News, Notes and Sweet 16 Recap/Elite 8 Preview – Saturday, March 26

Last night was a banner night for the ACC – not only does it assure them of 4 teams advancing to the Elite 8, it also assures them of having 2 teams make the Final Four and one team in the national championship game. The first of the 4 teams to win last night was Virginia; they beat Iowa State 84-71 despite Georges Niang scoring a game-high 30 points for the Cyclones. The Hoos raced out to a 14-point lead at halftime; their smallest lead of the 2nd half was 7 points. Anthony Gill scored a team-high 23 points for Virginia.

They will be matched up with Syracuse; the Orange beat Gonzaga 63-60 despite trailing for much of this game. Michael Gbinije hit the go-ahead shot with 22 seconds left, and Syracuse was able to survive despite a late judgment call in which Trevor Cooney made a steal in the baseline corner but was ruled to have stepped out of bounds. The play was reviewed not to see if he had stepped out, but rather how much time Gonzaga would have to get off a game-winning shot. They failed to do so, and Syracuse iced the game with 2 free throws with under 2 seconds remaining.

Notre Dame and Wisconsin had a tight game throughout the evening, but the Irish scored the final 8 points of the game in a span of about 18 seconds and ended up beating Wisconsin 61-56. VJ Beachem had 19 points for the Irish; Demetrius Jackson also had 16 points for Notre Dame. They advanced to the Elite 8 for the 2nd consecutive year for the first time since the 1978 and 1979 NCAA Tournaments.

Their opponent will be North Carolina; the Tar Heels looked very much like the team that was expected to win the national title in preseason. They beat the Hoosiers 101-86 thanks to 21 points from Marcus Paige and 20 points from Brice Johnson. North Carolina also shot an astounding 11-for-20 behind the arc last night; they were 32-for-62 overall with only 9 turnovers on the night.

As for today:

(2)OKLAHOMA VS. (1)OREGON (6:09 PM, CBS) – The West Region is the first of 2 regional finals to be played tonight; both games feature the top 2 seeded teams in their respective regions. Oregon had relatively easy games against Holy Cross and Duke to get to this point; only Saint Joseph’s gave the Ducks a scare in round 2. Ironically, Oklahoma’s toughest games came in OKC against Cal State-Bakersfield and VCU; they had their easiest game on Thursday night against Texas A&M in Anaheim’s Honda Center. Oklahoma has the star power to go all the way, but Oregon will also be shooting for their first Final 4 in 77 years tonight.

(2)VILLANOVA VS. (1)KANSAS (8:49 PM, CBS) – The South Region in Louisville also had its top 2 seeds survive the first 3 rounds en route to tonight’s matchup. Both Kansas and Villanova have had early NCAA exits in recent years relative to the seeds they earned, but neither team has been seriously challenged in the first 3 rounds. Kansas had 3 easy wins against Austin Peay, UConn and Maryland; Villanova looked equally as impressive against UNC-Asheville, Iowa and Miami. Kansas will also be looking for revenge against a Villanova team that beat them 2 years ago in the Battle 4 Atlantis Championship; that game was the impetus for Villanova’s 3-year reign of terror in the newest incarnation of the Big East.

LATEST COACHING CAROUSEL MOVES:

Out – Brian Gregory from Georgia Tech

Staying Put – Mick Cronin will remain at Cincinnati; UNLV’s search for a head coach goes on.

In – Mike Dunleavy Sr. will be the new head coach at Tulane.