← Eye On College Basketball
Eye On College Basketball
2026 March Madness Round 1 Friday Recap! Otega Oweh's Kentucky miracle; Kevin Willard's mid-game joke; Braden Smith = all-time assist leader + more!
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- [00:00]
Sponsor/Ad Announcer
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- [01:42]
Gary Parrish
Hey there. I am Gary Parish. Welcome back CBS Sports. I own college basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, dodo birds. Leaky Black David Cobb is here with me. If you're watching on YouTube honor Brandon Davies, smash the like button. And if you haven't yet subscribed to the I Own College Basketball podcast, please also do that wherever you subscribe to podcasts like Apple and Spotify. Let's get into it. The first Friday of the NCAA tournament is in the books. If you're watching live, you either live on the west coast, drive trucks for a living, have terrible sleeping habits and or a drug problem. If you need help, we hope you find the help that you need. Either way, it's 2:34am on the East Coast. Sixteen games were played on Friday. Let's start with how they got underway. Final score, Kentucky 89, Santa Clara 84. It happened in overtime. It was a one possession game. Basically the final eight minutes of regulation. Final sequence of regulation was wild. First, Ortega Owen gets a layup with 9.9 seconds remaining, ties the score 70, 70. Then Alan Graves on the other end buries a 3 with 2.5 remaining. Put Santa Clara up 73, 70. Herb Syndic tries to call a timeout to set up his defense. The officials don't give it to him. So Kentucky gets the ball out of the net, takes off Ortega, oh, way launch from 32ft, banked it in to force overtime. Then UK outscored Santa Clara. So 1611 in the extra period, won the game by 5. David Cobb, did Santa Clara get screwed? That's the first question of the night.
- [03:21]
David Cobb
Yeah. Wow. So much there. There were three gripes, the obvious gripes that I feel like had a very obvious impact on that game, either late in regulation or in overtime. You mentioned no timeout granted there. Obviously you can see Herb Sendak motioning for the timeout and, and actually kind of getting after the referee a little bit. I just can't help but wonder. It's just sort of a fun mental exercise. Like how aggressive would Dan Hurley or Todd golden have been about calling a timeout right there? They might have gone and stood on the free throw line and done it and we'd be talking about it like, oh my gosh, either he just got ejected or oh my gosh, can you believe they gave him a timeout for running out on the court? Herb Sendek did the best he could. Maybe, you know, I'd like to see how other coaches might have tried to get a timeout called in that moment, but no timeout then could argue that when the ball touches away's hands that the clock's actually about three or four tenths of a second late getting started, which may have made the difference in whether or not he gets the shot off. And then you fast forward to ot. You had the clear travel on. On Oway that that went uncalled when he passed ahead to Garrison for a pretty important dunk there in ot. So those were, those were the three. You could point to any of them and say, well, if that doesn't happen, you know, this game ends a whole lot differently. And if you want to go down that route, that's fine. I'll just say this, that in, in a year or probably a week, when we look back on this tournament or that Shot or whatever from Kentucky, Santa Clara. We won't remember the fact that there were a couple of iffy calls, slash no calls. We'll just remember that that game was an absolute banger.
- [04:59]
Gary Parrish
There's another scenario where coaches all the time will actually tell officials, if we score here, we're going to take a timeout or something. Like, they make them even in advance. Happens in football all the time, too, right? The thing here was the sequence was so wild and just like moving fast. It's like you're up a bucket, now you're tied, now you're coming back down and you're still playing like the. The action never got broken up. And so I. I don't blame her for not, you know, making the officials aware. If we score here, we will call a timeout. But, yes, to your point, a different coach would have been like a tackled an official to get a timeout. And though Herb did bring it up in the post game, I think reasonably so, he didn't let him have it the way a different coach would have let him have it. Like that happens to a different coach. You know who I mean? There's a list, but, like, we can. We could put. We could both put together a list of five that if that happened to that coach, it. It wouldn't. They wouldn't be as kind as Herb was in the post game.
- [06:01]
David Cobb
Best part of today, Gary, we get Mick Cronin.
