“Oh my!”

Dick Enberg

Forget Elite. The first night of the round of eight was epic. Who could have possibly imagined the Purdue Boilermakers playing in two consecutive overtime games with only one day of rest between them? How about the Texas Tech Red Raiders going to their first Final Four in school history? So many utterly crazy, heart-stopping, hair-pulling, yell-at-the-TV-until-it-is-covered-with-spittle moments happened tonight, there is no way I can write about them all, but there is one moment in particular that captured my attention.

As the overtime period was about to begin, Purdue’s Carsen Edwards and Virginia’s Mamadi Diakite had an exchange where they smiled at one another and shook their heads as if to say, “Can you believe this game?” Sometimes as rabid fans we forget what we are watching, and that is essentially a bunch of kids having fun playing a game.

Nice Shootin’, Tex

I will go ahead and lead with the horrible pun that has been blowing up my phone and social media feeds all night: They zigged when they should have Zagged. As I mentioned in my last tome, I feared the Red Raiders’ formidable defense, and it was basically as advertised. I will offer a few thoughts and observations from this game with the disclaimer that I am an unapologetic Gonzaga fanboy. My bias will show, but it’s my commentary, so get over it.

• Rumbin’, stumblin’, bumblin’. The Zags had some real banana peel moments in this one, due in part, no doubt, to playing a team that seemed to have twenty hands instead of ten, and if you were a Bulldog with the ball, about six of them were in your pockets. I will give Texas Tech credit. They have the quickest hand, perhaps, that I have ever seen, and this frustrated Gonzaga all night.
• Bobby Huggins would be proud. Don’t get me wrong. A lot of what Texas Tech does is good defense, but some of it is just downright fouling that doesn’t get called. This game was chock full of grabbing, pushing, shoving, slapping, and poking. Their style reminds me very much of that of West Virginia, which I also found infuriating. I mean, I get it. You can’t call EVERYTHING, and I am not suggesting that the officials should. Sometimes I get the feeling that teams earn a reputation as good defenders, and that the officials, being human, are swayed by that. I don’t know. That isn’t why Gonzaga lost, mind you. They had ample opportunity to win this game.
• Two points is not nearly enough. With only a two point lead at the half, I was worried, knowing that the Bulldogs are prone to long second-half scoring droughts. Sure enough, the Texas Tech defense clamped down, and Gonzaga couldn’t buy a basket.
• From his own mouth, Gonzaga’s Josh Perkins owned the boneheaded play of the day when he reached across the out of bounds line and fouled the in-bounder. This with the Zags down just two points after some truly crazy moments that brought them from certain defeat to still alive.
• Is it just me, or does every shot from Rui Hachimura look as though he is shooting down at the basket? I cannot decide if that’s an optical illusion due to the camera angle, or if his shot is just really flat. Hachimura had a terrific game despite the loss.
• Mama Mia! Much was made about Texas Tech’s Davide Moretti coming alive in the tournament once his parents and other family members flew over from Italy to watch him play. If I’m not mistaken, his mother had never seen him play before their last game versus Michigan. In this game had a real international flavor with a number of players on both teams hailing from overseas. The aforementioned Rui Hachimura is only the fifth Japanese born player in NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball. Killian Tillie is from France.
• Yet another inexplicably non-reviewable call got under my skin again tonight. After a truly extraordinary blocked shot by Texas Tech’s Tariq Owens, he clearly landed out of bounds. He then jumped back up in the air and “saved” the ball, tipping it back to himself. This, of course, is out of bounds on Owens and Gonzaga basketball. Unfortunately, no referee was looking at his feet, and the call was missed. And even though it was in the last minute of the game, and even though there was indisputable video evidence, the call was, by rule, not reviewable. Even rules analyst Gene Steratore agreed that the NCAA needs to expand the use of replay to cover such situations. Did that call cost Gonzaga the game? Probably not, but who knows? The Zags pulled within two before Perkins’ blunder. Why not get it right?

Edwards Scores 42, But It Isn’t Enough

The Purdue Boilermakers scored 75 points. Carsen Edwards had 42 of them, including ten 3-point shots. What can you say about the man? He was unconscious, and yet somehow, Virginia found a way to win, or perhaps, Purdue found a way to lose. I will report, and you can decide.

