Tag: 2023 NCAA Tournament

March Madness: Clemson mauls New Mexico in first round of NCAA Tournament

March Madness: the Clemson Tigers mauled New Mexico in the first round of the West Region of the NCAA Tournament Friday. Chase Hunter had a season-high 21 points as Clemson rolled, 77-56.

Chase Hunter had one of the finest games of his career on one of the biggest stages to date, and No. 6 seed Clemson danced its way to a 77-56 win over No. 11 seed New Mexico Friday at Memphis’ FedExForum in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Hunter tallied a season-high 21 points as Clemson won its first NCAA Tournament game since 2018. The Tigers looked like the team that had been ranked No. 13 in the country after starting the season 9-0.

Clemson got off a strong start and never looked back, answering each attempt at a New Mexico (26-10) run with one of its own.

When senior Joe Girard made a 3-pointer from the top of the key near the 12-minute mark of the first half, the Tigers had a 25-11 lead. Girard hit another 3-pointer and Clemson was soon on a 19-2 run and up 30-11.

Through the first 12 minutes of play, Clemson was connecting on 55 percent of its shots; New Mexico only 31 percent.

The Lobos used a 10-2 run in a span of 3:30 before RJ Godfrey’s dunk put Clemson back up by 13 at 38-25 with 2:07 left in the half. When New Mexico’s Jaelen House missed a jumper with six seconds left, the Tigers led 42-28 at intermission.

That was after PJ Hall had sat for the final 4:56 of the half with two fouls. Despite his absence, Clemson outscored New Mexico, 8-7, in that span and was 4-for-9 from 3-point range in the first half compared to New Mexico’s 2-for-11.

There would be no second-half letdown for the Tigers, either.

Clemson began the half with a 9-2 run after a 3-pointer and a tip-in by Ian Schieffelin on consecutive trips down the floor. Schieffelin, the ACC’s Most Improved Player for 2024, had 16 points in Friday’s victory.

Then there was Hunter, who made a spectacular move under the basket for an underhanded layup to put Clemson ahead, 59-40, with 10:37 to play. Hunter popped another 3-pointer on the Tigers’ next trip down the floor, and Clemson had its largest lead of the day to that point at 62-40.

With the game winding down, Hunter made his last shot attempt a good one, draining a jumper with 2:05 to play.

New Mexico never showed what had made the Lobos was one of the most dangerous teams entering the tournament. The closest they came to getting back into the game was cutting the Tigers’ lead to 13 after Clemson went over four minutes without a basket at one point in the second half.

By the time a frustrated House fouled out with over six minutes still on the clock, he’d been held to just 12 points — one game after scoring 28 in New Mexico’s Mountain West Tournament championship game against San Diego State. Nelly Junior Joseph led the Lobos in scoring with 14 points. Mashburn, who had 21 against San Diego State, had only six points Friday.

Hall had 14 points for Clemson to give the Tigers three players in double figures.

UP NEXT

Clemson will face No. 3 seed Baylor (22-9) in the round of 32 Sunday in Memphis. Tipoff time and TV network have yet to be announced.

Vician saves Tar Heels’ season in regulation, helps them advance to Elite 8 in shootout

Martin Vician, the Harvard transfer who’s now an integral part of the UNC men’s soccer team, tied Sunday’s game and scored a shootout goal.

There were just under five minutes left in the UNC men’s soccer season on Sunday night, with the Tar Heels trailing Hofstra 2-1.

The visiting Pride, who won the Colonial Athletic Association conference tournament, clung to its 1-goal advantage for most of the game.

Here came Martin Vician to save the day for Carolina.

In the 86th minute, Vician head home a Quenzi Huerman free kick to tie the game at two. Vician was also one of five Tar Heels to score in the shootout, helping his team capture a 3-2 victory and advance to host Oregon State – in the Elite Eight – on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET.

After both teams failed to score in the two overtime periods, despite plenty of chances to do so, UNC went a perfect 5-for-5 in the shootout. Huerman, Vician, Andrew Czech, Ernest Bawa and Sam Williams all netted goals for the Tar Heels.

With both Williams and Hofstra’s Eliot Goldthorp converting on the shootout’s first two chances, UNC star goalkeeper Andrew Cordes needed to make a crucial save. He did exactly that, which seemed to be the offensive momentum boost Carolina needed to end things.

The Tar Heels lost via shootout to Clemson in the ACC Tournament Final, so I’m sure they were thankful to win Sunday night. They’ll be hosting Oregon State, who is coming off a 7-1, Sweet 16 domination of future ACC school SMU, on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 5 p.m.