- [06:04]
Gary Parrish
Oh, I can't wait. I can't wait. I can't wait. You pray for the officials in that one. Those poor people. Good luck to them. So, you know, I. If I were a Santa Clara fan, I'd be sick. But, you know, if you're Kentucky, you take it however you can get it. And there's so many different angles of that whole sequence popping around on social media, but there's one where they isolated. Somebody isolated a camera on Mark Pope, and you just watch him live and die with the back and forth. It's like, always scores. All right, we're tied. Graves makes the three. And you almost see him, like, feel like. Like the visual is. I cannot believe this is the way the season is going to end. This crazy season that has been just all over the place and uncomfortable, basically, from the jump. This is going to be the way it ends with an Alan Graves three pointer and a loss to Santa Clara. Like, you can almost see Mark Somebody. Go find this on Twitter or wherever you'll. You'll see what I'm talking about. It's like the shot goes through and he's like almost defeated, but then he notices. Oh wow. Always across mid court. Oh wow, he's 32ft. Oh, let's. And then you bank it in and you're back to life. And, you know, who knows where it goes from here. Obviously things will get more difficult in the next round, although they did get a little bit of a gift perhaps, and we'll get to that in a moment. But there's a scenario where Herb gets the timeout, they set up the defense, they foul up three with 1.4 to go. And we watch that 100 times. We know how it plays out. Santa Clara wins. There's another point where they don't get the timeout, but you don't bank in a 32 footer. So Santa Clara wins and as it is, they don't get the timeout. They do bank in the 32 footer. Kentucky advances. And what would have made for an uncomfortable press conference and then probably a pretty uncomfortable off season where you enter next year with incredible job pressure. Like he still might enter next season with incredible job pressure, but, but he's not going to enter next season coming off a loss to Santa Clara in the first round of the NCAA tournament. And that, that, that's a quality of life victory. It, it might not keep him alive till next weekend, but it keeps him alive a couple more days.
- [08:25]
David Cobb
Yeah, no doubt. And it also rewrites narratives about this first round in, in the moment too, because now we're seeing all the stats, right? This is the second round of 64 day with zero wins from a double digit seed since 1985. I think it's the first one since 1992 according to our, our CBS Sports research, folks. And so if Santa Clara wins the game, that narratives out the window, right? Then we're putting her, we're putting Santa Clara in Cinderella's shoes instead of doing the whole Cinderella is dead thing again right now. And that's how thin those, those margins are. And then also if that shot from Oway doesn't go down, you know, get this, he's not the first player since Larry Bird to go for 35, 8 and 7 in an NCAA tournament game. He has the benefit of overtime, of course, but anytime you're doing something for the first time since Larry Bird did it, that is pretty remarkable, but spot on. GP the, the other part of the discourse that we don't have in this moment is the discourse that we would be having around Mark Pope and it would be different, but not, not all that dissimilar than the sort of uncomfortable conversations around North Carolina with Hubert Davis. Right. Like, that's further down the road. There's a larger sample size there. But just in terms of a blue blood making a painful early exit from the NCAA tournament and all the pressure and all the hoopla that comes with that, Kentucky very fortunate to be avoiding all that tonight.
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Gary Parrish
So Kentucky moves on, and I hinted at it up next, they get Iowa State in the round of 32. And if you think banking one in at the buzzer from 32ft is lucky, how about maybe getting to play Iow without Joshua Jefferson? Or at least with a hamper Joshua Jefferson? Because that was the story of the afternoon. Iowa State 108, Tennessee State 74. Cyclones advanced, but Joshua Jefferson, they're all American. He rolled his ankle, only played three minutes, TJ Altzelberger said after the game. X rays were negative, but it is still a sprained ankle. With a game set for Sunday, how concerned should Iowa State fans be right now?
