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Tag: march madness

  • Keeler: Ali Farokhmanesh is losing his voice, but not his love for CSU Rams

    FORT COLLINS — The voice bobbed and weaved like a cornered boxer. Sentences that started as butter finished with the scrape of burnt toast.

    Ali Farokhmanesh looked great Saturday at Moby Arena, wearing a calm smile and a white CSU polo. Dude sounded like holy heck.

    “I mean, (I’m) yelling more than I was, talking more, just constantly talking,” the new Rams men’s basketball coach told me after his squad scrimmaged for the public Saturday, the warm-up act for a Homecoming football tussle against Hawaii.

    “So I think that’s the biggest adjustment. That’s the biggest thing I had to figure out is how to get my voice to stay. Because the first event we did in downtown (Fort Collins), it was gone. I started like shaking up and down. I sounded like I was going through puberty again, like …”

    “That Brady Bunch song?”

    “Pretty much,” he laughed. “If you can find something for my throat to fix that, let me know.

    “I always joke with our guys, though, I’m saying our body language matters and how you respond to refs, how you talk to them. Well, then, I shouldn’t lose my voice because I shouldn’t be (yelling). We’ll see how it goes on November 3.”

    As Peter Brady once sang, when it’s time to change, then it’s time to change. Farokhmanesh, 37, is re-arranging who he is and what he’s gonna be.

    No Nique Clifford? No Niko Medved? No problemo. For now, anyway.

    If CSU football feels a bit like a marriage that has lost its spark, Rams hoops is still ensconced in nuptial bliss. You’d be hard-pressed to find a heart in Fort Fun that doesn’t love Farokhmanesh. And Ali’s family.

    Although a first-time head coach, Farokhmanesh is working overtime these days to stay out of his wife Mallory’s doghouse. The other night, she caught him falling asleep while watching practice film. All parties agreed he could pick it back up at 5:30 in the morning.

    “I feel like I try to have a balance, right?” Farokhmanesh said. “Which you never really do, but you’re always fighting for. So, she does a good job of managing that with me, too. I think she helps me a lot with that.”

    Colorado State’s Jevin Muniz drives to the basket during an intrasquad scrimmage Saturday at Moby Arena. (Nathan Wright/Loveland Reporter-Herald)

    On the court, with a half-dozen new faces, the Rams’ lineup is a work in progress. Rotations are in flux. Medved’s fingerprints are still there, but with tweaks and tucks — some spread, some motion, constant movement.

    Farokhmanesh was the boy genius with the whiteboard on the sidelines, feeding the Niko machine. On Saturday, that board was in the hands of assistant coach Cole Gentry. Besides work-life balance and trying to do too much all at once, the next biggest challenge for first-time coaches is delegating authority. Giving up the stuff they used to obsess over.

    “I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job (with that),” Farokhmanesh said. “I’m not doing the subs right now. I’m not doing the baseline out of bounds (plays) now. Those are all things I did before. I’ve given up the board. But I’m still going to have a say in all of it. So, it’s giving it up, but it’s also like, you’re still involved. I don’t know. It’s just different.”

    The Ali Era’s “soft” opening is a tricky one: The Rams play an exhibition at Creighton on Oct. 25 in advance of the Nov. 3 home lid-lifter against Incarnate Word.

    Farokhmanesh and Jays coach Greg McDermott are both Northern Iowa Panthers, which is fun. Creighton just beat Iowa State in an exhibition by 13 this past Friday, which is … yeah, not so fun.

    “And after what they did in Iowa State, I’m a little more nervous,” the Rams coach said. “If we want to be an NCAA Tournament team, you’ve got to play teams like that. Does that help us to just go scrimmage a D2 (school)? Does it? We’ll get something out of it. But I want to challenge our (guys), and I want to put them on a stage. Because if we want to play at the highest levels, we’re going to have to beat people on those stages and compete with them.”

    Farokhmanesh, long one of Medved’s best teachers and recruiters, is already taking names on the recruiting trail. Reported 2026 commit Pops Dunson, a 6-foot point guard out of Douglasville, Ga., is the highest-ranked prep signee for the Rams this century, according to the 247Sports.com database.

    “If you’ve got time, he’s in here working with you,” said CSU forward Rashaan Mbemba, who leads the Rams roster in returning minutes with 615 (19.2 per game) and returning points (7.0 per game). “And I think that’s something you’ve got to really appreciate. I mean, he has four kids, he has a wife. Being a head coach, a husband, a dad. Now he’s also like, kind of, for a lot of guys, he’s the first person to talk to. As a team and as a community, we really appreciate that.”

    Sean Keeler

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  • Renck & File: CSU’s Jay Norvell approaches stretch that will determine his future

    When Jay Norvell talked about creating Canvas Chaos, this isn’t what he had in mind.

    The Rams are 1-1, but it feels worse after their escape against Northern Colorado. There are no Secret Santa gifts needed for Norvell at the office Christmas party after an all-time shocking reversal of a touchdown catch by the Bears.

    And whether it was or wasn’t a reception is not even the biggest issue surrounding the program. Norvell has a quarterback controversy. He called it a competition during the bye week practice. But that is never the case, especially when the three-year starter is losing his grip on the position.

    Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi sure looks like he peaked that chilly night in Boulder two years ago. He can’t help himself, falling into bad habits of throwing off balance, firing sidearm and into traffic. This is not the return Norvell expected on his investment. Not in BFN’s third season.

    Jackson Brousseau is getting first-team reps as Norvell mulls his choice. This decision should determine whether Norvell receives a contract extension. That’s because the Rams enter a seven-game stretch that will provide clarity on whether he should keep the job.

    CSU hosts five home games, including Sept. 20 against the University of Texas San Antonio on FS1. Washington State follows. These are not Cam Ward’s Cougars. The optics of this game remain important since CSU will be joining Wazzu in the revamped Pac 12 next season. Are the Rams competitive? Do they look the part?

    And Norvell knows after the latest white-knuckle scare that he better beat Wyoming. Nobody cares that the game is on the road. Waking up on Nov. 9 with a 6-3 record provides hope that Norvell made the right choice. The temperature is not dropping on this topic until Fowler-Nicolosi plays better or Norvell moves on from him.

    CSU’s athletic program is on a heater. The men’s basketball program, after a terrific March Madness run, was invited to the Maui Invitational in 2026 and recently signed guard Gregory “Pops” Dunson, the highest-ranked recruit since rankings became available in 2000. The volleyball team remains a force, and the women’s soccer team has entered the national polls at No. 25 for the first time in school history.

    Troy Renck

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  • UConn routs Purdue 75-60 in men’s national championship, goes back-to-back

    UConn routs Purdue 75-60 in men’s national championship, goes back-to-back

    The solar eclipse may not have been visible from inside State Farm Stadium in Arizona, but UConn completely blanked Purdue to repeat as champions.

    The No. 1-seeded Huskies on Monday topped Zach Edey and the No. 1 Boilermakers 75-60 in the 2024 men’s national championship game, joining rare company in the process as consecutive champs.

    Entering the game, it was a story about one team who deployed a well-balanced attack while the other focused on its 7-foot-4 big man.

    But while Purdue showed it learned from its mistakes this tournament after last year’s shock first-round exit to No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson, its flaws were exposed by a team capable of taking the game to Edey.

    The Huskies led 36-30 at halftime despite Edey’s robust half. Tristen Newton led the way with 11 points while Cam Spencer, Donovan Clingan and Hassan Diarra all chipped in seven points each. Diarra did so off the bench while shooting 3-for-4 overall.

    The Boilermakers really only had Edey stirring the pot at the interval. He had 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting along with five rebounds and two blocks. Braden Smith gradually got going to end with nine points, three rebounds and three assists.

    But the second half didn’t start so well for Purdue. Edey failed to make an impact down low on both sides of the court and UConn no longer seemed afraid of attacking him, as was the case in spurts during the first 20 minutes. In fact, Edey endured a 10-minute spell without a point and logged just one rebound in that span.

    UConn pushed the lead to 56-40 with 9:27 to go thanks to, once again, a balanced attack. Purdue kept forcing the ball down to Edey and evidently lacked a plan B, while the Huskies kept attacking the big man with consistent success.

    The Huskies’ largest lead of the game was 18 points despite shooting just 6-for-22 (27%) from 3-point land. Purdue fared even worse from deep, going just 1-for-7 (14%).

    Newton led the Huskies with 20 points, seven assists and five rebounds while Spencer did all the other things on a night where his shot wasn’t as hot as usual. Four Huskies eclipsed double-digit point totals while Diarra ended with nine.

    Edey assembled a solid stat line for himself, posting 37 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks on 15-for-25 shooting. He made 7 of 10 free throws. The next best scorer was Smith with 12.

    UConn’s win makes it the program’s sixth national championship all time. The other triumphs came in 1999, 2004, 2011, 2014 and 2023.

    Purdue, on the other hand, will have to wait longer for its first men’s basketball title. Its best finish came as a runner-up in 1969.

    Sanjesh Singh

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  • UConn, Purdue collide in NCAA title game

    UConn, Purdue collide in NCAA title game

    The NCAA Tournament has reached its finish line, down to one game pairing the two best teams that routinely win in romps and boasting a marquee post matchup that features a two-time national player of the year.Maybe that will make this version of March Madness something to remember after all.Video above: Alex Karaban helps UConn advance in NCAA Tournament Reigning champion UConn meets Purdue on Monday night in a matchup of top seeds that have combined to win their first five tournament games by an average margin of 22.3 points. They have been at the center of a tournament lacking in drama, with its second-highest average margin of victory since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, only one last-second winning shot and few of the highlight-reel thrills that had become a staple of the event.Don’t expect the Huskies or Boilermakers to feel the least bit bothered by their dominance, either.”People that love basketball and people that really know the game, you watch good basketball,” Purdue guard Fletcher Loyer said Sunday. “Obviously the upsets are fun and real cool and they get attention. But real basketball, you like to see the two best teams go at it. And I think that’s what we have here.”The tournament’s allure remains strong, from casual-at-best basketball fans scribbling out their own bracket projections to TV ratings that keep coming in strong. Yet there’s a short list of unexpected moments this year: namely, Jack Gohlke making 10 3-pointers to help Oakland stun blueblood Kentucky in the first round and North Carolina State’s wild ride as an 11-seed to the program’s first Final Four since the “Cardiac Pack” title run of 1983 under the late Jim Valvano.As for those last-second shots that live on in tournament lore, the closest this year was KJ Simpson rattling in a baseline jumper with 1.7 seconds left to lift Colorado past Florida 102-100 in Round 1.Everything else has largely been about UConn’s run to greatness, and Purdue’s march to redemption from last year’s stunning loss to 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson.”Once you get to this time of year, everything is just you are who your identity is,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “The way you play, it’s very automatic. It just comes down to hoping that it’s your night.”UConn (36-3) has looked like a runaway train from before the first game in its push to become the first men’s team to repeat as national champions since Florida in 2006 and 2007, and become only the third program to become a repeat winner since UCLA’s run of seven straight under John Wooden from 1967-73.”The way they’ve won, you know, there’s been some teams that have hung in there with them, then they’ve separated from them,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “There’s some other teams that have gotten flat-out blitzed.”Last year, UConn became the fifth title winner since the 1985 expansion to win all six games by double-digit margins, the closest coming by 13 points. This year, the No. 1 overall seed has been even more dominant; the Huskies’ closest game was Saturday night’s 86-72 win against Alabama, and they’ve won five games by a combined 125 points — an average of 25 per night.By comparison, North Carolina in 2009 holds the record for highest points differential of that elite group at 121 points through six games, so another double-figure win by the Huskies to complete a 6-for-6 run would shatter that record.UConn forward Alex Karaban figures that’s still compelling stuff, too.”To witness greatness from both teams and to witness greatness from what we did last year, too, I think it’s special,” Karaban said. “And it doesn’t have to be close, doesn’t have to be any of that for it to be March Madness. It can be March Madness … and making history.”As for the Boilermakers (34-4), they have won five games by an average of 19.6 points, including the 63-50 win against N.C. State in the national semifinals. The only close call was battling from 11 down before halftime to beat Tennessee 72-66 — behind 40 points from 7-foot-4 star Zach Edey —to clinch the program’s first Final Four trip since 1980.Now they’re in their first title game since their only other appearance, a 1969 loss to Wooden’s Bruins, and Edey will have to tangle with 7-2 defensive force Donovan Clingan.”It’s cool with me winning by enough points where it’s not that your palms are sweaty, being nervous like that,” Purdue guard Lance Jones said with a broad smile. “So I think having that margin of victory is good.”But that has also been at the forefront of what has been a blowout-filled tournament.The average margin of victory in this tournament has been 14.4 points, according to Sportradar. Only the 1993 tournament (14.9 points) has had a higher margin since 1985, and the average margin had been 11.8 points for the previous 29 tournaments.Now Purdue has the final chance to stop UConn’s March, and maybe have two teams tussling in a compelling finale.”You give respect to a team like UConn that can go and handle their business and go and beat a team by 15 to 20 every night,” Loyer said. “That’s tough to do and respect to them for it. So it’s making sure we’re ready to go and giving the people a show because it’s the two best teams in college basketball. I don’t know what more you could ask for.”

    GLENDALE, Ariz. —

    The NCAA Tournament has reached its finish line, down to one game pairing the two best teams that routinely win in romps and boasting a marquee post matchup that features a two-time national player of the year.

    Maybe that will make this version of March Madness something to remember after all.

    Video above: Alex Karaban helps UConn advance in NCAA Tournament

    Reigning champion UConn meets Purdue on Monday night in a matchup of top seeds that have combined to win their first five tournament games by an average margin of 22.3 points. They have been at the center of a tournament lacking in drama, with its second-highest average margin of victory since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, only one last-second winning shot and few of the highlight-reel thrills that had become a staple of the event.

    Don’t expect the Huskies or Boilermakers to feel the least bit bothered by their dominance, either.

    “People that love basketball and people that really know the game, you watch good basketball,” Purdue guard Fletcher Loyer said Sunday. “Obviously the upsets are fun and real cool and they get attention. But real basketball, you like to see the two best teams go at it. And I think that’s what we have here.”

    The tournament’s allure remains strong, from casual-at-best basketball fans scribbling out their own bracket projections to TV ratings that keep coming in strong. Yet there’s a short list of unexpected moments this year: namely, Jack Gohlke making 10 3-pointers to help Oakland stun blueblood Kentucky in the first round and North Carolina State’s wild ride as an 11-seed to the program’s first Final Four since the “Cardiac Pack” title run of 1983 under the late Jim Valvano.

    As for those last-second shots that live on in tournament lore, the closest this year was KJ Simpson rattling in a baseline jumper with 1.7 seconds left to lift Colorado past Florida 102-100 in Round 1.

    Everything else has largely been about UConn’s run to greatness, and Purdue’s march to redemption from last year’s stunning loss to 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson.

    “Once you get to this time of year, everything is just you are who your identity is,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “The way you play, it’s very automatic. It just comes down to hoping that it’s your night.”

    UConn (36-3) has looked like a runaway train from before the first game in its push to become the first men’s team to repeat as national champions since Florida in 2006 and 2007, and become only the third program to become a repeat winner since UCLA’s run of seven straight under John Wooden from 1967-73.

    “The way they’ve won, you know, there’s been some teams that have hung in there with them, then they’ve separated from them,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “There’s some other teams that have gotten flat-out blitzed.”

    Last year, UConn became the fifth title winner since the 1985 expansion to win all six games by double-digit margins, the closest coming by 13 points. This year, the No. 1 overall seed has been even more dominant; the Huskies’ closest game was Saturday night’s 86-72 win against Alabama, and they’ve won five games by a combined 125 points — an average of 25 per night.

    By comparison, North Carolina in 2009 holds the record for highest points differential of that elite group at 121 points through six games, so another double-figure win by the Huskies to complete a 6-for-6 run would shatter that record.

    UConn forward Alex Karaban figures that’s still compelling stuff, too.

    “To witness greatness from both teams and to witness greatness from what we did last year, too, I think it’s special,” Karaban said. “And it doesn’t have to be close, doesn’t have to be any of that for it to be March Madness. It can be March Madness … and making history.”

    As for the Boilermakers (34-4), they have won five games by an average of 19.6 points, including the 63-50 win against N.C. State in the national semifinals. The only close call was battling from 11 down before halftime to beat Tennessee 72-66 — behind 40 points from 7-foot-4 star Zach Edey —to clinch the program’s first Final Four trip since 1980.

    Now they’re in their first title game since their only other appearance, a 1969 loss to Wooden’s Bruins, and Edey will have to tangle with 7-2 defensive force Donovan Clingan.

    “It’s cool with me winning by enough points where it’s not that your palms are sweaty, being nervous like that,” Purdue guard Lance Jones said with a broad smile. “So I think having that margin of victory is good.”

    But that has also been at the forefront of what has been a blowout-filled tournament.

    The average margin of victory in this tournament has been 14.4 points, according to Sportradar. Only the 1993 tournament (14.9 points) has had a higher margin since 1985, and the average margin had been 11.8 points for the previous 29 tournaments.

    Now Purdue has the final chance to stop UConn’s March, and maybe have two teams tussling in a compelling finale.

    “You give respect to a team like UConn that can go and handle their business and go and beat a team by 15 to 20 every night,” Loyer said. “That’s tough to do and respect to them for it. So it’s making sure we’re ready to go and giving the people a show because it’s the two best teams in college basketball. I don’t know what more you could ask for.”

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  • UConn, Purdue collide in NCAA title game

    UConn, Purdue collide in NCAA title game

    The NCAA Tournament has reached its finish line, down to one game pairing the two best teams that routinely win in romps and boasting a marquee post matchup that features a two-time national player of the year.Maybe that will make this version of March Madness something to remember after all.Video above: Alex Karaban helps UConn advance in NCAA Tournament Reigning champion UConn meets Purdue on Monday night in a matchup of top seeds that have combined to win their first five tournament games by an average margin of 22.3 points. They have been at the center of a tournament lacking in drama, with its second-highest average margin of victory since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, only one last-second winning shot and few of the highlight-reel thrills that had become a staple of the event.Don’t expect the Huskies or Boilermakers to feel the least bit bothered by their dominance, either.”People that love basketball and people that really know the game, you watch good basketball,” Purdue guard Fletcher Loyer said Sunday. “Obviously the upsets are fun and real cool and they get attention. But real basketball, you like to see the two best teams go at it. And I think that’s what we have here.”The tournament’s allure remains strong, from casual-at-best basketball fans scribbling out their own bracket projections to TV ratings that keep coming in strong. Yet there’s a short list of unexpected moments this year: namely, Jack Gohlke making 10 3-pointers to help Oakland stun blueblood Kentucky in the first round and North Carolina State’s wild ride as an 11-seed to the program’s first Final Four since the “Cardiac Pack” title run of 1983 under the late Jim Valvano.As for those last-second shots that live on in tournament lore, the closest this year was KJ Simpson rattling in a baseline jumper with 1.7 seconds left to lift Colorado past Florida 102-100 in Round 1.Everything else has largely been about UConn’s run to greatness, and Purdue’s march to redemption from last year’s stunning loss to 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson.”Once you get to this time of year, everything is just you are who your identity is,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “The way you play, it’s very automatic. It just comes down to hoping that it’s your night.”UConn (36-3) has looked like a runaway train from before the first game in its push to become the first men’s team to repeat as national champions since Florida in 2006 and 2007, and become only the third program to become a repeat winner since UCLA’s run of seven straight under John Wooden from 1967-73.”The way they’ve won, you know, there’s been some teams that have hung in there with them, then they’ve separated from them,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “There’s some other teams that have gotten flat-out blitzed.”Last year, UConn became the fifth title winner since the 1985 expansion to win all six games by double-digit margins, the closest coming by 13 points. This year, the No. 1 overall seed has been even more dominant; the Huskies’ closest game was Saturday night’s 86-72 win against Alabama, and they’ve won five games by a combined 125 points — an average of 25 per night.By comparison, North Carolina in 2009 holds the record for highest points differential of that elite group at 121 points through six games, so another double-figure win by the Huskies to complete a 6-for-6 run would shatter that record.UConn forward Alex Karaban figures that’s still compelling stuff, too.”To witness greatness from both teams and to witness greatness from what we did last year, too, I think it’s special,” Karaban said. “And it doesn’t have to be close, doesn’t have to be any of that for it to be March Madness. It can be March Madness … and making history.”As for the Boilermakers (34-4), they have won five games by an average of 19.6 points, including the 63-50 win against N.C. State in the national semifinals. The only close call was battling from 11 down before halftime to beat Tennessee 72-66 — behind 40 points from 7-foot-4 star Zach Edey —to clinch the program’s first Final Four trip since 1980.Now they’re in their first title game since their only other appearance, a 1969 loss to Wooden’s Bruins, and Edey will have to tangle with 7-2 defensive force Donovan Clingan.”It’s cool with me winning by enough points where it’s not that your palms are sweaty, being nervous like that,” Purdue guard Lance Jones said with a broad smile. “So I think having that margin of victory is good.”But that has also been at the forefront of what has been a blowout-filled tournament.The average margin of victory in this tournament has been 14.4 points, according to Sportradar. Only the 1993 tournament (14.9 points) has had a higher margin since 1985, and the average margin had been 11.8 points for the previous 29 tournaments.Now Purdue has the final chance to stop UConn’s March, and maybe have two teams tussling in a compelling finale.”You give respect to a team like UConn that can go and handle their business and go and beat a team by 15 to 20 every night,” Loyer said. “That’s tough to do and respect to them for it. So it’s making sure we’re ready to go and giving the people a show because it’s the two best teams in college basketball. I don’t know what more you could ask for.”

