NCAA tournament begins
A look at some of the people, places and things you’ll be talking about in the coming days.
scored a career-high 24 points as Southern Cal rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half to beat Providence 75-71 in a First Four game Wednesday night.
The comeback victory was revenge for the Trojans, who lost to Providence by one point in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last year. They move on to play 6th-seeded SMU at Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Friday.
After Providence led by 15 points at halftime and went up by 17 to start the second half, Southern Cal (25-9) mounted a furious rally. The Trojans closed it to five points at the 10-minute mark, and went up 61-60 on a jumper by off a turnover with 6:46 left.
Metu hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to put Southern Cal up 71-64 with 1:23 remaining and kept Providence from getting back into it down the stretch.
scored 18 points for Southern Cal, and Metu added 15 on 9 of 12 free throw shooting.
led Providence with 18 points and 11 rebounds. and
added 17 each.
UC Davis defeats North Carolina Central
UC Davis overcame 18 turnovers and rallied in the second half to win its first ever NCAA Tournament game, beating a North Carolina Central team whose poor shooting ensured it would be one-and-done.
had 18 points and 12 rebounds as 16th-seeded UC Davis (25-9) won 67-63 in a First Four game on Wednesday night to earn a trip to Tulsa to play No. 1 seed Kansas on Friday.
“I feel like I’m a confident player, and I got it going early,” Moneke said. “And I like the matchup that I had. And you know, my teammates were doing a great job of moving the ball, and I felt that if we continued to do that, I would put us in a successful position to score most of the time.”
Down by three points at halftime, the Aggies went on an 11-2 run to start the second half, and led by as many as nine before streaky North Carolina Central (25-9) forced some turnovers and chipped away at the lead.
Mizzou announces Martin as next coach
First-year Missouri athletic director got his man.
Sterk targeted California men’s basketball coach
from the outset after announcing March 5 that would not return for the 2017-18 season.
Mizzou announced Wednesday that Martin, who resigned from Cal earlier in the day, would be the 19th full-time coach in men’s hoops history. Martin, 45, is an East St. Louis, Ill., native and previously coached at Missouri State and Tennessee. Martin’s Golden Bears finished 21-13 this season after a first-round upset Tuesday night in the NIT.
He finished 62-39, including a 28-24 record in the Pac-12, in three seasons at Cal.
FROM WIRE REPORTS
The NBA isn’t immune to all this bracket racket.
A pro basketball locker room is filled with former amateurs, many of them with a rooting interest at NCAA tournament time. And this time of year, NBA players “are pretty much tuned into the tournament,” Thunder forward Kyle Singler said.
Each year, the Thunder has its own bracket contest. This season, The Oklahoman asked some players to fill out brackets for publication. Russell Westbrook declined, but Singler, Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott were willing to make their picks public.
“It’s always fun to fill it out in a group, because it’s competition,” Singler said. “Guys love it. There’s a little bit of a gambling aspect to it – chance, luck. And then you get to watch something that you like to do. So it’s the accumulation of a lot of fun stuff.”
How our Thunder participants broke down the bracket:
ENES KANTER
Kentucky, 2010-11 (ineligible to play)
Kentucky Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, Gonzaga
“I didn’t play (at Kentucky), but I still went there. They gave me a locker. They gave me a jersey. I had a number, 0. You know what I did (on the bracket)? I put Kentucky first. Just put Kentucky all the way through. And then I filled it out, the rest. Duke’s a good team, Kansas. I put Gonzaga there for (Domantas Sabonis).”
“I’m not saying this is going to be 100 percent right.”
DOUG McDERMOTT
2010-14
Creighton,
Creighton Creighton, North Carolina, Villanova, West Virginia “(Creighton) hasn’t been in the tournament the last three years. I just got super excited. South Carolina, that’s my sleeper team. Frank Martin. I played for him in the USA U19s. West Virginia, the press is really hard to prepare for in the tournament setting. I think Gonzaga’s gonna be out early. I think Northwestern’s gonna beat them, for some reason. I know Chris Collins pretty well. And I think Gonzaga’s overrated. They don’t play anyone, so they don’t do it for me. So I think a Big Ten school, they haven’t seen that in a while.”
“For the public, yeah. Probably not for my personal one.”
KYLE SINGLER
Duke, 2007-11
Duke Duke, Arizona, Oregon, North Carolina
“Nick Collison said, ‘Pick the team that you want to see win.’ So of course the team I played for (Duke), I want them to win. They are my favorite. And then I’ve seen Oregon a little bit. I like them. I like picking some upsets, because they’re bound to happen, and I think they happen more each year. I think I have more upsets than normal.” “I’m feeling confident, but I’m not sure how it’s gonna shake out. After that first round you really can get a feel for if you should crumple up your bracket and throw it away.”