• Here’s that wacky review/no-review situation again. I know I repeat myself, but clear out of bounds plays – not reviewable…ever…regardless of game circumstance or presence of indisputable video evidence. But hold the phone. If you make a basket at any point in the game, and there is some question as to whether you beat the shot clock, that is reviewable. Just ask Purdue. They were denied three points on such a review in the first half, and I direct your attention to the fact that this game went in to overtime. Now, Wahoo fans doth protest that it was the right call. Yes, it was, but that is precisely my point. Riddle me this, Batman. Why is it only OK to get the obviously right call right in certain situations? This makes no sense to me.
• I’m not the only one who thinks Matt Haarms looks like Ivan Drago. In a pre-game interview, Haarms says he gets that all the time.
• Did you notice that both teams made it to halftime without putting the other team in the bonus? I’m sure that happens, but I am not sure I’ve ever witnessed it.
• Go big or go home. That’s exactly what Virginia did in the second half, rolling out their assembly of giants in an effort to stymie Purdue’s arsenal of three point shooters. Well, OK, it was really just to stop Edwards, who could not be stopped. Coach Bennett put the unusual combination of the 6’7″ De’Andre Hunter, the 6’9″ Mamadi Diakite, and the 6’10” Jack “the pillar of” Salt on the court together for long stretches. What this also allowed Virginia to do was dominate the offensive glass. At one point in the second half Purdue spent a full 90 seconds on defense because of two consecutive offensive rebounds by Virginia.
• That’s the ugliest free throw motion I’ve seen since Shaquille O’Neal. If you’ve never witnessed a Nojel Eastern free throw, don’t. It is truly cringe-worthy. Nevertheless, he did make one of two, which is more than normally could be said of Shaq.
• He made it when it counted. Diakite’s game-tying basket at the buzzer that sent the game into overtime was his only field goal of the second half. The events leading up to that improbable shot will be the topic of discussion around water coolers throughout West Lafayette come Monday, in particular coach Matt Painter’s decision to foul Ty Jerome with five seconds left rather than risk a game-winning three point shot. Now, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation had Ryan Cline made both free throws just two seconds earlier. Nevertheless, Purdue essentially failed to do the two things they absolutely had to do. One was make free throws. The other was secure the rebound on what was obviously going to be an intentional miss on Jerome’s second free throw. Again, lack of rebounding killed them.
• Call George Orwell. This is Virginia’s first Final Four appearance since 1984.

Quick Hitters

• After years of retirement, Gene Keady is still yelling at the refs.
• Allie LaForce looks like Ronda Rousey. Nice bracelet, by the way.
• Those KFC commercials featuring Colonel Sanders and Mrs. Butterworth are downright creepy.
• My favorite commercial, though, is the State Farm add where Clutch, the mascot for the Houston Rockets, starts firing t-shirts from a Gatling Gun when “Jump Around” starts playing on the television.
• Given the state of my bracket, I am now like a losing coach in the tournament. They get invited to the studio to comment, but they are no longer in the game.
• Funny things Brad Schafer put on my text feed tonight:
  • “Haarms needs to spend more time in the weight room and less in the salon.”
  • “Cline is so slow he’s still not on daylight savings [time].”

Quick Awards

And I do mean quick…

• The Stick To Pancakes award goes to Brad Schafer in honor of his favorite Gonzaga player, Josh Perkins. Brad gets a gift certificate to Perkins Family Restaurant.
• The Thanks For The Sour Persimmons, Cousin award goes to Zach Richardson for sending me a Red Alert gif barely two minutes into the second half. Harsh.
• The I Stand Corrected award goes to alert contestant Joe Goggin who reminded me of my fifth-grade U.S. geography. It turns out Louisville most certainly is south of the Mason-Dixon line, and I apparently am not smarter than a fifth grader.
• And finally, the OK, You’re In First, So You Can Stop Complaining About The Scoring System Now award goes to new contest leader Gavin Hand, who certainly deserves the top spot given his incredible win-loss record of 52-6. I don’t believe Gavin has the contest sewn up just yet, but he, ahem, certainly deserves a hand.

OK, minions, church in the morning. Time to sign off. The remaining two Final Four teams will be decided tomorrow. So far we have one ACC and one Big 12. We are guaranteed one SEC team in the Final Four. Will it be two ACC teams, or will the B1G have a representative? Tune in tomorrow to find out.

The Wizard of Whiteland

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