- Ky McKeon
Intro
Alright, I’m doing this write-up free-flow, stream of consciousness style during the two games. Why? A) I don’t want to write anything afterwards, I’m an early-to-bed kind of guy. B) I don’t get paid by 3MW, so this will be “free effort Ky”.
Matt and I had a blast hanging around courtside pre-game. We have loads of funny videos on our Twitter. They are so funny. Check them out @3MW_CBB.
We are about 10,000 feet up in the air for these games in the tightest seating area you can possibly imagine. Matt can’t see anything – he needs glasses, it’s an actual problem.
Kansas v. Providence
KU gets off to a 2-0 start off a nice steal and lay-in. Fans go crazy. Kansas fans outnumber everyone else, but Providence traveled well.
The salad I am eating from the media room sucks.
Brick city early and then Christian Braun is called for an absolutely brutal charge. Refs cannot get block/charge calls correct. At least the refs are letting the boys play for the most part early – a physical game will favor Providence.
A very sick dish by Harris and dunk by Braun puts the Jayhawks up 4-2.
The score is 4-4 as we head into our first timeout. It’s been a very physical game but only one foul has been called. KU is attacking the basket every possession via dribble drive or David McCormack post-ups. Nothing is falling. Providence is milking the clock – they want a SLOW game in the halfcourt. Intel pre-game was they didn’t think KU could guard them for a full 30-second possession. Teams are a combined 4/20 from the floor (420… nice).
Kansas is getting better shots early on. Providence offense is a struggle.
A triple by Remy Martin gets the 3-point party started. He was butt-naked wide open. Gotta guard him, Friars.
Now we’re cooking: A Remy pull-up is followed by a Nate Watson slam followed by an Ochai Agbaji pull-up. The scoring is waking up.
A Mitch Lightfoot swat sends us into the second media timeout. KU leads 13-6. Providence is sloppy – they have three turnovers and are just 3/14 from the floor. KU looks far more comfortable on both ends.
It is a certifiable block party in Chicago. KU has denied Providence four times around the hoop. Word is the Jayhawks think the Friars are “too little”.
At the under-8 KU leads 15-8. Remy Martin leads Providence 9-8. The Jaybirds have a whopping six blocks, the Friars just two. Shooting is UGLY to start. Providence is 4/21 from the field while KU is 7/21. The teams are a combined 1/13 from deep.
Remy cannot and will not be stopped. Another tough pull-up J gives him 11 for the night.
These Friars are rattled folks! They might have left their four-leaf clovers in their checked luggage. 4-for-25 isn’t very good. Nate Watson has been completely neutralized.
KU extends its lead to 19-8, as Ed Cooley calls hist first timeout.
Out of the timeout, Watson finally gets going, bodies his way to the cup on a post-up against Lightfoot… and then Jalen Wilson answers with a triple.
Observation: Lightfoot is a pretty good defender. He works. He works.
With 3:05 to play we head into the final media timeout of the half. KU leads 22-12. Providence is 6/32 from the floor and 0/10 from 3. The Friars hold a slight edge on the glass battle, but KU is still in control.
Durham ends Providence’s 3-point drought with just under 2 to play, and then the Friars force a turnover. Friar fans are on their feet. Chants ensue. The energy. The energy.
KU fans on their feet for Providence’s final possession. Their team looks better, and they know it.
Wow… the refs call Wilson for a foul on a Durham 3PA. The former Indiana transfer goes to the line for three with just five seconds left in the half. He makes two and Self calls a 30-second timeout to get the boys ready for their last possession.
Providence intentionally fouls in the backcourt – very smart. Oh wow, and a walk-on – Luke Fonts – checks in for a courtesy two seconds of play (if he’s not a walk-on, please don’t yell at me).
KU leads at half 26-17. Providence is missing everything but Kansas is clearly the better team.
Second Half
The second half starts kindly to Providence – a KU turnover and Watson post finish.
Forgot to mention – Kansas took zero free throws in the first half. Providence was 2/5 from the line.
Braun shoots and makes KU’s first two free throws with just under 19 to play.
At the first media timeout of the second half KU’s lead holds strong at 34-23. Providence is still ice cold, just 10/41 from the floor and 1/15 from 3. KU is not much better at 14/39 and 2/12.
