Roundup: 'Special' day in Corvallis
No better place to be Friday than Corvallis, as both the men’s and women’s teams open up NCAA tourney play on this day. With the men facing VCU (10:30 a.m. PT/11:30 a.m. MT, TNT) and the women squaring off against Troy (2 p.m. PT, ESPN2), it’s a “special” day for Oregon State basketball. Despite the men getting seven teams in the tournament and the women getting five, Gina Mizell points out that Oregon State is the only school from the Pac-12 to have both its men’s and women’s teams in the NCAA Tournament.
It wasn’t the kind of first round West Coasters were hoping for on Thursday, as the Pac-12 went just 1-3 in Thursday’s opening round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Racking up the lone win was No. 3 Utah, which went on a tear after Fresno State momentarily pulled ahead in the second half. Raphielle Johnson of CollegeBasketballTalk writes that scoring balance and rebounding helped Utah past Fresno State. How about this stat – Jakob Poeltl had more rebounds (18) than the entire Fresno State team (15).
Had to be tough for the Trojans to get out of bed Friday after a heartbreaking 70-69 loss to No. 9 Providence. Eric Freeman of Yahoo Sports breaks down USC’s defensive lapse on Providence’s game-winning layup with a tad more than a second left. Those missed free throws hurt too.
Now that his collegiate career is over after the loss to UConn Thursday, Josh Scott is leaving a lasting legacy at Colorado, Pat Rooney writes. Scott went out with a 23-point, 11-board performance against the Huskies; typical Josh Scott stuff.
While the Wildcats made a quick exit from the tourney with a 65-55 loss to Wichita State, Zack Rosenblatt of the Arizona Daily Star has some quick reaction on the tough end to the season and the future for the program.
Well here’s to a better Friday, and No. 1 Oregon starts a potential Final Four run against an unexpectedly scorching-hot Holy Cross team. Tim Booth of the Associated Press gives us an Oregon-Holy Cross game preview (4:27 p.m. PT/5:27 p.m. MT, TRUTV).
With an assistant coach getting fired and the leading scorer missing the tournament with a broken hand, this isn’t exactly the way the Golden Bears hoped it’d be heading into the Big Dance, but Cal is trying to stay focused during a tumultuous week, writes Connor Letourneau.
On the women’s front, No. 2 Arizona State is refueled for the NCAA Tournament, Jeff Metcalfe writes. The Sun Devils open up with No. 15 New Mexico State (4:30 p.m. PT/5:30 p.m. MT, ESPN2). This will be the Sun Devils’ first game in two weeks, last losing to Cal in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament.
Writing for ESPN, Michelle Smith explains how Jordin Canada has led UCLA women’s basketball back to the NCAA Tournament. The third-seeded Bruins have Hawai’i in the first round in Los Angeles.
Get the details from Mason Kelley on a “sharp” Washington women’s basketball team heading to the NCAA tournament. The No. 7 Huskies draw 10th-seeded Penn Saturday afternoon (1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT, ESPN2).
Here are the game notes for Stanford women’s basketball’s first-round game against USF. The Dons are coached by former Stanford star Jennifer Azzi. Should be “lit” in Maples Saturday afternoon (that’s what the cool kids say, right?).
Washington State baseball opens up Pac-12 play Friday at UCLA (WSU game notes). The Friday and Sunday games will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.