2026 - Day 4

Some were puzzled about all the chalk talk yesterday. What does "chalk" mean in the sports context? It's from horse racing. Back in the day, the bookies would write the odds on a chalkboard. As bets came in on the favorites, their odds would be decreased repeatedly leading to smudged chalk. Put another way, the horse with the odds in a cloud of chalk was the favorite. 

New Miami coach Jai Lucas and the Kentucky fan base have some history. [Editor's Note: One sentence into this post and I'm about to go on a major tangent. This story will get back to Jai, I promise. Back to the Notes.] Back in 2007, blogs were not really a thing. Fans swapped stories on message boards, where Matt Jones was a frequent poster. Back then, he was a recent graduate of Duke law school (irony alert) practicing his trade at a small firm in Louisville. What he really wanted to do was host a sports radio show. Really. He set up a web site, kentuckysportsradio.com, even though there was no radio show. He started directing posters on the Cat's Pause message board to his web site, where he established what would come to be called a blog. Why did anyone care? Because Jones knew things. Because he knew the recruits (Kentucky fans are obsessed with recruiting). In the summer, when the legecy media were vacationing in the Florida panhandle, Jones was at the summer all-star basketball leagues. Jones is a somewhat goofy 6'4" white dude with a serious Eastern Kentucky accent. Somehow, he got to know some of the best prep players in the country well enough to get their phone numbers. When the local papers would publish a recruiting scoop (based on rumors), Jones would give the player a ring. He then quoted them on his blog, oftentimes contradicting the written reports. The local sports writers just loved that.

The blog (now known simply as KSR) gained more widespread note with the recruitment of Patrick Patterson and Jai Lucas. They were rumored to be a package deal, although that ended up not being the case. Kentucky was at a low point, in the transition between coaches Tubby Smith and Billy Gillispie. Kentucky fans were convinced that Patterson and Lucas would lead their team back to the promised land. It became a mantra in the bluegrass: heard anything about pattersonandlucas? Guess who had their phone numbers? To make a long story short, Patterson ended up at UK and Lucas went to Florida. Patterson was an All-American his freshman year. Lucas was far less successful (he's only 5'10") and ended up transferring to Texas. In 2020, John Calipari hired Lucas to be his lead recruiter. He soon established himself as one of the best in the business, second only to Duke's assistant John Scheyer. When Scheyer took over the Duke program, he immediately hired Lucas as his head of recruiting. Kentucky fans were surprised, but couldn't be too mad because Jai Lucas is an incredibly nice guy. Plus, did Cal really need a recruiter? [Editor's Note: No.]

I know I didn't have to drag Matt Jones into this story, but I've never written about him as far as I can remember. I'm a fanboy, I can't help it. A few more things about Jones and I'll quit. The Patterson-Lucas recruitment increased Jones' visibility in Kentucky. He blew up nationally with the Karen Sypher trial (short version: Rick Pitino had sex with Sypher in a Louisville restaurant, she got pregnant, she didn't have the baby but later tried to backmail Pitino. The trial was for extortion. She lost.). This was a huge national story in 2010. Remember that Matt Jones' full-time job at the time was as an attorney and he lived in Louisville. Depite the national interest, only one "journalist" attended the trial: Matt Jones. Jones wasn't a journalist at all, but he could comment on the legal aspects and he had an internet platform. The traffic to KSR exploded. He finally landed the radio show he desired, which currently rules the airwaves in Kentucky. The podcast version of KSR is routinely in the top 10 of sports podcasts nationally, often besting barstool and Bill Simmons. [Editor's Note: Done. Glad I got that out of my system. Well, almost]

After four years in Durham, Jai Lucas was hired as head coach at Miami (this time last year). He immediately turned them around, going 26-9 and finishing third in the ACC. Some of you may not know that Jai is the son of former NBA journeyman John Lucas. The elder Lucas spent his college years at Maryland. He was an All-American in basketball and also in tennis, the first African-American to acheive both those honors. John Lucas occasionally entered professional tennis tournaments in the NBA off-season.

Miami came ready to play today. It was back and forth with neither team holding on to a lead. Miami got a transition layup as the half came to a close to lead 40-38 at the break. 

In his first game after taking over as college basketball’s all-time assist king, Braden Smith tallied 8 more assists to go with 12 points. Those dimes were dropped on Fletcher Loyer (24 points) and Trey Kauffman-Ren (19 points). Purdue is a disciplined machine [Editor's Note: Do machine's have discipline?] and they took control as the game progressed. Miami never gave up but ultimately succumbed, 79-69.

Purdue coach Matt Painter tallied his 500th win. On to the Sweet 16.

