Chad is joined by a full panel as they look back at one of the most exciting Elite Eights of all time! Two games went to overtime with Auburn knocking off Kentucky and Virginia getting past Purdue, and the other two went down to the wire with Texas Tech surprising Gonzaga and Michigan State surprising Duke. We recap all of the action as well as look ahead to the upcoming Final Four games.
And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The East Regional took place in Washington, DC last weekend and we could not have been more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD was all over it and is still covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage by chatting with 3 members of the champs right after they upset Duke in the Elite 8 last night.
JR SG/SF Kyle Ahrens did not see any action while recovering from a lower-leg injury he suffered in the Big 10 tourney title game but that was not enough to wipe the post-game smile off his face. He knew that Kenny Goins’ last-minute 3-PT shot to give his team the lead was going in because he had been making those shots all year long. He considers Cassius Winston the best PG in the country, which is why the team was definitely confident and ready for Duke. Even while in some pain it was awesome for him to climb the ladder and cut down a piece of the net…and he hopes to have 1 more net to cut down next Monday night. He is not a doctor but is taking it day-by-day and hopes to play on Saturday against Texas Tech in the Final 4:
FR SG Brock Washington had a pretty good weekend: he received some birthday gifts on Saturday and earned a trip to the Final 4 on Sunday. He got to spend some time with his parents in DC on Saturday and they gave him some EarPods for his big day. Beating Duke left him at a loss for words: it was even better than he expected it to be and was amazing to do it with his current group. They just never gave up, always stuck together, and the result was 4 fingers in the air and this shiny new trophy:
The only family having a better weekend in Washington than the Washingtons were the Hoibergs: Fred signed a $25 million deal to replace Tim Miles as Nebraska men’s basketball head coach, which will come in handy because he has to buy some plane tickets/hotel rooms for a trip to Minneapolis to see if his son Jack can win a title next week. Jack said it felt great to win the Elite 8 and that he was excited to see his family after the big win. There was no X-factor: the key was just having his guys make plays down the stretch. He said Zion Williamson was a monster and played even better than he thought he would. He feels that every shot Goins takes will go in, so even though Kenny was 0-4 from behind the arc in the 1st half the team just kept telling him during timeouts to keep shooting. It might not be an over-sized $25 million check but it is the next-best thing to hold up in front of a camera:
That’s all for now, check back later for continuing coverage.
Yesterday, the Final Four dance card for Minneapolis was filled up. Auburn will join Texas Tech as a first-timer after their 77-71 overtime victory against Kentucky. Jared Harper (26 points) and Bryce Brown (24 points) accounted for 50 points combined for the Tigers; PJ Washington had a double-double (28 points, 13 rebounds) for the Wildcats, but they missed out on an opportunity to return to the Final Four for the first time since the 2014-15 season in which their bid for perfection was thwarted by Wisconsin in the semifinals.
The most anticipated game of the tournament was Michigan State-Duke, and this game also came down to the closing seconds. Kenny Goins hit a 3-point shot that put Michigan State up by 2 with about 30 seconds left to play. After a missed 3 by RJ Barrett, the Blue Devils would end up with one more chance to either tie or take the lead. Barrett was fouled on a drive attempt, but ended up missing his first free throw and, ironically enough, made his 2nd free throw while trying to miss that attempt. Duke fouled on the ensuing inbounds play by Michigan State, but since the Spartans were not in the bonus yet, they inbounded the ball one more time and ran the clock out for a 68-67 victory. For Michigan State, this will be their tenth Final Four as a program and eighth under Tom Izzo. Cassius Winston was named Most Outstanding Player in the East Regional.
CBI Championship Series (Game 1)
DEPAUL AT SOUTH FLORIDA (7:00 PM, ESPNU) – This game will be a battle of contrasting styles; the Bulls are a defensive-oriented ballclub that have won three straight games at home (including their win against Loyola Marymount last Thursday) to advance to the CBI Best-of-3 Championship Series. DePaul, on the other hand, has been the highest scoring team in the tournament with an average of 94.3 points per game. Max Strus alone is averaging 31.7 points per game in the tournament for the Blue Demons.
The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The East Regional is taking place in Washington, DC this weekend and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is all over it and covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage by chatting with as many Michigan State players as possible as they prepare to face Duke in the Elite 8 tonight.
