March Madness Recap: Kentucky sends Wichita St. packing in tournament classic

Yesterday's March Madness, the final spate of games in the first weekend, got off to such an incredible start. Three down-to-the wire games with incredible plays, dramatic swings and a couple borderline-shocking final results. 

It was enough to make you go "It can't possibly stay this good can it?" The answer: Of course not. The evening's final five games were all double-digit victories with about as much combined suspense as a block of Frasier reruns. 

But oh man, you'll tell your grandkids about that Sunday afternoon of breathless back-and-forth basketball. Assuming your grandkids are weirdly interested in 2010s NCAA hoops, anyway. 

35-1

Have we talked about how the schedule makers did Wichita State (#1) no favors in this tournament? Because the schedule makers really did not do Wichita State any favors in this tournament. 

The Shockers were a popular upset pick in the Sweet Sixteen when they faced rolling Louisville, but as it turns out, the other super-talented Kentucky team in their division with at least a couple future pros - known simply as "Kentucky" (#8) - are also peaking at the right time. That's a tough road to the Final Four for any team, especially one as medium-sized and generally untested as Wichita State. 

Nearly every player on the Wildcats' roster played something close to the game of their career in this one. Of the seven UK players getting big minutes, only center Dakari Johnson's play could be described merely as "solid." Otherwise, the Harrison Brother backcourt got their minds set on a combined 39 points on 12-21 shooting, forward James Young had 13 points on nine shots (including the shot of the night) and bench bigs Alex Poythress and Willie Cauley-Stein hustled their way to a combined ten points, four boards, two steals and two blocks. 

And on a weekend when his fellow mega-prospects were dropping like flies, power forward Julius Randle led the way with 13 points, ten boards and a season-high six dimes. It was the kind of together team performance that Kentucky hasn't put together since ... well, if they've done it even once this year, I don't remember it. 

And yet, despite this season-best effort from a team of five-star recruits, Wichita State never once looked they didn't belong right there with Kentucky. Forward Cleanthony Early was an absolute beast, hitting from the perimeter and slamming down low, to the final tune of 31 points on 12-17 shooting. 

He was matched every step of the way by wing teammate Ron Baker, who scored 20 points on just 12 shots, hitting four threes and answering any number of late Kentucky runs with a big bucket of his own. Backcourt Fred Van Vleet and Tekele Cotton had off shooting nights but still managed a combined 11 assists. With a couple minutes left in this one, it was still anyone's game. 

Ultimately, though, Wichita State just didn't have the size up front to contend with either the Kentucky bigs or their penetrating guards, and with Young and the HarrBros also finally hitting from outside - the missing ingredient in the Kentucky offense just about all season - the Shockers just couldn't contain them. 

Incredibly, though, they still had a chance to win this game at the very end, as the second of two Andrew Harrison free throws spilled out and Fred Van Vleet got a quasi-decent look at a three with the Shockers down two as the clock expired. It didn't go, though, and Wichita State's undefeated season had finally come to an end at a record of 35-1. 

To my altogether pleasant surprise, the anti-mid-major rhetoric after a second-straight year of a one seed from a non-major losing in the second round seemed to be kept to a minimum. 

Everyone who I saw or heard comment on the game after it agreed: Wichita State and Kentucky played a great game, one full of incredible highlights and unforgettable moments on both sides. Charles Barkley called it the best game he had watched since he and Kenny started covering the NCAA. The Shockers were beat by a loaded team that had underperformed all year but were finally playing to their sky-high preseason expectations. 

"This was an Elite Eight game," said Kentucky coach John Calipari after the game. "The winner of this should have gone to the Final Four." Hard to argue with that, but instead, Kentucky will meet Louisville in the Sweet Sixteen. A game that might also have a couple subplots of interest, I suspect. 

KU, K.O.'d

In a story that seemed sure to dominate the day's headlines before the UK / Wichita State instant classic, Kansas (#2) entered Sunday with what appeared to be a clean path to at least an Elite Eight date with Florida, with only Stanford (#10) and Dayton (#11) standing in their way and defensive anchor Joel Embiid likely to return after the weekend. 

