Dan Hurley, son of high school coaching great Bob Hurley, has Connecticut one win away from the Final Four. The Huskies face Gonzaga on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.
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Gonzaga center Drew Timme extended one of this century’s great college basketball careers, finishing with 36 points and 13 rebounds in a victory over UCLA on Thursday.
Former Bishop Gorman High star Will McClendon is a reserve guard for UCLA, which plays Gonzaga in the West Regional semifinals Thursday at T-Mobile Arena.
A matchup of UCLA and Gonzaga in the West Regional at T-Mobile Arena would pit two programs with local ties in a rematch of the greatest game in recent memory.
A dozen players with local ties are participating in this year’s NCAA Tournaments, ranging from experienced starters to role-playing reserves.
Julian Strawther played sparingly last season for Gonzaga as a freshman. But this season, he’s a starter for the Bulldogs, who are the NCAA Tournament’s top seed.
No. 1-ranked Gonzaga has the experience and talent to win the national championship. The Bulldogs begin their postseason Monday in the WCC semifinals at Orleans Arena.
The No. 1 Bulldogs and No. 2 Bruins battled in the final of the Good Sam Empire Classic, drawing an enthused crowd of 12,975 to watch a rematch of one of the most memorable games in Final Four history.
“UNLV would destroy Gonzaga. It’s just not fair. … It was a totally different era,” says veteran basketball journalist and author Dan Wetzel.
Julian Strawther, a freshman wing, is cherishing the experience of playing for the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
UCLA, which has lost four straight, joins Oregon, Oregon State, USC and Colorado in the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins were among the last four selected for the field of 68.
The women’s Final Four was supposed to begin Friday in New Orleans. Aces players combined 14 times to reach the Final Four and won two national titles.
After a one-year stint at Sheridan Community College, PJ Savoy fulfilled his dream of earning a Division I scholarship by signing with Florida State, which plays Michigan on Saturday in the Elite Eight.