The Tournament That Wasn’t – West Regional Semifinals and Final

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Chad

HoopsHD continues its simulation of what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t).  Up next it is time to award the third spot in the Final Four with the West Regional Semifinals and Finals.  Top-seed Gonzaga enters play in Los Angeles looking to make #1 seeds 3-for-3 in the Regions, but first they must get past Oregon in the semifinal before having a shot in the final.  The other semifinal features 11-seed East Tennessee State, the team that eliminated both Virginia and Duke, going up against a San Diego State team that could have been a 1-seed had a few balls bounced in other directions this season.  Its is time to find out who is headed to Atlanta!

 

REGIONAL SEMIFINALS – WEST REGION – LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

(1) Gonzaga vs (4) Oregon

Despite more than a handful of early round upsets, the South and Midwest Regions had both seen their 1-seeds advance to the Final Four already.  The West Region is up next, and the Gonzaga Bulldogs were looking to make top-seeds three-for-three.  Before the Zags could get a shot at the Final Four in the Regional Final, they had to first get past the top team this season in the Pac-12, the Oregon Ducks.  Oregon had taken care of Bradley easily in the first round before surviving a tough test from BYU in the second.  The Zags, on the other hand, had not struggled too much in eliminating both Boston University and LSU.  This matchup, between two of the best programs in the Pacific Northwest, had a chance to be one of the best games of the Tournament so far.  This was, after all, a rematch of a great regular season game played in the Battle for Atlantis back in November, won by Gonzaga 73-72 in overtime.

The Zags knew that Oregon was going to be one of the toughest foes they had faced all season, and that proved to be true when a late first half 13-4 run by the Ducks allowed them to pull out to a 48-39 halftime advantage.  The Zags were far from done, however, and stormed back early in the second half to eventually tie the game at 60 with just under 11 minutes left to play.  Neither team was able to make any serious push from there on out, and the game was still tied, now at 82 apiece, following a Chandler Lawson free throw from the Ducks with just 56 seconds left to play.  After Oregon held defensively, Payton Pritchard came through for Dana Altman’s team on a short jumper to put the Ducks up by 2 with only 20 seconds left.  Filip Petrusev had a chance for the Bulldogs but his fadeaway jumper missed with 12 seconds on the cock and the Zags had to foul.  Oregon was able to go 4-for-4 on free throws in the final seconds and with that, the first 1-seed had fallen, and the Oregon Ducks, thanks to 22 points from Pritchard and a double-double from Shakur Juiston, were moving on to the Elite Eight.

Final Score: (4) Oregon 88, (1) Gonzaga 82

 

(2) San Diego State vs (11) East Tennessee State

The San Diego State Aztecs entered the West Regional semifinal with an overall record of 32-2 and eyeing a chance to go to the Elite Eight (and beyond that the Final Four) for the first time in school history.  After surviving a tough battle from Providence in the second round, the Aztecs now had to match up against an 11-seed – but an 11-seed that had already knocked off two perennial powerhouses.  East Tennessee State had started its shocking tournament run by ending defending-national champion Virginia’s season, and then promptly followed that up by knocking out the mighty Duke Blue Devils.  Despite this being a 2 vs 11 matchup, it was by no means a given that SDSU would be able to easily advance.

The Buccaneers of ETSU had already proven they had the talent to win in the Big Dance, so it was no surprise at all that they hung tough with the Aztecs throughout the first half.  In fact, neither team was able to open a lead of more than 4 points and the Aztecs went to the beak with a narrow 25-23 edge.  The second half was just as tight, and with 5 minutes left to play it was still just a 2-point game, with San Diego State up 52-50.  Tray Boyd came off the bench to nail a 3-pointer for the Bucs, who then watched Malachi Flynn go down the court and hit one of his own to keep SDSU up 55-53.  Boyd promptly struck again from long range just 7 seconds later, only to see Flynn respond with a shot from just inside the arc to give the Aztecs a 57-56 edge.  A pair of defensive stops helped San Diego State extend to lead to 5, but Boyd promptly came down and hit his third late clutch 3 to cut the lead back to 64-62 with 21 seconds left to play.  After Kesha Johnson made only one of two free throws for the Aztecs, the Bucs had a chance to tie, and of course fed the ball to the red-hot Boyd.  This time he missed, San Diego State secured the rebound, made one more free throw, and escaped with a thrilling 66-62 win.  Malachi Flynn led his team in scoring with 20 points, and the Aztecs were on to the Elite Eight and a date with the Oregon Ducks.

