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Year-in-Review: 2020-21 Notes, Reviews and Numbers Across All Sports

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Year-in-Review: 2020-21 Notes, Reviews and Numbers Across All Sports

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Sun Devil Athletics embarked on a wild journey in the 2020-21 season.

There were events changed, canceled, postponed, deleted and added at a dizzying pace. Patience was tested. Coaches and student-athletes adjusted like never before. Facilities upgrades were made (soccer/lacrosse for example).

Through it all, the teams competed. Some fall sports competed in the spring. It resulted in crazy amount of events hosted and double-headers and facilities being used at record pace.

Here is a look at all the team’s seasons with quick recaps and some tweets and numbers to remember the 2020-21 season (that was a lot more of 2021 than 2020). It was a season that saw Turner Washington and Jorinde van Klinken win NCAA titles and the department notch a 20th-place finish in the Learfield IMG Directors’ Cup.

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NCAA CHAMPIONS Outdoor Track and Field: Turner Washington (shot put, discus), Jorinde van Klinken (discus) Indoor Track and Field: Turner Washington (shot put)

HUGE week for the Sun Devils!

3?? National Titles 4?? Medals 9?? All-Americans

And BOTH the men and women’s squads finished top-10 in the country. ??#ForksUp?? #O2V https://t.co/mwwEa3i5dL

— Sun Devil TFXC (@SunDevilTFXC) June 13, 2021

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ALL-AMERICANS Baseball: Ethan Long (second-team DH by Collegiate Baseball News and First Base by Baseball America; third-team DH by NCBWA; Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball News and second-team Freshman All-America DH by NCBWA); Sean McLain (Freshman All-American HM by Collegiate Baseball News); Hunter Hass (Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball News, 3B) Softball: Maddi Hackbarth (NFCA Second-Team At-Large Catcher, Softball America Third Team) Gymnastics: Hannah Scharf (WCGA Regular Season Second-Team, all-around), Hannah Scharf (NCAA Second Team All-American, bars) Men’s Track (Indoor): Turner Washington (shot put, NCAA champion); Kentre Patterson (12th in 60m/second-team All-American) Women’s Track (Indoor): Jorinde van Klinken (third-place in shot put, first-team All-American), Hayley Rayburn (11th in pole vault/second-team All-American) Men’s Track (Outdoor): Turner Washington (NCAA champion in shot put and discuss, first-team All-America); Jamar Marshall Jr. (110H; first-team All-American); Ian Schulz (discus; second-team All-American) Women’s Track (Outdoor): Jorinde van Klinken (first-place in discus, first-team All-American; 12th in discus, second-team All-American); Alizee Minard (second place in javelin; first-team All-American); Beatrice Llano (hammer, fifth-place, first-team All-American); Shelby Moran (13th in hammer; second-team All-American) Women’s Golf: Linn Grant (Unanimous First Team), Ashley Menne (WGCA Honorable Mention) Wrestling (5): Brandon Courtney (125), Michael McGee (133), Jacori Teemer (157), Anthony Valencia (165), Cohlton Schultz (285) Water Polo (4): Bente Rogge (First Team All-American), Amira Van Buren (Second Team All-American), Chelsea Karimazondo (Honorable Mention All-American), Luca Petovary (Honorable Mention All-American). ————————————————————————————————————

INDIVIDUAL PAC-12 CHAMPIONS (9) Wrestling (5): Brandon Courtney (125), Jacori Teemer (157), Anthony Valencia (165), Kordell Norfleet (197), Cohlton Schultz (HWT) Men’s Track and Field (2): Jamar Marshall Jr. (110H), Carlan Naisant (javelin) Women’s Track and Field (2): Alizee Minard (javelin), Jorinde van Klinken (discus)

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PAC-12 TEAM CHAMPIONS WRESTLING: The No. 6 Sun Devil wrestling dominated the conference with five individual titles to win its fourth Pac-12 Championship in five years after posting a 138 tournament point total. The conference title was ASU’s 22nd all-time and 20th in the Pac-10/12 era with the help of five individual conference champion performances.

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FINAL OVERALL/PAC-12 RECORDS Baseball: 33-22/16-15 (T-5th)/NCAA Regional Beach Volleyball: 10-12/3-6 Men’s Basketball: 11-14/7-10 (9th) Women’s Basketball: 12-12/6-9 (9th)/WNIT Men’s Cross Country: 9th in Pac-12 Women’s Cross Country: 9th in Pac-12 Football: 2-2/2-2 (T-4th in Pac-12 South) Men’s Golf: T3rd/NCAA Match Play Semifinalist Women’s Golf: T5th/NCAA Match Play Quarterfinalist Gymnastics: 5-5/4-3 (4th)/NCAA Regional Finals Hockey: 7-16-3 Lacrosse: 10-6/5-4 (4th) Soccer: 9-6-2/4-4-2 (6th)/NCAA Tournament Softball: 33-16/12-9 (4th)/NCAA Tournament Men’s Swimming/Diving: DNC Women’s Swimming/Diving: DNC Men’s Tennis: 17-9/3-4 (5th)/NCAA Tournament Women’s Tennis: 15-9/6-4 (4th)/NCAA Tournament Men’s Indoor Track: T-18th Women’s Indoor Track: T-29th Men’s Outdoor Track: 9th Women’s Outdoor Track: 9th Triathlon: DNC Volleyball: 6-14/6-14 (9th) Water Polo: 14-12/6-6 (MPSF)/NCAA Tournament (T-3rd NCAA semifinalist) Wrestling: 7-0 (NCAA fourth-place/highest finish since fourth in 1994-95)

———————————————————————————————————— PAC-12 FINISHES Baseball: T-5th (16-14) Men’s Basketball: 9th (7-10) Women’s Basketball: 9th (6-9) Men’s Cross Country: 9th Women’s Cross Country: 9th Football: T-4th in Pac-12 South (2-2) Men’s Golf: 2nd (highest finish since winning title in 2008) Women’s Golf: 3rd Gymnastics: 4th (highest finish since 2006) Lacrosse: 4th (5-4) Soccer: 6th (4-4-2) Softball: 4th (12-9) Men’s Tennis: 5th (3-4) Women’s Tennis: 4th (6-4) Volleyball: 9th (6-14) Wrestling: 1st

———————————————————————————————————— NCAA FINISHES — DIRECTOR’S CUP POINTS — 20TH — 4TH IN PAC-12 — 840 TOTAL POINTS 83.00 — Water Polo: 3rd (NCAA semifinalist) 82.50 — Men’s Golf: T-3rd (NCAA Match Play semifinalist and best NCAA Championship finish since 1996 NCAA title) 80.00 — Wrestling: 4th (best NCAA finish since fourth in 1994-95) 72.75 — Women’s Golf: T-5th (NCAA match play quarterfinalist) 69.00 — Men’s Outdoor Track and Field: 9th 69.00 — Women’s Outdoor Track and Field: 9th 60.75 — Gymnastics: 13th 54.50 — Men’s Indoor Track and Field: T-18th 50.00 — Men’s Tennis: NCAA Second Round 50.00 — Women’s Tennis: NCAA Second Round 50.00 — Soccer: NCAA Second Round 43.50 — Women’s Indoor Track and Field: T-29th 37.50 — Baseball: NCAA Regional 37.50 — Softball: NCAA Regional

———————————————————————————————————— DEPARTMENT HONORS/AWARDS BILL KAJIKAWA AWARD: Remy Martin (men’s basketball), Cairo Leonard-Baker (gymnastics)/Olivia Mehaffey (women’s golf) TOM HANSEN AWARD: Nate Ponwith (men’s tennis), Olivia Mehaffey (women’s golf) FRANK KUSH AWARD: Todd Clapper (water polo)

———————————————————————————————————— SPORT RECAPS

BASEBALL TRACY SMITH/SEVENTH SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH JUNE 24, 2014 33-22 OVERALL/16-14 PAC-12 (T-5TH)/ POSTSEASON HONORS RAY ANDERSON ANNOUNCES LEADERSHIP CHANGE WITH ASU BASEBALL Program made its 41st NCAA postseason appearance– sixth most in NCAA history — as the No. 2 seed in Austin with the youngest team in the tournament field, as it went 11-4 in weekend series on the year and won five of its last second weekend matchups. Drew Swift became the Sun Devil to be named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year since the league introduced the award in 2013, while Ethan Long became the became the 129th All-American in program history, earning a second-team nod from Collegiate Baseball News as a Designated Hitter. Long is just the eighth Sun Devil in school history to earn an All-America accolade as a freshman, joining Mike Kelly (1989), Casey Myers (1998), Kendall Carter (1981), Phil Lowery (1996), Mike Leake (2007), Ryan Kellogg (2013) and Spencer Torkelson (2018). ASU led the nation in double plays (57) turned during the regular season.

Over 30 former student-athletes, coaches and staff members get things rolling today. #MLBOpeningDay

We are #MLBU. https://t.co/yTlbdye3EN pic.twitter.com/CeNC6XSjwJ

— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) April 1, 2021

———————————————————————————————————— MEN’S BASKETBALL BOBBY HURLEY/SIXTH SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH APRIL 8, 2015 11-14 OVERALL/7-10 PAC-12 (9TH) Senior Remy Martin earned All-Pac-12 first-team honors in 2020-21 and 2019-20 and was a second-team pick in 2018-19, just the second Sun Devil to earn All-Pac-12 honors three times, joining Ike Diogu (2003-05). He finished his career on the ASU charts sixth in points (1,754), second in assists (466), 10th in field goals (591), third in free throws made (396), ninth in three-pointers attempted (524) and eighth in steals (151). Kimani Lawrence posted 21 points and 20 rebounds on Feb. 25 vs. Washington, the first 20/20 outing by a Sun Devil since Nov. 19, 1997, when Mike Batiste had 36/20 vs. Wagner, while the 21 rebounds is second-best by a Sun Devil in a Pac-12 game. Coach Hurley became just the fourth Sun Devil coach to notch 100 ASU wins when ASU beat Oregon State on Feb. 14. In the past two seasons ASU’s 17-7 (.708) record in two-possession games is third-best in the Pac-12. ASU led the league in turnover margin (+4.2), while Remy Martin became the sixth Sun Devil (seven times) to lead the Pac-12 in scoring with his 19.3 points per game mark.

SUN DEVIL PAC-12 SCORING LEADERS 19.3–Remy Martin (2020-21) 20.1–James Harden (2008-09) 22.6–Ike Diogu (2004-05) 22.8–Ike Diogu (2003-04) 23.0–Eddie House (1999-00) 20.8–Jeremy Veal (1997-98) 21.6–Byron Scott (1982-83)

———————————————————————————————————— WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CHARLI TURNER THORNE/24TH SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH JUNE 21, 1996 12-12 OVERALL/6-9 PAC-12 (9TH) In an abbreviated season, the Sun Devils (12-12, 6-9 Pac-12) still earned their seventh consecutive postseason berth – 20th in 21 seasons – in 2020-21. They finished among the Top 25 in the nation in scoring defense (23rd/56.7 ppg) and offensive rebounds per game (24th/15.1 rpg). It was the third time in six years ASU finished among the top 25 in scoring defense and the second straight season it finished in the Top 25 in offensive rebounds. ASU captured four wins over NCAA Tournament teams, including a 66-64 OT win over then-No. 9 and eventual national runner-up Arizona, while losing three other contests to eventual NCAA Tournament teams by an average of just five points with eventual national champion Stanford and UCLA (twice) included in that group. ASU’s 10 3-point FGs and 55.6 3-point FG percentage vs. Arizona were both season highs and were both opponent highs for Arizona in 2021. UCLA’s 19 turnovers vs. ASU on Dec. 6, tied the Bruins season high in 2020-21. Stanford’s four 3-pointers vs. ASU on Jan. 3 were tied for the second-fewest number of triples by Stanford in 2020-21 while its 21.1 3-point FG percentage vs. ASU was its second lowest percentage of the season. Including its 5-0 record this season, ASU is 73-13 (.847) in non-conference, regular season games since 2013. It is also 101-24 (.808) in home games the last eight seasons. ASU has won its last 30 home games vs. non-conference opponents in Desert Financial Arena. Junior Taya Hanson (All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention – Coaches/Pac-12 Defense Honorable Mention – Coaches) led ASU in scoring (12.6 ppg), 3-pointers (62), steals (1.4 spg) and free throw percentage (84.8), was third in rebounding (4.3 rpg) and fourth in assists (1.4 apg). Hanson averaged 2.58 3-pointers per game, the most ever by a Sun Devil. Hanson scored a career-high 21 points vs. Cal (Jan. 1), a contest in which she tied the single-game school record with seven 3-pointers. Freshman Jaddan Simmons averaged 10.8 ppg, becoming the first ASU freshman to average double figures in scoring since Jill Noe in 2003. In ASU’s win over USC (Dec. 4), Simmons became the first ASU freshman to score 20 or more points since Dymond Simon scored 24 in a win over Washington State on Jan. 4, 2007. She named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week after scoring 11 of her 15 points over the last 9:20 (last 4:20 of regulation and 5:00 of OT) of ASU’s 66-64 upset of then-No. 9 Arizona.

———————————————————————————————————— BEACH VOLLEYBALL BRAD KEENAN/FIFTH SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH MAY 13, 2016 10-12/3-6 IN PAC-12 SAMANTHA PLASTER NAMED PAC-12 SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR In Brad Keenan‘s fifth season as head coach, ASU had an overall record of 10-12. With COVID-19 restrictions, the team played fewer duals than usual seasons. Of the 10 wins, four were sweeps. The Sand Devils had a 4-7 Pac-12 record, picking up wins over Washington, Utah and Cal. The season ended at the Pac-12 Championships where Arizona State was able to earn one victory, edging out a 3-2 win over Washington. Three seniors left their mark on Arizona State, moving up in the record book. Katelyn Carballo ended her sand career with 67 wins, breaking the record for career individual wins at Arizona State. Two more broke the 50 wins mark: Samantha Plaster reaching 57 wins to put her in fourth place for career individual wins and Cierra Flood getting 51 wins to tie for sixth. Flood is set to return for her fifth year in 2022. Flood and Sarah Waters teamed up together in every dual, playing primarily at the No. 3 spot. The two finished with a 12-9 overall record which was the most wins earned this season. Carballo and Lexi Sweeney played at the No. 1 spot in every dual this season, earning an 11-11 record. Along with Flood and Waters, these pairs were the only two to play together in every dual.

Broken records, upsets and big awards; 2021 had many highlights for the Sand Devils! ??

Read the season recap here >> https://t.co/cgKQL2vRRz pic.twitter.com/QcfLzejyLi

— Sun Devil Beach VB (@SunDevilBeachVB) June 3, 2021

———————————————————————————————————— MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY PATRICK HENNER/FIRST SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH OCTOBER. 8, 2020 The team ran two regular season races and competed in the the Pac-12 Championships. Megan Reniewicki finished top-5 twice, and Fearghal Curtin finished top-3 once. Both teams took ninth at the Pac-12 Championships. Top men’s finisher was Vincent “Vinny” Mauri who took 22nd in a personal best 23:35.3. Top women’s finisher was Megan Reniewicki who took 41st in 20:53.70.

———————————————————————————————————— FOOTBALL HERM EDWARDS/THIRD SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH DEC. 4, 2017 2-2 OVERALL/2-2 PAC-12 SOUTH (T-4TH) A season that started full of promise was shortened to the pandemic, but a big-time finish put a smile on Sun Devil faces everywhere highlighted by a 70-7 December 11 win at Arizona, the program’s fourth straight win in the series. ASU ended the season with a 46-33 win at Corvallis, where it had lost six of previous seven. The Sun Devils scored 116 points in back-to-back games, the most in a two-game span in the same season since 1973, with 70 at Arizona and 46 at Corvallis. ASU had two touchdowns in the first minute at Arizona and recorded a school record 10 touchdowns for the second-most points in program history and most in the Pac-12 era. Rachaad White earned the Bob Moran Territorial Cup Most Valuable Player award behind his 133-yard, three-touchdown effort that was highlighted by a 93-yard touchdown run – tied for the fifth-longest touchdown rush in program history.

———————————————————————————————————— MEN’S GOLF MATT THURMOND/FIFTH SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH JULY 25, 2016 FINISHED SECOND IN PAC-12 NCAA FINISH: T-3RD AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP (MATCH PLAY SEMIFINALIST) Team — seeded tenth entering the tournament — earned the No. 1 seed at the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history (lost two others in 2009 and 2013) and won its first NCAA match play contest over North Carolina before falling to top-ranked Oklahoma in the semifinals. Earned its 56th trip the NCAA Championship, fourth-best all-time, and has now made the finals in 16 of the past 19 chances and 34 of the past 37. Won team titles at the Ameri Invitational (Feb. 2-4), the Goodwin (March 25-27) and also earned a Copper Cup match play win vs. Arizona to start the season in January after not competing in the fall. Placed second in four other tournaments (Southwestern Invitational, Thunderbird Collegiate, Pac-12 Championship and the NCAA Albuquerque Regional). Sophomore David Puig posted seven top-10 finishes and had wins at the Southwestern Invitational and Amer Ari Intercollegiate and earned Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year. Both Ryggs Johnston (third) and Cameron Sisk (T-8th) and Chun An Yu (15th) all earned NCAA top-10 finishes. The tied for third finish at the NCAAs was its best NCAA finish since it won the title in 1996. How good was Ryggs Johnston’s 7-under 63 in the second round of the NCAA Championships? It is the second-best NCAA Championship round by a Sun Devil, and those sandwiched around him are named Rahm and Mickelson. Only one other player had a 64 (Wake Forest’s Parker Gillam) and only one had a 65 (Oklahoma State’s Bo Jin) in the whole tournament. Team finished sixth in the final Golfweek rankings with a 154-19-2 head-to-head record including 42-15 vs. the top-25 and was fifth in the final Golfstat rankings.

———————————————————————————————————— WOMEN’S GOLF MISSY FARR-KAYE/SIXTH SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH JUNE 26, 2015 FINISHED THIRD IN PAC-12 NCAA FINISH: T-5TH AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP (MATCH PLAY QUARTERFINALIST) Sun Devil Women’s Golf served as host of the 2021 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships, making match play before eventually finishing in a tie for fifth. The program advanced to the NCAA Championship for the 36th time after finishing second in the Columbus Regional, the 28th consecutive year the team has qualified for a regional. Linn Grant received unanimous First Team All-American honors and was one of three finalist for the ANNIKA Award, given to the top female collegiate golfer. She became just the second Sun Devil (Brandie Burton) to win four straight tournaments, starting the year off with three consecutive victories. Grant was ranked No. 1 by Golfstat heading into the NCAA Tournament, a first by a Sun Devil in the Golfstat-era. Freshman Ashley Menne also recieved honorable meniton All-American honors after a spectacular freshman season in Tempe. She finished fourth at the NCAA Championship, not only the highest finishing Sun Devil, but the best finish for the program since Monica Vaughn won the title in 2017. Menne also won her matchup in the quarterfinals of match play. Four-time All-American Olivia Mehaffey’s career came to an end, but she provided even more memories for Sun Devil Nation. Mehaffey led the comeback charge in the Clover Cup, as Arizona State made up six strokes on the final day to surpass Arizona and earn the team title. Mehaffey shot a career-best 62 (-10), setting the new program record by two strokes. She finishes her career in the Top-25 in NCAA history in career rounds played, rounds under par, and rounds in the 60s. Alessandra Fanali was one of two Sun Devils named to the Pac-12 All-Conference First Team. Alexandra Forsterling landed on the All-Conference Second Team, giving Arizona State five of the 20 total honorees. Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye was a finalist for National Coach of the Year, leading her Sun Devils to their second match play appearance and the second Top-5 finish of her tenure.

——————————————————————————————————– GYMNASTICS JAY SANTOS/FIFTH SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH MAY 27, 2016 5-5 OVERALL/3-3 PAC-12 NCAA FINISH: 3RD AT NCAA REGIONAL FINALS The Gym Devils finished with a 5-5 record, wrapping up the year ranked No. 9 on Road to Nationals, the best finish since 2006. The team finished the season with an NQS of 197.088 and finished in fourth in the Pac-12 regular season standings as well as in the Pac-12 Championship. It was the first time since 2006 the Sun Devils had placed in the top four at the year-end conference meet and the first time the team qualified for the night session. The Gym Devils scored 196.000-plus in all but two meets this season, including a streak of ten meets in a row reaching that mark to finish the season. Four of those scores are in the top 16 for team scores in the ASU record book. There were four scores of 197.00-plus in a single season or the first time since 2004. The best team score was 197.600, which Arizona State scored in the NCAA Regional Finals for the ninth best score in program history and the best postseason score the Sun Devils have ever earned.

The 2021 season was one for the record books! Can’t wait to keep growing in 2022 ??

