March Madness in Memphis went full chalk, but made an interesting Sunday as 6-seed Clemson advanced over 3-seed Baylor.
Memphis followed the March Madness script with only two spots where white-out was used to fix your bracket. 9-seed Texas A&M beat 8-seed Nebraska. The other spot was on Sunday as 6-seed Clemson beat 3-seed Baylor. There was an exciting wrap up in Memphis as 1-seed Houston went to overtime with 9-seed Texas A&M. A late-game 3-pointer by Andersson Garcia sank an impressive shot as time expired to force the game to OT.
With Houston and Clemson moving on, 6-seed Clemson gets a rough draw and faces an impressive 2-seed Arizona on Thursday. After almost getting bounced, coach Kelvin Sampson’s squad will face-off on Friday against Duke.
Memphis Region Most Outstanding Player
Emanuel Sharp, Houston
Houston’s Emanuel Sharp willed his team into the Sweet 16. With LJ Cryer fouling out and struggling offensively, Shead also struggled and eventually fouled out. Sharp took on the role and scored 30 points in this game for his career. He shot 50% from beyond the arc and from the field. To top it off, Sharp went 7-for-8 from the charity stripe. His 3-point shooting so far in the tournament is 50%. Sharp, in his second year, is becoming quite the player.
Omaha Region First Team
- G: Jamal Shead, Houston – 2 GP (16.5 PPG, 9.5 APG, 4.0 RPG, 1.0 SPG)
- G: Emanuel Sharp, Houston – 2 GP (21.5 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 0.5 APG, 1.5 SPG, 50.0 3P%)
- G: Tyrece Radford, Texas A&M – 2 GP (23.5 PPG, 12.5 RPG, 5.5 APG)
- G: Wade Taylor IV, Texas A&M – 2 GP (23.0 PPG, 4.0 APG, 4.0 RPG, 1.0 SPG)
- F: Jalen Bridges, Baylor – 2 GP (16.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.5 APG, 66.67 FG%, 60.0 3P%)
3 Takeaways
#1: Houston has issues in its final game
One of the things that has been a sticking point for me when watching the Cougars is how aggressive their defense is. This team is not super deep, and while they can score, Houston usually focuses on defense and pace. In their final game on Sunday, this became an issue when the team lost one of its big men early, Ja’Vier Francis, and it slowly crept up. The next player to go was Cryer, who had less than a minute on the clock in regulation. Sharp fouled out early in overtime play, and then finally, Shead with less than 20 seconds in OT and up by 5 points.
Coach Kelvin Sampson has built his program on defense; however, for the first time, he does not have his usual depth. The team had Damian Dunn and Mylik Wilson to replace two guards. Along with Ramon Walker Jr., these three players don’t even play a full half of basketball. While Dunn is the most experienced, this is a new system.
#2: Matt Langel’s season struggles
Coach Matt Langel continues to get a tough draw out of the Patriot League. Colgate has had some imposing teams. This was by far their toughest loss in postseason play. Baylor’s offense was just too much, and the Raiders fell 92-67.
Matt Langel has built an impressive program that has been a regular-season champion since 2018. Colgate lost all five first-round games. Its first shot was in 2019, the Raiders lost 77-70 to the 2-seed Tennessee Volunteers. COVID happened, skip ahead to 2021, when Colgate lost 85-68 to 3-seed Arkansas. In 2022, Coach Langel lost to 3-seed Wisconsin 67-60. Last year, the team took on 2-seed Texas and lost 81-61. Finally, this year, Baylor lost. The difficult draw of being a dominant team in their League before getting a 13, 14, or 15-seed and facing a top 20 team in the nation is difficult.
The frustration must be there for Coach Matt Langel, the winningest coach in Colgate history. He is a four-time Patriot League Coach of the Year and the only head coach in Patriot League to earn four Coach of the Year honors. Had it not been for COVID-19, Langel would have had six straight seasons of 20+ wins. Langel should be on a few colleges’ lists if a team is looking for a coach.
#3: NCAA Tournament for the record books
This year, five teams scored 100+ points in a game. How does this compare? In the past ten tournaments, there have only been six times a team has scored 100+ points. This year is also different because I have been to five overtime games just this first weekend. Last year, the lone overtime game was 3-seed Kansas State and 7-seed Michigan State, where K-State won 98-93 with Markquis Nowell going off for 20 points, 19 assists, five steals, and two turnovers.
Lookahead for Houston
Houston gets to play 4-seed Duke. The maturity of the Cougars should give the team the advantage. The inconsistent play of the Blue Devils makes me believe Houston is set to win this game easily. On the flip side, this is March Madness, and the Blue Devils are coming in from two blowout games against Vermont and James Madison. Meanwhile, Houston is coming off a near loss and has more to prove. The games where Duke has struggled have been against solid defenses, the issue now is how prepared will they be?
If the Cougars move on, they will face either the impressive run by 11-seed NC State or 2-seed Marquette. Both of these teams are very well-rounded and will likely give either the Blue Devils or the Cougars fits as they hope to reach the Final Four.
Lookahead for Clemson
Clemson will struggle as it faces a Tommy Lloyd-led team with extreme discipline and size. In comparison, these matchups will be some heavy hitters going toe-to-toe offensively. With Ballo versus Hall, Larsson versus Hunter, and Love versus Girard, the transfer portal may give the Wildcats the boost and shot at winning it all in Keshad Johnson. Schieffelin showed what he could do, however, Johnson coming from a defensive minded San Diego State will be ready to shut him down. The guard play will be what Clemson needs to take down the 2-seed. If it can show up with superior ball movement and scoring, the Tigers could face UNC or Alabama.