Blow-outs and buzzer-beaters and nail-biters, oh my. This is what the second weekend of the 2017 NCAA basketball tournament consisted of, and more.
South Carolina continued its Cinderella run with a routing of Baylor, and Kansas made Purdue wonder who their team was. Oregon survived by the skin of their teeth as the destined Michigan team met their tragic end with a 1-point loss, and North Carolina sent Butler home with their tails between their legs after a career game from Luke Maye. Florida brushed by Wisconsin after a miracle shot sent the game to overtime, and they were able to coral the victory. Gonzaga ended West Virginia’s run by 3-points after WVU had what has been deemed the worst final possession in the history of the tournament, and after a nail-biting first half, Kentucky pulled away from UCLA in the closing minutes. To round out the Elite Eight, Xavier barely upset Arizona by two points, with another questionable final possession by the Wildcats.
Moving into the weekend, Oregon and Gonzaga gave their fans some time to breath with double-digit victories, sending the Ducks to their first Final Four since the first Final Four and the Zags to their first in school history. The other two games were a bit more exciting, to say the least. Down by 7 at the half, South Carolina came charging back against the Gators of Florida, making two key plays down the stretch that sealed for their first ever Final Four as well. And then we had the blockbuster rematch from the game that was an instant classic back in December. North Carolina versus Kentucky lived up to the hype. The first half started off well, until both team lost their offensive steam. Carolina failed to capitalize down the stretch of the first half with Kentucky’s stars, Fox and Monk, on the bench in foul trouble, partially because they had their own troubles, and only minutes into the game, their starting point guard, Joel Berry III, limped his way into the locker room on another sprained ankle. By some trainer’s miracle, he jogged out to the bench five basketball minutes later, hardly leaving the game again the rest of the night. The Tarheels took a five-point lead into the half, only to be a bit rattled by a charging Kentucky at the start of the second. Unable to find their way on offense, Kentucky was able to take its first lead in the game until it was stolen back minutes later. And then Kentucky took their second lead of the game with under 8 minutes left to play, up by seven. It was crunch time, do or die, and the Tarheels just didn’t want their redemption campaign to end. 12 seems to be their magic number, as they made a 12-0 run in the last five minutes to escape Arkansas in the first weekend, and did so again to take a 6-point lead. And then it got good. Kennedy Meeks took the ball out of the bounds with around 30 seconds left and a five-second violation was called. Kentucky capitalized as Monk banked in a three, cutting the lead to three. This was followed by an empty free throw trip for Carolina. Monk drew Luke Maye forward on a pump fake and drained the game-tying three with 7.2 seconds left. And 7.2 seconds was all that an unlikely hero needed. Theo Pinson weaved his way down the floor, with Carolina and Wildcat fans alike holding their breath, Carolina praying for no charge and Kentucky for no foul. But Pinson stopped and turned around, tossing the ball out to Maye on the elbow and to cap off his career game, Maye drilled the go-ahead two with 0.3 seconds left on the clock, leaving Kentucky with no options and sending the Tarheels to the Final Four for a second straight year (and yes, he even went to his 8am class in Chapel Hill the next morning),
This year’s Final Four is one of the most unusual I’ve see, but it will surely shape up to be another breath-taking weekend of basketball, one that this rollercoaster, unpredictable season surely deserves as its finale. Next weekend, we will see two teams that have never been to the Final Four, one that hasn’t been here since 1939, and one that has gone 20 times. Hold onto your hats, ladies and gents. March is about to go out like a lion, and it won’t be something we’ll soon forget.
The Final Four games will be broad-casted on CBS on Saturday beginning at 6:09, and on Monday evening on CBS. Tune in. You don’t want to miss this.
