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The faculty basketball world can be centered on Houston, the place the lads’s Closing 4 tipped off Saturday.
The Cinderellas have taken over the game within the final two weeks and now 4 groups who every stunned through the event are able to play after leaving busted brackets alongside the best way.
Florida Atlantic, a faculty of about 25,000 college students situated in Boca Raton, Florida made solely its second NCAA Event look. The Owls blitzed by way of the East Area, however misplaced to San Diego State 72-71 after the Aztecs got here again from a 14-point deficit.
Within the second semifinal, UConn is taking up its former Huge East Convention foe Miami. The Huskies are used to being on this place, making their sixth Closing 4 look prior to now 25 years with 4 nationwide championships, the final coming in 2014.
The Hurricanes took care of the highest two seeds within the Midwest Area to make their solution to Houston. Led by ACC Participant of the Yr Isaiah Wong, Miami is seeking to break by way of with its first title after making the Elite Eight final season.
Observe the insanity: Latest Men’s NCAA Tournament College Basketball Scores and Schedules
Observe alongside for reside updates all through the night time:
The UConn Huskies take their largest lead of the sport into the half, up 13 factors over the Miami Hurricanes after Joey Calcaterra made a three-point shot on the buzzer. The Huskies go into the break up 37-24.
The Hurricanes tied the sport at 19 with 8:23 on the clock, however UConn went on an 8-0 run to take again the lead. Miami was held to solely 9 subject objectives within the first half.
Huskies junior ahead Adama Sanogo is the sport’s main scorer with 13 factors. Senior guard Jordan Miller has seven factors for Miami.
Connecticut star guard Jordan Hawkins has not scored since opening the sport with a 3-point bucket.
There’s a small window the place school basketball intersects with Main League Baseball and Saturday hit the candy spot. The San Diego Padres have been internet hosting the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park and the beginning lineups have been being introduced proper as Lamont Butler received San Diego State’s Closing 4 recreation with a buzzer-beater. The sport was being broadcast on the stadium’s video boards and the group cheered loudly as their hometown workforce superior to its first nationwide championship recreation.
The Miami Hurricanes did not keep down for lengthy as they erased a 10-point deficit in 5 minutes of play. Nijel Pack scored a three-point shot with 8:23 within the first half to tie the sport at 19 and decelerate the Connecticut Huskies’ momentum.
The Hurricanes went on a 15-5 run kicked off by a trey from star guard Isaiah Wong.
The Connecticut Huskies wasted no time in asserting themselves over the Miami Hurricanes. Six minutes into the sport, Tristen Newton made a 3-point shot to place the Huskies up 14-4. Adama Sanogo had two buckets from behind the arc to construct UConn’s lead. Miami is taking pictures 2-of-14 from the sector, for a taking pictures share of 0.143.
UConn sophomore guard Jordan Hawkins is ready to start out after battling a abdomen bug this week, CBS’ Tracy Wolfson reported previous to the workforce’s Closing 4 recreation towards the Miami Hurricanes. He did not follow Friday and acquired “round the clock treatment.” He was taking part in shootaround previous to tipoff Saturday night time.
Hawkins averaged 16.3 factors for the Huskies throughout the common season and is averaging 17.3 factors within the NCAA event. He had 24 factors within the Candy 16 win towards the Arkansas Razorbacks.
He scored the primary factors of the sport, a three-point shot.
The San Diego State Aztecs beat the Florida Atlantic Owls 72-71 Saturday in Houston to advance to their first nationwide championship recreation.
Lamont Butler made the game-winning shot on the buzzer after San Diego State trailed the complete second half.
“The plan was just to get downhill, they cut me off a little bit, I looked back, there was two seconds left, so I got to a shot that I was comfortable with,” Butler stated on ESPN after the sport, “and I hit it. I’m happy.”
The Aztecs have been down by as many as 14 factors and tied the sport at 65 with 4:05 on the clock. The Owls answered with a jumpshot from Giancarlo Rosad, however could not fairly draw back comfortably. It is the fifth-largest comeback in Closing 4 historical past.
Florida Atlantic’s sophomore guard Alijah Martin was the sport’s main scorer with 26 factors. Aztecs senior guard Matt Bradley had 21 factors.
