Friday’s 6-pack:
How six best teams in continuity did this year:
1) Towson— 22-11, lost 2nd round CAA tournament
2) American— lost play-in game Wednesday
3) Fort Wayne— 19-13, lost 1st round Horizon tournament
4) Gonzaga— won first first round game Thursday
5) Texas A&M— won first first round game Thursday
6) Notre Dame— 15-18, lost 2nd round ACC tournament
Quote of the Day
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t expect this, I expected exactly this. I expected [my players] to compete. I brought winners with me. That’s what I brought. I guess my superpower is finding winners, finding tough kids and believing in them. So I kind of expected this. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t……..I know I try to be humble in other words. But man, I believe in these kids.”
Drake coach Ben McCollum
Friday’s quiz
In the movie
The Natural, what famous actor played the manager of the New York Knights?
Thursday’s quiz
Michael Jordan finished his NBA career with the Washington Wizards.
Wednesday’s quiz
Syracuse beat UConn 127-117 in a six-overtlme game in the 2009 Big East tournament; they won again the next night, also in overtime.
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Thursday was March 20, 2025, which reminded me of something………
Back in 1978, Warren Beatty starred in a movie,
Heaven Can Wait; he played a QB for the Rams (Joe Pendleton) who got hit by a truck while riding his bicycle. An over-anxious angel sent his body to heaven but he hadn’t died in the accident, but by the time they realized this, it was too late. His body had to stay in heaven.
Buck Henry played the angel; James Mason was his supervisor. When the supervisor asked the angel to research when Joe Pendleton was supposed to die, the angel looked it up and came back with a sheepish look on his face.
“March 20, 2025”
In real life, Warren Beatty turns 88 on March 30th.
— McNeese State 69, Clemson 67
McNeese led 40-16 early in the second half.
Brandon Murray scored 21 for McNeese; he didn’t start.
McNeese coach Will Wade was a student manager in college……at Clemson.
Last 5+ years, #12-seeds are 9-12 SU vs #5-seeds.
— Purdue 75, High Point 63
Purdue out-rebounded the Panthers, 45-24.
Junior G Smith scored 20 points, had 6 assists, played all 40:00.
Purdue-McNeese State should be fun to watch Saturday.
Purdue is 6-2 ATS in last eight first round games.
— BYU 80, VCU 71
VCU was 15-38 on arc, only 4-6 on foul line, a bad combination.
BYU shot 58.8% inside the arc
BYU has the #6 eFG% offense in the country.
Cougars have won 10 of their last 11 games.
— Wisconsin 85, Montana 66
Wisconsin shot 72.7% inside the arc.
Badgers out-rebounded Montana, 41-29.
Big Sky teams haven’t won an NCAA game since Montana, in 2006.
BYU-Wisconsin will be one of the better games Saturday.
— Creighton 89, Louisville 75
Bluejays shot 11-24 on arc, scored 1.27 points/possession.
Creighton was 14-21 on foul line, Louisville 7-8.
6-5 senior Neal scored 29 points, had 12 rebounds, 6 assists.
Creighton wins its fifth straight first round game.
— Auburn 83, Alabama State 63
Auburn led 32-31, ended first half on a 9-0 run.
Auburn was only 18-32 on foul line, Alabama State 11-19.
Tigers were 11-35 on the arc, 16-25 inside the arc.
Last five years, #1-seeds are 17-3 SU/10-10 ATS in 2nd round.
— Gonzaga 89, Georgia 68
Zags raced out to an early 27-3 lead.
Gonzaga shot 12-20 on the arc.
Zags are 24-0 in games decided by 9+ points, 2-8 in games decided by 8 or fewer points.
Georgia finished 20-13; this was their first NCAA Tournament since 2015.
— Houston 78, SIU-Edwardsville 40
#1-seed Houston led 52-24 at halftime.
Underdog SIU-E shot 2-24 on the arc.
Houston is 5-1 ATS in last six first round games.
Houston-Gonzaga is an interesting game on Saturday.
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Famous birthdays, March 21st
Tom Flores, 88
Manny Sanguillén, 81
Gary Oldman, 67
Matthew Broderick, 63
Shawon Dunston, 62
Scott Williams, 57
Tony Horne, 49
Carlos Carrasco, 38
Frankie Montas, 32
Sebastian Joseph-Day, 30
A’Shawn Robinson, 30
Nick Mullens, 30
— Drake 67, Missouri 57
Drake has four starters who were playing D2 basketball last year.
Drake has won 19 of its last 20 games.
Missouri shot only 33.3% from the floor.
Bulldogs had two starters play 40:00; no one else played more than 25:00.
— Michigan 68, Cal-San Diego 65
Michigan led 41-27 at halftime.
Tritons led 65-63, but didn’t score in last 2:29.
Michigan survived going 11-20 on foul line.
Wolverines play Texas A&M Saturday.
— Texas Tech 82, NC-Wilmington 72
Red Raiders led only 38-34 at halftime.
Tech shot 13-46 on arc, 14-23 inside arc.
First time in six years a CAA team covered in NCAA’s.
Texas Tech-Drake Sunday; the two head coaches are good friends.
— Arkansas 79, Kansas 72
Arkansas led by 11 early in second half.
Kansas led by 3 with 3:10 left in game.
Arkansas was +6 in turnovers (16-10)
Razorbacks have won six of their last eight games.
— Texas A&M 80, Yale 71
Just third win in last eight games for Texas A&M.
Aggies led 40-29 at halftime.
Texas A&M shot 71.4% inside the arc.
6-9 junior Payne had 25 points, 10 boards; he didn’t start.
— Tennessee 77, Wofford 62
Stress-free win for Vols, who shot 61.5% inside arc.
Senior G Lanier scored 29 points, shot 6-13 on arc.
Under Barnes, Tennessee is 3-2 in second round games.
SoCon teams are 1-3 SU/2-2 ATS so far this week.
— UCLA 72, Utah State 47
Stress-free win for Bruins, who led by 12 at halftime.
UCLA shot 10-24 on arc, scored 1.22 points/possession.
Mountain West is 2-17 ATS in its last 19 first round games.
UCLA-Tennessee Sunday should be quite the defensive struggle.
— St John’s 83, Omaha 53
St John’s shot 14-37 on arc, tied for most 3’s they made in a game this year.
3:07 into the game, Omaha led 7-0; Johnnies led 33-28 at halftime.
Omaha shot 5-36 on the arc.
St John’s-Arkansas should be the featured game Sunday.