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David Cobb
Yeah, be pretty concerned. He's an all American for a reason. He is. He does everything. He does everything for. For Iowa State. He's not technically their leading scorer because he. He trails in that category by, like, 2.2 points. He's behind taming Lipsey and assists by, like, point one, but basically, like, second leading or leading everything for. For Iowa State, for the most part. So even if he's not 100, you're still worried because of how much he does for you on the court. And I hate how much injuries and unavailability are becoming a part of the storyline in this NCAA tournament. And it only becomes a greater focus now with Joshua Jefferson. So the door could be open there for. For Kentucky. I. I still don't know, like, if I like Kentucky in that matchup, even if Joshua Jefferson doesn't play at all. But my gosh, I mean, it certainly opens the door, does it not, If. If he's unavailable or far less than
- [11:28]
Gary Parrish
100%, you can start to talk yourself into it. Absolutely. And, you know, there's banners that hang in all sorts of arenas all over the country, and I guess somebody can remember every single detail that led to those banners getting raised. But for the most part, you just remember, man, in 1985, St. John's went to the Final Four. I don't. I don't actually remember much about it, but I know that it happened. And, yeah, if Kentucky can go on this run, I guess the historians will remember. Well, in the round of 64, remember, they banked one in at the buzzer and in the round of 32. They got to maybe play Iowa State without its best player. It'd just be a sweet 16. It'll just be an elite eight. It'll just be a Final Four. You'll celebrate it the same way you do every other one. So Kentucky's got some life now, and that's one of the interesting things about how this tournament can reframe everything about you as a coach and your program. This season has been miserable for Mark and most people connected to that program, it appears. But right now they're just one more win away from the Sweet 16 and they might get to play a team that. Well, let's just keep it factual. They will be playing a team whose best player only played three minutes today because he rolled his ankle. We'll see how Joshua Jefford is feeling on Sunday. Tip for that one is scheduled for 2:45pm Eastern. You'll watch it on CBS. It's America's Most Watched Network. It's a network of stars elsewhere in the Midwest Region on Friday. Final score Tennessee 78, Miami University 56 so the Redhawks, that story is over. They finished 32 and 2. Final score Virginia 82, Wright State 73 Jakari White 26 points in 24 minutes off the bench. So it'll be Virginia Tennessee in a battle of oranges on Sunday. That's 6:10pm Eastern on TNT. That's your tip. Any thoughts on your Vs ending Miami Ohio season or on Virginia winning a game in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019?
- [13:26]
David Cobb
Well, no, it just made me glad that Miami got to play in the first four.
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Gary Parrish
Yeah.
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David Cobb
Because if Miami loses like that today, the, the discourse around them is oh they didn't belong. They we told you, we told you they couldn't hang with these high major big boys. Well, thankfully they got a chance to prove that was wrong on Wednesday night and they really took it to smu, showed what they could do against an actual high major opponent. And so therefore today they they run into a bad matchup against Tennessee. The narrative doesn't have to be that they didn't belong. I think we all saw on Wednesday night that they did belong. So in retrospect, really glad for Miami that Miami got sent to Daytona. Also that that environment Wednesday night was just amazing and then it was inevitable. I mean the the difference between Tennessee's defense and SMU's defense is night and day. SMU's only good defender transferred to SMU from Tennessee and was not available against Miami of Ohio. So there you go. But it was just a totally dominant sort of. That was what big time SEC bodies who have been trained in a system that prioritizes elite defense. I mean that's what it looks like when, when smaller players have to play against a team like that. So I was not shocked by the way that went down, but it did make me glad for Miami that Miami got to show the country what they could do on Wednesday night.
- [14:45]
Gary Parrish
Couldn't agree more. If they'd have been placed in the main bracket and lost by 22 to a power conference program, there would have been a whole slew of people on the Internet eager to insist. See, I told you so. They didn't belong, but they got the win over smu. SMU is in the acc. I know it's not Duke. I know it's not North Carolina. I know they were missing, missing a key player. But you will never be able to factually say Miami Ohio didn't beat anybody from a power conference all season. They did. They beat SMU in the first four and they went 32 and 2. Like that's your story. Remember that year when the Redhawks went 32 and two, undefeated regular season, won a game in the NCAA tournament? This could have been a story that was awesome all season but then had a rough ending. And I guess, you know, getting blown out on national television is kind of a rough ending. But they won a game in the tournament. You had an undefeated regular season, your conference champion, and you won a game in the NCAA tournament. That's an incredible year for Miami Ohio. I hope, I hope they remember it that way. Let's take a break and then when we come back, turn our attention to Braden Smith because he is now the NCAA's all time assist leader at the Division 1 men's basketball level. He broke that record earlier on Friday. We'll dive into that next. First, let's get a word from our partner.
- [16:06]
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Gary Parrish
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David Cobb
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David Cobb
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Gary Parrish
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- [17:59]
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- [18:08]
Gary Parrish
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Gary Parrish
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- [18:23]
Gary Parrish
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- [19:10]
David Cobb
Yeah, I was actually in the little cubby thing at Sonic, okay. Get. Getting some, some onion rings, some mozzarella sticks, and I saw, I saw it. I was listening to serious. I was listening to, like, Westwood One or whatever. So I texted, made sure the slack know, hey, we have an article that's ready to go about this. So that's where I was. I was at Sonic.
- [19:32]
Gary Parrish
You mentioned onion rings. I respect that. I didn't hear sonic blast. Don't tell me you went to Sonic, didn't get a sonic blast.