If you can’t make it to the game, for which plenty of tickets are still available, you can watch on ESPN+.

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UNC men’s soccer squad hosting Hofstra for spot in Elite 8

After downing Memphis, 2-0, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, UNC hosts Hofstra in the Sweet 16 at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday night.

What happened to the UNC women’s soccer team at BYU was disappointing, but luckily, there’s another soccer team alive in Chapel Hill.

On Sunday, Nov. 26, the Carolina men host Hofstra at 5 p.m. on Dorrance Field for a Sweet 16 matchup in the NCAA Tournament

UNC made a run to the ACC Tournament Final, beating Virginia Tech, fellow conference power Wake Forest and Syracuse, the 2023 National Champions. This run put the Tar Heels in position to earn the at-large bid it’s currently enjoying.

Carolina, the number three overall seed in the NCAA Tourney, beat Memphis 2-0 on Sunday, Nov. 19 in its second-round, NCAA opener. Martin Vician, UNC’s 6’4″ graduate forward from Bratislava, Slovakia, scored both goals in the seventh and 48th minutes.

Despite having a pair of prolific goal-scorers in Vician and team leader Quenzi Huerman (10), Carolina’s trademark is defense. The Tar Heels have limited opponents to a max of one goal per contest, which has kept UNC in a lot of games.

Hofstra, which downed Monmouth in the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) Conference Tournament final to earn its postseason berth, beat Yale by a 2-0 mark in its NCAA Tournament opener last Sunday. The Pride have 14 wins on the year, with nine of those including multiple goals.

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Social media reacts to UNC’s season-ending, second-half collapse at BYU

The UNC women’s soccer team had a 3-goal, second-half lead at BYU in the Elite Eight. The host Cougars had other plans on Friday night.

After blowing a 2-goal, second half lead to UCLA in last year’s College Cup final, the UNC women’s soccer team had some major questions to answer.

Why did it stop playing hard when moments away from its first National Championship since 2012? Why – after scoring two goals in 16 minutes, couldn’t the Tar Heels find a third to put the Bruins away? Why would Anson Dorrance, UNC’s longtime head coach who has dominated the sport for so long, make a massive coaching blunder?

If you thought last year’s collapse was bad, this year’s was even worse.

In their road, Elite Eight matchup with BYU on Friday, Nov. 24, the Tar Heels blew a 3-goal, second-half lead and lost 4-3.

Three goals? Yep. The host Cougars didn’t score until the 61st minute, then ended the match 28 minutes later.

What exactly went wrong? Off the bat, Carolina stopped playing offense and BYU finally cracked its defense. Friday night was the first time – since Pitt on Oct. 29 – an opponent scored multiple goals against UNC.

A loss like this is just simply inexcusable. I understand a team coming back from one goal down, but not three.

Let’s take a look at social media and see the frustrations among the Tar Heel faithful:

Tar Heels choke in second-half, lose 3-goal lead to BYU

The UNC women’s soccer team was up three goals and a half away from the College Cup. Any guesses what happened next to the Tar Heels?

Any time a soccer team scores three goals in a game, it’s pretty likely that team wins, right?

Particularly when those three goal come in the span of 20 minutes?

The UNC women’s soccer team is the one mentioned in the graph above, jumping out to a quick, 3-goal lead against top-ranked BYU (Brigham Young University). Ally Sentnor scored two of Carolina’s early goals, leading a lot to believe the women in light blue were heading back to the College Cup.

Not so fast.

UNC went into cruise control during the second half, allowing BYU to score four unanswered goals and advance to the College Cup with an improbable, 4-3 comeback victory.

The fact Carolina was up 3-0 – against the top-seeded team in the NCAA Tournament – was impressive in itself. UNC hadn’t scored three goals in a game since Friday, Nov. 10, when it downed Towson by a 3-1 mark in its tourney opener, while BYU hadn’t allowed three goals in a game since the Big 12 final against Texas (Nov. 4).

It was only a matter of time before the host Cougars got on the board, shooting eight times in the second half before scoring in the 61st minute. There was a 20-minute break in scoring, then BYU scored its second and the game-tying goal a minute apart.

The final dagger came just before the 90th-minute buzzer, with BYU’s Olivia Katoa sending a low-arching shot past UNC goalkeeper Emmie Allen.

For a team that didn’t lose once in the regular season, Carolina lost twice in its final five games.

First, its ACC Tournament opener against Pitt on Sunday, Oct. 29.

Then, the heartbreaking collapse that occurred in Utah last night.

Clemson advances to the Elite Eight following a PK thriller against Georgia

Clemson women’s soccer has advanced to the Elite Eight!