The day continued with Coach Tom Izzo and 3 of his veterans (Cassius Winston/Nick Ward/Matt McQuaid) on the podium. Izzo said that this has been a year where his players taught him more than he taught them, followed by the players each sharing a few tidbits. McQuaid said that Izzo is 1 of the most passionate people he has ever met, Ward admitted that Zion Williamson is extremely athletic but that all of the Spartan big men are excited to play against him, and Winston said that while he cried a lot as a kid and let his emotions get the best of him he eventually realized that nothing good ever came from it:
After the players left Izzo stuck around for some questions, and even gave a very long answer to an inquiry from little old HoopsHD:
Q: You have faced Coach K in the NCAA tournament for 2 decades dating back to the 1999 Final 4: how have your and/or his coaching styles changed over the past 20 years when you see each other over and over in March?
A: I do not like seeing him as much because we have not had as much success…but what I do is I have incredible respect for what he has done. I think any coach/any player/any person/any CEO that can consistently work at a level of excellence I am a fan of. I do not think we have changed that much. I do not think he has changed that much. He dipped into more of the 1-and-done style and has found a way, like a chameleon, he can just figure out a way to make it work for him and has done an excellent job of that. Maybe that is the only thing that has been very different is the number of 1-and-done players they had. We have a few, not as many, but he has maintained it since the late 1980s when I really started watching them and figuring out how they do things. From the Johnny Dawkins/Jay Bilas era and Grant Hill/Jay Williams and the guys we played in that first 1999 game. We were in a couple of Final Fours that they were in: sometimes we played them and sometimes we did not. You always keep an eye on the programs (I think everybody does this in life) that have been successful. You try to figure out how do they do it and then how do you beat them. I figured out a little bit about how they have done it but have not figured out as well how to beat them. I am still working on that, and that is why we are still a work in progress:
Earlier in the day Ward said that even though his left hand was sore there is nothing that would keep him off the court on Sunday. He had it on ice in the locker room, as you can see for yourself:
I wished FR SG Brock Washington a happy birthday when I saw him in the locker room. He said that making the Final 4 would be the best birthday gift ever, and that he hoped to spend part of his birthday evening with his parent and younger brother. Since Duke is on ESPN every night, he is well aware of how great a team they are, but the Spartans wanted to face them in the Elite 8 because to be the best you have to beat the best. They are focusing on the mission and know the scouting report inside and out. Without giving away the whole game plan, they will try to keep Zion Williamson from scoring inside by throwing different people at him:
My “Captain Obvious” question of the day to FR PG Jack Hoiberg was whether he had talked to his father Fred. He confirmed that his dad is taking the head coaching job at Nebraska, and that while he did not have too many details he was very excited about it. Part of me assumes that Jack will transfer to Lincoln to play for his father for the 1st time in his life, but he did not take the bait regarding his future plans and is just focused on getting to the Final 4. Michigan State beat Nebraska on the road in January but he was sick that day and did not make the trip. He has never been to their campus before but heard it is nice: his cousin goes to Nebraska and loves it there. His dad is planning to be in attendance on Sunday for the Duke game and then fly west since he will be introduced to the Nebraska media on Tuesday. He knows that Zion is super-talented but the team is definitely excited to face the best and see how they do. The plan is to contain Zion in transition and not give him any gaps to get to the rim as they try to keep him out of the paint. Everyone has dreamed of making the Final 4 since they were kids, and he is no different:
That’s all for now, check back later for continuing coverage.
For Jon Teitel’s locker-room coverage of the Duke Blue Devils – CLICK HERE
For Jon Teitel’s interview with Duke’s Director of Athletic Bands Jeff Au – CLICK HERE
Most of the games of the NCAA Tournament have felt more scripted than spontaneous this year, but that went out the window emphatically yesterday. The first game featured a nip-and-tuck game from Texas Tech and Gonzaga; strangely enough, the turning point occurred after Gonzaga was down 5 points with under a minute remaining and Texas Tech had the ball. Rather than commit a foul, the Bulldogs were able to steal the ball and hit a 3 in transition that cut the Red Raiders’ lead to two. After a timeout, Josh Perkins ended up making contact with the inbounder, which by definition resulted in a technical foul on Perkins. Tech hit both ensuing free throws, and added 2 more free throws the rest of the way en route to a 75-69 win over Gonzaga. It was only the fourth time Gonzaga was held under 70 points this year, and Texas Tech will make their Final Four debut in Minneapolis next Saturday.