An incredible no-look pass from Martin to Lightfoot for a jam puts the Birds up 36-23 with under 15 to play. Matt Cox: “Remy Martin is the best player here.”
A little 4-0 sport from the Friars gets the crowd roaring. AND A STOP – PANDEMONIUM… and then Providence misses four bunnies at the rim… AND THEN DRAWS A CHARGE!!!
A Croswell bucket and a KU timeout makes it 36-29 Kansas with 12:17 to go. The Friars have life.
The Saint Peter’s / Purdue game shows at timeout breaks on the big screen and it’s glorious. The fans in the UC are cheering for the Peacocks.
Agbaji splits throws out of the break and then Croswell draws an and-1 on the other end. We head into the under-12 timeout with KU ahead 37-31.
Croswell hits his FT out of the break. 5-point game.
After a couple back and forths Noah Horchler hits a GIGANTIC 3. Providence is within two points with under 10 to go. KU answers with a bucket from McCormack.
ANOTHER 3 FROM HORCHLER – PROVIDENCE WITHIN ONE POINT – THE CROWD IS GOING WILD.
Remy Martin says, “that’s enough” and gets a free throw plus a lay-up. KU back up four. Durham answers with a runner of his own.
Braun commits a foul to send us into the under-8 timeout. KU leads narrowly 44-42.
AJ Reeves goes to the line for two, hits them both. Providence ties the game.
The squads trade buckets.
Is Saint Peter’s really gonna win???
Wow and Horchler grabs the first lead of the game for the Friars. Up 1 with 5:30 to play. The Friars are 12/23 (2/5) in the second half.
Wilson says “nuh uh” and puts it through the hoop plus the harm. He goes to the line to shoot one with his team up one… and nails it.
A layup by Braun puts the Birds back up 4 with 4:49 to play. Timeout Providence.
KU gets a steal and a bucket, now up 6. Saint Peter’s won. What the heck.
At the under-4 it’s 54-48 in favor of the Jayhawks.
Ed Croswell – an awful free throw shooter – is now 3/3 tonight from the stripe. 54-50 KU with 3:36 to go.
WOWOWOWOWOWOWOW Braun to Agbaji for a THUNDERING ALLEY-OOP puts KU up 7. (He was also fouled but it wasn’t called). Timeout Cooley. KU 57, Prov 50.
Reeves for TREY out of the timeout gets the Friars back within 4.
Remy and Al are jawing at eachother, good clean fun. Durham and Horchler have really stepped up tonight for Providence, as they have all tournament. Watson has been a zero (as expected against the KU frontline). Jared Bynum has been super quiet – just two points and a -15 in the box score thus far.
Bynum not in at crunch time is wild.
A Watson dunk puts Providence in striking distance again. Down 4 with 47 seconds to play. They start the intentional foul game.
KU good players tonight: Wilson with a dub-dub. Martin with 18 and counting. Braun a scrappy 10 rebounds.
Martin hits one of two. Five point game. Horchler airball, 26 seconds left, KU ball.
Providence fouls Martin again. Friars +7 backers start to sweat… he misses one… he makes one.
Durham gets a tough layup to go and Providence fouls Martin again down 4 with 16 seconds to play.
Martin hits both this time… and then, wow, fouls Durham attempting a 3. Durham has been Providence’s leader and go-to guy all night.
A timeout ices Durham… he goes 2/3 from the stripe.
With 9 seconds remaining, Providence fouls Wilson down 4. Providence backers continue to clench their hind parts.
Wilson hits both. And Durham gets another layup – he has 21. Friars foul Martin with 3 seconds remaining. Someone has awful B.O. in front of me in the stands.
Martin makes 1. KU wins 66-61. Friars cover.
Presser
Self was cheery in the post-game, commented to the effect he liked when his teams threw alley oops. He harped on how the Big 12 conference was so tough and prepared them for this type of environment. He was impressed by his team’s defense, said they were as connected as they’d been all season.
Self wasn’t pleased with his team’s defense on high ball screens. Bad news for Miami???
