Stomp The Lunatic

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  • Previewing the Arizona / Michigan game

    With no offense to UConn and Illinois, one of the things the Lunatic always marvels at is how the conference champions rise to the top. So, in the nightcap, we have the Big 10 champion against the Big 12 champion, with a trip to the championship game being on the line.

    Arizona (36-2, 1 seed in the West)

    STARTING LINE-UP (based on last game)

    • C -Motiejus Krivas (7’2″ Junior) – 10.4 PPG, 8.2 RPG
    • F – Koa Peat (6’8″ Freshman) – 14.1 PPG, 5.5 RPG
    • F – Ivan Kharchenkov (6’7″ Freshman) – 10.5 PPG, 4.3 RPG
    • G – Brayden Burries (6’4″ Freshman) – 16.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG (40.2% from three, 80.6% FT%)
    • G – Jaden Bradley (6’3″ Senior) – 13.3 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 4.4 APG (80.8% FT pct, 39.4% from three)

    KEY BENCH

    • F – Tobe Awaka (6’8″ Senior) – 9.3 PPG, 9.1 RPG
    • G – Anthony Dell’Orso (6’6″ Senior) – 8.6 PPG, 2.0 RPG (83.1% FT pct)
    • F – Dwayne Aristode (6’8″ Freshman) – 3.9 PPG, 1.8 RPG (45.3% from three)

    HOW THEY GOT HERE

    • Beat 16 seed Long Island 92-58
    • Beat 9 seed Utah State 78-66
    • Beat 4 seed Arkansas 109-88
    • Beat 2 seed Purdue 79-64

    CURRENT KENPOM STATS

    • Off Rating – 128.7 (4th)
    • Def Rating – 89.7 (2nd)
    • Overall Rating – 38.94 (2nd)

    COACH – Tommy Lloyd

    • Arizona (148-35 – making the NCAA tournament all 5 seasons with 3 Sweet 16s)
    • First Final Four

    Freshman Koa Peat was the most outstanding player in the West region. He was able to drive to the lane at will and dominate the boards. But he wasn’t even Arizona’s leading scorer this season – that was Braylon Burries, their best three-point shooter.

    Just because Burries is good from outside though doesn’t mean that is where he scores all his points. Arizona lives in the paint, with all five players being capable of driving the lane and scoring on their drives. And then they crash the boards leading to lots of tip-ins.

    One factor that might matter is the fact that Arizona does not shoot a lot of three-pointers. Over the season, Michigan shot 300 more three-pointers than the Wildcats. The only time Arizona shoots from outside is when they are completely wide open – and they are normally deadly when that happens. The reason I mention this is I just watched Illinois struggle from three, something that occasionally happens when teams play in these football stadiums with unusual site-lines for the shots.

    Arizona wins their games by scoring in the paint and then smothering you on defense. And with their physical driving, they get you in foul trouble.

    Michigan (35-3, 1st in the Midwest)

    STARTING LINE-UP (based on last game)

    • C – Aday Mara (7’3″ Junior) – 11.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG
    • F – Yaxel Lendeborg (6’9″ Senior) – 15.2 PPG, 7.0 RPG (37.2% from three, 81.6 FT pct)
    • F – Morez Johnson Jr (6’9″ Sophomore) – 13.2 PPG, 7.3 RPG
    • G – Nimari Burnett (6’5″ Senior) – 8.4 PPG, 2.7 RPG (38.1% from three)
    • G – Elliot Cadeau (6’1″ Junior) – 10.2 PPG, 5.8 APG (37.7% from three)

    IMPORTANT BENCH

    • G – Roddy Gayle Jr (6’5″ Senior) – 7.4 PPG, 3.3 RPG
    • G – Trey McKenney (6’4″ Freshman) – 9.8 PPG, 2.6 RPG (38.4% from three, 89.0% FT pct)
    • F – Will Tschetter (6’8″ Senior) – 3.7 PPG, 1.9 RPG (90.9% FT pct)

    HOW THEY GOT HERE

    • Beat 16 seed Howard 101-80
    • Beat 9 seed St. Louis 95-72
    • Beat 4 seed Alabama 90-77
    • Beat 6 seed Tennessee 95-62

    CURRENT KENPOM STATS

    • Off Rating – 128.2 (5th)
    • Def Rating – 89.3 (1st)
    • Overall Rating – 38.95 (1st)

    COACH – Dusty May

    • Florida Atlantic (126-69 – with 2 NCAA Tournament appearances in 6 seasons, including a Final Four)
    • Michigan (62-13 – with a Sweet 16 in his first of two seasons)
    • Second Final Four with 2 different teams

    Michigan looked so dominating through the year. The Big 10 was the best conference in basketball this year, and they went 19-1 in the conference normally winning by double digits.