But the Cardinal ended up making a potential Embiid comeback a moot point yesterday with a total suffocation of the high-powered Jayhawk offense, holding Kansas to just 57 points and 33% (!!!) shooting with their suddenly impenetrable zone defense. KU was able to cause enough turnovers to keep it close late, and a furious Connor Frankamp shooting rally in the final minute nearly shot the Jayhawks back into it, but in the end, Stanford emerged victorious, making their first Sweet Sixteen since their last NCAA appearance in 2008. 

The reasons why KU lost this one were numerous:

• A lack of playmaking and offensive cohesion, 
• Too many silly fouls and turnovers (again with the traveling calls), and 
• Outside of Frankamp, virtually no outside shooting whatsoever. 

But if you believe the man himself, the blame for this one begins and ends with likely top NBA draft pick Andrew Wiggins. 

The Wigmaster was virtually invisible in this one, with as many turnovers (four) as rebounds or points, and really just no positive impact for Kansas on the offensive end. 

"I know it’s my fault we lost,” said a disconsolate Wiggins after the game. "I didn’t play good. I played really bad. I didn’t do anything to help my teammates this game. I blame myself for that.” 

Wiggins was taking it understandably hard, but though you gotta give the credit for putting this one on his shoulders, it wasn't entirely his fault, nor does it really change anything about a freshman season that, when taken in its entirety, was still really quite impressive. 

When the hurt heals a little for Andrew on this one, I expect he'll probably end up coming out in the draft anyway, and when the disappointment wears off for the NBA teams that have scouted him all year, I imagine he'll still be at the top of most of their draft boards. Just a bummer that we won't get to see any more of him--or Embiid--in the tournament, but credit to a Stanford team without a lot of big names on the roster for sending them home early in such convincing fashion. 

Days ISU Wasn't Able, There Was Always Kane

Reeling from the loss of versatile big man Georges Niang - just about the only true big man getting consistent minutes in their rotation, and one they'd need somewhat desperately against the size of North Carolina's Kennedy Meeks, James Michael McAdoo and Brice Johnson - Iowa State (#3) had every reason to pack it in late in this one. 

They trailed by eight to a UNC (#6) team that arguably just had a better across-the-board roster. With only four minutes to go, exhaustion and foul trouble threatened to sap what little explosiveness they had left in reserve. If that was that for Iowa State, no one could have shamed them for it. 

But the Cyclones had one more run in them, jump-started by a trio of threes from wings Naz Long and Monte Morris, and capped by a final push by veteran - like, 24-year-old veteran - leader DeAndre Kane. 

It started with an upcourt bounce-pass whipped from Kane to forward Melvin Ejim--the pass of the tournament, as far as I'm concerned--and ended with Kane powering through the UNC backcourt for a layup high off glass with seconds to go that would end up being the game-winner. Kane ended the night with 24 points, ten boards and seven assists, just one of the guttiest, most exciting outings from a star that you're likely to see in this tournament. 

A note about Kane's pro potential: Yes, he's 24, and will be 25 by draft time, and no, he won't be able to push around pro guards the way he does 19-year-olds. But as the CBS studio crew unanimously agreed in their analysis of the first half, this guy is the real deal. 

He can shoot, he can drive, he's got size, he's got athleticism, he's a playmaker and a finisher and he makes some big-ass plays, obviously. He doesn't have a ton of untapped upside at this point, but here are plenty of guys on NBA rosters right now who are there solely on the hope that they'll one day turn into what Kane already is. If you let this guy get deep into the second round this June, shame on you. 

McBuckets Mauled

This was an ugly end to one of the all-time great NCAA careers. I had a bad feeling that the Baylor (#6) zone defense, with its pesky guards and skyscraping big men, would be kryptonite to the Creighton (#3) offense. But I never expected anything this brutal. 

The Bears jumped on the Blue Jays early in this one--19-7 before the first timeout, and kept piling it on after that, leaving viewers waiting for the inevitable Creighton run where Baylor missed a couple jumpers, and Player of the Year Doug McDermott and his supporting cast of shooters hit off a little 10-0 run to get the Jays back into it. 

