Teitel Tripleheader: HoopsHD does 3 games in 1 day

Posted on March 17, 2017 by Jon Teitel

HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel does love his college basketball, but watching 3 different games from 3 different locations in a 10-hour span is utterly unprecedented.  On Saturday March 4 he pulled off this terrific tripleheader in DC: Villanova-Georgetown at the Verizon Center, Arizona-Arizona State at a bar, and Dayton-GW at the Smith Center. Here is his report, filed in triplicate:

It was Senior Day at Georgetown, which allowed grad transfer Rodney Pryor to take a well-deserved bow in the company of his family, complete with custom-made attire:

However, it was Villanova senior guards Josh Hart (Silver Spring, MD)/Kris Jenkins (Upper Marlboro, MD) who looked the most comfortable during the Wildcats’ 81-55 grinding of Georgetown on Saturday afternoon.  Then again, if my head coach dressed like this, I would like my chances as well (nice seats right under the basket, eh?):

Hart scored 21 PTS and looked as relaxed as a national POY candidate should while wrapping up his regular season:

Jenkins scored 19 PTS and seemed ready to make another championship-winning buzzer-beater if necessary:

I think Georgetown coach John Thompson III is a good coach who had to deal with 2 key players transferring out of the program during the past 12 months (Isaac Copeland to Nebraska/Paul White to Oregon), but there were some “Fire Thompson” chants so I would not be surprised if someone else is manning the sideline this fall.  It was a busy day at the Verizon Center so I even got a peek inside the visiting locker room before the Flyers filed in to face the Caps that evening:

I did not get a chance to ask any questions at the postgame press conference because there were so many other media folks in attendance to see the defending champs in the nation’s capital but pick against them this month at your own peril…and work that vest!:

Then it was off to a nearby bar to watch Arizona travel to Tempe for the big in-state battle with ASU.  No photos from this 1 (what happens at the bar stays at the bar!), but it does not get much better than beating your archrival on its homecourt to clinch a share of the conference title.  The most exciting aspect was the possible defensive late-blooming of freshman Lauri Markkanen, who had 3 BLK after only blocking 3 shots combined during the first 17 games of Pac-12 play: Bear Down!

I expected the final game of the night to be the 2nd of back-to-back wins by the Miller brothers (Sean/Archie) but it surprisingly turned into the Tyler Cavanaugh Show.  GW did not make the NCAA tourney but they ended the regular season in super style with an 87-81 win over Dayton, a performance that George himself felt deserving of 2 thumbs up:

I thought that Cavanaugh had peaked last March after being named NIT MVP, but apparently he had a little something extra saved up for his own Senior Night:

Sitting in the 2nd-level corner gave me a great view of each of his career-high-tying 6 threes, and after scoring his 30th and final point of the night he was subbed out to a thunderous ovation from the entire Colonial crowd.  It had appeared to be over early as GW built up a 16-1 lead before you could even blink, but the Flyers refused to give up and whittled the lead down to only 5 PTS in the final 30 seconds thanks to 24 PTS/8-10 FG from Kendall Pollard.  I got to ask Cavanaugh after the game if this was the best week of his life between making a trio of FTs with 0.9 seconds left to beat Fordham on Wednesday and then upsetting Dayton on Saturday.  He replied that it was great to play so well with about 30 of his family/friends in attendance that evening:

I also was unsure if this was going to be interim coach Maurice Joseph’s final game on the sideline, but GW offered him the full-time job on March 14 and it appears that he may accept it any day now:

To recap: 3 games, 3 locations, 3 NCAA tourney teams (Villanova/Arizona/Dayton), 3’s Company, 3’s a Crowd…sorry, have not gotten much sleep during the past week, enjoy the postseason everyone!

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First Round Rundown: Friday, March 17

Posted on March 17, 2017 by John Stalica

For other news and notes – CLICK HERE

For Jon Teitel’s list of postseason interviews – CLICK HERE

Recap – Buffalo

The first round began in earnest with Notre Dame matching up against Princeton. The Irish led this one for most of the way, but a potential game-winning 3 by Princeton was missed and the Irish escaped with a 60-58 victory. They will face West Virginia on Saturday – the Mountaineers were able to keep Bucknell from seriously threatening in the 2nd half and ended up winning 86-80. In the nightcap, it took Villanova over 5 minutes to get on the scoreboard but they trailed for the first 17 minutes of the game against Mount St. Mary’s before taking control in the 2nd half en route to a 76-56 victory. They will get a dangerous Wisconsin team in the 2nd round – the Badgers beat Virginia Tech 84-74 in the nightcap.