    They are led by Yaxel Lendeborg, who has the ability to score from anywhere. It is crazy tough to guard a 6’9″ guy who can also hit three-pointers.

    Michigan statistically has the best defense in college basketball. This is because their big men don’t tend to give a lot of offensive rebounds – they control the boards. With a 7’3″ rim protector and four athletic players roaming the perimeter, they can guard both drives and three-point shooters.

    At the end of the day, we are looking at the two best defenses in college basketball, and the 4th vs 5th best offenses in college basketball. Both the Wildcats and Wolverines are extremely efficient in what they do. Whoever wins the paint, something both teams are used to winning, will likely decide who moves on to play UConn.

    Should be a fantastic game between the Big 10 and Big 12 champions, and it is almost ready to tip off.

  • What just happened?!?!?!?!

    I have a few things to do before I can get back to the blog. But the standings are at least updated.

    That was ridiculously crazy!!!!!! So insane!!!! There were three teams all year that seemed to be a tier above everyone – Michigan, Arizona and Duke. While the South Region broke down once Florida lost and Illinois beat Houston, the rest of the power structure seemed to be in place.

    Purdue challenged Arizona for a half, but then the Wildcats kicked in a different level of play. Tennessee challenged Michigan for 10 minutes, but then the Wolverines kicked in a different level of play. When Duke jumped out to a double digit lead on UConn, it simply looked like the third remaining favorite was doing what the other two favorites did.

    And then March happened in a moment that is going to be remembered for a long time to come.

    The Lunatic will eventually catch up, he needs to watch some things again to get all the full details of that amazing finish.

  • Wildcats win the West

    Arizona had not been behind in any part of their first three games of the NCAA Tournament. And so I was thrilled in the first half as Purdue did so fantastic in the first half. With Trey Kaufman-Renn in foul trouble, Daniel Jacobsen came off the bench and got a few blocks, and Gicarri Harris hit a couple of three-pointers. The Boilers were up 38-31 at half!!!!

    And the Taylor Swift Song goes through my head.

    This hope is treacherous.

    This daydream is dangerous

    This hope is treacherous

    I, I, I like it.

    But then Trey Kaufman-Renn picked up a quick foul in the second half on a rebound. Then Koa Peat made two shots in the lane. Then Brayden Burries hit a three-pointer from the wing. Then Jaden Bradley drove hard to the hoop and made a layup. And before you knew it, Arizona went on a 16-3 run to take the lead.

    And yet, I still thought to myself, these seniors have been through so much. They can make another run. They can do this.

    This hope is treacherous.

    This daydream is dangerous

    This hope is treacherous

    I, I, I

    But that hope was just that – hope. Koa Peat continued to drive to the hoop on his way to score 20 points. Ivan Kharchenkov scored 18 points. Jaden Bradley scored 14 points. Brayden Burries scored 14 points. They all would drive to the hoop and seem to score at will. Even when Oscar Cluff would come in and stop the initial drive, the Wildcats would pound the glass, get the rebound, and eventually get the score.

    Meanwhile, the team with the statistically best defense in college basketball locked down my Boilers who had statistically the best offense in college basketball. They stopped the Boilers from getting their kick-out three-pointers and forced them into shooting inside – where their frontline stopped everything.

    The Arizona team that showed up in the second half is a team that certainly can win the National Championship. They take good shots, are excellent rebounders, and lock-down defenders.

    As for the Lunatic, he is a little sad. He might have to try to treat himself to a round of golf tomorrow to try to cheer himself up. Don’t get me wrong, I am super proud of how the Boilers played this year.

    While I know so many people believe the only thing that counts is a championship, getting to an Elite 8 is an amazingly successful season. Braden Smith broke the all-time career assists record. Fletcher Loyer broke the Purdue three-pointers made record. Trey Kaufman-Renn had the moment of a lifetime when he tipped in that shot against Texas to send his team to the Elite 8.