Final Score: (2) San Diego State 66, (11) East Tennessee State 62

 

REGIONAL FINAL – WEST REGION – LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

(2) San Diego State vs (4) Oregon

The stage was set in Los Angeles for the West Regional Final between the 2-seed San Diego State Aztecs and the 4-seed Oregon Ducks.  Both teams had fought hard to reach this point, pulling out tough nail-biters in their second round and regional semifinal games.  For one of these two teams, a trip to the Final Four and a national semifinal game against the Baylor Bears was waiting.  For the other, nothing would be left except for a trip back home and an offseason to ponder what could have been.

San Diego State was playing in its first-ever Elite Eight game with a shot at a first-ever trip to the Final Four.  The Aztecs came out showing that they wanted to make that trip to Atlanta, fighting off the Ducks throughout the first half and eventually building a 56-48 halftime lead.  Despite extending the lead to as many as 10 early in the second, Oregon had a ton of fight left in them.  The Ducks were able to tie the game at 73 with just over 9 minutes left to play and took an 84-82 advantage into the final minute.  That was when Oregon really clamped down defensively, and after each strong stop made their free throws.  When the dust settled, Oregon had won 91-84 and punched their ticket to the Final Four in Atlanta.  Payton Pritchard had another dominant game for his team, scoring 28 points in the victory.

Final Score: (4) Oregon 91, (2) San Diego State 84

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The Tournament That Wasn’t – Midwest Regional Semifinals and Finals

Posted on April 4, 2020 by Chad

HoopsHD continues its simulation of what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t).  Up next it is time to award the second spot in the Final Four with the Midwest Regional Semifinals and Finals.  The Midwest was the only region to see each of the top four teams advance to the Sweet 16, giving us a pair of very intriguing regional semifinal matchups.  First up, top-seed Baylor battles the only remaining ACC team, Louisville.  After that, Creighton takes on Michigan State.  The winners will meet for a chance to join Kansas in the Final Four in Atlanta.  Which of these four teams will survive?  It is time to find out!

 

REGIONAL SEMIFINALS – MIDWEST REGION – INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

(1) Baylor vs (4) Louisville

Despite quite a few upsets in the other regions, the Midwest Region had seen form hold after the first two rounds and the top four teams had advanced to the Sweet 16.  The Regional semifinals in Indianapolis would begin with a matchup between top-seed Baylor and the lone ACC team to make it past the first weekend, the Louisville Cardinals.  Despite being a 4-seed, Louisville had been one of the hot preseason picks to win the national championship, so the Bears certainly knew they would have their work cut out for them in this round.

Baylor knew this game would be a tough one, and a tough thriller is exactly what the fans in Indy got.  The first half saw several swings back and forth, and each team building a lead of 6 points during it only to see their opponent fight right back in.  The shot of the half came at the buzzer when Louisville’s Jordan Nwora just barely got the ball away from beyond the arc as time expired to make the score 38-35 Baylor at the break.  Baylor came out strong early in the second and built a lead of as much as 13 points, 53-40, only to see the Cardinals fight back again.  A pair of Samuell Williamson free throws with three minutes left to play put the Cardinals back in front by a score of 79-78.  Both teams spent the last three minutes exchanging punches back and forth, with the lead changing multiple times.  Darius Perry sunk a jumped for Louisville with 1:15 left to play to give the Cards an 85-82 edge.   MaCio Teague promptly answered with a shot from long distance to tie the game with 53 seconds left.  Lamarr Kimble was fouled on the next Louisville possession but only made 1 of 2 free throws to put his team up by a single point.  It was now Baylor’s turn, and Teague got himself open from just outside the paint with 22 seconds left to give Baylor an 87-86 advantage.  The Cardinals were able to get Jordan Nwora open from 3 with 8 seconds left, but his shot missed – and the offensive rebound landed in the hands of teammate Dwayne Sutton.  Sutton got the final shot of the game off at the buzzer, but it clanked off the rim as well and the Baylor Bears had survived and advanced to the Elite Eight behind 22 points from MaCio Teague and a double-double from Freddie Gillespie.

Final Score: (1) Baylor 87, (4) Louisville 86

 

(2) Creighton vs (3) Michigan State

The Big Ten had an amazing season in 2019-20, with ten teams having qualified for the Big Dance and as many as 12 teams having been in the hunt for a bid up until the last few weeks of the season.  Therefore, when only two Big Ten teams made the Sweet 16, and Illinois having already fallen in their Regional Semifinal, it was a shock to see only one team from the conference left in action.  That one team, however, was the preseason #1 team in the nation Michigan State Spartans, a team that had been playing as well as almost anyone in the nation in the final weeks leading up to Selection Sunday.  Michigan State was technically the lower-seeded team, however, in their matchup with Big East co-regular season and tournament champion Creighton.  The Bluejays were in their first ever Sweet 16 since the field expanded to at least 64 teams, but head coach Greg McDermott’s squad was not satisfied with just making it this far.