The city of Louisville has been very kind to Virginia the past couple of seasons – there were already a couple of unlikely comebacks by Virginia against Louisville in back-to-back seasons, but their comeback against Purdue topped those two games by a country mile. Carsen Edwards hit a 3-point shot that put the Boilers up by 2 with under a minute remaining, and following a missed shot by Virginia, Purdue hit one of two free throws to extend their lead to 3. Purdue elected to foul Virginia before the Hoos could get off a potential game-tying 3, but Virginia hit the first free throw and missed the second intentionally. The ball was tipped back into the Virginia backcourt, but Kihei Clark was able to pass the ball to Mamadi Diakite inside the arc and Diakite hit a 15-footer as time expired to send the game into overtime. The Hoos outscored Purdue 10-5 in overtime; Carsen Edwards looked like he might try to tie the game singlehandedly on Purdue’s last possession (he had scored 42 points on the night), but his subsequent pass went out-of-bounds to end Purdue’s hopes. This will be Virginia’s third appearance in the Final Four and marks the second time that a father-son duo will both coach in the Final Four – John Thompson Jr. and John Thompson III pulled it off for Georgetown, and now Dick Bennett (Wisconsin) and Tony Bennett can be added to that rare list as well.
MIDWEST REGION
(5) AUBURN VS (2) KENTUCKY (2:20 PM, CBS) – As feared for Auburn, their leading scorer from Friday’s game (Chuma Okeke) tore his ACL and will be out for the remainder of the tournament for the Tigers. Nonetheless, they were coming off of a game where they hit a school-record 17 3-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game against North Carolina on Friday. They have now won 11 straight games, including the SEC Tournament Championship, since being embarrassed at Rupp Arena against UK back in February. The Wildcats survived with tough defense for the second game in a row; this time they took out Houston in the closing seconds as both PJ Washington and Tyler Herro made crucial plays to extend the Wildcats’ season.
EAST REGION
(2) MICHIGAN STATE VS (1) DUKE (approx. 5:05 PM, CBS) – The final game of the Elite 8 features a Final Four-caliber matchup with Michigan State and Duke going head-to-head. Duke has had a couple of narrow escapes against Central Florida and Virginia Tech; what was a surprise at game time on Friday was Cam Reddish being scratched from the lineup due to a pregame injury. He is also a game-time decision for the Blue Devils today. Michigan State continues to press on despite their own injuries throughout the year. They had a brief scare against Bradley in their tournament opener, but they were mostly dominant in their wins against Minnesota and LSU.
The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The East Regional is coming to Washington, DC this weekend and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is all over it and covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel keeps it going by chatting with Director of athletic bands at Duke Jeff Au about the Duke-UNC rivalry and his prediction for tonight.
What is the atmosphere like at Duke during the NCAA tourney? I do not know because I have never been on campus during that time but I am sure they are excited.
What made you choose Duke for college? I actually went to Ohio/Notre Dame and then came here for the job. It is a very unique program full of people who want to be in the band for the joy of doing it: they are not just a bunch of music majors. It is all about being part of a group and entertaining athletic crowds.
What instrument do you play, and how did you 1st get into playing it? I play trumpet. My mom/brother play trumpet as well so I just wanted to be like them.
What kind of music does the band play at Duke home games, and will we see your group do anything extra-special for the Elite 8 tonight? We play all current music, not any Broadway shows/classic rock. The big song that gets the crowd going is “Everytime We Touch” by Cascada. It was immediately loved by the Cameron Crazies: you never know what song will catch on but that 1 did.
What do you think the role of a college band is today, and how much time/energy is involved? The role is to get the crowd engaged/excited for the game. We do not practice as much as most bands due to our academic requirements but we practice 4 hours/week in the fall (plus football Saturdays). Every band member has to play for ½ of the men’s and ½ of the women’s basketball games, which keeps us in practice.
How does the band decide who gets to go to DC, and what does it mean to you to see your group doing their thing in front of a national TV audience? We have a very elaborate point system based on attendance/seniority. There is also an ability test to see how well everyone plays and then we just go down the list of choices for different weekends during the tourney: it is a fair and equitable system. It is fun to see screenshots of the band: they enjoy having their friends get to see them on TV.
What has been your favorite moment so far this season: beating North Carolina, winning the ACC tourney, Senior Night, other? Beating North Carolina in the ACC tourney was pretty big because we lost to them twice during the regular season.
How do you describe the Duke-UNC rivalry to someone who has never seen it in person? I have been here 14 years and it is actually more intense than I expected…and probably more intense then it should be. It is pretty special to be a part of it: some people at Duke live and die by the rivalry so it is fun for the band just to be in the middle of it all during football/basketball games and see how much people are invested in it.
How is your blood pressure doing after back-to-back last-second wins over UCF/Virginia Tech? It has been really stressful the past couple of weeks but I am glad that things turned out our way. It has been fun/scary/exciting.
Any predictions for tonight? I think that we will be okay given our record against Michigan State in the tourney…but what I think has no bearing on what will happen.
