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Day 4 of the 2023 NCAA Tournament
Second Cinderella: Florida Atlantic!
When did the "Air Raid" out of bounds become a thing? Kansas State ran it against us and Florida Atlantic used it against Fairleigh Dickinson.
Farewell Fairleigh Dickinson. The Knights (not to be confused with the Devils, that's the Florham campus) got frisky in the second half but Florida Atlantic never lost control of the game, winning by eight.
We mentioned that FDU is the smallest team in the tourney. FAU starts a seven footer, but he is grouped with four guards, two under six feet. Those small guys are quick, but their size (or lack thereof) gave this game a definite junior varsity vibe.
Omaha! Omaha!
Hike!
Not a fan of the cries for attention that Baylor (who was upset by Creighton today) and Kansas State (who beat someone) call uniforms.
Then again, Indiana (which lost badly to Miami) hasn't changed it's look since 1978, which really doesn't work either. You decide. Fierce or no wow factor.
Candy stripes. There's no way to make it work.
According to K Sate, that's lavender. Which is not royal purple.
Baylor's inspiriation was a highlighter marker.
UConn is in the Discussion
St. Mary's was a 5 seed. Seriously? Those guys looked like the roadies for a yacht rock band.
Izzo's Spartans Back in Sweet 16
Tom Izzo is a great coach. A whole generation has passed since his team won a title (in 2000) but his Spartans have made eight Final Fours, which goes to show how difficult it is win the whole thing even if you are among the best coaches to ever roam the sideline. The jury is definitely still out on Shaka Smart and today’s effort by Marquette gave ammunition to his detractors. We all remember Smart’s VCU and their magical run to the Final Four in 2011. That was the springboard to the gig at Texas, which is really the perfect position. The largest athletic budget in college sports and the fan base is more interested in Spring football than conference basketball. Smart finally seemed to get things on track at Texas in 2021, when his team won the Big 12 and were awarded a 3 seed in the tourney. The Longhorns were immediately upset in the first round by Abilene Christian. That was the end of the Smart era at Texas.
Today, Marquette was only down a point heading down the stretch. At which point they completely fell apart. Hero ball on offense, missed assignments on defense. MSU ended up winning by nine.
Hey, that’s Barry Sanders! Nick Sanders, son of the Detroit Lions legend, is a freshman walk-on for Michigan State. He wears the number 20, just like his Dad.
Sanders rushed for over 15,000 yards in the NFL, which still ranks fourth on the all-time list.
YouTubeTV introduced split-screen capability for the NCAA tournament, which was very thoughtful of them.
Resigned to the Inevitable
The afternoon game pitted Wildcat All-Americans in Kansas State's Markquis Nowell and Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe. They couldn't be more different players. Nowell is listed as 5'8" and avereaged the third most assists per game this season. Oscar is a 6'9" 260 pound wall of muscle who led the country in rebounding for the second straight season putting up numbers not seen in decades.
In what may have been his last game at Kentucky (he has another season of eligibility) Oscar left it all on the court scoring 25 and pulling down 18 boards. Nowell matched his effort, scoring 27 and dishing out 9 assists. Down the stretch, Nowell took over. He hit a huge 3-pointer and nailed his free throws. The team from Manhattan (the little apple) moves on to a Sweet 16 game in Manhattan (the big apple).
Disappointing loss from a supremely frustrating team. Making out of the first weekend would have been nice, but there was no way this Kentucky team was winning four in a row much less six.
This was definitely the last game for our freshman star, Cason Wallace. 21 points, 9 boards (!) and 4 assists.
Oscar switched off on Nowell frequently.
Markquis Nowell received no Division 1 scholarship offers out of high school. Here he is with his older brother, whose name is Marcus. I am not making this up.
The Kansas State basketball coach is Jerome Tang, who genuinely seems like a good guy. I consulted Mrs Notes, a purple afficionado, about the color of the quarter zips the KSU coaches are sporting. She is torn between lilac and periwinkle, leaning toward the former. I can tell you what color it isn't. Blue! Evidently their color is "royal purple" - I guess the lettering on their home jerseys might be dark purple. I sure ain't lilac.
Kentucky and KSU are both the Wildcats. Mrs Notes like our mascot better. "Their's looks like a mouse."
Or maybe a rat.
Blue
Not blue
Xavier may be the most under-rated program in all of college sports. They are overshadowed to a certain extent by their cross-town rival, the University of Cincinnati, itself an overlooked program (Oscar Robertson, two straight titles, #11 on the all-time win list). Xavier is a cradle of coaches. Pete Gillen, Skip Prosser, Thad Matta, Sean Miller and Chris Mack all passed through. Xavier qualified for the Dance 18 times this century, earning a #1 seed in 2018. The Musketeers have made the Sweet 16 nine times (before today) and the Elite 8 in 2004, 2008 and 2017. Not too shabby. They’ve put lots of guys in the league, most recently Jordan Crawford (brother of former UK guard Joe). And yet no one thinks of them as an elite program.
The school is named for St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish priest who was one of the original seven Jesuits. Considered the greatest missionary since the Apostle Paul, Xavier traveled to Africa, India, China. Japan, Borneo and many other Pacific islands, which was a pretty good trick in the mid-1500s. He was canonized as the “Patron of Catholic Missions”.
Xavier handled Pitt (coach Miller’s alma mater) with relative ease today. The Musketeers had six guys score in double figures. Xavier really distributes the ball well. 22 assists on 30 made buckets today. There are no blue bloods left in this NCAA tournament, but under-appreciated Xavier is back in the Sweet 16!
Xavier recruited and played an African American player, Ray Tomlin, far earlier than most schools. This photo is from 1954.
Cinderella Story
Around here, we operationally define a Cinderella as a team seeded 9 or lower that makes it out of the first weekend. It's what we do. Free of charge. You're welcome.
That means Princeton is a bona fide Cinderella. And it also means we'll have at least one more by the end of the day since #9 Florida Atlantic faces off against #16 Fairleigh Dickinson. The only other possibility is #11 Pitt, which is in the first game of the day against Xavier.
I've always liked Amy Adams. Mrs Notes will appreciate Dr. McDreamy.
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