After being down by as many as 14 factors, the San Diego Aztecs tied the sport at 65 factors with 4:26 left on the clock in Closing 4 motion. The workforce got here inside two of the Florida Atlantic Owls a number of instances, however senior ahead Aguek Arop made the jumper that lastly leveled the rating. San Diego has 11 offensive rebounds in contrast with Florida Atlantic’s seven, which helps the Aztecs of their comeback.
The Florida Atlantic Owls have maintained their lead by way of the second half, however not with no battle from the San Diego State Aztecs. Brian Dutcher’s workforce is inside two after happening a 16-4 run, capped off by a pair of free throws from Matt Bradley. The senior guard had a key three-point shot within the run. The Aztecs are down 60-58 with 9:05 on the clock.
San Diego State additionally had a brief 5-0 run to start out the interval that shook the Owls’ momentum.
Girls’s Closing 4 does large rankings for ESPN
With South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark dealing with off within the girls’s Closing 4 on Friday night time, rankings have been anticipated to be excessive.
They were record-setting for ESPN, the network announced Saturday.
ESPN, which broadcast both NCAA Tournament semifinal games, said the LSU-Virginia Tech early game averaged 3.4 million viewers with a peak of 5 million across network platforms. That was up 57% from last year’s early game.
Iowa-South Carolina averaged 5.5 million with a peak of 6.6 million, up 72% from last year’s late game.
Both games drew record audiences for a college basketball game – men’s or women’s – on ESPN+, the network said.
— Mike Brehm
The Florida Atlantic Owls are up 40-33 over the San Diego State Aztecs at the half. The Owls’ lead was as large as 10, but Keshad Johnson made a 3-point shot with 39 seconds on the clock to keep the difference single digits.
“We’ve been able to open up some gaps and drive those gaps,” Owls head coach Dusty May said on the CBS broadcast. He said his message to the team in the locker room will be to keep playing, “frame by frame, possession by possession.”
San Diego State is shooting 13-of-29 from the field, but has gone 5-of-11 from beyond the arc.
Aztecs senior guard Matt Bradley is the game’s leading scorer with 11 points. He’s made three treys. For the Owls, freshman guard Nicholas Boyd has nine points.
Florida Atlantic and San Diego State are playing in their first Final Four game. The Owls made a statement first, going up 5-0 with a three-point bucket from Nicholas Boyd and a jumpshot from Johnell Davis. The Aztecs crept ahead with back-to-back baskets from Matt Bradley, but Florida Atlantic took the lead again with a 16-3 run. The Owls are up 21-17 halfway through the first half.
When does Men’s NCAA Tournament Final Four start?
The first national semifinal between Florida Atlantic and San Diego State tips off at 6:09 p.m. ET on Saturday.
The second game between UConn and Miami will begin 30 minutes after the first game finishes, at approximately 8:49 p.m. ET.
The winners of the two semifinals will meet in the men’s national championship game, which will be played on Monday, April 3, starting at 9:20 p.m. ET.
Miami coach Jim Larranaga has elite March Madness dance moves
The Miami Hurricanes football team of the 1980s won three national championships and was known for its dance moves, flips, touchdown celebrations and sack celebrations.
The men’s basketball team carries on the legacy as this season, head coach Jim Larrañaga has led his players to the program’s first Final Four. Since taking over the Hurricanes in 2011, he has led Miami to four Sweet 16 appearances and back-to-back Elite Eight berths, including this year’s run.
All along the way, he has shimmied and two-stepped along with his team in each victory celebration, delighting fans across the country.
“It’s really about March Madness is the big dance,” Larrañaga said on CBS’ Final Four Show. “You have to have fun. And everybody loves dancing.”
– Victoria Hernandez
BIG DANCE:Jim Larrañaga has some elite March Madness dance moves
Final Four predictions
The NCAA men’s tournament field has been whittled from 68 to four in a matter of two weeks of postseason games. The remaining quartet arrives in Houston with just one of the top 16 seeds remaining. That school, No. 4 Connecticut, will be joined by three first-time Final Four participants – No. 5 seeds San Diego State and Miami (Florida) and No. 9 Florida Atlantic.
Here’s who the USA TODAY Sports has to win:
FAU vs. San Diego State
- Dan Wolken: FAU
- Paul Myerberg: SDSU
- Eddie Timanus: SDSU
- Erick Smith: SDSU
Miami vs. UConn
- Wolken: UConn
- Myerberg: UConn
- Timanus: Miami
- Smith: UConn
Will Florida Atlantic stay together after Final Four?
