Lace up those dancing shoes. Sweet 16 has arrived.
Four men’s matches tonight will start an exciting weekend March madness That will determine the fourth final in both men and women. (The Women’s Sweet 16 Tour begins on Friday.)
Overall number one Gonzaga runs ahead of fourth seed Arkansas. A rematch in the 2018 National Championship, No. 2 Villanova against 11th seed Michigan, will also kick off early.
evening marquee – No. 2 Duke vs No. 3 Texas Tech in what could be coach Mike Krzyzewski’s last game – It starts at 9:39 PM ET on CBS.
The other top seed, Arizona, faces fifth seed Houston to finish the event. Follow us for the latest updates and analysis from the USA TODAY Sports team.
clicker:Detail of Thursday’s Sweet 16 matches at Men’s South & West Regionals
Farewell Explanation:Mike Krzyzewski talks about why he announced his plans to retire before the start of the 2021-22 season at Duke
Coming penalties? Arizona and Kansas are the favorites for the Sweet 16, who may also face NCAA punishment after the tournament.
Villanova, Michigan fought back and forth
With 11-point strength from top forward Jermaine Samuels, second seeded Villanova 31-28 outlasted the 11th seed over Michigan at halftime in San Antonio. Samuel continued in five out of seven attempts to shoot the field, and hit his only free throw.
Center Hunter Dickinson leads the Wolverines with eight points, but he made his second foul less than four minutes before halftime.
No. 1 Gonzaga full of Arkansas in the first half
Top seed Gonzaga saw his eight-point early lead disappear as the No. 4 seed Arkansas finished the first game 13-2 to advance 32-29 in the locker room at the break of the Sweet 16 game in San Francisco.
Both teams struggled off the field, with Arkansas shooting 37.5% and Gonzaga scoring 35.3% of her shots.
Razorbacks senior guard JD Notae is the only player in the double figures with 10 points on a 5 of 14 shootout. Three Gonzaga players, including striker Drew Timmy, lead the Zagres by eight points. Seven-foot-tall Chet Holmgren was held captive without a target.
Mike Krzyewski’s training tree extends far beyond Duke
For decades, Mike Krzyowski has designed a training tree with branches at nearly every conference, as programs look to capture Duke’s style and success by hiring one of his top lieutenants.
“It’s like having a scary TED talk or some kind of seminar or company retreat,” said Nate James, Austin Bee’s first-year coach. “You get that every day.” Every day, every season. Try to suck and drink as much as you can.”
Along with a record-winning total, national championships and laundry list of All-America and NBA players, this coaching tree is part of Krzyzewski’s profound influence on college basketball. including James, 11 of Duke’s former players or assistants are currently head coaches at the college or NBA level, including Arizona State’s Bobby Hurley, Arizona State’s Mike Bree, Pittsburgh’s Jeff Capel, Northwestern’s Chris Collins and Utah Jazz’s Quinn Snyder.
Next up is Jon Scheyer, who will take full control of the Blue Devils as soon as Thursday night or late the day after the National Championship game in early April.
– Paul Meyerberg
Arkansas coaches get a visit from Steve Curry before Gonzaga tip
Golden State Warriors goalkeeper Steve Curry met with the Arkansas men’s basketball coaches before the Razorbacks faced Gonzaga at the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
The Arkansas men’s basketball Twitter account shared a photo of Curry offering “some tips on playing at ChaseCenter.”
The game will be played at the home stadium of the Warriors in San Francisco.
Curry played for current Arkansas assistant coach Keith Smart, who was the Warriors coach during Curry’s rookie NBA season in 2010-11.
Former Arkansas men’s basketball player Moses Moody is a teammate of Curry’s on the Warriors.
– Eric Hall, Fort Smith (ship) Times Record
Top seed Arizona has some weaknesses in early wins
SAN DIEGO – After storming the NCAA men’s basketball as a modern-day pick to win it all, the top-seeded Arizona Wildcats almost didn’t make it past their opening weekend.
But here they are at Sweet 16, preparing to face Houston on Thursday in San Antonio.
The Wildcats can be a team that finds ways to win even when they let their guard down and play a little. or It might be a team with weaknesses waiting to be exploited by better teams from the TCU, a physical group that sometimes pushed around the Wildcats (33-3) in a nail-biting 85-80 on Sunday.
A strong defense also tends to spoil Arizona’s balanced offensive line, as with any team. The Wildcats have lost to only three teams this season: Tennessee, UCLA and Colorado. Two of those teams (Tennessee and UCLA) are ranked 16th nationally in adjusted defensive proficiency, according to Advanced Measures Analytics veteran Ken Pomeroy.
And so does TCU.
Guess who else ranks 10th, ahead of both UCLA and TCU?
Houston.
– Brent Schrotenburg
Why did Coach K choose a public goodbye?
San Francisco – Says Mike Krzyzewski The public nature of his farewell tour as Duke’s basketball coach came at a price.
“It wears a little bit on you because everywhere you walk, everyone takes a picture of you watching it all,” Krzyzewski said on Wednesday. “Look, this is getting old. You know, this is getting old.”
He says recruiting played a factor in announcing his decision before the season.
– Josh Peter
The highlight of the new Gonzaga show is the must-watch TV
PORTLAND, Oregon – It’s usually easy to spot the father of Chet Holmgren, the new phenomenon from Gonzaga, in a sea of red and dark blue. Just look for the tall, skinny guy – where do you think Chet, who is 7ft tall, weighs 195lbs and has a wingspan of 7ft6ft, do you get that anyway? Carry a video camera.
Yes, a video camera. Dave Holmgren, who clocks in at 7-foot-1 and plays college hoops for Minnesota, is old school. He has scored every single one of his chit games since childhood. as, There is quite a library of highlights.
Some of his Holmgren teammates were asked what their favorite things were.
Julian Strother, the gentle guard: “Maybe in Vegas against UCSD, coast to coast, back, to dunk on the go.”
Senior goalkeeper Racer Bolton: “He was one day practically going down a transition and trying to put 360 degrees.”
Perhaps there will be more highlights when the Zags face Arkansas tonight in San Francisco.
– Lindsey Schnell
Arkansas coach Eric Muselman knows the Bay Area
“The day I got kicked out of Kings or Warriors, to think I would train at Sweet 16 in the Bay Area, if anyone had asked me at that particular time, I would have told them there was zero chance.” Not 5%. Not 10%. Literally any chance of that happening. .
“I think the world has a funny way of dealing with itself.”
– Josh Peter
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