Friday (3/22) games: NCAA 1st round

[UConnCat]

Never dull in Louisville.

 

[CocoHusky]

Did Adam Amin day that Sierra Calhoun quit the team before the ncaas started??

Sierra Calhoun, who averaged 4.0 points in 24 games after arriving as a grad-transfer from Big Ten-rival Ohio State, left the team earlier this week, according to Eatman, who said in a school-released statement: “Sierra informed our staff that she has decided to leave the team in order to prepare for the next chapter in her life.’’

If she quit the team she actually did Rutgers a favor. Sierra was shooting 21% for the season. That is not 21% from deep that 21% overall on 127 shot attempts. UGLY! Her next career move must be to throw a pebble in the ocean from the beach.

 

[Plebe]

Arizona State dominated UCF and won 60-45. UCF started the game cold and pretty much stayed cold throughout. At one point in the 2nd half, UCF managed to cut the lead from 20 to 12 but then squandered opportunities, including a wide-open missed layup by Wright.

Ekmark had 20 points for ASU. One of the best games I've seen her play, actually.

 

[eebmg]

I know we are bummed with UCF but where is the love for Ekmark.

UCF vs. Arizona State - Game Recap - March 22, 2019 - ESPN

Courtney Ekmark scored 15 of her game-high 20 points in the second half, and fifth-seeded Arizona State beat 12th-seeded UCF 60-45 on Friday night in a Portland Region first-round game.

Ekmark opened the game with a 3-pointer, then opened the second half with a pair of 3s. Those two quickly turned what was a 10-point halftime lead to a 16-point edge, and Arizona State (21-10) wound up winning a first-round game for the sixth consecutive season.

Oops. @Plebe beat me to it.

 

[CocoHusky]

Just a bad season for Texas, loss today breaks a string of 4 consecutive Sweet 16 runs (includes one Elite 8 in 2016).
But this is significant for Indiana. They reached the 2nd round in 2016 (lost to ND) but were in the WNIT the past two years (winning it last year). This was expected to be a rebuild year after losing Buss and Cahill, but the addition of Wise and Patberg made all the difference.

Anyone know what's Karen contract status? Is her job secure, that an awful lot of talent coming through Texas without even an Elite 8 appearance. Even Holly has three elite 8 appearances. @southie you out there?

 

[CompSci87]

And the first upset of the tourney goes to .... #10 Indiana over #7 Texas 69-65

Obama called it!

But then he has Indiana going on to beat Oregon in round 2, and that I can't buy.

 

[Crazyhorse]

But then he has Indiana going on to beat Oregon in round 2, and that I can't buy.

Oregon has to get past Portland State first

 

[Vowelguy]

UCF is going for the lowest combined total -- after the women put up 45, the men have 2 pts through 7 minutes.

 

[Vowelguy]

3rd "upset" -- #9 Clemson over So Dakota

 

[nwhoopfan]

Miami-Florida Gulf Coast has the makings of a game going down to the wire. All tied up w/ 8 minutes left. Teams trading buckets back and forth.

 

[Reypl21]

Aston is a great recruiter, but terrible in-game coach and developer. Charli Collier is going to leave that program probably the same player she came in as, and will probably not even be a first round draft pick. Atkins had a great rookie season, but that just showed that Aston wasn't using her to the best of her ability. Holmes is a shell of herself. When are elite players going to stop looking at Texas and Tennessee as legitimate options when they have terrible track records of underachieving and not developing players?

I bag on Aston any chance I see fit, and this definitely is a good moment to. I had Indiana winning this game in all of my brackets I made.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Oops, never mind. Miami is taking control the last several minutes. Up 11 w/ 3 min. to play. Mompremier is having a big game.

 

[triaddukefan]

Montpremier is a monster (in a good way)

 

[nwhoopfan]

My reverse jinx mojo is still working. Now FGCU is within 5 and has momentum. Shooting FTs. 1:30 left.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Miami won 79-72. 2nd Round game against Arizona St. is intriguing. That could be quite a battle.

 

[UCBaller2012]

The MSST game isn’t even over and ESPN2 just ended coverage. Yikes.

 

[donalddoowop]

Arizona State dominated UCF and won 60-45. UCF started the game cold and pretty much stayed cold throughout. At one point in the 2nd half, UCF managed to cut the lead from 20 to 12 but then squandered opportunities, including a wide-open missed layup by Wright.

