Stomp The Lunatic

Villanova took survive and advance to an extreme today. They were stuck in a defensive struggle that was the classic first team to 50. They almost didn’t get there. They hit 50 when Collin Gillepsie hit 2 free throws with 25 seconds left.

Villanova as a team shot 15 of 52 (28.8%) from the field. Villanova also managed to hit a perfect 15 of 15 from the free throw line. I don’t know how a team who is actually so good at shooting that they can be perfect from the free throw line only hit 15 of 52 of their shots from the field – no wait, I do. That happens when the referees disappear and everyone just fouls the shooter on almost every shot.

As Houston’s coach mentioned after the Arizona win, he said “Victories don’t come with asterisks. This is not a beauty contest.”

Well, this was certainly not a beauty contest. I was at my daughter’s rugby game this afternoon, and after watching the end of the first Elite 8 game, I feel like I was treated to a rugby double-header.

There was one point late in the game with about 1 minute left where Jermaine Samuels drove to the basket, gets hit by the Houston defender and somehow still lays it in as he falls to the ground to give the Wildcats a 48-42 lead. I kept waiting for the official to blow a whistle because Samuels threw the ball forward at the basket instead of placing it down for a ruck. Then, maybe they could have let Gillepsie start the scrum. Only way I could be brought back to that it was basketball was that each team only had 5 players instead of 15.

But the perfect example of this physical insanity was at the end with about 12 seconds left. Villanova had just gotten the ball out of bounds after Houston missed two three pointers. The pass came to Villanova’s Caleb Daniels, and a Houston defender sprinted right through Daniels, hit the ball out of his hands, and the referee said it was Houston’s ball since it went off Daniel’s leg.

Last time I checked the rules, if a defensive player comes over the offensive player’s shoulder, and reaches in and hits the players arm, it is a foul. Then to add insult to the rules, they then went and reviewed it – and you hear the announcers say, “Yes – that ball definitely goes off Daniel’s leg.” No one mentioned the fact that he was almost tackled before the ball went out – a foul isn’t something that can be reviewed.

Fortunately, the college basketball gods intervened, let Houston throw up two wild three pointers before the ball went into Villanova’s Gillepsie’s hands and he dribbled out the clock to mercifully end the game.

It wasn’t pretty, but there are no asterisks. Villanova wasn’t innocent either – they understood the referees weren’t calling anything and somehow beat Houston at their game. But it doesn’t matter if the score is 50-44 or 76-70, it still is a 6 point victory for the Wildcats – one that will send them to New Orleans and the Final Four.

There was a little sad news for the Wildcats (and didn’t happen because of a foul). Justin Moore slipped driving to the basket late in the game and injured his leg in a scary fall. For a team that only plays 6 players, losing a starter might be rough. But they still survived – and this late in March, it simply matters that you are still playing.

Congratulations to the Villanova Wildcats.

I apologize for the lack of blogging – the Purdue game hit me pretty hard – I am sure I will rant about it more at some point. I am actually disappointed in one way because from what I could tell, the UNC upset over UCLA was pretty exciting. However, I also actually got a really nice evening of sleep so I feel a lot better. I guess I should also be happy because Purdue lost with only 9 games left in the tournament. While it feels like a missed opportunity, most teams would be thrilled to be playing this late in March. Sure that feels like a good story to get myself to enjoy the Elite 8.

In the middle of my heartbreak, the world unfortunately continues to move on – there is still a Stomp the Lunatic contest to report on, and that stomping appears to be in full force in more way than just watching my Boilers lose.

Not all of us are losing their picks, some are doing incredibly well.

Ann Hawkins is leading both the standard and upset pool right now. Ann is tied in the standard pool with Richard Urban at 650 points. They are closely followed by Edward Zhang in 3rd at 620 points and John Howarth in 4th at 610 points. Edward Zhang’s 2nd entry is in 5th at 600 points, Jimmy Lee is in 6th at 590 points, and Adrian Young is in 7th at 570 points. There is an 8 way tie for 8th place at 560 between Eric Zeidler, Evan Goldstein, Red Shepley, Gregg Farber, Michael Swinson, Mike Mullins, Keith Dudley and Rob Nesbitt.