    All in all, those three seniors won the most games in a Purdue uniform in all history – combining for 117 wins and a 78.5% winning percentage. They played in three Sweet 16s, two Elite 8s, and of course, the championship game in 2024. They won 2 Big 10 regular season championships and won 2 Big 10 tournament championships (meaning that they at least won one of the two conference titles in 3 of the 4 years they played). Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn, and Fletcher Loyer accomplished more in a Purdue uniform than any other player, which says a lot when you realize that Purdue is the school that has won the most Big 10 championships in the history of the league.

    I just so badly wanted them to win the one game that they had not been able to claim – the NCAA Tournament Championship game. So, while I realistically know that they had a fantastic season and a fantastic career, I am still a little sad for them. I wanted to see them accomplish that last goal.

    None of that should take away from what Arizona did. The Arizona Wildcats broke their own school record – becoming the first Arizona team to win 36 games in a season. You have to play the perfect game to beat Arizona, because they simply keep coming at you on both offense and defense – and they play a very balanced game. If you try to Brayden Burries, Koa Peat and Jaden Bradley just start taking it to the lane instead. Motiejus Krivas is a 7’2″ center who dominates the glass. Ivan Kharchenkov can score as well. If you stop one player, another player simply steps up.

    Congratulations to the Big 12 regular season and conference tournament champions – the Arizona Wildcats. The West Regional champions have cut down the nets in San Jose, and will be heading to Indianapolis next week for the Final Four.

  • The Sweet 16 is almost here!!!!

    The Lunatic is ready. I have my lucky Purdue T-shirt on as well as the lucky black socks. The Sweet 16 games are just an hour away and my Boilers and the Texas Longhorns are ready to kick things off.

    As I get ready for the game, I wanted to mention how amazing the final 16 coaches are in the Sweet 16. Looking at the list of coaches just amazed me.

    Currently, there are only 7 active coaches that have won a National Championship (according to AI).

    • Dan Hurley (UConn)
    • Bill Self (Kansas)
    • Rick Pitino (St. John’s)
    • John Calipari (Arkansas)
    • Scott Drew (Baylor)
    • Tom Izzo (Michigan State)
    • Todd Golden (Florida)

    So, only 1.9% of the active coaches in Division 1 college basketball. And yet, four (25%) of the coaches in the Sweet 16 have won a National Championship.

    Lets look at the whole list:

    • St. John’s – Rick Pitino (915 – 317 – 74.3%)
    • Arkansas – John Calipari (905 – 285 – 76.1%)
    • Tennessee – Rick Barnes (860 – 434 – 66.5%)
    • Michigan State – Tom Izzo (764 – 309 – 71.2%)
    • Houston – Kelvin Sampson (754 – 317 – 70.4%)
    • Purdue – Matt Painter (525 – 228 – 69.7%)
    • Texas – Sean Miller (508 – 210 – 70.8%)
    • UConn – Dan Hurley (347 – 179 – 66.0%)
    • Illinois – Brad Underwood (300 – 136 – 68.8%)
    • Alabama – Nate Oats (266 – 115 – 69.8%)
    • Nebraska – Fred Hoiberg (227 – 170 – 57.2%)
    • Iowa State – TJ Otzelberger (223 – 115 – 66.0%)
    • Michigan – Dusty May (186 – 82 – 69.4%)
    • Arizona – Tommy Lloyd (146 – 35 – 80.7%)
    • Duke – Jon Scheyer (123 – 24 – 83.7%)
    • Iowa – Ben McCollum (54 – 16 – 77.1%)

    If you go by win percentage and look at the top 25 active coaches record, 11 of the 16 Sweet 16 coaches are in the top 25 (69.4%).

    There are only 19 active coaches with 500 wins. 7 of the 16 Sweet 16 are on that list.

    One of the things that I hate are some of the ranking lists that come out. I am sure I will rant about one that Charlie pointed out from CBS Sports at some point. Let re-rank the Sweet 16 teams as if two games on neutral courts suddenly changes whether or not a team like Duke is still one of the top 2-3 teams in the country. Even if they eventually lose, these rankings are silly. We know by now that in March, especially when you get to the Sweet 16, that anyone can beat anyone.

    But think about this – the IndyStar ranked who they believe were the best coaches of the Sweet 16 from 1-16. They ranked Hall of Fame coach John Calipari, who has taken three different schools to a Final Four, as the 8th best coach in the Sweet 16. That sounds ridiculous!!!! But then you look at who they ranked.