After the first game in Indianapolis having been such a thriller, it would be more likely that the second game of the evening would be a lot less exciting.  That simply, much to the thrill of the fans in attendance, was not the case.  The two teams played tight the entire first half with Creighton owning the largest lead at 7 before the Spartans came back to take the lead at 41-38.  The Bluejays owned the final minute of the half, however, scoring 7 answered points to take a 45-41 halftime lead.  Michigan State came back out strong in the second period and neither team was able to build a lead of more than 5 the rest of the way.  With Creighton up 4 following a pair of Mitch Ballock free throws, Cassius Winston came down the court and nailed a jumper with 22 seconds to play to cut the lead to 97-95 in favor of the Bluejays.  The Spartans quickly fouled Ty-Shon Alexander who made both free throws to extend the lead to 4, but Marcus Bingham found the bottom of the net from beyond the arc with 12 seconds left to make it a one point game, 99-98.  Marcus Zegrowski was then sent to the free throw line where he only made one of two, giving the Spartans one final chance, with 8 seconds left, to tie or win.  Xavier Tillman tried to play hero, putting up the shot to tie from the left wing as the horn sounded.  When the ball bounced off the rim, the game was over, the last Big Ten team had fallen, and the Bluejays deepest Tournament run ever would continue into the Elite Eight where Baylor was waiting.  Marcus Zergowski led the way in the win with 33 points and teammate Ty-Shon Alexander scored 27 for the victors.

Final Score: (2) Creighton 100, (3) Michigan State 98

 

REGIONAL FINAL – MIDWEST REGION – INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

(1) Baylor vs (2) Creighton

The Creighton Bluejays had never made a Final Four, yet alone advanced to the Elite Eight, prior to this season.  The Baylor Bears last played in the Final Four back in 1950, well before the tournament had expanded to its current format, though they had a pair of chances in the Elite Eight in both 2010 (losing to 1-seed Duke) and 2012 (losing to 1-seed Kentucky).  This time around, it was Baylor that was the 1-seed, taking on 2-seed Creighton with a spot in Atlanta on the line.  Baylor had advanced this far by taking care of Texas Southern, squeezing past Houston and then winning a thriller over Louisville.  Creighton had escaped 15-seed Northern Kentucky by only a single point in the first round, then took care of Arizona State before winning their own regional semifinal thriller by 2 points over Michigan State.  All signs pointed to another great game for the fans in Indianapolis and those watching around the country and around the world.

The fans wanted a great game, and for the third straight time in Indianapolis, that is exactly what they got.  The Bears and Bluejays fought back-and-forth the entire first half with neither team being able to build a lead of greater than 5 points.  A jumper from Creighton’s Mitch Ballock right before the end of the first half sent the teams to the break tied at 49 apiece.  Baylor seemed ready to take control of the game 6 minutes into the second half when a 15-0 run turned a 57-54 deficit into a 69-57 lead.  However, the Bluejays were not done yet, as they fought all the way back and saw a Damien Jefferson shot from just inside the 3-point line tie the game at 78 with just over 3 minutes left to play.  Creighton then took a 3-point lead on a Ty-Shon Alexander shot from beyond the arc a minute later, only to see Matthew Mayer connect from long range on the feed from MaCio Teague to tie the game up again.  Jared Butler got open from long-range on the next Baylor possession to put the Bears up by 3, and Creighton’s shots began to miss.  Davion Mitchell sunk four free throws in the final minute to extend the Baylor lead to 5, and even though Jefferson sunk a 3-ball at the buzzer, Baylor had enough points to win, and advanced to the Final Four by a final score of 92-90.  Six different Bears scored in double-figures in the game led by 18 points from Jared Butler.  The Bears had won the Midwest Regional by a combined total of only 3 points in their two games, but no matter what the scores were, the title in Indianapolis belonged to the Bears as they joined conference-mate Kansas as the first two teams into the Final Four.

Final Score: (1) Baylor 92, (2) Creighton 90

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Champions Week: HoopsHD interviews 1982 NCAA champ Sonja Hogg

Posted on April 4, 2020 by Jon Teitel

In any other year early-April would be a time for reflecting on the Elite 8 and looking forward to the Final 4, but this year is not like any other year. Instead, we will spend the week reflecting on champions of the past, from a famous coach who won the 1947 NCAA title as a player to a Hall of Famer who led her team to a perfect 34-0 season in 1986. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our 8-part series with Sonja Hogg, who talked about winning the last AIAW tourney in 1981 and winning the 1st NCAA women’s tourney in 1982.

