GLENDALE, Ariz. – The lovable maniac who built UConn into a juggernaut refused to let his team relax. Dan Hurley urged the Huskies to keep pushing for more, even though their place in history was already set. He screamed for defensive pressure after an Alex Karaban 3-pointer put UConn up 14. He got into a… Read More »
UConn players celebrate after beating Purdue in the NCAA championship game at State Farm Stadium on Monday in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Tyler Schank/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) UConn emphatically won a second straight NCAA Tournament on Monday night. The Huskies pulled away from Purdue in the second half en route to a 75-60 victory… Read More »
GLENDALE, Ariz. – All eyes will be on the two centers in Monday night’s NCAA championship game as Purdue’s 7-foot-4 Zach Edey and UConn’s 7-2 Donovan Clingan go head-to-head, but it all starts with the ball movement and guard play. the perimeter and that’s where things can get really interesting. UConn has a gauntlet of… Read More »
GLENDALE, Ariz. – The man who engineered Fairleigh Dickinson’s stunning upset of Purdue has taken on an unexpected side job this season. Tobin Anderson has become the go-to advisor for other coaches trying to come up with a game plan to beat the Boilermakers. It started in non-league play when Anderson started getting calls from… Read More »
The sequence started with Tennessee forward Tobe Awaka draped like a poncho over college basketball’s most immobile big man. Awaka tried in vain to get someone 7 feet tall and over 300 pounds to position himself to grab an offensive rebound. As the ball rolled over the rim, Purdue’s Zach Edey freed himself by swinging… Read More »
In recent years, we’ve heard men’s basketball coaches complain that they can no longer build a title contender based on one-and-done prospects, that the value of a five-star freshman has diminished. Consider this Final Four confirmation of that theory. Only one team has a freshman in its starting five. UConn’s Stephon Castle is the Huskies’… Read More »
For about 40 years, Nike and Adidas ran college basketball. They sponsored the teams. They paid the coaches. They filled out the rosters… through everything from running massive grassroots systems to identify and vet recruits to paying players to sign with their favorite “blue blood” programs. Not surprisingly, their top teams dominated the game in… Read More »
Content warning: This article contains images of alleged sexual abuse. Terrence Shannon is with his team this week, preparing for the Illini’s first Sweet 16 appearance in nearly two decades, as is business as usual. But during the NCAA tournament, whether they take on Iowa State on Thursday in Boston or make it to the… Read More »
Purdue has taken the first step. The top-seeded Boilermakers did not lose to No. 16 seed Grambling State on Friday. The 78-50 win over the Tigers would normally be an unremarkable NCAA Tournament result on a busy day of basketball. But this is no ordinary No. 1 seed. The Boilermakers are coming off one of… Read More »
Nearly every year, a team or two of strong arms enter the NCAA tournament field with a conference tournament performance. Can anyone make that happen this season? There are a handful of teams that are likely on the wrong side of the bubble heading into their conference tournaments. Teams like Villanova and Providence in the… Read More »