IMO, mostly defense. Houston actually was the better defensive team but couldn't make their shots. Villanova had a lot of trouble getting open shots because of Houston's D but made the most of the opportunities they had, plus they're on the verge of breaking their own tournament record for free throw accuracy.
It's always amazing to me when a team is not good at free throws. It's the one thing they can practice that doesn't change when they get in the game.
Watching the UCONN / NC State. Just like the men's side defense is the key. UCONN is playing great defense, NC State's AA center Elisa Cunane is a non factor so far. There was a gruesome injury on a UCONN player, she broke her wrist falling down. They couldn't figure out what happened at first (the TV commentators). They finally got an angle that showed it and they went oooh. and we didn't see that sequence again. It was gruesome to see,bad break of her wrist UCONN up at half
Awesome 2nd half and NC State erased the half time defecit and we go to OT. As so often happens when you run the clock down to take the last shot you frequently end up with a terrible shot... Which is what happened to NC State at the end of the 2nd half.
More great play, going to 2nd OT. NC State hits the 3 with . 3 seconds to tie up the game. UCONN's Bueckers and Fudd are terrific players
UCONN wins in an Instant Classic. They play a really good Stanford team that has size inside and shooters outside to match up with UCONN
Louisville was a little too talented, deep, tenacious, and fast for M. Played them on even terms until the last few minutes of the 4th Q when they shifted into a higher gear closed us out. In order to beat them, you need guards who can take care of the ball and try to force them into a half court game. If they can get turnovers and run wild in transition, they are deadly.
I was glued to the UCONN-NCS GAME. I agree, Terry, instant classic. I looked back almost 4 months ago when UCONN beat us convincingly by 19 points, and I thought about how well we played NCS until the last 3 minutes. We came a long, long way from early in the season to go as far as we were able to go. The team that lost to UCONN might not have made the tournament. It certainly wouldn't have received a #5 seed and wouldn't have gone to the Sweet Sixteen. The team that barely lost to NCS can compete with anybody in the country. Under Coach Ivey, they'll keep getting better. Speaking of UCONN, the rich get richer. This year's Indiana Miss Basketball is heading there, and they have a '23 commitment from arguably the best player in the state, who's a junior.
Nah, we don't root against each other even when our schools face off. I shoulda had a bet with you on last night's hardball game tho!
Well the Aggies took care of business pretty easily vs Wash State and face Xavier in the final. My brother went to Xavier.
No surprise for either of those guys. As soon as a player is cast as a 1st round pick, not many players will come back.
Awesome NIT final. 1pt win by Xavier. Lead was back and forth late, Xavier couldn't stop A&M without fouling them and the Aggies were making the foul shots. Aggies had a 1 point lead with 26 seconds to play Xavier went a little early for the last shot, which was a good thing as A&M big swatted it out of bounds leaving 5.6 sec X got the ball in and their center hits the hook/bank shot for the lead. Aggies only had 3.1 secs to move it the full court and get the shot off which they did but it was a miss. I was certain Xavier was going to foul the shooter, but they didn't.
Xavier won the NIT (1958) back when it was a big deal since the NCAA tournament at that time was limited to 16 teams. When I looked at the bracket for that tournament only 3 of the 12 teams were not Catholic Schools. Included in that field was... Ta da.. St. Peter's. At that time it was as prestigious as the NCAA Tournament. Xavier defeated George's Alma Mater Dayton. 1958 National Invitation Tournament - Wikipedia
Not the ending those boys wanted, but they gave it their all and had a nice run here at the end. Proud of the effort after the NCAA snub.
Terry, I lived in South Jersey for almost 5 years in the 50s. Went to HS there for 3 years before my family moved to Indianapolis in '61. There were many outstanding Catholic college basketball teams back then, some of whom you don't hear much about today. Canisius and LaSalle are two that come to mind. There are others. I remember how big the NIT was then, especially in the east. The word "prestigious" is appropriate, but when you think of how few teams were selected for the NCAAs in those years, it makes sense that a "second tier" tournament would draw strong interest.
Really good final four for the women starts tonight in Minneapolis. UConn/Stanford should be a great game. The two winningest coaches in women's basketball in Tara VanDerveer and Geno Auriemma
My niece went to Dayton on an athletic/academic scholarship. Her sport was track. I mention this to note that she described to her folks the intense competition in the Atlantic 10 conference. She said that by far Dayton's biggest rival was Xavier. I'm guessing that Xavier's move to the Big East did not diminish the intensity of the rivalry.