NCAA Tournament – Page 5 – North Platte Post Archive

FINALS WATCH: Broncos RB Ball Attends in Frog Suit

Posted on April 6, 2014

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Denver Broncos running back Montee Ball, who played college football at Wisconsin, wore a frog suit to the Final Four on Saturday night.

Ball and two friends tried to join the Wisconsin student section courtside late in the second half of the Badgers’ 74-73 loss to Kentucky, but were denied entrance to the floor level because they didn’t have the necessary wrist bands.

The students caught wind of Ball’s struggles, turned around and started chanting “let them in, let them in.”

Security at AT&T Stadium didn’t budge, not even after one student walked toward the stands and slipped Ball his wristband.

Ball argued profusely, and even flipped off his frog cap at one point, before stomping back to his seats. His friends followed — one dressed in a leopard suit and the other in a cow suit.

Final Four Sets NCAA Attendance Record at 79,444

Posted on April 5, 2014

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Final Four has set an NCAA basketball attendance record at the billion-dollar home of the Dallas Cowboys.

The national semifinals drew 79,444 on Saturday night at AT&T Stadium, beating the previous record of 78,129 when Kentucky beat Michigan State in a regular-season game at Ford Field in Detroit on Dec. 13, 2003.

The crowd also topped the Final Four mark of 75,421 from 2011 at Reliant Stadium in Houston.

It wasn’t the biggest basketball crowd in the Cowboys’ stadium. The NBA All-Star game drew 108,713 in 2010, less than a year after the opening of the $1.2 billion showplace with a huge video board that hangs above the field or court.

Contrast the Name of the Game at Final Four

Posted on March 31, 2014

This year’s Final Four will be filled with contrasts.

One of the biggest will be in the second national semifinal between Kentucky and Wisconsin in North Texas on Saturday.

The Wildcats are athletic, play fast and run past opponents. The Badgers are much more deliberate, hounding teams defensively, then working for the perfect shot.

Kentucky also relies on seven freshmen. On the other side of the bracket is Florida, which has four seniors who had played 400 games before one of the young Wildcats had ever played one.

Wisconsin has a unique big man in long-range-shooting 7-footer Frank Kaminsky, who plays a different game than Florida’s powerful Patric Young.

There also are two coaches who are Final Four regulars and two who will be there for the first time.

Fearsome Final Foursome Headed to North Texas

Posted on March 30, 2014

The Final Four will not have any upstarts like the past few years.

The power programs that did make it will still have plenty to prove in North Texas.

Florida, the top overall seed, is back in the Final Four for the first time since winning consecutive titles in 2006-07, this time without all those first-round NBA picks.

The Gators will face Connecticut, 2011 national champions who were barred from last year’s bracket because of academics.

Wisconsin has reached the Final Four for the first time under coach Bo Ryan, who is finally going as a coach after taking his late father every year since 1976.

Rounding out the foursome is Kentucky, the preseason No. 1 thought to be out of contention after struggling midseason.

Attendance at Women’s Hoops First Two Rounds Drops

Posted on March 27, 2014

Attendance for the NCAA women’s tournament is down after the first two rounds.

The 16 sites averaged nearly 4,100 fans, down roughly 700 from the previous year. It probably didn’t help that three of the locations didn’t have host schools playing at them — Los Angeles, Seattle and Toledo. While the Ohio site had good attendance mainly because Notre Dame was there, Los Angeles and Seattle ranked as the bottom two locations in attendance.

Less than 1,000 fans turned out for the second round matchup between BYU and Nebraska in L.A.

The NCAA won’t have that problem next year when the top four seeds in each region will host the opening rounds.

While early attendance is lagging, the NCAA is hopeful that will change in the regionals.

Baylor Shuts Down McDermott and Creighton, 85-55

Posted on March 23, 2014

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Isaiah Austin and Brady Heslip each scored 17 points and Baylor shut down Creighton’s Doug McDermott with suffocating defense, ending the career of the one of the most prolific scorers in college history with an 85-55 win Sunday night in the NCAA tournament West Regional.

Baylor’s size and speed overwhelmed the third-seeded Bluejays (27-8) and their national scoring leader, earning a third trip to the Sweet 16 since 2010.

McDermott, who averaged 27 points this season, finished with 15 but had just three in the first half as Baylor built a 20-point lead. McDermott ranks fifth on the NCAA career scoring list.

No. 6 seed Baylor (26-11) had five players score in double figures and shot 64 percent in one of the dominant performances of the NCAA tournament.

Nebraska Women Beat Fresno State 74-55 in NCAAs

Posted on March 22, 2014

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jordan Hooper had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and fourth-seeded Nebraska defeated Fresno State 74-55 in the first round of the NCAA women’s tournament Saturday.

Emily Cady added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Cornhuskers (26-6), the Big Ten tournament champions who have won 13 of 14 games.

Taylor Thompson was the only player in double figures with 14 points for the 13th-seeded Bulldogs (22-11). They closed within four points early in the second half, but never got any closer in falling to 0-7 in the NCAA tourney. The Mountain West tourney champions had their eight-game winning streak snapped.

The Huskers advanced to play either No. 5 seed North Carolina State or 12th-seeded BYU in Monday’s second round at Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus.

Tear’a Laudermill added 13 points, and Rachel Theriot had 10 points and 12 assists for the Huskers, who controlled the boards, 46-35.