    GLENDALE, Ariz. —

    The NCAA Tournament has reached its finish line, down to one game pairing the two best teams that routinely win in romps and boasting a marquee post matchup that features a two-time national player of the year.

    Maybe that will make this version of March Madness something to remember after all.

    Video above: Alex Karaban helps UConn advance in NCAA Tournament

    Reigning champion UConn meets Purdue on Monday night in a matchup of top seeds that have combined to win their first five tournament games by an average margin of 22.3 points. They have been at the center of a tournament lacking in drama, with its second-highest average margin of victory since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, only one last-second winning shot and few of the highlight-reel thrills that had become a staple of the event.

    Don’t expect the Huskies or Boilermakers to feel the least bit bothered by their dominance, either.

    “People that love basketball and people that really know the game, you watch good basketball,” Purdue guard Fletcher Loyer said Sunday. “Obviously the upsets are fun and real cool and they get attention. But real basketball, you like to see the two best teams go at it. And I think that’s what we have here.”

    The tournament’s allure remains strong, from casual-at-best basketball fans scribbling out their own bracket projections to TV ratings that keep coming in strong. Yet there’s a short list of unexpected moments this year: namely, Jack Gohlke making 10 3-pointers to help Oakland stun blueblood Kentucky in the first round and North Carolina State’s wild ride as an 11-seed to the program’s first Final Four since the “Cardiac Pack” title run of 1983 under the late Jim Valvano.

    As for those last-second shots that live on in tournament lore, the closest this year was KJ Simpson rattling in a baseline jumper with 1.7 seconds left to lift Colorado past Florida 102-100 in Round 1.

    Everything else has largely been about UConn’s run to greatness, and Purdue’s march to redemption from last year’s stunning loss to 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson.

    “Once you get to this time of year, everything is just you are who your identity is,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “The way you play, it’s very automatic. It just comes down to hoping that it’s your night.”

    UConn (36-3) has looked like a runaway train from before the first game in its push to become the first men’s team to repeat as national champions since Florida in 2006 and 2007, and become only the third program to become a repeat winner since UCLA’s run of seven straight under John Wooden from 1967-73.

    “The way they’ve won, you know, there’s been some teams that have hung in there with them, then they’ve separated from them,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “There’s some other teams that have gotten flat-out blitzed.”

    Last year, UConn became the fifth title winner since the 1985 expansion to win all six games by double-digit margins, the closest coming by 13 points. This year, the No. 1 overall seed has been even more dominant; the Huskies’ closest game was Saturday night’s 86-72 win against Alabama, and they’ve won five games by a combined 125 points — an average of 25 per night.

    By comparison, North Carolina in 2009 holds the record for highest points differential of that elite group at 121 points through six games, so another double-figure win by the Huskies to complete a 6-for-6 run would shatter that record.

    UConn forward Alex Karaban figures that’s still compelling stuff, too.

    “To witness greatness from both teams and to witness greatness from what we did last year, too, I think it’s special,” Karaban said. “And it doesn’t have to be close, doesn’t have to be any of that for it to be March Madness. It can be March Madness … and making history.”

    As for the Boilermakers (34-4), they have won five games by an average of 19.6 points, including the 63-50 win against N.C. State in the national semifinals. The only close call was battling from 11 down before halftime to beat Tennessee 72-66 — behind 40 points from 7-foot-4 star Zach Edey —to clinch the program’s first Final Four trip since 1980.

    Now they’re in their first title game since their only other appearance, a 1969 loss to Wooden’s Bruins, and Edey will have to tangle with 7-2 defensive force Donovan Clingan.

    “It’s cool with me winning by enough points where it’s not that your palms are sweaty, being nervous like that,” Purdue guard Lance Jones said with a broad smile. “So I think having that margin of victory is good.”

    But that has also been at the forefront of what has been a blowout-filled tournament.

    The average margin of victory in this tournament has been 14.4 points, according to Sportradar. Only the 1993 tournament (14.9 points) has had a higher margin since 1985, and the average margin had been 11.8 points for the previous 29 tournaments.

    Now Purdue has the final chance to stop UConn’s March, and maybe have two teams tussling in a compelling finale.

    “You give respect to a team like UConn that can go and handle their business and go and beat a team by 15 to 20 every night,” Loyer said. “That’s tough to do and respect to them for it. So it’s making sure we’re ready to go and giving the people a show because it’s the two best teams in college basketball. I don’t know what more you could ask for.”

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  • How to meet TikTok-famous Cavinder twins during Final Four in Phoenix

    How to meet TikTok-famous Cavinder twins during Final Four in Phoenix

    With the Final Four back in Phoenix in all its dramatic glory, two Arizona-raised college basketball and social media stars also are returning home to the Valley. Haley and Hanna Cavinder, the college hoopsters whose 4.5 million followers on TikTok have made them well-known beyond the court, are hosting an NCAA men’s championship pre-game party on Monday from 4 to 6 p.m. at BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse in Peoria…

    TJ L’Heureux

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  • Wolfpack’s balance fails at wrong time in Final Four power outage vs. Purdue :: WRALSportsFan.com

    Wolfpack’s balance fails at wrong time in Final Four power outage vs. Purdue :: WRALSportsFan.com

    By AARON BEARD, AP Basketball Writer

    GLENDALE, Ariz. — North Carolina State’s miraculous late-season run to the Atlantic Coast Conference title and an even more improbable Final Four trip had been the product of a blending of talent, balance and cohesion when the pressure peaked.

    One first-half tumble appeared to change everything — and the magic all came undone in the second half against Purdue in the national semifinals.

    The offense that had consistently produced double-figure scorers to support DJ Burns Jr. inside and DJ Horne on the perimeter just never got into a flow. Layups rolled off the rim. Outside shots clanged away harmlessly. And no one outside of Horne found any consistent success as the team struggled to adjust after point guard Michael O’Connell suffered an early hamstring injury that derailed his night.

    It ended with the Wolfpack shooting just 28.6% while scoring 21 points after halftime to fall to the Boilermakers 63-50 on Saturday night.

    “One hundred percent, we were definitely out of sync, we couldn’t get in a rhythm,” starting wing Casey Morsell said softly, his hoodie pulled up over his head after a scoreless night. “It was tough to kind of get going.”

    The Wolfpack’s ride had become the stuff of legend at a school where there’s history with the miraculous. This was the first Final Four since the “Cardiac Pack” made a run to win the national title under late coach Jim Valvano, and this year’s group had offered shades of ’83 with an 11th-seeded bunch playing nothing-to-lose basketball as the calendar pushed into March with no postseason destination assured.

    They became the first team to go 5-for-5 and win the ACC Tournament, then followed with four NCAA wins in a row to get back to the sport’s biggest stage. Along the way, there had been a formula: three or four double-digit scorers, players ready to feed Burns inside and then capitalize on kickouts, and finding that confident rhythm.

    It just never happened Saturday on the sport’s biggest stage.

    Horne finished with 20 points but needed 21 shots to get there. No other Wolfpack player reached double figures until Jayden Taylor’s 3-pointer with 42 seconds left and N.C. State trailing by 16.

    The trouble seemingly started after O’Connell tumbled to the court in transition and sat up grabbing his left hamstring. He spent long stretches riding an exercise bike trying to loosen it up at the end of the bench, though he labored to get up and down the stairs smoothly that lead to the raised court in State Farm Stadium.

    The steady Stanford transfer had been a critical part of the Wolfpack’s surge, scoring in double digits six times in the nine-game run — including the banked-in 3-pointer to force overtime in an ACC semifinal win against Virginia.

    “There was no chance I wasn’t going to try to step back on the floor,” O’Connell said. “If it’s a Final Four game, I’m going to do everything I can to be back on unless I can’t walk.”

    He checked in for one 3 1/2-minute stretch after halftime, his left thigh heavily wrapped as he pointed at the scorer’s table during a timeout — and he took just one shot (a made 3) all night.

    O’Connell’s injury had a ripple effect on the lineup, removing a set-up man in getting teammates the shots they want. It put more burden on Horne to run the offense, while Breon Pass saw major minutes after playing a combined three minutes in four NCAA Tournament games so far.

    “We had different guys doing different things they weren’t really used to,” forward Ben Middlebrooks said.

    And the frustration built.

    One moment came when Taylor had a transition chance with his team down 49-40, though he knew Purdue big man Zach Edey was lurking nearby.

    Taylor smartly went under the basket and tried a reverse layup with the basket obstructing the 7-foot-4 Edey’s path, only to see the ball roll softly off the rim at a key moment.

    Moments later, Burns muscled past Edey on the baseline to get to the other side of the paint and bank in a tough shot — only to be called for a travel.

    It encapsulated a rough night for the burly 6-foot-9, 275-pound Burns, who battled fouls and the length of the two-time national player of the year in Edey. After becoming a March Madness star and scoring 29 points in a regional final against Duke, Burns had just eight points on 4-for-10 shooting while pulling down just one rebound and battling some foul issues.

