The chaos of the first two days at the NCAA Tournament is behind us. There were upsets, highlighted by Oakland’s win over Kentucky and Yale’s victory against Auburn. There were enthralling performances, from Jack Gohlke’s 10 3s to Jermaine Couisnard’s 40-piece.
The field is now reduced to 32 teams. Winners of Saturday and Sunday’s games secure spots in next week’s Sweet 16.
Gonzaga dominant in second half
SALT LAKE CITY — Woof. What an outing by the Zags. Down one point at halftime, Gonzaga comes out in the second half and obliterates Kansas, 89-68. Zags shoot 61 percent from the field and put on an offensive showcase. Kansas, at one point, had four straight 3’s to end the first half and start the second. That was short-lived. Gonzaga, with its bevy of versatile big men, looks like it will be a handful for Zach Edey and No. 1-seeded Purdue in the Sweet 16 — assuming Purdue beats Utah State tomorrow night. Nine straight Sweet 16 appearances for the Bulldogs. A hell of a feat. — Christopher Kamrani
Gonzaga went absolutely nuclear in the second half against Kansas. Wowza. Shot 67 percent, hit 5 of 6 3s, scored 1.438 PPP. At one point hit eight straight and 12 of 13 shots and just blew the doors off the Jayhawks.
Mark Few mighty impressive. His “down year” brings a Sweet 16.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) March 23, 2024
Arizona proving it can be trusted?
SALT LAKE CITY — The self-appointed bracketologists around the country all asked a question that permeated throughout the realm of college basketball before this year’s NCAA Tournament started: can we trust Arizona?
March hasn’t been exactly kind to one of the most storied programs in the sport in recent years. Despite consistently having a roster each year worthy of deep, meaningful runs in the tournament, Arizona has seen its postseason dreams upended at the hands of higher seeds.
A year ago, it was as a No. 2 seed to No. 15 Princeton.
In 2018, it was as a No. 4 seed against No. 13 Buffalo.
These No. 2-seeded Wildcats, at least through the first two rounds of this March, still have questions to answer about whether or not they can be trusted to make this March a memorable one. Arizona advanced to the Sweet 16 in the West Region on Saturday afternoon in Salt Lake City with a 78-68 win over No. 10 seed Dayton.
Arizona will face the winner of No. 3 seed Baylor and No. 6 seed Clemson in Los Angeles next week.
The Wildcats toppled the Flyers with a balanced approach from a number of its key rotational players. They proved they are much more than The Caleb Love Show. Four players scored in double figures led by Love, who finished with a team-high 19 points after a stellar first half (5 of 7 from the field) was followed by an ice-cold second (1 of 8).
With Love’s shot off, guards Pelle Larsson, Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis helped fuel a second-half run that kept a desperate Dayton team at bay. After the Flyers cut the Arizona lead to within three midway through the second half, Larsson and Lewis fueled a swift 7-0 run to put a comfortable distance between Arizona and Dayton. The trio also pestered Dayton’s All-American with their help defense on Flyers star DaRon Holmes II.
Holmes II, the co-Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, was a standout with a game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds. — Kamrani
Saturday schedule (tip-off times, network, location)
12:45 p.m.: No. 7 Dayton vs. No. 2 Arizona (CBS, Salt Lake City)
3:15 p.m.: No. 5 Gonzaga vs. No. 4 Kansas (CBS, Salt Lake City)
5:30 p.m.: No. 9 Michigan State vs. No. 1 North Carolina (CBS, Charlotte)
6:10 p.m.: No. 7 Washington State vs. No. 2 Iowa State (TNT, Omaha)
7:10 p.m.: No. 14 Oakland vs. No. 11 NC State (TBS, Pittsburgh)
8 p.m.: No. 7 Texas vs. No. 2 Tennessee (CBS, Charlotte)
8:40 p.m.: No. 11 Duquesne vs. No. 3 Illinois (TNT, Omaha)
9:40 p.m.: No. 11 Oregon vs. No. 3 Creighton (TBS, Pittsburgh)
Players to watch
- Jack Gohlke, Oakland: Gohlke had a breakout performance Thursday night against No. 3 Kentucky. The senior guard converted 10 3-pointers, guiding the Golden Grizzlies to the upset. The Division II transfer will look to provide more of that March magic Saturday against No. 11 NC State.
- Caleb Love, Arizona: Love’s tournament got off to a fast start Thursday, recording a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds against No. 15 Long Beach State. The 6-foot-4 guard was the Pac-12 Player of the Year with career highs in scoring (18.1 points per game), effective field goal shooting percentage (51.0) and win shares (4.8).
- Jermaine Couisnard, Oregon: Couisnard made Ducks program history Thursday, scoring 40 points against South Carolina. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 16.1 points per game on 40 percent shooting from the floor during the season. Is another high-scoring performance in the cards Saturday night in Pittsburgh against Creighton?
- Armando Bacot, North Carolina: Bacot put up a double-double of 20 points and 15 rebounds on Thursday in North Carolina’s win over Wagner. Bacot is now second in North Carolina history in points scored, behind only Tyler Hansbrough. The 6-foot-11 forward will need another big game if the Tar Heels are going to defeat Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans in Charlotte.
Required reading
For ticket information on all tournament games, click here.
(Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