You were a PE teacher at Ruston High School when you interviewed for a position in the Louisiana Tech PE department: how did you end up creating a women’s basketball team at the school despite never having played the game yourself in high school or college? I was teaching at the high school when a position in the PE department became available: I put my name in the hat because that was a dream of mine. I was hired to teach at my alma mater of Louisiana Tech and President F. Jay Taylor asked me to drop by his office. I showed up and he said that 3 young ladies had asked him about the prospect of creating a women’s basketball team. I said that was a wonderful idea and he asked me if I would consider starting the program from scratch. I almost stopped in my tracks and told him that I had never coached the sport, but I knew it was needed and I said I would get this thing rolling until he could find someone else to take over after a couple of years. We did not have scholarships so Dr. Taylor gave me $5000 to start the program. I had about 68 women show up for tryouts including some great high school basketball players. I ordered some fabulous custom-made uniforms and some Converse tennis shoes. I was told to have my players act like nice young ladies and that I should schedule our games on different nights than the men’s games. I met Leon Barmore at a Bob Knight coaching clinic where I was the only women among approximately 300 men. I went up on stage to conduct a demonstration and I received a standing ovation! I was so young and stupid that I did not realize I should not have been taking on so much responsibility and trying to do everything. I later asked Dr. Taylor for an assistant and he was our #1 fan: he let me hire Leon and we went 20-8. I give a lot of credit to Leon as well as assistant coach Gary Blair.

You created the nickname “Lady Techsters”: how did you come up with it, and how did people like it? The school mascot is a Bulldog…but in 1974 I did not feel that “Lady Bulldogs” would be appropriate because down in the South lady dogs are commonly referred to as “bitches”. I kept trying to come up with a nickname and noticed that an elderly newspaper columnist would refer to all of our alums as “Techsters” so I decided to try “Lady Techsters”. The name stuck and everyone liked it. When our AD heard me use it on the radio he almost drove right off the road!

In the 1981 AIAW tourney title game you beat Tennessee by 20 PTS to finish the season at 34–0: what was it like to face Pat Summitt with a title on the line, and what did it mean to you to win a title? That was a phenomenal season: we were rolling pretty well. Pat and I became good friends in the 1970s so we decided to schedule a game against each other every year. Pat had not won any titles at that time so it was not as big a deal as if we had played them a couple of decades later. Tennessee kept pressing us and we just kept beating their press down the court: Pat stuck with it the entire game and we ended up leaving everything out on the floor. Every time Tennessee came to play us I would send our own bus to transport Pat’s team from the airport and I gave her an extra car to use. The night before we played our president would invite both teams over to dinner and give her a special bottle of perfume…and then after we played Pat would come over to my house to wash the Tennessee uniforms! By staying independent and not joining a conference we could invite all of the powers in women’s basketball to come play us: USC, Old Dominion, etc. There were some years when people would actually scalp tickets to attend our games, which was unbelievable. I do not care how many titles Coach Geno Auriemma wins: there will never be another Pat Summitt in terms of promoting the sport and speaking to young coaches. There are not many coaches now who give so much of themselves: I could not hold a candle to her.

In the 1982 NCAA tourney title game you beat Cheyney State to win the 1st-ever NCAA women’s title: how big a deal was it at the time? There were actually 2 national champs that year as Rutgers beat Texas for the AIAW title in Philly. We had lots of fans who came to our title game. Cheyney State coach Vivian Stringer is still 1 of my good friends. Our fans did not expect us to win by single-digits: our team was so loaded that they thought we should have won every game by 30 PTS! People are surprised these days when players go to UConn knowing they will not get as much playing time as if they went elsewhere but they just want to accomplish their goal of winning a title. The stability of Pat’s and Geno’s coaching staffs also helped them a lot.

In the early 1980s you had a 54-game winning streak: did it reach a point where the fans just expected you to win every time you team stepped onto the court? They just about did. We started our tear after going undefeated in 1981. We did not lose any players from the previous year and we added a great freshman shooter in Pam Gant. As we got close to breaking Coach Margaret Wade’s record at Delta State (51 wins in a row), I called her up because I had always wanted our program to emulate hers. I invited her to come to our gym and be my guest when we were scheduled to break her record and she said that she would. We flew her down here and gave her a plush green chair to sit in right at half-court. We broke the record and Miss Wade said some words after the game: it was a wonderful affair with lots and lots of press. She spent the night here due to some bad weather and I got to have breakfast with her the next morning: I look up to her so much. After we lost to ODU by 2 PTS on the road to break the streak it helped us refocus on trying to win a title. My hotel phone was blowing up because the media thought that it was the end of the world but the players needed a little kick in the butt. It was like an instant replay of ODU’s own situation a few years earlier: they won the AIAW title in 1979, we beat them by 2 PTS during the regular season the following year, and then they ended up winning their 2nd straight title in 1980.

