After Arizona’s upset loss at the hands of No. 13 Buffalo on Thursday night, Arizona stars Deandre Ayton and Allonzo Trier both declared their intention to enter the 2018 NBA Draft.
“I learned a lot and built relationships on this team,” freshman big man Ayton told reporters. “This is the only team that I actually loved. Being a Wildcat is amazing. … I think it’s the right thing to do, right now. I think I’m ready for the NBA. … I just have to finish off school right and just work this summer and play for the draft.”
Ayton is projected as the No. 1 pick in the draft, and at the least he should end up being the first college player picked in the draft. Trier, on the other hand, is expected to be a second round pick.
“I’m not worried about [jumping to the NBA] right now, but I’m closing the book on this chapter and looking forward to the next one in my life,” Trier, a junior, said. “It’s a pleasure to be coached by [Sean Miller] and be a part of him and this program for three years.”
Last week, Arizona head coach said that Trier, Ayton and sophomore guard Rawle Alkins would all be leaving school for the NBA.
The future of the Arizona program, with all of these defectors, is bleak.
PLAYER OF THE DAY
It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?
The Houston star scored a career-high 39 points, including a game-winning bucket with just 1.1 seconds left on the clock, as the Cougars advanced past San Diego State to take on Michigan in the second round of the tournament. Gray’s performance — and the shot that he hit to cap it — will go down as one of the great individual games of the NCAA tournament this decade.
THE REST OF SATURDAY’S STARS
- KEENAN EVANS, Texas Tech: Evans scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half, hitting all six of his field goals and his free throws as the No. 3 seed Red Raiders survived Stephen F. Austin.
- DEVONTE’ GRAHAM, Kansas: No. 16 seed Penn looked like they were going to give Kansas a fight … until Graham took over. He finished with 29 points, six boards and six assists in the 76-60 win.
- KEVIN KNOX and SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER, Kentucky: The Wildcats needed them to go off, and they did. Knox went for 25 points and SGA added 19 points, eight boards, seven assists and five steals.
- TREVON DUVAL, Duke: A lot of Dukies played well against No. 15 seed Iona, but Duval’s performance might matter the most. He had 19 points and eight assists and hit four threes.
- LAMONTE TURNER, Tennessee: The No. 3 seed Vols weren’t really tested by No. 14 Wright State, and that had a lot to do with Turner’s 19 points and nine assists.
TEAM OF THE DAY
The No. 13 seed Buffalo Bulls beat the breaks off of No. 4 seed Arizona. They won 89-68. They put in their walk-ons at the end of the game. They embarrassed the preseason No. 2 team in the country. And all this was the first NCAA tournament win the program’s ever had.
Not a bad day for Nate Oats.
GAME OF THE DAY
The first game of the day was an absolute thriller, as Rhode Island knocked off Oklahoma and Trae Young in overtime in a game that very nearly featured a game-winning, buzzer-beating tip-in.
SHOT OF THE DAY
Shoutout to Donte Ingram, because he made this shot to kick off what turned into an incredible, exciting day of basketball:
WTF???? OF THE DAY
Radford head coach Mike Jones channelled his inner-Marshawn Lynch after losing to Villanova:
WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?
Three Ohio State players went for 20 points as the No. 5 Buckeyes knocked off No. 12 seed South Dakota State in a fun game that saw 71 threes.
Khadeen Carrington went for 26 points as No. 8 Seton Halladvanced past No. 9 N.C. State.
Zach Norvell hit a three with less than a minute left to break a tie as No. 4 Gonzagaknocked off No. 13 UNC Greensboro.
No. 1 seed Villanova advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament with a dominant win over No. 16 Radford.
Collin Sexton had 25 points and six assists in a win over No. 9 Alabama and No. 8 Virginia Tech.
Good Floridashowed up on Thursday night. The No. 6-seed Gators smoked No. 11 St. Bonaventure.
There was nothing good about No. 3 Michigan‘s win over No. 14 Montana … except for the fact that Michigan won.
With Day 1 in the books, Saturday’s times and TV assignments have been announced for teams looking to book a trip to the Sweet 16. All times Eastern.
