The Big 12 Conference had three teams play in the Sweet 16 of the men’s NCAA Tournament on Thursday, with the league going 1-2.
Thursday’s Sweet 16 Results
No. 3 Alabama 113, No. 6 BYU 88
No. 1 Duke 100, No. 4 Arizona 93
No. 3 Texas Tech 83, No. 10 Arkansas 83 (OT)
Houston plays in the Sweet 16 on Friday.
Here are five takeaways from the latest day of men’s basketball action.
TECH’S INCREDIBLE COMEBACK
Darrion Williams is battling a foot injury. He has been for weeks. But, as this NCAA Tournament continues, he looks more and more like himself.
Thursday’s game with Arkansas wasn’t an easy one. He finished with 20 points. He only made two 3-pointers. But man one of them was huge.
That look ultimately sent the game to overtime. In overtime, things went back and forth, but the Red Raiders had the ball with the game tied and about 34 seconds left. Guard Elijah Hawkins let the clock run down, dished it to Williams and let him work.
Arkansas couldn’t answer on the other end. The Red Raiders get Florida on Saturday.
I was toggling between Duke-Arizona and Arkansas-Texas Tech. Both games were similar in that the Big 12 team fell behind and seemingly just couldn’t catch up.
Tech did what it seems to do in games like this — find a way. That usually means trusting Williams, who isn’t 100%, to get it done. And he usually does.
That trust in him allowed the Red Raiders to author the second biggest comeback in the history of the Sweet 16. I don’t know if Tech can beat Florida, but if Williams has another big night, I wouldn’t bet against it.
Chance McMillian was not able to play on Thursday, for those wondering. He’ll get two more days to rest. We now know he’s dealing with an oblique injury. Those can be stubborn. Getting him back, in any form, would help.
LOVE WASN’T ENOUGH
Caleb Love’s swan song in college basketball was a delight — 35 points, including five 3-pointers. But his old nemesis, Duke, sent him and his Arizona Wildcats home.
Much like BYU (we’ll get to that in a bit), Arizona played well. But Duke had a terrific game shooting the ball — 60% from the floor, 57.9% from the 3-point line and 85.2% from the free-throw line.
Not insurmountable, but difficult to overcome. Arizona just couldn’t get there, and the Wildcats made it close down the stretch. At one point it was a two-possession game. But Arizona was not able to make it a one-possession game.
Duke’s Cooper Flagg became the first Duke freshman to have a 30-point game in an NCAA Tournament game. He showed off the entire toolbox, too, with six rebounds, seven assists and three blocks. It’s easy to see why he’s considered the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft, should he declare.
Arizona didn’t have a truly great defensive matchup for him. And the Wildcats struggled with him most of the night.
I remember a couple of Big 12 Tournaments ago, before the Pac-12 splintered, Kansas coach Bill Self was asked which of those schools he would want for basketball. He said Arizona.
If you’re a Big 12 fan, you saw why this season. The Wildcats are going to be an annual problem for the rest of the conference.
BYU CAUGHT IN A BUZZSAW
Hey, BYU played well on Thursday. The Cougars just had the misfortune of playing Alabama.
The Crimson Tide set a tournament record with 25 made 3-pointers. Mark Sears made 10 of them and tied for second-most in a single game.
Alabama scored 75 of its 113 points on 3-pointers. I mean, BYU is a great offensive team, but good luck. The Crimson Tide were on another planet.
It certainly didn’t help that the Cougars only shot 20% from the 3-point line. But it still would have taken eight more made 3-pointers just to get BYU within a point. And the Cougars shot 30 of them.
It was a rough ending to a great season for the Cougars, who could be even better next season once top recruit AJ Dybansta joins the team.
This, of course, means the Ore-Ida train ends for Richie Saunders, the great-grandson of the founder of the company. But you gotta give them credit. Ore-Ida brought Jon Heder, a.k.a Napoleon Dynamite, to bring Saunders tots pre-game.
I’m going to guess Sauders carbo-loaded well before the game. He did finish with 25 points.
HOUSTON’S INDANAPOLIS PREP
Somehow, Houston ended up in a regional where they had to travel the furthest to get to the Sweet 16. The other three schools are Purdue, Kentucky and Tennessee. You can drive to Indy from all three. I’ve done it from West Lafayette (Purdue) and Lexington (Kentucky).
Of course, at one time, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson called Bloomington home. He did two seasons at Indiana, going 43-15. He resigned after he was alleged to have sent texts to recruits at a time when that wasn’t allowed. Along with the resignation, he was given a five-year show cause by the NCAA, keeping him from coaching in the college ranks for six years.
So, how do you feel about being back in Indiana coach? Someone asked him that on Thursday.
“Doesn’t mean anything to me,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to playing Purdue Friday night.”
Perhaps that’s why the Cougars requested the West Region from the committee when they were asked what region they wanted to be in before the bracket was revealed.
BIG 12 WOMEN A DAY AWAY
The final two Big 12 women’s teams in the NCAA Tournament tip off on Saturday. No. 2 seed TCU gets a rematch with No. 3 Notre Dame in Region 3 in Birmingham in an ABC game at noon. TCU beat Notre Dame in a neutral site game in November.
Kansas State is in Spokane to face No. 1 seed USC at 7 p.m. on ESPN. USC is still reeling from losing JuJu Watkins to an ACL tear. But that doesn’t mean the Wildcats are going to have it easy. Center Kiki Iriafen had a huge game after Watkins left and she’s the type of player that can strap a team to her back and get them where they need to go. A matchup between her and K-State’s Ayoka Lee should be something.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
