When you look at the final score of the Miami-Kansas game, it seems impossible to believe that Miami had a solid lead at halftime. Kansas then proceeded to blow them out. Consider this: Kansas scored 76 points, so let’s divide that into even halves of 38 each. While Kansas scored their first 38, Miami scored 40. While Kansas scored the second 38, Miami scored only 10.
Ten!
I’ve been kidding about Miami’s players being so old they live in an assisted living dorm, but it didn’t seem like kidding in the second half of this game. Kansas ran them so ragged they were shitting in their Depends. Those old geezers really could have used that oxygen.
As for the double-dicks … as they say in their Jersey City home – fuhgitaboudit. That first half was painful to watch. Those kids did great, but North Carolina was their Waterloo.
Remember what I said about UNC’s Armando Bacot being the new Rodman? Well, the scorecard says he “only” had 22 rebounds in this game, which is a big number in 35 minutes of play, but it seemed more like 52. That kid was everywhere.
While the St Peter’s story line failed to produce a Hollywood ending, it worked out exactly right to set up Coach K’s swan song. It will be Duke against North Carolina in the semi-finals. The teams met twice during the year. Duke won the first one easily, 87-67, but North Carolina came back with a vengeance, scoring 94 points – including 55 in the second half – to spoil Coach K’s final game on the Duke home court. Four UNC starters scored 20 or more in that game.
I had to look this up: Duke and North Carolina have played each other 257 times in history, but they have never met at the NCAA tournament. Coach K’s storied career could end with a dramatic defeat, with his main rival spoiling both his last game at home and his last game away from home, or he could use that once-in-history meeting to get revenge for that home loss, as a launching point for his final championship bid. It’s a good story either way, unless he wins against UNC and gets his ass kicked by Kansas. Those mean old Jayhawks (or less likely, Villanova) could certainly spoil the script.
Today’s final scores were about what you’d expect in the first round, when the top seeds play the marginal teams, but come to think of it, Miami and the Double Dicks were double-digit seeds, so I guess their expected first round routs just came a little late.
Final Four odds
(1) Kansas -4 vs. (2) Villanova
(2) Duke -4.5 vs. (8) North Carolina
Futures odds (to win it all)
Duke +150
Kansas +190
Villanova +450
North Carolina +550
Hard to believe that Duke and North Carolina have never played each other in the tournament. I guess the way they split up conference teams on Selection Sunday, they most likely would have only met in the Final Four or the championship game. Given that, it still seems unfathomable to me that they’ve never played each other in the tournament.
There was one year when they both made it to the Final Four. They would have met in the championship game, but one of them lost the opener.
Yeah, I was just as surprised as you were. I only knew because I researched it, and I had to go back and read it again just to make sure I read it right!