First, the good news: the Ducks pulled away down the stretch to knock off BYU 87-68 behind Elgin Cook’s memorable hometown return (dude notched a season-high 23 points). That sends the Ducks into the round of 32 for a contest with second-seeded Wisconsin, and John Canzano writes that Wisconsin is plotting to kill the Ducks with hard hats, lunch buckets and a ton of concrete.
Now, the heartbreaking news: Cameron Ridley’s putback at the buzzer for Texas beat Arizona State (video). As you can see and expect, the Sun Devil bench is crushed. Here’s the game story from Doug Haller.
And finally, the ugly news: Pitt blew out Colorado 77-48, a game in which Pitt’s post defense bottled up the Buffs. The Panthers outscored Colorado in the paint 44-14.
We got three more games Friday, starting with Stanford’s bout against Mountain West foe New Mexico at 10:40 a.m. PT on TBS. Unfortunately for the Card, Anthony Brown is hobbling after bruising his thigh Wednesday (Dawkins expects him to play, however). Also, Dwight Powell is excited for his chance in the NCAA tournament – it’s his first time there, as it is for every other player on the team.
Top-seeded Arizona enters battle with upset-minded Weber State (11:10 a.m., TNT), and Kevin Zimmerman gives us some notes on the Arizona-Weber State game, replete with a Weber State scouting report so you can understand the enemy.
UCLA has Tulsa in the game that is slated to tip off the latest out of any on Friday (6:57 p.m., truTV), and forget winning just the opening game; the Bruins are thinking big in the NCAA tournament.
The women’s tournament starts Saturday, and Oregon State is in there like swimwear for the first time in nearly two decades. The Beavs kick off their campaign as a No. 9 seed against Middle Tennessee (Sunday at 5 p.m., ESPN2), and Steve Gress of the Corvallis Gazette-Times points out that Middle Tennessee has plenty of NCAA experience (this is its sixth straight trip to the dance).
Meanwhile, your Pac-12 tourney champion USC Trojans get things underway Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN2, also as a No. 9 seed, taking on St. John’s. Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times gives us a USC-St. John’s game preview to marinate over.
No. 7 seeded Cal is looking for a second consecutive trip to the Final Four, and it starts off with 10th-seeded Fordham Saturday at 1 p.m. on ESPN2. Here are the Cal-Fordham game notes courtesy of the Cal athletic department website.
A couple of days late now, but Washington State women’s basketball lost in the WNIT to Montana 90-78 Wednesday night. Still, a great season for the Cougs.
What’d ya say we go back to #TheBellWell? It’s been a minute, but let’s hear from the UW Director of Writing on the transformation of Washington pitcher Jeff Brigham. Dude has a 1.23 ERA through five starts this year after thinking he might not ever pitch again because of a torn ligament in his elbow.
Utah football is into spring practice now, and the quarterbacks improved as the clouds cleared on day two. Good to have Travis Wilson back out there.