Stomp The Lunatic

I was too busy watching the Alabama vs Grand Canyon game but it would be poor to not mention that Connecticut destroyed Northwestern by 17 in a game that wasn’t that close. At one point, I noticed on the scoreboard that the Huskies had doubled the Wildcats total as they were up 55-27.

So that leaves us down the home stretch. Texas A&M is challenging Houston, but the Cougars did take a 5 point lead into half over the Aggies. And sadly for the Lunatic, the San Diego State vs Yale game has not started yet. I am so tired – I am not sure I will make it through that game (or at this rate the Houston game).

Congratulations to the Huskies for advancing to the Sweet 16. If there are no more updates until the morning, it will be because the Lunatic has gone back to dreaming.

It was an entertaining game. It was an overly physical game. Both teams shot uncharacteristically bad. The crowd for Grand Canyon was extremely into the game – as they were super loud. And they were crazy excited with 6 minutes to play when Tyon Grant-Foster hit a jumper to put the Lopes up 58-55. But then a bizarre sequence changed the game.

Alabama missed a three pointer, but Nick Pringer was fouled going for the rebound. Pringer hit the first free throw but missed the second one. But Alabama got the rebound and kicked the ball back out. This time Sam Walters missed the three pointer but Alabama once again got the rebound. Eventually, Mark Sears got fouled trying to score.

Sears also made the first free throw and missed the second, but once again Mouhamed Dioubate got the rebound. Dioubate went back up with the ball, hit the layup and got fouled. Dioubate hit the free throw to essentially wrap up the 42 second 5-point play for the Tide.

This would kick off a 17-3 run where Alabama finished off the 12 seed. Mark Sears probably kept the Tide in the game as he scored 26 points. But it was Dioubate who scored all 9 of his points in the final stretch to lead the Alabama late charge. And Alabama will head to the Sweet 16.

With 6:44 left in the game, the Tigers Ian Schleffelin made a jumper to take a 15 point lead. Then, everything started to unravel.

By 5 minutes, Baylor had cut the lead to 8. By 2:40, Jalen Bridges hit two free throws to cut the lead to 4. With 1 minute, Clemson’s Jack Clark got a defensive rebound, but the Bears’ RayJ Dennis knocked the ball out of his hands and Clark fouled him as Dennis tried to get the ball. Dennis made both free throws and the game was a 2 point lead.

On the next possession, Baylor deflected the ball out of PJ Hall’s hands and Hall fell into JaKobe Walter for Clemson’s star center’s 5th foul. With Walter being an 81.4% free throw shooter, it looked like the Bears might tie the game.

Then Walter missed both free throws. Baylor now had to foul, and Clemson’s RJ Godfrey made both free throws. Dennis missed a three-pointer to try to cut the lead to 1 but it was too strong so the Bears fouled Joseph Girard III, who made both free throws. After Walter missed a three-pointer, the Bears had to foul RJ Godfrey, who also made both free throws, and the Tigers were safe again. Clemson upset 3 seed Baylor and the Tigers are heading to the Sweet 16.

So, after Virginia got beat in the first four game, the other 4 ACC teams have gone 8-0 and all 4 are now in the Sweet 16. Congratulations to the Tigers!

Sadly for the state of Virginia, James Madison’s success against Wisconsin is not translating into success against the mighty ACC. Duke is destroying the Dukes 78-46 with 8 minutes to play.

Meanwhile, there is an upset alert brewing as everything is falling for Clemson, including as Chase Hunter raced down the court and shot a deep three pointer at the buzzer for the first half. The Tigers will take a 35-25 lead into halftime.

Beware the ACC!

And we have one relieved Lunatic. When Purdue is playing this way, especially against a smaller team, they are unstoppable. Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 18 and created a bunch of foul trouble, Zach Edey added 23 points, and Fletcher Loyer put up 15 points.

They outrebounded Utah State 49-26, and yet still shot 47.8 percent from three point range – when you are winning the paint and the perimeter, they are tough. I believe I heard that is the most points Purdue has scored in a NCAA Tournament, and it is the most wins a Purdue team has done in a season.

I feel a little bad for Utah State – they had a fantastic season – winning the Mountain West regular season championship and winning their first ever NCAA Tournament game. The future looks bright for their team. But the Purdue fan is happy the game wasn’t close and stressful.

Hoping this leads to more success next week. But for now, I can simply be happy. And that is probably good news for all of us – the happy Lunatic can enjoy the remaining slate of games. We can avoid the sad Lunatic giving up on the blog for the night.

Nervous about the next game – Gonzaga can be a scary team and they are different from when we faced them in Maui. But nervous and hopeful is so much better than sad and depressed.

BOILER UP!!!!

What an incredible game to start off the day. Marquette jumped out to an 11 point halftime lead, but Colorado kept cutting the lead throughout the second half. But every time the Buffaloes would tie the game (or even take the lead), the Golden Eagles would score some baskets and re-establish the lead.

With two great offensive teams, it looked like it could be whoever got the ball last, especially when Tristan da Silva tied the game with a minutes for Colorado.

