LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA – And then there was one . . . and eight.
Another No. 1 seed was sent packing Friday night, just minutes after it appeared as if it was comfortably scooting along to the South Regional Sunday in North Texas in the very big house that Jerry (Jones) built.
In the process, a sophomore guard from the University of Michigan pretty much closed any debate about the identity of the consensus National Player of the Year.
The “coolest” story of the tournament came to a close, too, Friday night as those quick-shooting and high-flying cats from Ft. Myers – aka, Florida Gulf Coast University – joined the aforementioned No. 1 (Kansas), as well as Michigan State and Oregon as the latest teams that won’t be playing in Atlanta next weekend.
And that slick, cool and oh-so-clutch guard, Trey Burke, led the Wolverines to Elite Eight status, with Duke (which dispatched Michigan State in rather matter-of-fact and methodical style in Indianapolis), Florida (which gave the FGCU Eagles a harsh lesson in the rigors of half-court hoops in North Texas) and – let’s reiterate – a Louisville squad that’s the best team in the country (keeping the Oregon Ducks at bay in Indianapolis) joining Ohio State, Wichita State, Syracuse and Marquette as the eight members of the original 68-team field still hoopin’
Let’s be clear:
Most of what transpired in North Texas and Indianapolis bordered on the mundane, as Louisville (no matter how much Dana Altman’s tried to hold up against the Cardinals’ defensive and offensive pressure), Duke (figuratively punching out the Spartans) and Florida (after falling behind 17-6) were clearly the superior squads.
What transpired in the Kansas-Michigan contest, however, was unlike anything that took place during any of the other 59 games played in the tournament.
The Jayhawks’ advantage flirted with double-figures most of the way and was six points at intermission.
A three-pointer by senior guard Elijah Johnson put Kansas in front, 68-54, with 6:51 to go in regulation.
And, dare I ask, how many times has a Bill Self-coached team lost a game when leading by 14 points with a bit more than six minutes to go?
I got worse if you were a Kansas coach, player or fan.
*A Jeff Withey dunk gave the Jayhawks a 10-point edge (72-62) with 2:53 remaining.
*Travis Releford hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 1:22 to go and the advantage was still eight points (74-66).
*And, finally, Johnson also hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 21 seconds remaining and Kansas seemingly had salted away the outcome with leading with five points and with Michigan not having a timeout in its pocket.
So, how many times have Self’s teams lost games while leading by 10 points with just under three minutes to go; by eight with 1:22 remaining; and by five with 21 seconds to go?
Exactly?
But, then again, how many times was a player quite like Trey Burke on the other side in those scenarios?
Some Johnson blunders – back-to-back turnovers with less than two minutes to go and the missed front end of another 1-and-1 with 13 seconds to go – kept his team from pulling too far away from the Wolverines with too little time for the to counter.
But it was still a lot more on Burke and not nearly as much on Johnson for what transpired in those frantic moments.
*His 3-pointer got his team to within 74-69 with 1:16 remaining.
*Burke’s driving layup through a defense that appeared to be avoiding any contact at all costs cut the deficit to three points with 14 seconds to go.
*And, after Johnson’s miss from the free-throw line, Burke drove a couple of defenders into one another and then drilled the tying 3-pointer over a late-arriving Kevin Young.
Burke hit a 3 and another jumper to start OT for the rest of his 23 points – all scored after intermission – and the Wolverines withstood a wobbly last possession by Kansas that resulted in an attempt by Naadir Tharpe that was more heave than jump shot and wasn’t close as the buzzer sounded.
With all of those snaps of his right wrist, Burke was flicking away the POY challenges from the likes of Doug McDermott (Creighton), Mason Plumlee (Duke) and Otto Porter (Georgetown) – as well as the Kansas hopes of playing on the final weekend of the season for a second consecutive April.
And then there was one . . . POY candidate.
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