For the previous few weeks, amid the predictable highs and lows his inconsistent staff has navigated all season, UConn head coach Dan Hurley has spoken longingly in regards to the prospect of competing within the NCAA Match. He was uninterested in the rugged physicality within the Large East, of the fixed slugfests with St. John’s, Creighton and Marquette, of the extremely scrutinized sparring classes between himself and the league’s officers that appeared to happen on a nightly foundation. The Large Dance, he believed, might usher in a breath of contemporary air for each him and this system at massive. It turned considered one of Hurley’s go-to tropes after what felt like each recreation down the stretch.
And on some stage, deep down inside, Hurley most likely believed the issues he was saying. There was sufficient basketball sense in his remarks in regards to the variations in model of play between the Large East and the NCAA Match — to not point out the officiating — that logical conclusions a couple of potential uptick in efficiency from the Huskies may very well be moderately drawn. An offense rooted in off-ball screening and executed by a staff that isn’t overly bodily ought to, in concept, carry out higher exterior its convention road fights.
However a few of what Hurley mentioned was nearly definitely wishful pondering given every part he is aware of about his flawed staff. Most of the identical points that plagued UConn throughout a disastrous journey to the Maui Invitational in November are nonetheless bothering Hurley’s crew 4 months later: subpar ball dealing with, lack of depth on the guard positions, an incapacity to defend with out fouling, issues inbounding the basketball in opposition to stress defenses and inconsistent perimeter taking pictures. Not even essentially the most favorable of whistles or fascinating opponents within the NCAA Match have been more likely to assuage these extended maladies, almost all of which reared their ugly heads in a gut-twisting win over ninth-seeded Oklahoma on Friday evening, the 67-59 remaining rating belying how tense the sport actually was.
4 UConn gamers have been saddled with three fouls by the 12:10 mark of the second half, with Oklahoma getting into the double bonus shortly thereafter. Three extra gamers reached the three-foul threshold earlier than the under-4 media timeout because the free-throw disparity mounted. Star gamers Alex Karaban, Liam McNeeley and Solo Ball mixed to make simply 4 of 18 makes an attempt from 3-point vary on an evening when backup middle Tarris Reed Jr. (12 factors, seven rebounds) was arguably the staff’s greatest offensive participant. The Huskies turned the ball over 13 occasions in comparison with solely 10 assists.
And but with UConn’s pursuit of a three-peat on the verge of being extinguished by a second-half Sooner surge, Karaban stepped ahead in precisely the way in which a two-time defending nationwide champion ought to. He buried a crucial 3-pointer with 3:40 remaining to increase the Huskies’ result in 4. He made a floater within the lane three possessions later to push that margin to 6. He snagged a crucial rebound when the Sooners missed a 3-pointer on the different finish. He blocked a shot with 38 seconds left. He grabbed one other rebound on UConn’s subsequent defensive possession.
From the depths of despair, Karaban, who scored 11 of his 13 factors within the second half, dragged UConn again to life and into the second spherical. Now the Huskies will face top-seeded Florida on Sunday for a spot within the Candy 16.
Richard, Rick Pitino turn out to be first father-son duo to win NCAA Match video games in identical 12 months
The SEC was dealt one other blow on Friday afternoon when Tenth-seeded Vanderbilt squandered a double-digit lead in opposition to seventh-seeded Saint Mary’s and fell, 59-56, within the Spherical of 64. A pair of desperation heaves from 3-point vary by the Commodores each went awry within the final 13 seconds as head coach Mark Byington’s staff tried frantically to drive additional time.
The ultimate try from Devin McGlockton was plucked out of the air by Gaels guard Jordan Ross simply earlier than the buzzer expired, propelling Saint Mary’s right into a second-round matchup with No. 2 Alabama on Sunday. The Crimson Tide barely staved off 15th-seeded Robert Morris earlier within the day.