    Morsell, who came in averaging 11.5 points, missed all five of his shots. And that left O’Connell as the only starter to make at least half his shots with that lone catch-and-fire corner 3 off a first-half feed from Burns.

    By the end of the night, Taylor was firing a meaningless 3-pointer on the final possession as the seconds ticked away. The ball hit long, sealing the worst scoring game of the season for N.C. State.

    “Right now in the moment, it’s definitely tough to really grasp that and understand, because we wanted to win — we wanted to win it all,” O’Connell said. “So it’s tough in the locker room. Obviously everyone’s down, but at the same time too, we’ve also just got to be grateful for where we’re at and what we accomplished.”

    ___

    AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

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  • Emmanuel Acho Issues Audaciously Ashy Non-Apology About Angel Reese, Social Media Roasts Uncle Ruckus Rambling As Bayou Barbie Blasts ‘Disrespect’

    Emmanuel Acho Issues Audaciously Ashy Non-Apology About Angel Reese, Social Media Roasts Uncle Ruckus Rambling As Bayou Barbie Blasts ‘Disrespect’

    Emmanuel Acho’s clownery continued as he responded to backlash for his “Cowardly Dog” comparison of Angel Reese by doubling down with a weak sauce word salad. The WNBA-bound baller seemingly shaded Acho’s “disrespect” as the internet dragged Acho’s non-apology.

    Source: Steve Granitz/Scott Taetsch / Getty

    Following a week on the Summer Jam screen for a failed “gender-neutral and racially indifferent” take on Angel Reese, Acho thanked fans and famous friends who coddled “respectfully reprimanded” him. He took to X, formerly Twitter, to repetitively ramble about handling him with respect while defending his disrespect of Angel.

    “I want to thank everyone who has respectfully reprimanded me and offered brilliant opinions on the Angel Reese conversation. I do not believe there is any one way to think about things,” he said, name dropping Ryan Clark and Essence Askins for giving him feedback.

    “I want just to applaud those publicly and privately who have respectfully —the operative word there being ‘respectfully’— reprimanded me,” he continued.

    Emmanuel Acho Missed The Mark About Missing The Mark With Angel Reese

    The emphasis on respect is ironic considering Acho misrepresented Angel’s comments to insult her while she discussed relentless harassment. When she did “take it on the chin” in an interview earlier this week, as Acho insisted, Angel accepted the ‘villain role’ in opposition to Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. She considered the false narratives a small sacrifice for “growing women’s basketball.”

    Acho used this against Angel to justify racists and sexists dehumanizing and attacking her as a Black woman. As BOSSIP previously reported, that was the context of the All-American’s emotional post-game interview. Following teammates Flau’jae Johnson and Hailey Van Lith praising Angel’s unwavering strength and leadership through “hate,” a journalist asked her about the journey the public doesn’t see.

    On FS1, Acho’s co-host immediately checked Acho for gleefully jumping on the “villain” bandwagon.

    “She didn’t make herself the villain. She showed up unapologetically herself in the same way that men do all the time,” Taylor said. She added that the hate Reese “experiences is not the same thing as what everyone is experiencing.”

    Acho is even a hypocrite about Angel crying after a loss. In hindsight, she was probably more emotional about her teammates’ kind words and the not-yet-announced end of her college career. Either way, Acho didn’t keep that same energy about USC’s Caleb Williams crying. In November, Acho commended the “authentic emotional health over fake toughness.”

    Acho’s response video invited willingness to “listen to one another” with zero self-awareness about how he ignored Angel’s statements in his so-called analysis. No amount of “bad sportsmanship” justifiably “paints a target” on one’s own back for AI-generated porn or death threats.

    Social media had plenty to say about Acho’s response and Angel entered the chat, as well.

    Check out the reactions to Emmanuel Acho’s response about Angel Reese after the flip.

    lexdirects

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  • Caitlin Clark Is March

    Caitlin Clark Is March

    You know the lore behind many men’s basketball greats: Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajewon, Allen Iverson, Wilt Chamberlain…I could go on. We talk about shoe deals and the dominance of iconic brands like Nike and Converse thanks to the success of basketball.

    I could name almost every team in the men’s National Basketball Association off the top of my head. I know star players like Joel Embiid, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jayson Tatum, LeBron James, Steph Curry. I can argue with the best of them that Embiid is a better center than Nikola Jokic…but what about the WNBA?

    Women’s basketball has scandalously been a fourth-world sport for close to 30 years. The salaries barely above a livable wage, the game attendance often lackluster at best, the buzz behind jersey sales and star players is minimal. In fact, you rarely see many front-page stories on women basketball professionals.

    All it takes is one…as Nike told Michael Jordan: it’s not about the shoe, but who’s wearing the shoe. Over the past few years, it hasn’t been the WNBA that’s drawing attention to women’s basketball…but the NCAA Women’s Basketball League.

    “The One” in question is Iowa Hawkeye, Caitlin Clark. During the month of March, NBA devotees ripped their attention away to the NCAA March Madness tournament. And while the men’s teams generally dominate our screens, the women have recently stolen the show.

    Who Is Caitlin Clark?

    Caitlin Clark

    AP Photo/Abbie Parr

    Hailing from Des Moines, Caitlin Clark quickly became one of the most talked about players in college basketball. This past season, the 6-foot guard averaged 32 points per game, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists. She’s widely regarded as one of the greatest female basketball players of all time, and she’s only 22 years old.

    As a senior with another year of eligibility due to the pandemic, Clark has options. She can continue to eviscerate all competition in her path and continue working towards an NCAA championship…or she can test her luck in the WNBA.
    And then there are the multi-million dollar offers from 50 Cent and Barstool’s Dave Portnoy to play in their respective leagues.

    Clark is set to become the highest paid female basketball player, and for a good reason. A first team All-American, the recipient of the John Wooden Award, an NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer
    among both men and women — I could go on…

    She’s making women’s basketball not only
    cool, but she’s had an effect similar to the one Taylor Swift had on football. The Caitlin Clark Effect knows no boundaries: the 2023 NCAA Championship game versus Coach Kim Mulkey’s LSU Villainesses was the most-viewed women’s college game in history. Each team that Iowa played saw their highest attendance ever, and Iowa’s home games were seeing equally sold-out successes.

    Celebrities are suddenly flying to Iowa just to see Clark play. During April 1’s LSU-Iowa rematch, Jason Sudeikus cheered on Clark. Her fan base includes Travis Scott,
    Tom Brady, Billie Jean King, and Ashton Kutcher. A game in Iowa City now resembles the courtside section of Madison Square Garden.

    Clark is a joy to watch. A true anomaly of a human whose basketball prowess borderlines on the robotic, it’s that impressive. She makes an NCAA game look like the prime Golden State Warriors…and she’s not alone in women’s college basketball superstardom.

    Who Are The Women’s NCAA Basketball Stars?

    Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese

    Angel Reese taunting Caitlin Clark in the 2023 NCAA Championship

    Tony Gutierrez/AP

    It feels like there’s a superstar on every team in the women’s 2024 March Madness tournament. This made the tournament a thrill to watch, because every game has been a head-to-head matchup of some of the hottest young talent heading into the WNBA.

    Caitlin Clark’s next matchup are the UConn Huskies, who have their own star in guardPaige Bueckers. Bueckers has garnered a host of awards and accolades throughout her college career: the 2021 Wooden Award recipient, Big East player of the year and freshman of the year, etc.

    Bueckers and the Huskies just knocked off USC’s Trojans led by true freshman guard JuJu Watkins. Watkins is yet another thrilling name in the realm of women’s hoops and the face in Nike and AT&T Wireless commercials alongside NBA stars like Joel Embiid.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_XCmAHlZ6w

    And then there’s the aforementioned “villainesses” at Louisiana State University. Led by power dresser and controversial coach, Kim Mulkey, the LSU women’s basketball team is constantly the talk of the town.

    After LSU lambasted Iowa last year in the tournament, all eyes were on the trash-talking, bold LSU Tigers. Guard Angel Reesebacked up her trash talk with a killer performance on the court, and off the court, she embraces the villain role with open arms.

    She’s not wrong. The LSU team undoubtedly gets a majority of the heat from the public. It’s not lost on me that it’s often a bunch of grown men trolling the women’s physical appearance on social media and harping on their “unladylike” behavior rather than their commanding presence on the court.

    One more point Angel Reese wasn’t wrong about: they’re like The Beatles. There’s fervent support and a cult-like following surrounding women’s college basketball. And as these powerhouses progress in their careers, there’s been a WNBA resurgence. Men are opting to watch 22-year-old Caitlin Clark over 39-year-old LeBron James.

    Welcome To The Women’s Basketball Takeover

    Don’t believe me? The proof is in the numbers. Games featuring Iowa and Caitlin Clark during her final season are reported as the most-viewed women’s college basketball games of all time across platforms like ABC, Fox, and NBC. Clark’s final regular season game – when she broke the scoring record – was the second most-watched game (men or women) of the season.

    Tickets for the Iowa-UConn matchup are currently going for over $1000, and the Iowa-LSU matchup on April 1 recorded 12.6 million viewers. That smashes last year’s previous record of 9.9 million…but, before that the record was in 2002, at 5.6 million.

    To put that in perspective, they’re not that far behind men’s basketball – the NC State-Duke game peaked at 15.1 million viewers. The game was more viewed than the 2023 World Series and NBA Championship. And although you can’t yet bet on women’s basketball, I would say we aren’t far behind.

    It’s a new era for women’s basketball. A new investment. And we can’t wait to see what happens next.

    Jai Phillips

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  • No, the Hate Angel Reese Keeps Getting Isn’t “Normal” – POPSUGAR Australia

    No, the Hate Angel Reese Keeps Getting Isn’t “Normal” – POPSUGAR Australia

    Angel Reese appeared on billboards in New York City for her Reebok endorsement. Flau’jae Johnson signed a rap contract with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and an apparel deal with Puma. Mikaylah Williams recently inked a deal with Jordan Brand. And several other Louisiana State University women’s basketball team players as well – a squad mainly made of Black collegiate athletes – have excelled just as strongly in the outside world as they have on the court. Witnessing it all has ushered in a new era of Black Girl Magic for myself and many other Black women I know.

