SAN FRANCISCO — For 40 frenzied minutes, JD Notae, Jaylin Williams and Arkansas played a maddening, muscular style on both ends that took Gonzaga out of its game — and right out of the NCAA Tournament far earlier than these Zags expected.

Notae scored 21 points despite missing 20 shots and the determined, fourth-seeded Razorbacks dashed the No. 1 overall seed Bulldogs’ title hopes with a 74-68 win in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night.

“We’ve been disrespected the whole year, so it’s just another thing for us,” Williams said. “We saw everything they were saying, we felt like they were dancing before the game. That was disrespect for us. We just came into the game playing hard and we had a chip on our shoulder. Every game we do.”

When the final buzzer sounded, Notae tossed the game ball into the air in triumph, while Williams flexed and roared near midcourt. Coach Eric Musselman made his way into the stands to find his mother, Kris, for a celebratory embrace after she watched her son in person for the first time coaching the Razorbacks.

After a throwback performance from the program that once promised “40 Minutes of Hell,” these Hogs relished in pure bliss.

• Gonzaga forward Drew Timme attempts to score in the first half during the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament in San Francisco on Thursday. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

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  Arkansas guard Au’Diese Toney, left, and JD Notae attempt to block a shot from Gonzaga’s Andrew Nembhard during the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament in San Francisco on Thursday. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

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  Arkansas forward Trey Wade, left, and Jaylin Williams fight for control of the ball during the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament in San Francisco on Thursday. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

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  Arkansas Razorbacks guard Stanley Umude, middle, battles for the ball during the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament in San Francisco on Thursday. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

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  Arkansas forward Jaylin Williams and Trey Wade react after the Razorbacks’ win over Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament in San Francisco on Thursday. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

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  Arkansas guard Au’Diese Toney dunks against Gonzaga during the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament in San Francisco on Thursday. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

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  (March Madness 2022 at Chase Center in San Francisco on Thursday. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

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  Duke forward AJ Griffin drives against Texas Tech during the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament in San Francisco on Thursday. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

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  Texas Tech forward Bryson Williams is defended by Duke center Mark Williams during the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament in San Francisco on Thursday. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

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  Texas Tech Red Raiders forward Bryson Williams attempts a 3-point shot as he is defended by Duke’s Mark Williams during the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament in San Francisco on Thursday. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

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  Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski looks over a play chart during a timeout in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 round on Thursday at Chase Center. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

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  Duke Blue Devils forward Paolo Banchero attempts a layup during the first half in their NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game in San Francisco on Thursday. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

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  Duke Blue Devils guard Jeremy Roach drives against Texas Tech during in the teams’ Sweet 16 game of the NCAA Tournament in San Francisco on Thursday. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

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  Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski instructs his team during a Sweet 16 game in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday at Chase Center in San Francisco. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

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  Duke Blue Devils guard Jeremy Roach attempts a layup during the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament in San Francisco on Thursday. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

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  Duke Blue Devils guard Jeremy Roach, left, Mark Williams react after their win over Texas Tech in the Sweet 16 game of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday at Chase Center. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

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  Duke center Mark Williams dunks the ball over Texas Tech forward Marcus Santos-Silva during the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament in San Francisco on Thursday. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

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  Duke’s bench reacts to a play during his Sweet 16 game in the NCAA Tournament in San Francisco on Thursday. (Brandon Vallance – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

Notae finished with six rebounds, six assists, three steals and even swatted a pair of shots for the Razorbacks (28-8), who reached the Elite Eight for a second straight year and will face second-seeded Duke on Saturday, hoping to deny retiring coach Mike Krzyzewski one last trip to the Final Four.

Drew Timme scored 25 points but couldn’t rally the normally high-scoring Bulldogs (28-4), who for the second straight season were favored to win that elusive national title but couldn’t keep up with Arkansas’ athleticism and fight. Gonzaga had been undefeated last year before losing to Baylor in the national title game.

Duke center Mark Williams dunks the ball over Texas Tech forward Marcus Santos-Silva during the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament in San Francisco on Thursday. (Brandon Vallance-Santa Cruz Sentinel)

Duke 78, Texas Tech 73

SAN FRANCISCO— Mike Krzyzewski has spent more than four decades at Duke telling his players what to do, with championship-level results.

With his Hall of Fame career in danger of coming to an end, Krzyzewski let his players dictate the game-closing defensive strategy of switching from an uncharacteristic zone defense into Duke’s famous man-to-man.

