As part of our efforts at the Celtics Wire to keep ourselves busy without any NBA or NCAA basketball, we’re taking a look back at the performance of current Boston Celtics during their college days.
While not everyone on Boston’s roster made it into the big dance due to back luck, injuries, or getting started on another continent, 12 of the team’s 17 players have had at least some experience with the collegiate game’s biggest event.
So we’re looking back on those games on their anniversaries, and March 16th has three games played in the big dance by current Celtics — a pair for guard Carsen Edwards and another for center Robert Williams III.
Let’s start with the Timelord, who saw his Texas A&M Aggies advance against the Providence Friars, who fell 73-69 to the Aggies.
Williams’ 13 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks helped make it happen on this day in 2018.
Rookie guard Carsen Edwards played in the NCAA tournament twice on this date, both victories for his Purdue Boilermakers.
The first of the two games was a win over the Vermont Catamounts in the round of 64 in 2017.
The Catamounts conducted themselves well as a 13-seed against 4-seed Purdue, but fell 80-70 as they were outclassed with the Boilermakers’ deep reserve of talent — and Edwards’ 12 points off the bench.
The second of the Texan guard’s March 16th Tournament games was against the Cal State Fullerton Titans in 2018, and by then Edwards was elevated to a starter.
Scoring 15 points for the Boilermakers, Purdue would crush the Titans 74-48 in the first-round win.
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