    It’s the same joy and insane pride I felt as a Black woman when Reese and her team won the NCAA tournament last year with their edges completely intact, when Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first woman and Black vice president in 2021, and when I screamed front row as Beyoncé became the first Black woman to headline Coachella back in 2018. Things are changing. Awareness is growing. In each of these iconic moments, I thought: people are celebrating us, and soon marginalized communities will no longer be marginalized.

    But similarly to last year’s hard-earned win, LSU’s celebration has been short-lived during this year’s March Madness tournament. Instead of relishing in their success and additional fame, Reese and the rest of the team’s experience has been marked and stained with discrimination, misogyny, and racism.

    “I’ve been through so much. I’ve seen so much. I’ve been attacked so many times. Death threats. I’ve been sexualized. I’ve been threatened,” Reese said tearfully in a post-game interview after their 94-87 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes on Monday night, which took LSU out of the 2024 NCAA tournament.

    “I’ve been attacked so many times. Death threats.”

    Reese was referring to the public’s relentless interest in attacking her every move. You might remember how she was ridiculed last year for throwing up John Cena’s infamous “you can’t see me” gesture to Hawkeyes star player Caitlin Clark while pointing to her own ring finger to indicate where the championship ring would land. More recently, The Los Angeles Times, which primarily covers UCLA sports, received backlash for an opinion piece that stated LSU is “seemingly hellbent on dividing women’s college basketball” and that Reese is a “taunter.”

    But despite the media painting a picture of Reese as a villain who is undeserving of praise, the people who take the time to get to know her are continuing to back her. In the post-game interview, Johnson strongly defended her teammate: “Everybody can have their opinion on Angel Reese, but y’all don’t know her. I know the real Angel Reese, and the person I see every day is a strong person, is a caring, loving person. But the crown she wears is heavy.” Teammate Hailey Van Lith also came to her defense and said, “I think Angel is one of the toughest people I’ve been around. People speak hate into her life. I’ve never seen people wish bad things on someone as much as her, and it does not affect her. She comes to practice every day. She lives her life every day.”

    While sisterhood is a beautiful necessity (and I’m happy to see Reese’s teammates stand up for her), the support needs to go more mainstream. In addition to blatant racism, it seems much of the public has failed to realize Reese is a 21-year-old woman. And the most intense bashing of someone so young has come from the likes of white, middle-aged men. It’s the David Portnoys of the world who can shamelessly rattle off “classless piece of shit,” or white sports commentators like Keith Olbermann who utter, “What a fucking idiot.”

    History has taught Black athletes, especially women, to be strong and hold their head high amid adversity. “There are so many things, and I’ve stood strong every single time,” Reese said on Monday night. “I just try to stand strong for my teammates because I don’t want them to see me down and not be there for them.” The fact that Reese and other Black athletes feel they need to curb their emotions, trash-talking skills, and other elements of the game exemplifies the double standards placed on Black women athletes. As writer Sumiko Wilson recently put it: “When Black women use their voices, the lightheartedness tends to disappear and the professional consequences and impact to their reputations can be significant. So who is actually allowed to engage?”

    Reese and many other Black women athletes are symbols of hope for me, Black women, and many other misrepresented communities. What she does on the court is a reflection of what can be achieved for those of us who are so often othered. And to continuously overlook her talent and humanity because of her skin color is a disservice to our hard, tireless battle toward equality for Black women athletes.

    Although I am glad that women’s sports viewings have gone up significantly in the last decade – with more new fans understanding that women’s athleticism can be just as exciting as their men counterparts’ – I am growing very weary waiting for the majority to come around. Reese, like so many Black people in the eye of discrimination, is determined to turn the other cheek and take one for the team. “I’m going to always leave that mark and be who I am and stand on that,” she said. “Hopefully the little girls that look up to me, hopefully I give them some type of inspiration.”

    Black women, like all other people, should have the freedom to show up how they choose, despite preconceived standards that have not been set by them. For Black people, our unwavering resilience is the byproduct of this constant adversity. Although I too take pride in this character trait, I wait with eager anticipation for the day where navigating the sports world doesn’t force us to show our resilience.

    As Reese concluded for us all: “Hopefully it’s not this hard and all the things that come at you, but keep being who you are, keep waking up every day, keep being motivated, staying who you are, staying 10 toes down, don’t back down and just be confident.”

    Natasha Marsh is a freelance writer who writes about fashion, beauty, and lifestyle. Prior to freelancing, she held styling staff positions at The Wall Street Journal, Burberry, Cosmopolitan Magazine, British GQ, and Harpers Bazaar.

    Natashamarsh

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  • Caitlin Clark, Iowa Hawkeyes advance to Final Four along with Paige Bueckers and UConn Huskies

    Caitlin Clark, Iowa Hawkeyes advance to Final Four along with Paige Bueckers and UConn Huskies

    Caitlin Clark puts up 41 points as Iowa sends LSU packing

    It was a master-class by Caitlin Clark, as Iowa got off to a hot start. LSU would make it interesting before halftime, but the Hawkeyes would re-assert their lead in the third quarter and hold it for the win, 94-87. Clark flirted with a triple-double, adding 7 rebounds and 12 assists to her unreal 41 points, including nine 3-pointers. And she did it with an ease, shooting deep 3s from near the logo.

    That’s not to say that LSU’s Angel Reese wasn’t impressive, with 17 points of her own and a whopping 20 rebounds. Reese also fouled out with less than two minutes on the clock, watching the rest of the game from the bench.

    Iowa will face UConn in the Final Four.

    No. 3 UConn sends No. 1 Southern Cal home, heads to Final Four

    What we won’t see in the Final Four? Caitlin Clark against Southern Cal’s up-and-coming freshman JuJu Watkins. The Huskies sent the Trojans packing, 80-73. Instead, Paige Bueckers will be the star on the court opposite Clark. Bueckers had 28 points in the Huskies win, while Watkins scored 29 for the Trojans.

    The Huskies will be returning to the Final Four after missing it in the 2023 season, while Bueckers recovered from an ACL injury. UConn is on a miraculous run this season, with six total players ruled out heading into the tournament.

    The question now – are the shorthanded Huskies, led by Paige Bueckers, enough to stop Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes?

    Also in the women’s Final Four: undefeated No. 1 South Carolina will face No. 3 NC State.

    Those games will tip off on Friday in Cleveland. The men’s Final Four will take place on Saturday in Phoenix, followed by the women’s national championship on Sunday, and the men’s on Monday.

    Read the last edition of The Scorecard here.

    Related stories from Raleigh News & Observer

    Trisha Garcia-Easto

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  • Two DJs and how they helped NC State men’s basketball get its groove back

    Two DJs and how they helped NC State men’s basketball get its groove back

    RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — DJ Horne got a chance to play at home when he transferred to North Carolina State this season after starting for two other schools. Big body DJ Burns Jr. wasn’t really sure how things were going to play out when he put his name into the transfer portal two years ago.

    Now the two DJs are going to the Final Four together with a Wolfpack team that hadn’t been there in four decades.

    “It usually takes like a day to set in, honestly,” Burns said in the locker room after their 76-64 victory Sunday over Tobacco Road rival Duke in the South Region final. “With all this stuff, even the ACC thing, it takes a second.”

    For a team that plays a lot of rap songs and loud gospel music in the locker room, maybe it’s only fitting to have a pair of grad transfers named DJ having such an impact on the court.

    DJ Burns Jr. shoots over UNC’s Armando Bacot in the Wolfpack’s 84-76 win over the Tar Heels for the ACC Tournament championship. Burns finished with 20 points.

    Susan Walsh

    The 6-foot-9, 275-pound Burns is a bruising forward with some slick moves who will bang inside with big men like Duke’s 7-foot sophomore Kyle Filipowski – and next has to face 7-4 All-American Zach Edey when N.C. State (26-14) plays Purdue in the national semifinals Saturday in Glendale, Arizona. But the left-handed Burns also has the soft touch to finish shots, whether layups or swishing short and mid-range jumpers.

    “Great touch, great footwork,” coach Kevin Keatts said. “It’s changed the way I look at post guys now. … I don’t know how you guard him. I’m excited, and I hope nobody figures that out.”

    ALSO SEE | DJ Horne’s parents reflect on journey that brought him home to win an ACC title

    “He was like ‘Dad, I want to get back to March Madness, I want to get my hometown team back to the Dance.”

    Then there is Horne, whose 103 made 3-pointers this season are one shy of matching N.C. State’s single-season record. The guard from Raleigh began his college career with two seasons at Illinois State before the last two at Arizona State.

    “Coach gave me an opportunity to come back home and play basketball, and the confidence that he instills in me every day allows me to go out there and do what I do,” Horne said.

    Battling through a hip injury, DJ Horne drives for two of his eight points against Virginia in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

    Nick Wass

    Burns played three years at Winthrop before getting to N.C. State, and together with Horne makes the Wolfpack one of only four teams in the country with a pair of 2,000-point career scorers on their roster this season. The others were North Carolina, Illinois – two teams that also made it to at least the Sweet 16 – and Wright State.

    Even with the most losses ever by a Final Four team, the Wolfpack is back on college basketball’s biggest stage for the first time since the late Jim Valvano was sprinting around the court looking for someone to hug after winning the 1983 national title with an upset over Houston and Phi Slama Jama.

    DJ Horne, left, and DJ Burns Jr. have provided a potent 1-2 scoring punch for NC State this season.

    Alex Brandon

    They got there after Burns had a season-high 29 points on 13-of-19 shooting against Duke, and Horne scored 20 points.

    After Burns was held to only four points in the Sweet 16 win over top-seeded Marquette, though he had a season-high seven assists, he hit short jumpers on the Wolfpack’s first two shots in the regional final. He had eight points in the game’s first nine minutes before his second foul and didn’t score again until their first possession after halftime – and made 9 of 11 shots after halftime.

    Burns was putting on such a show that two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic was delayed getting to his postgame interview after the two-time NBA MVP had a triple-double in Denver’s 130-101 win at home over Cleveland on Sunday. He had just finished with 26 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists, but was awed watching N.C. State’s big man on TV.