The key defensive stops and two late baskets by Jeremy Roach Krzyzewski moved within one win of his record-setting 13th trip to the Final Four in his farewell season with a win over Texas Tech.

Krzyzewski said the players came to him during a late timeout like a “Catholic boys’ choir,” asking in unison for the switch to man that led to three straight stops and turned the game in Duke’s favor.

“With this team they’re so young and they’re still growing,” Krzyzewski said. “Whenever they can own something, they’re going to do it better than if we just run it. When they said that, I felt they’re going to own it. They’ll make it work, and that’s probably more important than strategy during that time. So that’s the way I looked at it.”

Roach did the rest with two jumpers during a 7-0 run as the steady sophomore came through in the clutch for a second straight game to send second-seeded Duke (31-6) into an Elite Eight matchup against fourth-seeded Arkansas.

Paolo Banchero led Duke with 22 points, Mark Williams scored 16 and Roach added 15 as the Blue Devils made their final eight shots from the field to hold off third-seeded Texas Tech (27-10) and give Coach K his record 100th NCAA Tournament win.

“I would say all year in the biggest moments we’ve always stepped up, and there’s no bigger moment than this,” Banchero said. “I don’t know about these guys, but I’ve never played in a basketball game like that.”

As compelling as the action on the court was in this taut West Region semifinal, the story of this Blue Devils run has surrounded the farewell tour of their Hall of Fame coach.

Krzyzewski announced last June he would retire after this season. After missing the tournament last year, Duke was back with a roster filled with NBA prospects and capable of delivering Krzyzewski his sixth title.

Duke played from behind for much of the first half but was much sharper offensively in the second half. Williams got free for three easy baskets early in the half to get the Blue Devils rolling.

Then the vocal Duke contingent on hand for the first NCAA Tournament games in San Francisco since 1939 made its presence known midway through the half when AJ Griffin tied the game at 47 with his third 3-pointer and Banchero followed with a jumper that gave Duke the lead.

But a Red Raiders team featuring four super seniors and five players with more than 120 career games didn’t go away and the game stayed tight as Duke used the zone to negate Texas Tech’s strength advantage.

THE SCORES

West Regional
At Chase Center, San Francisco
Thursday’s semifinals
Arkansas 74, Gonzaga 68
Duke 78, Texas Tech 73
Saturday’s Championship
Duke vs. Arkansas, 5:49 p.m

The post Arkansas stuns Gonzaga, faces Duke in Elite 8 in San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO—Staring down the end of their beloved head coach’s career, the Blue Devils refused to quit, and they punched their ticket to the Elite Eight because of it.

The second-seeded Blue Devils traveled to San Francisco for the West Regional, where they topped the third-seeded Red Raiders 78-73 in the Sweet 16 at the Chase Center. After a slow start that saw the Red Raiders dominate for the first few minutes, the Blue Devils rallied in heroic fashion, as the matchup became a tight battle of energized offenses in the second.

“I’ve never played in a basketball game like that. When you’re out there, it’s not like you’re even thinking. You’re just playing to win,” freshman phenom Paolo Banchero—who finished with a team-leading 22 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals—said after the game.

With four minutes on the clock, the Blue Devils were down one despite four players being in double-digit points. Two Jeremy Roach drives, a Banchero triple and a Mark Williams block later, Duke was up three with one and a half to go. It was then Roach sank yet another clutch jumper to put Duke up five with under a minute to go.

“The resolve of Jeremy Roach was incredible. His drives against that defense were so strong, so determined,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

However, Roach then missed the free throw, and Texas Tech responded with a dunk, cutting Duke’s lead to three with 26 seconds remaining. Then, after being fouled on the inbounds, Wendell Moore Jr. went to the line, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sunk two free throws to give Duke a five point lead with 25 to go.

The Red Raiders wouldn’t quit, though, and Adonis Arms drained a quick 3-pointer to bring the Red Raiders within two. Thirteen seconds, up two points, Duke had to figure out a way to close out the game.

Chants of “Let’s go Duke” erupted, and Texas Tech once again went for the inbounds foul. AJ Griffin, on yet another hot shooting night, made both, though, and Duke maintained a two-possession cushion with 12.9 seconds left.

When Arms missed his next 3-point attempt and Banchero made one of two free throws with under five seconds to go, they had done it. The Blue Devils were going to the Elite Eight.