    • Dan Hurley (who has won multiple titles at UConn)
    • Rich Pitino (who has won the most games as an active coach)
    • Kelvin Sampson (828 wins who has been to the last 7 Sweet 16s)
    • Dusty May (took mid-major Florida Atlantic to the Final Four)
    • Tom Izzo (Hall of Fame coach)
    • Nate Oats (coaches in the Final Four and the Elite 8 in the last two years)
    • Jon Scheyer (who has won 83.7% of his games and made the Final Four in only his 3rd season)

    I probably still put Calapari better than a few of these, but you can’t say the logic of the writer is crazy.

    Well the game is ready to start – enjoy the games!!!

  • Ready to go!!!!

    I managed to actually get almost 8 hours of sleep, so that was a nice change for the Lunatic.

    I just managed to finish my ridiculously horrible handicapping that continues to get worse as I start to only bet $30 in a desperate attempt to make up some of the imaginary money that I have lost. My bets were so bad on Saturday that the Lunatic Casino’s host is starting to offer to comp me lunch in order to keep me in the sportsbook. But my bad handicapping is still available for anyone to see.

    I am slowly finally getting to start to mark off payments on the registry. My goal is to have everything caught up by the end of the day – but I will likely be distracted for the next few hours.

    I have my lucky Purdue T-shirt on as well as my lucky black socks. So, I am ready to go!!!! BOILER UP!!!!

  • Championship Saturday is here!!!

    21 games starting at 11 am where unless you are from the Ivy, American, Atlantic 10, SEC or Big 10 conferences, a victory means you will be playing in the NCAA Tournament next week!!! You can not get any better than that – win one game and you don’t have to worry about the Selection Committee. 11 automatic bids get decided today as we have non-stop basketball for about 15 hours as the America East championship kicks off at 11 am all the way until the WAC championship kicks off at midnight.

    The Lunatic has a few goals for the day, some of which are more realistic than others and some are completely out of his control. None of these are in any particular order – just things that I hope to have happen.

    • Finish updating the statistics page – I think I only have to fix one box score from a game in November that the ESPN site listed all the stats as 0s resulting in a 0-0 tie. Since that helps me with everything I do over the next 3 weeks from bracketology to creating cheat sheets to handicapping the games, that should be first on my list to do (and I will hopefully get done before the games start and I start getting distracted).
    • Watch Purdue win today at 3:30 pm and get some revenge from their last second defeat at UCLA in the Big 10 semi-finals. And yes, I said watch – the Lunatic did watch yesterday to hopefully prove to himself he is not a jinx, and the Boilers won by 16. I can’t tell you how happy I was about that. It is easy to let things like jinxes and karma come into mind, but the truth is if you are a true fan, you are going to be there for every win and every loss.
    • Spend most of the day working on my bracketology. This year, I get to have a very realistic version of the Selection Committee. I will spend tons of time in a room in front of a television with games and a computer with stats as I try to select the teams to play in the tournament. I am hoping that I can be like the committee – finish selecting the field today, and seed everyone tomorrow. This is the most unrealistic goal that I have today – while it is fully in my control, the Lunatic gets distracted when basketball is on. Who wants to play with statistics when you can watch the actual games.
    • Take a break from basketball to spend some time with Charlie, who is home for Spring Break at JMU. I would add Katie to that, but considering basketball will be on the television, I am not sure that I will see very much of my daughter.
    • Watch some great basketball games – this is the only goal I know can happen – I simply need to turn on the television.

    I have a lot to do, so I will not list out all 21 games today. But I do need to spend some time to catch up on all the great action from yesterday, and what it means for today.