From 1982-1985 you were co-head coach with your former top assistant Leon Barmore: what was it like to be a co-coach, and what made you 2 so effective (you went 90-9 during your 3 years as co-coaches)? Leon and I go back a long, long time to when we were college classmates. He was coach of the boys’ team at Ruston High School and there was not a girls’ team at the time so I got to know him pretty well. No women’s basketball team in the state of Louisiana had a full-time assistant back then so I give all the credit to Dr. Taylor for giving us his full support: he was our #1 fan. We originally hired Leon as a “coach of women’s sports” and he was later assigned to me. He was a bit of a “fish out of water” because he had never coached women before but we worked very well together. I elevated him from assistant coach to associate coach and we just kept on winning. Wins and losses meant a lot to him: on the men’s side you will get fired if you do not have a higher number on the left side as compared to the right side. LSU offered Leon a job to become their head coach but he did not want to go to a big football school with big expectations: it was just not in his nature and he told me that he wanted to stay right here. I tried to surround myself with smart people and we named him co-coach so the wins could also go on his record: he was already doing the Xs and Os. When I 1st got there I was teaching full-time along with everything else: to think that I could do everything at once was just stupidity!

In the 1983 NCAA tourney title game Kim Mulkey missed a shot at the buzzer in a 2-PT loss to USC: did you think the shot was going in, and where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? We probably should have tried to get the ball inside at the end of the game but I am so proud of everything that Kim has accomplished as both a player and coach. Cheryl Miller was a freshman who set all kinds of records and USC also had the McGee twins so the Trojans dominated the sport for the next 2 years. You never like to lose but you have to respect your competition.

In 1994 you were hired as coach at Baylor: why did you come out of retirement? I just decided to get back into the college game after 9 years away from it. It was tough to get this program up to respectability: it was arguably harder than starting the Louisiana Tech program from scratch. We did not have a single video machine on which to watch tape but at least we had basketballs/water bottles! After retiring from coaching I stayed at Baylor to do some fundraising and it has been a wonderful ride to see Kim develop her program here. I eventually convinced Leon to come here as Kim’s assistant: I told him that he could just focus on coaching and work with Kim without having to worry about recruiting.

In 2009 you were inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? It is probably the pinnacle. It shocked me because I had been off the floor for such a long time. I raise funds for every area of the university and have had the chance to meet so many great people. These have been the best years to be a Baylor Bear in a long time and things are kicking on all cylinders. I recall the exact day that it happened: I called Pat Summitt to wish her a happy birthday on the morning of June 14, 2008. She called me back later that afternoon: I thought she was just going to say that she got my message. When she and Coach Billie Moore congratulated me on getting elected I was just in tears. You start to think about how you got there and I began reflecting on all of my great players/assistants. 2 weeks after the induction I got inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and on the drive to Louisiana I called my ex-husband to thank him for his support. It has been a great run with great family/friends. I like working with young people but it is also rewarding to work with the older folks to help them realize their dreams. The people who support us here at Baylor are diehard fans.

When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? I would like to think that I had an impact on Title IX and helped paved the way for a lot of other people. I think back to the pioneers like Miss Wade as well as the coaches from my era like Summitt/Kay Yow. Back in the day we would go recruit against each other in the morning and then go out to dinner together at night: I doubt that still happens today. You can be enemies during a game but we were all friends off the court once the game was over. We are mostly dinosaurs now but there are still a few young ones left! I feel like a trailblazer to remember where we were then and see where we are now. I hated to lose a recruit but I never took it personally. I tried to be kind and had a love of people. I enjoyed every aspect of whatever career I had at the time: my glass was always half-full.

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The Tournament That Wasn’t – South Regional Semifinals and Finals

Posted on April 4, 2020 by Chad

HoopsHD continues its simulation of what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t).  Up next it is time to award the first spot in the Final Four with the South Regional Semifinals and Finals.  It is no surprise that the Kansas Jayhawks advanced to the Sweet 16, but the other three teams in this region certainly are.  Kansas begins with 12-seed Liberty and the winner of that game will get the winner of 7-seed Illinois vs 11-seed Wichita State.  The big questions are can we get a Kansas versus Wichita State regional final and, of course, which team will advance to Atlanta?  It is time to find out!