    DJ Burns Jr., reacts with DJ Horne and Mohamed Diarra after a big shot against Duke during the Elite Eight college in Dallas.

    Tony Gutierrez

    “Really? Yeah for sure, he dunks a lot more from me but he also shoots 3s way better than me,” Burns said. “But as far as post moves and everything, we have a similar game. So I won’t say all of our game is the same, but specifically from a post aspect.”

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    RELATED | March Madness driving big revenue from NC sports betting launch; $141 million paid out in winnings

    Copyright © 2024 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved.

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  • Women’s March Madness ticket prices jump as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese square off

    Women’s March Madness ticket prices jump as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese square off

    LSU women’s basketball coach slams LA Times story


    LSU women’s basketball coach denounces LA Times article

    02:05

    College hoops fans who want to watch the last four women’s teams battle it out in this year’s edition of the March Madness tournament in person may want to brace for sticker shock. 

    On SeatGeek, the cheapest tickets for the women’s Final Four matchups on April 5 was $674, compared with $611 for the men’s bracket. At Ticketmaster, as of Monday the lowest-priced seats for the women’s and men’s Final Four games were $746 and $693, respectively. 

    The prices have shot up amid surging demand for tickets in recent days, buoyed by the sparkling on-court performances of Louisiana State University’s Angel Reese and the University of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, online ticket brokers said. At some ticket dealers, the price for a women’s tournament seat is now more expensive than for the men’s games. 

    Clark and Reese squared off for last year’s national championship, which LSU captured, and the two are matched up again in an eagerly anticipated Elite Eight contest Monday night. 

    “We’re seeing a seismic shift in the world of sports, thanks to athletes like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and others who are captivating audiences with their talent and star power,” Chris Leyden, SeatGeek’s growth marketing director, told CBS MoneyWatch. “This shift is largely driven by the potent brand power these athletes wield, fueling unprecedented demand for this year’s March Madness tournament.”


    Caitlin Clark becomes leading scorer in college basketball history

    01:52

    Clark and Reese are showcasing their talents on the court, but they “are also inspiring a new era of fandom and engagement,” Leyden said.

    Viewership in college basketball has climbed in recent years, bolstered mostly by college-educated men who watch on online streaming services. About 22% of internet-using Americans watch NCAA basketball, according to a survey from S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan. The survey also found that 7% of respondents watch women’s college basketball, a figure that increased to 9% this month. 

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  • Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese facing off again with Final Four trip at stake

    Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese facing off again with Final Four trip at stake

    Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese facing off again with Final Four trip at stake – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    Last year, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese battled for an NCAA women’s basketball national championship. Monday night, they’ll do it again with a trip to the Final Four on the line. Lauren Tuiskula, associate managing editor for the Gist, joined CBS News to discuss the matchup and some of the other storylines coming out of March Madness, including LSU head coach Kim Mulkey’s distaste for a Washington Post article about her methods.

    Be the first to know

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  • Wolfpack make history, send both men’s and women’s teams to Final Four :: WRALSportsFan.com

    Wolfpack make history, send both men’s and women’s teams to Final Four :: WRALSportsFan.com

    By Joseph Ochoa, WRAL multiplatform producer, and Carly Haynes, WRAL reporter

    Sweet 16 weekend was not only a winner for North Carolina State University and its fans, it was historic.

    For the first time, the NC State Wolfpack is sending both teams to the Final Four in the same year.

    The women’s team took care of business in Portland against the Texas Longhorns, 76-66, behind a 27-point performance from Aziaha James.

    Later on Sunday evening, the men’s team continued its miraculous postseason run, handling the in-state rival Duke Blue Devils 76-64 in its Elite Eight matchup in Dallas.

    NC State’s last appearances in the Final Four

    It is the first time since the Wolfpack’s miraculous 1983 championship run that the men’s team reached the Final Four. In that year, the Wolfpack defeated the Houston Cougars in the title game on a dunk by Lorenzo Charles. The title won by the “Cardiac Pack” is considered one of the greatest upsets in college basketball and arguably all sports.

    The Wolfpack men needed a miracle just to make the NCAA Tournament. After finishing the regular season 26-14 (9-11 ACC), they won five games in five days to win the ACC Tournament Championship over the North Carolina Tar Heels and an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament.

    In winning on Sunday, The Wolfpack became the first team in the history of the NCAA Tournament to reach the Final Four with 14 or more losses, according to ESPN.

    The women’s team has been a regular in the NCAA Tournament, and has made the Sweet 16 five times in six years, but it hadn’t reached the Final Four since 1998, when the late Kay Yow led the team. The Wolfpack lost that year to the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in Kansas City.

    “Just a flood of emotions right now,” Wolfpack coach Wes Moore said after the game. “I think of Kay Yow and 34 years at NC State. I think of the players two years ago who were a double overtime away from being in this same spot…unbelievable.”

    The Wolfpack women started the year unranked before rattling off 14 straight wins to start the year, including a win against the 3rd-ranked UConn Huskies. The Wolfpack stumbled at the end of the season and lost in the ACC Tournament Championship game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

    The Wolfpack became the 11th school to send both men’s and women’s teams to the Final Four. It is the first time since 2017 that a school has sent both women’s and men’s teams to the Final Four. and the 14th time overall. The Huskies have done it four times and are the only team to do it multiple times.

    The South Carolina Gamecocks were last to do it. In 2024, the UConn men – the No. 1 overall seed — have made the Final Four. The Huskies women play Monday night for a chance to join them.

    ‘We are the story’ Wolfpack fans ready for more

    NC State fans traveled to the NC State Memorial Bell Tower to celebrate the Wolfpack’s historic Sunday, and a win over an in-state rival.

    “It felt good to see my friends lose,” one NC State fan said. “I still love Duke from a distance, but I love NC State all-day long. Let’s go Pack.”

    Even North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper got in on the celebration on Twitter.

    NC State alums like Kasey McCalla said they’ve felt like the entire country has been pulling for the Wolfpack as the team continues its run through the big dance.

    “I feel like we’re America’s team,” she said. “We’re the only double-digit seed left, and we’re the team that has gotten that far. We are the story.”

    Many Wolfpack fans who felt scorned by the school’s string of bad luck over the last four decades say the Cinderella-run has made them closer to the team, and the school.

    “Having graduated a few years ago,, it makes me feel reconnected to my former classmates, and my school,” NC State alum Kate Luna said.

    While it doesn’t happen very often, double-digit seeds making the Final Four is extremely rare. Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, seven double-digit seeds, including the Wolfpack on Sunday, have made the Final Four.

    The last double-digit seed to make the Final Four was the UCLA Bruins in 2021, who lost to the Gonzaga Bullldogs in overtime, 93-90.

    No double-digit seed has won a Final Four game since expansion.

    The NC State men will face Zach Edey and the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday at 6:09 p.m., while the women will face the undefeated Gamecocks on Friday.

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  • The South West Philly Floater – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    The South West Philly Floater – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    It’s Been a Little Over a Decade Since LaSalle’s Signature Ending.

    This year, Tom Gola Arena closed and will re-open next season as John Glaser Arena.

    The year was 2013, and the LaSalle College Explorers were in the NCAA Tournament. Making it to the Sweet Sixteen, they defeated Boise State, and Kansas State.

    In the round of 32, LaSalle found itself in a 74–74 deadlock with #12 Ole Miss. With 2.5 seconds left, LaSalle Guard Tyrone Garland swept down the lane and scored. In the post-game interview, the game-winning shot was named by Garland.

    The South West Philly Floater was born.

    For more than 150 years, LaSalle has served the Philadelphia community dating back to 1863 to The American Civil War.

    With its first basketball season in 1930, The Explorers have had twelve appearances in the March Madness. They were National Champions in 1954 and lost the National Championship Game in 1955.

     Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons.

    Tyrone Garland would continue to do outstanding things on the basketball court including a 42-point game in December of 2019 in the Kosovo Basketball Superleague.

    The South West Philly Floater with 2.5 seconds remaining, however will always be one of his crowning achievements.

    Michael Thomas Leibrandt

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  • Watch Paige Bueckers play: How to watch today’s Duke vs. UConn women’s NCAA March Madness Sweet 16 game

    Watch Paige Bueckers play: How to watch today’s Duke vs. UConn women’s NCAA March Madness Sweet 16 game

    gettyimages-1923597189-1.jpg
    Paige Bueckers #5 of the UConn Huskies handles the ball against the Georgetown Hoyas at Entertainment & Sports Arena on January 07, 2024 in Washington, DC. 

    G Fiume/Getty Images


    The Duke Blue Devils face the UConn Huskies in the Sweet 16 round of the women’s NCAA tournament. UConn’s senior star Paige Bueckers missed the entire 2023-24 college basketball season due to an ACL injury, but the Minnesota native is back to her signature difference-making on the court.

    Playing some of the best basketball of her college career, Paige Bueckers hopes to propel the Huskies to the Final Four. They’ll have to get past the Duke Blue Devils first. Keep reading for how and when to watch the Duke vs. UConn Sweet 16 game today.

    CBS Essentials, CBS and Paramount+ are all subsidiaries of Paramount. CBS is one of the broadcast homes of the 2024 men’s March Madness tournament.

    When is March Madness 2024?

    • Selection Sunday was on March 17, 2024. 
    • The women’s tournament will be played March 20, 2024- April 7, 2024.
    • The men’s tournament will be played March 19, 2024 – April 8, 2024.

    How and when to watch the Duke vs. UConn game

    The NCAA March Madness Sweet 16 women’s college basketball game between Duke and the University of Connecticut will be played on Saturday, March 30, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. ET (5:00 p.m. PT). The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

    All women’s March Madness 2024 games, including the Final Four, will air on ABC or ESPN and stream on ESPN+.

    How to watch the Duke vs. UConn game without cable

    If you’ve given up your cable subscription, or your cable provider doesn’t include the channels carrying March Madness this year, you can subscribe to one of the streaming or live TV platforms featured below.

    Hulu + Live TV/ESPN+ bundle: The one way to stream every March Madness game

    You can watch March Madness 2024, including both the men’s and women’s tournaments and all of Paige Bueckers’ games, with the Hulu + Live TV/ESPN+ bundle. The bundle features 95 channels, including ESPN, ABC and CBS, and includes ESPN+, so you’ll be able to watch every game of both tournaments. The women’s Final Four will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Unlimited DVR storage is also included. Watch every March Madness game on every network this season with Hulu + Live TV/ESPN+ bundle.