Read the season recap here >> https://t.co/tvisrOnXC7 pic.twitter.com/44f2tLjuTi

— Sun Devil Gymnastics (@SunDevilGym) May 13, 2021

———————————————————————————————————— HOCKEY GREG POWERS/SIXTH SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH NOV. 18, 2014 7-16-3 OVERALL

The Sun Devil Hockey program played through an unprecedented all-road schedule in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As Division I Ice Hockey programs shifted to conference-only schedules in response to the pandemic, Sun Devil Hockey created a partnership with the Big Ten Conference. The newfound agreement for the 2020-21 season allowed ASU to embark on one of the most extraordinary and unparalleled seasons of college hockey in which the Sun Devils played the entire season on the road, solely against Big Ten teams. The Sun Devils traveled a total of 15, 519 miles, and compiled 74 total travel days, including 58 out of their first 70 days on the road. Despite the odds, the Sun Devils concluded the season with zero forced cancellations. While on the road, the program and Sun Devil Athletics pushed forward on the build of its Multi-Purpose Arena as part of the Novus Innovation Corridor project. The arena will house men’s ice hockey, wrestling, and women’s gymnastics and is set to be completed in Fall 2022.

?15,519 miles traveled ?74 total travel days ?58 of first 70 days on road ?0 Forced Cancellations

Thank you @B1GHockey for including us! ?? https://t.co/gneUcAzM6R

— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) March 6, 2021

———————————————————————————————————— LACROSSE TIM McCORMACK/SECOND SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH JUNE 12, 2019 10-6 OVERALL/5-4 PAC-12 (4TH) Pac-12 Coach of the Year Tim McCormack joined Sun Devil Wrestling’s Zeke Jones as the only two coaches from Arizona State to take home conference coach of the year honors. He did so after leading Sun Devil Lacrosse to their best season in program history, elevating the team to new heights. Coach McCormack’s team set program records in wins (10), conference wins (5), and earned their first Pac-12 Conference Tournament victory. Under his tutelage, attacker Carley Adams became the first player in program history to earn IWLCA All-Region honors. Adams was also a First Team Pac-12 All-Conference selection, one of three Sun Devils to accomplish the feat. Six of the 24 players to earn a spot on an All-Conference team were from Arizona State, a reflection of the depth of the roster. The Sun Devils tied Pac-12 Regular Season and Tournament Champion Stanford for most selections in the conference. During the season, 10 of the 20 possible Pac-12 Player of the Week honors were from the Maroon & Gold. A couple of legends wrapped up their career in style, as attacker Kerri Clayton and goalkeeper Berkeley Bonneau had their best seasons yet. The duo were leaders of their units, helping the Sun Devils finish in the Top-10 in several major statistical categories. ASU led the nation with 9.75 assists/game, finished third with 22.06 ground balls/game, boasted the sixth-best scoring offense (16.4 goals/game), and ranked in the Top-10 with 16.69 draw controls/game. Several key players return from a team that knocked off a ranked team for the first time, picked up the program’s first victories over USC and Colorado, while also sweeping three games in one season from a Pac-12 opponent (Cal). Pac-12 assist leader attacker Emily Glagolev, the lone freshman on the Pac-12 First Team defender Bella Gaspar, and two-time team captain Maddy Hunter will be back in Tempe. Combined with another exciting recruiting class and a completed field renovation project, the future of Sun Devil Lacrosse is bright.

———————————————————————————————————— SOCCER GRAHAM WINKWORTH/FOURTH SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH NOV. 29, 2016 9-6-2 OVERALL/4-4-2 PAC-12 (6TH) The Sun Devils had their best season under fourth-year head coach Graham Winkworth, finishing the regular season with an 8-5-2 record and making a postseason run for the first time since 2014 and eighth in school history. ASU made it to the second round of the tournament to become the fifth ASU soccer team to advance to that stage in the NCAA Tournament. Winkworth and company boasted an undefeated non-conference slate, including an overtime comeback thriller at Grand Canyon to protect the win-streak. ASU continued its unbeaten streak through eight games and notched wins against UCLA, Stanford, and USC to become only the fourth team in history to beat all three programs in a single season. With a 4-4-2 record in Pac-12 Conference play, the Sun Devils finished in the middle of the table after being picked to finish last in the preseason poll. The Sun Devils scored 28 goals in 17 games, second-most in the Pac-12 Conference. ASU boasted one of the strongest defensive lines in the Pac-12, conceding only 16 goals and forcing ASU’s keepers to make only 57 saves – fifth-fewest amongst Conference competitors.

Good times were had.. Let’s keep ’em rolling into Fall 2021! ??https://t.co/1cpAN8YZpV

— Sun Devil Soccer (@SunDevilSoccer) June 10, 2021

———————————————————————————————————— SOFTBALL TRISHA FORD/FIFTH SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH JUNE 15, 2016 33-16 OVERALL/12-9 PAC-12 (4TH) Fifth-year head coach Trisha Ford‘s squad made its 16th consecutive NCAA postseason appearance before falling short in the Tempe Regional. The Sun Devils collected a Pac-12 Conference series sweep over Arizona, their first against since 2012.

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» Series wins vs 3 Top-10 teams (UW, UofA, Oregon) » Conference sweep vs UofA » Quality wins vs Baylor, Iowa State, CSUF (2) » 4th in the #Pac12 » We hit a lot of home runs » Scored 60 runs on the road in a weekend pic.twitter.com/HSskjXVmwc

— Sun Devil Softball (@ASUSoftball) May 16, 2021

———————————————————————————————————— MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING BOB BOWMAN/SIXTH SEASON (SIXTH YEAR) NAMED HEAD COACH APRIL 24, 2015 Coach Bowman and the squad decided to redshirt the 2020-21 season and not compete due to the unpredictability of COVID and the Tokyo Olympics heavy on everyone’s minds.

———————————————————————————————————— MEN’S TENNIS MATT HILL/FOURTH SEASON (FIFTH YEAR) NAMED HEAD COACH JUNE 29, 2016 17-9 OVERALL/3-4 IN PAC-12 (5TH)

Finished the year 17-9 (3-4 Pac-12) and ranked 20th by Oracle/ITA as Nathan Ponwith reached the NCAA singles championship. Ponwith earned first-team All-Conference honors, won the ITA Southwest Region’s Most Improved Senior Award, and won the overall ITA Most Improved Senior award. ASU advanced to the championship match of the Pac-12 Tournament for the first time and picked up its first win over UCLA since reinstatement in the process. After earning a bid to the TCU regional, ASU beat Wichita State 4-3 before falling 4-1 to TCU in the second round. It’s the second time in the Matt Hill era the Sun Devils have reached round two. Team earned six wins over ranked opponents and its recruiting class is No. 22 (per Tennis Recruiting Network).

———————————————————————————————————— WOMEN’S TENNIS SHEILA McINERNEY/37th SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH AUGUST 16, 1984 15-9 OVERALL/6-3 IN PAC-12 (4TH)

Finished No. 31 and posted two wins over ranked opponents as ASU made it to the second round of the Pac-12 tournament and the second round of the NCAA Regionals. Ilze Hattingh reached the second round of the NCAA Singles Championship and was awarded second-team All-Conference honors. The then-No. 33 Sun Devils shutout unranked Arizona 4-0 on the road and also have the No. 5 recruiting class per Tennis Recruiting Network. ———————————————————————————————————— MEN’S AND WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK DION MILLER/SECOND SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH MAY 15, 2019 NCAA FINISHES: MEN T-18/WOMEN T-29 The women’s track and field team tied for 29th at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Arkansas with six points, while the men tied for 18th with 10 points. Jorinde Van Klinken took third in the shot (17.56m/57-7.5) for the women’s six points, while Turner Washington’s national title in the shot put (21.36m/70-1) earned all 10 of the men’s points. The MPSF Championships were not held due to health precautions. The men’s side reached a season-best 15th national ranking and finished the year at 18th. Women reached at season-best 29th in the nation in the final ranking. Team sent five athletes to the NCAA Indoor Championships. Turner Washington broke the NCAA indoor shot put record on Feb. 13, beating the previous record by almost two inches. Washington earned USTFCCCA West Regional Field Athlete of the Year honors for his indoor performances, and is on the The Bowerman watchlist for the nation’s top track and field athletes. Hayley Rayburn broke the ASU indoor pole vault record Feb. 12, a mark that hadn’t been passed since 2008. Jamar Marshall Jr and Kentre Patterson both broke the ASU indoor 60mH record at the same time on Feb. 27 when they competed in the Air Force’s Championships at the Peak, beating out Tony Galaviz’ 19-year-old record. Dylan James lept to ninth all-time at ASU at the Air Force meet, the first meet of his ASU career, when he notched 7.34m in the triple jump, finishing third.

———————————————————————————————————— MEN’S AND WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK DION MILLER/SECOND SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH MAY 15, 2019 NCAA FINISHES: MEN Ninth /WOMEN Ninth It was a week to remember for Arizona State track and field. Three national titles were earned, six Sun Devils placed in the top-5, seven claimed All-America honors, and both the men and women finished top-10. Both ASU’s men and women’s squads finished ninth, the men claiming 24 points and the women earning 22. This marks the first time the men have been top-10 since 2010 (4th, 79 points) and the third time in the last four years that the women have been in the top-10. Turner Washington and Jorinde van Klinken both earned USTFCCCA West Region Field Athlete of the Year awards, and van Klinken also won Pac-12 Women’s Field Athlete of the Year alongside her Pac-12 discus title. Jamar Marshall Jr, Kentre Patterson, and Turner Washington will all compete in the USATF Team Trials in Hayward Field, and van Klinken is Olympic-bound for Tokyo 2021 for The Netherlands.

Top-1??0?? ?? pic.twitter.com/Q1UMGCx4Zt

— Sun Devil TFXC (@SunDevilTFXC) June 13, 2021

???????????? ??????????????

Just three times in men’s @NCAATrackField history has someone won the indoor shot, outdoor shot and discus titles all in the same season:

– John Godina 1995, UCLA – Ryan Whiting 2010, ASU – Turner Washington 2021, ASU#ForksUp?? pic.twitter.com/iv5BodfXAi

— Sun Devil TFXC (@SunDevilTFXC) June 12, 2021

NCAA Championships Results Turner Washington – Shot, 21.10m/69-2.75 – National title, PR* Turner Washington – discus, 63.42m/208 – National title* Jorinde van Klinken – discus, 65.01m/213-3 – National title, collegiate PR, meet record* Alizee Minard – javelin, 57.91m/190 – Silver medal, PR, Program Record* Beatrice Llano – hammer, 65.90m/216-2 – 5th, season’s best* Jamar Marshall Jr. – 110H semi final, 13.57, 4th – Q Jamar Marshall Jr. – 110H final, 13.53, 5th* Shelby Moran – hammer, 66.01m/216-7 – 13th, PR^ Carlan Naisant – javelin, 64.83m/212-8, 19th! Ian Schulz – discus, 56.25m/184-6, 10th^ Jorinde van Klinken – shot, 16.87m/55-4.25 – 12th^ * = First Team All-American ^ = Second Team All-American ! = honorable mention

———————————————————————————————————— TRIATHLON CLIFF ENGLISH/FIFTH YEAR NAMED HEAD COACH NOV. 13, 2015 The team did not compete in the fall of 2020 due to uncertainty with COVID-19. Coach English will enter his fifth season and sixth year at ASU as Tempe will again host the national championships in early November.

———————————————————————————————————— VOLLEYBALL SANJA TOMASEVIC/FOURTH SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH DEC. 21, 2016 6-14 OVERALL/6-14 PAC-12 (9th) In the fourth season under head coach Sanja Tomasevic, the Sun Devils competed in 20 matches, all against Pac-12 opponents. The team went 6-14 on the year and finished in ninth place in the conference. The roster was made up of primarily underclassmen (82 percent), eight student-athletes making their Division I NCAA volleyball debut. Arizona State earned two wins over ranked opponents in the 2020-21 season. ASU opened the season with a win at No. 8 Washington, who would go on to make it to the NCAA Final Four. The Sun Devils swept the Huskies in Seattle for the first win at UW since 2012. Towards the end of the season, the Sun Devils also upset the No. 16 Oregon Ducks in Tempe, another NCAA Tournament team that made it to the Sweet Sixteen. Full Season Recap

The COVID-19 pandemic has provided its fair share of obstacles to the collegiate world over the past year, and the Sun Devil volleyball team is no exception.

Read about how we are making the most of our season in this feature story >> https://t.co/3wxTZfuY1H pic.twitter.com/FiGNPcDALM

— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) March 5, 2021

———————————————————————————————————— WATER POLO TODD CLAPPER/16th SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH AUGUST 3, 2005 14-12 OVERALL/6-6 IN MPSF Water polo made its third appearance in the NCAA Championship after ending the regular season 13-11. ASU beat the Michigan in the first round to advance to the final four, but eventually lost to the Championship squad, USC although ASU held the Trojans to their lowest scoring outing of the Tournament. Among those 13 wins were top-five upsets that will go down as some of the top wins at Mona Plummer. The Sun Devils upset No. 2 Stanford at home to open up MPSF play with a 10-9 win, and again against No. 2 UCLA at home with an 8-6 victory just a month later. This was the first time since 2014 that the Sun Devils had more than one upset of a top-five team in a single season. The Sun Devils clinched that at large bid because of their strong Mountain Pacific Sport Federation conference play, including upsetting fifth-seeded Cal at home in the MSPF Championship, and ultimately finishing fourth in the conference. Bente Rogge, Amira Van Buren, Luca Petovary and Chelsea Karimazondo all earned ACWPCC All-American honors. Full Season Recap

Upsets, scoring streaks, and record breakers, and more ??

Our 2021 season recap! ????https://t.co/cDWfkh6e8V

— Sun Devil Water Polo (@SunDevilWP) July 2, 2021

———————————————————————————————————— WRESTLING ZEKE JONES/SEVENTH SEASON NAMED HEAD COACH AUGUST 9, 2014 7-0 OVERALL/PAC-12 CHAMPIONS CLICK HERE FOR POSTSEASON HISTORY NCAA FINISH: T-3rd (NCAA semifinals)

For the first time since the 1994-95 season, head coach Zeke Jones led the Sun Devils to their highest finish at NCAA Championships — fourth — while also producing five All-Americans on the season, Brandon Courtney (125), Michael McGee (133), Jacori Teemer (157), Anthony Valencia (165) and Cohlton Schultz (HWT). In the shortened season, the Sun Devils went undefeated for the first time in program history (7-0) before winning their 22nd all-time Pac-12 Championship title.Five Sun Devils – Brandon Courtney, Jacori Teemer,Anthony Valencia, Kordell Norfleet (197) and Cohlton Schultz finished first place in their weight class. Valencia’s fourth individual title places him in the history books forever as he is the fourth Sun Devil to accomplish the feat (Eric Larkin, Markus Mollica and Ryan Bader). At 2021 NCAA Championships, five Sun Devils placed on the podium for their respective weight classes with Brandon Courtney concluding the Tournament as the national runner-up at 125 lbs. Off the mat, the program had one of its most academically successful seasons with 16 Sun Devils being named to Pac-12 Fall and Winter Honor Roll.

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mitchbeck · 5 years ago

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CANTLON'S CORNER: AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT...BUT STILL THE SAME

