Day 5

12 of the Sweet 16 were expected to be there. St. John’s beating Kansas was fun, but hardly an upset. That leaves 9-seed Iowa (over Clemson), 6-seed Tennessee (over Virginia) and 11-seed Texas (over Gonzaga). All from the two predominant power conferences. Your “Cinderella”, Texas, has an athletic budget of $350 million, by far the most in college sports. Not exactly a scrappy underdog.

Does that mean that recent apocalyptic changes to the game have made the tourney boring? Far from it.

First off, we had a genuine buzzer beater: St. John’s Dylan Darling hitting a layup as time expired to beat Kansas. Despite the tourney’s reputation, this is rare. In fact, Darling’s shot was only the seventh true buzzer beater since Kris Jenkins hit one in 2016 to win it all for Villanova. Let’s re-live one of the best. This one’s for Villanova graduate Melissa Knouse.

In addition, double-digit-seeded mid-majors High Point and VCU had solid first-round upsets. High Point showed their win was no fluke in the second round, with 5-foot-10 senior Rob Martin (30 points) going toe-to-toe with Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr. As great as Acuff was (37 points), no one could guard Rob Martin. Not an upset, but a game I’ll remember.

Sprinkle in the Otega Oweh shot to send the Kentucky-Santa Clara game to overtime; Siena putting a very legitimate scare into No. 1 Duke; and Iowa’s upset of defending national champion Florida.

Let’s not forget UConn’ Tarris Reed Jr. with 31 points and 27 rebounds against Furman, the most boards in a tournament game since 1973.

We even had a memorable miss. The beyond-half-court shot by Vandy’s Tyler Tanner ranks right up there with Gordon Hayward’s desperation heave that almost went in against Duke in 2010; that won gets the edge because it was in the national title game. How close was Tanner’s shot to going in? This close.

Not sure who I’m arguing with, exactly. Myself, apparently, to justify my continued obsession with this tournament. I think it comes down to this. Every playoff in sports is exciting when the four best teams are left. This tournament, uniquely, is best when 64 teams are still in the mix. Anything can happen and it often does. If you look away, you might miss it. If you do, I’ll make sure the highlight is just a click away.

When Kansas tied the game with 14 seconds to go against St. John's on Sunday, I had no idea that the Jayhawks had only fouled twice in the second half. That meant they had four fouls to give before putting St. John's on the line. So, foul. Which Kansas did, four times. The problem is, Kansas fouled without really making a play on the ball. Worse, those four fouls caused less than 10 seconds to run off the clock. So, St. John's had nearly 5 seconds to get a last second shot. And if Kansas fouled at that point, it put St. John's on the free throw line. Did that contribute to the awful defense that Kansas played at the end? They let Dylan Darling, the third guy picked on your rec league team, get all the way to the cup with no help defense. I think Kansas' Bill Self blew it. Atypical is becoming the norm in the Little Apple.

By the way, Bill Self says the rumors of his imminent retirement are based on "bad info".

One last thing. They call Dylan Darling "Bells". Short for church bells. Because Rick Pitino said (and I'm quoting here) "he has balls as big as church bells". And that was before he hit the big shot against Kansas.

This morning, Mrs. Notes asked if there were games tonight. Yes, I replied, four of them: "Much more manageable." Without missing a beat, she exclaimed "I love the madness part. It's not March Manageable!". 🤣🤣🤣 

Sweet 16. Let's get to it!

The Boilermakers went into the break up four, 39-25. It could have been worse for Texas. Purdue kept settling for 3s. They were open, but they missed them. Fortunately for Purdue, Trey Kaufman-Renn hit all of the 2s he shot in the first half (6-6).

At the half Kenny Smith went on a rant about UNC (where he played back in the day) and how they were a family, and all the coaches retire as Tar Heels including Hubert Davis. [Editor's Note: Kenny, they just fired him my man. Just like they fired Bill Guthridge and Matt Doherty.] The trainers retire Tar Heels! The secretaries retire Tar Heels! He brought JJ Reddick into it for some reason. It didn't make a whole lot of sense, although apparently he's a big fan of hiring a former player. The man they called the Jet better get ready to be disappointed.

