginia and Arizona upsets were both in the South region. With the 2 and 4 sees out, overall #1 seed Alabama has a much easier path to the Final Four.
Princeton coach Mitch Henderson was the captain of the last Princeton team to win a NCAA tourney game.
Skip to the 2:30 mark to see the ending.
Steve Nash playing in Santa Clara's upset of Arizona in 1993.
#21 is Mitch Henderson. That's right, he coached the upset of Arizona today and played in Princeton's upset of UCLA in 1996 (the last game Pete Carril coached).
That didn't take long.
Furman over Virginia!
Furman University received an automatic bid as the Southern Conference tournament champions. This is their first trip to the Big Dance since 1980. Furman is a private, liberal arts university located in Greenville, SC. The school, originally a theological college (started in 1825), was named for the prominent 19th century Baptist preacher Richard Furman. Nearly 3,000 students currently attend Furman, which dropped its religious affiliation in the 1990s. They have quite a few famous alumni, my favorite being Herman Lay, founder of potato chip maker H.W. Lay & Co. In the 1940s, Lay signed an agreement to distribute Fritos in the southeast U.S., with the companies eventually merging in 1961 to become Frito-Lay. Pepsi bought the company in 1965.
Furman is one of four schools that are beneficiaries of the Duke endowment (Duke, Davidson and Johnson C Smith are the others – JCSU is an HBCU). Furman has always been the general Greenville area in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains. But the campus has moved six times, most recently to Travelers Rest in the 1960s.
A replica of the bell tower that was the defining feature of the original Furman campus.
A taste of my childhood.
Furman are the Paladins. A unique mascot, one of many the school has had over the years. In fact, in the 1950s the baseball team was known as the Hornets and the football team the Purple Hurricanes. A local sportswriter dubbed the basketball team the Paladins of the court (sending the entire town of Greenville racing for their dictionaries, which used to be books). In 1961, the university adopted a common mascot, the Purple Paladin. Mrs Notes approves of the color. The Paladins were the twelve most courageous knights in the court of Charlemagne (from the 8th century). The Knights of Arthur’s Round Table were modeled after the Paladins.
When I was filling out my bracket, I resisted the urge to pick against Virginia. It is well known that I deplore whatever it is that Tony Bennett coaches his players to do; It sure ain’t basketball. I was far more surprised that Virginia managed to win a national title than lose to a 16 seed. Still, Furman? The Southern Conference champs? I went with the Cavs against my better judgement. UVa reminded us all that 2019 was a fluke.
Furman was down as many as 12 in the second half, but the Cavs slowed the game even beyond their usual plodding pace. This strategy backfired as it managed to ice the Cavs shooters. Up two and with the ball, Virginia’s Kihei Clark got trapped in the backcourt corner in the final seconds of the game. Even though UVa had a timeout, Clark panicked and launched a Hail Mary pass. The ball made it to halfcourt, right in the hands of Furman’s Garrett Hien. Quick pass to JP Pegues for a wide open 3 with 2.4 seconds to go. Money. Virginia actually got a decent look from deep with time remaining, but the banker did not go down.
This is Furman's first trip to the Big Dance since 1980. Their last NCAA tourney win was in 1974.
He. Had. A. Time. Out!
And we're off!
Maryland-West Virginia
The first game of the tourney pitted Bob Huggins and West Virginia against Kevin Willard's Maryland Terrapins (under-rated mascot). About half-way through the first half, West Virginia had a 16-4 lead. If my calculations are correct, that put the Terps on pace to score 16 points for the game. It wasn’t that Maryland was cold; they weren’t even getting shots off (the Terps turned it over on five of six possessions at one point). The Terps woke up at the 10-minute mark and took a 32-30 lead going into the half. It was a back and forth second half, with the teams taking turns making runs. The score was tied down the stretch leading to an exciting (if sloppy) finish. Down two, WVU got the ball right where they wanted it. In Kedrian Johnson’s hands behind the 3-point arc. The shot was rushed and glanced harmlessly off the side of the rim. Johnson was spectacular otherwise, efficiently pouring in 27 points. Maryland had a more balanced attack, with four staters scoring in double figures (and the fifth getting nine).
A reporter asked Huggins about retirement after the game. He replied: "People think I should keep doing this for a while. Some people think I should pack it in and let some young kid come in and screw it up.”
Nice play by Maryland at the 2:30 mark.
The games have begun!