With Vanderbilt’s loss, the SEC fell to 5-5 on this 12 months’s NCAA Match after receiving a document variety of bids — 14 — that mirrored the choice committee’s perception within the convention. (Ole Miss held off North Carolina quickly after, to provide the SEC a 6-5 document.) However to date, by way of a day and a half of video games, there was little to recommend that groups from the league’s center and backside tiers have been any higher than the rank-and-file packages from different conferences.
Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Arkansas have all superior to the Spherical of 32, however 4 of these groups have been seeded among the many prime 16 groups within the bracket and performed favorable opponents. The quintet of SEC groups seeded close to the center of this 12 months’s discipline has confirmed far much less profitable: Ninth-seeded Georgia, eighth-seeded Mississippi State, sixth-seeded Missouri, Eleventh-seeded Texas and the Tenth-seeded Commodores all misplaced, with three of these groups crushed by opponents from exterior the ability conferences (Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, Drake).
Saint Mary’s turned the second college from the West Coast Convention to oust an SEC opponent, following within the footsteps of Gonzaga on Day 1 of the event. Although the Bulldogs are an 8-seed on this 12 months’s discipline, their predictive metrics are consistent with a staff ranked among the many prime 10 or 15 general. KenPom nonetheless views Gonzaga because the seventh-best staff within the nation regardless of a 26-8 general document that, until head coach Mark Few guides his staff to a nationwide title, will end with this system’s highest single-season loss whole since 2011. In different phrases, this is not essentially a classic Gonzaga staff — and but, the Bulldogs nonetheless constructed a 27-3 lead over Georgia to start Thursday’s recreation.
So whereas it is nonetheless too early to attract any definitive conclusions in regards to the SEC — particularly contemplating what number of excessive seeds the league acquired, all of whom are nonetheless alive — questions in regards to the depth are starting to mount. And at this level, after one more mid-table staff went right down to a small-conference opponent, these inquiries are greater than truthful.
First “upset” of the day belongs to Colorado State
What started as a record-setting week for the SEC, which despatched 14 groups to this 12 months’s Large Dance, essentially the most in NCAA Match historical past, continued to slide towards disappointment on Friday afternoon when No. 8 Mississippi State fell brief in opposition to No. 9 Baylor within the first recreation of Day 2. The Bulldogs’ 75-72 loss dropped the SEC to 4-4 in March Insanity and invited questions in regards to the true power of the league relative to the remainder of faculty basketball. That No. 2 Alabama barely survived in opposition to No. 15 Robert Morris shortly thereafter — with the Crimson Tide solely pulling away within the remaining minutes for a 90-81 victory — supplied much more gas to critics.
Whereas there’s nothing inherently catastrophic about shedding an 8 vs. 9 matchup, the character of Mississippi State’s defeat to Baylor sounded a number of alarm bells. The Bulldogs surrendered 15 offensive rebounds, which led to 22 second-chance factors for the Bears, with every further possession additional deflating Mississippi State’s trigger. Such a obvious distinction in physicality between a middle-of-the-pack Large 12 squad in Baylor and Mississippi State, winners of 5 video games in opposition to fellow SEC groups within the NCAA Match, is one thing to observe within the coming days.
On Thursday, the SEC groups produced a comparatively disappointing displaying that started to boost considerations. The league scored wins over Alabama State, Kansas, Wofford and Yale — three of that are from exterior the ability conferences — however suffered losses to Gonzaga, Xavier and Drake, a staff that begins 4 former Division II gamers underneath first-year head coach Ben McCollum. The relative ease with which Drake pulled away from No. 6 Missouri for a managed 67-57 victory was eye-catching within the wake of the Tigers’ wins over Florida and Alabama in the course of the common season.
There may very well be a number of extra losses on the horizon for the SEC all through the rest of Friday’s motion. Ninth-seeded Oklahoma, which takes on eighth-seeded UConn; Tenth-seeded Vanderbilt, which can play seventh-seeded Saint Mary’s; and sixth-seeded Ole Miss, which faces Eleventh-seeded North Carolina, are all betting underdogs of their respective matchups.
Michael Cohen covers faculty soccer and faculty basketball for FOX Sports activities. Observe him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.
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