Category: NCAA Men’s Basketball

DePaul upset Seton Hall on a stunning buzzer-beating block in Big East tournament

Seton Hall is going home and the refs got the call right

It’s hard to know which is the bigger upset in the men’s Big East tournament on Wednesday night.

No. 10 seed DePaul shocking No. 7 Seton Hall (-5.5) or a referee crew making the correct, game-deciding call as time expired in Madison Square Garden.

The Blue Demons (3-17 in the Big East this year) picked up their fifth ever victory in the conference tournament with a 66-65 win that ended with DePaul’s Nick Ongenda sprinting to the hoop from halfcourt to make a game-winning block on Femi Odukale.

Officials initially signaled for goaltending on the play —a wild moment in itself — but the refs reversed the call following very quick review. And it was absolutely the right move since the ball was still on its way up and not over the cylinder.

But how the game got to this point is just as dramatic.

DePaul had numerous chances to tie or take the lead with less than a minute remaining and couldn’t capitalize on any of them.

The very next play after the jump ball:

Seton Hall would hit two free throws after the foul to extend the lead to four only for DePaul to hit a layup with six seconds remaining right after.

That’s when it all fell apart for the Pirates.

Jalen Terry stole the ball from Odukale and was fouled shooting a three-pointer with four seconds left. He hit all three shots from the foul line to set up Ongenda’s block.

“I knew it was a block,” Ongenda told the FS1 broadcast. “I knew it. That’s what I do. I block everything.”

He’s not joking. The senior finished with four rejections on the night. None bigger than the play he made as time expired. Legendary broadcaster Bill Raftery was on the call and said he’d never seen a game end like this one.

Only in March.

Jim Boeheim retires from Syracuse men’s basketball after 47 years

After 47 years, Jim Boeheim is retiring from Syracuse men’s basketball.

After 47 years at the helm, Syracuse men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim is headed into retirement.

The university confirmed Boeheim’s decision on Wednesday shortly after the Orange lost to Wake Forest at the last second in the ACC Tournament.

After playing college hoops for the school, Boeheim, 78, started as an assistant at Syracuse in 1969 before assuming duties as the team’s head coach in 1976. It’s the only program he’s ever been a part of as a coach or player.

Boeheim went 1,116-440 all-time in his career leading the Orange and coached his team to a NCAA tournament victory in 2003.

The longtime Syracuse coach made five Final Four appearances in his time with the school (1987, 1996, 2003, 2013, 2016). He was named the Naismith College Coach of the Year and AP Coach of the Year in 2010.

Syracuse assistant head coach Adrian Autry will assume head coaching duties in wake of Boeheim’s retirement. Autry played for Boeheim from 1990-94.

“There have been very few stronger influential forces in my life than Syracuse University and Jim Boeheim. They have both played such important roles and without either of them, I am certain I would not have this incredible opportunity before me,” Autry said in a press release from the school. “I have spent much of my time in the game of basketball learning from Jim and am so grateful to him for preparing me to carry on the winning tradition that is Orange Basketball. It’s hard to imagine a world without him on the bench, but together with our coaches, student-athletes and fans, we will build on decades of success as a winning program.”

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that the decision for Boeheim to retire and Autry to take the helm was not decided until after Wednesday’s game.

Boeheim’s last season with Syracuse saw the Orange go 17-15 and earn an eighth-overall seed in the 2023 ACC tournament.

Jim Boeheim’s future at Syracuse in doubt after buzzer-beater loss in ACC tournament

What a poetic and ironic potential finish to Boeheim’s time with Syracuse.

What a WONDERFUL way to kick off March Madness!

During a second-round ACC tournament game Wednesday, Wake Forest and Syracuse’s Men’s basketball teams traded haymaker after haymaker. And in the final moments, the two squads found themselves knotted up at 74 points apiece.

After Syracuse bumbled around with the ball on their end, Wake Forest quickly charged up the court to get into position for a game-winning shot. A perfect pass would find Daivien Williamson open for three.

It’s the third month of the calendar year — a.k.a. March — so, c’mon now; you already know what happened next. Williamson drained his shot for an incredible 77-74 Wake Forest win.

There are a lot of consequences to what might be the first sweet moment of this year’s March Madness. Let’s focus on two.