Texas' 7-footer, Matas Vokietaitis (pride of Marijampolė, Lithuania), battled foul trouble, picking up his fourth with nearly 13 minutes to go in the game. 

Purdue kept doing their thing, old school. Post-ups and mid-range shots, but bricks from deep. 

Texas' Tramon Mark had a bad wheel. They re-taped his ankle in the first half, but he was limping noticeably. Somehow he put up 29 points (11-15 from the field, 5-7 from 3). He was magnificent, almost single-handedly keeping Texas in this game (with a little help from Swain and Pope.).

Scored knotted at 70 as we passed the 4 minute mark.

Down the stretch. Lots of missed shots (from both the floor and line). The refs took a break to watch the new Avatar movie at the monitor. 

Braden Smith, the assist king, with a huge bucket in the lane to give Purdue a 3-point lead with under a minute to go. Vokietaitis was fouled intentionally. Although he was 1-4 at line up to that point, he calmly hit them both. Foul; Purdue hit two free throws. Texas down 3. Swain drives the lane, hits the shot in traffic. Fouled. And 1!  Tied. 11.9 seconds remaining. Purdue ball.

Texas' coach Sean Miller inexplicably puts Vokietaitis on the bench for the final play. Purdue's Smith missed inside. Kaufman-Renn tips it in! Ball game!

Might have been nice if Texas had a 7-footer in the game to box out on the rebound.

Kaufman-Renn: 20 points, 8-10 from the field, 8 boards, hit all his free throws. That'll do.

The refs in this game were the worst. Texas-Purdue started at 7:10 pm, Iowa-Nebraska at 7:30 pm. The second game, which featured officials not showboats, finished almost 10 minutes before the first! They changed the rules, but college ball still has a referee problem.

By the way, boilermaking is a trade involving the constructions of, wait for it, boilers (and other large vessels that hold hot things). Apparently, the Purdue football team won against Wabash College 44-0 in 1891 leading a sportwriter to posit that the school must recruit "burly boiler makers" from the local railroad shops. The mascot is the Boilermaker Special, a truck dressed up as a train. They also have Purdue Pete, who I would advise you not to hire as a babysitter.

Iowa's Alvaro Folgueiras was the star of the Florida upset, drilling a corner three that ended up being the game winner. Tonight, Nebraska was cruising right along maintaining a small but consistent lead. Then they stopped guarding Folgueiras. Literally.

With four minutes to go, the score was tied at 65. At that point, three total fouls had been called in the second half (1 on Iowa, 2 on Nebraska). There's a reason this game ended first.

Iowa edged out to a 3-point lead with less than a minute to go. Folgueiras broke free on an in-bounds, scoring on a ful court pass. With a foul! 3 points the old fashioned way.

Heady play by Folgueiras and the Hawkeyes. Assisted by the fact that Nebraska only had four defenders on the floor!

Nebraska proceeded to throw up about a dozen bricks; Folgueiras did not, adding a dunk in the closing seconds.

9-seed Iowa moves on! Surprisingly, this is the lowest seeded Big 10 team to make the Elite 8 in history.

Iowa transfer Pryce Sandfort scored 25 points on six 3s for Nebraska, which won the first two March Madness games in program history this tournament.

Iowa led for a total of 2:10, the final 2:10. 

Bad week for Bobby Hurley (brother of UConn’s Danny). He was fired as coach at Arizona State. And then his college assist record was broken by Purdue’s Braden Smith. His record stood since 1993. The school he played for slips my mind.

Arizona State replaced Hurley with Randy Bennett, who has been the St. Mary’s coach this whole century. Quality coach, but not sure he’s the guy for instant high-major success. We’ll see.

It took less than 24 hours for Utah State’s Jerrold Calhoun to bolt to Cincinnati. I thought he would hold out for a better job (no offense Bearcats). I didn’t realize that he played for Cincy and coached under Bobby Huggins. Utah State keeps hiring good coaches they can’t keep. Great hire for Cincinnati.