    • Saint Louis came back from 21 points down in what could have been a disastrous first round exit from the Atlantic 10 tournament. Thanks to this, the Billikens have set up a semi-final against one of the teams that beat them in the regular season, Dayton. The winner will await the winner of VCU, who also needs to keep winning to keep their bubble hopes alive, and St. Joseph’s to determine the Atlantic 10 champion on Sunday.
    • The American conference protected its top 2 seeds to its semi-finals today, so this will be the first time that bubble team and regular season champion South Florida plays as they go against Charlotte. On the other side, Tulsa survived 3 overtimes against North Texas yesterday to play the other 13-5 team from the conference, Wichita State.
    • Last night in the Mountain West, there was a fantastic game between bubble teams San Diego State and New Mexico. With about 25 seconds left, the Lobos’ Deyton Albury made a layup to tie the game at 62. But with 2 seconds left, the Aztec’s BJ Davis countered with his own layup to send San Diego State to the Mountain West Championship game today against regular season champion Utah State.
    • The SEC has introduced a true bid-stealer into the mix. Ole Miss (15-19) continued its reign of terror in Nashville as they held on to upset #15 Alabama. Oklahoma almost continued their hot streak as well, but lost by 3 to #17 Arkansas – so now they nervously have to wait and see if what they have done over a 6 game winning streak is enough to hear their name called tomorrow. On the other side of the bracket, we should have a fun game as #4 Florida and #22 Vanderbilt advanced to setup an exciting game today.
    • The Big 10 didn’t introduce any bid-stealers, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t have upsets. #23 Wisconsin came back to upset #9 Illinois in overtime, setting up a battle with #3 Michigan, who survived a tight game against Ohio State. The Wolverines now have to play the one team in the Big 10 that beat them this season. And of course, UCLA held on as they were up by double digits before the #8 Michigan State Spartans started their come-back. So, while Purdue, Wisconsin and UCLA are likely in the tournament, they all pulled off upsets to play in the semi-finals today.
    • There was no upsets in the Big 12, but certainly had some excitement. Of course, the news in Kansas City up to tomorrow was more floor chaos for the Big 12. They try to be innovative and all it does is seem to back-fire. Last year, they created this atrocious court with small tiny XIIs covering the floor. This year, they created a glass-LED floor that could show advertisements and data-driven graphics during timeouts. The initial feedback was the court was very slippery and causing players to have a hard time to make cuts, but the end apparently came when Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson slipped and strained his groin muscle – causing him to have to sit on the bench injured as he watched his Red Raiders lose to Iowa State. So, the Big 12 switched back to the ugly hardwood court for the semi-finals and finals. Fortunately, #7 Iowa State and #2 Arizona brought the conversation back to basketball as they played a thrilling game that ended the Wildcats’ Jaden Bradley tried to drive to the basket but great defense forced him out to the wing. With time running out, Bradley threw up a tightly-contested fade-away and somehow managed to sink it at the buzzer to beat the Cyclones. #5 Houston ran away from #14 Kansas setting up what is likely the premier game of the evening as two teams that will clearly be top 2 seeds in the tournament play in the Big 12 championship tonight. I don’t know that the Cougars have the ability to get the last #1 seed if they win – I am sure Florida and UConn will have something to say about that, but you still can’t get to watch a better game, assuming you can manage to watch the game on that horrible XII covered floor.
    • The Big East didn’t see any drama as #6 UConn and #13 St. John’s – setting up a fantastic final tonight in Madison Square Garden to decide the Big East championship. There also wasn’t a lot of drama in the ACC – as the top two teams, #1 Duke and #10 Virginia advanced to tonight’s ACC championship, as we get to see in Charlotte how the Blue Devils can do without Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba against a top level team like the Cavaliers.

    Friday was such a great day of basketball. But, Saturday will be even better. Eleven champions will be crowned today, five more will be crowned tomorrow, and at 6 pm on Sunday, the Selection Committee will inform us the field of 68 for the men’s NCAA championship!!! Enjoy the madness!!!

  • The Lunatic is a little nervous

    Many fans have superstitions, and the Lunatic is no exception. He very typically always has a Purdue shirt on when his Boilers play. But after spending so much time trying to get rid of this superstition, it has managed to creep back into his head.

    I have to start this story to mention how proud of both of my children – but for this story, my daughter Katie gets to take the stage. On Wednesday, Katie completed the drivers exam to get her drivers license. She is doing great as a driver, but any parent out there knows that with the pride of knowing that your child is growing up into adult comes the nervousness of what that also brings. But yesterday is what has brought back the Lunatic’s superstition.

    This winter, Katie got the opportunity to be the student manager for the Glen Allen High School swim team. She helped the coaches with organizing and leading practices, and then of course, helped out with whatever was needed during the swim meets, whether it was making sure a swimmer was at the starting block or simply providing another person poolside cheering for the team. Last night was the swim team’s end-of-season banquet, and so Elizabeth and I got to go and beam in happiness as the coach thanked Katie for everything she did this season.