I missed the Ed Cooley presser, which was a damn shame because he’s wonderful. My colleague Matt stayed while I went back to the court. A quote from Cooley: “Oprah once said, ‘when you have the opportunity to be great, don’t be afraid to fail.’ Oprah’s my hero. But tonight, these guys are my heroes.”
Miami v. Iowa State
Alright. Game 2. Full disclosure, I might not be as “on point” this game. It’s late. I just turned 32. I’m an old man who needs some solid sleep.
The Canes’ uniforms SLAP, as the kids say. Sebastian the Ibis on a white background. Hot damn! Canes hit a 3 out of the gate and brought a guy in the last row of the United Center who is THE LOUDEST WHISTLER I’VE EVER HEARD. He forced ISU to mis two FTs, so good job.
Canes start the game on a 7-0 run. ISU defense looks a bit sleepy – like old man Ky. Coach Otzelberger calls a timeout. 18:31 left in the first half.
Advantage ISU on fan count, but I’ll tell you what – Miami brought a stronger contingent than I expected.
Canes miss a chance to go up 9-0, miss two free throws instead.
Gabe Kalscheur coolly lays in a bucket to get the Clones on the board a little over two minutes into the game. Iowa State gets a stop, and the Hilton faithful show some life. An ISU dunk helps the cause. 7-4.
Kalscheur is still on his mid-range B.S. from the last round, hits a tough shot to pull the Clones within one. And then a Tyrese Hunter makes it an 8-0 Clones run before a Miami 3 courtesy of Sam Waardenburg.
I’ve had so many Teddy Grahams I’m going to turn into a Teddy Graham!
The first media timeout of the game is here. Canes lead 10-8 with 14:20 to play in the first.
Wow, George Conditt puts Waardenburg on a poster to start the next stanza. But then S.W. smashes another triple through the net, so who’s the boss?
Miami’s defense has been very good – they’re hounding ISU ball handlers. Clones are pretty good from the floor but they’re working for buckets. ISU shoots a ton of mid-rangers.
A stupid decision by Isaiah Wong to not throw to an open man on a 2-on-1 leads to a Miami turnover and us into the second media timeout. Canes lead 16-12. They are a scorching 4/6 from deep.
Another steal by Miami turns fruitless as Anthony Walker bobbles the ball out of bounds with zero Clones in front of him. One could argue Miami should be up 10. Instead, they lead by 2.
Sloppy game as expected. Both teams have six turnovers midway through the first half and are playing scrappy, in-your-face defense.
These teams are just bobbling balls and throwing balls to nobody. Double digit seeds indeed. This should have been Auburn. *shakes head* This should have been Auburn.
At the under-8 Miami leads 17-14. They are the much better team. The Canes are guards are just so skilled. But it’s sloppy. 14 combined turnovers, 11 combined fouls.
Iowa State is already in the bonus with 7:34 remaining, but Miami cannot make a free throw. The Canes are 1/5 from the stripe. ISU 0/2.
A Clones triple ties it up.
Jordan Miller – nice player for Miami.
OOOOOOOOoooOOOOOO Charlie Moore with a 360-spin and pass to a layup. That was an impressive play, folks. You had to be there.
Miami has gotten a few easy buckets, but ISU has started to pry open their cup’s lid as well. 25-21 Canes as the zebra calls an unnecessary flop warning.
Waardenburg draws a charge to send us into the final media timeout of the half. 25-21 Canes still. Wong has been awful for Miami – that needs to change. Kam McGusty has been his usual solid self. Honestly, no Clones have stood out. Maybe George Conditt, since he’s hitting tough mid-rangers that simply cannot be in his bag. He also had a cool dunk. Good job, George.
Iowa State’s offense is brutal to behold. Luckily, Conditt is playing his butt off and keeps bailing them out with rebounding and toughness.
Moore is slicing and dicing ISU’s D to pieces. He has four assists on the eve.
Observation: McGusty is a stud.
Yet another Miami steal leads to a turnover on a breakaway. Holy moly, Batman!
Miami leads 32-29 with 4 seconds to play. Jim Larranaga calls a timeout to set up one final attempt at a score.