[Editor's Note: Over 700 words of circuitous preview that was mostly about Kentucky and didn't mention Purdue at all. Just over 100 words on the game itself. The Notes in a nutshell.]

Not a pretty first half between the Wilcats and the Cyclones (great mascot). Iowa State's star, Joshua Jefferson, was in a soft cast and knee scooter on the sideline. Kentucky came out hot, building a 12-point lead. Then Iowa State locked down on defense which is the calling card of ISU coach T.J. Otzelberger, the bastard love child of Biff Tannen and Ronda Rousey. Iowa State exends the D way out on the perimeter. Which should leave them vulnerable to the back door cuts in the UK offensive arsenal. Didn't happen. Iowa State forced 12 turnovers in the first half. The Cyclones could not get anything going offensively themselves, which I'm not sure had all that much to do with the Cats' defense. Iowa State shot a putrid 29% from the floor including 3-16 from deep. Somehow, the 3 they hit at the buzzer gave them a 1-point lead going into the break, 31-30.  

CBS ran a nice feature on Kentucky's Mohamoud Diabate at the half of the first game of the day. A faithful Muslim, Mo has been observing Ramadan since mid-February. A bruiser on the court, he is a soft spoken young man off it. He emphasized how Ramadan reconnects him with his faith rather than being an annoyance. Ramadan ended just before the tournament. I'm sure I don't have to remind you that Kentucky is a deep red state. I am happy to report that several callers to KSR over the last month or so have expressed their admiration for Diabate because of his dedication to his religion. I'm guessing none of those callers were Muslim. It may seem like a small thing, but it's a reminder that we Americans are fundamentally more alike than different. It's a pity that our leaders keep trying to convince us of the opposite. Back to basketball.

Apparently, Kentucky coach Mark Pope thinks that halftime adjustments are optional. The Cats kept dribbling into double teams, failed to initiate any offense, and were ineffective in isolations. The turnovers just kept coming (20 turnovers. Really?). ISU methodically built a double-digit lead that ballooned past 20.

That's five Big 10 teams in the Sweet 16 for the first time.

Iowa State plays tough and they play smart. Kentucky does not. Mark Pope is not the answer. You can quote me on that.

Pitino vs Self.

Zuby vs Peterson. 

Heavyweights.

Let's go!

How does a team with Darryn Peterson score only 26 points in the first half? Good defense by the Red Storm, sure. But I think I'll go with awful offense. St. John's wasn't much better (29% from the field, 7-23 ! from deep). 34-26 Johnnies at the break.

St. John's took control after the half. They totally disrupted Kansas' offense. The Johnnies shot the ball terribly, but hit enough 3s to build a double-digit lead. We hit the stretch and things got interesting. St. John's went cold and Kansas chipped away at a 14-point deficit. They came all the way back, tying the score with 15 seconds to go. That's when it became clear that Kansas had committed only 2 fouls. So, they fouled four times cutting the time remaining down to 3.9 seconds. 

Zuby Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins had 18 points each. Seemed like one or the other should get the shot. Instead, Pitino put the ball in the hands of point guard Dylan Darling. And the rest is history.

I intended to post a highlight from Darryn Peterson (trouble maker, probably), but there really wasn't one. He scored around 2 minutes into the game and didn't make another field goal until 15 to go in the second half. Bizarre. A vicious first step and he just settled for 3s (when he shot at all). He ended up with 21 somehow, but was 5-15 from the field and had no assists. Zero. Kansas staged an impressive comeback but it really wasn't because of Peterson. I changed my mind. #TeamAcuff

Kentucky-esque turnovers from Kansas: 16.

St. John's Zuby Ejiofor is a former Jayhawk. Kansas recruited over him when they brought in Hunter Dickinson (trouble maker, definitely). Zuby wasn't mad. But he wanted to play, so he transferred. Pitino coached him to Big East player of the year, defensive player of the year (and academic) honors this season. 

I'm not kidding about Dickinson. Talented but everyone agreed that he was a toxic teammate. Which contributed to a first round Kansas flame-out last year. Peterson has been an enigma this season. Self's teams in recent years just have not looked right. He's had significant heart issues, which can't have helped. Rumors that Self's about to retire are swirling. It might be time.

The Vols led by as many as 9 in the second but Virginia got hot down the stretch to tie it. Then it all fell apart for the Cavaliers. Missed layups. Air balls (two on one possession!). Blown layups. Meanwhile, Tennessee hit their free throws to hold off the Hoos, 79-72.

Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 50 points in the first two rounds (21 today). Gillespie led Maryland to the Sweet 16 last year.

Not too many Belgians in college hoops. Virginia found a good one: 6'9" Thijs De Ridder, the pride of Brasschaat, who had an efficient 22 today.