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Game on! Well, sort of. On Tuesday afternoon, NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman announced the outline of a plan to "Return-To-Play" that was agreed to between the players, and the league with the final details still being worked on. On March 12, 2020, the NHL paused its season over coronavirus concerns. The league played 85 percent of its 2019-20 regular-season schedule (1,082 of 1,271 games) which began in early October. “At the pause, we committed to resuming play only when it was appropriate and prudent,” Bettman said. “We are hopeful the 'Return-To-Play' plan will allow us to complete the season and award the Stanley Cup in a manner in which the health and safety of our players, on-ice officials, team staff, and associated individuals involved are paramount. Accordingly, an essential component of the Plan is a rigorous, regular schedule of testing. “On the hockey side, the 'Return-To-Play' format reflects the league’s extraordinary competitive balance while honoring the tradition and integrity of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. “The 'Return-To-Play' plan is the result of weeks of constructive dialogue with the National Hockey League Players’ Association and we are grateful for their cooperation. We also thank our consulting health experts and the local, regional, and national authorities who are helping steer us through a complex set of issues.” Here is the framework of the 'Return-To-Play'; Regular Season The 2019-20 regular season has been declared concluded through games of March 11. The 189 games originally scheduled from March 12 – April 4 will not be played. 24 teams will resume play: those teams consist of the top 12 in each Conference on the basis of points percentage as of the games played on March 11. Timeline Since the League’s pause on March 12, the League has been in Phase 1 with teams having been instructed to self-isolate as much as possible. Phase 2 – Early June In early June, it is expected that teams will be permitted to return to home facilities for small groups, voluntary, as well as on-and-off-ice training. Phase 3 – Not Earlier than First Half of July It will not begin any earlier than the first half of July when formal training camps will begin after guidance from medical and civil authorities. Phase 4 – Timing TBD 24 teams in 2 “hub” cities will compete in Seeding Round Robins, a Qualifying Round, and a conference-based Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 2 “hub” cities will be selected from the following: - Chicago, IL - Columbus, OH - Dallas, TX - Edmonton, AB - Las Vegas, NV - Los Angeles, CA - Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN - Pittsburgh, PA - Toronto, ON - Vancouver, BC Each Conference will be assigned a “hub” city with secure hotels, arena, practice facilities, and in-market transportation. Teams will be limited to 50 personnel in the “hub” city with only a small number of support staff permitted to enter the event areas. Timing and sites will be determined at a future date and will be dependent on COVID-19 conditions, testing ability, and government regulations. Competitive Format In each Conference, teams were seeded based on points percentage. Round Robin: The top 4 teams will play for First Round seeding (regular-season overtime rules in effect). Qualifying Round: The remaining 8 teams will play a Best-of-5 series to advance to the First Round (playoff overtime rules in effect) First Round and Second Round: Format (seeding vs. bracket) and series lengths have yet to be determined. Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final: Best-of-7 series The winners from the Qualifying Round play the top 4 seeds in the First Round. Individual First Round series matchups remain to be determined. City 1 Team Conf. Rank P% Boston Bruins: .714 Tampa Bay Lightning: .657 Washington Capitals: .652 Philadelphia Flyers: .645 Pittsburgh Penguins: .623 Carolina Hurricanes: .596 New York Islanders: .588 Toronto Maple Leafs: .579 Columbus Blue Jackets: .579 Florida Panthers: .565 New York Rangers: .564 Montreal Canadiens: .500 City 1 – Round Robin for Seeding in First Round Boston Bruins Tampa Bay Lightning Washington Capitals Philadelphia Flyers City 1 – Best-of-5 Qualifying Round #5 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #12 Montreal Canadiens #6 Carolina Hurricanes vs. #11 New York Rangers #7 New York Islanders vs. #10 Florida Panthers #8 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. #9 Columbus Blue Jackets City 2 Team Conf. Rank P% St. Louis Blues: .662 Colorado Avalanche: .657 Vegas Golden Knights: .606 Dallas Stars: .594 Edmonton Oilers: .585 Nashville Predators: .565 Vancouver Canucks: .565 Calgary Flames: .564 Winnipeg Jets: .563 Minnesota Wild: .558 Arizona Coyotes: .529 Chicago Blackhawks: .514 City 2 – Round Robin for Seeding in First Round St. Louis Blues Colorado Avalanche Vegas Golden Knights Dallas Stars City 2 – Best-of-5 Qualifying Round #5 Edmonton Oilers vs. #12 Chicago Blackhawks #6 Nashville Predators vs. #11 Arizona Coyotes #7 Vancouver Canucks vs. #10 Minnesota Wild #8 Calgary Flames vs. #9 Winnipeg Jets NHL Draft The NHL also announced the Draft Lottery system will be held after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup expanded playoff version. PLAYER MOVEMENT UCONN suffered a big loss to their offense for the upcoming hockey season. Ruslan Iskharov, a 2018 Second-Round pick (43rd overall) by the New York Islanders signed a one-year deal to play in Europe with TPS Turku (Finland-FEL). Last season as a sophomore with the Huskies, Iskharov scored nine goals and had 21 points in 32 games, the same numbers as his Freshmen year. It’s the second consecutive year that UCONN has seen a player exit for Europe. Matej Blumel was on campus for three weeks and never played a minute. The Edmonton Oilers draft pick signed a pro deal with HC Litvinov (Czech Republic-CEL). Iskharov's signing makes 30 college players who have turned professional in Europe including 25 underclassmen who have left school early. Springfield’s Donald Audette signs a one-year deal with Lukko Rauma (Finland-FEL) for next year. Kelly Klima, son of former NHL’er Petr Klima, is expected to leave the AHL's Tucson Roadrunners and head back to the Czech Republic and join his twin brother Kevin on HK Hradec Kralove (Czech Republic-CEL) making 20 AHL players heading for Europe next season. 14 of the league's 31 teams have seen at least one player sign in Europe. Brock Beukeboom (Greenwich), the son of former Hartford Wolf Pack assistant coach, Jeff Beukeboom, leaves the Odense Bulldogs (Denmark-DHL) and signs a deal with the Frederikshavn White Hawks (Denmark-DHL) next season. The Bridgeport Sound Tigers should see three new faces at training camp as the parent NY Islanders signed three draft picks to entry-level contracts. They include Felix Bibeau from Chicoutimi (QMJHL) who was a 2019 sixth-round pick (178th overall) while he was with Rouyn-Noranda. Joining him will be Cole Coskey, the Islanders seventh-round pick (209th overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft. Coskey established career-highs in points (80), goals (34) and assists (46) in 62 games last season with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League. Finally, Blade Jenkins, the Islanders fifth-round pick (134th overall) in the 2018 NHL Draft, scored 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) in 47 games last season with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League. The Jackson, Michigan native posted a career-high plus-12 rating in his third season with Saginaw. In 182 career OHL games, Jenkins recorded 143 points (59 goals, 84 assists). Jenkins, the Islanders fifth-round pick (134th overall) in the 2018 NHL Draft, scored 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) in 47 games last season with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League. The NAHL Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks got three player commitments in Alex Duncan (Northern Cyclones-NCDC), Hank McDonough (Selects Academy at South Kent Prep U-18), and Jason Kleinhans (Kent School-CTPREP). Three players from Alabama-Huntsville (WCHA) after the program has been terminated, have transferred to other schools. Liam Izyk (Boston College), Tanner Hickey (Arizona St.), and Josh Latta (UMASS-Lowell) who did so two weeks ago prior to the announcement. The Long Island University Sharks announced on Tuesday that the school has named Colgate Assistant Coach, Brett Riley, to lead the newly added men’s hockey program slated to start with the 2020-21 season. “We are excited that Brett is joining our Shark Nation family,” LIU athletics director Dr. William Martinov Jr. said in a statement. “He has great experience with establishing a new program. He is a fantastic recruiter, and he understands the importance of an exceptional student-athlete experience.” Coaching is a major part of Riley’s family hockey tree as three family members have been the head coach at Army West Point over the past 70 years. His grandfather, Jack, coached the Black Knights until 1986 when he was replaced by his son, Rob, Brett’s father. Rob Riley, is currently a scout for the NHL Buffalo Sabres and was replaced by his brother, Brian (Brett’s uncle), in 2004. Bill’s son, Bill Riley Jr., was the head coach at UMass Lowell (HE) from 1969 to 1991. Brett has two cousins that were involved in the college hockey game, Jack (2013-18) and Brendan (2016-20). Both played at Mercyhurst (AHA), while Jack is now an assistant coach at Manhattanville (UCHC). A native of South Hamilton, Mass., Riley graduated from Hobart College (UCHC that was in the ECAC West in those days) in 2014 with a Bachelor’s degree in history. He was a three-time ECAC West All-Academic Team selection in his four-year career with the Statesmen. ECHL There is plenty of speculation that the Montreal Canadians will be fielding an ECHL team in Trois-Rivieres (Three Rivers), Quebec. The brand new $60 million (Canadian) Colisee de Trois-Rivieres is nearing completion, but like everything else, it too has been affected by COVID-19 and it's opening will be delayed until December and not September as was initially hoped. So any team will have to start in 2021-22. The new building will have 4,390 seats and replaces the old Colisee that seated 2,700. That building was constructed in 1938 with 18 all-important corporate loge seats, two loge areas with universal access, and two VIP lounges. The Canadiens are looking to extend their brand throughout Quebec and have all their hockey ops their. They appeal to the francophone fan base and are very much interested. Their practice rink is in Brossard on the South Shore, and their AHL team is in Laval on the North Shore at Place Bell extending it so close to Quebec City 129 kilometers (80 miles) away would stamp the CH further north. The one hitch is they don’t want the ECHL's Newfoundland (St. John’s) Growlers owner Dean MacDonald involved. “The Canadiens are willing to commit to becoming the principal associate for an ECHL team franchise,” said Montreal VP of Hockey Ops and Legal Affairs, John Sedgwick in a letter to the Trois-Rivieres Mayor Jean Lamarche that appeared in a French-language publication Le Nouvelliste Trois-Rivieres on January 16th. In the same piece, France-Margaret Belanger, the Executive VP of Commercial Affairs for the Canadiens, made remarks to Lamarche stating that the Canadiens want to be involved, but the team wanted no affiliation with MacDonald, who helped run the AHL St. John’s IceCaps along with Glenn Stanford, when Montreal was there before the AHL team was moved to Laval. Former NHL’er and local native, Marc-Andre Bergeron, who's the owner of the local independent Can-AM minor league baseball team (the Aigles-Eagles), and a part NASCAR owner, has been hired by MacDonald’s group to work with the facility to become the main tenant. Perhaps they intend on purchasing an existing ECHL franchise and relocating them. That would seem like a logical business decision. Last week, in a virtual meeting, progress seemed to have been made between the city and the representatives to bring minor pro hockey to the new arena. “It was a very cordial meeting. It feels like we are on the same wavelength. It is moving forward. It remains complex as a file since there are catering, events, a ticket office that are involved, in particular, so there are points to be clarified before we can tie it all, except that I am confident that we are going in the right direction,” Bergeron stated. He is being assisted by consultant Mark Weightman, a former Montreal Alouettes executive at this meeting. “I think his presence was appreciated by the City. He can be useful in many sectors, with his experience. He was very involved in today's discussion.” in a story published by Le Nouvelliste Trois Rivieres on May 19th. Lamarche also wants the local college team at UQTR (the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivieres) Patriotes to play in the building, but the 14 home games in Canadian college hockey is not much, so a second major hockey tenant is needed. The QMJHL is available, but they have said the league is not interested in expanding the arena located at the junction of Route 55 and 40 and is 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) from Shawinigan. That Cataractes who had a great rivalry with the former Q team in the city, the Draveurs-Loggers (the first four years were called the Duc-Duke) (1969-1992) would need to be paid a territorial compensation if they went the junior route. The QMJHL Commissioner of 30 years, Gilles Courteau, is a big proponent of the ECHL team in TR as it will allow a first pro step in Quebec for Q players and those who want to take the collegiate route would have UQTR there as well in an article in publication Le Nouvelliste Trois-Rivieres on January 26th. The city of Montreal is 150 kilometers (93 miles) away and it makes perfect sense to have a team close enough to Laval for movement of several Canadiens prospects and injury recalls. Finding several regional owners for an ECHL team in Trois Rivieres should be fairly easy to share the hockey ops and business expenses with the Canadiens with their vast fortune chipping in to make the difference. The ECHL should also find good solid ownership to revive Manchester, NH market, and help complete the 32-32-32 hockey puzzle with the NHL and AHL that has been desired. The local rink, the Jean-Guy Talbot Arena was built in the 1960’s was named for the defenseman who played for the Canadiens from 1955-1967 and played over 1,000 NHL games. Jean Guy-Talbot 87, was the Rangers coach for one season (1977-78), the new Colisee will have a second rink to help local minor hockey. Read the full article

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jodyedgarus · 6 years ago

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Your Guide To The 2019 NCAA Women’s Tournament

The early release of the women’s NCAA tournament bracket on Monday afternoon actually did fans a favor: If any year merits having additional time to fill out a bracket, this year is it. Three different teams were ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll this season, and a storyline has been how open the competition was for the top spots in each region. ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel wrote on Monday night that this year’s NCAA tournament “might be as wide open as any since 2006,” with as many as seven teams that could legitimately cut down the net on April 7.

Luckily, FiveThirtyEight’s March Madness prediction model is here to guide you as you make your picks. You can read about how the model works here or keep reading to learn what the model predicts for the top seeds, which teams could make an unexpected run and which squads could bow out sooner than expected. We’re also highlighting the best first-round matchups to help you schedule your Friday and Saturday around women’s hoops.

Top seeds

The four No. 1 seeds are Baylor, Notre Dame, Louisville and Mississippi State. You read that right: UConn is not a top seed for the first time since 2006. But the Huskies are still a No. 2 seed, and they still got a regional nearby, in Albany, New York. The Huskies will host the first two rounds in Storrs, and their fans have packed Albany regionals for years — so they would essentially have home-court advantage until the Final Four. That’s a tough setup for the region’s No. 1 seed, Louisville, and the FiveThirtyEight model reflects that, giving UConn a 68 percent chance and Louisville a 24 percent chance of making the Final Four. But the Cardinals did beat UConn in January, as star guard Asia Durr scored a game-high 24 points. That win should give Louisville confidence as it chases its second straight Final Four appearance.

The selection committee created a similar setup out west, where Mississippi State is the No. 1 seed and Oregon is the No. 2. With each team hosting the first two rounds and the regional rounds being played in Portland, Oregon could make its first Final Four without leaving the state. The model gives the Ducks a 51 percent chance of doing just that behind triple-double queen Sabrina Ionescu, who could be the first pick in the WNBA draft if she declares. Mississippi State, which secured its No. 1 seed after winning its first-ever SEC tournament title, has a 44 percent chance of making the Final Four and a 10 percent chance of winning a national title. The latter would be a storybook ending for the national runners-up in each of the past two seasons.

The Greensboro, North Carolina, region is a hotbed of low-post talent, starting with the No. 1 overall seed in Baylor. The Lady Bears have had a dominant season to date, running their record to 31-1 and leading the nation in blocked shots, defensive rebounds and opponent field-goal percentage. The 6-foot-7 Kalani Brown and 6-foot-4 Lauren Cox have combined to average more than 28 points, 16 rebounds and 4 blocks per game. Not to be outdone, No. 2 seed Iowa has espnW’s national player of the year in 6-foot-3 Megan Gustafson. According to Her Hoop Stats, Gustafson is both the nation’s top scorer, putting up 28.0 points per game, and the nation’s most efficient scorer, recording 1.44 points per scoring attempt and shooting just under 70 percent from the field. There are several low-post standouts among the lower-seeded teams as well, but Baylor projects to be the best in Greensboro, with a 76 percent chance of making the Final Four.

Although Baylor is the No. 1 overall seed, it’s the top seed in the Chicago region, Notre Dame, that has the best chance of winning a national championship. The FiveThirtyEight model gives the defending champs a 30 percent chance of repeating and Baylor a 28 percent chance at its first title since 2012. The Fighting Irish returned all but one starter from last year’s team and then led the country in points per game while playing the nation’s toughest schedule. Notre Dame’s chief competition in Chicago will likely be No. 2 seed Stanford, the Pac-12 tournament champions and the only team to beat Baylor this season. Under head coach Tara VanDerveer, the Cardinal have a 56 percent chance to make the Elite Eight but just an 8 percent chance to advance to the Final Four.

Sleepers

A pair of 4-seeds could knock off some of the favorites in the Sweet 16. In Albany, Oregon State has a 21 percent chance of making the Elite Eight, potentially displacing Louisville, while South Carolina has a 10 percent chance of doing the same to Baylor in Greensboro. Oregon State finished third in what was perhaps the nation’s deepest conference, the Pac-12, and ranks fourth in the nation in 3-point shooting at 38.8 percent. If the Beavers, particularly star guard Destiny Slocum, get hot from deep, they could extend their stay on the East Coast to the Final Four. Under head coach and former Virginia point guard Dawn Staley, South Carolina also has electric guard play, which could set up a fascinating game of contrasts against Baylor in the Sweet 16. Don’t count Staley out as she chases her second national championship in the past three seasons.

Also in the Greensboro region, No. 3 North Carolina State has received relatively little attention compared with ACC rivals Louisville and Notre Dame despite starting the season 21-0. (NC State didn’t lose a game until February!) The Wolfpack would not have to leave their home state to make the Final Four, and the FiveThirtyEight model gives the team almost the same chances as No. 2 seed Iowa of advancing to the Elite Eight (40 percent versus 42 percent).

Busts

It’s perhaps a sign of progress that a mid-major team can even be considered for this category, but Gonzaga, the No. 5 seed in the Albany region, probably won’t see it that way if this prediction proves true. Gonzaga is vulnerable after two players suffered season-ending leg injuries in its conference tournament semifinal. The model still gives the Bulldogs an 87 percent chance of beating Arkansas-Little Rock, but a team that was ranked in the top 25 for parts of this season and had aspirations of hosting the first two rounds as a top-4 seed surely has its sights set higher than one NCAA tournament win.

No. 4 Texas A&M has also had injury concerns, although the school recently announced that leading scorer Chennedy Carter (22.5 points per game) will play in the NCAA tournament. She is returning from a hand injury, though, and if her shot isn’t falling, Texas A&M could struggle with a tough Wright State team that holds opponents to just 36.2 percent shooting, which ranks 24th in the nation.

Speaking of tough mid-major teams, the state of Florida has a couple that will start the NCAA tournament in Miami. No. 5 seed Arizona State can’t be happy about traveling all the way across the country to play No. 12-seed UCF in their backyard, and the Sun Devils have only a 69 percent chance of winning one game and a 26 percent chance of winning two games in the Sunshine State. Meanwhile, host and No. 4 seed Miami has an 82 percent chance of beating No. 13 seed Florida Gulf Coast, but there are signs of a potential upset here. FGCU is ranked only three spots behind Miami in the Her Hoop Stats ratings (the teams rank 28th and 25th, respectively) and is dangerous behind the arc: Nearly half of FGCU’s shot attempts are 3-pointers, which ranks second nationally, while Miami is letting teams score more than one-third of their points from three, which ranks 320th nationally.

Fun first-round matchups

If you’re looking for two senior stars trying to extend their careers, watch No. 8 seed California take on No. 9 seed North Carolina on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time. Kristine Anigwe has had a historic season for the Golden Bears and leads the nation in rebounding with 16.3 per game, including a 32-point, 30-rebound effort against Washington State two weeks ago. North Carolina ranks in the bottom third of teams nationally in rebounding rate, so one might predict a long afternoon for the Tar Heels, but their offensive firepower can keep them in any game. (Just ask Notre Dame and NC State, which both lost to North Carolina in the span of a week earlier this year.) Guard Paris Kea is the star (17.1 points per game), but three other players average double-figure scoring and a fourth averages 9.5 points per game.

FiveThirtyEight model’s prediction: California over North Carolina (64 percent)

If you’re looking for a battle between mid-major powerhouses, don’t miss No. 6 seed South Dakota State versus No. 11 seed Quinnipiac on Saturday at 11 a.m. Eastern time. Both teams have been to the tournament before: SDSU won its ninth automatic bid in 11 years this season, while QU is in for the fifth time in seven seasons and made a Sweet 16 appearance in 2017. SDSU boasts the Summit League’s all-time leading scorer in Macy Miller, who is averaging 18.1 points per game this season while shooting nearly 55 percent from the floor. But Quinnipiac could make things tough for Miller and the Jackrabbits: The Bobcats hold opponents to just 50.5 points per game, second-best in the nation, and their 11.5 steals per game rank sixth nationally. Whichever way this game goes, the winner could be a sleeper pick to knock off No. 3 Syracuse and make the Sweet 16.

FiveThirtyEight model’s prediction: South Dakota State over Quinnipiac (65 percent)

Finally, if you’re looking for toss-ups, the three games that our model gives the most even odds are:

No. 10 Buffalo vs. No. 7 Rutgers, Friday at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time (Buffalo has a 51 percent chance of winning)

No. 10 Auburn vs. No. 7 BYU, Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time (Auburn has a 55 percent chance of winning)

No. 6 UCLA vs. No. 11 Tennessee, Saturday at 1 p.m. Eastern time (UCLA has a 56 percent chance of winning)

Check out our latest March Madness predictions.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/your-guide-to-the-2019-ncaa-womens-tournament/

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jakehglover · 6 years ago

Text

How to Grow Sweet Alyssum

Flowers are more than just a pretty way to fill your garden. Apart from their aesthetic quality, they have the power to reduce stress and inspire creative thinking. You might even find yourself less anxious while admiring your garden.

Flowers are often given as gifts to friends and loved ones and many have natural scents when in bloom, providing you with a natural air freshener and room deodorizer. Some flowers, such as marigolds, are natural pest repellents for your garden.1 Others play an important role in the growth of more flowers, fruits and vegetables by attracting pollinators such as bees, butterflies and wasps.

A study published in Evolutionary Psychology from Rutgers University2 revealed flowers help to improve emotional health by improving feelings of life satisfaction and positive social behavior. Female participants in the study reported those positive feelings lasted for days.

In the same study, those who gave the flowers were perceived as happy, achieving and capable individuals who were more emotionally intelligent and appreciative of beauty and nature.3

In addition to brightening up a room, some flowers may also be used in tea or taken medicinally when used properly, such as rose, chamomile, evening primrose and pagoda flower.4 However, while Sweet Alyssum is beautiful in your landscape and may be tasty in your salad, it is not often used medicinally.5

History of Sweet Alyssum

Sweet Alyssum, (Lobularia maritima), also known as Sweet Alison, is indigenous to the Mediterranean region, including the Canary Islands and the Azores, growing along the coast in areas of full sun. A member of the mustard family, it is often added to salads in Spain for a vitamin C boost. Although some eat Sweet Alyssum, others may get a rash from handling it.6

The name alyssum is derived from the Greek language. Since the prefix "a-" negates the word following it and "lyssa" means rage, alyssa means "without rage."7 Those who named the flower may have had rabies in mind as it was used in folk medicine to treat the condition. In the language of flowers, Sweet Alyssum means "worth beyond beauty" or "sweetness of soul."8

Alyssum was found in gardens as far back as the 1500s and prized for their low forming growth and fragrant flowers. During the 1800s, the yellow variety enjoy popularity in the U.S. By the 1900s, the more fragrant white flowered variety grew in popularity and was recommended as a plant for attracting bees.9

Sweet Alyssum Is Best Known for White Flowers

youtube

The genus alyssum contains nearly 170 species of flowering plants in the Brassicaceae family. Most are annual or perennial herbaceous plants growing up to 100 cm (nearly 4 inches) high with yellow or white flowers. Although Sweet Alyssum is best known for the fragrant white-flowered type, the plant does come in a variety of other colors as shown in this short video, including:10

Easter Bonnet — This is an early blooming variety in lavender or white, blooming through the spring

Pastel Carpet — This is a blend of pink, lavender and cream colors, offering a subdued colorful variety to your garden

Snow Princess — This is a sterile hybrid with white flowers. It is extremely heat tolerant and noted for the characteristic of spreading and cascading

Blushing Princess — This has a fragrant flower and a lavender color, also heat tolerant growing up to 8 inches tall and spreading nearly 24 inches wide

Wonderland series — This type has a deep red color growing in a compact flat plant, excellent for edging as it only reaches up to 5 inches tall and spreads 24 inches across

Sweet Alyssum is a delicate carpet of tiny flowers with narrow lance-shaped leaves and flowers with tiny four-petal, cross shapes. Although an annual plant in many hardiness zones, those who live in areas with a mild winter may find they return easily as a perennial, or even bloom through the winter.

The plants easily self-seed, being carried by the wind through your yard. If you're planning to change varieties the following summer you may be surprised by several volunteers sprinkled throughout your garden.11

Planting and Caring for Your Hardy Annual Sweet Alyssum Flower

Alyssum prefers a rich soil with a neutral pH. They're easily started from seed and since they enjoy the cool weather, they can be sown directly into your garden several weeks before the last frost.12 Gardeners in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Hardiness Zones 7 through-1113 may have plants growing year-round.14

As long as it's not a hard freeze, your seeds will germinate and grow outdoors. However, if you'd like a large impact on your garden, start the seeds indoors five to six weeks before your last expected frost date.

Sowing seeds is done simply by scattering them on the ground and pressing down so they make good contact with the soil and aren't blown away. It is important the seeds are still exposed to light in order to germinate. Keep the soil moist until germination and then water whenever the soil feels dry. If you start indoors, don't transplant outside until after the danger of frost is past.15

Although it is somewhat frost tolerant once established, tender transplants do not fare well. In northern climates where the summers are cooler, the plants will enjoy full sunlight. However, in warmer climates, as you move further south, the plants need protection from the hot afternoon sun. This will extend blooming a little longer into the season.16

It requires a significant amount of energy for the plants to produce so many flowers. Once the weather gets very hot, Alyssum will stop blooming. The more heat- and drought-resistant plants may bloom longer into the hot weather.

Deadheading the plants will help them continue to bloom. This can sometimes be tedious if you have a large bed. With a large drift, you can shear them by one-third, encouraging the plants to set new buds quickly.