 

REGIONAL SEMIFINALS – SOUTH REGION – HOUSTON, TEXAS

(1) Kansas vs (12) Liberty

The fact that the Kansas Jayhawks had advanced to the South Regional was of little surprise to most.  KU had defeated Robert Morris and Arizona and was the clear favorite to win two more games and claim the first spot in the Final Four in Atlanta.  The team that Kansas was scheduled to play in the Regional Semifinal, however, was a surprise.  The Liberty Flames had ousted 5-seed Auburn and then rolled over a Belmont team that had previously upset Wisconsin.  Both Kansas and Liberty had 32 wins already entering the game, showing that they both knew how to win.  However, Liberty would still need to be near-perfect to have a shot at eliminating Kansas.

Liberty was the team that needed to play a near-perfect game.  However, it was Kansas that actually played that way.  The Jayhawks jumped out right at the start to a 10-0 lead and pretty much never looked back the rest of the way.  KU led 50-29 at halftime and rolled to a 100-67 blowout win.  Devon Dotson (24 points and 10 assists) and Udoka Azubuike (14 points and 13 rebounds) both notched double-doubles for the Jayhawks.  Kansas was moving on to the Elite Eight and awaiting the winner of Illinois and Wichita State.

Final Score: (1) Kansas 100, (12) Liberty 67

 

(7) Illinois vs (11) Wichita State

Although Kansas being in the South Regional Final was of no surprise to anyone, whichever team they were to match up against would be.  Villanova, Kentucky and Michigan were all popular picks to advance out of this half of the South Region, but instead the Regional Semifinal matchup was between Illinois and Wichita State.  The 7-seed Illini had snuck past a tough Oklahoma team in the first round and then benefited from Georgia Southern’s upset of 2-seed Villanova, and took care of the 15-seed by 9 points to make it this far.  Wichita State’s path was tougher, as the AAC Tournament champions has to defeat both Michigan and Kentucky to win their pod.  Thus, although Illinois was the higher-seeded team in this game, on paper this one appeared to be a complete toss-up.

The experts may have predicted a close game, but Wichita State struck early, building a 7-point lead and withstanding several Illini first half runs to head to the locker room with a 42-37 edge.  The Shockers continued to play strong in the second half, pushing the lead out to as many as 10.  Illinois fought hard to stay within striking distance the rest of the way, but could not put together the run they needed.  A pair of late 3-pointers cut the Shockers lead down to as few as 5, but that was as close as Illinois got.  Wichita State was in the South Regional Final, wining by a score of 79-73.  Jaime Echenique was the leading scorer with 15 points for the victors.

Final Score: (11) Wichita State 79, (7) Illinois 73

 

REGIONAL FINAL – SOUTH REGION – HOUSTON, TEXAS

(1) Kansas vs (11) Wichita State

The South Regional Final may have been played in Houston, but it was truly a battle of the State of Kansas.  Although the Jayhawks and the Shockers were two of the preeminent basketball programs in the State of Kansas, their history against one another consisted of a mere 15 games in 112 years.  Since 1993, the teams had met only once  That game was an NCAA Tournament game as well, when Fred VanVleet and the 7-seed Shockers shocked the 2-seed Jayhawks 78-65 in the Round of 32.  Even after that game, head coach Gregg Marshall had not been able to get his Wichita State team onto KU’s regular season schedule.  Now, five years after ousting the Jayhawks from the Big Dance, Wichita State had another chance – and this time a spot in the Final Four was at stake.

The seeds may have read 1 vs 11, but that was meaningless in this game.  Wichita jumped out early, building a 20-12 lead before the Jayhawks came fighting back to eventually head to the halftime break knotted at 40 apiece.  The second half saw the Shockers try to build a lead again, getting the advantage up to 52-46 at the under-12 media timeout and eventually opening up a 63-53 edge with just over 6 minutes left to play.  The Jayhawks were not done, however.  A 14-3 run erased the entirety of the Wichita State lead and a Devin Dotson 3-pointer gave the Jayhawks their first lead since early in the game.  The Shockers had a few more chances, including when they pulled back to within 2 points on an Erik Stevenson 3-pointer, but Kansas made its free throws in the final minute and was able to walk out of the arena with a 73-69 come-from-behind win and a berth in the Final Four.  Dotson led the way with 16 points and Udoka Azubuike notched yet another double-double for the South Regional champions.

Final Score: (1) Kansas 73, (11) Wichita State 69

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The Tournament That Wasn’t – East Region Rounds 1 and 2, Part IV

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Chad

HoopsHD continues its simulation of what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t).  Up next it is time to finish the First and Second rounds of the NCAA Tournament as we take a look at the fourth and final of the four pods in the East Region.  The final pod features three conference tournament champions from among the power conferences — the ACC’s Florida State Seminoles, the SEC’s Florida Gators and the Pac-12’s UCLA Bruins.  These teams, together with the Big South champion Winthrop Eagles, would battle in Tampa for the last of the spots in the Sweet 16 and a trip to New York City for the East Regionals.

