The first day of the second round of the men's NCAA tournament had some scares, but no big finish. But again, it is March, which delivered one upset as No. 11 Texas knocked out No. 3 Gonzaga. The top seeds, such as Duke and Arkansas, took over down the stretch to move to the Sweet 16. On the women's side, USC kept its hopes alive in dramatic fashion. Sunday features a matchup of two of the biggest coaches in college basketball: Bill Self vs. Rick Pitino. On to the newsletter. |
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Brad Penner/Imagn Images (Pitino); Jay Biggerstaff/Imagn Images (Self) |
By Pat Forde
Rick Pitino has coached 1,231 college basketball games. Bill Self has coached 1,126. Just one of those games has been against each other. That was in November 2021, and it wasn't a fair fight. Pitino was at mid-major Iona, still reinventing himself for about the fourth time in his highly dramatic, ever-evolving career. Self was on his way to winning the national championship at Kansas a few months later. The Jayhawks won by 13. Finally, the two Hall of Famers meet with something substantial on the line: a berth in the NCAA men's tournament Sweet 16. Pitino's St. John's Red Storm (29–6) are the No. 5 seed in the East region. Self's Jayhawks (24–10) are the No. 4 seed. The winner moves on to potentially present a significant problem for top seed Duke next week in Washington, D.C. This meeting comes at an interesting career moment for both men. Pitino is a decade older than Self but might be in better health; he's 73 and coaching largely the same way he did at 43, when he won his first national championship. Self, 63, has had several heart-related issues in recent years, missing games in 2023, '25 and in January. |
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By Bryan Fischer Typically in the month of March, you are what you are at this magical point in the season. You're what the record says you are. You are what the committee labels you for the only three weeks that matter for basketball programs. You are what you are at the final buzzer as every time you take the court could be your last. In the curious case of No. 1 overall seed Duke however, it is anything but. It is still a ball of wet clay, far from a fully baked product despite the wealth of talent on hand. In contrast to many of its peers in the NCAA tournament, the Blue Devils are still in the rare process of evolving—something that typically punishes you at this time of year but instead helped send them to the Sweet 16 after an 81–58 win over No. 9 TCU on Saturday night in the second round of the NCAA men's tournament. "I feel there's a lot of things to clean up. What's happened with us the last two weeks is the fact that Pat [Ngongba II] and Caleb [Foster] have been out. We didn't practice as much as I would have liked," said coach Jon Scheyer, much happier than after the opening-round nail-biter over No. 16 Siena. "The habits we've developed all year, I think especially on the defensive end, the consistency we saw in the second half, I would like to see that all the time." |
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Troy Wayrynen/Imagn Images |
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Men's Schedule
Saturday's Key Second Round Matchups No. 3 Michigan State 77, No. 6 Louisville 69 No. 1 Duke 81, No. 9 TCU 58 No. 2 Houston 88, No. 10 Texas A&M 57 No. 3 Illinois 76, No. 11 VCU 55 Sunday's Key Second Round Matchups No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 7 Miami, 12:10 p.m. ET (CBS) No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 7 Kentucky, 2:45 p.m. ET (CBS) No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 5 St. John's, 5:15 p.m. ET (CBS) No. 2 UConn vs. No. 7 UCLA, 8:45 p.m. ET (TNT) | | Women's Schedule
Saturday's Key First Round Matchups No. 3 Louisville 72, No. 14 Vermont 52 No. 6 Notre Dame 79, No. 11 Fairfield 60 No. 9 USC 71, No. 8 Clemson 67, OT No. 9 Syracuse 72, No. 8 Iowa State 63 Sunday's Key Second Round Matchups No. 4 North Carolina vs. No. 5 Maryland, noon ET (ESPN) No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 7 NC State, 1 p.m. ET (ABC) No. 2 LSU vs. No. 7 Texas Tech, 3 p.m. ET (ABC) No. 5 Michigan State vs. No. 4 Oklahoma, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN) |
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By Emma Baccellieri Mia Moore had the shot of her life, an off-balance, game-deciding, buzzer-beating prayer of a three. It would break a tie and put No. 8 Clemson over No. 9 USC. And for a moment, it did, until it was clear that it actually did not. As the shot fell, Moore's teammates emptied the bench in triumph, Clemson's band and cheerleaders jubilant right alongside them. But the referees went to check the game tape: They were reviewing both whether Moore had gotten the shot off in time and whether she had been fouled before the clock expired. They ruled that she had not. Moore's shot had been just a fraction of a second late, and so had any potential foul, meaning the game would remain tied and overtime would follow. |
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