16 March 2023
The first weekend of the Notes is coming to you from snowy New Hampshire. This is a challenge when one plans to watch 48 basketball games over four days because there is no food delivery up here in the frozen north (and a 25 minute drive into town). So, I was up bright and early on Madness eve. I shoveled out the carport and set up the smoker. Over 20 pounds of smoked turkey and brisket should get us through the weekend!
I've also been trying to get caught up on the work that I actually get paid for. I needed to resubmit a manuscript. As painful as responding to Reviewer 2 was, wrestling with the AAAS web site was equally annoying. [Editor's Note: If any of you were Reviewer 2 then of course I meant Reviewer 3. Back to the Notes.]
With turkey in my belly and the paper submitted, I gazed longingly at the foot of fresh snow which is the reason we are here. Mrs. Notes and I fired up the sleds and shredded some powder, which incredibly was still virgin in the mid-afternoon. Beautiful ride.
That's the behind-the-scenes. Time to check in on Maryland-WVU!
Note the UK sticker on Andrea's sled.
This tourney is wide open
15 March 2023
This just in: teams that play good defense and good offense are good teams. Forget that nonsense about offense wins games but defense wins championships. In college hoops, the teams still dancing on the last weekend are balanced teams. This season, Houston is the most balanced team. They have the best defensive efficiency and are ranked fifth in offensive efficiency. And they have a go-to scorer in Marcus Sasser. Assuming he is playing at full capacity. If Sasser is good to go, Houston should be favored to win it all.
As usual, Gonzaga has the best offensive efficiency. Defensively they check in at #174. And you know what they say about defense. Alabama comes in at fifth defensively. Somewhat surprisingly, they are only the 44th most efficient on the offensive end. Purdue? 12 offense, 56th defense. Kansas? 109th offense, 43rd defense. UConn? 10th offense, 14th defense. UCLA? 48th offense, 3rd defense.
The numbers say Houston and UConn stand out on both ends of the floor. Houston and UCLA have injury issues, the Huskies do not. Just saying…
Pistol Pete Lives!
14 March 2023
Detroit Mercy’s Antoine Davis is not the most prolific scorer in NCAA history, although he came awfully damn close. The men’s NCAA scoring champion has remained the same for 43 years, a title held by Peter Press “Pistol Pete” Maravich. Pete Maravich scored 3,667 points over three years at Louisiana State in the late 60s. That amounts to an amazing 44.2 points per game. He did this without the benefit of the 3-point shot, on which he would have feasted. The LSU coach was Press Maravich and he gave his son the ultimate green light to shoot from anywhere. Maravich played for only three years not because he left school early for the pros. Nope. Incredibly, back in those days freshmen were ineligible for varsity sports. Can you imagine having a freshman Kareem or Walton on your team and not being able to play them? Also, no shot clock. Teams routinely stalled against LSU just to keep the ball out of Maravich’s hands.
Pete was also known for wearing floppy socks.
Before this season, Detroit Mercy was probably best known as the place that launched the career of one Dick Vitale (who coached there from 1973 to 1977 before leaving to lead the Pistons). Brad Calipari, son of John, also was a grad assistant there. Now, Detroit Mercy is synonymous with Antoine Davis, who is coached by his father Mike Davis. You undoubtedly remember Mike Davis as the coach who took over at Indiana when Bobby Knight was fired in 2000. Davis’ Hoosiers made an improbable run to the 2002 title game. UK fans remember when Davis said that he “hates Kentucky with a passion” before his team played us in December, 1999. Mike had a little too much passion in that game. With 2.6 seconds to go and his team trailing by a point, Davis was so incensed by a foul that he felt should be called that he stormed the court while the ball was in play. That’s a technical. UK’s Keith Bogans hit the free throws to ice the game. [Editor’s Note: It was a memorable game. And you knew if there was a Kentucky tangent it would be taken. Back to the Notes.]
This is the only clip I could find. I recommend turning down the volume. That's Davis on the court at the top of the video at the beginning.
Mike Davis has coached Detroit Mercy since 2018. His son Antoine has a green light to shoot it from anywhere, and he does. The 6’1” combo guard is the all-time NCAA career leader in 3-pointers made with 588 (JJ Redick made 457, Steph Curry hit 414). Antoine Davis averaged 24.6 PPG over four years, which amounts to 3,664 points total. That’s three less than Maravich. Davis just finished his senior year and his team has a losing record. So, no NCAA or NIT tournament. But what about the CBI? I am obsessed with college hoops and I’d never heard of the College Basketball Invitational, which has existed since 2007. The CBI chooses 16 teams and then charges them $27,500 to participate. Detroit Mercy said they wouldn’t pay it. People wondered what they could be thinking, passing up the opportunity to have the scoring leader from their school. It ended up being a moot point as summarized by Maravich’s son Jaeson, who said that he is “very relieved this is all over as it’s been a stressful two weeks and I’m glad the CBI did the right thing and not invite Detroit Mercy to the tournament because they had a losing record and I think it would have been an extremely bad look."