    Hulu + Live TV comes bundled with ESPN+ and Disney+. It’s priced at $77.

    Watch the Duke vs. UConn game for free with Fubo

    If you’re new to streaming sports, you should know about Fubo. Fubo is a sports-centric streaming service that offers access to every March Madness game airing on network and cable TV, plus your local TV affiliates, hundreds of cable TV channels and 1,000 hours of cloud DVR storage. Another great reason to love Fubo is its lookback feature, which lets you watch sporting events up to 72 hours after they air live. 

    Start watching NCAA basketball on Fubo and get access to network-aired NFL, NBA and MLB games by starting a three-day free trial of Fubo. You can begin watching immediately on your TV, phone, tablet or computer. After your free trial, Fubo starts at $80/month for the Pro tier, which includes 199 channels, but the streamer is currently offering the first month for $60.

    Note: Because Fubo doesn’t carry TruTV, TBS or TNT, you won’t be able to watch every game of the men’s tournament with a FuboTV subscription. And because the women’s Final Four broadcasts on ESPN+, you’ll still need an ESPN+ subscription in conjunction with your Fubo subscription. If you want one streaming platform to watch the entire tournament, you’ll need a subscription to Hulu + Live TV.

    What you’ll get with Fubo Pro Tier:

    • There are no contracts with Fubo — you can cancel at any time.
    • The Pro tier includes 199 channels, so there’s something for everyone to watch. 
    • Fubo includes most of the channels you’ll need to watch college and pro sports this year, including CBS and ESPN.
    • In addition to March Madness, Fubo offers NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS and international soccer games. 
    • All Fubo tiers come with 1,000 hours of cloud-based DVR recording.
    • Stream on your TV, phone and mobile devices.

    Sling TV: The most cost-effective way to stream the Duke vs. UConn game

    If you don’t have cable TV that includes ESPN, one of the most cost-effective ways to stream the March Madness tournament this year is through a subscription to Sling TV‘s Orange or Orange + Blue tier. The Orange tier offers access to ESPN (plus TNT and TBS), so you can watch today’s game. The Orange + Blue tier includes access to your local ABC affiliate, allowing you to watch more college basketball games. All tiers include 50 hours of cloud-based recording.

    To watch today’s game, Sling TV is currently offering a prepaid deal where you can get four months of the Orange tier for $120, a discount of $40. The Orange tier is also available for $40 per month — you can cancel anytime. To watch both men’s and women’s games, except those airing on CBS, subscribe to the Orange + Blue tier for $60 per month. 

    Note: Because some men’s March Madness 2024 will be broadcast on CBS, you won’t be able to watch all the men’s March Madness 2024 games with a Sling TV subscription. If you want to stream the entire NCAA tournament, we suggest a  Hulu + Live TV subscription.

    Top features of Sling TV Orange + Blue tier:

    • There are 46 channels to watch in total, including ESPN, TNT, TBS and ABC. (where available).
    • You get access to most local NFL games and nationally broadcast games next season at the lowest price.
    • All subscription tiers include 50 hours of cloud-based DVR storage.

    ESPN+: How to watch the women’s Final Four

    ESPN+ is ESPN’s subscription streaming platform. It offers exclusive live events, original studio shows and top-tier series that aren’t accessible on the ESPN networks. To watch the women’s Final Four, simply sign into the ESPN app. You’ll watch college basketball at no extra charge. You can stream ESPN+ through the ESPN app on your favorite mobile device and ESPN.com. It’s also available as an app through major smart TV streaming platforms and gaming consoles such as the PS5.

    Keep in mind there are some blackouts prohibiting you from watching certain in-market games with ESPN+, even if they’re nationally televised. If you’re looking to avoid those blackouts, we suggest subscribing to the Hulu + Live TV/ESPN+ bundle featured above.

    It is important to note that ESPN+ does not include access to the ESPN network. It is a separate sports-centric service, with separate sports programming.

    An ESPN+ subscription costs $10.99 per month, or save 15% when you pay annually ($110).  ESPN+ is also currently offering a cost-saving bundle. Get ESPN+ (with ads), Disney+ (with ads) and Hulu (with ads) for $14.99 per month.

    When was Selection Sunday?

    Iowa v Minnesota
    A fan holds up a sign for Caitlin Clark #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes before the start of the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Williams Arena on February 28, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Hawkeyes defeated the Golden Gophers 108-60.

    David Berding / Getty Images


    The day when the tournament’s brackets and seeds are released is known as Selection Sunday. For the 2023-24 NCAA college basketball season, Selection Sunday was held on Sunday, March 17, 2024.  

    Paige Bueckers’ road to the Final Four

    The NCAA tournament is single elimination, which means Paige Bueckers isn’t guaranteed a spot in the Final Four, or the national championship. If the Huskies win today, below is a roadmap of what Bueckers’ March Madness schedule will look like. Bookmark this post so you can check back for updates on the UConn Huskies next game.

    • First Four: Wednesday, March 20 and Thursday, March 21, 2024
    • First round: Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23: UConn beats Jackson State 86-64
    • Second round: Sunday, March 24 and Monday, March 25: UConn beats Syracuse 72-64
    • Sweet 16: Friday, March 29 and Saturday, March 30: Duke vs. UConn
    • Elite Eight: Sunday, March 31 and Monday, April 1
    • Final Four: Friday, April 5 (ESPN+)
    • National championship: Sunday, April 7 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio (ABC)

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  • How to watch today’s Clemson vs. Alabama men’s NCAA March Madness Elite 8 game: Livestream options, more

    How to watch today’s Clemson vs. Alabama men’s NCAA March Madness Elite 8 game: Livestream options, more

    gettyimages-2121459685-1.jpg
    Grant Nelson #2, Aaron Estrada #55 and Mark Sears #1of the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrate after defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels during the second half in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Crypto.com Arena on March 28, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The Alabama Crimson Tide won, 89-87 

    Ronald Martinez/Getty Images


    The Clemson Tigers face the Alabama Crimson Tide tonight in the men’s March Madness Elite 8. Rivals on the football field, today’s game is a rare postseason showdown between these two Southern schools. Neither school’s basketball program has ever advanced to the Final Four. That changes today. 

    Keep reading below for how and when to watch or stream today’s Clemson vs. Alabama game, even if you don’t have cable. 

    CBS Essentials, CBS and Paramount+ are all subsidiaries of Paramount. CBS is one of the broadcast homes of the 2024 men’s March Madness tournament.

    When is March Madness 2024?

    The 2024 NCAA men’s college basketball tournament is being played from March 19, 2024 through April 8, 2024. 

    How to watch the Clemson vs. Alabama Elite 8 game

    The Clemson vs. Alabama men’s college basketball NCAA Elite 8 game will be played on Saturday, March 30, 2024 at 8:49 p.m. ET (5:49 p.m. PT).  The game will broadcast live on TBS and TruTV and stream on the platforms featured below. 

    How to watch the Clemson vs. Alabama game without cable

    If you’ve given up your cable subscription, or your cable provider doesn’t include the channels carrying March Madness this year, you can subscribe to one of the streaming or live TV platforms featured below.

    Hulu + Live TV/ESPN+ bundle: The one way to stream every March Madness game

    You can watch March Madness 2024, including both the men’s and women’s tournaments, with the Hulu + Live TV/ESPN+ bundle. The bundle features 95 channels, including CBS, ESPN, TNT, TBS, ABC and TruTV, and includes the ESPN+ streaming service, so you’ll be able to watch every game of both tournaments. The women’s Final Four will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Unlimited DVR storage is also included. Watch every March Madness game on every network this season with Hulu + Live TV/ESPN+ bundle.

    Hulu + Live TV comes bundled with ESPN+ and Disney+. It’s priced at $77 per month.

    Sling TV: The most cost-effective way to stream March Madness 2024

    If you don’t have cable TV that includes TBS and TruTV one of the most cost-effective ways to stream the March Madness tournament this year is through a subscription to Sling TV Orange plan. The streamer offers access to your local network affiliate’s live feed (excluding CBS) and also includes the NFL Network and ESPN with its Orange + Blue tier plan. Also worth noting: Sling TV comes with 50 hours of cloud-based DVR recording space included, perfect for recording all the season’s top NFL matchups.

    You can watch today’s game with Sling TV Orange. Sling TV is currently offering a prepaid deal where you can get four months of the Orange tier for $120, a discount of $40. The Orange tier is also available for $40 per month — you can cancel anytime. To watch both men’s and women’s games, except those airing on CBS, you’ll want to subscribe to the Orange + Blue tier for $60 per month.

    Note: Because some men’s March Madness 2024 will be broadcast on CBS, you won’t be able to watch all the men’s March Madness 2024 games with a Sling TV subscription. If you’re looking to stream the entire men’s tournament, we suggest a subscription to Hulu + Live TV.

    Top features of Sling TV Orange + Blue tier:

    • There are 46 channels to watch in total, including ESPN, TNT, TBS and ABC. (where available).
    • You get access to most local NFL games and nationally broadcast games next season at the lowest price.
    • All subscription tiers include 50 hours of cloud-based DVR storage.

    Men’s NCAA tournament full schedule

    If you’re looking for more March Madness Elite 8 games, and looking ahead to the national championship game, below are the winners, losers and upcoming schedule for the men’s tournament. All times Eastern.

    March Madness 2024: Elite 8 games schedule

    The Elite 8 games will be played from Saturday, March 30, 2024 through Sunday, March 31, 2024. 

    Saturday March 30 (Elite 8)

    • (1) UConn vs. (3) Illinois | 6:09 p.m. | TBS/truTV
    • (4) Alabama vs. (6) Clemson | 8:49 p.m. | TBS/truTV

    Sunday, March 31 (Elite 8)

    • (2) Tennessee vs. (1) Purdue | 2:20 p.m. | CBS
    • (11) NC State vs. (4) Duke | 5:05 p.m. | CBS

    March Madness 2024: Final Four games schedule

    The Final Four will be played on Saturday, April 6, 2024. The games will be played at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, AZ.