“I think all year, in the biggest moments, we always stepped up, and there’s no bigger moment than this,” Banchero said.

After a hotly contested first half that saw Duke trail by four entering the locker room, the Blue Devils began the second with a little more skip in their step, scoring on each of their first four possessions, though they couldn’t stop Texas Tech from doing the same.

Roach, who ended with 15 points, 11 in the second half, and five assists, continued his fiery play from the opening period with one of the slick drives to the basket he’s been pulling out more and more in the postseason. Meanwhile, Williams grabbed a quick eight points in the first five minutes with three makes from under the basket and two free throws, and graduate transfer Theo John got on the board with a put-back layup. Finally, a wing three from Griffin dotted the “i” on a Duke run that knotted the score at 47 with 12 to go.

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Then, after not leading since midway through the first half, Duke gained two points on the Red Raiders with a dextrous pullup jumper from Banchero, sending the sea of ​​Blue in the Chase Center into a frenzy.

“Great players just go. The moment and the need take them to a place that a great player would love to be in. And that’s where he was,” Krzyzewski said of how Banchero stepped up.

Still, the Red Raiders would not be outdone, going on a 4-0 burst, before another drive from Roach, plus the and-one, continued an exciting back-and-forth half of basketball.

While Duke’s offense seemingly found its footing, moving the ball to break Texas Tech’s defensive scheme, the Red Raiders were efficient at capitalizing on Duke mistakes.

However, a corner three from Banchero—his second triple on three attempts—and a pair of free throws from Mark Williams put the Blue Devils right back on top.

Though Bryson Williams sank a three to catch the Red Raiders up, a drive from Moore and an and-one kept the Blue Devils’ narrow one-point lead. For a matchup billed as a battle of defense, with under seven minutes on the clock, it sure looked like a shootout. Sure enough, a spin-move and a layup from Banchero then grabbed Duke his largest lead of the game, up three, but Bryson Williams responded quickly with his own for Texas Tech.

The crowd reached deafening levels after a Banchero-assisted slam dunk from Mark Williams, but the Blue Devils found themselves briefly their own enemy, as two turnovers in under 30 seconds gave the Red Raiders the chance to once again tie up then lead the game.

Texas Tech came out to start the game on fire, forcing three turnovers and subsequent fastbreaks to gain a 10-2 lead in the first four and a half minutes. The Red Raiders’ signature stifling defense gained them opportunities on the other side of the court, exacerbated by Duke’s early shooting woes, with the Blue Devils going 1-of-5 through their first six attempts.

“Obviously, we weren’t ready for that level of expertise on defense,” Krzyzewski said. “The end of the half was critical. They had a seven-point lead, and we were able to score and not let them score, so all of a sudden you’re looking at a four-point [game] and we have the ball.”

However, Duke got back into it just a few minutes later, after consecutive makes from Griffin and Moore put the Blue Devils within three, a steal and an and-one layup from Banchero tied up the game at the 13:15 mark.

From there on, Duke and Texas Tech traded baskets, with the Blue Devils unable to take the lead away from the Red Raiders, but the challengers in red also unable to build a lead of more than four at the half.

Next, the Blue Devils will take on Arkansas in the Elite Eight Saturday.

Sasha Richie

Sasha Richie is a Trinity junior and the Blue Zone Editor of The Chronicle’s 117th volume.

The post GOLDEN 8: Duke males’s basketball edges Texas Tech in San Francisco to maneuver on to Elite 8 appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Mike Krzyzewski’s farewell tour continues, and Hubert Davis’ first March Madness dance has been extended.

The men’s basketball teams from Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill survived the first weekend and are advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Second-seeded Duke beat Cal State Fullerton and Michigan State in Greenville, South Carolina, while the No. 8 Tar Heels topped Marquette and top-seed Baylor in Fort Worth, Texas.

According to NCAA.com, there are no perfect fan-picked brackets left.

Should the Blue Devils and the Tar Heels win both of their next two games, they’ll face each other in the Final Four. The two bitter rivals have never met before in the NCAA Tournament. They split games this past regular season.

Here’s how Duke and UNC won this past weekend, and what lies ahead for them.