Tennessee to the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive year. 

Next up: Iowa State, who pounded Kentucky today. UK beat Tennessee twice this season, for fans of the transitive property.

In Iowa they are partying like it's 1999! (the last time the Hawkeyes won a game in the Sweet 16)

The Hawkeyes were not intimidated, building a 12-point advantage in the second half. They let it slip away and Florida seemed ready to take control down the stretch, pounding the ball inside. Iowa didn't wilt. 

Big plays in the closing minutes: Iowa challenged an out of bounds call and won. Florida was on the line with 8-seconds left up one. Isaiah Brown only made 1-2, giving the Gators a one point lead.

Iowa easily broke the Florida press and got the ball to Alvaro Folgueiras on the wing. The Spaniard calmly nailed a 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds remaining. Folgueiras pointed to the sky to acknowledge his father, who died when he was nine. Florida tried an entry pass under the basket that was fumbled as time expired.

National champion Florida eliminated, 73-72.

Ben McCollum is in his first year as Iowa coach. McCollum, an Iowa native, previously won two DII national championships at Northwest Missouri State.

The Sweet 16 match-up will be a Bread Beasket Brawl. Iowa-Nebraska. Hawkeyes-Cornhuskers.

I got some things wrong about Utah State on Friday. Their fans are known as the HURD not the Herd. The HURD is not all Utah State fans, however; just the students who sit together in a huge portion of the arena at home games. The HURD come up with clever taunts that are distributed ahead of time; they are the ones who decided to start wearing rubber gloves. But what the hell is a hurd? The app just put a line under hurd meaning it’s misspelled. The official HURD web site doesn’t define it, ditto the Utah State Wikipedia entry. Google wasn’t much help either. I removed Utah State from the search and discovered that hurd is a derivative of herd, but typically meant someone who tends livestock (in Old English). Utah State is an ag school, so that tracks. That was a journey! Anyway, they are a passionate bunch who travelled to San Diego en mass for the game today against the desert wildcats of Arizona.

BYU and the University of Utah view Utah State dismissively as little brother. BYU just spent $6 million on a single player and couldn’t win a tournament game. Utah hasn’t made the tournament at all since 2016. Utah State has gone dancing the last four years straight (and 4 of the last 5).

This level of success was achieved despite a continual coaching carrousel (Craig Smith left for Utah, Ryan Odom moved on to VCU, Danny Sprinkle departed for Washington), roster turnover (Great Osborn left for Washington, Steven Ashworth to Creighton) and no big donors like BYU and Utah and most everyone else. The Aggies spent a modest $2.4 million on the current roster. Doesn’t matter. They just keep winning.

Current coach Jerrod Calhoun gets it. Let’s say the quiet part out loud. Utah State would prefer a coach who worships one religion in particular. Calhoun has gone out of his way to befriend local bishops, convincing them that he shares their values if not their beliefs. Calhoun himself is the second largest donor to the basketball program, at $150,000. That’s putting your money where your mouth is. I don’t think you’ll find the name of Tommy Lloyd on the Arizona donor list.

Rumors of interest in Calhoun from Cincinnati have already morphed into the possibility of moving on to the Kansas State job. The ceiling may be higher still. Chances are Jerrod Calhoun has a new job by the end of the week, and more power to him. Still, I bet he’ll miss his experience in Logan.

Arizona was cruising along in the second half, perhaps thinking about a Sweet 16 matchup with Arkansas as they built an 18-point lead. Utah State, however, wasn't ready to quit. They ripped off a 21-7 run. Suddenly, another #1 seed was in trouble, clinging to a 4-point lead as they headed down the stretch. The Aggies faught to the end, but could get no closer losing by a dozen.

The 7'2" Lithuanian, Motiejus Krivas, had 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Wildcats.

Brayden Burries had 16 points and nine rebounds for Arizona, while Koa Peat had 14 points and 10 boards.

The Utah State faithful showed up but they were badly outnumbered by enthusiastic Arizona fans.

A Sweet 16 battle of freshmen between Arizona and Arkansas. Burries and Peat vs Acuff should be fun.

UCLA got within 4 with 5 minutes to play, then ran out of steam. The Bruins missed Tyler Bilodeau, their best player, who strained a knee in the Big 10 tournament. UConn pulled away for a 73-57 victory. UConn's Alex Karaban with a career-high 27 points. Next up, Michigan State.

Texas Tech also was without their star. JT Toppin tore his ACL in February. Tech had no shot against the Tide without him. Bama by 5. That’s four straight Sweet 16s for the Tide. Alabama gets Michigan in the Sweet 16.