Recap – Orlando

The opener looked like it would not only be an upset by UNC-Wilmington over Virginia, it looked like it was going to be a spanking after the Seahawks jumped out to a 26-11 lead. From there, the Hoos closed the half on a 19-3 run and ended up winning 76-71. They will face a Florida team that had little trouble in beating East Tennessee State 80-65. Xavier looked again like they may have peaked in the 1st half against Maryland after giving up an 11-0 run wrapped around the end of the 1st half. After Malcolm Bernard hit a 3 to get Xavier on the board in the 2nd half, they never looked back and ended up beating the Terps 76-65. Florida State did get a scare against Florida Gulf Coast for most of the game, but they ended up winning 86-80 and will face Xavier in the 2nd round tomorrow night.

Recap – Milwaukee

At least one upset was expected at the Bradley Center today, and Middle Tennessee (who was actually a favorite on some betting lines) delivered for the 2nd year in a row with an 81-72 victory over the Gophers. Their reward is a 2nd-round matchup against Butler – the Bulldogs pulled away with a 76-64 win against a game Winthrop team. In the nighttime doubleheader, Purdue would trail Vermont early but ensured that lightning would not strike for a 2nd year in a row after they came back for an 80-70 win. Iowa State did not have the same letdown from 2 years ago after winning the Big 12 tournament – they jumped out to a 13-point halftime lead and beat Nevada 84-73.

Recap – Salt Lake City

I think it’s fair to say that two of the most entertaining games of the day as a whole took place out west. Gonzaga also struggled with South Dakota State but cruised in the 2nd half en route to a 66-46 victory. They will face Northwestern – the Wildcats held off a late Vandy comeback and hit 2 free throws to take the lead for good with under 20 seconds to play. Vandy inexplicably fouled in the backcourt prior to the 2 foul shots, but missed a go-ahead 3 of their own to seal the win for Northwestern. In the nightcap, Saint Mary’s built a 15-point lead in the 2nd half against VCU before a late Rams comeback whittled the deficit to 2 points. The Gaels didn’t blink and ended up winning 85-77 to advance to the 2nd round. Arizona was never seriously challenged and beat North Dakota 100-82 to set up a 2nd round match against the “other” WCC superpower in Saint Mary’s.

FRIDAY’S MATCHUPS

(10) OKLAHOMA STATE vs. (7) MICHIGAN (12:15 PM, Indianapolis – CBS). The Wolverines are coming off an incredible 5-day stretch that began with a plane crash prior to takeoff in Detroit. After they were able to fly to DC the following morning, they won 4 games in 4 days to claim the Big 10 Championship for the first time since 1998. They will take on an equally resilient Oklahoma State team that started 0-6 in the Big 12 regular season before a late-season turnaround that saw them win 10 out of their last 14 games.

(14) NEW MEXICO STATE vs. (3) BAYLOR (12:40 PM, Tulsa – TruTV). Baylor will attempt to exorcise their recent ghosts in NCAA Tournament play (including losses in 2015 to Georgia State and 2016 to Yale). New Mexico State comes in to the tournament with a win over Cal-State Bakersfield in the WAC and will attempt to become the 4th team out of the WAC to win their postseason opener.

(9) SETON HALL vs. (8) ARKANSAS (1:30 PM, Greenville – TNT). The NCAA Tournament makes its triumphant return to South Carolina for the first time in 15 years with a pair of teams that had head-scratching mid-season slumps but appear to have righted their respective ships. The Pirates narrowly missed a golden opportunity to upset Villanova in the Big East tournament, and the Razorbacks had a nice run to the SEC championship game before falling to Kentucky.

(14) IONA vs. (3) OREGON (2:00 PM, Sacramento – TBS). The brand-new Golden 1 Center will host NCAA Tournament games for the first time this season. Oregon comes into the game wounded thanks to Boucher’s injury, and they will face an Iona team that is appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season after winning the MAAC tournament.

