With apologies to the other seven teams that advanced to the Sweet 16 round next Thursday and Friday, the biggest NCAA Tournament news Sunday was delivered AFTER the conclusion of one of the third-round games played.
It was announced shortly following the conclusion of North Carolina’s 87-73 Midwest Regional victory over Creighton in Greensboro that Tar Heels’ sophomore point guard Kendall Marshall has suffered a broken bone in his right wrist.
It borders on the amazing as to how many injuries the Tar Heels have suffered, with wing Leslie McDonald going down in the summer with a torn ACL, starting guard Dexter Strickland falling by way of the same injury in late January and John Henson suffering a sprained left wrist during the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
Assuming that Marshall is finished for the season or – if he somehow is able to play – isn’t remotely effective next week, this is the injury they likely can’t overcome.
For all of the program’s marvelous depth and future NBA lottery selections, Marshall is the one indispensible element in Tar Heels’ national championship arsenal.
Is Marshall the best “point guard” in the country? That could be debated from now until early morning, April 3.
But there isn’t a player better suited than Marshall to bring the best out of the likes of Tyler Zeller, John Henson and Harrison Barnes.
Even without Marshall in uniform, it would be surprising if the Tar Heels aren’t able to get by the Ohio Bobcats in St. Louis Friday night.
Without him, though, knocking off Kansas or North Carolina State on Sunday will be a considerable chore.
Get ready to hear a lot about UNC walk-on Stilman White (a 19-year-old freshman from Wilmington, NC) this week.
***
A few quick notes about the makeup of the Sweet 16 field:
*The conference breakdown: Big Ten (Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin) and Big East (Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette and Syracuse) four apiece; ACC (North Carolina and North Carolina State), Big 12 (Baylor and Kansas) and SEC (Florida and Kentucky) two each; Atlantic 10 (Xavier) and MAC (Ohio) one apiece.
*Oh, Ohio: Four squads from the state (Cincinnati, Ohio, Ohio State and Xavier) are repped in the Sweet 16, with the Bearcats and Buckeyes hooking up in a East Regional affair in Boston Thursday night.
*The West isn’t the Best: There isn’t a squad from west of Waco, Texas, still suiting up in the event.
The Pac 12, MWC, WCC, Big Sky, Big West and WAC were a combined 4-12
On that note, on to Sunday’s games:
*North Carolina 87, Creighton 73: If not for Kendall Marshall’s misfortune, there would be plenty to celebrate for the Tar Heels following a solid victory over a gifted Blue Jays’ squad.
John Henson made his first in-game appearance since suffering the injury to his left wrist in the ACC tourney game with Maryland and turned in 13 points and 10 rebounds while blocking four shots in 28 minutes.
A combination of defenders helped hold All-America forward Doug McDermott relatively in check – eight of 19 from the field.
*Ohio 62, South Florida 56: Junior point guard D.J. Cooper (40 points and 12 assists) provided the impetus for his team’s upsets of Michigan and South Florida (which in turn had knocked off Cal and 4 seed Temple to get a slot in this matchup).
Even with their solid group of backcourt players (that also includes Ohio State transfer Walter Offutt and Eric Kellogg, son of former OSU and NBA player, as well as current CBS analyst Clark Kellogg), the Bobcats will have to play much, much better than they did in Nashville in order to pull off a stunner in St. Louis.
*Michigan State 65, Saint Louis 61: Not surprisingly, the Spartans – among the four No. 1 seeds – had the toughest third-round contest to get back by.
That, of course, is because they were facing the Rick Majerus-coached Billikens, who had moved to the Round of 32 with an upset (as mild as a 8-9 matchup “upset” can be) of Memphis on Friday.
The Spartans needed every bit of All-American Draymond Green’s 16-point, 13-rebound and six-assist production in order to turn back the Billikens.
*Kansas 63, Purdue 60: If the Jayhawks cut down nets in New Orleans late night of April 2, this game will be viewed as the fork in that championship road.
They were decidedly outplayed by the Robbie Hummel-led Boilermakers for most of the way before junior guard Elijah Johnson – who made terrific decisions and plays down the stretch – sparked the comeback and victor for Bill Self’s crew.
The Jayhawks probably will not be able to survive and advance in Boston Friday against North Carolina State if All-American forward Thomas Robinson struggles as he did (two of 12 from the field and 11 points) against the Boilermakers.
*North Carolina State 66, Georgetown 63: Yes, Mark Gottfried has proven to be quite the hire for the Wolfpack.
Considered to be precariously “on the bubble” going into the final week of the regular season, Gottfried’s squad – two days after eliminating the Midwest Regional’s 6 seed in San Diego State – bounced the No. 3 seed Hoyas behind another exceptional group effort.
Three starters scored 14 points, another 12 and the fifth had nine to help earn the club a trip to Boston where it will face No. 2 seed Kansas Friday night.
*Florida 84, Norfolk 50: On the Missouri Tigers can confirm whether they truly “looked past” Norwalk when they faced West Regional’s No. 15 seed Friday in Omaha.
Anyone who watched the game or can decipher a box score that the Gators weren’t focused on anything but the task at hand – that same Norfolk club – Sunday.
Coach Billy Donovan’s team went on a 25-zip run early in the game and – as I’m fond of saying – “that was that”.
The points should be a lot more difficult to come by Thursday night in Phoenix against a Marquette club that surrendered just 53 points to Murray State Saturday in Louisville.
The Gators held the Spartans to just .273 from the field (18 of 66) Sunday.
Kenny Boynton led five double-figure scorers with 20 points.
*Xavier 70, Lehigh 58: The Musketeers came from 15 points back late in the first half to throttle the squad that produced that stunner over the South Regional’s No. 2 seed – Duke, for goodness sakes! – Friday in Greensboro.
Guard C.J. McCollum did a whole lot of whatever he wanted to do (30 points, six rebounds and six assists) against the Blue Devils.
But he was limited to five of 22 from the field and had just one assist while being forced into four turnovers by the Musketeers of Coach Chris Mack, who got a career-best 25 points to go with 12 rebounds from center Kenny Frease.
*Cincinnati 62, Florida State 56: The Seminoles (No. 3 in the East) became the fifth of the 2, 3 and 4 seeds not to get to the Round of 16 when they fell to the team that lost to Louisville in the Big East Tournament final.
The Bearcats (vs. Ohio State Thursday night in Boston) are in a regional semifinal for the first time since 2001 when program then coached Bob Huggins lost to Mike Montgomery’s Stanford squad in Anaheim.
Sophomore Sean Kilpatrick scored 10 points over the final 3:46 for Cincinnati.
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