CLEMSON, S.C. – Megan Bornkamp netted the equalizer in the game’s 88th minute and Halle Mackiewicz recorded a clutch penalty save and No. 1 seed Clemson women’s soccer advanced past Georgia, 1-1 (5-3 PK) to earn a spot in the Elite Eight for the sixth time in school history and first time since 2020.

“I think you saw two very good teams today and this is what the NCAA Tournament is all about,” Head Coach Eddie Radwanski said. “We knew Georgia was going to be a formidable opponent and I thought we played really well today. This game is about taking chances, great response from our team with coinciding a goal so late and you just saw what the Clemson Tigers are all about. They dug down, they never gave up, reached deep inside and found a way to make it happen. I’m just impressed with our kids’ resiliency and the fact that they wanted to win, they wanted to advance and sometimes you have to do whatever it takes.”

Both teams started the match off strong as the Tigers and the Bulldogs impressed both offensively and defensively in the first half. Clemson’s back line allowed zero shots on goal for Georgia as goalkeeper Halle Mackiewicz remained tough in the box.

In the second half, Clemson and Georgia continued to battle as both teams worked hard to find the back of the net. At the ‘83, Georgia’s Croix Bethune found a scoring opportunity as she netted one in to give the Bulldogs the 1-0 advantage.

As the clock continued to run, the Tigers tried to find opportunities to score and even the score. With three minutes left in the match, Bornkamp was able to find possession of the ball as she shot the ball towards the net and the Georgia keeper stepped out to try and save it but ultimately missed the ball. Bornkamp moved around the keeper and shot the ball to the empty net and evened the score, 1-1.

Both teams had chances in each of the two overtime periods, with Georgia taking two shots in the first and Clemson two in the second. Makenna Morris nearly ended the game in the 110’, but her shot was saved by Georgia’s keeper to send the game to penalty kicks.

In penalty kicks, the teams traded makes in their first three attempts. Renee Lyles sent one past the Georgia keeper on Clemson’s fourth attempt, before Mackiewicz made the key save on Georgia’s attempt to put the Tigers up by one. Sami Meredith then sent home Clemson’s final attempt to give Clemson the 5-3 penalty win.

Up next , the Tigers will host No. 2 seed Penn State at Historic Riggs Field next Saturday, November 25, at 1:00 p.m. Tickets can be found at this link.

– Via Clemson Athletic Communications 

UNC men’s soccer squad earns first-round bye in NCAA Tourney, will host Sunday

UNC made a run to the finals of the 2023 ACC Men’s Soccer Tournament, which netted them a high seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

The UNC men’s soccer team finished fourth in the ACC’s Coastal Division this year, but an impressive run through the ACC Tournament gained it a strong seeding in the NCAA Tournament.

Carolina beat Virginia Tech (4-1), ACC Atlantic Division winner Wake Forest (1-0) and 2022 National Champion Syracuse (3-1) en route to the ACC Championship. The Tar Heels tied Clemson through three overtimes, but lost 5-3 in penalty kicks.

That run was good enough to land UNC the third overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, which begins Friday with first-round games.

Carolina will play the winner of Memphis-SIU Edwardsville on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET.

There’s a lot to be excited about as UNC prepares for a run at its third national title, with the last one coming in 2011.

Carolina is led offensively by double-digit goal scorer Quenzi Huerman (10) and Martin Vician (7), who combine for 57 percent of the goals.

Despite the offensive firepower, UNC’s foundation is on defense. Goalkeepers Andrew Cordes (13 starts), Quinn Closson and Collin Travasos (six combined) have limited Tar Heel opponents to just 12 goals, which is tied for fourth-best in the country.

Just how far will Carolina go this year? Watch Sunday’s opener on ESPN+, or buy tickets here.

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LSU’s Jay Johnson details his relationship with legendary coach Skip Bertman

Johnson has quite a standard to live up to as the coach of the Tigers.

Every baseball coach who takes the LSU job knows the big shoes they have to fill.

Longtime former coach and athletics director [autotag]Skip Bertman[/autotag] set the program’s standard, winning five of LSU’s six national titles while at the helm from 1984-01. Now, coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] looks to become the third LSU coach to win a national title as the Tigers begin their run at the 2023 College World Series in Omaha.

Though he hasn’t been in an administrative role since 2008, Bertman remains a major figure within the program. In an interview with former player [autotag]Mikie Mahtook[/autotag] on the Mik’d Up w/ Mikie Mahtook podcast, Johnson detailed his relationship with Bertman.