 

FIRST ROUND – EAST REGION – TAMPA, FLORIDA

(7) Florida vs (10) UCLA

The final pod of the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament was being played in Tampa, Florida and featured a pair of teams from the Sunshine State – Florida and Florida State – being potentially lined up to meet in the Round of 32.  First, of course, both teams would have to get by their first round opponents.  For the Florida Gators, the lone remaining SEC team in the field, that would mean first getting past the red-hot UCLA Bruins.  The Gators themselves were on a roll, entering the Big Dance after having won the SEC Tournament.  UCLA was coming off of a Pac-12 Tournament title and an amazing late-season run that moved them from an afterthought for the NCAA’s to a team that was not only in the field, but dangerous enough to win a few games once they were there.

This 7 vs 10 battle had all the earmarks of a great game heading into it.  And that is exactly what it ended up being.  Both teams came ready to play and the first half was back-and-forth the entire way.  The largest lead for either team was 5 points, and that did not come until right before halftime when UCLA’s Jake Kyman sunk a 3 with 36 seconds left to send his Bruins to the break up 38-33.   UCLA tried to build off of that lead early in the second, extending their lead to as many as 9.  However, the Gators fought back and were able to retake the lead with just under 2 minutes left to play.  A pair of free throws from Noah Locke with 29 seconds left to go put Florida up 74-71.  UCLA was not done either, and a quick layup by Cody Riley cut the Gators lead down to a single point.  UCLA quickly fouled Kerry Blackshear – who promptly went to the free throw line and missed both shots.  The Bruins had the ball, down by one point, and 10 seconds to try to win the game.  After a quick timeout, Mick Cronin’s team got the ball down the court and into Cody Riley’s hands for a 10-footer as time expired.  The ball went up, it came down, a “swoosh” was heard as it went through the net, and the Bruins players mobbed their teammate, celebrating an amazing buzzer-beating 75-74 win and a spot in the second round.

Final Score: (10) UCLA 75, (7) Florida 74

 

(2) Florida State vs (15) Winthrop

Florida State pulled the “double” in the ACC this season – capturing the regular season title by a game over the three-way tie between Duke, Virginia and Louisville and following that up with the ACC Tournament championship as well.  Their season was impressive enough for some of the so-called experts to claim they deserved a 1-seed in the Big Dance, but the ‘Noles could not complain about being on the 2 line and heading to Tampa for their first two rounds of play.  Up first for FSU was the Big South tournament champion Winthrop Eagles.  Winthrop had traveled cross-country back in November to win a game at St. Mary’s, but the rest of their wins had come against teams in the bottom half of the NET rankings.  It would certainly be a tall order for the Eagles to just stay close with the Seminoles in this game.

Florida State appeared to come out ready to play, taking the early lead and then putting together a 9-0 run late in the first half to head to the locker room seemingly in control, leading by a score of 40-29.  Florida State apparently forgot to bring their game back out of the lockers, as Winthrop pounced early with a 15-4 run to suddenly tie the game at 44 just over 5 minutes into the second half.  The next 10 minutes were back and forth until back-to-back 3-pointers by Winthrop’s Charles Falden turned a tie game into a 6-point Eagles’ lead.  Florida State kept trying to fight back the rest of the way, but every attempt was promptly answered with a Winthrop basket.  In the final minutes, the Eagles were a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw stripe to seal the major upset, becoming the second 15-seed to win their first round game and ousting the mighty Seminoles from the Big Dance by a final score of 91-85.  Hunter Hale led the way with 19 points for the Cinderella victors.

Final Score: (15) Winthrop 91, (2) Florida State 85

 

SECOND ROUND – EAST REGION – TAMPA, FLORIDA

(10) UCLA vs (15) Winthrop

The game was supposed to be the battle of Florida between the Gators and the Seminoles.  Instead, 10-seed UCLA was battling 15-seed Winthrop for a chance to advance to the Sweet 16 in New York City.  With the two in-state teams gone, the arena was only slightly more than half-full instead of packed to capacity.  However, that did not matter to either of these teams.  UCLA was looking to add another win to their late season surge and prove to their fans that Mick Cronin had this program heading back towards its days of glory.  Despite having brought Cincinnati to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 9 seasons, Cronin had only once advanced to the Sweet 16 with the Bearcats, and was now looking to do so in his first year at the helm at UCLA.  Winthrop, on the other hand, was looking to become only the second 15-seed ever to make it past the second round.

