The Final Four Has Arrived!
What an exciting Elite Eight! We saw the powerhouse of Duke fall to Michigan State, and Gonzaga swere upset by Jarrett Culver and Texas Tech. After the dust had settled, we 2 Final Four matchups of #5 Auburn vs #1 Virginia and #2 Michigan State vs #3 Texas Tech.
The first match up #5 Auburn vs #1 Virginia. After a disappointing end to last season, in which we saw Virginia lose to 16 UMBC in the Round of 64, the first time ever that a 16 seed upset a 1 seed in the Round of 64. But this year, Virginia has come out and played a great regular season, going 33-3. In the ACC Tournament, where they lost in the Semifinals, 69-59 behind the swarming defense of Florida State, who lost to Duke in the finals. Going into the tournament, they were the 1 seed, playing Gardner-Webb in their first game. Although they struggled at first, they won the game 71-56. In the round of 32, they faced #9 Oklahoma and won by 12, 63-51. Now in the Sweet 16, they faced #12 Oregon who had beaten #5 Wisconsin and #13 UC Irvine to get to the Sweet 16. But, Virginia survived the upset and won 53-49. Then they were in the Elite Eight, and hungry for more. They were going to play Purdue and Carsen Edwards who had 42 points against Villanova. Although Purdue forced overtime against the 1 seed, they survived and won 80-75. Carsen Edwards had 42 points, but it was not enough. Now in the Final Four, they would have a date with #5 Auburn in the Final Four, their first trip since 1984.
Auburn had a much tougher way to the Final Four. During the season, they went 30-9. In the SEC Tournament, Auburn went all the way to the championship game, where they creamed Tennessee, 84-64 to win the SEC and got an automatic bid in the Tournament. In the first round, they played 12 seeded New Mexico State. They almost got upset by New Mexico but won because they missed free throws down the stretch, and won 78-77. In the Round of 32, they played Kansas, and handled them, winning by 14, 89-75. Now with their tickets punched to the Sweet 16. They would play #1 UNC. They blew out UNC, winning by 17, 97-80. But winning came at a price as they lost Chuma Okeke to a knee injury, which later turned out to be a torn ACL. This was a huge blow for Auburn going forward. In the Elite Eight, they faced SEC rival Kentucky Wildcats. It was a close game throughout, but the Tigers came out on top in overtime with a 77-71 win and their tickets punched to Minneapolis for the Final Four, their first trip in program history.
GAME REPORT: I think the game will be close, but it will come down to how the stars play for both teams, Jared Harper, Samir Doughty, and Bryce Brown and for Virginia it will be up to Deandre Hunter, Kyle Guy, and Ty Jerome. At the end of the first half, the Tigers were up by 3, 31-28. But after not scoring for 5 minutes, Virginia reclaimed the lead. They led by as many as 10 with 5 minutes left, but then Auburn went on a 14-0 run were up 4 with 18 seconds left. Then, Kyle Guy hit a 3 with 6.5 seconds left. Jarden Harper made one of 2 free throws and it was 62-60. Then with 5.4 seconds left, Ty Jerome dribbled the ball off of his foot, and then picked it up and dribbled again. He was fouled, but there should have been a double dribble call, but there was not. Then, with 1.5 seconds left, Kyle Guy got fouled shooting a three with 0.6 seconds left. He made all 3 and put Virginia up 63-62. After a last-second prayer which missed, Virginia, survived Auburn and were heading to the Championship game on Monday.
The other Final Four matchup will be 2 Michigan State vs 3 Texas Tech.
Michigan State has been through loads to get to the Final Four, finishing with a 32-6 record. In the Big 10 Tournament, they beat Ohio State by 7 in the first round, Wisconsin by 12 in the Semifinals and rival Michigan by 5 in the Final to win the Big 10. They got a 2 seed in the tournament were in the same bracket as #1 Duke. In the Round of 64, they faced #15 Bradley. Though the game was close throughout, a late run pushed Michigan State to the win, winning by 11, 76-65. In the Round of 32, they faced #10 Minnesota and demolished them, winning 70-50. Now in the Sweet 16, they faced #3 LSU.
LSU had won both of their games by close margins and now had a battle with Michigan State. But Michigan State handled them and won by 17, 80-63. Now in the Elite Eight, they faced the freshman powerhouse of Duke with Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Tre Jones and Cam Reddish leading the team. It was really close throughout the game, but a late 3 by Goins gave Michigan State the win by 1, 68-67. They would now have to face Texas Tech in the Final Four.
Texas Tech, who were led by NBA lottery pick Jarrett Culver all year, had a 30-6 record in the Big 12. In the Big 12 Tournament, they lost in the first round to 10 West Virginia. This was a very bitter way to end the season. They managed to secure the 3rd seed, in a bracket with #2 Michigan and #1 Gonzaga. In the Round of 64, they faced 14 Northern Kentucky Norse. They pulled away in the 2nd half and won by 15, 72-57. In the Round of 32, they faced 6 Buffalo. They flattened Buffalo in a 20 point win, 78-58. Then they faced their first real challenge, playing Michigan in the Sweet 16. They destroyed Michigan by 19, 63-44, holding Michigan to their lowest total in tournament history. Now, in the Elite Eight, they faced the powerhouse from the west coast in #1 Gonzaga. Though the game was really close, the Red Raiders won 75-69 in their first trip to the Final Four in program history. This will be another close game like Virginia vs Auburn, but the upper hand has to go to 2 Michigan State because of the experience they have had, and the inexperience of Texas Tech. But, nonetheless, it will a close game and the winner will face #1 Virginia in the Championship game on Monday.
GAME REPORT: At the end of the first half, it was 23-21, Texas Tech up by 2. Then Texas Tech played great defense and offense and jumped to a 13 point lead with 9:20 left. Michigan State then went on a long run and were down by 3 with 1:30 left. Culver had 5 points up until that point, but he knocked 1 of 2 free throws, 6 points for the game. With 1:20, Michigan State turned the ball over, and Texas Tech was up 55-51. Culver hit the dagger 3, and Texas Tech held on to win 61-51. They played great defense throughout the game and will play #1 Virginia for the Championship. For Texas Tech, Matt Mooney had 22 points and Jarrett Culver had 10 points. For Michigan State, they had Cassius Winston had 16 points, Matt McQuaid has 12 points and Aaron Henry had 11 points.
So, after an exciting Final Four, the Texas Tech Raiders will play the Virginia Cavaliers for the championship. I hope you enjoyed today’s topic, and please leave a comment for any future topics and our next topic will be Championship game and more College Player Prospects.