The first is that Williamson’s game-winning shot saw Wake Forest cover a pregame -2.5 spread with DraftKings. A relatively even 55 percent of the handle was on Syracuse (+2.5), along with 63 percent of the money. Needless to say, a lot was riding on Williamson hitting nothing but the net.

More importantly for Syracuse fans, Williamson might have just ended longtime Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim’s career, too. Boeheim has been at the helm of the Orange since 1976 but hasn’t provided much clarity on his future lately.

The coach didn’t really provide a concrete answer in the press room after Syracuse’s season officially ended, saying he already gave his “retirement speech”, but that he hasn’t personally decided what’s next:

For what it’s worth, this is what Boeheim told ESPN in an early February interview about what lies ahead:

“Listen, this has been the question of the day for 15 years. This isn’t a new question. It’s just the calendar going, ‘Well, he’s 78,’” he said then. “And I’m not going to retire because it’s the calendar. Anything can happen. Anything, literally. We’ll just see what happens. I don’t say anything because I don’t know.”

Suppose Wednesday was indeed the end of Boeheim at Syracuse. This makes matters a little more poetic. In that same conversation with ESPN, Boeheim ripped the Demon Deacons, among a trio of ACC programs, for buying their team. He would later offer a weak non-apology after receiving backlash for those comments.

Just over a month later, Wake Forest may have pulled the curtains on Boeheim’s 47-year tenure on the Syracuse bench.

Sister Jean looked so adorable flying to catch Loyola-Chicago’s opening round A10 game

Sister Jean wouldn’t miss this for the world!

It being March means that one of everyone’s favorite NCAA Tournament characters, Sister Jean, is back in the spotlight.

As the Loyola-Chicago Men got set to take on Saint Joseph’s Hawks in the opening round of the Atlantic-10 tournament, their usual special guest had to find a way to make it to the game. Even with it being a down year for the 10-21 Ramblers, there was clearly just no way Sister Jean would miss this affair.

So, before the proceedings, Sister took a comfortable private plane. Predictably, she looked so happy about the opportunity to see her school compete in March again.

Aww. We can talk about the buzzer-beaters and ridiculous finishes, but I, for one, appreciate cherished moments like this. People like Sister Jean, who enjoy college basketball, love their school, and want to do anything to support it.

Loyola-Chicago would go on to 72-67. But I don’t think the score really mattered here.

Odds and picks for each of the Power 6 men’s basketball conference tournaments

Our staff picks for the men’s basketball Power 6 conference tournaments.

The NCAA men’s basketball conference tournament schedule is well under way, and the first of the “Big 6” conferences join the action Tuesday when the ACC tips things off.

The Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC join them Wednesday and games continue through the week until champions and automatic NCAA tournament bids are decided over the weekend.

Whether it’s Alabama, Kansas, UCLA or Purdue, we all feel like we have a grasp on the favorites this year. But they don’t call it March Madness for nothing, so the FTW staff made picks on which teams we’d put our money on.

Odds are from DraftKings

Bad beat: BYU inexplicably fouled Saint Mary’s with a second left to blow the cover

BYU blew the backdoor cover.

Covering as 6.5-point underdogs shouldn’t have even been an option for BYU after trailing by as much as 26 points in their West Coast Conference Tournament semifinal game Monday against BYU.

But as the final seconds of the game winded down, Cougars bettors were somehow in the green after a monster second-half surge cut the deficit to three with about 30 seconds left. The incredible backdoor cover was secured!

And then it wasn’t.

Saint Mary’s scored four straight points from there, and it was the very last cover-blowing point that was most heart-breaking. With the game all but decided, a BYU player fouled Saint Mary’s with less than a second left.

That extra free throw made the difference.

Adding to the heartbreak for BYU bettors is the missed free throw that led to the rebound and foul. It was third straight miss from the line for Atiki Ally. Had he made just one of them, the foul at the end wouldn’t have mattered.

[mm-video type=video id=01gtw7n7naj4nc3f439g playlist_id=none player_id=01gp1x90emjt3n6txc image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gtw7n7naj4nc3f439g/01gtw7n7naj4nc3f439g-2a7934933db70d873c638cc84b11b390.jpg]

Duke decides to end a fantastic men’s hoops regular season with the saltiest tweet

Duke didn’t get a call, and they’re not going to let it go.

The Duke men’s basketball team had a truly solid first season under the command of new head coach Jon Scheyer. The Blue Devils finished in a three-way tie for second in the conference, earned the No. 4 seed and double-bye in the ACC tournament and swept rival North Carolina (the second win effectively keeping the Tar Heels out of the NCAA tournament).

