Half of the men's Final Four berths have been earned by programs that have not played in the final weekend of the college season in a long time. After trailing by seven after halftime, No. 1 seed Arizona used a 16–3 run early in the second half to take control of the game over No. 2 seed Purdue. With Saturday's victory, the Wildcats are going to the Final Four for the first time in 25 years. In a battle of Big Ten teams, freshman Keaton Wagler scored 25 points to lead No. 3 seed Illinois past No. 9 seed Iowa, 71–59. It is the first time the Fighting Illini are going back to the Final Four in 21 years. The last two spots are up for grabs on Sunday as UConn, which thought its championship run ended last season, will play Duke, while Michigan meets Tennessee with a trip to Indianapolis on the line. On the women's side, the Elite Eight begins with two programs that are the same as their men's counterparts, with UConn and Duke also playing for the right to go to Phoenix. No. 1 UConn will face an old Big East rival in No. 6 Notre Dame, while No. 3 Duke gets No. 1 UCLA. On to the newsletter |
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Amber Searls/Imagn Images |
By Pat Forde
Tommy Lloyd has a pet acronym that he regularly uses with his Arizona basketball team: "FIO." Figure it out. "We practice a lot of figure-it-out situations," Lloyd said earlier this month. "And the players have got to kind of, in the moment, figure out the right plays to make with the right fundamentals. And when they do that, when they're figuring things out, complicated things, we're our best version of ourselves." The West Regional final Saturday night was an FIO situation of the highest order. The No. 1 seed Wildcats were being pushed into stressful territory by No. 2 Purdue—down seven at halftime, their biggest intermission deficit since Feb. 24, with a Final Four berth on the line. Arizona was struggling with a wily and determined opponent: Its defense was being sliced up by point guard Braden Smith; its starting guards were a combined 2 for 9 from the field; its height advantage had dissolved in a -5 rebound margin. In the locker room, Lloyd did the opposite of what predecessor Sean Miller might have done a time or two at the Elite Eight level—squeezing the moment too tightly. Lloyd let go and let his players figure it out. |
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By Bryan Fischer
Last year in the Raleigh, N.C., sub-regional, Dan Hurley was going through it. The UConn men's basketball coach, well known for being overly animated in every direction on the sideline, was an emotional mess. Tears flowed in the locker room and the news conference after a second-round exit. Hugs were exchanged freely. It was far from the picture that was painted across the previous two NCAA tournaments where the Huskies ran roughshod over their opponents, capturing a pair of national titles with a smiling, and even joking, head coach leading the charge. It felt like the end of an era in a funereal atmosphere. The program's 13-game winning streak came to an end against eventual national champion Florida by just two points to deny a trip to the second weekend in 2025. The core group of players, which transfixed the sport for much of the past three years, looked on the verge of breaking up like a popular band that finally was ready to experience a solo tour. While there were some changes around Storrs, Conn., over the offseason, the abrupt ending in the Big Dance was not the last dance that it was made out to be. Instead, veteran Alex Karaban came back to school instead of departing for the NBA as expected. Guard Solo Ball reaffirmed his commitment, too. Other upperclassmen, most not a part of the title runs, either came back hungry or arrived via the portal. |
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Men's Schedule Saturday's Games No. 3 Illinois 71, No. 9 Iowa 59 No. 1 Arizona 79, No. 2 Purdue 64 Sunday's Key Games
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 6 Tennessee, 2:15 p.m. ET (CBS) No. 1 Duke vs. No. 2 UConn, 5:05 p.m. ET (CBS) | | Women's Schedule
Saturday's Key Games No. 1 South Carolina 94, No. 4 Oklahoma 68 No. 3 TCU 79, No. 10 Virginia 69 Sunday's Key Games No. 1 UConn vs. No. 6 Notre Dame, 1 p.m. ET (ABC) No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 3 Duke, 3 p.m. ET (ABC) |
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By Michael Rosenberg Vic Schaefer says he was not bothered by how his Texas team played in the second half of its 76–54 win over Kentucky in the Sweet 16. Give him credit for honesty, and also credit for watching the second half. That's dedication, folks. Kentucky took an early 3–0 lead and should have immediately called timeout to snap a picture of the scoreboard. Texas scored the next 15 points. The Longhorns led by 20 early in the second quarter and 22 at the break. Schaefer is an old-school coach who began the game wearing a sportcoat and holding a rolled-up sheet of paper, as though he was simultaneously coaching his team and auditioning for "Boring As Hell: The Hank Iba Story." Sometimes, Schaefer indulges himself by taking a break from watching film so he can watch more film. He wants his players to play every possession like the score is 0–0, and would you like to guess the problem with that? "In their minds," Schaefer said, "they're like, 'Coach, it's not 0–0. We're up 20.' " |
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By Michael Rosenberg We have reached the point of women's NCAA tournament proceedings where the busywork is all done and the five No. 1 seeds are ready to settle this thing. Yeah, I said five. Michigan deserves a promotion. The Wolverines just played half of a great game and whipped third-seeded Louisville, 71–52 anyway. They have won their three tournament games by 35, 29 and now 19 points. They will be underdogs in Monday's regional final, because they will play Texas in Texas, but they don't see themselves that way, and why should they? They nearly beat UConn and UCLA earlier this year, and they are playing a whole lot better now. Louisville took an early lead on Michigan in their Sweet 16 game here Saturday. But in hindsight—and hindsight kicked in before the game ended—the Wolverines' main obstacle was themselves. Star Olivia Olson said she felt like she forced a couple of shots early. Coach Kim Barnes Arico said, "We were sped up. We panicked for about a second. Or maybe a couple of minutes." With 6:53 left in the second quarter, Louisville's Elif Istanbullulgou scored to give the Cardinals an 11-point lead. |
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By Emma Baccellieri
Raven Johnson and Ta'Niya Latson won three state championships together in high school. So when Latson decided last spring that she would leave Florida State, where she played the first three years of her college basketball career and led the nation in scoring, Johnson made the obvious pitch: Come play at South Carolina with me, and maybe we can win an NCAA title together, too. There was no better display of that potential than what the pair did on Saturday. No. 1 seed South Carolina easily downed No. 4 Oklahoma in the Sweet 16 by a score of 94–68. This one was functionally over by the second quarter: The Gamecocks never trailed and hit the locker room at the half up by 19. It's a sort of dominance that has become standard in the NCAA tournament for South Carolina, now in its sixth consecutive Elite Eight, all six of which saw the program advance to the Final Four. But this particular win looked slightly different from the usual for the Gamecocks. It was more or less entirely powered by strong guard play. The pairing of Johnson and Latson drove this win from start to finish. Johnson scored 18 points in an efficient 25 minutes. Latson, playing in her first Sweet 16, led all scorers with 28. The Gamecocks did not get as much production as usual from their powers in the paint. But their guards were so good that it hardly mattered. |
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