It had been so long since Yale’s last N.C.A.A. tournament appearance – 54 years – that Billy Packer, the longtime CBS analyst, played on the Wake Forest team that defeated the Bulldogs. It had been even longer since Yale’s last victory. Like, never.
Until Thursday, when No. 12 Yale withstood a late comeback from No. 5 Baylor to win, 79-75, in the South Region. Boola boola, indeed.
Now, let the brainiac jokes commence, for guess who Yale faces next? Duke. And for those keeping track, Yale lost at Duke on Nov. 25, 80-61.
As Baylor endured a titanic upset for a second consecutive year (Georgia State was the culprit last season), this one marred by a first-half skirmish on the bench between Rico Gathers and Taurean Prince, Yale bucked one trend (that whole never winning thing) and continued another.
As noted by ESPN.com’s Keith Lipscomb, Ivy League schools have harassed opponents over the last seven N.C.A.A. tournaments. They have now won first-round games four times in that span, and Harvard (against North Carolina in 2015) and Princeton (Kentucky, 2011) each lost by 2 points.
Yale led by 5 points at halftime and by 13, at 64-51, with 6 minutes 54 seconds remaining before Baylor embarked on a 19-8 run that drew the Bears to within 72-70 with 1:14 left. A 3-pointer by Prince cut the lead to 76-75 with 16 seconds left, and after Nick Victor made one of two foul shots for Yale, Baylor’s Lester Medford lost the ball just past halfcourt. Fouled, Brandon Sherrod drained both foul shots, and pandemonium reigned in Providence, New Haven and in the hearts of underdogs everywhere.
Twelfth-seeded Arkansas-Little Rock, which trailed by 14 with 4:06 left, roared back to tie fifth-seeded Purdue and force the day’s first overtime game.
It took two extra periods, but Little Rock pulled off the upset, 85-83.
Purdue seemingly had the game won, but started to miss shots and make turnovers down the stretch in regulation.
With five seconds left, Josh Hagins of Arkansas-Little Rock took a Stephen Curry-range 3-pointer and swished it to force overtime. Hagins had 17 points in the second half.
Little Rock had rallied from 10 points down or more to win six times this season, CBS reported, the second most in Division 1.
The first overtime failed to break the deadlock, but Little Rock led throughout the second overtime.
Trailing by a point with 10 seconds left, Johnny Hill of Purdue stumbled as he drove the lane and lost the ball. It was one of a number of sloppy errors by the Boilermakers in the second half and the overtimes.
Hagins, a 6-1 senior guard, finished with 30 points, a new career high.
Derek Fisher, with time on his hands after being fired this season by the Knicks, enjoyed the win by his alma mater from the stands in Denver.
Virginia Coach Tony Bennett had to leave the court with seconds remaining in the first half after collapsing on the floor.
Bennett, 46, suddenly doubled over and fell to the floor with around 34 seconds left in the half and the top-seed Cavaliers handling No. 16 Hampton.
Assistants and trainers quickly surrounded him and gave him water, but Bennett clearly looked shaken. Bennett mouthed the words “I don’t know what happened” to one of Virginia’s trainers, Ethan Saliba, as he sat down on the bench after collapsing. Bennett then said, “I’m all right.”
He made his way to the bench but eventually left the court with two coaches helping him with around 5 seconds left.
Bennett was back on the bench to start the second half.
“I think I’ve just been a little under the weather the last couple of days.” he said after the game, “and I think I was a bit dehydrated, and when you’re squatting down and get up quick, I just grayed out or blacked out a little bit.”
Bennett said he is more embarrassed than anything. “I’m sure I’ll get teased a lot about it,” said
Bennett did not have to do too much work on the sidelines the second half. His team cruised behind its usual stingy defense (Hampton shot 30 percent from the field) and its 3-point shooting (12 for 25).
“They just told me to sit there and drink the Powerade,” Bennett said.
Asked whether he might be under watch before Saturday’s second-round game with Butler, Bennett said: “Making too big a deal out of it. It’ll be fine. They’ll double check me.”
We have our first upset! O.K., so it was only a No. 9 seed defeating a No. 8, but whatever. It counts all the same. Butler’s 71-61 victory against Texas Tech marked the fifth consecutive time the Bulldogs advanced to the Round of 32.
Butler will face the winner of No. 1 Virginia and No. 16 Hampton in a clash of teams whose mascots – Cavaliers and Pirates – wield swords. Arrrrgh! That game is up next.
Ray Glier checks in from Raleigh: The Butler Way today was 3-pointers. Tied with Texas Tech, 48-48, with 8 minutes 50 seconds to play, the Bulldogs had been working to drive to the rim until Kelan Martin made two 3s and Kellen Dunham added another.
Suddenly, it was 59-52, and that was more or less that. Butler made 9 of 17 three-pointers, and Dunham scored 23 points.