    March Madness 2024: NCAA Tournament Championship Game

    The NCAA Tournament Championship Game will be played on Monday, April 8, 2024. The game will be played at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, AZ at 9:20 p.m. ET. The game will air on TBS.

    Completed March Madness rounds:  Dates and scores

    gettyimages-2079936741-1.jpg

    Getty Images


    The First Four games were played from March 19 through March 20, 2024. All games were played at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, OH.

    First Four winners: March 19, 2024

    Below are the men’s First Four matchups and scores for Tuesday, March 19, 2024.

    Tuesday, March 19 (First Four)

    First Four winners: March 20, 2024

    Below are the men’s First Four matchups and scores for Wednesday, March 20, 2024.

    Wednesday, March 20 (First Four)

    March Madness 2024: First round

    The NCAA March Madness Round of 64 began on Thursday, March 21, 2024 with the Mississippi State vs. Michigan State game and ended on Friday, March 22, 2024.

    March Madness first round: Thursday, March 21 game times and network

    Below are the March Madness first-round matchups, winners, scores and networks that aired each men’s March Madness game on Thursday, March 21, 2024. All times Eastern.

    March Madness first round: Friday, March 22 game times and network

    Below are the game times, matchups, scores and networks that aired each first-round men’s March Madness game on Friday, March 22, 2024. All times Eastern.

    March Madness 2024: Second round 

    The NCAA March Madness Round of 32 began on Saturday, March 23, 2024 and ended on Sunday, March 24, 2024.

    March Madness second round: Saturday, March 23

    Below are the March Madness second-round matchups, winners and scores for games played on Saturday, March 23, 2024.

    • (2) Arizona vs. (7) Dayton (Arizona, 78-68)
    • (5) Gonzaga vs. (4) Kansas (Gonzaga, 89-68)
    • (1) North Carolina vs. (9) Michigan State (North Carolina, 85-69)
    • (2) Iowa State vs. (7) Washington State (Iowa State, 67-56)
    • (11) NC State vs. (14) Oakland (NC State, 79-73)
    • (2) Tennessee vs. (7) Texas (Tennessee, 62-58)
    • (3) Illinois vs. (11) Duquesne (Illinois, 89-63)
    • (3) Creighton vs. (11) Oregon (2OT) (Creighton, 86-73 2OT)

    March Madness second round: Sunday, March 24

    Below are the March Madness second-round matchups, winners and scores for games played on Sunday, March 24, 2024.

    • (2) Marquette vs. (10) Colorado (Marquette, 81-77)
    • (1) Purdue vs. (8) Utah State (Purdue, 106-67)
    • (4) Duke vs. (12) James Madison (Duke, 93-55)
    • (6) Clemson vs. (3) Baylor (Clemson, 72-64)
    • (4) Alabama vs. (12) Grand Canyon (Alabama, 72-61)
    • (1) UConn vs. (9) Northwestern (UConn, 75-58)
    • (1) Houston vs. (9) Texas A&M (OT) (Houston, 100-95 OT)
    • (5) San Diego State vs. (13) Yale (San Diego State, 85-57)

    Men’s March Madness Sweet 16: Thursday, March 28

    Below are matchups, game times and networks that aired each game played on Thursday, March 28, 2024.

    Men’s March Madness Sweet 16: Friday, March 29

    Below are matchups, game times and networks airing each game being played on Friday, March 29, 2024.

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  • Filipowski scores 16, Duke beats Houston 54-51 in Sweet 16 after All-American Jamal Shead hurt :: WRALSportsFan.com

    Filipowski scores 16, Duke beats Houston 54-51 in Sweet 16 after All-American Jamal Shead hurt :: WRALSportsFan.com

    By STEPHEN HAWKINS, AP Sports Writer

    13Duke Blue Devils 54
    Houston Cougars2Houston Cougars 51
    Final

    DALLAS — DALLAS (AP) — Kyle Filipowski and Duke got pushed around again in the NCAA Tournament. This time, the Blue Devils responded to set up a Tobacco Road showdown in Big D for a spot in the Final Four.

    The 7-foot sophomore center had 16 points and nine rebounds, Jeremy Roach scored all 14 of his points after halftime, and Duke advanced to the Elite Eight with a 54-51 win over top-seeded Houston, which played the final 26 minutes Friday night without All-America point guard Jamal Shead after he turned his right ankle.

    Even with Shead on the bench, the fourth-seeded Blue Devils (27-8) had to overcome a physical defense that has been one of the best in the country all season. They won despite a season low in points.

    “Any questions about their mental toughness or their heart, I think they answered those tonight,” second-year coach Jon Scheyer said.

    Duke was ousted in the second round a year ago when Filipowski, Roach and the Blue Devils were bullied in a 65-52 loss to Tennessee, their fewest points last season.

    “This game right here was that same type of game. Just a great, gritty team and their culture. Just seeing the togetherness, how we didn’t quit out there tonight, that really shows the growth from last year,” Filipowski said. “We remember how upset we were from last year, and we didn’t want to repeat that again.”

    They didn’t, and will play in the South Region final Sunday against an Atlantic Coast Conference rival, No. 11 seed North Carolina State.

    The Wolfpack, the only double-digit seed left in this NCAA Tournament, beat No. 2 seed Marquette 67-58, their eighth win in a row in a streak that included a 74-69 victory over the Blue Devils just two weeks ago in the ACC Tournament.

    “It’s going to be crazy. A rematch of the ACC Tournament,” Roach said. “They’re on a crazy run.”

    L.J. Cryer scored 15 points for Houston and J’Wan Roberts had 13. Shead finished with two points on 1-of-5 shooting with three assists and two steals.

    Shead departed with 6:38 left in the first half after his right foot turned awkwardly on a drive while missing a contested layup. By then, he had been on the floor under the basket for about 15 seconds while play continued at the other end until Houston got the ball after a Duke miss.

    The senior guard, who has been part of 120 wins at Houston in his four seasons, reached for his foot when he went down and then pulled his jersey up over his face. He walked gingerly to the locker room after getting tended to by an athletic trainer, then sat on the bench throughout the second half. He limped off the court after the Cougars (32-5) became the second No. 1 seed knocked out — a night after North Carolina lost to Alabama.

    “I hate that it ended like this. I wish I could have got back out there and at least been in the fight,” Shead said. “It would have been different if I could have at least limped around a little bit and fought a little bit.”

    The Blue Devils trailed 16-10 when Shead exited, and never led until Tyrese Proctor’s two free throws made it 21-20 with 2:46 left in the first half. They never trailed again.

    “It didn’t feel like a fair fight. Two of theirs equals one of Jamal. That’s how good he was. You don’t have another one of those,” Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said. “You don’t have the best defensive player in the Big 12. You don’t have the guy who made all the big shots at the end.”

    Duke never led by more than six points, the last at 54-48 on Roach’s jumper in the lane with 1:15 left. Emanuel Sharp converted a three-point play with 48 seconds left for the Cougars, and they got the ball back one more time after a miss by Filipowski with 25 seconds left.

    A tough 3-point try by Sharp over Proctor was no good, and there was less than a second on the clock when Houston guard Mylik Wilson was out of bounds on the floor when trying to get the rebound.

    Duke finished with 14 turnovers, but that was after three on its first four possessions and falling behind 8-0 in the first 3 1/2 minutes.

    ELITE ACC

    The ACC has three teams in the Elite Eight, including Clemson, which faces Alabama in the West Region final on Saturday. The league is 11-2 in this NCAA Tournament, and that includes Virginia losing in the First Four.

    LONG-RANGE MAKES

    Duke has made a 3-pointer in 1,224 consecutive games, which is the nation’s second-longest active streak. UNLV’s run of 1,227 games making a long-range shot is on hold until next season. The Runnin’ Rebels made five 3s in their season-ending NIT loss Wednesday night.

    UP NEXT

    Duke made its 24th Elite Eight, matching Kansas for the third-most times getting that far in March Madness — trailing Kentucky (38) and North Carolina (29).

    ___

    AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

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  • Upset, upset, upset! Clemson, Alabama, Illinois pull it off, sending top-seeds packing.

    Upset, upset, upset! Clemson, Alabama, Illinois pull it off, sending top-seeds packing.

    Clemson, Alabama, Illinois all pull off upsets, sending home top seeds

    Nail biters! Upsets! Here’s the madness we were promised. No. 6 Clemson topped No. 2 Arizona 77-72, No. 4 Alabama sent No. 1 UNC packing, 89-87, and No. 3 Illinois took down No. 2 Iowa State, 72-69. North Carolina is the first 1-seed to go home.

    UConn continues its path to defend its 2023 national championship. The Huskies’ head to their 13th Elite 8 appearance after a complete rout of San Diego State, 82-52. It couldn’t feel good for the Aztecs to be sent home by the same team in back-to-back years.

    The rest of the men’s Sweet 16 will take the court today. Big man Zach Edey and No. 1 Purdue will re-familiarize themselves with Gonzaga, who they have faced in back-to-back regular seasons. Hot shooter Jared McCain and the Duke Blue Devils will aim to derail top-seeded Houston. The No. 2-ranked Tennessee Vols are preparing for a tough battle against No. 3 Creighton. And while the No. 11-seeded Wolfpack have had answers for just about everyone since the ACC tournament, NC State will find out if they have the answers for No. 2 Marquette.

    Women’s Sweet 16 tips off with No. 1 South Carolina taking the court

    Four of the women’s Sweet 16 games will tip off today.

    No. 1 South Carolina will host No. 4 Indiana. When they take the court, it’ll be a reunion for Gamecocks’ Te-Hina Paopao and her former Oregon teammate Sydney Parrish. The two have known each other since they were five-star recruits, but will be on opposite sides of the court as the Hoosiers try to take down the juggernaut that is Dawn Staley and the South Carolina women’s basketball teams.

    No. 3 NC State will face No. 2 Stanford. The team is full of laughs and good vibes as they prepare to face Stanford, and while the NC State men’s team has gotten more of the headlines as a No. 11-seed, the women’s team feels good heading into their Sweet 16 matchup.

    Also on the schedule for today: No. 3 Oregon State will face No. 2 Notre Dame, and No. 4 Gonzaga will face No. 1 Texas.

    Read the last edition of The Scorecard here.

    Related stories from Raleigh News & Observer

    Trisha Garcia-Easto

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