Creighton Seniors Driven by Past NCAA Losses

Posted on March 22, 2014

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — For Doug McDermott and his Creighton teammates, the last two years at the NCAA tournament left them bitter after third-round losses robbed them of a chance to go farther than any Bluejays team before them.

They also were a major motivating factor in keeping this team together for another try.

With that goal in mind, McDermott skipped a chance to enter the NBA draft, rallying a senior-laden group to another big season. Third-seeded Creighton (27-7) plays No. 6 seed Baylor (25-11) on Sunday in the West Regional for a chance to advance to the round of 16 for the first time in school history.

“We’ve knocked on the door and come so close the last few years to try to get into that Sweet 16 and see what happens after that,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. “I couldn’t think of a better way for their career to end than to go (farther) and have a chance to go to the Final Four.”

Creighton’s four senior starters give the Bluejays a blend of maturity and confidence to support a scorer like Doug McDermott, who leads the nation at 27 points per game.

Greg McDermott noted that the seniors could stay together because early career injuries led to redshirt seasons for Grant Gibbs and Ethan Wragge. Then his son Doug made the surprise decision not to turn pro.

“All of a sudden, you have these pieces in place again for a fourth year together,” Greg McDermott said. “There is a confidence about them. … They believe in each other.”

The group that earned their chops in the Missouri Valley Conference stepped up to the Big East and played for the conference title in their first season.

“This is our last go around,” Doug McDermott said. “We’ve been through so much together to get to this point.”

Baylor is a big and athletic team that all but collapsed in January, only to pick itself back up and turn things around with a frantic finish. Last season’s NIT champions started the season ranked No. 25 and rose as high as No. 7 behind a 13-1 start.

But the Bears nearly fell apart in the Big 12 with a 2-8 start in league play and were written off as one of the most disappointing teams in the country. They responded by winning 10 of their next 11 and made it to the Big 12 title game.

Baylor players called that life in the Big 12, arguably the best league in the country this season. Now the Bears are a team brimming with postseason confidence.

“No matter what we’ve been through this year, we feel like we’re a good team and we’re as good as any team in the country and can play with anybody,” Bears forward Royce O’Neale said.

Five things to know about Baylor vs. Creighton:

NO STOPPING MCDERMOTT: Doug McDermott has scored at least 30 points in four of the past five games. He had 30 on Friday against Louisiana-Lafayette. Baylor coach Scott Drew seemed to ready to concede him another 30 on Sunday, but hopes to keep it there.

“If we can just contest as many shots and make it as tough as we can so he can’t get into a rhythm,” Drew said. “There is a difference between 30 points and 45 points.”

BAYLOR ZONE: With their size and athleticism, Baylor plays a zone defense that can be impenetrable with 7-foot-1 center Isaiah Austin and 6-10 forward Cory Jefferson. Add 6-7, 270 pound bruiser Rico Gathers and the Bears can intimidate anyone trying to get to the basket.

Creighton hardly seemed worried. They’ll just shoot over it. “We have one of the best shooting teams in the country,” Doug McDermott said. “We actually like it when we get zone.”

That wasn’t the case when Creighton lost the Big East title game to Providence when the Bluejays were 8 of 30 from 3-point range against the Friars’ zone.

BRADY BARRAGE: Baylor’s Brady Heslip is the Bears’ top 3-point shooter at 47 percent on the season. He struggled in Baylor’s second-round win over Nebraska missing all six of his attempts, but was 10 of 10 from the free throw line.

Heslip shrugged off the misfires and dared defenders to back off him Sunday.

“If they leave me open, I’m not going 0 for 6 again,” Heslip said.

BLIND SPOT: Baylor’s Austin is one of the top big men in the Big 12 and a top prospect for the NBA draft if he leaves school early. He’s also partially blind. Austin wears a prosthetic right eye, the result of a detached retina injury in junior high. Doctors tried four surgeries to correct the problem.

CBS Broadcaster Calls Gonzaga Player a ‘Polack’

Posted on March 22, 2014

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A CBS announcer has apologized to a Polish-born Gonzaga player for using a derogatory term while describing the defense Oklahoma State was using against Przemek Karnowski.

In an effort to make a comeback in the second half, Oklahoma State started deliberately fouling Karnowski, who is a poor free throw shooter. Andrew Catalon, the play-by-play announcer for the game, called the strategy “Hack-a-Polack.”

Catalon’s broadcasting partner, former NBA player Mike Gminski, who is of Polish descent, immediately responded, “Easy now,” and chuckled at the comment.

Catalon apologized on the air for using the term, and then found Karnowski after the game to apologize to him personally.

Karnowski tweets that he appreciated the apology.

A CBS spokeswoman says Catalon will be calling games when they resume on Sunday in San Diego.

Experience Pays off for Underdogs in NCAA Tourney

Posted on March 21, 2014

On the surface, a team like Mercer looked completely overmatched against mighty Duke and its roster of future NBA players.

But the 14th-seed from Macon, Ga., was able to pull the huge upset by following a script that more and more underdogs are using in the age of one-and-done college players. They turned it into a game of men against boys.

Mercer starts five seniors. The Bears used the toughness, cohesion and chemistry their group acquired over four years in college to beat a Duke team headlined by freshman Jabari Parker, who many figure will turn pro after just one season.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski says it was clear that his young team wasn’t physically or mentally mature enough to compete with experienced Mercer.