Before Texas upset Gonzaga, 20 consecutive favorites had won SU. The NIL era has made it lot tougher for the smaller schools.
— Nebraska 74, Vanderbilt 72
Freshman F Frager scored winning hoop with 0:02.2 left.
Cornhuskers get to the Sweet 16 for the first time.
Vandy led by 5 with 5:34 left in the game.
Nebraska has won six of its last eight games.
Tyler Tanner scored 27 for Vandy; his half-court shot at the buzzer rattled in and out.
— Arkansas 94, High Point 88
High Point led by a point with 8:27 left in the game.
Darius Acuff scored 36 points, had six assists.
Acuff was 11-13 on foul line; High Point’s whole team was 10-11.
Bob Martin scored 30 points, had five assists for High Point
John Calipari is headed to the Sweet 16 for the 17th time.
— Texas 74, Gonzaga 68
Zags led by 8 with 4:29 left in first half.
Texas shot 57.8% inside arc; they won for third time this week.
7-0 C Vokietaitis scored 17 points, grabbed nine rebounds.
Teams combined to shoot 9-31 on the arc.
Gonzaga misses Sweet 16 for second year in row; they had made it eight of the previous ten years.
— Michigan State 77, Louisville 69
Jeremy Fears had 12 points, 16 assists for the Spartans.
Coen Carr scored 21 points, had 10 rebounds.
Louisville shot 13-37 on arc, 13-26 inside arc.
Spartans were 14-19 on foul line, Louisville 4-6.
Louisville star Mikel Brown missed the Cardinals’ last six games.
— Houston 88, Texas A&M 57
Houston had easy win; they led 46-28 at halftime.
Houston shot 59.5% inside the arc, scored 1.34 ppp.
Cougars had 19 offensive rebounds, had 46-29 edge on boards.
Teams combined to shoot 14-55 on the arc.
— Illinois 76, VCU 55
Illinois shot 55.9% inside arc, outscored VCU 41-27 in 2nd half.
VCU G Lewis got hurt in first minute, didn’t return.
Illini had 45-28 edge on the boards.
Illinois-Houston is an interesting Sweet 16 game.
— Duke 81, TCU 58
Duke’s lead was only 38-34 at halftime.
Blue Devils shot 71.4% inside the arc.
Duke had a 42-26 edge on the boards.
Duke was 20-23 on foul line, Horned Frogs 5-10.
— Michigan 95, Saint Louis 72
Michigan shot 60.5% inside arc, scored 1.35 ppp.
Aday Mara scored 16 points, had 4 blocked shots.
Wolverines outscored Saint Louis 47-33 in second half.
Michigan had a 42-27 edge on boards.
— Speaking of Saint Louis, what is a Billiken?
A Billiken is a mythical, good-luck figure created in 1908 by Missouri art teacher Florence Pretz, often representing “things as they ought to be”. It is supposed to symbolize good luck and positive vibes.
— Last 19 teams who won March Madness, they were 15-4 ATS in their first round game.
— Famous birthdays, March 22nd:
William Shatner, 95
Matthew Modine, 67
Shawn Bradley, 54
Marcus Camby, 52
Reese Witherspoon, 50
Marques Tuiasosopo, 47
Ike Davis, 39
JJ Watt, 37
Ernie Clement, 30
Grant Holmes, 30
Missed a birthday earlier this week; the great hockey player Bobby Orr turned 78 on Friday. He was really excellent, leading the Bruins to Stanley Cup titles in 1970, 1972. When he rushed the puck up the ice, which defensemen didn’t do a lot back then, the crowd would buzz.
In the mid-80’s, met Bobby Orr at a celebrity softball game; he’s a good guy. To this day, have my picture with him hanging in my living room.
— Apparently I spend too much time watching basketball; lady who lives across the street from me called and asked if I was OK, since I hadn’t been out of my house in three days.
— Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham will miss a while after he had a collapsed lung, which has to be kind of scary. He is scoring 24.5 ppg for the much-improved Pistons, who are 51-19 this year, two years after they were 14-68.
— Colorado Rockies starting pitchers had a 6.63 ERA last year, the worst of any team in the last 100 years. Not sure how you fix that, but four of Colorado’s five starters this year are 32+ years old, so they’re going with wily veterans to try and get guys out in high altitude.
— There were 11,209 fans at the Seattle Mariners exhibition game Saturday; teams must make lot of $$$ during spring training, with lot of fans seeking out warm weather.
