So I decided to break up Part 1 and Part 2 of my Weekly Pull up this week because they are pretty big and making them two separate ones are much easier. So let’s get right down to business to round 2 of the NCAA Tournament where B1G teams went 5-2 with Maryland and Minnesota not advancing.
Second Round
#8 Wisconsin Badgers vs #1 Villanova Wildcats
-After two relatively routine days, madness returned to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday as top-seeded Villanova was bounced from the brackets and the East region 65-62 by No. 8 seed Wisconsin, which added another major upset to its resume and stormed into the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive year! Nigel Hayes scored 19 points, dropping a layup in traffic with 11.4 seconds left, and Bronson Koenig shook off foul trouble and added 17 for the tournament-toughened Badgers, who will play next week at New York’s Madison Square Garden after knocking off a Villanova team that never found its form. Senior Josh Hart scored 19 to lead the Wildcats, but the guard was bottled up and stripped by Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ and Vitto Brown on a drive in the final seconds. Brown then split two free throws with 4 seconds left, but Villanova struggled to corral the rebound and then couldn’t get off a final shot. Here’s the GW layup:
#5 Iowa State Cyclones vs #4 Purdue Boilermakers
-When Purdue needed him the most, when the Boilermakers were on the brink of a heartbreaking loss, Caleb “Biggie” Swanigan lived up to his nickname. Swanigan had 20 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists, and Purdue reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in seven years with a wild 80-76 victory over Iowa State on Saturday. The Cyclones erased a 19-point deficit in the second half, taking their first lead of the game on Deonte Burton’s two free throws with 3:11 left. But P.J. Thompson responded with a critical 3-pointer for the Boilermakers, and Swanigan made several huge plays in the final minutes. After Dakota Mathias missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 11 seconds left and Purdue clinging to a 78-76 lead, Swanigan tracked down a huge offensive rebound to set up Thompson’s free throws with 7 seconds remaining. Monte Morris missed a 3 on the other end, and time ran out for Iowa State. Here are the fantastic highlights to his games:
#8 Northwestern Wildcats vs #1 Gonzaga Bulldogs
-All I have to say to about this game is “let’s fast forward to the end of them”. NW’s coach Chris Collins was right. It was goal-tending all the way. The Northwestern coach was also wrong and at the worst time possible too. After not getting the call, Collins stomped onto the court and drew a technical foul with 4:54 left in Saturday’s game, sucking the life out of a frenetic comeback that fell short in a 79-73 loss to top-seeded Gonzaga. Bulldogs’ Nigel Williams-Goss finished with 20 points, eight rebounds, and four assists to power Gonzaga, which led by as many as 22 points in the first half, then saw the lead diminish to five with a little more than 5 minutes left. The eighth-seeded Wildcats (24-12) got the ball down to Dererk Pardon for a point-blank shot that was on its way in. Gonzaga 7-footer Zach Collins reached up through the net and deflected the ball out. No whistle blew. Gonzaga got the rebound and started down the court. Collins ran onto the court, charged toward the referee and gestured as if he were knocking a ball out of the hoop from the bottom. On the other end, Williams-Goss made both free throws. Northwestern never got closer after that and went home sad. Check out the video and let me know your thoughts:
#7 Michigan Wolverines vs #2 Louisville Cardinals
-Moe Wagner scored a career-high 26 points, made the basket that spurred Michigan’s furious second-half rally and capped the day with a 3-pointer to give the Wolverines the lead for good as they knocked off second-seeded Louisville 73-69 to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2014. We fast forward to UM trailing 45-36 with 16:09 to play, Wagner made a layup that started a 17-6 run to give Michigan its first lead since the opening minutes of the game. When Wagner knocked down a 3-pointer with 6:39 to go to break a 55-55 tie, the Wolverines never trailed again. After that, Michigan’s players celebrated by jumping around near midcourt, then walking next to the pep band and pumping their fists toward yellow-clad fans as the school fight song boomed. Louisville’s Donovan Mitchell finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists to lead Louisville. While Deng Adel had 16 points and Mangok Mathiang added 13 but it wasn’t enough for the Cardinals to stop Michigan’s upset bid. Watch him talk complete control of the game:
#9 Michigan State Spartans vs #1 Kansas Jayhawks
-Playing against the school he grew up cheering for, Kansas’ Josh Jackson channeled all his emotion into a dominating performance to help top-seeded Kansas advance to the Sweet 16 for a second straight year with a 90-70 victory over Michigan State on Sunday. The standout freshman scored 14 of his 23 points in the second half, finishing 9 of 16 from the field and ousting a Spartans team from the NCAA Tournament that he very nearly joined before signing with the Jayhawks. Frank Mason III added 20 points for the top-seeded Jayhawks, who have advanced to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament in nine of coach Bill Self’s 14 seasons. Michigan State’s Miles Bridges finished with 22 points to lead Michigan State, doing so despite leaving the game briefly in the first half with a hip pointer before returning. Nick Ward also finished in double figures with 13 points and saw their NCAA Tournament magic fail against the high-powered Jayhawks who shot 53.1 percent (34 of 64) in the win. Check out Jacksons powerful dunk to cap off their confident win:
