Tag: Sweet 16

Images from Clemson’s win over Arizona in the Sweet 16

Some of the best images from Clemon’s Sweet 16 victory over No. 2 Arizona.

Their ticket to the Elite 8 has been punched. The Clemson Tigers were able to fend off a blue blood program to return to the Elite 8 round for the first time since 1980.

Head coach Brad Brownell came into the season on the proverbial hot seat but this showing has certainly removed any thought of replacing him as the man in charge of the Tigers basketball program.

Guard Chase Hunter led the way for Clemson wth 18 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Forward PJ Hall was once again key for the team’s success with 17 points and eight rebounds. The other forward, Ian Scheffelin added another 14 points as the Tigers earned the improbable victory.

On Arizona’s side, Caleb Love, Oumar Ballo, and Jaden Bradley combined to pour in 46 of the Wildcats’ 72 points. Bradley did so coming off the bench.It wasn’t enough as the University of Arizona missed out on the Elite 8 once again but this time they made it past the opening weekend unlike last season.

Check out these images from the Clemson game ahead of their matchup with Alabama on Saturday.

Photos tell the story of Alabama’s upset win over North Carolina in the Sweet 16

Check out the top photos from Alabama basketball’s win over North Carolina in the Sweet 16 of March Madness.

Alabama basketball stays alive and advances to the second Elite Eight in program history after defeating the West Region’s No. 1 seed, North Carolina, with a final score of 89-87. The Crimson Tide’s March Madness run will now collide with Clemson‘s.

Grant Nelson was a force to be reckoned with in the SEC vs. ACC matchup. The North Dakota State transfer put his name on the map and raised some eyebrows with a performance that lifted the Tide over the Tar Heels.

On both ends of the court, Nelson was dominant. He put up 24 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks.

While Nate Oats and Alabama must now quickly prepare to take on Clemson on Saturday evening, relive the excitement from the upset win that sent North Carolina home and the Tide to the Elite Eight.

Images from Alabama’s win over North Carolina in the Sweet 16

Some of the best images from Alabama’s Sweet 16 victory over No. 1 North Carolina.

Their ticket is punched. The Alabama Crimson Tide is heading to the Elite 8 to face off with the Clemson Tigers after knocking off the No. 1 team in their region, the North Carolina Tar Heels.

It was a close game throughout the evening but it was Alabama that was able to take advantage late in the game. Nate Oats’ squad outscored the Tar Heels by 10 in the second half to secure the two-point victory after trailing 54-46 at the half. Forward Grant Nelson led the way with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Aaron Estrada and Rylan Griffen each poured in 19 points, and Mark Sears added another 18 points.

UNC gave it a good run led by Armando Bacot’s 19 points and 12 rebounds. Harrison Ingram was also able to clean the glass with nine rebounds of his own. Ryan Cormac scored 17 points, and RJ Davis finished with 16 points and seven assists.

Check out these images from the game:

Watch Brad Brownell discuss Clemson advancing to the Elite 8 on SportsCenter

Brownell made an appearance on SportsCenter after the Tigers advanced to the Elite 8.

Clemson basketball secured their first Elite Eight appearance since 1980 with an exhilarating 77-72 victory over No. 2 seed Arizona in the NCAA’s West Regional. The Tigers delivered crucial plays in the closing moments, including a clutch layup by Chase Hunter and a decisive breakaway layup from Dillon Hunter, sealing the win in a tense matchup at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

Led by Hunter’s game-high 18 points, Clemson displayed a balanced scoring effort, with key contributions from Ian Schieffelin and PJ Hall. Despite Arizona’s attempts to stage a comeback, Clemson maintained control for much of the game, capitalizing on turnovers and strong performances from their bench players.

It was an excellent win for the program, headlined by outstanding coaching from Tigers head coach Brad Brownell. Following the win, Brownell appeared on SportsCenter to discuss the win and the team’s advancing to the Elite 8. Check out the video below.

WATCH: Armando Bacot misses dunk in March Madness loss to Alabama

North Carolina’s Sweet 16 upset at the hands of Alabama included a stunning gaffe from star center Armando Bacot in the closing minutes.

North Carolina center Armando Bacot has had some great NCAA Tournament moments.