When planted in the ground, you may not need to add fertilizer unless the soil is poor. Planted in a container, alyssum will need more frequent watering and monthly feedings with an organic fertilizer. Alyssum makes a carpet-like ground cover that spreads and can create a living mulch under taller plants. They work well to fill in nooks and crannies on walkways and walls or along edges.17

Traditional Uses of Sweet Alyssum

Today, Alyssum is added to salads for flavor. However, there is a long list of traditional uses, some of which are not in current practice as the condition it was used to treat responds more consistently to other treatments. Rabies is one such example. Before using Alyssum for any health condition, consult with a knowledgeable practitioner and use it in moderate amounts.

Individuals who are allergic should avoid it entirely. That said, young leaves, flowers and stems can add flavor to your salad and other dishes, and the plant is commonly used in Spain as an astringent in the treatment of gonorrhea, and as a diuretic.18 Alyssum has also been used to treat:19

Abdominal pain

Colds and coughs

Pain from cavities and bleeding gums

Edema

Ascites (fluid in the abdomen)

Scurvy

Sweet Alyssum Helps Get Rid of Pests Naturally

Sweet Alyssum attract pollinators and butterflies,20 and are generally pest free. Occasionally, aphids can create a problem, especially when the plants are under stress. These are tiny insects known to pierce the stems of tender shoots and suck out nutrient-rich sap. Although an infestation may start out slowly, aphids reproduce quickly and a colony can easily destroy your garden if left untreated.

For minor infestations it might be possible to physically remove the insects using a pair of gardening gloves and a brush or pinch them off the plant. If the infestation is contained on one or two stalks, it is wise to prune off the affected portion, drop it in a bucket of soapy water and dispose of the plant material.21

If you have more bugs, it might be possible to use water pressure with the simple application of a garden hose. Make sure your plants are well-established and older as the pressure may harm younger, more fragile plants. The basic nature of mild household detergents makes it perfect to get rid of a mild or moderate aphid infestation.

Dilute a few tablespoons of dish soap and a bucket of lukewarm water and use a spray bottle or sponge to apply it to the plants where the aphids have taken hold. The soap dissolves the waxy coating from the aphid's body, which dehydrates the insect and eventually kills them without harming the plants.22

A cocktail of equal parts thyme, peppermint, clove and rosemary essential oils mixed in a small spray bottle of water is a potent insecticide against both the pest and their eggs and larvae.

Anytime you're treating for aphids, whether you're removing them manually using a garden hose or spraying on soapy water, make sure you treat the underside of the leaves where the eggs and larvae may be hiding.23

Planning Your Garden

Alyssum does well in borders or planted along a rock or stone wall. You may consider planting it to fill in gaps in your garden or as a living mulch around your trees. However, if these beautiful ground-covering flowers are part of a larger garden scheme, you may want to consider the following as companion plants:

• Blue Fortune (Giant Hyssop) — This drought- and heat-tolerant plant is generally disease- and pest-free. It displays lavender blue spikes from midsummer to early fall and is deer tolerant and low maintenance. When crushed, the aromatic foliage has an anise scent and can be used to flavor cold drinks.24

• Dahlia "David Howard" — These apricot orange flowers are set against dark purplish foliage. The flowers bloom massively from July until the first frost. They work well along borders and in containers and have a long vase life as cut flowers. Hardiness zones 3 through 7 may need to dig the Dahlia tubers in the fall before the first frost and store them over the winter to protect the plants.25

• Sedum Herbstfreude (Autumn Joy) — This vigorous flowering plant lasts more than six months and will remain attractive through the winter months in warmer climates. It stands 2 feet tall and wide, topped with tiny, starlight raspberry pink flowers that change to rich rose and copper rust in the fall.

They are best grown in full sun, but tolerate light shade and are attractive to bees, hummingbirds and butterflies. The plants are low maintenance, deer- and drought-resistant and heat tolerant.26

There are multiple health benefits to gardening, including improved emotional and mental health, cardiovascular exercise, stress relief, improved hand strength and dexterity and reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease.27 If you want to give it a try, the following apps may make quick and easy work out of planning your garden space.

Gardenize — This app allows you to choose your plants, upload your photos and take notes on your garden plan and growth. It's also a social platform where you can share your information with friends and ask questions of others.

Home Design 3D Outdoors — The free version allows you to make your plans but not save the information. Using an intuitive interface, the app shows your plan in 3D and allows you to edit your dimensions and add plants and lawn furniture.

Small Garden Ideas — This app helps you organize a small garden space, including an indoor garden or patio garden. Also included are ideas for vertical gardens, winter gardens and information on how to maintain your flowers and plants.

from HealthyLife via Jake Glover on Inoreader http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/12/07/growing-sweet-alyssum.aspx

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paullassiterca · 6 years ago

Text

How to Grow Sweet Alyssum

In the same study, those who gave the flowers were perceived as happy, achieving and capable individuals who were more emotionally intelligent and appreciative of beauty and nature.3

History of Sweet Alyssum

The name alyssum is derived from the Greek language. Since the prefix “a-” negates the word following it and “lyssa” means rage, alyssa means “without rage.”7 Those who named the flower may have had rabies in mind as it was used in folk medicine to treat the condition. In the language of flowers, Sweet Alyssum means “worth beyond beauty” or “sweetness of soul.”8

Sweet Alyssum Is Best Known for White Flowers

youtube

Easter Bonnet — This is an early blooming variety in lavender or white, blooming through the spring

Pastel Carpet — This is a blend of pink, lavender and cream colors, offering a subdued colorful variety to your garden

Snow Princess — This is a sterile hybrid with white flowers. It is extremely heat tolerant and noted for the characteristic of spreading and cascading

Blushing Princess — This has a fragrant flower and a lavender color, also heat tolerant growing up to 8 inches tall and spreading nearly 24 inches wide

Wonderland series — This type has a deep red color growing in a compact flat plant, excellent for edging as it only reaches up to 5 inches tall and spreads 24 inches across

The plants easily self-seed, being carried by the wind through your yard. If you’re planning to change varieties the following summer you may be surprised by several volunteers sprinkled throughout your garden.11

Planting and Caring for Your Hardy Annual Sweet Alyssum Flower

Alyssum prefers a rich soil with a neutral pH. They’re easily started from seed and since they enjoy the cool weather, they can be sown directly into your garden several weeks before the last frost.12 Gardeners in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Hardiness Zones 7 through-1113 may have plants growing year-round.14

As long as it’s not a hard freeze, your seeds will germinate and grow outdoors. However, if you’d like a large impact on your garden, start the seeds indoors five to six weeks before your last expected frost date.

Sowing seeds is done simply by scattering them on the ground and pressing down so they make good contact with the soil and aren’t blown away. It is important the seeds are still exposed to light in order to germinate. Keep the soil moist until germination and then water whenever the soil feels dry. If you start indoors, don’t transplant outside until after the danger of frost is past.15

Traditional Uses of Sweet Alyssum

Abdominal pain

Colds and coughs

Pain from cavities and bleeding gums

Edema

Ascites (fluid in the abdomen)

Scurvy

Sweet Alyssum Helps Get Rid of Pests Naturally

Dilute a few tablespoons of dish soap and a bucket of lukewarm water and use a spray bottle or sponge to apply it to the plants where the aphids have taken hold. The soap dissolves the waxy coating from the aphid’s body, which dehydrates the insect and eventually kills them without harming the plants.22

A cocktail of equal parts thyme, peppermint, clove and rosemary essential oils mixed in a small spray bottle of water is a potent insecticide against both the pest and their eggs and larvae.

Anytime you’re treating for aphids, whether you’re removing them manually using a garden hose or spraying on soapy water, make sure you treat the underside of the leaves where the eggs and larvae may be hiding.23

Planning Your Garden

• Dahlia “David Howard” — These apricot orange flowers are set against dark purplish foliage. The flowers bloom massively from July until the first frost. They work well along borders and in containers and have a long vase life as cut flowers. Hardiness zones 3 through 7 may need to dig the Dahlia tubers in the fall before the first frost and store them over the winter to protect the plants.25

They are best grown in full sun, but tolerate light shade and are attractive to bees, hummingbirds and butterflies. The plants are low maintenance, deer- and drought-resistant and heat tolerant.26

There are multiple health benefits to gardening, including improved emotional and mental health, cardiovascular exercise, stress relief, improved hand strength and dexterity and reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease.27 If you want to give it a try, the following apps may make quick and easy work out of planning your garden space.

Gardenize — This app allows you to choose your plants, upload your photos and take notes on your garden plan and growth. It’s also a social platform where you can share your information with friends and ask questions of others.

from Articles http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/12/07/growing-sweet-alyssum.aspx source https://niapurenaturecom.tumblr.com/post/180883218361

0 notes

junker-town · 5 years ago

Text

Bracketology 2020: The NCAA tournament field is suspiciously boring

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The No. 4 seeds have been revamped and plenty of newcomers are added to the field in our latest bracketology update.

While “balanced” and “unpredictable” have been the two adjectives used the most when describing the 2019-20 college basketball season, I’m going to throw in a third, far more contradictory one to describe the race for the NCAA tournament bracket’s four No. 1 seeds.

Boring.

For the fifth week in a row, the same four teams hold down the regional anchor spots, still in the same order the Selection Committee announced Feb. 8, first applied here seven days ago:

The 23-1 Baylor Bears, No. 2 in the NET, ranked first overall and placed in Houston’s South regional.

The Bears’ closest Big 12 rivals, the 22-3 Kansas Jayhawks, fourth in the NET but boasting 10 Quad 1 victories, seeded second overall and placed in the Midwest regional in Indianapolis.

The WCC-leading Gonzaga Bulldogs, 26-1 and the NET’s third-ranked squad, anchor the West regional in Los Angeles.

Finally, the nation’s lone undefeated team, the San Diego State Aztecs, 25-0 against Division I opposition and atop the NET table. As the fourth overall No. 1 seed, they’re assigned to the East regional in New York.

And you could argue that the stability of the top line is creeping into the two line, as the Duke Blue Devils, now atop the ACC standings, and Dayton Flyers, 23-2 and a perfect 12-0 in Atlantic 10 play so far, have cemented themselves as the bracket’s fifth- and sixth-ranked teams.

Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Look for Maryland to make a serious push toward the top line over the season’s final weeks.

But the two teams ranked immediately behind Duke and Dayton are positioned to chase both of them down and potentially pass San Diego State on the top line. First, the Maryland Terrapins moved to 21-4 overall and seventh in the NET after Saturday evening’s thrilling road victory over the Michigan State Spartans. That was the Terps’ eighth straight win. Bolstering their case, Maryland’s final five games (after Tuesday’s visit from Northwestern) are all set to be profile-boosting Quad 1 contests. Then there are the Florida State Seminoles, also sitting at 21-4. Leonard Hamilton’s club has only lost to Duke and Virginia (both on the road) since the New Year, and their most difficult remaining game, against Louisville, comes in Tallahassee. However, the weakness of this year’s ACC might limit the Seminoles’ ceiling, a deficiency reflected in their NET ranking of 15th — eight spots lower than Maryland. However, if FSU can win the ACC tournament title? That result could be a game-changer for the ‘Noles.

But once you get away from the top two seed lines, the boredom suddenly vanishes and this season’s trademark wackiness returns with a vengeance.

Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

WYD, Louisville?

Three of today’s No. 3 seeds lost two games over the last week. Louisville lost its spot on the two line after dropping back-to-back road contests to Georgia Tech and Clemson Tigers. The Seton Hall Pirates fell to the Creighton Bluejays, now a four seed, in a thriller in Newark on Wednesday, then dug themselves too deep of a hole at Providence on Saturday. Then there are the West Virginia Mountaineers, who failed to score in the final five minutes of Kansas’ midweek visit, then lost by 11 at Baylor on Saturday. This week’s new No. 3 seed, the Villanova Wildcats, were the exception, as they defeated Marquette in Big East play, then finished off a 4-0 Big Five campaign by defeating Temple on the road.

Villanova replaces Auburn, who drop to an all-new four line. While Bruce Pearl’s team was able to avenge an earlier loss to Alabama on Wednesday, Saturday’s 85-73 loss at Missouri wasn’t a great follow-up. Creighton, an Oregon squad that swept past Colorado and Utah, and Penn State, winners of eight in a row, fill the remaining places in the top 16.

After today’s full bracket and rundown, I’ll take a look at the cut line and explain why one of this bracket’s new entrants finds itself somewhat safely above the fray.

Note: New entrants are marked with an asterisk (*) and arrows indicate a team’s movement up or down the bracket.

Full seed list

1. South Region (Houston)

St. Louis, Missouri (Thu./Sat.)

1. Baylor (Big 12) vs. *16. Robert Morris (NEC)/Norfolk State (MEAC) ↓8. Illinois vs. 9. Rhode Island

Tampa, Florida (Thu./Sat.)

↓5. Butler vs. 12. Yale (Ivy) ↓4. Auburn vs. 13. North Texas (C-USA)

Albany, New York (Thu./Sat.)

↑6. Ohio State vs. 11. Virginia 3. Villanova vs. 14. Colgate (Patriot)

Greensboro, North Carolina (Fri./Sun.)

↓7. LSU vs. 10. Oklahoma 2. Maryland (Big Ten) vs. *15. Austin Peay (OVC)

4. East Region (New York)

Sacramento, California (Fri./Sun.)

1. San Diego State (MW) vs. 16. Montana (Big Sky) ↑8. Xavier vs. ↓9. Texas Tech

Omaha, Nebraska (Fri./Sun.)

↓5. Kentucky (SEC) vs. ↓12. Northern Iowa (MVC) ↑4. Penn State vs. ↓13. Stephen F. Austin (Southland)

Albany (Thu./Sat.)

↑6. Arizona vs. *11. Cincinnati (American) 3. Seton Hall (Big East) vs. 14. Hofstra (CAA)

Greensboro (Fri./Sun.)

↑7. Michigan vs. ↑10. Wichita State 2. Duke (ACC) vs. 15. South Dakota State (Summit)

2. Midwest Region (Indianapolis)

Omaha (Fri./Sun.)

1. Kansas vs. *16. Prairie View A&M (SWAC)/Saint Peter’s (MAAC) 8. Houston vs. 9. Saint Mary’s

Spokane, Washington (Thu./Sat.)

↑5. Michigan State vs. *12. Furman (SoCon) ↑4. Oregon (Pac-12) vs. 13. UC Irvine (Big West)

St. Louis (Thu./Sat.)

↓6. Iowa vs. ↓*11. USC/ETSU ↓3. Louisville vs. 14. Winthrop (Big South)

Cleveland (Fri./Sun.)

7. Wisconsin vs. *10. Georgetown 2. Dayton (A 10) vs. 15. Bowling Green (MAC)

3. West Region (Los Angeles)

Spokane (Thu./Sat.)

1. Gonzaga (WCC) vs. 16. North Florida (ASUN) ↑8. Rutgers vs. ↑9. Florida

Sacramento (Fri./Sun.)

5. Colorado vs. ↑12. Vermont (Amer. East) ↑4. Creighton vs. 13. New Mexico State (WAC)

Cleveland (Fri./Sun.)

6. Marquette vs. ↓11. Arizona State/Richmond 3. West Virginia vs. 14. Wright State (Horizon)

Tampa (Thu./Sat.)

↓7. BYU vs. ↓10. Purdue ↑2. Florida State vs. 15. Little Rock (Sun Belt)

Rundown

Bids by conference: 10 Big Ten, 7 Big East, 5 Pac-12, 5 Big 12, 4 ACC, 4 SEC, 3 AAC, 3 A 10, 3 WCC, 2 SoCon, 22 one-bid conferences

Last four byes: Purdue, Wichita State, Oklahoma, Virginia Last four in: USC, Arizona State, ETSU, Richmond First four out: Arkansas, Indiana, Alabama, Utah State Next four out: Stanford, VCU, NC State, Mississippi State

Lowest-ranked NET at-large: Virginia (55) Highest-ranked NET exclusion: Alabama (36)

New today (7/68): Austin Peay, Cincinnati, ETSU, Georgetown, Norfolk State, Richmond, Saint Peter’s Leaving today: Arkansas, Indiana, Murray State, NC Central, Rider, Stanford, VCU

Bracket notes

Placing the No. 4 seeds in today’s bracket was a challenge, as Creighton cannot play In Omaha over the first weekend and the Bluejays also had to be separated from Seton Hall and Villanova. To preserve the appropriate amount of balance between the regions, I put Creighton in the West and Oregon in the Midwest, when the two could have been placed in their natural regions.

There are some truly spectacular potential second-round matchups here: Auburn-Butler, Villanova-Ohio State, and Maryland-LSU in the South; Oregon-Michigan State, Dayton-Wisconsin, and Louisville-Iowa in the Midwest; Creighton-Colorado, West Virginia-Marquette, and BYU-FSU in the West; Penn State-Kentucky, Arizona-Seton Hall, and Duke-Michigan in the East.

But some of those matchups might never happen because of stacked first-round pods. Both Butler and Auburn would be pushed in their projected opening matchups, against Yale and North Texas. Ohio State would need to get past 2019’s champs to reach the Round of 32. Iowa and Marquette would both need to defeat dangerous First Four winners. Colorado and Kentucky would face potentially tricky No. 5 vs. No. 12 games, while Penn State is paired with a Stephen F. Austin squad that won at Duke.

This week’s top-two Elite Eight matchups would likely start in Los Angeles on Saturday with Gonzaga and Florida State meeting for the third straight year, then a Kansas-Dayton Maui rematch in Indianapolis. Sunday’s doubleheader would tip off with Baylor and Maryland in Houston, followed by San Diego State-Duke at Madison Square Garden.

Welcome Georgetown, ETSU, Richmond and Cincinnati!

Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports

Georgetown somehow won at Butler on Saturday, despite missing two key players due to injury.

There are three new at-large entrants in today’s bracket and a new American Athletic Conference leader, the Cincinnati Bearcats, filling a fourth such spot. And while the Richmond Spiders, completely new today, and East Tennessee State Buccaneers, who first entered the projected field in Friday’s bubble update, sit just above the cut line, today’s fourth newcomer, the Georgetown Hoyas, find themselves as the top No. 10 seed. This is particularly impressive since Patrick Ewing’s squad was the ninth team out on Friday.

The Hoyas’ rise illustrates how narrow the margins are near 2020’s cut line and how quickly things can change this season. For starters, Saturday’s impressive, unexpected win at Butler was Georgetown’s second top-20 win. Plus, recent improvement by two of the Hoyas’ non-conference opponents, SMU and Oklahoma State, have resulted in Georgetown picking up two more Quad 1 wins, moving their record against that group to 5-9. And with the Hoyas’ NET now ranking 46th and their profile lacking any truly bad losses, it’s no surprise they made a quick jump to relevance.

It’s a similar story for Richmond, which edged out Alabama — despite a loss in Tuscaloosa — an Arkansas club that’s lost four straight and an Indiana squad that’s just won once in its last six outings to secure today’s final at-large. While the Spiders recorded a dominant home win over archrival VCU on Saturday, it’s their work away from the Robins’ Center that’s boosted them above their power-conference competition. Sure, Chris Mooney’s team defeated Wisconsin in the Legends Classic before Thanksgiving, but it also has a 7-2 record in true road games, highlighted by a 69-61 victory on the home floor of the Atlantic 10’s second-best team, Rhode Island. On the other hand, Alabama is 3-6 in true road games, Arkansas 4-5 and Indiana a woeful 1-6.

Of course, things could very well change for Richmond — and several other teams — by the time Friday’s bubble update arrives. In the meantime, you can check out my nightly TV previews on Blogging the Bracket and listen to my bracketology interviews on the College Basketball Coast to Coast podcast and SB Nation Radio’s Pushing the Odds with Matt Perrault.

0 notes

paulie702-blog · 7 years ago

Photo

Edible Plants to Kitchen Table

March 27, 2018

Sin City Life Media

"Edible Plants to Kitchen Table"

My love for the great outdoors along with great Chefs inspiration. The forge for wild and edible herbs, flowers, and plants has been implemented in menu all over the world. Since almost the beginning of time we have had these amazing outdoor flavors. And now in the outdoor kitchens. My recent outdoor adventure brings me to more use of these amazing ingredient’s Cattail, Clovers, Chickweed, Curled Dock, Dandelion Greens. The modern survivalist menu with above ingredients.

To the kitchen I most go! What’s on the next menu? Southeast Edibles!

1 Wikihow Steps Know where the best food is, depending on where you live. Keep in mind that if you live in a humid region, the majority of wild food will be in the sun – whether clearing or ‘edge’. In a dry region, such as the Southwest of the USA, most of the wild food will be near water.

2 Pick up a local plant guidebook. Get guides to the most common edible plants in your area, typically referred to as “weeds.” Learn the top 20 or 25 and try to memorize them — they might come in handy later.

