UConn Huskies
Final Four
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The college basketball season will be over by next week. The 2024 Final Four is this weekend in Glendale, Arizona and we are going to take a look at those matchups.
The first game is No. 11 NC State vs No. 1 Purdue. This is a matchup of a Cinderella team versus a dominant team that’s expected to be here.
The Wolfpack (26-14) are the lowest seed remaining and this is their first Final Four since 1983. They would not have advanced this far if they did not win the ACC Tournament.
They beat Duke 76-64 in the Elite Eight to get here.
The 6-foot-9, 275-pound DJ Burns scored a season-high 29 points on 13-of-19 shooting and DJ Horne had 20 points.
“These guys are so special,” head coach Kevin Keatts said. “Nine elimination games or you go home.”
“I’ll say like I’ve been saying the whole tournament. When I stop having fun with basketball, I’ll stop playing,” said Burns, who was voted the South Region’s most outstanding player. “There’s just been a total switch in our commitment. Nobody’s being late to things. Nobody’s being a problem on the court. Everybody’s come together.”
They head to Glendale with the most losses ever for a Final Four team. Now they will face 7-foot-4 All-American Zach Edey and the Boilermakers (33-4). He averages 25 points per game and 12.2 rebounds per game.
NC State is a great story but I believe their run will end in this game.
The game is No. 4 Alabama (25-11) against No. 1 UConn (35-3). This is the Crimson Tide’s first Final Four appearance in program history. This is very impressive because they beat top seed North Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen, 89-87.
They beat 6 seed Clemson 89-82 to get here. Mark Sears made seven 3-pointers in the game and the team made a total of 16 threes.
“Man, just feeling a lot of emotion,” said Sears, the only Alabama native on the team. “Being from the state of Alabama and to do it with this group of guys, it’s amazing.”
He finished with 23 points and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament’s West Region.
Freshman Jarin Stevenson airballed a couple of 3s in the first half and Alabama missed 12 of its first 13 from downtown. He ended up making a career-high five 3s and had 19 points off the bench.
“We don’t win this game without him,” Sears said. “Jarin hit 3 after 3 after 3 and kept us in this ballgame. He was huge.”
“I live for those moments. This is what March Madness is about,” Sears said. “When you’re a kid, you want to be in these moments. It feels like my dream came true today. My dream definitely came true today.”
The Huskies have been steamrolling through teams in the tournament and they have not lost a game since February 20. The closest margin of victory was 17 points against No. 9 Northwestern.
UConn is looking to repeat as champions and the media has already crowned them. They are very good but any team can be defeated. With that said, I do expect the Huskies to win and advance to the championship game.
Final Four
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The state of Florida is known for talented football players. It’s very surprising that two teams from Florida made an improbable run to the Final Four.
The teams in the Final Four are Florida Atlantic, U Conn, Miami and San Diego State. The highest remaining see, U Conn is a four seed.
For the first time since 1970, the Final Four will have three first-time participants. And though Connecticut is gunning for its fifth championship since 1999 (under its third different coach), the Huskies began their run with only one tournament victory since their last title in 2014.
No. 5 Miami (29 – 7) beat No. 2 Texas (29 – 9) 88 – 81 in the Elite Eight. The Hurricanes were down at halftime, 45 – 37. They outscored the Longhorns in the second half, 51 – 36. This is the first Final Four appearance in program history.
Jordan Miller finished with 27 points, going 7 of 7 from the field and 13 of 13 from the foul line, while Wong scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half against the Longhorns, who had been the top remaining seed in a topsy-turvy NCAA Tournament.
“How hard we fought to come back in this game, especially on a stage like this, it’s an amazing feeling,” said Nijel Pack, one of Miami’s newcomers. “I know how much these guys wanted to win this game, especially being here last year and losing the Elite Eight, and now being able to take it to the Final Four is something special.”
The Hurricanes are led by junior guard Isiah Wong, the ACC player of the year.
Miami plays No. 4 U Conn (29 – 8) in the night game Saturday, April 1 at NRG Stadium in Houston.
FAU (35 – 3) plays its home games in cozy 2,900-seat Baldwin Arena, a generously named gym. The Owls nickname is derived from their Boca Raton, Fla. campus being designated a burrowing owl sanctuary in 1971.
In the first round against Memphis, there was a tied-up ball after the Tigers were denied a timeout, which led to a floater by Nick Boyd with 2.5 seconds left that gave the Owls a 1-point victory. They then rallied late to beat Fairleigh Dickinson, Tennessee and Kansas State.
No. 9 Florida Atlantic beat No. 3 Kansas State (26 – 10) 79 – 76 to advance to their first Final Four. Alijah Martin set the tone early in the game with a hard one-handed dunk. This game was played at Madison Square Garden.
“They’re going to label us whatever, but we’re some pit bulls and Rottweilers,” Martin said.
This is Florida Atlantic’s second NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2002. They are the first No. 9 seed to advance to the Final Four since Wichita State in 2013.
“I expect the prognosticators to pick us fifth in the Final Four,” fifth-year FAU coach Dusty May said.
The Owls play No. 5 San Diego State (31 – 6) in the first game of the Final Four. I think this will be a close game so I’m not sure who to pick. I do believe the U Conn Huskies will win the national championship though.
