ELITE EIGHT MADNESS
- pcmaxx6
- Mar 29, 2023
- 5 min read
Dude…
I know it’s been a few days since the Elite Eight but I needed a little time to process all this Madness that happened this past weekend. After the Sweet Sixteen, The King of New York, Marquis Nowell took down a savvy Tom Izzo Spartans squad. FAU kept their “beach boy” vibes going after beating an underhanded Tennessee squad. San Diego State came out with their phenomenal defense and beat the heavily favored Alabama Crimson Tide squad to complete the biggest upset of the tournament. Creighton dismantled the lower-seed Princeton team. Miami continued its hot streak of Elite Eight runs and beat a tough Houston team. Texas continued to show its dominance and beat the Big East squad of Xavier. Uconn obliterated Arkansas and sent the shirtless Mus Bus home. Finally, the Drew Timme hate club didn’t see it’s dream come true as Drew dominated the paint, putting up 36 points, and beating my dark horse TCU team. This is the first time ever that no #1 seeds didn’t make it past the Sweet Sixteen.
This past weekend, the Elite Eight took place…. Here is a recap of those jaw-dropping games, and the ones that turned into a blowout.
This matchup we knew was going to be a barn burner. San Diego State is known for its rigorous defense. Creighton on the other hand, has had the hot hand in the shooting department. It was going to come down to whose style was going to win out. Would SDSU stop the high-powered Creighton offense, or would Creighton steam roll the Aztecs and their stifling defense? Creighton started off the game with it’s terrific offense and Kalkbrenner was dominant in the paint. The Bluejays went into halftime up 7. The second half was a different ball game. San Diego State proved why they were known for their defense. They held the Creighton Bluejays to 28% shooting in the second half and only scored 23 points. San Diego State climbed back to make it a 56-56 game with only seconds left on the clock.
I only had one issue with this game. I understand it’s a foul. I understand that Strawther put his hand on Trummell’s hip which by the rule book states is a foul. However, the zebras haven’t called many fouls the entire game. Hell, they have let the boys play a little rougher the entire tournament. Don’t call a foul during a TIE GAME TO GO TO THE FINAL FOUR!!! I mean come on, you let SDSU play all over the Bluejays the entire game and one measly little foul and you call it. LET THE BOYS PLAY!!! In the final seconds, the zebras decide to get involved and call a foul. Darrion Tramell hit 1 of his two free to make it a 57-56 lead for the Aztecs. The Bluejays tried for a long ball up the court, which turned the final seconds into zero seconds. The Bluejays shot 40% from the field overall, and the Aztecs escape with another close victory over Creighton.
Alijah Martin and the Owls of Florida Atlantic took on the King of New York, Marquis Nowell, and the Kansas State Wildcats. The number nine-seeded Owls had the most wins in division one this year but plays in a weak conference so they had a tough path to get to this point. However, with Fairleigh Dickerson upsetting the number one seed Purdue Boilermakers, the path became much easier. Kansas State got past John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats to get to the Sweet Sixteen and beat a Savy Michigan State Spartans team where we saw Nowell go for twenty points and NINETEEN ASSISTS!!! That is a new NCAA record. This game was back and forth the entire way. Nowell leading the charge for the Wildcats found themselves up a few scores with eight minutes to go. Then, one of Kansas State’s best offensive threats, Keyonte Johnson, fouled out of the game. This was huge as seven-foot-one Vladislav Goldin was able to control the paint and help FAU close the gap. Cam Carter hit some clutch threes and brought the Owls into the lead. Kansas State desperately needed the beach boys to miss free throws to stay within reach of taking the game from the Owls. However, Micheal Forrest calmly made four clutch free throws to keep the Owls up three. Nowell tried to hurry the ball downcourt to get it to their three-point sniper, Ishmel Massoud, a chance for the tie. Johnell Davis plays great defense and swipes the ball away and dribbled out the final seconds to continue the cinderella stories of the FAU Owls.
The Texas Longhorns looked to continue their dominance against the ACC champion Miami Hurricanes. In the first half, it was all Texas. Marcus Carr was shooting the ball decently and setting up their big man Timmy Allen and the sixth man of the year, Sir’Jabari Rice to give the Longhorns a commanding lead going into halftime. With thirteen minutes left to play, the Hurricanes found themselves down double digits and it looked like Texas was about to run away with another game and secure their spot in the Final Four in their home state. The Hurricanes, who were eliminated last year in the Elite Eight by the Kansas Jayhawks, were on a mission to not have history repeat itself twice. Jordan Miller shot the lights out going seven for seven with twenty seven points. Isiah Wong also combined for fourteen points and a surprise sixteen points from Wooga Poplar allowed the Hurricanes to fight back into the game. The Hurricanes and Longhorns battled it out. The Hurricanes continued to shoot well from the foul line going twenty-eight for thirty-two from the foul line. The Hurricanes ended up edging out the stingy Longhorns as Norchard Omier, Isaiah Wong, and Jordan Miller all hit their free throws for the Hurricanes to defeat their Elite Eight curse and punch their ticket to the Final Four
This is probably the best result the Dudes and Sports crew could have hoped for. I’m not going to lie, I was pretty mad when Timmie got everything and anything in the TCU game. However, it was the opposite effect for the guy who probably played Micheal Jordan when he was in college. The first half started off pretty competitive. TImme and Sanogo battled it out in the paint, and Julian Strawther and Jordan Hawkins battled it out on the perimeter. When the second half started, only one thing changed. The ball stopped going in for the Bulldogs. The Dogs went eleven for THIRTY-ONE from the three-point line!? Their best shooter, Julian Strawther, went ZERO FOR SIX FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! On the other side it was the complete opposite. Jordan Hawkins went six for ten from deep and had a total of twenty points for the game. How many points did the old Vietnam war veteran, Drew Timmie have? A measly twelve points and went five for fourteen from the field. The Huskies DOMINATED the second half and ran away with the game. The total ended up being almost a thirty-point difference and we finally said goodbye to Abe Lincoln’s favorite player, Drew Timme, as he gallops his way into the sunset on his Gonzaga career. The UCONN Huskies are the most dangerous team in the tournament. However, can they continue this hot streak? Find out on Saturday in Houston for the Final Four.
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