Last night in the NCAA Tournament, four more tickets were punched to the Elite 8 – in some respects, last night did mirror the NCAA Tournament as a whole. There were a few exciting games, but for the most part the higher seeded teams advanced. Michigan State got out to a comfortable lead at halftime that LSU would cut to 4 thanks to a 13-5 run by the Tigers to start the 2nd half. Michigan State countered with an 11-0 run and the Tigers would get no closer than 9 points the rest of the way. The Spartans ended up winning 80-63 thanks to 20 points and 8 rebounds from Aaron Henry along with 17 points and 8 assists from Cassius Winston.
Duke trailed by 5 points at halftime, but gradually took control in the 2nd half thanks to 23 points from Zion Williamson and 22 points from Tyus Jones. Virginia Tech had their chances to win in the closing seconds – first they missed a potential go-ahead 3-point shot, then after a Duke miss from the free throw line, the Hokies missed their final two shots that included a tough fadeaway shot from right under the hoop with 0.6 seconds remaining on the clock.
In the Midwest region, Auburn continued their hot-shooting ways and took what was a 1-point lead at halftime and blew the game open in the 2nd half with 56 points in the half. They hit a program-record 17 3-point shots, but they were dealt a serious blow when the game’s leading scorer Chuma Okeke left with what appeared to be a serious knee injury midway through the 2nd half. Nonetheless, Auburn advanced to their first Elite 8 since 1986 with a 97-80 victory against the Tar Heels.
The nightcap did indeed feature a defensive struggle between Kentucky and Houston in the first 36 minutes of the game, but the Cougars were able to take a 58-55 lead with under a minute remaining in the game. Tyler Herro hit a 3-point shot (following a blocked shot by PJ Washington) to put the Wildcats up for good and they salted the game away from the free throw line en route to a 62-58 win.
Outside of the NCAA Tournament, there was one game played in the CIT – Green Bay advanced to the semifinal round with an 80-65 victory against Cal State-Bakersfield. The semifinal matchups are set for next Tuesday; Hampton will play at Marshall in the first game and Texas Southern will play at Green Bay in the second game.
There was one head coaching vacancy filled yesterday – Mark Fox was named as the new head coach at California. Fox has made the NCAA Tournament five times in his previous 2 head coaching stops – three times at Nevada (including a pair of trips to the Round of 32) and twice at Georgia.
UPDATE (12:30 PM) – One of the worst-kept secrets is about to become official early next week – Fred Hoiberg is now expected to be named the next head coach at Nebraska. He is also expected to add Matt Abdelmassih to his coaching staff – Abdelmassih was pivotal as a recruiter at Iowa State and most recently was able to recruit guys like Shamorie Ponds to St. John’s.
WEST REGION
(3) TEXAS TECH VS (1) GONZAGA (6:09 PM, TBS) – Gonzaga will be looking to advance to the Final Four for the second time in three seasons with a victory today. They blew open a close game against Florida State in the final three minutes. Texas Tech held Michigan to a season-low 44 points in their victory Thursday night; they will be looking to advance at least a step further than last season in which they lost to eventual national champion Villanova in the Elite 8.
SOUTH REGION
(3) PURDUE VS (1) VIRGINIA (approx. 8:49 PM, TBS) – At least one Final Four drought will be snapped when both teams meet tonight; Purdue has not made it that far since 1980 while Virginia has not advanced to one since 1984. Virginia was able to survive a couple of scoring droughts in their victory against Oregon on Thursday night. Purdue got out to a 17-point lead early in the 2nd half in their game against Tennessee, but were able to overcome poor foul shooting and a late Vols run and ended up surviving in overtime to advance.