It’s all about matchups at this point, and Kentucky has the edge mostly because of its size. Willie Cauley-Stein and Dakari Johnson are 7-footers, Karl-Anthony Towns is 6-11 and Trey Lyles is 6-10. Wildcats coach John Calipari, like him or loathe him, has done a great job of putting it all together.
Two weeks ago, Ron Riley, the former Clark High star who during his four-year Arizona State career became the Sun Devils’ all-time leading scorer and threw down some of the most thunderous dunks in ASU history, was inducted into the Pac-12’s Hall of Honor.
Few remember to take a deep breath and appreciate, which is how we should view the final days of Frank Kaminsky’s college basketball career at Wisconsin. His is the sort of story that makes the NCAA Tournament so special.
Everyone is entertained by the Cinderella stories. This was not one of them. Jahlil Okafor is too big and skilled, and the 6-foot-11-inch freshman slaughtered San Diego State in a game that played out as expected.
An Internet poll came out just before the ongoing edition of March Madness ranking Las Vegas No. 124 among the 300 best basketball cities in the U.S.
Underdogs covered the first six games Thursday in the NCAA Tournament. Three Big 12 Conference teams were knocked out by midafternoon, including Iowa State as a 14½-point favorite. This opening day of the tournament seemed to top them all.
Despite dwindling win totals, UNLV athletic director Tina Kunzer-Murphy is betting basketball coach Dave Rice can turn around the program in his fifth year and take the Rebels back to the NCAA Tournament. Anything less will be unacceptable.
Larry Eustachy was convinced, adamant, certain of his basketball team’s fate. It wasn’t false bravado, either. He truly believed.
If any one player epitomizes what the NCAA Tournament means to bettors and the sports books, it’s Mamadou Ndiaye, a 7-foot-6-inch, 300-pound mountain of a man for UC Irvine.
Dave Rice just concluded his fourth season as UNLV’s coach, his second straight without a postseason appearance, and it is no secret that his job is in jeopardy after an 18-15 season. Rice and athletic director Tina Kunzer-Murphy are expected to meet this week.