Scheyer’s 23 wins — the team went 23-8 for the season — are the most for a first-year head coach in school history.

You’d think they’d be so happy, right?

Instead, they chose to be salty.

In a tweet shared Monday, the official Duke account included a curious bullet point.

Yes, the “One ‘we consider this matter closed’ away from ACC co-champs,” complete with the quizzical monocle emoji. In case you missed it — or have just moved on like most people probably have — a controversial late call in regulation against Virginia kept freshman Kyle Filipowski off the free throw line.

The game went to overtime, which Virginia dominated. Later that night, the ACC released a statement (which honestly only confused the matter more) that said the refs got it wrong and that Filipowski should have been granted potential game-winning free throws.

Virginia and Duke are on opposite sides of the bracket in the ACC tournament, meaning we may get a very spicy rematch in the title game on Saturday if we are so lucky. Until then, I’m sure the entire college basketball world feels badly for Duke not getting a call to go their way for the first time.

A running list of men’s college basketball teams that have punched their March Madness tickets

Stay up to date on which teams have made it into the field of the 2023 men’s NCAA tournament.

With Selection Sunday coming up on March 12, mens’ teams across the nation are starting to punch their tickets to the NCAA tournament as automatic qualifiers (AQ) are handed out. Thirty-two teams will earn an AQ to the Big Dance, with the rest of the field filled out by 36 at-large teams.

The selection show for the men’s bracket starts at 6 p.m. ET on CBS, with the First Four taking place March 14 and 15 in Dayton, Ohio.

In order to keep track of which teams have already made it to the postseason, check out the running list below. This will be updated as conference tournaments finish.

This year’s field already includes one making its first appearance in the NCAA tournament in Kennesaw State (ASUN). Fairleigh Dickinson earned the AQ by winning one of the NEC’s semifinal games since Merrimack — the conference’s No. 1 seed — is ineligible due to transition to Division I.

Houston avoided a Memphis upset, hit the under on glorious buzzer-beater

A March buzzer-beater, you say?

There’s a reason that Houston is the top men’s basketball team in the country.

The Cougars avoided an upset on the road at conference rival Memphis on Sunday, topping the Tigers 67-65 ahead of next weekend’s American Athletic Conference tournament.

It was junior guard Jamal Shead for the Cougars who knocked down the buzzer-beater for Houston, extending the team’s winning streak to 11 games.

The basket also helped Houston bettors with the game staying with the under (Houston -180), even though Memphis did cover the 4.5-point spread.

Being that it’s March and all, Houston will have to hope they’ve got more onions on the shelf and more magic at the buzzer.

Houston should be the favorite to take the AAC tournament next weekend and might be the overall favorite to win the NCAA tournament later this month.

As for Memphis, they’re likely going to want to get even with Houston next weekend if the two meet again in the conference tourney.

South Carolina Upstate hit a (nearly) buzzer-beating 3-pointer to stay alive in Big South tournament

Gardner-Webb went from covering a four-point spread to losing at the buzzer in just 10 seconds.

South Carolina State’s hopes of making the NCAA Tournament as an automatic qualifier remain alive.

The four-seeded Spartans advanced to the semifinal in the Big South men’s basketball tournament in dramatic fashion on Friday, taking down five-seeded Gardner-Webb on a go-ahead three-point shot with just 0.1 seconds to play.

USC Upstate survived despite trailing by five points with just 10 seconds to play in one of our first tastes of March Madness in 2023. To make matters worse for anyone who potentially bet on the Bulldogs, they were a four-point favorite in this one.

To go from winning and covering to losing outright in the final 10 seconds? Brutal.

It’s hard to sum that up any better than Upstate coach Dave Dickerson did after the game.

We’re all wondering the same thing.

To keep their postseason hopes alive, the Spartans will have to knock off top-seeded UNC Asheville, which sits at 25-7 on the season, in Saturday’s semifinal round.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=693153950]

[mm-video type=video id=01gtkyr3c6r7xay4vmvy playlist_id=01f09p3bf720d8rg02 player_id=01gp1x90emjt3n6txc image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gtkyr3c6r7xay4vmvy/01gtkyr3c6r7xay4vmvy-c952906256f4f2251439d344282299db.jpg]