John Fanta
College Basketball Broadcaster and Reporter
Michael Cohen
College Football and College Basketball Writer
Day 3 of the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is officially underway, with Caleb Love and the No. 2-seeded Arizona Wildcats kicking off the action with a 78-68 win over 10th-seeded Dayton.
College basketball fans will be treated to eight games today, concluding with No. 3 Creighton taking on No. 11 Oregon at 9:40 p.m. ET on TBS.
FOX Sports’ college basketball experts, John Fanta and Michael Cohen, are here to provide instant analysis of Saturday’s games.
Catch up on all the action from Day 3 of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament here:
(2) Tennessee 62, (7) Texas 58
(11) NC State 79, (14) Oakland 73
DJ Burns Jr. scored 24 points, including a go-ahead putback that ignited a 9-0 run in overtime, and 11th-seeded North Carolina State beat 14th-seeded Oakland 79-73 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night.
Powered by their versatile 6-foot-9, 275-pound forward, the Wolfpack (24-14) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2015 by finally pulling away from 3-point specialist Jack Gohlke and the Golden Grizzlies (24-12) in the extra period.
N.C. State will face either second-seeded Marquette or 10th-seeded Colorado in Dallas on Friday in the South Region semifinals.
Michael O’Connell had 12 points for the Wolfpack. DJ Horne and Casey Morsell added 11 apiece. Jayden Taylor came off the bench in overtime to hit a 3-pointer that put N.C. State ahead by five.
Oakland, which ousted third-seeded Kentucky on Thursday, just missed becoming the first 14-seed to reach the Sweet 16 since Chattanooga in 1997.
Trey Townsend, the Horizon League Player of the Year, had 30 points and 13 rebounds for the Golden Grizzlies. Gohlke, who made 10 3-pointers against Kentucky, poured in six more 3s and finished with 22 points.
– The Associated Press
(2) Iowa State 67, Washington State 56
Tamin Lipsey scored 15 points, Iowa State cranked up the second-half pressure against Washington State, and the No. 2 seed Cyclones marched into their seventh Sweet 16 with a 67-56 victory over the seventh-seeded Cougars in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night.
Curtis Jones added 14 points and Keshon Gilbert and Milan Momcilovic had 10 apiece for the Cyclones (29-7), who made it to the second weekend of the tourney for the second time in three years. They will play third-seeded Illinois or No. 11 seed Duquesne in the East Region semifinals on Thursday night at TD Garden in Boston.
Jaylen Wells scored 20 points and Myles Rice had 13 for the Cougars (25-10), who were sent back to the Palouse still searching for their first Sweet 16 appearance since Tony Bennett was on the sideline in 2008.
Iowa State spent most of the first half in shambles thanks to what current Cougars coach Kyle Smith calls “the shawmbles,” a suffocating style of defense named for associated head coach and defensive whiz Jim Shaw. The Cougars aggressively jumped passing lanes, harried the Cyclones’ shooters on the perimeter and crashed the boards with abandon.
While Iowa State was busy missing 14 of its first 17 shots, Wells was going 7-of-12 in the first half for 16 points, proving the March Madness stage was not too big for a kid playing Division II ball at Sonoma State a year ago.
The Cyclones finally got going by going downhill. Lipsey and Gilbert attacked the rim, getting layups or drawing fouls, and slowly they crawled back into the game. By the time Hason Ward scored on an alley-oop lay-in in the closing seconds of the half, the Big 12 tourney champs had forged a 27-all tie with the regular-season Pac-12 runner-ups.
Washington State had handled Iowa State’s defense in the first half, turning the ball over just five times. But as the game pressed on, and the Cyclones pulled ahead, the Cougars suddenly began throwing the ball into the first row of seats.
Iowa State led 51-46 with 7 1/2 minutes left when Lipsey drilled a contested 3-pointer. Isaac Jones turned it over at the other end, and Tre King added another basket to make it a 10-point game. And a few minutes later, Rice sent a pass skipping into the backcourt, and a bucket by Jones pushed the Cyclones’ lead to 59-48 with 3 1/2 minutes to go.
By that point, desperation had set in for the Cougars, and Iowa State was coasting toward the Sweet 16.
– The Associated Press
(1) North Carolina 85, (9) Michigan State 69
Even in his wildest dreams, it would have been difficult for Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo to envision a better start than what his ninth-seeded Spartans put together against No. 1 North Carolina with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line. The defense was tenacious. The pace was electric. The scoring was supplied by Tyson Walker, Malik Hall and even Mady Sissoko in what could only be described as an added bonus for a team that rarely gets points from its centers.