Pittsburgh: Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, Dan Bonner and Dana Jacobson
- 12:10 p.m.: No. 1 Villanova vs. No. 9 Alabama, CBS
- 2:40 p.m.: No. 2 Duke vs. No. 7 Rhode Island, CBS
Boise: Brian Anderson, Chris Webber and Lisa Byington
- 5:15 p.m.: No. 5 Kentucky vs. No. 13 Buffalo, CBS
- 7:45 p.m.: No. 4 Gonzaga vs. No. 5 Ohio State, CBS
Dallas: Spero Dedes, Steve Smith, Len Elmore and Ros Gold-Onwude
- 6:10 p.m.: No. 3 Tennessee vs. No. 11 Loyola (Chicago), TNT
- 8:40: No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 6 Florida, TNT
Wichita: Brad Nessler, Steve Lavin and Evan Washburn
- 7:10 p.m.: No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 8 Seton Hall, TBS
- 9:40 p.m.: No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 6 Houston, TBS
Mo Wagner committed his first of three turnovers just three seconds into the game. He shot just 2-for-6 from the floor. He scored all six of his points in the second half. He did all this on a night where Zavier Simpson, Michigan’s point guard that took a star turn during the Wolverine run to the Big Ten tournament title, played just three first half minutes due to foul trouble.
And it didn’t matter.
No. 3 seed Michigan beat No. 14 Montana in one of the ugliest basketball games that you’ll ever see, a 61-47 snooze-fest that included a 15-minute delay during the start of the second half for what appeared to be an issue with the review equipment. The Wolverines got 18 points and 11 boards from Charles Matthews and 11 points from Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman. They committed 14 turnovers. They missed eight of their first 15 free throws. It was just … ugly.
So let’s talk about the good things.
- Michigan’s defense was as good as ever. The Wolverines dug themselves a 10-0 hole in the first three minutes then allowed just 34 points the rest of the way. They held Montana scoreless for more than 10 minutes in the second half to open up their lead.
- They won a game with their two most important players struggling.
- Most importantly, they won.
And in the end, that’s all that matters.
Win.
Advance.
Hope that you play better on Saturday.
Because no one on Houston, one of the hottest teams in the country, is going to care if you’re still rusty from a 12-day layoff.
No. 6 Florida had no problem with No. 11 St. Bonaventure on Thursday night, dispatching the Bonnies with ease, 77-62, to move on to the second round of the NCAA tournament with a Saturday matchup against No. 3 Texas Tech up next.
The Gators weren’t able to immediately run away and hide from St. Bonaventure, but they turned a five-point halftime lead into a 20-point advantage just past the midway point of the second half.
Florida shot just 41.5 percent from the floor, but forced 18 turnovers as the Bonnies’ offense was stymied.
Egor Koulechov starred for Florida, scoring 20 points and grabbing six rebounds. Jalen Hudson added 16 points while Keith Stone had nine points and eight rebounds.
The Gators were able to move on despite getting just so-so nights from KeVaughn Allen and Chris Chiozza, who combined for 15 points on 5 of 17 shooting. Chiozza, though, tallied 11 assists.
St. Bonaventure shot 35.4 percent from the floor for the game and made just 3 of 19 shots from 3-point range.
Florida capped off a perfect day for the SEC, which went 4-0 on the tournament’s first day. Kentucky, Alabama and Tennessee were all also winners.
The competition steps up significantly Saturday for Mike White’s team. The Red Raiders survived an upset scare by Stephen F. Austin in the first round, but they got a masterful performance from Keenan Evans, who scored 19 points in the second half, and their defense was as strong as its been all season.
Both teams will be content to slow play down and try to out-execute the other. Given both teams are content to play slow and play defense, it could be one of the better knock-down, drag-outs of the tournament’s first week.
Collin Sexton finished with 25 points and six assists and John Petty added 20 points on 6-for-8 shooting from three off the bench as No. 9 seed Alabama picked off No. 8 seed Virginia Tech, 86-83, to advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament and get their shot at top seed Villanova.
And they might actually a chance to do that.
But we’ll get there.
First things first: Sexton scored 22 of his 25 points in the second half, and the Tide really turned things on after Justin Robinson was whistled for a foul for catching Sexton with an elbow squarely in the jaw. If you have even the slightest idea of what Sexton is about as a competitor, than you know that those are the kind of things that can flip a switch; 18 of his 22 second half points came after that elbow.
And that competitiveness is part of the reason that I think Alabama can make a run at the top seed in the East region.
There are two things that you need to be able to do to beat Villanova.
The first is to be able to run them off of the three-point line. They are just so dangerous shooting the ball. It’s insane, and it’s not a coincidence that the three games they lost in the last month of the season all came on nights where they shot poorly; 8-for-33 against St. John’s, 3-for-20 against Providence, 12-for-39 against Creighton.
Alabama not only ranked 18th nationally in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric, but they are top 30 in defending the three-point line; Alabama’s opponents shoot just 32.4 percent from beyond the arc.
The other thing you need to be able to do: Have your lead guard go off, and there may not be a guard better-suited to doing that on a big stage than Sexton is.
He loves competition. He loves being challenged.
And I can almost guarantee that he will love the chance he gets to make a statement against NBC Sports National Player of the Year Jalen Brunson.
Buckle up.
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