Duke

Duke forward Wendell Moore Jr. during the second half of a college basketball game in the second round of the NCAA tournament Sunday, March 20, 2022, in Greenville, SC

• First Win: The Blue Devils beat no. 15 Cal State Fullerton on Friday, 78-61. Five Duke players scored in double-digits, but Paolo Banchero – the ACC Rookie of the Year – led the way with 17 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Mark Williams had 15 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five blocks. As a team, Duke blocked 10 shots, his most in a first-round NCAA Tournament game.
• Second win: Duke beat no. 7 Michigan State 85-76 on Sunday. Again, five Duke players scored in double figures, and again, Banchero powered the Blue Devils with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Williams had 15 points, eight boards and five blocks. Duke is now 14-4 all-time vs. Michigan State.
• Fun Fact: Mike Krzyzewski will coach in the Sweet 16 for the 26th time. No other coach in the history of Division I men’s basketball has appeared in the second weekend of the tournament more than Coach K.
• They Said It: “Look, I’m 75. To have moments like that, you’ve got to be kidding me. Really, how damn lucky can you be to be in that? And I want to share it. I don’t want to sit down and say, ‘You guys enjoy it.’ I want to be in the party a little bit. That’s the enjoyment I’ve got; (that) I’ve had for 47 years. Today was one of the really good days.” – Krzyzewski on celebrating the win over Michigan State.
• Up Next: Duke will play No. 3 Texas Tech on Thursday at 9:30 pm EST in San Francisco.

North Carolina

North Carolina guard RJ Davis (4) and forward Armando Bacot (5) celebrate in the second half of a second-round game against Baylor in the NCAA college basketball tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, Saturday, March, 19, 2022.

• First Win: The Tar Heels topped No. 9 Marquette on Thursday, 95-63 for Hubert Davis’ first NCAA Tournament win as a head coach. North Carolina shared the ball and dished out a season-best 29 assists on 34 made-baskets in the victory. Brady Manek led the Tar Heels with 28 points and 11 rebounds, while Caleb Love added 23 points. Marquette had three technical fouls.
• Second Win: RJ Davis scored a career-high 30 points as North Carolina upset No. 1 seed Baylor – last year’s national champions – 93-86 in overtime. It was the ninth time North Carolina defeated a No. 1 seed in the tournament. Davis also had five rebounds and six assists, while Brady Manek scored 26 points and Armando Bacot tallied 15 points and 16 rebounds.
• Fun Fact: North Carolina made 13 three-pointers against Marquette, the most it ever made in an NCAA Tournament game. The Tar Heels’ previous high was 12 in 2005 vs. Oakland. Love’s six three-pointers against Marquette tied a UNC single-game NCAA Tournament record.
• They Said It: “I didn’t want to go home. I mean, there was no time to be tired. When we were going to go to overtime, I knew what was at stake. And we all wanted to win.” – RJ Davis after beating Baylor.
• Up Next: The Tar Heels will face No. 4 UCLA on Friday at 9:40 pm EST om Philadelphia.

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GREENVILLE, SC — Tom Izzo straightened out his quarter-zip, folded his arms, stared into the crowd and exhaled. It was right before tipoff, a few minutes past 5:15 pm For the next 40 minutes, he would find himself deadlocked in a high-stakes, narrative-filled coaching battle, against a team more talented than his, with a chance to play spoiler. The sweet spot.

These opportunities, on a stage like this, are the ones Izzo lives for. This was the type of matchup basketball fans and sports fans at-large tune in to watch unfold, largely because of the two faces of these programs. Duke versus Michigan State. Izzo versus Mike Krzyzewski, one final time. A storyline only topped by the game that transpired.

It just wasn’t the result Izzo or his Michigan State team were looking for.

“He’s got another game to play, and I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do,” Izzo said of Krzyzewski. “(I’ll) probably be beating myself up for a week because not many times do you get an opportunity to be right there in the threshold of something special, and it slipped away.”

That’s how Izzo will remember this one — Michigan State’s 85-76 loss to Duke and Coach K in the second round. As he answered questions in his postgame news conference, Izzo said his team didn’t do what it needed to in order to pull out a win like this. When he says that, he’s speaking from experience. There’s a good chance he’ll look back at this, perhaps on the flight home, and think about what went wrong. Because for all its wars, this team was right there.

If he were to win this game, with this team, against that coach … well, you can only imagine how satisfying that would’ve been for Izzo. Maybe that’s why he won’t soon forget this one. Because there was a point where it looked like it was meant to be.

The post With Mike Krzyzewski and Duke shifting on, Tom Izzo’s Michigan State program appears to ‘take one other step’ – The Athletic appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.