Ekmark had 20 points for ASU. One of the best games I've seen her play, actually.

UCF, the second best team in the AAC, losing big to a fourth or fifth best team in the Pac 12, is one of the reasons the NCAA Committee was hesitant to seed UConn as highly as some think they should. The other teams in the AAC have got to start upgrading their talent or this may continue to happen.

 

[biobioprof]

Just got around to watching the postgame interviews from the Wright State and A&M game. Wright State’s Senior G Emily Vogelpohl broke her wrist in practice last week and still played 22 minutes with a brace. When asked about it, Coach Merriweather said that she had played several games as a freshman with a fractured knee, so there wasn’t any doubt Vogelpohl would play after the doctors said she couldn’t damage it further.

I’m impressed!

 

[jonson]

Aston is a great recruiter, but terrible in-game coach and developer. Charli Collier is going to leave that program probably the same player she came in as, and will probably not even be a first round draft pick. Atkins had a great rookie season, but that just showed that Aston wasn't using her to the best of her ability. Holmes is a shell of herself. When are elite players going to stop looking at Texas and Tennessee as legitimate options when they have terrible track records of underachieving and not developing players?

I bag on Aston any chance I see fit, and this definitely is a good moment to. I had Indiana winning this game in all of my brackets I made.

I was at the game and second everything you say based on what I saw. Indiana is a very well coached team, but they were completely overmatched physically and, surely, in terms of recruiting ratings. That said, I was actually surprised they didn't win by an even greater margin. Texas turned the ball over some 22 or so times, doesn't really play defense very well (although their huge height advantage did lead to some blocked shots), and seems to want to be the second coming of Tennessee on offense. (I think they had nearly twice as many rebounds as Indiana, partly due to their athleticism and partly due to how badly they shot.) To me Joiner-Holmes seems to be exactly the same player she was as a freshman: lots of physical talent coupled with a lack of conditioning and basketball savvy, as well a penchant for attempting, mostly without success, highlight plays instead of completing simple (and successful) ones. Collier rebounded well, but seems to lack any semblance of an offensive game, while Williams seems to have regressed since her days at A&M.

One of the highlights of the day was watching Joiner-Holmes and White jogging ever so slowly down the court. (I've never seen anything quite like it.). The other (from the Oregon game) was Ionescu taking a "pass" late in the fourth quarter while sitting on the bench and then (apparently without thinking) launching a three. It missed and she got a technical.

Sunday will "reunite" two exiles from Notre Dame: Ali Patberg and Erin Boley.

 

[triaddukefan]

Just got around to watching the postgame interviews from the Wright State and A&M game. Wright State’s Senior G Emily Vogelpohl broke her wrist in practice last week and still played 22 minutes with a brace. When asked about it, Coach Merriweather said that she had played several games as a freshman with a fractured knee, so there wasn’t any doubt Vogelpohl would play after the doctors said she couldn’t damage it further.

I’m impressed!

is that interview anywhere on the web?

 

[biobioprof]

is that interview anywhere on the web?

I saw it embedded here:

Carter shines in return as Aggies rout Wright State, 84-61, to advance

It does make me wonder if the NCAA posts these anywhere or if they're somewhere on Watch ESPN.

 

[triaddukefan]

I saw it embedded here:

Carter shines in return as Aggies rout Wright State, 84-61, to advance

It does make me wonder if the NCAA posts these anywhere or if they're somewhere on Watch ESPN.

Usually the interviews for the regionals and final 4 are posted by the NCAA..... not for the 1st and 2nd round games.

 

[LETTERL]

One of the highlights of the day was Ionescu taking a "pass" late in the fourth quarter while sitting on the bench and then (apparently without thinking) launching a three. It missed and she got a technical.

WHAT????

 

[biobioprof]

WHAT????

 

[SimpleDawg]

8 out of the 16 games today were kinda close. Bucknell/Florida State, Iowa/Mercer, Marquette/Rice, Indiana/Texas, Buffalo/Rutgers, Clemson/South Dakota, Missouri/Drake, Miami/Florida Gulf Coast.

The higher seed pulled out 5 of them. Maybe there are a lot of good teams in this tournament. Surprised more upsets didn't happen given how tight some of these lower seeded teams played, but they just didn't really finish well.


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