3 Start with the number-one habitat for wild edible plants — your lawn. Any place that is regularly cleared is potentially loaded with weeds such as dandelion, chickweed, plantain, wild onion, violets, wood sorrel, henbit, clover, dead-nettle and sow thistle — all of which are 100% edible. Some of these may be called something different where you live or are foraging for food.

Do not start with grass, as not all grass is edible (for example, bamboo contains cyanogenic glycosides which your body metabolizes into hydrogen cyanide). (although it is not advisable for those with a weak stomach) Anything under 6″ is easy to chew and digest. The flavor ranges from intensely sweet to mild to bitter – anyone who’s tasted a shot of wheatgrass knows just how sweet grass can be. Grass that’s over 6″ can either be chewed for juice and spit out, or run through a manual wheatgrass juicer for a healthy shot.

Many grasses have edible seeds as well but it’s better to learn to identify a specific plant rather than learn iffy tips.

4 Visit other areas that are regularly cleared. Try roadsides (note warning below), fields, parks, and so on. They will also have tons of edible plants. Chickweed can be picked by the bucketful.

Dandelion (taraxacum officinale): The young unfolding greens in the center are great raw. The entire plant can be steamed. The flower is the best part. Pick it off the stem, and with your fingers pinch off the green base of the flower, so there’s no white sap (the sap is very bitter). You’re left with a sweet, meaty, filling wild food that can be found in incredible abundance. Also, you can throw a few of them into a pot to boil some dandelion tea.

Chickweed (stellaria media): The entire plant can be eaten raw. It has a sweet, grassy flavor. If you want to avoid the stems, and eat mostly the new growth, pluck off the tops and eat those.

Wood Sorrel (oxalis spp): The whole plant is great raw – it has a nice acid flavor, refreshing. The flowers of the cosmopolitan weeds are yellow, but many varieties grow in the wild with pinkish flowers. If you eat it, try the stem, but not the red part as it and the leaves are bitter. This is a plant extremely common not only in lawns and cleared areas, but also deep in the wilderness. It should not be consumed in great quantity as it contains relatively high levels of oxalic acid, which, while is vital for humans, may cause the gastrointestinal upset or illness when consumed in large amounts.

Henbit (lamium amplexicaule): Another plant entirely edible raw. It’s a Lamium, a very mild mint. Like chickweed, it has a sweet, grassy flavor – pluck off the tops to avoid the stems. This plant will form huge carpets in places, very early in the year, with an understory of chickweed beneath it.

Dead-nettle (lamium purpureum): Another Lamium, just like henbit. It’s eaten the same way – and will also form huge carpets covering the ground, especially in spring.

Plantain (plantago lanceolata): Young leaves in the center are good raw – have a slight salty flavor. There’s both a common and an English plantain, that are very similar.

Sow thistle (sonchus spp): The young leaves are decent – treat it like dandelion, and try to avoid the bitter latex sap. Sow thistle has excellent yellow flowers very similar to dandelion, yet even better, that’s prepared the same way and eaten raw. Unlike dandelion, sow thistle has an upright stalk and a more prickly-looking thistle-like appearance.

Wild onion (allium spp): Very common in areas that are mowed. A very mild onion that is excellent raw. Harvest bunches of it and use it just like scallions.

Cress (cardamine spp): This is one of the many wild plants in the mustard family common in cities. When young, the leaves are excellent raw, with a mild mustard flavor. As they get older the full plants can be steamed, just as you would prepare mustard greens at home.

5 Look for berries on ornamental shrubs, such as this silverberry. Ebbing’s silverberry is frequently planted in cities as bushes and hedges – but it will escape into any disturbed habitat and form thickets. The stems, foliage, and berries are all speckled with silver. The red berries are excellent when fully ripe.

6 Look for berries on trees. Even in the dead of winter, such as on this laurelcherry. Like most wild cherries, these have a long ripening process and aren’t fully ripe until the fruit starts to soften and shrivel.

7 Check out ornamental trees. These are planted for their showy flowers — those flowers can lead to fruit, such as cherries or crab apples or plums. They may be small, but can be very tasty.

8 Look for nuts beneath trees. Walnuts and hickory nuts can be smashed open with a rock and the edible flesh picked out. Fresh nuts are wet and filling and easy to digest, with a lot of flavor. Acorns are abundant beneath oaks — if the oak has round-lobed leaves, the acorns will need minimal to no processing. Some white oak acorns will have no tannin at all. And keep in mind you get used to it and stop noticing it after the first few — it’s how pigeons eat so many acorns.

9 Find fruiting trees. Check roadsides (note warning below), forest edges, and beside water for fruiting trees. Fruit needs sun to ripen – there’s not much fruit in deep woods. The ‘edges’ of any environment are the most productive – trees are fertilized and keep a moisture and humidity from the forest behind them, but have access to full sun at the edge of a clearing or waterway. This is where you will find fruit like persimmons, wild apples, mulberries, autumn olives, hackberries and so on.

10 Look for plants that grow in wet areas. Search bodies of water for signs of cattail, bulrush, and watercress. Cattail typically needs an area of stagnant water to thrive, though it will grow in streamsides. Cattail can be in preposterous abundance in lakes and bays. The shoots are wonderful raw, and the pollen in early summer tastes like cake flour. You can gather whole bags of it. Its pollen is so nutritious it’s considered a “superfood.”

11 Nibble on safe flowers. Sample the flower petals of plants you know to be nonpoisonous. Flowers are often very mild to sweet and full of antioxidants. Some excellent blooms are daylilies, violets and honeysuckle. DO NOT EAT AZALEAS! Azaleas are deathly poisonous. The base of flowers can be strong to bitter (and in the case of some, such as Wisteria, toxic) — it’s better to break off petals and not eat the green material.

12 Check out thorny brambles for food. Rose, blackberry, raspberry, and greenbriar are good examples. Rose has edible hips (the common weedy thicket-forming multiflora rose is the best – the hip is small and tangy), blackberry/raspberry has berries, and greenbriar shoots and tendrils, as well as berries that are rather tasteless but still edible. Below is a multiflora rose.

13 Learn your vines so that you can distinguish grape. Wild grapes are found throughout the U.S. and are one of the best wild foods. There’s a variety which you will see everywhere throughout the South of the US called “muscadine” — the grapes are thick-skinned and very large, with a flavor like bubble gum. Wild grapes have both edible leaves and tendrils as well as fruit — the leaves can be steeped in apple cider vinegar and used to make dolmas. Muscadine leaves are tougher and benefit from a week-long glass jar ferment. Grape vines also make very sturdy baskets.

14 Find deciduous leaves. Try the deciduous leaves of trees like linden, sassafras, Boxelder, sourwood – all are excellent raw. Beech leaves are also highly edible when young, for the first 2 to 4 weeks. You can pull whole salads off the trees. Linden leaves are so large they can be used as tortillas.

15 Pick the new growth off conifers in the spring. The young green shoots at the tips of the branches are great raw – a pleasant acid taste. The male pollen cones on conifers are also edible – some are very sweet. And again, it’s pollen – extremely nutritious. Many species of pine have edible nuts in the cones in late summer to fall.

#cookslife #sincitylifemedia #sociallife #creative

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investmart007 · 7 years ago

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NCAA Latest: Clemson surges to tighten with Kansas

New Post has been published on https://www.stl.news/ncaa-latest-clemson-surges-tighten-kansas/102456/

NCAA Latest: Clemson surges to tighten with Kansas

/March 23, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) —

The Latest on the NCAA Tournament (all times Eastern):

9:15 p.m.

Down by 20 points at one point in the second half, Clemson has used a 26-12 surge to pull within 74-68 in its Midwest Region semifinal against Kansas.

Shelton Mitchell’s thunderous dunk forced the Jayhawks to call timeout with 2:27 left.

___

9:10 p.m.

The lineups are out for the Purdue-Texas Tech game and Isaac Hass isn’t in it.

The Boilermakers center broke his elbow in their NCAA tournament opener and hasn’t played since. That hasn’t stopped him from trying, though.

He’s been out on the court practicing with his teammates, trying to prove to coach Matt Painter that he can contribute at least a few minutes. The Purdue engineering department was even on the job, working up a special brace that was approved by the NCAA.

But Painter said Haas can’t play unless he can rebound with two hands and shoot a free throw right-handed. Haas couldn’t do that, as of Thursday.

Redshirt freshman Matt Haarms was listed in the lineup instead.

___

9:02 p.m.

The players are getting a bit of a history lesson at this year’s East regional in Boston.

The banners honoring the Celtics and Bruins championships and retired numbers were allowed to remain in the rafters at the TD Garden this year — a change from previous events here.

“Part of the allure of being in Boston is playing beneath our championship banners,” TD Garden president Amy Latimer said. “We are proud to have them on display and part of the student-athlete experience.”

When NCAA tournament last came to town in 2012, the banners were replaced by ones noting past college basketball champions. The 17 Celtics championship banners and six for the Bruins were brought to a Salvation Army facility, where fans lined up to take pictures with them.

The Celtics also have three banners to honor their 23 retired numbers. The Bruins have retired 10 numbers.

___

9 p.m.

Clemson is trying to get back into its Midwest Region semifinal game against Kansas after falling behind by 20 points.

The lead was down to 13 with 5:57 left. Malik Newman led Kansas with 16 points. The Jayhawks were shooting 51 percent from the floor to 43 percent for Clemson.

___

8:40 p.m.

Kansas’ perimeter shooting is starting to heat up, and the top-seeded Jayhawks have opened a 60-42 lead over fifth-seeded Clemson with about 13 minutes left in their Midwest Region semifinal.

Lagerald Vick, Malik Newman and Devonte Graham hit 3-pointers in the first 1:07 of the second half as the Jayhawks went ahead by 20 points. Kansas is 4 for 5 from distance the first five minutes of the half after going 4 of 13 in the opening 20 minutes.

Gabe Devoe has scored a game-high 20 points for the Tigers, who are shooting just 39.5 percent from the floor.

— Eric Olson reporting from Omaha, Nebraska

___

8:37 p.m.

East Region top seed Villanova leads fifth-seeded West Virginia 44-42 following a fast-paced first half. Jalen Brunson leads all scorers with 16 points. West Virginia got 11 points from Daxter Miles. There were just four lead changes in the half.

The Wildcats came out firing, connecting on their first seven field goals. They handled the Mountaineers’ pressure early. But the Wildcats had three turnovers over a 1:05 stretch during an 8-0 Mountaineers run that briefly put them in front 33-30.

Villanova finished with 10 turnovers for the half. But the Wildcats were able to take a lead into the locker room thanks in part to 6 of 13 shooting from the 3-point line. West Virginia holds an 18-14 rebounding edge.

Both teams have key players with foul issues. Brunson and Mikal Bridges for Villanova and Jevon Carter for West Virginia have two apiece.

— Kyle Hightower, reporting from Boston

____

8:15 p.m.

Press Virginia is causing all kinds of problems for Villanova.

The Mountaineers have applied full-court pressure after every basket, and it helped them open a 35-33 lead with 3:30 left in the first half of the regional semifinal. The press caused three Villanova turnovers in a stretch of 65 seconds that helped West Virginia run off eight points in a row.

In all, the Wildcats had nine turnovers and West Virginia had five steals late in the first half.

Bob Huggins said on Thursday he thinks his team would benefit from a fast-paced game.

This one’s on its way.

___

8:10 p.m.

It’s a tight game so far in the East Region semifinal between Villanova and West Virginia.

The top-seeded Wildcats are being tested by the fifth-seeded Mountaineers’ pressure defense. Each team had six turnovers with about 5 minutes left.

The Mountaineers then went on an 8-0 run to take a 33-30 lead.

___

8:05 p.m.

Top-seeded Kansas is capitalizing on its mismatch in the post with Udoka Azubuike and Silvio De Sousa and leads fifth-seeded Clemson 40-27 at halftime of their Midwest Region semifinal.

The two Jayhawks have combined for 16 points, with four dunks, on 7-of-9 shooting. They scored six points as the Jayhawks closed on a 15-5 run and held Clemson without a field goal for 6 minutes.

Clemson’s season scoring leader, Marcquise Reed, didn’t make his first basket until a minute was left in the half. A flagrant-1 foul was called on the play on Clemson’s Elijah Thomas, who pushed his left forearm into Silvio De Sousa’s head under the basket as Reed was shooting.

De Sousa made the free throws and Lagerald Vick followed with a 3-pointer to put the Jayhawks up 13 at the break.

The Clemson-Kansas winner plays in the regional final Sunday against the winner of Friday night’s other semifinal between second-seeded Duke and 11th-seeded Syracuse.

— Eric Olson reporting from Omaha, Nebraska

___

7:50 p.m.

Clemson has gone cold in the Midwest Region semifinal against top-seeded Kansas.

Kansas leads 33-22 with 2 1/2 minutes left in the first half after the Tigers have missed 8 of their last 9 shots.

The Jayhawks have hit 6 of 8 after opening the game 8 for 20.

The 7-foot, 280-pound Udoka Azubuike is controlling the inside against Clemson’s 6-9, 237-pound Elijah Thomas and 6-9, 232-pound Mark Donnal.

Azubuike and his backup, Silvio De Sousa, have combined for 14 points and four dunks on 7-of-9 shooting.

Clemson is shooting 36 percent and has committed eight turnovers.

— Eric Olson reporting from Omaha, Nebraska

___

7:36 p.m.

Svi Mykhailiuk’s 3-pointer and Silvio De Sousa’s dunk off a lob from Devonte Graham has helped Kansas create some separation after Clemson pulled within a point of the Jayhawks in the Midwest Region semifinal.

Clemson erased most of an early 11-4 deficit to pull to 20-19. Mykhailiuk hit a 3 from the wing, and after Mark Donnal missed a jumper on the other end, Graham led De Sousa perfectly for the Jayhawks’ third dunk of the game. There’s about 7 minutes left in the first half.

Malik Newman leads the Jayhawks with seven points, and Donnal has seven for the Tigers.

___

7:35 p.m.

Villanova is off to a fast start in the Sweet 16.

The top-seeded Wildcats opened their regional semifinal matchup against fifth-seeded West Virginia by hitting their first six field-goal attempts for a 14-11 lead with about 15 minutes left in the first half.

Purdue and Texas Tech face off in the other East Region semifinal in Boston.

___

7:15 p.m.

The CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska, looks like Allen Fieldhouse North as top-seeded Kansas faces fifth-seeded Clemson in the Midwest Region semifinals.

The upper and lower bowls of the 17,500-seat arena are mostly blue. One section of the lower bowl is filled with fans in the orange of Clemson.

Omaha is a 3 1/2-hour drive from the Jayhawks’ campus in Lawrence, Kansas.

The Clemson-Kansas winner will go to the Elite Eight and face the winner of Friday night’s second Midwest semifinal between No. 2 seed Duke and 11th-seeded Syracuse.

Kansas had an 11-6 lead with 14:45 left in the first half.

—Eric Olson reporting from Omaha, Nebraska.

___

6:55 p.m.

The NCAA has tweaked its interpretation of a rule that allows padding to cover braces worn on the elbow, wrist or forearm.

The change could allow Purdue center Isaac Haas to play in Friday night’s Sweet 16 matchup with Texas Tech, though it still remains a long shot. The star center has been sidelined since he fractured his right elbow in the Boilermakers’ first-round NCAA Tournament win.

An initial version of a protective brace for Haas was ruled ineligible for the NCAAs because of a rigid metal component that it felt was a safety hazard to other players. Graduate engineering students at Purdue constructed a softer version using carbon fiber and shipped it to Haas on Tuesday.

But one of Purdue coach Matt Painter’s markers for considering whether Haas would be able to play was if he could rebound using both hands and be able to shoot with it as well. Haas practiced Thursday, but displayed very limited mobility in the injured elbow, keeping it mostly at a 90-degree angle during the workout.

He performed a right-handed layup, but never attempted a jump shot during the 15-minute portion open to the media.

— Kyle Hightower, reporting from Boston

___

6:30 p.m.

Move over underdog darlings: It’s time for some of college basketball’s blue bloods to take the stage in the Sweet 16.

Villanova, Kansas, Duke and Syracuse all tip off their regional semifinal games Friday night. All four schools have national titles.

The action tips off with Clemson taking on Kansas in the Midwest. Four teams will join West finalists Florida State and Michigan, and East finalists Kansas State and Loyola-Chicago to round out the Elite Eight.

Power names in action means Friday night might actually be good for some wins for your long-busted bracket (if you haven’t given up on it just yet).

Unlike the South region, where one-tenth of 1 percent of ESPN bracketeers correctly selected Loyola-Chicago and Kansas State to make it this far, teams like Purdue, Villanova and Kansas are highly popular picks to reach the regional final.

___

6 p.m.

The second half of the Sweet 16 is rife with compelling matchups.

Villanova’s Jalen Brunson vs. West Virginia’s Jevon Carter. Duke’s athletes trying to solve Syracuse’s zone. The athleticism of Kansas and Clemson.

Should make for some more drama in the NCAA Tournament on Friday night.

The marquee matchup comes in the East Region Friday in Boston, where Villanova, one of two No. 1 seeds remaining, faces the team nicknamed Press Virginia.

The Wildcats have been on a tear, making 31 combined 3-pointers in lopsided opening NCAA Tournament wins over Radford and Alabama. Villanova (32-4) has been even better on defense, holding its first two opponents to 37 percent shooting and less than 60 points per game.

West Virginia (26-10) is known for its defense, but rode its hot-shooting offense into the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years.

Syracuse (23-13) faces its toughest test yet against the Blue Devils (28-7) in Omaha. Duke has a superb inside-out game with super frosh Marvin Bagley III in the middle and is averaging 85 points per game in the tournament.

Purdue’s 7-foot-2 standout Isaac Haas is hoping to get in the game against Texas Tech, thanks to an arm brace quickly engineered by grad students in hopes of meeting NCAA safety standards.

And Kansas (29-7), the top seed in the Midwest, faces fifth-seeded Clemson (25-9) on a roll after a 31-point rout of Auburn.

___

By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (Z.S)

___

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jodyedgarus · 6 years ago

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Your Guide To The 2019 NCAA Men��s Tournament

The NCAA tournament is finally here! Will we see another No. 16 seed beat a No. 1 seed? Will Gonzaga finally win its first national championship? Will Zion Williamson’s shoe explode again? We can’t tell you exactly what will happen over the next three weeks, but we can help steer you in the right direction when picking your bracket using our March Madness prediction model. You can read about how the system works here, and read on to learn what the model has to say about the top seeds’ fates, dark horses and Cinderellas to watch, and favorites to avoid. Let the madness begin…

East region

Top seed outlook: According to the FiveThirtyEight model, top seed Duke has the best chance of advancing to the Final Four in the entire field (53 percent probability) as well as the best odds of winning the national title (19 percent).

The Blue Devils are led by four soon-to-be first-round draft picks, including Zion Williamson, one of the greatest talents in recent memory. Duke is a walking highlight reel on the offensive end and far stingier on defense than many may realize. This is among Mike Krzyzewski’s most-balanced teams and projects to be his first since 2010 to rank inside the top six in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted offense and defense metrics. That team won the national title.1

What this team lacks, however, is touch along the perimeter. Duke shoots a ghastly 30.2 percent from beyond the arc, the worst mark among tournament-qualifying teams. In an offensive era increasingly dominated by space and perimeter scoring, the Blue Devils could buck the trend punishing the rim.

On the other side of the region is the winner of the Big Ten conference tournament, Michigan State. As their reward, the No. 2 Spartans have the honor of a potential matchup against the top overall seed in the Elite Eight. Head coach Tom Izzo was none too pleased. The Spartans have been pummeled by injuries but remain one of the most balanced teams in the country, ranking inside the top eight in Pomeroy’s adjusted offense and defense metrics.

Sneaky Final Four pick: No. 4 Virginia Tech. Led by the star pairing of Kerry Blackshear Jr. and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, the Hokies are a balanced squad that ranks among Pomeroy’s Top 25 teams on both offense and defense. Although they’ve lost eight times, only two of those were by double-digits. Virginia Tech also has a not-altogether-unfriendly draw, with extremely winnable opening games against Saint Louis (87 percent) and the Mississippi State-Liberty winner (63 percent) before most likely running into Duke’s juggernaut. We give the Hokies a respectable 25 percent chance against the Blue Devils — and a 54 percent chance against whoever emerges from the bottom of the region if they do manage to knock off Duke.

Don’t bet on: No. 3 LSU. With coach Will Wade embroiled in a pay-for-play scandal and his team probably overvalued as a 3-seed, the Bayou Bengals could be ripe for an upset in this tournament. They ranked only 18th in Pomeroy’s ratings — roughly the quality of a No. 5 seed — thanks in large part to a defense that didn’t even crack the nation’s top 60 in adjusted efficiency. (This showed up in the 51 second-half points they allowed to Florida while losing their first game of the SEC tournament.) Their NCAA path isn’t very easy, either: Yale is no pushover as a No. 14 seed, nor is potential second-round opponent Maryland, and we give the Tigers a mere 26 percent chance of beating Michigan State if the teams meet in the Sweet Sixteen. This is easily the lowest-rated top-three seed in the field.