By the 12:50 mark of the first half, an overwhelmingly pro-North Carolina crowd was hushed because the Spartans were ahead by 10. It sure felt like Michigan State was poised to earn the program’s first NCAA Tournament win over the Tar Heels after falling short on five previous occasions, including in the 2009 national championship game.
Then the avalanche hit: a blistering and breathtaking 23-3 run from North Carolina that zapped the Spartans’ momentum, enlivened an expectant crowd and put enough distance between the Tar Heels and Michigan State to where head coach Hubert Davis’ team never ceded control of the game. The lead swelled to 17 in the waning moments of the second half as the Tar Heels, who missed the NCAA Tournament a season ago, polished off a 85-69 win by showcasing their efficiency on both ends of the floor. They shot 46.7% from the field, including 10-for-26 from beyond the arc, and limited the Spartans to just six 3-pointers.
Four players reached double-figure scoring for North Carolina, which finished plus-12 from beyond the arc and plus-8 from the free-throw line. Center Armando Bacot anchored the interior with 18 points and seven rebounds, while the perimeter pairing of RJ Davis and Harrison Ingram combined for 37 points on 13-for-26 shooting.
The Tar Heels will face the winner of No. 4 Alabama and No. 12 Grand Canyon in Los Angeles next week.
– Michael Cohen
(5) Gonzaga 89, (4) Kansas 68
Gonzaga played a near-perfect second half, busting open a back-and-forth game with a 15-0 run Saturday to pull away from Kansas for an 89-68 win and extend its nation-best streak of trips to the Sweet 16 to nine.
Anton Watson shot 8-for-11 for 21 points on an afternoon when basically everyone in a navy jersey was a star, especially after halftime.
The fifth-seeded Zags (27-7) made their first five 3-pointers of the second half, not missing from long range until 1:30 remained and the game had long entered extended garbage time.
Mark Few’s team will make its regular trip to the second weekend to play the winner of Sunday’s game between Purdue and Utah State.
Nolan Hickman finished with 17 points for the Zags, and big man Graham Ike had 15 points and nine rebounds, going toe to toe with KU’s Hunter Dickinson, who finished with a quiet 15 points. Making all the Bulldogs look good was Ryan Nembhard, who blew off a rough shooting night (1 for 6) and finished with 12 assists.
While Gonzaga was cruising, parts of this looked painfully familiar to fans of the fourth-seeded Jayhawks (23-11), who have struggled with depth, shooting, consistency and injuries — leading scorer Kevin McCullar Jr. (knee) was out for the tournament. During Gonzaga’s 15-0 run, the Jayhawks missed 10 straight shots and never got within single digits again.
– The Associated Press
(2) Arizona 78, (7) Dayton 68
With 11:42 left on the clock in Salt Lake City, Dayton had cut Arizona’s lead to 52-49. In a second half where Caleb Love and Kylan Boswell only combined for one field goal, would the Wildcats be able to find that gear to win this game?
They did just that, proceeding to go on a 14-2 run to put away the seventh-seeded Flyers, 78-68, and advance to their second Sweet 16 appearance in three years.
Love knocked down his only basket of the second half on the surge, with San Diego State transfer Keshad Johnson continuing to show the invaluable presence and experience he brings. Senior Pelle Larsson buried a triple during the run as well, finishing with 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the victory. But it was a reserve who rose to the occasion for Arizona, helping with Wildcats make just their second trip to the second weekend of March Madness since 2017.
After going 0-for-3 in the opening 20 minutes, Alabama transfer Jaden Bradley drilled a triple to extend the lead to 15 and virtually put the game out of Dayton’s reach. Bradley’s floor game made up for Boswell being quiet, as the sophomore delivered 12 points, four rebounds, three steals, three blocks and two assists in the win.
This was the type of game that the Wildcats might have lost previously in the Tommy Lloyd era, but the way they loaded up their roster with guard depth was the difference, as KJ Lewis added seven points as well. In total, the Cats outscored UD 23-2 in bench points.
Lloyd’s team is heading to Los Angeles for the Sweet 16, where they will meet either Baylor or Clemson for a trip to the Elite Eight. I like ‘Zona to make the Elite Eight. The $1 million dollar question: Will North Carolina beat Michigan State and set up a matchup of Caleb Love vs. his old team? We’ll find out later today when the Tar Heels meet the upset-minded Spartans.
– John Fanta
(3) Illinois vs. (11) Duquesne – live now!
(3) Creighton vs. (11) Oregon – live now!
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John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.
Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.
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2024-03-24 02:46:51
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