Pete Maravich, who was named one of the 75 greatest NBA players of all time, is no longer with us. In 1988, Maravich collapsed while playing a pickup game at a church gym in Pasadena (evangelical author James Dobson, a friend, was on his team). Pete Maravich died of heart failure at 40 years of age. His record lives on.
Statue of Maravich at LSU with the floppy socks. He also was know for behind the back passes before that was a thing.
2023 Conspiracy Theories
Tis the season for various fan bases to complain about getting screwed by the selection committee. Kentucky fans have made this an art. Shockingly, we aren't complaining this year (more on that in a bit).
Not that we weren't worried. The Cats were among the last teams announced. And Texas A&M was tabbed with a 7-seed. The Texas A&M that finished second in the SEC regular season and tourney. If they were a 7, we might be looking at a 9. But Kentucky ended up with a 6 and a pretty reasonable path to the Final Four.
A rational person would note that outside the SEC, Texas A&M didn't play anyone. In NCAA-speak, A&M had two Quad 4 losses and went 7-6 against Quad 1 teams. Twitter is usually the opposite of rational and it took less than a hot minute for Alex Jones wannabe’s to point out that A&M coach Buzz Williams went after the committee when his team was left out of last year’s tourney entirely. And he did it in the geekiest way possible, by compiling a nine-page treatise explaining why A&M not making the tournament “defies logic”. This he distributed to reporters, who might have forwarded it to select NCAA officials. NCAA retribution being the conspiracy of the moment. Did I mention that Texas A&M may be looking at Texas in the second round? I don’t need to read the book that Buzz will write about this year’s bracket - A&M got screwed.
Breaking news: Rick Pitino can coach. He also looks like the crypt keeper. Pitino’s Iona Gaels just qualified for their second tourney in the past three years. Folks are making a huge deal about this. Speculation was rampant that Iona would get paired with Kentucky in the first round. Instead, they will play UConn to start the tourney. This led to a lot of hand wringing in Storrs. Huskies fans need to pump the breaks. Before Pitino, Iona was coached by Tim Cluess who took them to four straight NCAA tourneys from 2015-2019. Cluess stepped down because of serious health issues, which led to the Pitino era. As I said, Rick knows what he’s doing. But let’s remember that Iona is in the MAAC conference (bonus points if you know what that stands for). Their current 14-game winning streak includes victories over Mount St. Mary’s, Marist and Niagara. Iona lost to Quinnipiac by 23 in January. I’m going out on a limb and predicting that UConn wins this one going away. Which will have no influence on St. John’s hiring Pitino to replace (former Arkansas coach) Mike Anderson, who just got the boot after four seasons of futility leading the Red Storm.
(MAAC stands for Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference - you're welcome)
We’ll end with (shockingly) Kentucky. They won’t face Pitino but their first-round matchup against Bryce Hopkins may be more problematic. Hopkins currently plays for Providence after spending a futile year in Lexington. Hopkins was a terrible fit for Kentucky. He came to UK as a 6’7” 220-pound small forward who couldn’t shoot. He left exactly the same. There were pretty loud whispers that Hopkins didn’t put in enough work on his shot and seemed allergic to the weight room. Calipari doesn’t play small ball, so Hopkins got no run at the 4. Not so at Providence, where Hopkins has excelled playing power forward. As the focal point of the offense, he’s averaged over 16 points to go along with an impressive 8.5 boards a game for the Friars. There’s no question that he was one of the best players in the Big East this season. Hopkins appears to be a bit bitter about his year as a Cat. This caustic quote is one of many: “I feel like last year when I got out there, I was under a microscope. (Calipari) only wanted me to do certain things, and it was like I was playing like a robot. Now when I get on the court, it’s like coach Cooley is allowing me to do whatever I want, but under his system. I just can’t thank him enough for that.” I’m guessing that Hopkins jacks up about 30 shots Friday against Kentucky. That should be good for us, but the way this season has gone he’ll probably hang 40 on us. I doubt the selection committee schemed to pit Hopkins against his former team. Regardless, it’s one of the stories to watch in the first round.
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