“The best part of this job is the personal relationship I’ve got to develop with him,” Johnson said, per On3. “Because in the profession I have, you always aspire to be the best. He is the unquestioned GOAT. No doubt about that. I studied him as a young coach so now talking to him like three or four times a week and getting to hear or re-hear some of those stories because I have some familiarity with him has been amazing.”

Johnson’s direct predecessor, [autotag]Paul Mainieri[/autotag], also set the standard high, winning a national championship in 2009. Mainieri also remains around the building and has had an impact, as well.

“Last night will be that night I remember forever and he’s a big part to do with that and same with Coach Mainieri,” Johnson said. “He couldn’t have been better as far as helping me get off to a good start here and just little things I needed to know about the program and the roster and all those types of things. Getting to spend time with two guys of that level and caliber of coach here is honestly, probably, from the personal standpoint, one of the best things about coaching here.”

LSU begins its run in Omaha against Tennessee on Saturday as Johnson looks to join an exclusive club of national title-winning Tigers coaches.

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Social media reacts as record-setting Iowa baseball season ends with record-tying hit batters fest

Twitter reacted as a record-setting Iowa season closed with a dubious, record-tying performance from the Hawkeyes against Indiana State.

Maybe it was fitting in a sick, pull-your-hair out, demented kind of way. A record-tying baseball season for the Iowa Hawkeyes ended with a record-tying bit of dubious history.

First, the positives: Iowa advanced to the NCAA Tournament for just the sixth time in program history and for the third time under head coach Rick Heller. It’s also the first regional appearance for the Hawkeyes since 2017. After its thrilling, marathon win over North Carolina earlier today in 13 innings, Iowa tied its single-season record for wins with 44. The 1981 Hawkeye squad also accomplished that feat.

Now, the season’s final frustrations.

Iowa fell to No. 14 overall seed Indiana State in the Terre Haute Regional final, 11-8. Along the way, Hawkeye pitchers combined to tie the NCAA’s all-time, single- mark for hit batters. Iowa joined TCU against Baylor in March of 2012, Fordham against Saint Joseph’s in April of 2009 and Rice against Washington in May of 1998 as programs that have plunked 10 opposing hitters in a single game.

Knowing they entered the regional final taxed on arms, Iowa tried valiantly to muster up enough offense to get the Hawkeyes from Sunday night to a winner-take-all if-necessary game on Monday.

Iowa struck first with an RBI single from redshirt sophomore Raider Tello to bring home junior shortstop Michael Seegers in the first. Then, fifth-year  first baseman Brennen Dorighi tied it at three apiece in the third with a two-run blast.

Hawkeye fans understandably allowed themselves to hope about Iowa taking the long road back into the Super Regionals during the fourth inning. One of the heroes in Iowa’s extra innings win earlier today against North Carolina, freshman Blake Guerin delivered again.

He launched a two-run blast to put Iowa in front 5-4. Then, Seegers singled and junior catcher Cade Moss came home to score on a Sycamore throwing error. Suddenly, Iowa led by a pair of runs.

Alas, it wouldn’t last. Ultimately, 16 free bases from the Hawkeyes—10 hit batters and six walks—were just too much to overcome.

Indiana State scored two runs in the fifth, two more in the sixth and then a three-run homer from Keegan Watson officially put things out of reach.

With the season on the line, Hawkeye fans reacted as expected across social media. Some temporary joy and hope, but some serious, serious deflation as well.

Here’s some of the key Hawkeye highlights and the best from Iowa fans reacting on social media.

Iowa Hawkeyes baseball vs. Indiana State: TV, stream, game notes for Sunday

After dispatching of North Carolina, Iowa gets another crack at Indiana State. Here’s when and how Hawkeye fans can watch tonight.

The Iowa Hawkeyes survived a 13-inning thriller over North Carolina, downing the Tar Heels with an RBI triple from junior shortstop Michael Seegers to plate redshirt freshman Coy Sarsfield en route to the 6-5 win.

Now, Iowa gets another chance at No. 14 overall seed Indiana State after a crushing loss Saturday night. Despite sophomore Brody Brecht’s terrific start through seven innings, Iowa couldn’t make a 4-2 lead hold up against the Sycamores in the eighth inning.

Indiana State used an RBI, bases-loaded walk from Mike Sears and then back-to-back doubles from Miguel Rivera and Grant Magill to turn that 4-2 deficit into a 7-4 win.

Iowa is turning to redshirt sophomore Zach Voelker for the start against Indiana State on Sunday. It’ll be the Granite Bay, California, native’s second start in 2023. With a Hawkeye win, the two teams would meet again Monday in a winner-take-all contest to advance to the super regionals.

Here’s when are where Hawkeye fans can tune in to watch Iowa in the regional final against Indiana State.