It seemed like the last team to score would win, but in the final minute it didn’t look like Southern Cal or Providence could actually put the ball in the basket.
The eighth-seeded Trojans had a 69-68 lead with 59 seconds to play against No. 9 Providence. But from that point on, U.S.C. missed a layup and the front end of two 1-and-1’s.
The Friars weren’t much better. They missed five straight shots, including a couple of three-footers.
But with 1.5 seconds left, Providence’s Rodney Bullock finally scored after he was left alone on an in-bounds play under the basket, giving the Friars’ a 70-69 victory and a date with top-seed North Carolina on Saturday.
Providence Coach Ed Cooley said it was “divine providence” that the Friars won. Well, if so, it was late.
Whether it was the altitude of Denver or the size and experience of 11th-seeded Gonzaga, nothing went right for No. 6 Seton Hall.
The Pirates’ best player, Isaiah Whitehead, needed oxygen several times during the game and made just 4 of 24 shots. Their best big man, Angel Delgado, fouled out. Their other big man, Ismael Sonogo, sustained a separated shoulder 23 seconds later. Seton Hall made just 8 of 21 free throws, and Coach Kevin Willard picked up a technical foul just as the Pirates had pulled within striking distance.
All of that sent Gonzaga into the second round against third-seeded Utah with a 68-52 victory over the Big East tournament champions.
The 6-11 Domantas Sabonis led the Bulldogs with 21 points and 16 rebounds and will need another big performance against Utah’s star 7-footer, Jakob Poeltl.
Connecticut led Colorado by 13 points with 2 minutes 41 seconds left. Safe, right?
Wrong.
In a matter of moments, a barrage of missed shots and steals – and Sterling Gibbs turnovers – gave the Buffaloes the ball with a chance to tie. This time, though, Gibbs managed to force a turnover after one of his own, and Colorado never drew closer than three points.
What sealed the Huskies’ 74-67 victory in the South Region– and what could fashion them as a threat Saturday against top-seeded Kansas – was perhaps their best all-around attribute: their free-throw shooting.
Connecticut entered the tournament leading the nation at 78.5 percent, and on Thursday it made 22 of 23 attempts, including all eight in the taut final minute. When Coach Kevin Ollie and two players were asked about the team’s success afterward, Ollie – who improved to 7-0 in the N.C.A.A. tournament – quipped, “Don’t give out our secrets.”
Daniel Hamilton, who made all five of his free throws, called it “a confidence thing.”
Such marksmanship from the foul line is a Connecticut hallmark. I wrote about the Huskies’ foul-shooting at the Final Four two years ago, in the middle of an amazing display of sharpshooting. Across six tourney games, which culminated in a 10-for-10 performance in the title game against Kentucky, they made 111 of 115 foul shots.
From that piece: Connecticut’s comfort at the foul line stems in part from a drill discovered — and adapted — by the associate head coach Glen Miller. He found a video on the Internet of Steve Nash trying to make as many free throws as he could in 60 seconds.
“If you’ve got to shoot it quick, you catch the ball, you’re not dipping the ball below your waist,” Miller said. “It gets rid of all the excess motion in the shot, which, when you do that, it really helps you have good rhythm and timing.”
Players on that 2014 team estimated that they shot 100 free throws during the drill.
“We go hard, I blow the whistle, make ’em run to the free throw line, and we do that throughout practice,” Ollie said Thursday, adding, “So in the midst of that practice or running and sprints, you have to really calm yourself down, you’ve got to take the tension out.”
To a degree, tension abounded for Connecticut at the end of its season, which ended with two straight losses and three in its final four games. The Huskies were perceived to be on the bubble. Then they stomped through the American Athletic Conference championships, winning four straight – and making 90.9 percent of their foul shots in the process – to clinch a spot in the N.C.A.A. tournament.
At least so far, they have evoked the 2014 team, which swept the conference tourney, figured it should keep on winning and never stopped, toppling four higher seeds before capturing the program’s fourth national championship.
Because of their foul shooting, the Huskies still have a chance at a fifth.
There was one other big upset Thursday, although it was not truly much of an upset. Wichita State, seeded 11th, was actually favored over Arizona heading into their matchup, and for good reason. The Shockers’ defense dominated the Wildcats, who looked shellshocked in defeat, 65-55, in Providence, R.I.
Wichita State, which boasted the top defense in the nation this season according to KenPom.com, has looked commanding in two games already this tournament, having defeated Vanderbilt by 20 in a play-in game in Dayton on Tuesday.
The Shockers took a 31-19 lead at halftime Thursday, the first time Arizona had been held under 20 points in a half since 2009. Arizona Coach Sean Miller seemed to feel the brunt of Wichita State’s pressure. His white dress shirt became drenched with sweat in the first half, and although he changed shirts at halftime, he appeared soaked again by the end of the game.
Miller might have lost five pounds in perspiration. And Arizona lost the game.