Cinderella watch: No. 11 Belmont. The East is top-heavy, with Duke and Michigan State soaking up most of the Final Four odds. But the Bruins are an intriguing lower-seeded team because of an impressive offense led by do-everything swingman Dylan Windler. According to Pomeroy, Belmont ranks 20th in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency (and second nationally in raw points per game behind Gonzaga), while Windler was one of only three players nationally to average 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. Although the Bruins do have to win a play-in game against Temple just to make the field of 64 — we give them a 59 percent chance — they would have a very competitive 39 percent probability of upsetting Maryland in the first round and an even better chance against the LSU/Yale winner.

Player to watch: Cassius Winston, Michigan State

Three years ago, zzo said he thought his 6-foot-1 freshman could be Michigan State’s best passer since Magic Johnson. The Spartans’ do-everything point guard — one of the best facilitators in the country — is validating his coach’s comment. Only Murray State’s Ja Morant, a surefire lottery pick in this year’s draft, has a higher assist rate than Winston (46.0 percent). And behind Winston, the Spartans assist on the highest rate of field goals in the country.

The junior also happens to be Izzo’s leading scorer and one of the country’s top perimeter threats, shooting better than 40 percent from beyond the arc. As injuries have relentlessly sapped the Spartans of their on-court production, Winston has elevated his game to compensate. As he put it to The Athletic, “I have to do a lot for my team to win.”

Likeliest first-round upsets: No. 9 Central Florida over No. 8 VCU (47 percent); No. 11 Belmont* over No. 6 Maryland (39 percent); No. 10 Minnesota over No. 7 Louisville (34 percent)

(* Must win play-in game first.)

West region

Top seed outlook: Gonzaga is the best team in the West by a considerable margin, but the Zags, despite reaching the final two years ago, haven’t always performed well under the bright lights of the tournament. Still, Gonzaga has a 70 percent probability of reaching the Elite Eight, according to our model, and the third-best odds of any team to reach the national championship game (26 percent).

Should Gonzaga face Syracuse in the second round, the zone defense of the Orange could give the Bulldogs trouble. This is the best offense Mark Few has had in Spokane, but it may be tested by any of the terrific defenses in the West: Four of the top 15 can be found in this region, including the top two in Texas Tech and Michigan.

Sneaky Final Four pick: No. 4 Florida State. A fixture in the KenPom Top 20 for most of the season, the Seminoles are hoping to build on last season’s tournament run, which saw them come within a 4-point margin of making the Final Four. FSU has a dominant defense (No. 9 in Pomeroy’s ratings) and a balanced roster that saw four players accumulate at least 2.5 win shares. This draw isn’t terrible, either: Vermont isn’t especially difficult as a first-round foe, and Marquette is very beatable (more on that below). No. 1 seeded Gonzaga probably looms after that, and we give FSU a 24 percent chance against the Zags — but the Seminoles would have a 48 percent chance of making the Final Four if they were to pull off the upset.

Don’t bet on: No. 5 Marquette. Teams seeded fifth aren’t usually good bets to make it past the Sweet 16 anyway, but Marquette might be an especially bad pick. According to the FiveThirtyEight power ratings, the Golden Eagles are by far the worst No. 5 seed in the field, and a first-round date with breakout mid-major superstar Ja Morant didn’t do them any favors. Marquette has some star power of its own in junior guard Markus Howard, who ranks sixth in the nation with an average of 25 points per game, but this team lost five of its last six games and has a tough tournament road ahead of it.

Cinderella watch: No. 10 Florida. The Gators may have been one of the final bubble teams to sneak into the field of 68, but they could be poised to do some damage now that they are here. They drew Nevada, a so-so No. 7 seed, in the first round, and we give Florida a 42 percent chance of pulling the upset there. Last year’s national runner-up, Michigan, likely waits in Round 2, and that is a tough matchup (23 percent odds for Florida) — but if the Gators win, they have a 38 percent chance of making the Elite Eight. In a region with a number of good-but-flawed options, Florida looks better than the typical 10-seed.

Player to watch: Brandon Clarke, Gonzaga

The linchpin of the Zags isn’t the consensus lottery pick, nor the two veteran guards who have together started 87 percent of Gonzaga’s games over the past two seasons. It’s Brandon Clarke, a transfer from San Jose State who is in his first active season with the team. He’s perhaps the most underappreciated player in the country.

On a team that typically features a 7-footer protecting the rim, it’s Clarke, at 6-foot-8, who is tasked with protecting the paint this season. Clarke has responded by setting a single-season blocks record and posting the highest block rate of any team under Few.

“If I feel like if I can get a good, quick jump first, I’ll pretty much jump with anybody,” Clarke told me. “I mean, I’ve seen Zion (Williamson) coming down through the lane before on TV, and if I can’t jump at the right time, I probably wouldn’t jump with him, but … I don’t really see myself not jumping with anybody.”

Likeliest first-round upsets: No. 9 Baylor over No. 8 Syracuse (48 percent); No. 10 Florida over No. 7 Nevada (42 percent); No. 12 Murray State over No. 5 Marquette (32 percent)

South region

Top seed outlook: Can No. 1 Virginia exorcise last year’s demons now that the team is at full strength? Our model thinks so. The Cavaliers have a 49 percent probability of cracking the Final Four and a 31 percent probability of reaching what would be the program’s first national title game.

With De’Andre Hunter, who wasn’t on the court last year during UVA’s historic loss to No. 16 Maryland Baltimore County, the Cavaliers have been dominant on both ends — the only team ranking in the top five in Pomeroy’s adjusted offense and defense metrics. Once again, Tony Bennett’s pack line defense is suffocating most every offensive opportunity and successfully turning games into rock fights. But this year’s team is even better on the offensive end and should breeze into the Elite Eight, where it could meet Tennessee. Thanks to Grant Williams and the wonderfully named Admiral Schofield, the No. 2 Volunteers are playing their best basketball in program history. We give them a 22 percent probability of reaching the Final Four.

Sneaky Final Four pick: No. 6 Villanova. Is it “sneaky” to pick the team that’s won two of the past three national titles? Maybe not. But this hasn’t been the same team that coach Jay Wright guided to those championships. After losing a ton of its best players from last year’s title-winning team, the Wildcats had an up-and-down year and lost five of their final eight regular-season Big East games. But they also got hot over the past week, capping off a season in which they still won the Big East regular-season and conference-tournament titles — and still had one of the 20 best offenses in the country according to KenPom (powered by an absurd number of 3-pointers). Our power ratings think they’re the fourth-best team in the South despite being the No. 6 seed, and they have a 39 percent chance of at least making it back to the Sweet 16 for a fifth time in the past six seasons.

Don’t bet on: No. 4 Kansas State. Coach Bruce Weber’s Wildcats nearly made the Final Four last season, but they might find it tougher this time around. K-State has an elite defense (it ranks fourth in the country according to Pomeroy’s ratings), but its offense is prone to struggles — and could be down its second-leading scorer, forward Dean Wade, who missed the team’s Big 12 tournament loss to Iowa State with a foot injury. A brutal draw that gives the Wildcats tough No. 13 seed UC Irvine in the first round, then places them opposite the Wisconsin-Oregon winner in Round 2, could limit their potential to advance deep into a second consecutive tournament.

Cinderella watch: No. 12 Oregon. According to our model, the Ducks have the best Sweet 16 odds (24 percent) of any double-digit seed in the tournament, more than twice that of any other candidate. Oregon struggled to string together wins for most of the regular season, and its chances seemed sunk after 7-foot-2 phenom Bol Bol was lost for the season with a foot injury in January. But the Ducks have rallied to win eight straight games heading into the tournament, including a convincing victory in Saturday’s Pac-12 championship. Oregon fits a similar mold as K-State — great defense with a suspect offense — but that’s telling, given that the Ducks are a 12-seed and the Wildcats are a No. 4. If they meet in the Round of 32, we give Oregon a 47 percent chance at the upset.

Player to watch: Grant Williams, Tennessee

The junior has come a long way from being “just a fat boy with some skill.” Williams, the de facto leader of Rick Barnes’s Volunteers, has bullied the SEC over the past two seasons, collecting two consecutive conference player of the year honors.

The Vols might just feature the best offense of Barnes’s coaching career — and we’re talking about a guy who coached Kevin Durant! Much of that offensive potency can be traced to Williams, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, who ranks in the 97th percentile in scoring efficiency, according to data courtesy of Synergy Sports.

Williams possesses an old-man game you might find at a local YMCA, a back-to-the-basket, footwork-proficient offensive assault that manifests primarily in post-ups, where he ranks in the 98th percentile in scoring efficiency and shoots an adjusted field-goal percentage of 56.1. He can get the Volunteers buckets in the waning moments of games, too, as he ranks in the 96th percentile in isolation scoring efficiency.

Likeliest first-round upsets: No. 9 Oklahoma over No. 8 Ole Miss (53 percent); No. 12 Oregon over No. 5 Wisconsin (45 percent); No. 10 Iowa over No. 7 Cincinnati (34 percent)

Midwest region

Top seed outlook: On paper, the Midwest seems to be the most open of the four regions, but we still give No. 1 North Carolina the best odds, with a 35 percent probability of reaching the Final Four and an 18 percent probability of appearing in the national championship game. Those odds are at least 8 percentage points lower than any other No. 1 team in the field, though, and for good reason: North Carolina’s offense depends on turning every play into a fast break. The Tar Heels struggle to get to the free-throw line and give up a ton of shots along the perimeter, which, in a slowed-down, half-court matchup, could be quite problematic.

After getting waxed by Duke to open the season, No. 2 Kentucky has caught fire in recent weeks while finding balance on both ends of the floor and mostly abstaining from the 3-point line. No. 3 Houston, meanwhile, is in the midst of its best season since Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon were revolutionizing college basketball, and they boast a defense that ranks among the very best along and inside the perimeter.

Sneaky Final Four pick: No. 5 Auburn. When the Tigers steamrolled Tennessee 84-64 in Sunday’s SEC title game, it likely got the attention of a lot of bracket-pickers. That wasn’t a one-off — Auburn also beat Tennessee eight days earlier, part of a string of eight straight wins for the Tigers, and 10 in their last 11 games. With an explosive offense (No. 8 in KenPom efficiency) that got more of its points from downtown than any other team in the NCAA field, Auburn can heat up in a hurry. We give the Tigers nearly a coin-flip’s odds of making the Sweet 16 — and a very solid 37 percent chance of beating top-seeded North Carolina if the Tar Heels are waiting for Auburn there. The only kryptonite might be a hypothetical regional-final matchup with No. 2 seed Kentucky, which beat the Tigers by 27 in late February to sweep their season series.

Don’t bet on: No. 4 Kansas. The Jayhawks went into the season ranked No. 1 in the AP’s preseason poll, and they appeared to validate the choice by starting the season 10-0. But a 15-9 record (and some key injuries) since then have cast doubt on Kansas’s NCAA tournament potential. This is a well-balanced team, but to say it doesn’t shoot well from the outside is an understatement — see KU’s 3-for-18 performance from deep in Saturday’s Big 12 ouster against Iowa State. Add an unfavorable draw that puts them on a potential second-round collision course with Auburn (see above), and we give the Jayhawks only an 8 percent chance of making out of the Midwest with their championship hopes intact.

Cinderella watch: No. 11 Ohio State. If a Big Ten team that has made 11 Final Fours can be a Cinderella, then you’re looking at it in these Buckeyes. (Hey, the committee’s increasing tendency to seed underwhelming power-conference schools this way really messes with the definition.) OSU went only 18-13 during the regular season, was defeated in its second Big Ten tournament game and has almost twice as many losses as wins since New Year’s. So why are the Buckeyes a potential Cinderella? Despite the seed, this is still a dangerous team, one that ranks 27th in Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive ratings and has star forward Kaleb Wesson back from suspension. So maybe they’ll give Big 12 champ Iowa State trouble. But mainly this tells you something about the other potential Cinderellas in this region: Seton Hall got a very tough first-round matchup with underseeded Wofford; none of the other low seeds here are world-beaters. That leaves the Buckeyes, a team that did all it could to play its way out of the tournament, but has some upset potential regardless.

Player to watch: Cameron Johnson, UNC

On a team that doesn’t hoist a ton of shots from the perimeter, Johnson is as lethal as they come. Following an injury-riddled campaign in which he barely made more than one-third of his looks from beyond the arc, the grad student is canning 46.5 percent of his attempts, which ranks inside the top 25 nationally.

Johnson has thrived in North Carolina’s every-possession-is-a-transition-opportunity scheme this season. He’s blossomed into one of the best scorers in the ACC, ranking between the 85th and 100th percentiles in scoring efficiency in transition, off screens and on spot-ups.

Johnson has elevated his game in conference play, boasting the ACC’s top offensive rating (132.5) and true shooting percentage (64.6). Suddenly, a player who wasn’t seen as a guaranteed professional now projects to be a second-round pick.

Likeliest first-round upsets: No. 9 Washington over No. 8 Utah State (49 percent); No. 10 Seton Hall over No. 7 Wofford (37 percent); No. 11 Ohio State over No. 6 Iowa State (33 percent)

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/your-guide-to-the-2019-ncaa-mens-tournament/

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yahoo-the-dagger-blog · 7 years ago

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16 of the most interesting potential Final Four combinations

yahoo

With 16 teams still alive in the NCAA tournament, there are 256 potential Final Four combinations left. Here’s a look at 16 compelling ones, some of which were chosen for basketball reasons and others of which were chosen for reasons scarcely related to basketball at all.

1. All chalk Final Four: Kentucky, Kansas, Villanova, Michigan

This would be a heavyweight Final Four featuring name-brand teams with massive fan bases. Each school owns at least one national title and each has appeared in the championship game in the past six years.

2. No chalk Final Four: Loyola-Chicago, Syracuse, West Virginia, Florida State

How weird would this Final Four be? You’d have a true Cinderella in Loyola-Chicago, two ACC teams that failed to finish above .500 in their league and an underseeded West Virginia team that would likely be favored to win.

3. New blood Final Four: Nevada, Clemson, Texas Tech, Texas A&M

Not only have none of these teams ever reached the Final Four, Clemson is the only one to ever play in an Elite Eight. Billy Williams and Larry Nance led the Tigers to the Elite Eight in 1980, but they fell 85-74 to UCLA.

4. Final Four guaranteed to capture the NBA audience: Kentucky, Duke, Villanova, Texas A&M

There’s at least one potential lottery pick on every roster: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Kentucky), Kevin Knox (Kentucky), Marvin Bagley (Duke), Wendell Carter (Duke), Mikal Bridges (Villanova), Robert Williams (Texas A&M)

5. Final Four guaranteed to have NBA fans changing the channel: Loyola-Chicago, Clemson, Texas Tech, Florida State

These are mostly teams winning in spite of a lack of elite talent. Aside from Texas Tech’s promising freshman Zhaire Taylor, there may not be a first- or second-round pick on one of these four rosters.

Duke’s Javin DeLaurier (12), Marques Bolden (20), Gary Trent Jr. (2), Trevon Duval (1) an Marvin Bagley III, right, cheer as they watch a replay of a dunk by teammate Justin Robinson during the second half of an NCAA men’s college basketball tournament first-round game against Iona, Thursday, March 15, 2018, in Pittsburgh. Duke won 89-67 to advance to the second round. (AP)

6. The Brainiac Final Four: Duke, Michigan, Villanova, Loyola (Chicago)

According to U.S. News and World Report, Duke (9), Michigan (28), Villanova (46) and Loyola-Chicago (103) are the highest-rated academic institutions in their regions.

7. The party-school Final Four: West Virginia, Syracuse, Florida State, Kentucky

According to the Princeton Review, West Virginia (2), Syracuse (4) are two of 2018’s top party schools. Florida State has previously ranked highly in the list and there’s no shortage of fun to be had at Kentucky either.

8. Elite point guard Final Four: Villanova, Kansas, Kentucky, Gonzaga

Jalen Brunson (Villanova), Devonte Graham (Kansas) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Kentucky) are the obvious choices for this list. The West is devoid of heralded point guards, but Gonzaga’s Josh Perkins gets the nod over Michigan’s Zavier Simpson.

9. Elite big man Final Four: Duke, Kentucky, Texas A&M, West Virginia

This quartet would bring the frontcourt size, strength and skill. Marvin Bagley, Wendell Carter, Kevin Knox, Tyler Davis, Robert Williams and Sagaba Konate each are among the college basketball’s best big men for different reasons this season.

10. No fast breaks Final Four: Loyola-Chicago, Syracuse, Michigan, Texas Tech

Virginia may be home early, but that doesn’t mean the pace of play in the Final Four will be fast. All four of these teams are 250th and below in tempo with Syracuse the slowest at 344th nationally.

11. Kentucky never has to play anybody Final Four: Kentucky, Florida State, Syracuse, West Virginia.

The Wildcats already would make the Final Four without facing an opponent seeded higher than seventh thanks to the carnage in the South Region. This Final Four ensures they could become the first program to win a title without facing a top-four seed.

12. The (almost) all-Big 12 Final Four: Kansas State, Kansas, Texas Tech and Texas A&M

Three Big 12 schools and a former league member highlight this quartet. Naturally, Kansas would be crowned champion and continue its reign over its league rivals.

13. The mascot fight to the death Final Four: Nevada, Clemson, West Virginia, Florida State

West Virginia’s Mountaineer is a favorite in any mascot matchup. It always helps to have a rifle.

14. Winningest coaches Final Four: Kentucky, Duke West Virginia, Michigan

John Calipari (674), Mike Krzyzewski (1,099), Bob Huggins (845) and John Beilein (721) have combined for more than 3,300 career victories.

15. “When’s spring practice?” Final Four: Clemson, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Kansas State

Basketball comes second at these four football-centric schools. Especially Clemson, whose coach Brad Brownell answered as many questions about Dabo Sweeney last week as he did his own team.

16. My Final Four: Kentucky, Duke, Villanova, Gonzaga

Three out of my original Final Four survived the opening weekend chaos. Kentucky is the obvious choice to replace Virginia in a South Region stripped of its top four seeds.

More from Yahoo Sports: • Report: Bills player arrested after naked, bloody altercation • Wichita State coach releases prized recruit in classy move • Charles Robinson: Why are Cowboys doing nothing in free agency? • Cavs’ Korver to take time off after death of brother

– – – – – – –

Jeff Eisenberg is a college basketball writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @JeffEisenberg

#_author:Jeff Eisenberg #_lmsid:a077000000CFoGyAAL #_revsp:497660ab-6a82-4a53-b16c-6a93638f82dc #_category:yct:001001076 #_uuid:4ce930ee-6728-3c1f-a9b9-a089bf99b7e1

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zeroviraluniverse-blog · 7 years ago

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2018 NCAA tournament Everything you need to know about second-round games

Visit Now - http://zeroviral.com/2018-ncaa-tournament-everything-you-need-to-know-about-second-round-games/

2018 NCAA tournament Everything you need to know about second-round games

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County just showed why in March, hope springs eternal.

On Friday, UMBC became the first 16-seed in NCAA tournament history to knock off a No. 1. And the Retrievers didn’t just knock off Virginia. They destroyed the Cavaliers with one of the most improbable, impressive and dominant second halves that college basketball has ever seen.

Can the Retrievers harness that magic and carry it into Sunday? If so, the Sweet 16 would be waiting for one of the best stories in sports history.

More on UMBC and the rest of Sunday’s second-round action below:

All times ET

No. 9 Kansas State vs. No. 16 UMBC 7:45 p.m., Charlotte, N.C., South Region Player to watch: K-State’s leading scorer, Dean Wade, sat out Friday’s win over Creighton because of a foot injury, but the Wildcats are hoping he will be able to return Sunday. The All-Big 12 forward is a difference-maker, whom the Wildcats will definitely need on the floor to stymie this snowballing UMBC surge.

What will keep Kansas State from moving on: Fate? Destiny? But above all, a second half from UMBC like the one it delivered Friday. The Retrievers scored 53 points after halftime against Virginia, which came into the tournament with the nation’s No. 1-rated defense. Can the Retrievers replicate such a magical performance? The college basketball world — well, outside Manhattan, Kansas — will be pulling for it.

What will keep UMBC from moving on: UMBC coming back to planet Earth. On Feb. 3, the Retrievers fell to Vermont by 28. On Jan. 21, they were obliterated by Albany by 44. Beginning with the America East tournament, which culminated with Jairus Lyles‘ buzzer-beating 3 and propelled the Retrievers into the dance, UMBC has been a completely different club. And it is suddenly playing as well as about any team in college basketball.