The Tar Heels star helped lead UNC to the doorstep of a national title two years ago, defeating Duke in the Final Four and averaging 16.5 rebounds per game over the Cinderella run.

Thursday’s upset loss against Alabama in the Sweet 16 included one of his lowlights.

North Carolina led the Crimson Tide by eight points at halftime but couldn’t close the door, becoming the first No. 1 seed eliminated from this year’s edition of March Madness.

Teammate RJ Davis, North Carolina’s All-American guard, had his fair share of mistakes in a 4/20 shooting performance. Bacot’s biggest gaffe was a lot more visible, however.

With less than seven minutes left in the game, Bacot went up for a two-handed dunk that would have stretched UNC’s lead to five. Instead, he did this.

What makes the small moment even worse? North Carolina lost to the Crimson Tide by two points, a final score of 89-87.

Caleb Love and RJ Davis make unfortunate history on Thursday

Former Tar Heels teammates Caleb Love and RJ Davis both went 0/9 from 3-point range during upset losses on Thursday night, the first team two players did so on the same night in NCAA Tournament history.

Caleb Love and RJ Davis aren’t both wearing Carolina blue anymore, but the former teammates shared some accidental (and unfortunate) solidarity on Thursday night.

Both Davis’s North Carolina Tar Heels and Love’s Arizona Wildcats lost in the Sweet 16, and neither guard had a game to their usual standards. In fact, they each had one of the worst games of their careers.

Davis, the All-American Tar Heels star, finished with 16 points on 4/20 shooting. Love, the former Tar Heel who sent Duke packing in the Final Four two years ago, finished with 13 points on 5/18 shooting. Both players went 0/9 from beyond the arc.

Not only had neither player finished 0/9 from distance before, but two such performances in one night was unprecedented. Literally.

According to former ESPN researcher Jared Berson, Thursday night was the first time in NCAA Tournament history that two different players from 0/9 or worse from 3-point range on the same day.

Add it all up, and the former North Carolina teammates went a combined 9/38 (23.7%) from the floor and 0/18 from behind the 3-point line.

Duke villain Caleb Love struggles in Arizona’s upset Sweet 16 loss

Caleb Love, who helped UNC defeat Duke in Coach K’s final home game and final NCAA Tournament game, bowed out of this year’s bracket earlier than hoped after Arizona lost to Clemson on Thursday.

One upset loss can’t outweigh all the pain Caleb Love caused Duke fans two years ago. But it feels nice.

Love and the No. 2 Arizona Wildcats lost to No. 6 Clemson 77-72 on Thursday night alongside his Arizona teammates.

Love began his career with North Carolina, and he forever etched himself into Blue Devils lore in March 2022. He helped UNC upset the Blue Devils on senior night, the final home game of five-time national champion Mike Krzyzewski’s coaching career. In that same postseason, he hit the game-clinching 3-pointer to send Duke and Coach K home in the Final Four.

Love transferred to Arizona for the 2023-24 season, but even though he was in the Pac-12, he and the Wildcats came to Cameron and beat the Blue Devils again in the second game of the year.

This time around, however, Love couldn’t summon any heroics. The senior and this year’s Pac-12 Player of the Year finished 5/18 from the floor and 0/9 from three. He scored only 13 points.

His teammates didn’t fare much better as Arizona shot 37% from the floor and 18% from beyond the arc.

The Wildcats, the No. 2 seed in the West region, became the first top-two seed eliminated from March Madness.

Clemson advances to play Alabama, who defeated No. 1 North Carolina on Thursday night.

North Carolina bounced by Alabama in the Sweet 16

North Carolina became the first No. 1 seed eliminated from the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night with an 89-87 loss to Alabama.

The North Carolina Tar Heels have been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.

The top-seeded Tar Heels lost to No. 4 Alabama 89-87 in the Sweet 16 on Thursday evening.

The defeat made UNC the first No. 1 seed eliminated in March Madness this year, as all four top teams made it through opening weekend.

The Crimson Tide operate around an up-tempo, high-octane offense, but North Carolina managed to keep up through the first half. The Tar Heels took a 54-46 lead into the halftime break as different UNC players stepped up early.