- [19:39]
David Cobb
Okay, so we have ice cream at the house. So I just had the ice cream that's at the house.
- [19:44]
Gary Parrish
But you don't have sonic blast at the house. What do you even think?
- [19:46]
David Cobb
Oh, those are good. But, but I'm economical. And we have, we have cookie dough ice cream at the house.
- [19:52]
Gary Parrish
I, I, I know. You know, I've been following the news. I know prices seem to be going in a certain direction on some certain things. I know everybody probably needs to be watching the dollars a little bit, but not. Where were you? Not at. Where were you? I was in this bed right behind me. I was just in his bed right behind me. There's a bed right behind me, and I was just, I was just laying into bed right behind me.
- [20:14]
David Cobb
You sleep at weird hours these days, from what I gather.
- [20:16]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, I don't, I don't sleep at night. I sleep during the. I here's. Honest to God, my past 24 hours. I was up to about five last night. Slept to like nine. Got up and did 30 minutes on camera. Went right back to sleep, got up, started watching basketball all day, then went to studio. When we're done, did that. We'll do this when we're done here. I'll probably be up to around five. Like, I, I watch this time of the year. I watch the sunrise over Times Square every morning. That's what I do. I just sit here. Last year, I think it was. It's a, It's a wild way to live. Last year, at some point, the hotel called me as I was walking the studio just to do a wellness check. I think we told that story. I did. They were just like, Mr. Parrish, you've had the do not disturb sign on your door for four days. And we just want to make sure, like, we're like, we like policy. We need to make sure you're okay. I'm like, yeah, I'm good. I just don't, I just don't want to be disturbed. I'm Good. But I just. You. You the one that gave me the sign. Like, you're the one that gave me the sign. At that point, it's up to me whether I want to be disturbed or not. I never want to be disturbed. So I just kept it there.
- [21:21]
David Cobb
Look, bro, I lived in hotels for like two years. I get it. Do not disturb that sign. It's your best friend.
- [21:27]
Gary Parrish
Oh, buddy. Yeah, I got it. It's already out there. It's ready to go. Nobody should bother me until at some point Sunday. So Saturday. I'm losing track of the days. All right, so Braden Smith becomes the all time NCAA assist leader at the Division 1 men's basketball level. I was in a bed right behind me taking it all in. Purdue advances up next. They now play Miami. And that's because Miami got past Missouri 80, 66. I think that was a storyline headed in like how did Missouri avoid Dayton? And then how does Missouri get to play in St. Louis? And if people were making a big deal about it, it doesn't appear that Miami was flinched at all because they handled it 80, 66, 26 and 8. Now, Jay Lucas, when you're talking about young coaches on the rise, I mean this is a guy who has exceeded all expectations in year one at Miami. And it looks like the Hurricanes made a good hire when they, when they went and got him off of Duke staff last year.
- [22:33]
David Cobb
Yeah, no doubt. I think this is now seven first year coaches who have won games in the first round of this 2026 NCAA tournament. And what a huge turnaround from where they were a year ago. Last season under Jim Laranega didn't go very well. And they, they've completely inverted that in, in year one here. So Malik Renew, Trey Donaldson, Shelton Henderson, all three of them made big time shots down the stretch. This was a pretty close game. But those three were unbelievably clutch when it mattered most. So the ACC needed that as well. They needed Miami to win that game. That was huge for, for a league that didn't have its best, uh, first weekend. And then real quick, I, I wanted to circle back on Braden Smith and just point out the fact that his all time assist record comes without a covet year. Because it was really weird there for a while when we had these records being set, but it was like, oh, but he had a coveted year and Antoine Davis and the scoring record and all this. And it's just asterisks and caveats and you got to explain it all. And I just think it's great that Braden Smith just broke it in four years, right?
- [23:31]
Gary Parrish
That's right.
- [23:32]
David Cobb
Even I just want to mention that.
