The second day of the 2017 Sweet 16 brought the complete opposite of how the first day started. Thursday night brought two absolute nail-biters to start off the night. Friday, well let’s just say it started out a bit different. The combined margin of victory was 16 points with North Carolina and South Carolina moving on to the Elite Eight in their respective regions.The night caps brought much better results for neutral fans who were treated to two absolute treats. We got our first buzzer beater and overtime game of the tournament, all in the same game. Our final game of the night highlighted why March is so great.
Carolinas in the Early Games
North Carolina jumped on Butler from the start. Save a few small Butler runs, UNC had a 15 point cushion throughout the game. Joel Berry came into the game 3-21 from the field in the tournament. He was also nursing an ankle injury that held him out of practice all week bounced back with 26. Justin Jackson kept his hot streak going by dropping 24. The real story of the game was Luke Maye who came off the bench to post a double-double and knocked down three 3s on five attempts. Butler made several runs to chip the lead to 10 a few times but could never get it lower. The Tar Heels bounced back after a shaky finish against Arkansas last week. Last week they jumped out to a significant lead before giving it away before halftime. Friday no late run was needed to win this one as the get ready to face Kentucky for a berth to the Final Four.
In our other early game offensive was not at a premium. That especially rang true for Baylor who scored a season-low 22 points in the first half. The Bears ended the game 3-13 from three, and outside of Motley who got 22 points and nine rebounds, nobody else for the Bears reached double figures. South Carolina proved the Duke game was no fluke frustrating the Bears guards just like Duke’s. Frank Martin has a team back in the Elite Eight after leading Kansas State there back in 2010. And with it, the best defensive team he’s ever coached led by the SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
Frank Martin: "This is the best defensive team I've coached in college basketball."
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) March 25, 2017
The Rematch
In our third game of the night had the most hype coming in and for the most part didn’t disappoint. UCLA against Kentucky was never going to match the classic played back in early December. That day the Bruins went into Rupp Arena and walked out with a 97-92 victory. The Sweet 16 rematch wasn’t as high scoring but featured the same up and down action as the first game. Kentucky entered the half with a three-point lead and never looked back from there. At the ten minute mark, UCLA was shooting 79% from the floor in the second half, and their deficit had risen from 3 to 5 from the halftime score. De’Aaron Fox had a special night scoring 39 points, a career high. As a result, the Kentucky win sets up a clash of college basketball titans with a Final Four berth on the line between North Carolina and Kentucky.
The Instant Classic
Finally, the last game between Wisconsin and Florida was our lone game of the night with a close finish. It also happened to be our first overtime game of the entire tourney when Zak Showalter made a floater three-pointer to tie the game with 2.1 seconds left. Not to be outdone as Chris Chiozza made his own floater three-pointer, this one as time expired to give the Gators a berth in the Elite Eight.
KeVaughn Allen was spectacular scoring 35 points after shooting 3-21 the first two games of the tournament. A critical injury to Bronson Koenig late hurt the Badgers down the stretch as did their inability to hit free throws. Nigel Hayes was just 7-14 from the stripe in a game the Badgers lost by just one point. The Elite Eight in the East region will now be a SEC battle nobody saw coming back on Selection Sunday as South Carolina will battle Florida for a spot in the Final Four.