However, the advantage continued to dwindle throughout the second half. Alabama’s Grant Nelson made a layup to cut the lead to three with 15 minutes left, and he buried two free throws half a minute later to pull within one. A 3-pointer from teammate Sam Walters gave the Tide the lead with 13:56 left on the clock.

North Carolina pulled ahead again, rattling off a quick 9-1 run to lead by six points with 8:46 left. Cormac Ryan, the fifth-year senior who haunted the Blue Devils in Durham earlier this month, buried a triple to make it a five-point game with 6:20 on the clock. It felt like Alabama couldn’t chew far enough into the lead, and the Tar Heels looked assured of a place in the Elite Eight.

But the Tide roared back again. Aaron Estrada made back-to-back baskets, one of them from behind the 3-point line, to knot the game at 75 points apiece. Nelson made a go-ahead layup with 4:24 to play, but his true dagger came late.

With less than a minute to play and UNC leading by a single point, Nelson fought through a foul for an and-one basket. The ensuing free throw game the Crimson Tide a two-point lead, and when North Carolina couldn’t score on its next possession, the finality set in.

UNC couldn’t survive its second-half offensive struggles. After scoring more than 50 points in the first 20 minutes, the Tar Heels managed just 33 points after the break. The team shot 25% from the floor in the second half, its worst 20-minute tournament performance in more than a decade, capitalized by this unfortunate sequence from center Armando Bacot.

RJ Davis, the All-American North Carolina guard, finished with 16 points on 4/20 shooting, and he missed all nine of his 3-point attempts. Star freshman guard Elliot Cadeau finished with eight points on 3/9 shooting, and Bacot put up 19 points and 12 rebounds in his final game.

Alabama advances to play Clemson, the region’s No. 6 seed, in the Elite Eight.

Clemson’s Brad Brownell prevented Ian Schieffelin from comparing himself to Kobe Bryant after Sweet 16 win

Nice save, Coach Brownell.

Six-seed Clemson upsetting two-seed Arizona got the 2024 men’s Sweet 16 started off with a bang, as the Tigers advanced to the Elite Eight in style on Thursday night.

Clemson forward Ian Schieffelin was part of the offensive excellence that powered the Tigers past the Wildcats to the tune of 14 points on the night.

After the game, someone reportedly asked Schieffelin about his Kobe Bryant-themed game shoes and if he felt like he was playing like the Los Angeles Lakers legend while wearing them.

Well, Clemson coach Brad Brownell saved Schieffelin from accidentally making too lofty of a comparison for himself with a very funny quip once the question was asked.

“Let’s please not compare yourself to Kobe Bryant,” Brownell joked, per The Post and Courier‘s Jon Blau, You’re playing well, but…”

Later, Brownell tried to compare Schieffelin to former NBA player and WNBA coach Bill Laimbeer, who Schieffelin said he didn’t know, per SportsTalk Media Network.

Schieffelin and his Clemson teammates are going to get plenty of spotlight on them as they continue to push for a spot in the Final Four, but it sure sounds like Brownell is going to keep his guys grounded on the way up… and show them some Laimbeer highlights for good measure.

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Jon Scheyer gives positive update on Jaylen Blakes, says he’s ready to go after scary fall

Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said Jaylen Blakes, who exited Sunday’s game against James Madison after a scary fall, will be ready for the Houston game.

Duke head coach Jon Scheyer sat down for his press conference ahead of the Sweet 16 matchup against Houston on Thursday, but he offered good injury news before anything else.

Jaylen Blakes, a junior guard, exited Sunday’s win over James Madison early after a scary fall. He went up for a breakaway dunk that was contested by the Dukes’ Noah Freidel, and the contact twisted Blakes around. The Blue Devil landed on his head and neck area, taking a few minutes to get up and get off the court.

On Thursday, Scheyer said Blakes would be ready to go against the Cougars.

“Yeah, that was really scary in the moment,” Scheyer said. “You always wonder, the next day, how they feel with a fall like that, and Jaylen’s been great. He’s felt really good.”

Scheyer added that the team didn’t have a very active day on Monday, so Blakes had some recovery time, but the junior has been a full practice participant from Tuesday onward.