(15) JACKSONVILLE STATE vs. (2) LOUISVILLE (2:45 PM, Indianapolis – CBS). Jacksonville State will be making their NCAA Tournament debut after winning the OVC championship for the first time. Louisville should not have trouble in what should be a partisan crowd for the afternoon session.

(11) USC vs. (6) SMU (3:10 PM, Tulsa – TruTV). Thanks to USC’s comeback win against Providence on Wednesday night, they will get a rematch against SMU in the first round. The Mustangs will be looking for revenge themselves since they lost at USC back in November. Write off the Trojans at your own peril – they have come back from 10-point deficits to win an astounding 12 game this season.

(16) TEXAS SOUTHERN vs. (1) NORTH CAROLINA (4:00 PM, Greenville – TNT). While Texas Southern is in the SWAC’s customary 16-seed, they are no strangers to the NCAA Tournament – this is their 3rd appearance in 4 seasons under Mike Davis. They are fighting way out of their weight class against North Carolina, however.

(11) RHODE ISLAND vs. (6) CREIGHTON (4:30 PM, Sacramento – TBS). While there was a lot of momentum in place for Rhody to get an at-large bid to the NCAAs, they erased all doubt with a win over VCU in the A-10 Championship last Sunday. Their reward is a matchup against a Creighton team that won a pair of games in the Big East tournament against two NCAA Tournament teams (Providence and Xavier).

(16) UC-DAVIS vs. (1) KANSAS (6:50 PM, Tulsa – TNT). After an unexpected hiccup against TCU in the Big 12 Tournament, Kansas should be well-rested for their opener against a UC-Davis team coming in on short rest after beating North Carolina Central in the opening round on Wednesday night.

(10) WICHITA STATE vs. (7) DAYTON (7:10 PM, Indianapolis – CBS). This is potentially the best 1st-round matchup of the tournament. While Dayton has lost momentum since clinching the A-10 regular season tournament outright, they should have a number of fans in the crowd making the short drive from Dayton to Indy. It may not be enough against a Shocker team that hasn’t lost a game since January’s loss at Illinois State.

(15) TROY vs. (2) DUKE (7:20 PM, Greenville – TBS). Duke is coming off a very impressive run of 4 wins in the ACC Tournament where they won the championship against Notre Dame last Saturday. Troy will be making their first appearance since 2003 thanks to their Sun Belt championship and it is likely to be a brief one.

(11) KANSAS STATE vs. (6) CINCINNATI (7:27 PM, Sacramento – TruTV). While K-State and Cincinnati don’t have a rivalry per se, these schools were Bob Huggins’ prior coaching stops before he moved on to West Virginia. Cincinnati is a team capable of making a deep run in the tournament, but also capable of laying an egg in Round 1.

(9) MICHIGAN STATE vs. (8) MIAMI (9:20 PM, Tulsa – TNT). The Spartans struggled all season long to gain any semblance of consistency, but they’ve held the ship intact. They will be playing a Miami team that was supposed to be reloading this year, but have managed a few key wins of their own in the ACC this year. (No truth to the rumor that anti-Syracuse folks sent the Hurricanes gift baskets after they knocked out the Orange in the ACC Tournament.)

(15) NORTHERN KENTUCKY vs. (2) KENTUCKY (9:40 PM, Indianapolis – CBS). It’s already been a dream season for the Norse – they earned their first NCAA Tournament bid in their first year of eligibility in Division I after winning the Horizon League tournament. Kentucky has looked dominant themselves after a mid-season swoon in the SEC that saw a loss to Tennessee and deceptively hard wins against Georgia.

(10) MARQUETTE vs. (7) SOUTH CAROLINA (9:50 PM, Greenville – TBS). Both teams have been absent from the NCAA Tournament in recent memory, although both teams are going in different directions right now. Marquette got some late-season wins of note in the Big East while the Gamecocks stumbled for most of February and March. They will have the homestate crowd advantage against Marquette, though.

(14) KENT STATE vs. (3) UCLA (9:57 PM, Sacramento – TruTV). The last game of the day features a potential contender for the national crown and another team that came off an emotional victory against arch-rival Akron in the MAC championship last Saturday. UCLA should not have too much trouble in front of what will be a partisan crowd.