Needless to say, the run never came. Instead, Baylor just got stronger and stronger as the game went on, their big man closing off any available lanes to the basket, the zone shrinking the floor and shadowing McDermott and forcing other Creighton players to hit outside shots that they didn't seem to want to take and didn't have much success making. 

At the other end, Baylor was hitting just about anything it threw up (11-18 from three!), and any shot they didn't make, their bigs grabbed off the boards and put back in. By the time Creighton figured out how to attack the zone with any regular efficiency, it was already way too late--the Blue Jays were down 20 at the half, and ended up losing by 30. 

McDermott's four-year career went out with a whimper. He had just three points and one made bucket at the half, and ended with 15 points on 7-14 shooting, most coming with the game already well in hand for Baylor. The Bears denied McDermott any kind of action at his sweet spots, locating him quickly in transition, closing off any kind of open space he might have had in the half court, and making damn sure that he got no clean looks behind the arc. 

Some will say that this game shows the struggles he'll have at the next level, and though they might have a kind of point - it's true that it'll be much harder for McBuckets to post up and score around seven-footers in the pros than it was the frontlines of Villanova and Providence - it'll also help a lot for McDermott to have pro-caliber teammates, so defenses can overload on him and get away with it to anywhere near the same extent.

Meanwhile, speaking of prospects, shoutout to Baylor seven-footer Isaiah Austin. The gentle giant, once seen as a high-upside big, had seen his stock plummet with concerns about his soft and occasionally low-IQ on-court play, as well as health concerns about him being blind in one eye. 

But he's developed an impressive consistency towards the end of this season, no longer shying away from playing tough inside, and contributing at a high level on both sides of the ball (17 points, four boards, three dimes and two blocks--with far more altered shots--to his credit in this one), hopefully resubmitting his name as one to consider for teams drafting at the end of the first and beginning of the second rounds this year. He may be a keeper after all. 

Wake Us Up for the Sweet Sixteen

The other four games on the night were all uneventful snoozers. 

• UCLA (#4) put an end to the Cinderella run of Stephen F. Austin (#12), overwhelming them in all facets of the game and winning by 17 without breaking a sweat. 
• Tennessee (#11) became the first team to three wins in the tournament, handily disaptching the overmatched Mercer Bears (#14), primarily by out-rebounding them by an incredible 41-19 margin. 
• Virginia (#1) had an uncharacteristic scoring explosion against Memphis (#11), putting up 78 points for the first time since January and notching five separate players in double-figures in a game that was never particularly close. 
• And Arizona (#1) was just too much for Gonzaga (#9), who just had no chance of competing with the Wildcats' size and athleticism, losing by an 84-61 final. 

NBA Prospect Watch

It was obviously a tough day on the prospect front, as both Wiggins and McDermott no-showed in their teams' biggest games of the season, and now we won't get to see Embiid healthy and playing again before he (maybe) declares for the draft in June. 

But it was another solid all-around night for both Randle and Arizona's Aaron Gordon (18 points on 8-11 FG, six boards, six dimes, four steals).

It was also a breakthrough night for a lot of guys currently on the prospect bubble: Austin, the Harrison Brothers, Early and Baker, Arizona's Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (18 points on 5-7 FG, five boards, five dimes, four blocks), UCLA's Jordan Adams (19 points on 8-12 FG, five boards, three dimes) and Tennessee's Jarnell Stokes (17-18-5) all among them. There'll be some real draft board risers this March before all is said and done.

So Long, Seniors

Another 40 to the curb for McDermott, Early, Leslie McDonald (UNC), Tarik Black (Kansas), Grant Gibbs and Jahenns Manigat (Creighton), Langston Hall, Daniel Coursey and Dancin' Kevin Canevari (Mercer), Desmond Haymon (Stephen F. Austin), Kadeem Coleby and Nick Wiggins (Wichita State), Sam Dower and David Stockton (Gonzaga), and Chris Crawford, Joe Jackson, Geron Johnson and Michael Dixon (Memphis). See you all again sooner than later, we hope.