What an NCAA Tournament basketball game! This game had it all as I thought it might.
Texas Tech threw a 10-2 haymaker at the Blue Devils to begin the game, but Duke took a standing eight count and weathered the storm.
As an OU fan who’s used to seeing Texas Tech… it’s how you handle those turnover driven spurts, and in this game Coach K pushed all the right buttons even though Texas Tech led most of this game up until the final minutes.
Paulo Banchero was out of this world in this game. He was the guy at No. 1 on most everyone’s draft list the first month of the season. He answered every bell against the best defense in America.
The key stat of this game is simple…Duke shot 71% from the field against the toughest most physical defense in college basketball.
The officiating wasn’t an issue from my view. I thought the zebras pretty much let both teams play. I love the fact the zebras allowed contact as is the case in the Big 12.
Duke was only down by four points at halftime. Coach K simply told his team to adjust to the zebras and be more physical on the ball. That’s what great coaches do…they adjust, and their players respond.
My heart goes out to Coach Adams and his Texas Tech Red-Raiders. I love watching them play. When OU moves to the SEC, I’ll truly miss watching Texas Tech basketball as a peer conference member.
From Bob Knight to Chris Beard to Mark Adams the torch has successfully been passed in Lubbock as far as basketball continuity.
As far as Gonzaga’s loss to Arkansas…I thought Arkansas would play Gonzaga tough, but I thought the Zags would pull it together enough to escape with a close victory.
I know on social media some are bitching about two of the fouls called on the Human Stickman, but that’s not what caused Gonzaga to lose this game.
They lost the game because 1 their point guard play was horrific, 2 they turned the ball over 15 times, and 3 for the third straight game Gonzaga shot below 50% from the line.
You can’t beat a good team from a Power 5 conference with those numbers in play. You can’t just expect Andrew Timme to bail you out every game when you’re not playing teams from the WCC.
Give Arkansas credit…they turned the game into a helter-skelter game, which is what they do. Just like the old Nolan Richardson teams with the Forty Minutes of Hell mantra.
The Razorbacks dictated the pace and made the plays when it mattered. They played with an edge because no one was giving them a shot of winning the game.
Arkansas 74 – Gonzaga 68.
I’ll write about Villanova and Houston in the morning. Two really coaches in Jay Wright and Kelvin Sampson.
What a great night of NCAA Tournament basketball. Coach K’s magical ride continues.
I’m a little amped with all the games tonight. I need something to help me sleep. I’ve never played this on my blog before. We’ll see if this works.