In the era of the transfer portal, the most pressing concern for FAU is retaining a talented but overlooked roster put on national display during four successive NCAA men’s tournament wins.
“Without a doubt, it’s going to be fluid every single day,” coach Dusty May said. “And until the ball is tipped up next season, you may not know truly who your roster is going to be, and it’s part of it. Luckily, I’m still relatively young and have a lot of energy, because I don’t think there’s going to be a day where you can just relax and not fear your phone buzzing.”
– Paul Myerberg
How Michigan’s Fab Five legacy runs through San Diego State
“I’ve heard from all five of them,” Dutcher told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday. “They texted me ‘Good luck,’ ‘Congratulations,’ ‘Go get ‘em.’ “
– Brent Schrotenboer
Connecticut’s Sanogo manages fasting for Ramadan while leading team’s Final Four run
HOUSTON — Nine minutes before Saturday’s second national semifinal is scheduled to tip off, Connecticut center Adama Sanogo is going to eat.
It won’t be much. Maybe just some oranges and coconut water, but he will get something in his stomach. And that’s going to be a lot better than what Sanogo had to deal with last weekend at the West Regional in Las Vegas.
“I’m not trying to think about it,” he said. “The more you’re thinking about it, the more it’s hard to do it.”
Sanogo, a native of Mali who has arguably been UConn’s best player during the NCAA men’s tournament, is Muslim and currently observing Ramadan, a month where he is not allowed to eat or drink from sunrise to sunset.
– Dan Wolken
SDSU assistant Mark Fisher, living with ALS, is helping Aztecs at Final Four
The assistant confined to a wheelchair helps explain the makeup of the men’s Final Four.
More specifically, to understand how fifth-seeded San Diego State earned the school’s first trip to the Final Four where it will be playing Saturday against Florida Atlantic in Houston, it helps to know Mark Fisher, who serves as an assistant to Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher.
He is the son of Steve Fisher, the retired basketball coach who won a national championship with Michigan in 1989 and took the school back to the Final Four in 1992 and 1993 with the celebrated “Fab Five.”
More importantly, Mark Fisher, 44, has no use of his arms and legs.
But before tip-off here is some essential reading to get you ready.
– Josh Peter
From FAU’s nasty locker rooms to the Final Four
HOUSTON — In May of 2008, Craig Angelos was looking for something that would give Florida Atlantic basketball a spark. So he drove two miles from campus and went to church.
The purpose of the trip wasn’t prayer, even though the program could have used some. Angelos, then FAU’s athletics director, had gone to meet with Mike Jarvis, the former George Washington and St. John’s coach who had moved to Boca Raton and become an influential member at Spanish River Church. They did the interview right there in the pastor’s office.
“He was a great coach, but I also thought, he’s part of this 6,000-member church right by FAU,” said Angelos, now a senior deputy athletics director at Long Island University. “So if we have any of his friends come to games, maybe 100 or 200 or even 1,000 because they want to support their fellow church member, that’s a huge plus. In Boca, you need a guy who can do more than just coach.”
– Dan Wolken
Will Miami’s Norchard Omier play football?
HOUSTON — The University of Miami birthed one of the great basketball-to-football conversions of all time when Jimmy Graham, a four-year basketball role player for the Hurricanes, picked up football as a graduate student in 2009.
NFL scouts saw enough of Graham’s size, speed and athleticism in that one year of college football to make him a third-round draft pick. He went on to catch 713 passes in the NFL, make five Pro Bowls and become one of the best tight ends of his generation.
People who watch Miami for the first time Saturday when they play Connecticut in the Final Four may get flashbacks when they see center Norchad Omier, a 6-foot-7 block of steel whose physical profile suggests he could be a big-time NFL prospect.
– Dan Wolken
Here are some stories to get you ready before tip-off.
WHO IS TAKING THE TITLE?: See USA TODAY staff’s Final Four staff predictions
EXPECTING SURPRISES: Five bold predictions for the men’s NCAA Tournament’s Final Four
ANOTHER RUN?: Three ways Florida Atlantic’s team can stay together
30 YEARS LATER: Fab Five legacy lives with San Diego State at Final Four
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