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Under The Radar Postseason News, Notes and Highlighted Games – Friday, March 17

Posted on March 17, 2017 by John Stalica

While the NCAA Tournament kicked off yesterday, the biggest off-the-court news came out of Bloomington where Indiana parted ways with Tom Crean after nine seasons. AD Fred Glass has announced that he will not hire a search committee that has been established at other schools when they look for their own head coaches. Assuming the Hoosiers look for an experienced head coach in the collegiate ranks, don’t expect the vacancy to be immediately filled while other coaches are making deep runs with their respective teams.

– There was one final opening round game in the CBI last night. Stony Brook fell behind by 19 points in the 2nd half before mounting a furious comeback at UIC. Their comeback ended 2 points short – they lost 71-69 on the road.

– In the CIT, the best matchup in terms of record going into last night was the Asheville/UT-Martin matchup. Martin ended up winning at home by an 89-75 matchup. The road was also kind to Furman and Saint Peter’s – they won at USC-Upstate and Albany, respectively. Texas State, however, was able to defeat Lamar 70-60 at home. In the nightcap featuring the Riley Wallace Classic, Weber State blew an 11-point lead at Cal State-Fullerton and then came from behind to win 80-76. 2nd round matchups for the CIT will be announced later today. Fort Wayne, Furman and Saint Peter’s will get byes into the quarterfinal round as the top 3 seeds of the tournament.

– There are no games scheduled outside of the NCAA Tournament today – the NIT will resume with a 2nd-round game tomorrow morning prior to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament.

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Under The Radar Postseason News, Notes and Highlighted Games – Thursday, March 16

Posted on March 16, 2017 by John Stalica

There were a couple of noteworthy items in the annual 2017 Coaching Carousel yesterday. Cuonzo Martin was announced as the new head coach at Missouri less than 24 hours after California’s season ended with a loss to Cal State-Bakersfield. Lorenzo Romar was dismissed as the head coach at Washington after an up-and-down career in Seattle. At the peak of his career, the Huskies won the Pac-12 in 2005 and were the #1 seed in the West. While recruiting resulted in some blue-chip recruits, the Huskies have trended downwards on the court in the last 6 seasons.

– In the NIT last night, 1 was a lucky number but 2 and 3 were not. Both Syracuse and Illinois State held serve at home and won their openers, but Georgia and Houston ended up losing to Belmont and Akron, respectively. The Akron-Houston game was actually played at Texas Southern’s on-campus arena since Hofheinz Pavilion was not available. BYU also ended up losing at home to Texas-Arlington thanks to a 28-point performance from Drew Charles. TCU and UCF also won their openers at home against Fresno State and Colorado, respectively.

– In the CBI, 5 out of the 7 home teams won their openers. The biggest margin of victory actually came with Utah Valley blasting Georgia Southern 74-49 on the road. The Loyola Greyhounds also made the short trip down I-95 to George Mason and also got a 15-point win on the road. Coastal Carolina, GW, Rice, Wyoming and UMKC all won at home.

– In the CIT, Fort Wayne defeated Ball State in the Lou Henson Classic last night. Rashawn Thomas led the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders over Georgia State 80-64 with a 31-point performance. Chad Sherwood had 17 points in Idaho’s 73-50 win over SFA at home (at Memorial Gym). UMBC also got in on the fun with an 88-83 win against Fairfield at home.

CBI

ILLINOIS-CHICAGO at STONY BROOK (8:00 PM). This is the last of the opening round CBI matchups involving an improving UIC team and a Stony Brook team that managed to get a postseason bid a year after making their first NCAA Tournament appearance.

CIT

SAINT PETER’S at ALBANY (7:00 PM, Facebook Live). Saint Peter’s is coming off of a 2nd place finish in the MAAC regular season behind the Monmouth Hawks. Albany came within a minute of spoiling Vermont’s NCAA Tournament hopes in the America East championship, but will get to host at least postseason game at home against the Peacocks tonight.

FURMAN at USC-UPSTATE (7:00 PM, Facebook Live). Furman was an unexpected contender in the SoCon this year, but they lost early in their conference tournament. USC-Upstate is also coming off of a quarterfinal loss in the Atlantic Sun tournament at home against Kennesaw State. Will both teams be rusty after a 2-week layoff, or will they be well rested?