In the Upset standings, Ann Hawkins leads with an impressive 281 points. She is followed by John Howarth in 2nd at 265, Viviemme in 3rd at 248, Gregg Farber in 4th at 247, and Tanmay Gautam in 5th at 246.

In the Second Chance pool, Andrew Picciano got an impressive 7 of 8 games right for 280 points. We have an 8 way tie for 2nd between Noah Franklin, Bill Richter, Joshua Martin, Steve Manley, Dan Miller, Jim Carini, Ann Hawkins, and Earl McKnight.

The Crazed Lunatic has dropped all the way to a tie for 67th. And with Kansas being his only Final 4 pick remaining, the Lunatic is guaranteed to be beat – it is just now a question of how many. The 80 points for Kansas getting to the Final 4 will be irrelevant to our leaders who already ahead of that total. Maybe the Lunatic curse will be kind to Jayhawks fans – with the Lunatic’s picks being done, there is no need to knock them out as it has to Gonzaga, Texas Tech, Arizona, Tennessee, Kentucky and my Boilers. In fact, Kansas is the only team I picked in both entries – wonder what that says. Is it just that the Jayhawks are that good that my read on them was right, or the Lunatic curse is simply waiting to finish off the best and most confident pick for last.

Good luck to everyone on your Elite 8 teams. It should be a fun weekend. In the West, ACC champion Duke is taking on the SEC’s Arkansas who has won 18 of their last 21 games. In the South, we have Big East Champion Villanova going against the American Conference Champion Houston, who is the highest ranked team remaining in the Kenpom rankings (2nd to Gonzaga). In the Midwest, we have the Big 12 champion Kansas trying to take shelter and survive the storm from the ACC’s Miami Hurricanes. And in the East, the 8th seeded North Carolina Tar Heels are now the best ranked seed – normally, an 8 seed wouldn’t be an 8.5 point favorite to make the Final 4. But the 8th seeded Tar Heels will be taking on 15th seeded St. Peter’s – this peacock is continuing to strut down its improbable trip to the Final 4. Enjoy the games this weekend!!

I have to give the Jayhawks a lot of credit for surviving the Lunatic curse. I believe as I was turning the game off, I saw that win made Kansas have the most wins of all Division I teams as they passed Kentucky. Very impressive.

All they have to do on Sunday is beat a double digit seed to make it to their 16th Final Four.

Unfortunately, the Lunatic knows that isn’t always the easiest task to accomplish.

I think I am going to take a break. I would love to root for UNC and Iowa State, since I have relatives who went to those schools. I would love to root for UCLA because their winning is the only thing that can keep my picks hanging in the upset pool standings. I would love to root for Miami simply so I can sing Hamilton songs all weekend (in the eye of a hurricane, there is quiet, for just a moment, yellow sky) – not to mention wouldn’t it be amazing if the ACC teams kept going after we heard about it being such a down year in the ACC.

But I can’t watch – I even let my wonderful wife Elizabeth take over the TV to watch her documentaries. It is too painful to watch – maybe if I rest and play a video game for a while, I can come back and watch the last 10 minutes of one of the games. But right now, I feel like anyone I root for will lose – I can’t be responsible for any of these 4 team’s seasons ending. Good luck to the Tar Heels, Bruins, Hurricanes and Cyclones – hope they play exciting great games that are fun to watch.

The first 15 seed in history makes it to the Elite 8, and it comes at the expense of my Boilermakers.

Don’t know why the refs wouldn’t call a foul to let Purdue extend the game. But it doesn’t matter.

Ivey’s three point shot falls short as the most efficient offensive team in the court went for 6 minutes to start the second half and they went for 4 minutes towards the end without scoring.

And the Peacocks are still alive. Cinderella refuses to leave the dance.

Oh by the way, I believe that Kansas and Duke are the only teams left alive in my bracket. If you doubt the Lunatic curse, Providence is down 6 with 4 to play and I am 100 percent sure the Fryars are going to win.

The Lunatic is so heartbroken. I can’t even root for the 15 seed on Sunday because I am so mad it isn’t my Boilers. Oh well! That is what happens in March.

That is because the Houston Cougars played tremendous defense, leading the 5 seed to a 72-60 victory over the Wildcats.