The tournament has tipped off. Your picks are locked in. It’s time to find out how your bracket is holding up. Check your brackets

No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 10 Butler 12:10 p.m., Detroit, East Region Player to watch: Kelan Martin‘s 27 points Friday against Arkansas were the second-most ever by a Butler player in the tournament. And Butler has had some big-time performances in recent history in the tournament. Martin has put up 27 or more eight times this season. He can absolutely fill it up.

What will keep Purdue from moving on: Assuming he’s unable to play as expected, the absence of center Isaac Haas, who fractured his right elbow in Friday’s victory over Cal State Fullerton. Initially, he was ruled out for the rest of the tournament, though on Saturday he participated in parts of the Boilermakers’ practice wearing a brace. Coach Matt Painter is still not expecting Haas to play. Purdue’s offense ran through the 7-foot-2 center, and retooling on the fly won’t be easy.

What will keep Butler from moving on: Purdue’s 3-point shooting. The Boilermakers — who came into the tournament shooting 42 percent from 3, ranked second nationally — knocked out another nine on 22 attempts Friday. With Haas out, look for Purdue to bomb away from 3.

Can Miles Bridges keep up his scoring pace against Syracuse? Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 11 Syracuse 2:40 p.m., Detroit, Midwest Region Player to watch: According to ESPN Stats & Information, only Scott Skiles and Steve Smith have scored more points for Michigan State through three tournament games than Miles Bridges, who dropped another 29 points Friday. With Bridges playing that way, Michigan State is a legit national title contender.

What will keep Michigan State from moving on: The vaunted matchup zone. Syracuse, already with two wins since Wednesday, frustrated TCU on Friday with its length. As a result, the Horned Frogs shot below 40 percent from the field and only 18 percent from 3. Michigan State is a much better offensive team than TCU. But this Syracuse zone can puzzle the best of offenses.

What will keep Syracuse from moving on: Shooting. Even though Syracuse defeated the Horned Frogs, it struggled to get much going offensively. The Orange made only three 3s and shot 37 percent from the field. As good as Syracuse’s zone has been, the Orange will need much more from Oshae Brissett and Tyus Battle to have any chance of keeping up with Bridges & Co.

No. 2 North Carolina vs. No. 7 Texas A&M 5:15 p.m., Charlotte, N.C., West Region Player to watch: Kenny Williams delivered one of the best games of his career Friday, scoring 18 points in a rout of Lipscomb. Playing alongside Luke Maye and Joel Berry II, Williams had scored as much only four times this season. Williams isn’t going to be North Carolina’s primary playmaker or scorer. But when he can knock down shots playing off Berry & Co. the way he did against Lipscomb, that makes North Carolina all the more dangerous.

What will keep North Carolina from moving on: Texas A&M’s prowess inside. Robert Williams and Tyler Davis made all eight of their shots in the paint in the second half Friday against Providence, as the Aggies finished with 26 paint points after halftime. Texas A&M also blocked eight shots and outrebounded Providence 44-26. North Carolina is a tremendous offensive rebounding team. But the Aggies are an absolute force around the basket at both ends.

What will keep Texas A&M from moving on: North Carolina’s balanced attack. The Tar Heels have five players who average double figures in scoring, and on Friday, all five scored at least 10 points.

No. 2 Cincinnati vs. No. 7 Nevada 6:10 p.m., Nashville, Tenn., South Region Player to watch: With Jacob Evans and Gary Clark struggling to get going, it was Jarron Cumberland who pushed Cincinnati past Georgia State on Friday. Cumberland scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed eight offensive rebounds. Cumberland’s shooting and activeness around the glass could be a real plus for Cincinnati moving forward.

What will keep Cincinnati from moving on: Nevada twins Caleb Martin and Cody Martin producing another pair of all-around brilliant performances. On Friday, Cody had 15 points, 6 assists and 4 blocks. Caleb, meanwhile, took over the game in overtime, nailing three 3s in OT to finish with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. The two played a combined 85 of a possible 90 game minutes.

What will keep Nevada from moving on: The Wolf Pack had trouble dealing with the size of Texas center Mohamed Bamba. Now they face one of the top rebounding teams in the country in Cincinnati, which outrebounded Georgia State by 20 on Friday, collecting 20 offensive boards alone. If the Wolf Pack get clobbered on the glass, they’ll stand little chance of scraping out a win.

No. 4 Auburn vs. No. 5 Clemson 7:10 p.m., San Diego, Midwest Region Player to watch: Clemson had been sputtering since losing senior forward Donte Grantham for the season because of a knee injury, but Shelton Mitchell gave the Tigers a major spark Friday. He scored a season-high 23 points and handed out five assists. Post-Grantham, Clemson has been searching for more offense. Since the ACC tournament, Mitchell has been answering that call.

What will keep Auburn from moving on: Clemson keeping the hot hand. Clemson, known for its defense, torched New Mexico State and shot 56 percent from the field, including 43 percent from 3. If Clemson, which entered the tournament with the nation’s sixth-best adjusted defensive efficiency, keeps shooting anywhere close to that, it will be a tough out for anyone.

What will keep Clemson from moving on: Auburn knocking down tough shots late. In Friday’s narrow win over Charleston, Auburn nailed four contested 3-pointers in the second half, including two in the final two minutes, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Although Auburn struggled to shoot for much of the game, the closing minutes of the second half were a different story.

• Tournament bracket | PDF | GIF • Tournament Challenge: Check brackets • 538: Win probabilities & predictions • Best bets for Sunday’s games • 2018-19 projections for tourney teams • College Basketball PickCenter • College Basketball Scoreboard • College Basketball Nation blog • NCAA tournament schedule • Full NCAA tournament coverage <!– • What you need to know for Saturday • BPI tournament projections • BPI: Projections | Best bracket tips • Scouting the entire tournament field • FiveThirtyEight: Win probabilities • NCAA tournament bracket cheat sheet • ESPN expert picks for the Final Four • Best bets for first-round games • Bilas picks every game of the tourney • Who are the tourney’s best players? • NCAA tournament bold predictions • Who is this year’s Kemba Walker? • Spreads for every first-round game • Selection Sunday winners and losers –>

No. 1 Xavier vs. No. 9 Florida State 8:40 p.m., Nashville, Tenn., West Region Player to watch: The Musketeers lean heavily on Trevon Bluiett for scoring. But on Friday, backcourt wingman J.P. Macura dropped a career-high 29 points. When Macura produces offensively that way, it takes pressure off Bluiett.

What will keep Xavier from moving on: Florida State’s bench play. In Friday’s win over Missouri, the Seminoles got 42 of their 67 points from their bench, led by Mfiondu Kabengele, PJ Savoy and Trent Forrest, who all finished in double figures.

What will keep Florida State from moving on: Bluiett’s greatness. The Musketeers are 19-1 when he scores at least 20 points. The problem for Florida State is that Bluiett usually gets to 20.

No. 5 West Virginia vs. No. 13 Marshall 9:40 p.m., San Diego, East Region Player to watch: Jon Elmore was sensational for Marshall in Friday’s upset of 4-seed Wichita State. Elmore scored 27 points, nailing four 3s while getting to the free throw line 15 times. Elmore is unafraid to shoot, no matter how far he is from the basket.

What will keep West Virginia from moving on: Fouls. As a team that presses full court, West Virginia is always going to be a team that fouls an inordinate amount. But Marshall overall is an excellent free throw shooting team, averaging 77 percent from the line as a unit. The Mountaineers have to be who they are. But against their in-state rivals, they must strive to keep Marshall out of the bonus for as long as possible.

What will keep Marshall from moving on: Turnovers. Although the Thundering Herd turned the ball over only nine times against Wichita State, Marshall can get careless with the pace with which it plays. West Virginia’s lifeblood is forcing turnovers. Marshall can’t afford to give away possessions — or baskets to Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr. going the other way off the break.

#2018 #games #NCAA #secondround #Tournament #Sports #Sports News

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maysoper · 7 years ago

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Isn't That Backwards?

Let's pretend for a second or two that it's February 2018. You're sitting in front of your TV watching the highlights from the men's hockey tournament happening at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. Russia won big-time in their game. Finland performed well. Canada eked out a win. And that's when you do a double-take on the man wearing #1 and standing in the blue paint for South Korea. No, he's not Korean, and that's when it dawns on you that the curve of the blade on his goalie stick is facing inward rather than outward! Who is this masked man, you ask, and why does he hold his stick the wrong way? Who is playing net for Korea? That answer takes us to Clinton, Ontario where a young man tended nets in the Western Ontario Hockey League for the St. Marys Lincolns. Matt Dalton's performance in that league landed him in the North American Hockey League for a season with the Bozeman Ice Dogs in Montana where he posted a 1.63 GAA and a .940 save percentage in helping the Ice Dogs go 48-9-1 to secure top-spot in the league. Dalton would be named the league's MVP and a first-team all-star after leading the NAHL in save percentage and setting the NAHL single-season records for goals-against average and save percentage. The Ice Dogs would fall in the final game of the Robertson Cup, however, as Dalton's season came up just short from capturing the NAHL's biggest prize.

Dalton's performance didn't go unnoticed by scouts, though, and he was recruited to play hockey with the NCAA's Bemidji State University Beavers. His first season saw him play in only five games, but his second season, at the age of 22, saw Dalton backstop Bemidji State through the Midwest Regional tournament as the fourth-seeded Beavers downed top-seed Notre Dame 5-1 and third-seed Cornell 4-1. At the Frozen Four in Washington, DC, the magic in Bemidji State's run ended in the semifinal at the hands of a two-goal, one-assist performance from Tommy Wingels as the University of Miami-Ohio downed Bemidji State 4-1. Dalton was named to the All-Midwest Regional Team for his efforts, and the undrafted goalie who wowed a number of NHL scouts was signed by the Boston Bruins on April 22, 2009.

Dalton would spend six games with the AHL's Providence Bruins in 2009-10 before being sent to the ECHL's Reading Royals. Like he had done all his career, Dalton went into Reading and worked hard. It even earned him an emergency recall while Tim Thomas was at the Vancouver Olympics! He played in 46 games, going 22-20-4 with a 3.47 GAA and a .906 save percentage. It would be good enough to help the Royals make the playoffs as the seventh-place team in the American Conference despite finishing in second-place in the East Division. In the playoffs, though, Reading would catch fire as they dispatched Kalamazoo in five games, swept Florida in four-straight games, and narrowly lost in seven games to the eventual Kelly Cup Champion Cincinnati Cyclones in the American Conference Final. Dalton played all 16 games in the playoffs, posting a 3.02 GAA and a .914 save percentage. Dalton would again spend a cup-of-coffee period with Providence in 2010-11, appearing in 16 games, going 7-9-0 to push his AHL record to 7-13-1. He would spent the majority of the season with the Reading Royals again, but showed improvement in going 20-11-1 with a 2.86 GAA and a .919 save percentage. Reading finished second in the American Conference and first in the Atlantic Division, and they met Cincinnati in the opening round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs. They took the Cyclones out in four games before Kalamazoo swept Reading out of the playoffs. Dalton would only play seven games in these playoffs, and his stats took a serious hit as his GAA ballooned to 3.15 and his save percentage dropped to .902. Matt Dalton's time with the Bruins would come to an end that summer after Vityaz Chekhov of the KHL came calling. Dalton signed with the club, and he made his debut in the KHL on August 14, 2011 where he allowed one goal in a 3-1 victory over Metallurg Novokuznetsk. If there was one team that was memorable for all the wrong reasons in 2011-12 in the KHL, it was Vityaz. They were a collection of goons, and this goon squad brawled with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, Dinamo Riga, Avangard Omsk, and racked up the incidents and penalty minutes like they were going out of style. And on November 25, 2011, Matt Dalton would add his name to the list of brawlers on Vityaz when he engaged Michael Garnett of Traktor Chelyabinsk.

youtube

Dalton is still wearing his Bruins mask, clearly seen at the 1:00 mark, but I'm not sure he earned the win in this fight when he already was half-undressed when he started swinging at Garnett. That's poor form. Anyhow, Dalton finished the season 7-21-4 with a 3.49 GAA and a .909 save percentage. Vityaz did not make the playoffs. In the summer of 2012, Dalton moved to a new KHL team when he signed with Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik. In 57 games with Neftekhimik over two seasons, Dalton went 18-27-7, posting a GAA of 2.64 and a save percentage of .917. Neftekhimik did play three playoff gamesin 2012-13, but they missed the playoffs in 2013-14. If Dalton was looking for a new opportunity, there was one coming on the horizon. In 2014, Dalton was offered a spot with South Korea's best Asia Ice Hockey League team in Anyang Halla. In pitching Dalton to come and play for Halla, the South Korean Hockey Federation had their sights on Dalton to backstop their national team in the 2018 Olympics. "It was kind of like that," Dalton told the IIHF's Martin Merk in 2016. "Obviously I had to go through a process to get my citizenship and nothing was guaranteed but it worked out and it's good. I love it in Korea. I love the everyday life there. It's very western-friendly, there's a big influence of Americans there. I've enjoyed it a lot." And that's how a kid from Clinton, Ontario became the starting netminder for the South Korean men's national hockey team! Pretty cool, right? Ok, so let's get back to him holding his stick with the blade facing inward. There's actually a fairly simple reason for it: he's a right-handed shooter!

And now you have the full story on Mr. Matthew Dalton! Matt will be one of the goaltenders for the South Korean men's team at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, so keep an eye out for that backwards stick. If anyone asks, you now know the story of the Canadian kid tending net for the Koreans and his funny stick! Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice! from Sports News http://hockey-blog-in-canada.blogspot.com/2017/12/isnt-that-backwards.html

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junker-town · 5 years ago

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Bracketology 2020: Selection Sunday is just four weeks away

Tre Scott and Cincinnati are in the field after winning six of their last seven games. | Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

It’s been a couple weeks since we looked at the lock and bubble picture. And while a few teams have sewn up bids in that time, the teams near the cut line continue to offer plenty of drama.

Internet? Check.

Cable? Check.

Plenty of game results to account for? Check.

At this time last week, I took an unexpected detour to a time with less technology — think the 1980s — but now I’m back in the 21st century and ready to update the bid picture. Once again, here’s a reminder of how the lock and bubble picture works.

For the 2020 NCAA tournament, 23 conferences are likely to earn a single bid, though there’s a shot at that number falling to 22 or even 21, as you’ll see later. For now, I’m sticking with 23.

As a result, 45 of the 68 places in the field are truly up for grabs — the 36 at-large spots and the nine that will go to the tournament winners of those nine likely multi-bid conferences.

In turn, those 45 spots will also largely disappear as teams move into the lock category. By the time Selection Weekend arrives, those of us in the bracketology-industrial complex will hopefully be left making educated guesses about a handful of spots.

Locks and protected seeds (16)

Two weeks ago, only the four No. 1 seeds, the Baylor Bears, Kansas Jayhawks, Gonzaga Bulldogs and San Diego State Aztecs, had locked bids up. Surprisingly, this quartet remains in place, just as they did in Tuesday’s bracket. However, the remainder of the “protected seed” group joins them today. As another reminder, that term means a team is protected against facing a potentially hostile environment in the First Round only.

Note: The first number following a team’s name is its NET ranking as of the morning of Feb. 13. Second, is the team’s overall record in games against Division I opposition only as of the morning of Feb. 14. The third is its record in both Quad 1 and 2 games, with the fourth indicating its record in Quad 1 games alone. Record information is courtesy WarrenNolan.com’s incredible database. Auto bid holders are denoted with an asterisk (*).

No. 1s: 1. Baylor* (3/22-1/13-1/8-0), 2. Kansas (4/20-3/16-3/10-3), 3. Gonzaga* (2/25-1/7-1/5-1), 4. San Diego State* (1/24-0/8-0/4-0) No. 2s: 5. Duke (6/21-3/9-2/4-1), 6. Dayton* (5/22-2/8-2/2-2), 7. Maryland* (8/20-4/11-4/5-4), 8. Louisville* (10/21-4/7-4/4-3) No. 3s: 9. Florida State (15/20-4/9-4/3-3), 10. Seton Hall* (16/18-6/13-6/8-4), 11. Auburn* (13/22-2/12-2/4-2), 12. West Virginia (10/18-6/8-6/5-5) No. 4s: 13. Villanova (21/18-6/11-6/7-6), 14. Butler (12/19-6/13-6/8-5), 15. Kentucky (23/19-5/8-4/5-3), 16. Oregon* (25/19-6/10-6/7-4)

These 16 teams include 10 teams that have already won 20 (or more) games and three others which could reach that total over the weekend. The Oregon Ducks are a late addition to the Top 16, thanks to their comeback win over the Colorado Buffaloes on Thursday night.

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Louisville could have dropped from the two line after losing to Georgia Tech, but the Cardinals weren’t the only contender to lose this week.

The Louisville Cardinals remain on the two line despite Wednesday’s bad loss at Georgia Tech. That’s because Florida State fell at Duke on Monday and both Seton Hall and West Virginia dropped their Wednesday games.

Top four seeds by region

South: 1/1. Baylor* (St. Louis 1), 2/7. Maryland* (Greensboro 2), 3/11. Auburn* (Tampa 2), 4/14. Butler (Omaha 2) - Total of Top 4 Seeds = 33

East: 1/4. San Diego State* (Sacramento 1), 2/5. Duke (Greensboro 1), 3/10. Seton Hall* (Albany 1), 4/15. Kentucky (Sacramento 2) - Total of Top 4 Seeds = 34

Midwest: 1/2. Kansas (Omaha 1), 2/6. Dayton* (Cleveland 1), 3/9. Florida State (Tampa 1), 4/16. Oregon (Spokane 2) - Total of Top 4 Seeds = 33

West: 1/3. Gonzaga* (Spokane 1), 2/8. Louisville* (St. Louis 2), 3/12. West Virginia (Cleveland 2), 4/13. Villanova (Albany 2) - Total of Top 4 Seeds = 36

I could have placed the Butler Bulldogs as the No. 4 seed in the Midwest, which would have set them up to play the Regional round in their hometown. Additionally, Oregon could have been placed in its natural region, the West. However, those choices created too much of an imbalance between the four regions that required adjustment.

Other locks (3)

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Creighton’s thrilling 87-82 win at Seton Hall helped push the Bluejays to lock status in today’s countdown.

No. 5s: 17. Creighton (19/18-6/11-6/7-6), 18. Penn State (18/19-5/12-5/7-3), 19. Colorado (14/19-6/10-6/5-3)

There are three further locks today, a trio of power conference teams that are nearing the 20-win mark. This is an important distinction for squads to come.

At this point, 19 of our 45 free bids are gone, leaving us with 26.

Nearing safety (9)

No. 5s: 20. Michigan State (11/17-8/10-8/4-7) No. 6s: 21. Iowa (26/17-8/10-7/5-6), 22. Marquette (20/17-7/11-7/5-6), 23. LSU (28/18-6/9-5/3-4), 24. Ohio State (22/16-8/8-8/4-6) No. 7s: 25. Arizona (9/17-7/8-6/2-5), 26. Illinois (36/15-8/7-7/4-6), 27. BYU (24/19-7/6-7/2-5), 28. Wisconsin (32/14-10/8-9/7-7)

This group of teams is moving closer to lock status, but haven’t quite sealed the deal yet. While the Michigan State Spartans snapped a three-game skid by holding off the Illinois Fighting Illini in Champaign Tuesday night, they still have some tricky games left, including two against the Maryland Terrapins, the current Big Ten leader. As for the Illini, they’ve dropped three straight, while the Iowa Hawkeyes’ Thursday road loss at Indiana cost them their spot as a No. 4 seed. Iowa has now dropped three of its last five.

D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports

Arizona took care of business in defeating Cal by 16 on Thursday, but the Wildcats will need to defeat stronger opponents to move up the seed list.

The Marquette Golden Eagles’ 72-71 loss at Villanova on Wednesday prevented them from moving closer to lock status, while a Tuesday win over Missouri didn’t move the needle for an LSU Tigers squad that had lost its prior two games. The Ohio State Buckeyes, on the other hand, have improved their standing by winning four of their last five. Out west, the Arizona Wildcats could use a few more quality victories to shore up their status, while the BYU Cougars need to keep their five-game winning streak going for another week, as Gonzaga visits Provo on Feb. 21.

Then there are the Wisconsin Badgers, the first 10-loss team to appear in today’s projection. They simply can’t let that total get too much bigger over the next month. That will be easier said than done in the 2019-20 Big Ten.

With nine more spots off the board, just 17 places remain.