UNC-ASHEVILLE at TENNESSEE-MARTIN (8:00 PM, Facebook Live). While UT-Martin has been much improved in the last 5 seasons, they have been unable to get over the hump in the Ohio Valley conference championship game. Their reward is a home game against a UNC-Asheville team that was upset in their Big South tournament opener against Campbell.

LAMAR at TEXAS STATE (8:30 PM, Facebook Live). While Lamar is more rested after an early exit in the Southland tournament, Texas State is coming off a loss in the Sun Belt championship game to Troy.

WEBER STATE at CAL STATE FULLERTON (10:00 PM, Facebook Live). The final trophy game of the CIT first round is the Riley Wallace Classic. While Weber State tailed off in February, Fullerton was improved in the Big West and ended up finishing 3rd in the standing behind UC-Davis and UC-Irvine.

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First Round Rundown: Thursday, March 16th

Posted on March 16, 2017 by David Griggs

For other postseason news and results – CLICK HERE

For all of Jon Teitel’s postseason interviews – CLICK HERE

In last night’s opening round games, there were 2 very good matchups in Dayton. The first one involved a back-and-forth game between North Carolina Central and UC-Davis in which the Aggies won 67-63 to earn a trip to play Tulsa in the 1st round on Friday. The game of the night was USC’s comeback over Providence – the Trojans erased a 17-point deficit and avenged their loss last season to the Friars. Amazingly, this was USC’s 12th comeback this year of at least 10 points in a game!

If you’re watching at work, don’t forget the NCAA March Madness link for your streaming and remember to use the boss button when necessary!

TODAY’S FIRST ROUND GAMES

-#12 PRINCETON VS #5 NOTRE DAME (12:15 PM, Buffalo, NY – CBS).  Princeton was a bit underwhelming during the OOC portion of the season, at least when compared to what some of us were expecting, but they definitely got it done in Ivy League play by running the table and winning the tournament.  Notre Dame has certainly been battle tested, and they’ve certainly passed the tests.  If they don’t overlook Princeton then they should be able to pick up the win.

-#12 UNC WILMINGTON VS #5 VIRGINIA (12:40 PM, Orlando, FL – TruTV).  UNC Wilmington is a very good team.  There are a lot of teams on the #4, #5, and #6 lines that I would expect them to be able to beat.  It wouldn’t shock me at all if they won this game, but having said that Virginia is potentially a bad match-up for them, especially when you consider how strong the Hoos defense is.  I like this Wilmington team, and because of that I wish they’d been given a different match-up.

-#13 WINTHROP VS #4 BUTLER (1:30 PM, Milwaukee, WI – TNT).  The top of Butler’s profile is amazing, but as high as their ceiling is they didn’t always play up to it.  Winthrop isn’t as good as Butler, but they are good enough to beat Butler if the Bulldogs overlook them.  They do have a really nice win at Illinois under their belt, and were impressive (pretty much) all throughout conference play.

-#16 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE VS #1 GONZAGA (2:00 PM, Salt Lake City, UT – TBS).  The Zags pretty much blew through the season as well as their conference tournament, and have all the signs of being able to go deep into the NCAA Tournament.  South Dakota State struggled for much of the year and ended up finishing fourth in their conference, but won two close games in the semifinals against rival South Dakota and in the championship against Omaha to make it to The Dance.

-#13 BUCKNELL VS #4 WEST VIRGINIA (2:45 PM, Buffalo, NY – CBS).  Bucknell was very impressive throughout conference play and was clearly the dominant team in the Patriot League.  The problem is that they aren’t playing Patriot teams anymore.  West Virginia had some huge wins this season, but there were times where they showed that they could be beaten.  I don’t expect them to struggle today, but stranger things have happened.

-#13 EAST TENNESSEE STATE VS #4 FLORIDA (3:10 PM, Orlando, FL – TruTV).  East Tennessee State came out on top of what was a very competitive SoCon this year and could squeeze Florida a little bit, but even when they’re not at full strength the Gators have looked very impressive.

-#12 MIDDLE TENNESSEE VS #5 MINNESOTA (4:00 PM, Milwaukee, WI – TNT).  This is a popular upset pick and it makes sense as to why.  Minnesota lost a contributing player late in the year and Middle Tennessee blew through their season which included blowout wins against Vanderbilt and Ole Miss.  I for one feel that Middle Tennessee is underseeded.  If I’m right then they have the chance to prove it today.