There was a little bit of drama near the end as Arizona started pressing Houston and forcing them to turn the ball over. But with the lead cut to 6, Kyler Edwards got the steal from Bennedict Mathurin as he drove to the lane. Then, after Houston took another precious 30 seconds off the clock, Edwards drained a three pointer with a little over a minute left to put the game out of reach.

And with Gonzaga and Arizona both falling, the only remaining #1 seed left in the field is the Kansas Jayhawks – who are probably happy that they are playing on Friday.

This also brings a crashing halt to the Lunatic’s chances – as losing Arizona, Gonzaga and Texas Tech knocked his picks from 6th all the way down to a tie for 74th. Congrats to our current leaders – Edward Zhang in the standard pool and Ann Hawkins in the upset pool.

Also surprisingly, no one got all 4 games right in the Second Chance pool – we all got a second chance for a perfect bracket and the tournament upsets said, I don’t think so…..That leaves us with a 17 way tie for first for those who got 3 of 4 games right.

Things are starting to get wild – 5 of the top 8 teams are now eliminated, with Kansas, Duke and Villanova the only ones still playing. And the Jayhawks still have to beat Providence tomorrow to join the Blue Devils and Wildcats in the Elite 8. It is a great reminder that anything can happen in March.

What a great game with the teams trading the lead back and forth. With a little over three minutes, Texas Tech’s Kevin McCullar hit a three to give the Red Raiders a 2 point lead, but it was short lived as Paolo Banchero hit a three pointer to answer and retake the lead.

Then, Jeremy Roach took over. Roach had back to back possessions where he drove the lane, and hit the jumper to extend the Blue Devils lead to 5.

Texas Tech kept it interesting as Adonis Arms hit a three with 16 seconds to make it a 2 point game. But freshman AJ Griffin calmly hit both free throws, Texas Tech couldn’t score again, and the Blue Devils advance to the Elite 8.

This was Coach K’s 100th career tournament win. Just put that in perspective. Lets say you coached 42 years like Coach K, and averaged making it to the Sweet 16 every season you coached (which would be incredible to be in the top 16 each year). That would still leave you 16 wins short of Coach K.

Well, that didn’t take long, as Wendall Moore got into the lane and hit a fadeaway to tie the game at 17.

Just in case I am the jinx, might as well give some love to both teams.. I won’t even mention what is happening in the other game between Houston and Arizona. No reason to jinx the teams in the other game either.

Good games – lots of fun!!!!

Adonis Arms jumps out and steals the ball and goes to the basket for a dunk and a 6-2 lead. Then, Kevin McCullar steals the ball and goes to the hoop for a layup and 8-2 lead. Then, Terrence Shannon gets a defensive rebound and charges down the court for a dunk forcing a time out from Duke’s Coach K.

They are playing with a lot of emotion right now.

The Arkansas Razorbacks are heading to the Elite 8. One of the best offensive teams in the country was held to 37.5% from the field and only 23.8% from three by a tough and scrappy Razorbacks team.

Gonzaga got some bad breaks with Chet Holmgren being in foul trouble the whole game. Arkansas managed to keep the lead to be in the 6-10 point range for most of the second half, including making the lead 8 off a nice three pointer from the corner by Trey Wade. However, Gonzaga made a last ditch chance to catch up. Andrew Nembhard hit a circus type three pointer to cut the lead to 3 with 16 seconds to play.

Chris Lykes hit two free throws to extend the lead to 5, and then there was a moment that really summarized the game. Nembhard drove to the basket and Au’Diese Toney came from behind for a massive block to seal the victory.

Congratulations to Arkansas for being the first team to advance to the Elite 8. Also, congratulations to Villanova, who held off Michigan by 8. I wish I could tell you more but because of some of the officiating (was it really necessary to go to video review on a ball that clearly went off the Arkansas player’s leg), despite starting 20 minutes after the Gonzaga game, there was only 40 seconds left in the Villanova game and the lead was already 8. So, we watched Villanova hold on for a minute and the Wildcats advance to the South Region.

It probably makes sense that Arkansas won. In my sane picks, I had Texas Tech. In my insane picks, I had Gonzaga. And in my second chance picks, I had Duke. So, is it any surprise that Arkansas won this game? Probably not. I said going into the tournament that the Big East looked weak compared to the other power conferences. So, is it any surprise that Villanova won this game? Probably not.

Still, Arkansas and Villanova deserve a ton of credit – they are dancing into the weekend.