    You might be thinking to yourself, that is super nice, but I am still not following why this has created a basketball superstition for the Lunatic. Well, the swim banquet went from 6 – 7:30 pm. At 6:30 pm, Purdue opened their Big 10 tournament against Northwestern, a team that I watched the Boilers struggle against just last week as they snuck out a last minute victory. After the banquet, I checked my phone to see how the Boilers were doing, and smiled as the Boilers were up at half-time 45-21.

    And then the horrible thought came back into my mind. I have been watching the Boilers through February as they have had struggles. And now when I don’t watch them, they look like the incredible team that was expected to be a contender when the season started in November.

    I have tried for years to get that horrible fear out of my head that my watching a game can be a jinx. And realistically, I know that can’t be true since I have seen the Boilers win more games than they have lost. I turned the game on in the second half and was lucky enough to watch Braden Smith break the Big 10 Tournament single game record as he got his 16th assist on a drive to the basket followed by a bounce pass to Oscar Cluff for a layup. Smith also moved to 2nd on the all-time list, now just 31 assists away from Bobby Hurley’s record of 1,076 assists in a college career.

    So, I still got to see some of the game, and they did win by 13, but the nervousness is still there. If I knew that I could help my Boilers win a national championship by simply not watching the games, I would do it in a heartbeat. But I am also one of their biggest fans – I want to watch them and cheer them on.

    So, the Lunatic doesn’t know what to do. I will probably watch them tonight at 6:30 pm as they play #11 Nebraska. But I am nervous that the best thing for me to do is find something else to do when they play.

    Leaving the chaotic mind of the Lunatic and getting back to basketball, Thursday wasn’t kind to many of the bubble teams as some of the teams you hear talked about the most such as Miami(OH) and Auburn lost yesterday. But a few teams made statements to probably secure their status.

    In the ACC, Clemson beat North Carolina and Miami beat Louisville. I think both teams were already in, but they probably finalized the deal by getting to the semi-finals along with Virginia and Duke (who was in a 1-point game against bubble team Florida State).

    The Big 12 semi-finals today will be a huge preview of the tournament. We have #2 Arizona vs #7 Iowa State at 7 pm, and #5 Houston vs #14 Kansas at 9:30 pm. Could not ask for a better set of games!!!!!

    The Big East has one of the biggest bubble games of the night as Seton Hall plays St. John’s at 5:30 pm. The nightcap features #6 UConn against Georgetown. If you are a fan of a bubble team outside of Seton Hall, you are rooting for UConn to play St. John’s one more time for the final, since it looks like both Seton Hall or Georgetown would be stealing a bid.

    The favorites won in the Big 10, so we should have a great set of quarterfinal games. If there is one of these teams still on the fence, it would be Ohio State who gets the tough task of playing #3 Michigan at Noon or UCLA who gets the tough task of playing #8 Michigan State at 9 pm.

    In the SEC, most of the favorites won leading to some great quarterfinals as well. But I have my attention on a surging Oklahoma team who now gets a chance to play #17 Arkansas after upsetting Texas A&M by 20 yesterday. There is also the bid-stealer Ole Miss (14-19), whose upset of Georgia yesterday has earned them a date at 7 pm with #15 Alabama.

    The Mountain West always gets a few bids – but this year, it is less clear of how safe their teams are. So, if you want to stay up late to watch some teams playing with everything on the line, check them out at 9:30 pm when Utah State takes on Nevada, and midnight when San Diego State takes on New Mexico.

    The Atlantic 10 also starts their games for their leaders who are still in contention for a bid – as St. Louis kicks off the action against George Washington at 11;30 am, and local VCU takes on Duquesne at 5 pm. With so many of the power conference bubble teams losing, there is certainly opportunity for the Rams and Billikens to make the tournament with a strong showing this weekend.

    For the Lunatic, he needs to remind himself that turning on a television (or watching on his phone) can not impact whether or not the ball goes through the hoop for his beloved Boilermakers. For the rest of you, don’t let the Lunatic’s superstitions creep in, because if you do, you will miss so much great basketball!!!! We are fans – we need to watch the games!!!!!

    Enjoy the games today!!!!

  • Someone can actually stop Walter Clayton Jr

    The Houston defense is relentless. The referees have put their whistles in their pockets, and so we have a rock fight!!!! The game has been physical and the teams are both playing some incredible defense.