Pat Kelsey’s Eagles came out strong in the first half, which was back-and-forth until a late run by Winthrop put them up by 10 points, 45-35, at the break.  After having played such a strong second half against Florida State in the first round, it appeared that Winthrop might indeed have a magical run in store this season.  Instead, this game ended up being almost a mirror-image of the Winthrop-Florida State game as UCLA came out red-hot in the second half and tied the game less than 5 minutes into the second.  The game remained tight until the Bruins put together a 9-0 run with just under 5 minutes left to play to turn a 63-63 tie into a 72-63 lead.  A pair of 3-pointers in the final minute kept the final score close, but UCLA made their free throws late and hung on to win 87-83 and punch their ticket to the Sweet 16 in Madison Square Garden.  Jalen Hill was named player of the game with his double-double for the Bruins, and Mick Cronin had finally found a way back to the second weekend of the Big Dance.

Final Score: (10) UCLA 87, (15) Winthrop 83

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Champions Week: HoopsHD interviews 1980 NCAA champ Darrell Griffith

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Jon Teitel

In any other year early-April would be a time for reflecting on the Elite 8 and looking forward to the Final 4, but this year is not like any other year. Instead, we will spend the week reflecting on champions of the past, from a famous coach who won the 1947 NCAA title as a player to a Hall of Famer who led her team to a perfect 34-0 season in 1986. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our 8-part series with Darrell Griffith, who talked about winning the 1980 NCAA tourney and being inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014.

You were nicknamed “Dr. Dunkenstein”: is it true that the nickname was based on a George Clinton character called Dr. Funkenstein, and is it true that you had a 48” vertical leap? It was indeed inspired by Dr. Funkenstein: my brother was a big fan of P-Funk. That was my actual vertical leap: they measured me that high during the Olympic trials.

In the 1978 NCAA tourney you scored 19 PTS in a 1-PT 2-OT loss to DePaul (who was led by Dave Corzine’s 46 PTS): where does Corzine’s performance rank among the best you have ever seen? I have long forgotten that loss: if we had won then we would have played Notre Dame. Dave was a former teammate of mine and had a good performance that night.

In 1980 as the lone senior starter for coach Denny Crum you were named All-American and won the Wooden Award: did you feel that your team was too young to make a championship run that year? Not at all: we had a lot of tough guys who played together all summer long and we matured as a group.

Take me through the magical 1980 NCAA tourney:
You had 18 PTS/8 AST before fouling out in a 2-PT OT win over Kansas State after Rolando Blackman made a shot at the end of regulation and Tony Branch made a jumper with 1 second left in OT: where does that rank among the most exciting games you have ever played in? It is probably not 1 of the most exciting games…but it was very memorable because it could have been my last college game if we had lost. Tony was my roommate on the road and made a clutch shot that allowed us to move on.

You had 17 PTS/7 AST in a win over LSU: what did you talk about at dinner the night before the game with your friend/LSU captain Rudy Macklin, and what did you say to him afterward? Rudy is 1 of my best friends so we just talked about going out, playing hard, and having the best man win. Rudy is from Louisville so he would come home during the summers and play with our team: he was an awesome player. After the game he hugged me and wished me well, just like any great friend would.

You scored 23 PTS in a 5-PT win over UCLA en route to being named tourney MOP and winning the title: what did it mean to you to win a title, and what kind of inspiration did you gain from your childhood friend Jerry Stringer? It meant a lot to win a title, as it was 1 of the goals I set for myself and was a promise I made to the city. I also got my degree in 4 years, which was another big accomplishment. Jerry was the manager of our high school team and played pickup games with us on campus: he was a hell of a ballplayer. It was a sad time but I was glad that he could hold on long enough to see us win it all.

You finished your career as Louisville’s all-time leading scorer: did you realize at the time how prolific a player you were, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? I just tried to be the best player I could be: my #1 goal was to help the team win. I just thank God for the talent he gave me. Records are made to be broken so I am quite sure that someone will break it: hopefully they will win a championship along the way just like I did. I did not set out to try and break any records: I just wanted to win a championship.

In 1981 you scored 20.6 PPG and were named NBA ROY: how were you able to make such a smooth transition from college to the pros? I would not say it was necessarily smooth but I grew up playing against NBA-caliber talent in Kentucky so I was used to the competition. I just tried to help the Jazz win.

In 1985 you shot a league-best 35.8 3P%: what is your secret for being a great 3-PT shooter? Practice: it is something that you have to do in order to be good at anything. I only made 10 threes as a rookie in 1981 but my coach helped me take advantage of the arc and by the mid-1980s I was leading the league in most 3-PT shots made.

After retiring you joined the Louisville development office: is it extra-special to give back to the school in the city where you were born? I am a special assistant to the President: it is always great to work for a place where you have roots. I get to reconnect with people and see all the sides of an amazing university.

In 2014 you were inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? It is definitely 1 of my top highlights. Anytime you are recognized for the work you have done it is a prestigious honor.

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