After a couple of misses by both teams, Marquette’s Tyler Kolek drove to his left (like he did countless times in the game) – but instead of taking this one to the basket, he hit Chase Ross on the wing for a big three-pointer. But Colorado’s KJ Simpson quickly drove to the rim with a layup to cut the lead to one.

Then, the irony was defense took over – David Joplin drove to the lane for the Eagles but missed a well contested layup. KJ Simpson drove to the basket for the Buffaloes but got double teamed and forced into a jump ball. Kolek tried to kick the ball out to the wing and had it stolen. Cody Williams missed a step back three pointer.

Finally, with 54 second, Kolek did what he does best – he dribbled past everyone with his left hand, went along the baseline and under the basket, started to pull the ball back out and turned and shot the short jumper in the lane to give the Golden Eagles a 3 point lead.

Colorado’s J’Vonne Hadley missed a three-pointer but Colorado got the rebound and Cody Williams got fouled trying to score. But unfortunately, Williams missed the first free throw before making the second and cutting the lead to 2.

This also posed another problem. Colorado did a great job all game of not fouling. But this poses a problem when you only have 3 fouls and the shot clock goes off when you are behind. And you have to give credit to Marquette – it was clear Colorado was trying to foul but Kolek managed to pass the ball up the court before being fouled to waste a few seconds, and the same thing happened under the basket where he ran away from the Colorado defense and passed the ball out – managing to take precious seconds off the clock.

They did eventually foul David Joplin, and the junior forward managed to hit both free throws to make it a two-possession game with 7 seconds. KJ Simpson missed his three pointer from the wing, time ticked off the clock and the Golden Eagles are sending Coach Shaka Smart back to the Sweet 16.

I do have to say this funny moment as I realize I missed an opportunity – so this is one of my last chances to say it. Colorado is a good team at the fundamentals – as I mentioned they defended well without fouling. One of the announcers mentioned that Colorado was the 6th best team in the country in shooting three pointers. Well anyways

As the Buffaloes were coming back, Elizabeth said, “Go Buffaloes!!! And then said – wait what do Buffaloes say – is it Mooooo like a cow!”

And without missing a beat, I screamed “They say BOX OUT!!!!”. So maybe fans of the blog should be happy that it didn’t occur to me to say it until Elizabeth said something, and while the Buffaloes played great today, they will not be making a deep run into the tournament – because I am sure BOX OUT would come up several more times now that it crossed my mind. Buffaloes go to Sportsbars and say It is all about the fundamentals! BOX OUT!

OK – the Lunatic must get nervous and watch his Boilers! BOILER UP!!!

Apparently, the Pittsburgh site has decided it needs more basketball. NC State and Oakland went to overtime, and now Creighton and Oregon are going to double overtime.

So much to write about but I am simply going to enjoy the game for now!

It is an unfortunate reality that happens in the tournament. Just like the movie, the clock eventually strikes midnight for Cinderella.

NC State and Oakland were exchanging the lead throughout the first 3 minutes of overtime when DJ Burns got a rebound off a missed three pointer from the corner, giving the Wolfpack a 1 point lead. On the next possession, NC State would find DJ Horne near the baseline who hit the jumper and extended the lead to 3. But on the shot, there was also a foul on DJ Burns blocking out Oakland’s Blake Lampman. The 93.3% FT shooter who had only missed 3 FTs all season missed the first free throw before making the second and cutting the lead to 2 points.

And then the dagger hit. The Wolfpack got the ball into Burns, who found Jayden Taylor for a three point shot that gave NC State a 5 point lead with a minute to play.

Jack Gohlke would miss a couple three point shots as well as Rocket Watts missing one. Horne and Burns both hit a couple free throws after getting fouled off the rebounds to cut the lead to 9, until DQ Cole cut the lead to 6 with 13 seconds. But they were given a little bit more hope when NC State turned it over on the inbounds pass. But Gohlke would miss the next three pointer, and NC State would run out the clock on the 14 seed.

So, the magic continues for NC State. The only other time a team won 5 games in 5 days to win their conference championship was 2011. The Connecticut Huskies went on to win 6 more games and claim the National Championship. Who knows what the future will bring – what is certain is everyone should be concerned about the Wolfpack – they are a super hot team right now, and are celebrating as a double digit seed breaking brackets to reach the Sweet 16.

With 1:48 left, Casey Morsell made a free throw for 14 seed Oakland Grizzlies to give them a 64-63 lead.

NC State’s Michael O’Connell drove to the basket with the shot clock running down and made the layup and got fouled. His free throw put the Wolfpack up 66-64 with 54 seconds.

Jack Gohlke got fouled on the other side of the court and hit his free throws to tie the game.

NC State got the ball to DJ Burn like they wanted, but his layup was just a little strong giving Oakland what looked like the final possession. But Chris Conway threw the ball out of bounds with 2 seconds left. After a replay, it looked like it clearly went off the NC State defender, but the call on the court stood. Casey Morsell put up a half court prayer that went off the backboard and rim and fell to the ground – meaning five more minutes between the two double digit seeds trying to make it to the Sweet 16.