After trailing by 3 at the half, fourth-seeded Duke pulled away to defeat North Carolina-Wilmington, 93-85, in Providence, R.I.
In one sense, this was not a surprise. Duke, the defending champion, was a 10 ½-point favorite. It had won 105 games in N.C.A.A. tournament history, while Wilmington had won just one.
On the other hand, Duke has been the victim of several early upsets in recent years. Want to aggravate a Duke fan? Just slowly recite: “Mercer, Lehigh, V.C.U. …”
A key for Duke in this game was fouls. Wilmington committed 33, to Duke’s 18. Duke took 43 free throws, making 31, while Wilmington made 14 of 19.
Though plenty of Duke haters grumbled about the officiating, this was not an unforeseen development. Wilmington committed 760 fouls this season, fifth in the nation.
Next up for Duke is the winner of the afternoon game between fifth-seeded Baylor and 12th-seeded Yale.
Well, so much for that upset bid.
Halfway through the second half, Fresno State had its perfect script. The Bulldogs, seeded 14th, had erased Utah’s 11-point halftime lead. They were forcing the Utes into turnover after turnover (they finished with 20). And on a Julien Lewis 3-pointer, the Bulldogs took their first lead of the game.
You could hear the nation flipping channels to truTV.
But third-seeded Utah went on a 19-2 run from that point and made an old adage stand up — you can’t teach height.
Utah’s 7-foot sophomore Jakob Poeltl out-rebounded Fresno State by himself, 18-16, and the Utes had a 39-16 advantage on the glass, including a 16-6 edge on the offensive end.
Utah will play the winner of the Seton Hall-Gonzaga game. The Pirates are a guard-oriented team, while the Zags have to size to bang with Poeltl.
Chattanooga forces loads of turnovers. Chattanooga features the conference’s defensive player of the year. Chattanooga lost five games all season. Chattanooga is a good team.
And yet, Chattanooga got eviscerated Thursday night by Indiana, a 99-74 thrashing that re-established the Hoosiers as East Region contenders.
It is darn near impossible to win when the opposition shoots 64.9 percent from the field (37 of 57) and makes 58.8 percent (10 of 17) of 3-pointers. That is what the Hoosiers did, and they were merciless, from the dunk stylings of OG Anunoby to the slick passing of Yogi Ferrell (20 points, 10 assists) to the long-range shooting of Nick Zeisloft.
We last saw Indiana staggering in the Big 10 tournament, heads bowed after falling to Michigan on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Its revival began Thursday night, and what a revival it was.
Let’s be honest. Twitter commentary during sporting events is seldom perceptive, penetrating analysis.
As the N.C.A.A. tournament got underway Thursday, there were two topics that were zipping through cyberspace.
I hate Duke.
Grayson Allen looks like Ted Cruz.
Though many Twitterers seemed to think they were the first to make the observation, the resemblance has been much remarked upon this (basketball and political) season.
A minority of users are likening Allen to other notable people. The Big Lead suggested this year that Allen looks like everybody.
Duke is trailing 13th-seeded North Carolina-Wilmington, 43-40, at halftime.
Ted Cruz, er, Grayson Allen has 7 points.
You already know Duke, Xavier, Butler and even Austin Peay.
But when the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament’s round of 64 begins Thursday, fans can begin familiarizing themselves with a host of less familiar, more playful names: Scoochie. Yogi. Tubby. Tum Tum.
Middle Tennessee State has brought a Giddy, and Weber State will have a Dusty. Arizona’s gregarious assistant coach is a Harlem native nicknamed Book. If Texas Tech advances, some of the credit will surely go to Pooh.
The history of basketball has always been colorfully interwoven with imaginative nicknames — monikers that could instantly summon wonder (Magic), prompt a smile (Pickles) or trigger a craving (Jellybean).
For the most part, nicknames have disappeared from basketball, replaced by tired initials (L.B.J., CP3, K.D.), corporate shorthand (Melo) or nothing at all (Stephen Curry). Knicks fans tried to label the rookie sensation Kristaps Porzingis with a cool alias, but none took.
Dayton’s Dayshon Smith, better known as Scoochie, is a Bronx native stirring memories of when nicknames consistently rolled off the tongue, even if it was never clear how they got there in the first place. Smith, like many, has claimed ignorance regarding the origin of his nickname, blaming his grandfather for turning baby babble into a lasting sobriquet.
Pete Gillen, a Brooklyn native and former coach at Xavier, Providence and Virginia, caught himself daydreaming when he brought up Smith’s name on CBS late Sunday night, chuckling quietly as he reminisced about the names from the playgrounds of his youth.
“Batman, Bullhead, Sid, Shorty,” Gillen said, listing a few of his favorites in a phone interview Monday. “Joey Roastbeef. Joey Clams. Three-Finger Willie was pretty good.”
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