Bubble in (11)

No. 8s: 29. Michigan (30/15-9/8-9/5-8), 30. Houston* (27/20-5/9-5/2-3), 31. Texas Tech (17/16-8/6-8/3-7), 32. Oklahoma (45/16-8/8-8/3-6) No. 9s: 33. Saint Mary’s (37/19-6/7-4/2-3), 34. Purdue (31/14-11/7-10/4-8), 35. Xavier (43/16-9/8-9/2-8), 36. Florida (38/15-9/5-9/3-6) No. 10s: 37. Rutgers (33/16-8/6-7/2-6), 38. Northern Iowa* (34/20-3/4-1/1-1), 39. Wichita State (50/18-6/8-6/2-3)

Of this group, the Michigan Wolverines and Oklahoma Sooners, both of which have won two straight, and Texas Tech Red Raiders, triumphant in their last three, look to be in the best position. As for the fourth No. 8 seed, the Houston Cougars, there are too many potentially tricky games left on their remaining American Athletic schedule to declare them a lock — despite the fact they’ve already recorded 20 victories. It’s a similar story for the Saint Mary’s Gaels, whose 30-point home loss to Gonzaga will leave a mark on their profile, particularly since they still need to visit Spokane to close out the regular season.

The Northern Iowa Panthers can move closer to both the Missouri Valley regular-season title and an at-large, should they need it, with a road win at Loyola Chicago on Saturday.

Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

Rutgers has dropped three of its last four — all away from Piscataway — and those results have the Scarlet Knights trending in the wrong direction.

The Purdue Boilermakers and Rutgers Scarlet Knights are both playing enigmatically in mid-February. Matt Painter’s squad’s home dominance was rudely ended by Penn State on Tuesday, while the Scarlet Knights have yet to defeat a Big Ten team that’s not named “Nebraska” on the road. In the Big East, the Xavier Musketeers’ three-game win streak ended at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Wednesday evening, keeping Travis Steele’s squad from further consolidating its position. Meanwhile, both the Florida Gators and Wichita State Shockers took care of business in their midweek road trip, results that earned both a little bit of breathing room from the First Four spots they found themselves in on Tuesday.

That’s 11 more places gone, which means only six should remain. However, since both San Diego State and Northern Iowa represent likely single-bid leagues, there are still eight at-large places to account for.

The cut line

No. 10s (Last Four Byes): 40. Rhode Island (35/18-6/6-5/1-4) No. 11s (Last Four Byes): 41. Virginia (55/16-7/6-6/2-23), 42. Indiana (64/16-8/6-8/4-6), 43. USC (48/18-7/9-6/3-6)

Of the four teams destined for Dayton on Tuesday, Indiana recorded the biggest midweek victory, as Thursday’s 89-77 win over Iowa was the Hoosiers’ fourth over a Quad 1 opponent. Otherwise, the Rhode Island Rams’ loss at Atlantic 10 leader Dayton only cost them seeding, while both the Virginia Cavaliers (over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish after overtime) and USC Trojans (over a fading Washington Huskies squad) narrowly pulled out games they couldn’t afford to drop.

Cody Glenn-USA TODAY Sports

Remy Martin and Arizona State won their second straight bubble showdown on Thursday night, following Saturday’s home win over USC with a road triumph over Stanford.

Last Four IN (No. 11s - First Four): 44. Arizona State (54/16-8/8-8/4-6), 45. Cincinnati (47/16-8/8-5/2-5) Last Four IN (No. 12s - First Four): 46. Arkansas (44/16-8/4-8/2-5), 47. ETSU (41/19-4/4-3/2-2)

Had the Cincinnati Bearcats not lost by a point in overtime to the UConn Huskies on Sunday, they probably would have made it into Tuesday’s bracket. Thursday night’s late rally and overtime win over the Memphis Tigers did the trick, as it was the sixth win in their last seven tips. The Arizona State Sun Devils, Tuesday’s last team in, were another huge Thursday winner, as their 74-69 road win over the Stanford Cardinal both boosted their position and knocked their Pac-12 rivals out of the field for now.

The Arkansas Razorbacks are trending in the wrong direction, having lost three straight, with consecutive games against Mississippi State and Florida likely to tell us whether Eric Musselman’s squad is NCAA or NIT bound.

Last, but certainly not least, the East Tennessee State Buccaneers enter the field, meaning that there are two Southern Conference teams in the field for now. Provided both win their Saturday games, the Bucs will host the Furman Paladins Wednesday night with first-place on the line.

Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

NC State could make a major move in the at-large picture in the next eight days, thanks to home games against two of the ACC’s best.

First Four OUT: 69. VCU (42/17-7/3-6/1-4), 70. Stanford (29/16-8/4-7/2-5), 71. Utah State (46/18-7/4-5/2-4), 72. Minnesota (40/12-11/6-11/4-10) Next Four OUT: 73. NC State (56/16-8/7-6/3-2), 74. Alabama (39/13-11/5-10/1-6), 75. Mississippi State (49/15-9/4-7/1-6), 76. Richmond (51/18-6/3-4/2-4)

While Stanford’s loss to Arizona State was understandable, the VCU Rams’ 72-67 home loss to a George Mason team that headed to the Siegel Center with a 2-8 Atlantic 10 record was inexcusable, particularly for a team that owns only three Quad 1/2 wins. But Mike Rhoades’ squad will have a chance to pad that total in the coming days, as they travel to arch-rival Richmond for a true bubble showdown on Saturday and host Dayton on Tuesday.

The Utah State Aggies moved closer to the field and the No. 2 seed in the Mountain West tournament by winning at Colorado State Rams on Tuesday, while the Minnesota Golden Gophers have had the week to prepare for huge home games against Iowa and Indiana.

Among the Next Four Out, keep an eye on the NC State Wolfpack. On Tuesday, they knocked off the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome to win their second straight away from Raleigh. They’ll play a third such game Sunday at Boston College. After that, though, Kevin Keatts’ squad gets both Duke and Florida State at home. Conversely, the Alabama Crimson Tide are moving the wrong way, as they’ve dropped four of their last five, while their SEC rivals Mississippi State lost further position, thanks to a 25-point road loss to in-state rival Ole Miss.

Also Considered: 77. Georgetown (53/14-10/8-10/4-9), 78. Memphis (59/17-7/6-5/1-3), 79. St. John’s (67/14-11/5-10/3-8), 80. Oregon State (69/15-9/5-6/4-3), 81. UNCG (60/18-6/3-4/2-2), 82. Providence (62/13-12/7-8/4-8), 83. Tennessee (63/14-10/6-9/2-6), 84. Texas (70/14-10/3-10/2-8), 85. DePaul (66/12-11/4-10/4-7), 86. Syracuse (68/14-10/4-9/2-4), 87. Utah (72/14-10/7-8/3-7), 88. Notre Dame (52/15-9/3-8/1-5), 89. South Carolina (65/15-9/5-7/3-5), 90. Liberty (57/21-3/1-1/0-1), 91. SMU (73/17-6/2-5/1-2), 92. UConn (75/13-11/3-9/0-6)

With midweek losses, Memphis, Providence, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Utah are trending in the wrong direction. On the flip side, the Oregon State Beavers’ emphatic home victory over the Utes boosted their prospects, particularly with Colorado visiting Corvallis on Saturday. The Tennessee Volunteers also improved their chances by routing Arkansas on Tuesday. Six of the Vols’ last seven games will feature teams under consideration.

(Likely) One-Bid Conference Reps

No. 12s: 48. Yale*, 49. Furman*, 50. Vermont* No. 13s: 51. Stephen F. Austin*, 52. North Texas*, 53. UC Irvine*, 54. Colgate* No. 14s: 55. New Mexico State*, 56. Wright State*, 57. Bowling Green*, 58. Hofstra* No. 15s: 59. Winthrop*, 60. South Dakota State*, 61. Little Rock*, 62. Austin Peay* No. 16s (First Round): 63. Montana*, 64. North Florida* No. 16s (First Four): 65. Prairie View A&M*, 66. Rider*, 67. Robert Morris*, 68. NC Central*

With one month and two days left until Selection Sunday, just five teams can finish their conference seasons win a perfect record. Just one of those teams, the New Mexico State Aggies, finds itself among this group. Note that out of this quintet, only Gonzaga will see its conference tournament end before Selection Weekend.

I’ll have another full bracket projection on Tuesday. In the meantime, I’ll have some TV previews up at Blogging The Bracket and I’ll talk more bracketology on the weekend edition of the College Basketball Coast to Coast podcast.

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beverlymunoz · 8 years ago

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Profile of a Possible Savior: UNC-Asheville’s Nick McDevitt

McDevitt is another intriguing option right here in North Carolina.

Nick McDevitt is the 37-year-old head coach at UNC-Asheville who just completed his fourth season.

Important Questions, In Rough Order Of Importance:

1. Has he coached teams that have won a national title, made multiple deep NCAA tournament runs, and/or consistently been highly ranked?

No. Nick McDevitt has up to this point been a UNC-Asheville lifer: he played there, then went straight into coaching on Eddie Biedenbach’s staff after graduating in 2001. He has never coached anywhere else, and while Asheville has made a handful of NCAA appearances over that time, the Bulldogs have never been seeded higher than No. 15, so their runs have not surprisingly been quite short.

Last season, McDevitt, who has been the head coach at Asheville since 2013, led his team to the NCAAs by winning the Big South tournament. The Bulldogs were then smoked by eventual national champion Villanova. Villanova buzzsawed a lot of opponents in that tourney so this is not a mark of shame by any means.

2. Has he built a program from the ground up?

Not really—while UNCA wasn’t very good overall in Eddie Biedenbach’s final season, it did have a winning record in league play. It wasn’t a program that McDevitt had to rescue from the basement of the Big South, though UNCA was a modest 16-16 overall and No. 203 in the Pomeroy Ratings the year before he took over the head gig.

3. Has he substantially improved the program from when he took over?

No question about it. After scuffling during his first two seasons, Asheville has been markedly better over the last two, winning both a league tournament and regular season crown. The latter came this year, as UNCA finished 15-3 in the Big South.

4. Has he succeeded at more than one head coaching job?

UNC-Asheville is his first head coaching gig.

5. Does he have significant high-major experience as either a head coach or an assistant?

None whatsoever. As I mentioned earlier, McDevitt has neither played nor coached anywhere other than UNC-Asheville. He’s from that part of the state, played high school ball there, and has multiple family members who are Asheville alums. The Asheville area has been home to him for a long time.

6. Is his team one of the best in its conference right now?

Yes. In fact, based on UNCA’s performance in league play, it was the best in the Big South: the Bulldogs ranked first in both offensive and defensive efficiency en route to their 15-3 mark. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs season ended abruptly this week when they were upset by Campbell in the first round of the Big South tournament thanks to a 51-point effort from the Camels’ Chris Clemons. Tough way to go out after such a great regular season.

7. Do his teams actually play, what is this thing called, "defense"?

There are encouraging signs but in general this is a complicated matter. The Bulldogs play in one of the country’s worst mid-major conferences, but if we look only at their performance in league play, they’ve never finished worse than fourth in defensive efficiency (out of 11/12 teams) under McDevitt. They finished first in each of the last two seasons.

His last two teams have forced lots of turnovers (12th both years in turnover percentage) and have done well on the glass despite their lack of size.

The overall numbers aren’t great: 306th in adjusted DE his first season, then 260th his second, 89th his third, and 107th in 2017. Still I think those numbers from the last two seasons are pretty solid when you understand the context within which McDevitt has to work. And, shoot the DE numbers from 2016 and 2017 are a lot better than the numbers Gottfried’s NC State teams posted.

8. So how about offense?

This is a bit complicated as well, simply because at a place like UNC-Asheville, there are added concerns and headaches that coaches at high-profile mid-majors don’t have to worry about nearly as much. Namely, guys leaving for bigger opportunities in the spotlight elsewhere.

Following the Bulldogs, NCAA tournament season last spring, freshmen Dwayne Sutton and Dylan Smith both transferred out. Sutton landed at Louisville and Smith is going to Arizona. During his time as head coach, McDevitt has also lost Keith Hornsby to LSU and Andrew Rowsey to Marquette.

Hornsby was a multi-year starter for the Tigers and Rowsey is averaging 11.3 PPG on 45% shooting from three in his first year with Marquette. Asheville has been absolutely gutted by the power conferences over the last four years.

Still, as I mentioned, UNCA had the best offense in the Big South this season, despite having to deal with those major departures. The Bulldogs rank 121st nationally in offensive efficiency. This is just one of those spots were it’s really tough to evaluate a coach on numbers since he’s lost a handful of very good offensive players to Power Six poachers.

9. Any indication that he can recruit McDonald’s All-American-type players?

No. For a school in the Big South that is pretty much impossible. He obviously has done well in identifying talent, given all the dudes that have transferred out once bigger schools realized that they were overlooked out of high school. That’s a point in his favor.

10. Does he have any connection to NC State, North Carolina, or the ACC?

McDevitt is a born and raised western North Carolinian. He has a tangential connection to the ACC, if you count the fact that he worked under NC State alum Eddie Biedenbach for more than a decade. He knows the region well.

11. Any other random red flags or positives?

None that I could find.

Summary:

Would he be better than Gottfried?

Unknown. If his knack for talent identification translates, there’s a good chance he’d be successful in Raleigh, but to what extent, I don’t know. That’s the hard part with these short-track-record guys, particularly guys at the lower end of the mid-major spectrum.

OK, so what is his ceiling?

McDevitt has been outstanding relative to his peers in the Big South, which suggests he knows what he’s doing. But again the question is how much of his approach and method translates to the ACC, which is a huge jump from the Big South. If I had to guess with a gun to my head, I’d say he’d be better than Mark Gottfried but probably not markedly so.

Would he take the job if offered?

According to the USA Today’s salary database, McDevitt is making around $120k per year, so, um, yes. While I’m sure his long-time association with UNC-Asheville would be a consideration, NC State could/would easily quintuple his salary.

How would I feel if he were hired?

Underwhelmed but willing to keep an open mind. McDevitt has done well despite the obvious challenges associated with coaching at UNC-Asheville, which means he has the potential to excel on a bigger stage, but it’s all potential and speculation at this point. He has a decent resume but compared to other guys in the young gun/brief track record category, his case is not as compelling.

How would the fan base as a whole feel if he were hired?

Probably not super enthused.

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investmart007 · 7 years ago

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NCAA Latest: Clemson surges to tighten with Kansas

New Post has been published on https://goo.gl/PdRFAH

NCAA Latest: Clemson surges to tighten with Kansas

/March 23, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) —

The Latest on the NCAA Tournament (all times Eastern):

9:15 p.m.

Down by 20 points at one point in the second half, Clemson has used a 26-12 surge to pull within 74-68 in its Midwest Region semifinal against Kansas.

Shelton Mitchell’s thunderous dunk forced the Jayhawks to call timeout with 2:27 left.

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9:10 p.m.

The lineups are out for the Purdue-Texas Tech game and Isaac Hass isn’t in it.

The Boilermakers center broke his elbow in their NCAA tournament opener and hasn’t played since. That hasn’t stopped him from trying, though.

But Painter said Haas can’t play unless he can rebound with two hands and shoot a free throw right-handed. Haas couldn’t do that, as of Thursday.

Redshirt freshman Matt Haarms was listed in the lineup instead.

___

9:02 p.m.

The players are getting a bit of a history lesson at this year’s East regional in Boston.

The banners honoring the Celtics and Bruins championships and retired numbers were allowed to remain in the rafters at the TD Garden this year — a change from previous events here.

The Celtics also have three banners to honor their 23 retired numbers. The Bruins have retired 10 numbers.

___

9 p.m.

Clemson is trying to get back into its Midwest Region semifinal game against Kansas after falling behind by 20 points.

The lead was down to 13 with 5:57 left. Malik Newman led Kansas with 16 points. The Jayhawks were shooting 51 percent from the floor to 43 percent for Clemson.

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8:40 p.m.

Kansas’ perimeter shooting is starting to heat up, and the top-seeded Jayhawks have opened a 60-42 lead over fifth-seeded Clemson with about 13 minutes left in their Midwest Region semifinal.

Gabe Devoe has scored a game-high 20 points for the Tigers, who are shooting just 39.5 percent from the floor.

— Eric Olson reporting from Omaha, Nebraska

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8:37 p.m.

Both teams have key players with foul issues. Brunson and Mikal Bridges for Villanova and Jevon Carter for West Virginia have two apiece.

— Kyle Hightower, reporting from Boston

____

8:15 p.m.

Press Virginia is causing all kinds of problems for Villanova.

In all, the Wildcats had nine turnovers and West Virginia had five steals late in the first half.

Bob Huggins said on Thursday he thinks his team would benefit from a fast-paced game.

This one’s on its way.

___

8:10 p.m.

It’s a tight game so far in the East Region semifinal between Villanova and West Virginia.

The top-seeded Wildcats are being tested by the fifth-seeded Mountaineers’ pressure defense. Each team had six turnovers with about 5 minutes left.

The Mountaineers then went on an 8-0 run to take a 33-30 lead.

___

8:05 p.m.

Top-seeded Kansas is capitalizing on its mismatch in the post with Udoka Azubuike and Silvio De Sousa and leads fifth-seeded Clemson 40-27 at halftime of their Midwest Region semifinal.

The two Jayhawks have combined for 16 points, with four dunks, on 7-of-9 shooting. They scored six points as the Jayhawks closed on a 15-5 run and held Clemson without a field goal for 6 minutes.

De Sousa made the free throws and Lagerald Vick followed with a 3-pointer to put the Jayhawks up 13 at the break.

The Clemson-Kansas winner plays in the regional final Sunday against the winner of Friday night’s other semifinal between second-seeded Duke and 11th-seeded Syracuse.

— Eric Olson reporting from Omaha, Nebraska

___

7:50 p.m.

Clemson has gone cold in the Midwest Region semifinal against top-seeded Kansas.

Kansas leads 33-22 with 2 1/2 minutes left in the first half after the Tigers have missed 8 of their last 9 shots.

The Jayhawks have hit 6 of 8 after opening the game 8 for 20.

The 7-foot, 280-pound Udoka Azubuike is controlling the inside against Clemson’s 6-9, 237-pound Elijah Thomas and 6-9, 232-pound Mark Donnal.

Azubuike and his backup, Silvio De Sousa, have combined for 14 points and four dunks on 7-of-9 shooting.

Clemson is shooting 36 percent and has committed eight turnovers.

— Eric Olson reporting from Omaha, Nebraska

___

7:36 p.m.

Malik Newman leads the Jayhawks with seven points, and Donnal has seven for the Tigers.

___

7:35 p.m.

Villanova is off to a fast start in the Sweet 16.

Purdue and Texas Tech face off in the other East Region semifinal in Boston.

___

7:15 p.m.

The CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska, looks like Allen Fieldhouse North as top-seeded Kansas faces fifth-seeded Clemson in the Midwest Region semifinals.

The upper and lower bowls of the 17,500-seat arena are mostly blue. One section of the lower bowl is filled with fans in the orange of Clemson.

Omaha is a 3 1/2-hour drive from the Jayhawks’ campus in Lawrence, Kansas.

The Clemson-Kansas winner will go to the Elite Eight and face the winner of Friday night’s second Midwest semifinal between No. 2 seed Duke and 11th-seeded Syracuse.

Kansas had an 11-6 lead with 14:45 left in the first half.

—Eric Olson reporting from Omaha, Nebraska.

___

6:55 p.m.

The NCAA has tweaked its interpretation of a rule that allows padding to cover braces worn on the elbow, wrist or forearm.

He performed a right-handed layup, but never attempted a jump shot during the 15-minute portion open to the media.

— Kyle Hightower, reporting from Boston

___

6:30 p.m.

Move over underdog darlings: It’s time for some of college basketball’s blue bloods to take the stage in the Sweet 16.

Villanova, Kansas, Duke and Syracuse all tip off their regional semifinal games Friday night. All four schools have national titles.

Power names in action means Friday night might actually be good for some wins for your long-busted bracket (if you haven’t given up on it just yet).

___

6 p.m.

The second half of the Sweet 16 is rife with compelling matchups.

Villanova’s Jalen Brunson vs. West Virginia’s Jevon Carter. Duke’s athletes trying to solve Syracuse’s zone. The athleticism of Kansas and Clemson.

Should make for some more drama in the NCAA Tournament on Friday night.

The marquee matchup comes in the East Region Friday in Boston, where Villanova, one of two No. 1 seeds remaining, faces the team nicknamed Press Virginia.

West Virginia (26-10) is known for its defense, but rode its hot-shooting offense into the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years.

Purdue’s 7-foot-2 standout Isaac Haas is hoping to get in the game against Texas Tech, thanks to an arm brace quickly engineered by grad students in hopes of meeting NCAA safety standards.

And Kansas (29-7), the top seed in the Midwest, faces fifth-seeded Clemson (25-9) on a roll after a 31-point rout of Auburn.

___

By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (Z.S)

___

#Brunson and Mikal Bridges #Clemson surges #East regional in Boston #The CenturyLink Center in Omaha #Tighten with Kansas

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