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Gary Parrish
Yeah, no, and it's worth noting because we did have like an all time scoring leader like jump into the top 10 but they played five years and so it came up in studio tonight somebody was like he did only do this in four years, right? Yeah, he's a traditional four year player. He broke Bobby Hurley's record. Incredible accomplishment. Now it's on to the round of 32 where they will play Miami. I just want to get your thoughts on this then we'll move on because I have a friend who's alma mater or you know, favorite school is in a coaching search right now and one of the points he made was if he were running an athletic department now, he would be looking at the schools that have best adjusted to this new era of college basketball with the transfer portal Transfer waivers nil Rev Share like look at the programs that seem to have figured it out before the others and go hire somebody from that staff because they've seen it up close. They know what it looks like, they know how it works. They're not as confused by the new aspects of everything. And isn't Jay Lucas exactly that like he was working hand in hand at Duke. He saw like Duke has got this thing along with Michigan. It appears figured out as as well as anybody else. I don't want to say better but certainly seems like as well as anybody else. And the point my buddy was making was like that like and then Miami just went and said hey, Duke's figured this out. Let's go hire somebody who's been there helping them figure out who knows what it looks like, knows what every and it seems to be working. And I wonder if that wouldn't be a interesting strategy for other schools going forward. Look at the assistant coaches who work on staffs who have figured out the new era of college basketball. Because if you don't have somebody who understands where this thing is now and where it's headed, good luck.
- [25:30]
David Cobb
Yeah, I hear you. I also just think there's immense value in having a guy who's run his own program before and a guy who's been through what it's like to have the gate pressure pressure on you as the head coach, what it's like to be in command and control of every aspect of a program, what it's like to be the one who has to get up in front of the microphones and the cameras to explain what went wrong or to give credit where credit's due when you have success. Right. Like so I, I mean yes, I, I don't necessarily think you're wrong. I just think you've got to be really careful about just assuming that maybe anybody who's been in those circumstances or been a part of that has what it takes to then be the leader of their own program. I would still think the batting average is going to be higher on guys who have led their own programs, even if it's not in the most nil rich league in America or what have you. So I, I mean maybe, maybe the, the hit rate on assistance will increase in, in this era, especially if you're selective about where you take them from. But I, I still would feel as an ad more comfortable going with the, the guy who's run his own program.
- [26:37]
Gary Parrish
So Miami, Purdue, that is set for Sunday and that will be the game that gets things started on CBS 1210 Eastern Tip. Miami Purdue on CBS. That's followed by Kentucky, Iowa State. I guess we got to get here. Villanova coach Kevin Weller he went viral for an interview he did with Lawrence Shahidi. The final score was Utah State 86, Villanova 76. MJ Collins with some big plays down the stretch. So that's the result. Utah State advances. But the thing that's getting most of the attention connected to this game is Kevin Willard's in game hit with Lauren. Josh, if you got it, let's watch that together. 16 pain points for Utah State.
- [27:17]
David Cobb
How do you keep them out?
- [27:19]
Gary Parrish
I'm gonna fire my staff because we now. Yeah, I am because we've given up eight points on underneath that of balance defense. So the only thing I'm going to do is fire them and get a new step.
- [27:28]
David Cobb
All right, go do that now. Bye Coach Kevin. We're losing people by the second.
- [27:33]
Gary Parrish
Okay, so there's that moment. Kevin was then asked about it post game press conference. Josh, if we have that, let's get his reaction to the question.
- [27:42]
David Cobb
He was doing good on the out of bounds. They had a couple scores off that. Where do you think you guys flipped the script on that and kind of was able to.
- [27:49]
Gary Parrish
I don't think we did. We gave up a big three late. Yeah, I'll probably going to have to make some changes to my staff just because of how bad we were. Mark S. Union Tribune. You just mentioned making changes to your staff. You gave a. It's a joke. I, I. Well that's what I want to ask you about. Blessed you made. You gave an interview during the game. It went viral. You're being criticized Pretty heavily online. I don't care. Welcome to my life. It's a joke. I've already talked about this on television. Tell me what you think.
- [28:26]
David Cobb
It feels like very crony, doesn't it? Just in terms of people don't get my sense of humor. Like, you know, first off, I thought the actual in game interview was pretty funny. Like, Shahadi was sort of like leaning in on it and it was obvious to me. But anyway, it was obvious that it was like a joke and that. That he was just frustrated. But then it was a little awkward when he said it again in the post game press conference. So I kind of understand why the guy followed up with the question of, like, well, I guess I should make sure he's not serious. But, yeah, sometimes Kevin Willard's life just seems miserable. Yeah, I don't know what. I didn't. I haven't heard, like, what's your. What's your stance on it?