-#9 VANDERBILT VS #8 NORTHWESTERN (4:30 PM, Salt Lake City, UT – TBS).  Northwestern is in their first ever NCAA Tournament and they’re coming off a pretty decent showing (minus their last game) in the Big Ten Tournament.  Had Vandy played the first half of their season as well as they played the second half of their season, there is no way they’d be on the #9 line.  In fact they’d probably be flirting with a protected seed.  They did beat Florida (who is a protected seed) three times in the latter part of the season and nearly beat Kentucky on the road.  So watch out for this Vandy team!

-#11 XAVIER VS #6 MARYLAND (6:50 PM, Orlando, FL – TNT).  Xavier was rather pitiful for the last several weeks of the season, but they were rather impressive in the Big East Tournament.  They reached the semis and had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer against Creighton.  Maryland has been pretty consistent all year and won a fair number of close games.  It’s hard to know what to expect in this one.

-#16 MOUNT SAINT MARY’S VS #1 VILLANOVA (7:10 PM, Buffalo, NY – CBS).  Villanova is the overall #1 seed and it was well earned.  Mount Saint Mary’s is coming off a First Four win against New Orleans, which followed a first place finish and tournament championship in NEC play.  They’re swinging way over their heads today, though.

-#10 VCU VS #7 SAINT MARY’S (7:20 PM, Salt Lake City, UT – TBS).  Both of these teams pretty much beat the teams they were supposed to beat (NIT or worse), but at the same time had a limited number of wins against solid tournament teams.  In fact outside of both of them beating Dayton, there isn’t much else there.  One of them will end up winning a big game today, though.

-#13 VERMONT VS #4 PURDUE (7:27 PM, Milwaukee, WI – TruTV).  I really like this Vermont team.  They blew through the America East by pretty much running away in the league standings and then winning the tournament championship.  They’re not as good as Purdue, but they’re definitely good enough to compete with Purdue and even beat them if the Boilermakers overlook them.

-#14 FLORIDA GULF COAST VS #3 FLORIDA STATE (9:20 PM, Orlando, FL – TNT).  FGCU had a great year in the A-Sun and it’s exciting to get an NCAA Tournament game in their home state against a power program from their home state.  Having said that, I know they’ve excited us in the past but I don’t think they have much of a chance today.  This is a very good and talented Florida State team with a very strong post play that FGCU probably won’t be able to match up against.

-#9 VIRGINIA TECH VS #8 WISCONSIN (9:40 PM, Buffalo, NY – CBS).  Throughout most of Big Ten play I always had the feeling that this Wisconsin team wasn’t hitting their ceiling, and I went from thinking that they were equivalent to to the #8 team overall, to now thinking they legitimately belong on the #8 seed line.  They did look good in the Big Ten Tournament, so they do come into this with some momentum.  Buzz Williams has turned Virginia Tech around rather quickly, and a tournament win for them today would be huge.

-#15 NORTH DAKOTA VS #2 ARIZONA (9:50 PM, Salt Lake City, UT – TBS).  Arizona looked amazing in the Pac-12 Tournament and looks as good as some of the #1 seeds.  North Dakota had a fantastic year in the Big Sky, which was probably their best season ever since moving up to D-1, but they are way overmatched in this game.

-#12 NEVADA VS #5 IOWA STATE (9:57 PM, Milwaukee, WI – TruTV).  Nevada has really good power rankings, and although the Mountain West was not on par with the other multi-bid leagues this year, it was still a step above pretty much all of the rest of the UTR leagues and they won some pretty impressive games this season.  If they weren’t matched up against Iowa State, I’d like their chances of making the Round of 32 a lot more.  This Iowa State team started off a little slow, but finished incredibly strong.  They just got through winning the Big Twelve Tournament, and appear to be on pace to go deep into the NCAA Tournament.