    Only 4 fouls have been called in a game that has had plenty of contact. I wouldn’t necessarily say all the contact should result to a foul – but you definitely can say that the referees are letting them play.

    Houston jumped out to the early lead with about 10 minutes to play as Mylik Wilson stole the ball from Denzel Aberdeen and made the layup to give the Cougars a 16-10 lead.

    But then Will Richard got hot. With 6 minutes left, he drilled a three-pointer to tie the game at 21.

    Houston immediately had an answer. LJ Cryer hit a three-pointer. Ja’Vier Francis blocked a layup from Micah Handlogten. Mylik Wilson had a nice dunk off a pass from Emanuel Sharp. And then after Clayton missed a three-pointer for the Gators, Wilson hit a three-pointer to extend the lead back to 8 with 5 minutes in the half.

    But Florida would keep fighting. And they got lucky that the referees had their whistles in their pockets. J’Wan Richards put up a shot in the lane and the ball hung on the rim until getting knocked to the corner by a Florida defender. After replays, it certainly looked like it should have been goaltending.

    Instead, the Gators pushed the ball up the court, got the ball into Will Richard, and he drilled the three-pointer to cut the lead to 3. And that would eventually be the score that would end the half – the Cougars are up 31-28 at half-time.

    Houston has 13 points off their bench as Wilson leads the Cougars with 7 points and Ja’Vier Francis has 6 points. But it is Houston’s defense that is the biggest story.

    Walter Clayton Jr averages 18.5 points per game. The Cougars have him shut out – as he has gone 0-4 from the field and every one of those 4 shots has been heavily contested. Alijah Martin averages 14.6 points per game and the Cougars have held him 1-5 from the field for 2 points.

    The Gators average 10.6 turnovers a game. Houston forced 9 from them in the first half. If it wasn’t for Will Richard getting hot and scoring half of the Gators points (14), this game would not be close.

    The game is Houston’s pace. The game is Houston’s style. Everything favors the Cougars – but as is common in a defensive battle, it is a one-possession game.

    The Cougars lead 31-28, with 20 minutes to hang on to win a national championship – should be an exciting finish to the season.

  • Desperate times

    I am now wearing all 4 of my Purdue shirts in a desperate attempt to get any type of luck

  • Tide goes on a run to end the half

    Well – we just got home from dinner, and saw that Alabama was on a 22-6 run to finish the half. Alabama would obviously prefer the score of the game to be in the 80s / 90s / 100s – but at the end of the day, they still take a 35-32 lead into halftime.

    Since I don’t have much knowledge of what happened. I basically saw Rylan Griffen hit a three pointer from the corner to give Alabama a 29-28 lead, and then it looks a minute later Mark Sears hit a three-pointer to extend the lead to 5.

    So – since it is at half, lets talk about the rest of the day. I was stressed out about the games – and realizing that I was sitting a lot, so figured for some exercise, I would get a tee-time to go golfing.

    Even in trying to get some mental and physical health, I can’t seem to do it in a sane way. Knowing that we were going to visit with Mary Kate and Kate this evening, I wanted to get an early time. So, with the reality that I am falling asleep at the end of two exciting games last night, I woke up at 6:45 am so that I could go golf. Because it makes sense when you are not getting any sleep and you finally have a day you could sleep in to get up before 7 am.

    And of course, I chose to golf at Royal New Kent. I never remember breaking 100 at this course before and I was a better handicap than I am now. I realized how crazy I am as the starter really encourages us to play the white tees – instead of the black, gold or blue tees. He then mentions that the course was ranked as the 15th toughest course in the United States.

    This might be the first time I have played the white tees here – it definitely made the course more playable. The Blue tees are 7440 yards, followed by Gold (7159), Black (6733) and White (6194). So, yeah – cutting almost 1000 yards off the course definitely helped make it playable.

    I was playing really well – my putting was atrocious, but still shot 50 on the first 9. Then I went on a run. I got a par on 11, a par on 13 and a tap-in birdie on 14 to make a run. Even with a horrendous triple bogey / triple bogey finish, I still managed to sneak out a 96. Still a bunch of things to work on with my golf game – but it made me feel good to hit some good shots, be out on the golf course (which was beautiful except for the greens which had some patchy spots). And of course the adrenaline shots of knocking a blind approach right next to the hole definitely helped.

    Well – looks like the Alabama / Clemson game has started back up. Maybe I will get a chance to enjoy some basketball tonight.