- [29:03]
Gary Parrish
I mean, clearly he was joking, but there's something about his demeanor and delivery that makes it hard for other people to pick up on. So I think a different coach delivering that same message a different way gets chuckles as opposed to gets what this is getting. In other words, like, who's the happiest coach in the world? Let's call him Josh Pastner. All right. If Josh Pastner is doing that hit with Lauren, which, by the way, like, before we had CBS Sports HQ, like, we had a cbs sports.com like video department. And what that really meant was, like, you do a hit with somebody every once in a while. And I don't know how long ago it was at this point, but like, very early on in the CBS days, for me at least, it was like we worked with Lauren Shahadi. She was. She was our cbs sports.com video person. And so I used to work with her all the time. It's been awesome watching her have all of the success in both this sport and obviously Major League baseball. So let's say Lauren is talking to Josh Pastner and she's like, you've given up a couple baskets under, you know, whatever. What's going on there? And Josh goes, oh, man, Lauren. I mean, did we even scout him? It doesn't look like it. I'm gonna have to fire my staff at halftime if we don't get this thing figured out. But we gonna keep working on it if he does that. So it's just the same thing. I'm gonna fire my staff. It's the same thing. It was just delivered with a smile and delivered in A way where it gets the chuckles and the. I think that's the way Kevin meant it. He was just making a joke, but he made it in a moment where maybe you shouldn't have been making it in that way. And either way, the delivery, it just didn't land. Like I think what I said on TV is he needs to get better at telling jokes if he's going to keep trying to tell them. Because he ran into this earlier in the season as well with, yeah, I worked for coach Pitino and it was miserable and he was just joking then. But his deliver, there's something about his delivery and tone where it doesn't come across as joking, it comes across as bitching. And it doesn't. It's clearly not playing well. Like at this point, because think about the march he had last season in press conferences. Like he's had back to back awkward press conferences in the NCAA Tournament. I say this respectfully, like, he might need like some media training or some public relations, like, because he just keeps finding himself in these situations. Perhaps he doesn't care. All right, that's what he said, at least. But my experience with most people is when they go out of their way to tell you they don't care about something, it's never true or it's rarely true. I don't know that many people who really don't care about anything. And the ones who are wired that way, they don't. They don't make it a point to tell you before you've even asked. So I don't know. He just finds himself in these awkward press conference moments now, back to back NCAA tournaments. And I, I don't think it's a coincidence he's. He's walking into these things a little bit.
- [32:03]
David Cobb
Yeah, he is. He's not wrong, though. Utah State does run great baseline out of bounds plays. They really do. And then they execute down the stretch in that game, my gosh, they were running beautiful stuff. And Jared Calhoun, I'm sitting there watching them like, all right, like, I can see it. I can see the vision here. I understand why your name gets bandied about this time of year, but yeah, it's crazy if there's one of the two coaches we ought to be talking about coming out of this, out of this game, it's probably Jared Calhoun, because Utah State, that was a validating sort of performance after they let go of the rope in the first half. I mean, they're in early in the second half. I mean, they were down 10 early in the second half and then tight game most of the second half and then they just out executed Villanova down the stretch. I thought I was really impressed by that.
- [32:47]
Gary Parrish
So Utah State advances. They will play Arizona on Sunday in a game scheduled to tip at 7:50 Eastern on True TV. Arizona gets there by blowing out Liu 92 58. So no problems with, yeah, Finn's fins up. It was, it was fun while. It was fun while we had it, but Arizona had no time for it. I did think Tommy Lloyd was great in his postgames press conference, just talking about, he said something along the lines of just incredible amount of respect for Rod Strickland and liu. And I don't want to put words in his mouth, but the sentiment was something along the lines of, yeah, we just beat them in the way we beat them, but might be harder to win. Like it might be harder to get to the round of 64 of the NCAA tournament if you're the coach at LIU than it is to get a 1 seed in the NCAA tournament if you're the coach at Arizona. And so like don't ever get lost on that. Like Arizona might go win a national championship, but these coaches who just have to scrap out of these one bid leagues, like just getting here is an incredible, incredible accomplishment. And I thought it was nice that Tommy took a moment out of his post game to highlight that. So Arizona advances, no problem. The only other 1 seed that played on Friday, that was Florida. They advance, no problem. Final score 114 55. They eliminate prayer view A&M. Seven players in double figures for the Gators. They're going to play Iowa on Sunday and that's because Iowa beat Clemson 67 61. Bennett Sturts wasn't great, just 4 of 17 from the field, but the Hawkeyes still won. So it's Florida and Iowa. We're going to do that on Sunday, 7:10 Eastern in the South Region. You'll be able to watch it on tbs. What'd you make about the results in. In either of those games?