 

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Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Gonzaga coach Mark Few’s former assistant Leon Rice

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Jon Teitel

Gonzaga was 29-0 a few weeks with only a home game vs. BYU standing in their way of an undefeated regular season…and they finished 29-1.  However, rather then let it ruin their year, they got back on track by beating St. Mary’s in the WCC title game to earn yet another automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs have now made it to the NCAA tourney every single year since 1999, and this year they begin with #16-seed South Dakota State in a West Region match-up on Thursday afternoon in Salt Lake City. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with 1 of Gonzaga coach Mark Few’s former assistant coaches (Leon Rice, whose Boise State Broncos just beat Utah by 5 PTS on the road last night in a 1st round NIT game) about his former boss’s sensational history of success.

Gonzaga has made the NCAA tourney in each of Coach Few’s 18 seasons in charge, which is 1 of the longest active streaks in the nation: how has he been able to remain so consistent for such a long stretch of time? He has had a lot of consistency in his staff, which has played a big part in it, and has also recruited well.

Take me through the 1999 NCAA tourney when he was an assistant to Dan Monson at Gonzaga:
Casey Calvary scored 12 PTS including a put-back with under 5 seconds left to clinch a 1-PT win over Florida: where does that shot rank among the most clutch you have ever seen? Casey is 1 of the few guys in NCAA history to have game-winning buzzer-beaters in 2 different tourney games! That 1 was special because it started a very long run of making it to the NCAA tourney every year.

Richard Hamilton scored 21 PTS in a 5-PT win by eventual champion UConn: how close did he come to winning that game, and what was the reaction like when he got back to campus? It was a 1-PT game in the final minute but the Huskies did not make any mistakes and had a great team that ended up winning it all. It has been amazing to see the Gonzaga team rise from essentially a D-2 program to where they are today.

What are your memories of the 2001 NCAA tourney (Calvary had 16 PTS/15 REB and made a put-back with under 10 seconds left to clinch a 1-PT win over Virginia)? That was a scrappy team led by PG Dan Dickau. I remember Alex Hernandez making a lot of big plays for us down the stretch: he was the unsung hero of that team.

In the 2003 NCAA tourney Tony Skinner/Blake Stepp each scored 25 PTS in a 1-PT 2-OT loss to Arizona: where does that rank among the most exciting games you have ever seen? That was a great game because we were such a huge underdog. Blake had a shot at the end of the game that he probably makes 8 out of 10 times but it just rattled out.

What are your memories of the 2005 NCAA tourney (Adam Morrison scored 25 PTS but the Bulldogs missed ½ of their 18 FTs in a 2-PT loss to Texas Tech)? We always told our players that there were 2 things that did not last long: dogs that chase cars and teams that miss FTs! Adam missed a lot of FTs that night but it ended up making him a better player in the long run.

What are your memories of the 2006 NCAA tourney (Morrison scored 24 PTS but UCLA scored the final 11 PTS of the game to clinch a 2-PT win)? We did not have a lot of games that I can remember where we had the lead and ended up losing the game. We dominated for most of that game, which is why it turned out to be 1 of our most painful losses. It was a perfect storm where we went cold and UCLA just could not miss.

What are your memories of the 2009 NCAA tourney (freshman Demetri Goodson only scored 4 PTS but drove the length of the court to make the game-winning layup with 0.9 seconds left in a 2-PT win over Western Kentucky)? That was an amazing game. When we 1st saw him heading up the floor we actually thought that it was our other guard who was more experienced! Goodson had been playing well for us so we put him in and just went with a small lineup. He was 1 of the fastest guys to ever play at Gonzaga.

After winning 11 straight WCC regular season titles, St. Mary’s finally came out on top in 2012 and had a 4-PT OT win over Gonzaga in the WCC tourney title game (despite 22 PTS/13 REB from Elias Harris): has Coach Few made any changes over the past decade as the rest of the conference has finally started to catch up? The quality of the opposing players has seemed to increase so it is hard to continue at such a high level. I believe that it is 1 of the great stories in sports.

He has been named WCC COY more than 10 times during his career: what does it mean to him to win such outstanding honors? The beauty of Mark is that he always deflects the attention and says that it is a reflection of his staff/players, but we have a lot of pride in him.

He has won more than 80% of his games, which makes him 1 of the winningest active coaches in all of D-1: what makes him such a great coach, and do you consider him to be 1 of the best coaches in the nation? There is no question that he is 1 of the best. He has been 1 of my best friends for more than 25 years and I would put him in the upper echelon. He has a great feel for the sport and knows how to win close games.

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