Favorites won all eight games in the NCAA Tournament Saturday, going 6-2 ATS.
Creighton 86, Oregon 73, 2OT
Oregon led by 4 with 0:56 left in regulation.
Only two Ducks scored after halftime.
Creighton was 13-14 on the foul line, Oregon 4-5.
Since 1994, Creighton has had only two basketball coaches; Greg McDermott and Oregon coach Dana Altman, who led the Bluejays from 1994-2010.
NC State 79, Oakland 73
Wolfpack is 7-0 over the last 12 days (won 5 games at ACC tourney LW)
Oakland sharpshooter Gohlke was only 6-17 on the arc.
All five starters for NC State scored in double figures.
Gonzaga 89, Kansas 68
Gonzaga is in the Sweet 16 for the ninth year in a row.
Zags outscored Kansas 46-24 in the second half.
Kansas lost five of its last seven games.
Weird coincidence; the two coaches in this game, Bill Self/Mark Few, were both born on December 27, 1962.
Iowa State 67, Washington State 56
Game was 27-27 at halftime.
Cyclones shot only 37.2% inside arc, were 7-14 on arc.
Wazzu was only 5-23 on the arc.
Arizona 78,Dayton 68
Arizona shot 57.1% inside the arc.
Wildcats win their 7th straight second round game.
Arizona plays the Clemson-Baylor winner in the Sweet 16.
North Carolina 85, Michigan State 69
Spartans led 26-14 early on.
Michigan State is 2-4 in its last six second round games.
North Carolina is 6-0 vs Michigan State in NCAA Tourney games.
Tennessee 62,, Texas 58
Tennessee won despite shooting 33.8% from floor.
Vols allowed 49-58 points in their first two tournament wins.
Tennessee-Creighton is an interesting Sweet 16 game.
Illinois 89, Duquesne 63
Illinois led 50-26 at halftime of this stress-free win.
Duquesne had nothing left after their upset win Thursday.
Illinois starts four seniors; they shot 73.7% inside the arc.
Famous birthdays for March 24:
Garry Templeton, 68
Bruce Hurst, 66
Mike Woodson, 66
Steve Karsay, 52
Peyton Manning, 48
Chris Bosh, 40
— Florida Atlantic coach Dusty May bolted to Michigan Saturday; May was at FAU for six years, getting to the Final Four LY; last two seasons, the Owls were 60-13.
Speaking of May, when FAU lost to Northwestern Friday, one of the Wildcats’ players was Brooks Barnhizer, whose father was Dusty May’s high school coach.
— Saint Mary’s has won the WCC four times since 2010; in those four years, they went 1-3 in their first NCAA Tournament game.
— Indiana Pacers’ F Doug McDermott played college ball for his father Greg at Creighton; the McDermotts have another son, Nick, who is a caddy on the pro golf tour; he caddied for Nate Lashley last week at the PLAYERS Championship.
— Mets signed DH JD Martinez to a one-year, $12M deal. Martinez hit 33 homers for the Dodgers last year, with 103 RBI; unfortunately, he kicked my butt in the finals of our fantasy baseball league.
— Odd Fact of the Day: Only one team in NCAA Tournament history has gone a whole game without taking a foul shot; Illinois, in 1986.
Saturday night, Oregon didn’t take a foul shot until there was 0:24 left in regulation.
— Former NBA coach Stan Van Gundy is a TV analyst on the NCAA’s; it is great to listen to him analyze games, it is like taking a masterclass on basketball. Always learn stuff listening to him.
— St Bonaventure’s athletic director quit suddenly this weekend, a week after the Bonnies opted out of playing in the NIT, but nobody told the players. Must be an interesting story there.
— Oakland coach Greg Kampe has an unusual dentist; the mom of one of his players is Kampe’s dentist, so I’m guessing that kid plays a lot, especially right before his annual checkup.
— Kind of stunning to hear the grief that John Calipari is getting from disgruntled Kentucky fans after the Wildcats lost in the first round, for the second time in three years.
Last five years, Kentucky is 105-52, 62-27 in SEC games, but only 1-3 in NCAA Tournament.
Some nitwits want Calipari fired, but that would cost the school/boosters $33M; that’s the buyout on his contract, and who exactly would want to coach there if they ain’t happy with Calipari?