Moore throws an alley oop attempt out of bounds. Canes go into the locker room up 3. They should be up 15. Nine turnovers for ISU, eight for Miami. A 5/12 clip for the Canes compared to ISU’s 1/8. Rebounding has kept the Clones close. It’s a bad sign for Miami they have those shooting splits and are up only one score.
Second Half
Clones have come out scrappy, punching Miami in the mouth a bit. Miami settles with a steal + layup (they made one!). 3-point game early in 2nd.
Just over three minutes into the second half and we’ve seen each team throw an airball at the rim. High level defense.
Kalscheur gets a tough mid-range fallaway to drop and the Clones fans get loud. 36-35 Canes.
Moore answers with a huge triple to get the cushion back to four. And we head into the first media timeout of the second half. 39-35 Canes. Iowa State is 1/9 from deep and has 11 turnovers.
Waardenburg loves throwing backdoor passes, and I am HERE for it. Gorgeous from the de factor Canes 5-man.
A McGusty bucket pushes the Canes lead to 8. They’re on a 4-0 run since the last timeout. 14:34 to play, timeout Iowa State.
Iowa State turns it over out of the timeout but McGusty misses the dagger 3.
Clones score, cut it to 6, and go 1-3-1. But Miami knocks down a triple and pushes the lead to 9.
46-37 at the under-12. Again, I cannot stress enough, Miami is way better than Iowa State. That doesn’t mean they will win or cover. But, alas, it is true.
An incredible defensive stand near the hoop by the Canes might be the straw that breaks the Cyclones’ back. How will they respond???... With a stop and bucket! 7-point game, 10:45 to go.
Another Clones bucket forces Miami to take a timeout. The Ky spoke too soon. It’s a 5-point game with 10 minutes left in the contest. It’s 11:00 p.m. CST – what are we even doing?
McGusty shows he’s got mondo balls and knocks down another 3. He has 21 points and is carrying the Canes on offense. Where is Wong? Where is Wong??
Izaiah Brockington, the Clones star who has been VERY quiet tonight, answers with a huge 3 of his own.
And then Waardenburg hits McGusty for YET ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL BACKDOOR. THEN HE GOES AND DUNKS IT! CANES FANS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MUSIC!!!
An Iowa State travel (they’re 16th turnover of the game) sends us into the under-8 timeout. Canes lead 53-44.
I’m still here for Waardenburg backdoor passes. The man is a wizard.
Moore knocks down a bucket to give the Canes their biggest lead – a muscular 11 points.
Whoa… Tyrese Hunter with a MASSIVE block that goes into the band. Short, choppy updates – this is high quality journalism.
A scramble and a jump ball takes us into our final media timeout of the Sweet Sixteen. What a journey it’s been. Canes lead 55-46. ISU is 2/15 from distance. They have 13 offensive boards to Miami’s 7.
After a minute of no scoring, Mr. Waardenburg says “enough” and buries a triple. Canes by 12.
An and-1 by Wong let’s the crowd know it’s all but over. Canes extend their lead to 14 with 2:26 left. Fans start to pour out of the stands.
Caleb Grill knocks down Iowa State’s third 3-ball of the game, cuts it to 11 with 2:15 to play. Timeout Cyclones.
The fouling is called off. The Clones have fallen short. The Canes get Kansas on Sunday for a trip to New Orleans with the Weave.
Ah nevermind, ISU fouled down 11. McGusty hits both free throws.
Hunter knocks down a 3 to make it interesting and prolong the press conference. Down 10 with 44 seconds, ISU fouls again.
Game over. Canes 70, Clones 56. The battle of wind storms has ended. McGusty had 27. Waardenburg 13, 8, and 5.
Presser
Jim Larranaga is the most enjoyable head basketball coach I have ever seen in a press conference. He is so damn likable. He was cracking jokes, starting the presser off with: “What the heck just happened?”
Sam Waardenburg called Coach L the GOAT – he’s certainly up there. Larranaga is the only coach to take two double-digits seeds to the Elite Eight.
When asked about the fact the ACC had three Elite Eight teams, Larranaga responded that it was a down year… they usually have four or five.
Otzelberger, through a very strained voice, expressed his pride in his Clones team for a truly incredible season after a 2-22 disaster in 2020-21.