Villanova punches Final Four ticket
Jermaine Samuels had 16 points and 10 rebounds as Villanova advanced to its third NCAA Final Four in the last six NCAA Tournaments with a grind-it-out 50-44 victory over Houston in the South Region final Saturday in San Antonio.
Caleb Daniels added 14 points for the Wildcats (307), and fifth-year senior Collin Gillespie’s only made field goal was a clutch shot late.
With both teams willing to limit possessions, the first spot for this year’s Final Four in New Orleans was settled in a game that was ugly to watch with all the missed shots.
Villanova shot 28.8% from the field (15 of 52). The Cougars were only slightly better at 29.8% (17 of 57), missing their last five shots and 10 of 11 overall, and they made only one of their 20 attempted 3-pointers.
The Wildcats and coach Jay Wright won’t complain as he seeks to add a third national title to the ones he won in 2016 and 2018. Villanova will play either Kansas, the only No. 1 seed remaining, or 10th-seeded Miami in the Final Four next Saturday as it seeks its fourth championship overall.
Taze Moore had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Cougars (32-6), who were denied making consecutive Final Four appearances for the first time since 1982-84 during the Phil Slama Jama era. The starting five was completely changed from last season, including Moore and two other senior newcomers.
After Villanova missed three shots on the same possession — and was still without any second-chance points in the game — Moore got the long rebound on the break. After initially slowing things down, Moore scored on a drive against Gillespie, getting Houston within 42-40 with 5:25 left.
It was the closest the Cougars had been in the game at AT&T Center, only about 200 miles from their campus, and the crowd was in a loud frenzy when Wright called timeout. They never got a chance to take the lead.
Gillespie, who played in the national championship game for the Wildcats in 2018, was 1-of-6 shooting. But his only field goal came on the possession after the timeout when he stepped inside the 3-point line and hit a jumper with 5:02 left.
There was a nearly twominute scoring drought before Justin Moore made two free throws, with a foul by J’Wan Roberts bailing out the Wildcats with the shot clock about to run out. Those were their only second-chance points in the entire game.
Villanova had scored the first five points of the game, including a 3-pointer by Samuels on the first shot.
The Cougars had advanced to the Final Four all previous six times they had played in a regional final: 1967, 1968, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 2021.
MEMPHIS FACING MULTIPLE NCAA VIOLATIONS » The Memphis men’s basketball program faces multiple Level I and Level II NCAA violations, The Commercial Appeal reported.
The NCAA alleges that Tigers coach Penny Hardaway has “failed to demonstrate that he promoted an atmosphere of compliance,” according to a report based on documents obtained through an openrecords request.
According to an amended notice of allegations received by the school on July 9, 2021, Memphis faces four Level I and two Level II violations. They are the most serious of the NCAA’s fourlevel structure.
The violations reportedly occurred between May 2019 and February 2021. Many of the specific details included in the documents were heavily redacted by the university, according to the newspaper.
A primary interest of the investigation at that time involved James Wiseman, now with the Warriors and the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2019.
The NCAA suspended Wiseman early in the 201920 season after learning that Hardaway had paid $11,500 to help Wiseman’s family relocate from Nashville to Memphis. Hardaway had not yet been named the Tigers’ coach at the time of the payment but was known to be a school booster.
Wiseman and Memphis appealed his eligibility, and the NCAA upheld the suspension. Wiseman sat out the rest of the season to prepare for the 2020 NBA Draft.
He played just three games for the Tigers and averaged 19.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.0 blocks. The Warriors made him the No. 2 overall pick.
Hardaway, 50, has compiled an 85-43 record in four seasons at Memphis. This season, he led the Tigers (22-11) to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2014.
TAR HEELS INTO ELITE EIGHT
Caleb Love hit game-tying and go-ahead 3-pointers 37 nseconds apart and North Carolina moved within a victory of its 21st Final Four, beating UCLA 73-66 on Friday night in an East Region semifinal matchup of power programs in Philadelphia.
Love, a sophomore, finished with a career-high 30 points, including six 3s and two game-clinching free throws with 7.8 seconds left. He scored 27 of Carolina’s 45 points in the second half, a hot streak that began after he changed shoes at halftime.
North Carolina’s next game is today against surprising Saint Peter’s in a first-of-its-kind 8-vs.-15 matchup in the Elite Eight.
Fourth-seeded UCLA (278) fell two wins short of its 20th Final Four.