Kansas State fired Jerome Tang. The highlight of his Kansas State career? Beating the Kentucky team led by Oscar Tshiebwe in the Sweet 16 in 2023. Moving on.

I can't believe Will Wade is heading back to LSU. The wild west ain't got nothing on the NCAA. We discusses the Sean Miller recruiting scandal at Arizona. There was another ugly one in recent years that involved wire taps from law enforcement. That's right: Will Wade at LSU, which fired him for cause four years ago. NC State hired Wade a year ago and he led the Pack to the First Four (where they lost to Texas). This week LSU contacted Will Wade through back channels and there was an agreement in principle on the outlines of a deal. Just one little problem. LSU had a coach, Matt McMahon, under contract. No problem. LSU fired McMahon (his contract had to be bought out) this morning and immediately hired Wade (NC State had to be paid so he could break his contract). LSU committed 8-figures for player salaries, which NC State couldn't match. The amount of money that LSU dished out to get Wade and football coach Lane Kiffin in the past few months is staggering. Wade has promised not to poach all of his players from NC State. I would trust him, wouldn't you?  

Finally, North Carolina fired Hubert Davis. I don’t think Davis was a good fit at UNC; maybe this was for the best. That said, I’m guessing UNC beats VCU if Caleb Wilson doesn’t get hurt, in which case I am not writing this paragraph. Everyone agrees that Davis is a wonderful person, but he was awfully defensive and evasive in the press conference after the VCU loss. That didn’t help. UNC prides itself on staying “in the family”. I think that is complete nonsense. Look no further than the limited success of the coach of my team. My guess is UNC throws a wide net. Which I’m guessing is the reason that Florida is desperately trying to re-negotiate Todd Golden’s contract despite the Gator’s early tournament exit. Say what you will about Hubert Davis, but he beat Mike Krzyzewski in the Final Four to prevent coach K from retiring with another national title. A grateful nation salutes you.

Arizona picked apart the Hog D in the first half to the tune of 54 points. 64% from the field, 75% from deep (they don't shoot many, they don't need to), 88% from the line. Doesn't get much better than that. 

Arkansas, in contrast, was 2-12 from 3. Arkansas star, Darius Acuff, had 11 but he was held largely in check. With all the stars for the Wildcats, they got a great first half from Ivan Kharchenkov. The Munich native with 11 without missing a shot. Arizona 54-43 at the break.

The second half was even worse for the Razorbacks. Arizona hung another 55 on the Hogs in the second to win 109-88 (!!).

Arkansas was getting pounded with a lot of time left to play, which can't be fun. They completely lost their cool. Cal, Pringle and Richmond got T'ed up. Richmond got tossed out.

Acuff is awfully good...on the offensive end. He could not guard High Point's Rob Martin. No one could. Tonight, Acuff was torched by Jaden Bradley. Not so much Burries but Bradley, who took Acuff off the dribble repeatedly. This tourney has enhanced Acuff's draft stock, no doubt (he got 28 tonight). But he's too quick to play matador defense constantly. 

Esoteric stat of the night: Arizona is the first team in tourney history to shoot 60% from 2- and 3-point range and shoot 30 free throws. Impressive, to say the least.

Most of them are passable; some are just awful. I won't call him out by name, but one guy they are using this tourney is both wooden and pedantic. I swear one of his questions was: "coach, what was the key to the first half". He got paid for that?

I come here to praise, not criticize. Lauren Shehadi has been a revelation. She's charismatic, asks good questions, has a sense of humor, asks follow-ups. She did the infamous sideline interview with Kevin Willard. Color me a fan.

The late games, annoyingly, started at almost exactly the same time. The similarities ended there. This one was the mirror opposite to Arizona-Arkansas. Houston was stuck at 14 points for what seemed most of the first half. The score at the break: 24-22 Illinois. Both defenses were good; both offenses were pitiful. Illinois shot 33%, Houston 29%.

Illinois picked it up in the second stanza. Houston, not so much. Which is unexpected because the game was played only a couple miles from their campus. The Cougars' freshman star, Kingston Flemings, with only 11 points. Illinois' freshman star, Keaton Wagler, with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Illinois wins by 10.