- [34:42]
David Cobb
Yeah, so Iowa dominated on the glass. That was a obvious sort of takeaway from this game. Crazy that Iowa won the game because Clemson only committed three turnovers and I have Clemson at zero turnovers in the second half. Like I almost need to go fact check that again because it's so wild. Like zero turnovers in the second half for, for Clemson. Iowa won the game. So I don't know how that makes sense, but that's the way it went down, especially on a night where Bennett starts his 417 from the field. But yeah, second chance points were a huge difference maker. And how about this? I mean, uh, Ben McCollum, another one of those first year coaches, man.
- [35:21]
Gary Parrish
Yep.
- [35:22]
David Cobb
Like getting it done, uh, going, going on to the second round and I think that's their first NCAA tournament victory as a program since, since 2021. So yeah, that's big time. I think that officially sends this season. You could already argue that it was, but it officially sends this first Iowa season under Ben McCollum down in the, in the success category. I mean they didn't have those big signature wins along the way. They were always good in Ken Palm, but it's like, man, are they really going to get over the hump and, and do something that turns your head and, and winning in the NCAA tournament, I feel like, you know, it kind of accomplishes that.
- [35:55]
Gary Parrish
I mean, what he did at the Division 2 level, followed by what he did at Drake, followed by this first year at Iowa, like he's, he's a special coaching talent and like he's got Bennett Sturts, who's amazing, and a first round pick. But I don't think Ben McCollum's got one of the 32 best rosters in college basketball. But he's got a team that's playing in the, in the round of 32. He's excellent in I, I, barring injuries and that kind of type of stuff. He seems like the type of guy who's gonna work at the power conference level. And just every year you just sort of pencil it in. They'll be in the NCAA tournament. Maybe they're a three seed one year or a nine seed another, but they're just gonna a little bit like Bo Ryan, Wisconsin, like you just sort of count on it. They'll be there one way or another. He seems to be that type of coaching talent. So six more results from Friday to get to. We're going to bounce through them next. Then we'll look ahead to a couple of games. First though, let's get one more word from our partners. This is Gary Parish. I have a confession. The confession is that sometimes, yeah, I hit an afternoon wall. Say in between doing the Ion College basketball podcast and, you know, walking to the broadcast center for a night in studio, I realized I probably didn't get enough rest. I need some caffeine. I want something sweet, but not like some big sugary drink. And that's why I'm obsessed with the new fruity rainbow shots from Five Hour Inter Energy. They seriously taste like a handful of classic rainbow candy. Bright, juicy and fun, but with a caffeine kick built in. It's like caffeine finally got that flavor glow up it always deserved. It was 17 flavors total in the five hour energy lineup. There is something for every mood, but this Fruity Rainbow launch is all about that bold, sweet fruity chaos. What do I love most? It's the big flavor in that tiny portable two ounce bottle. I can throw it in my bag, keep one in my car, stash it at my desk golf bag. It's no bulky can, no sticky wrappers, no sugar crash. It's a zero sugar treat that's totally sweet tooth approved. So it feels indulgent, but it's actually practical. If you're gonna grab caffeine anyway, it might as well taste like candy. Get Candy Flavored Chaos with fruity rainbow 5 hour energy shots available online at 5hourenergy.com or Amazon.
- [38:10]
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- [39:28]
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- [40:22]
Gary Parrish
Okay, six more games from Friday to get to we're going to take them in groups of two because it's 3:09am on the east Coast. Final scores in the Midwest region. Alabama 90, Hofstra 70 Texas Tech 91, Akron 71 so the shorthanded Crimson tie and the shorthanded Red Raiders will play on Sunday. That's going to be the last game Sunday night, 9:45pm Eastern Texas Tech Alabama on TBS. So I think if you would have told Grant McCaslin you're going to lose JT Toppin middle of the season but still end up in the sweet 16, you'll take it. And if you'd have told Nate Oates you're going to lose Aiden Holloway and Buddy, you ain't even going to believe why. I mean, you ain't even going to believe this one. You're going to lose your second best player right before the NCAA tournament and you still end up in the Sweet 16. I think you probably take that and now that's going to be one of their realities. So that's a nice story. Either Texas Tech or Alabama, by definition, one of them has got to get to the sweet 16.
- [41:23]
David Cobb
Yeah, I had this pod circled as a pod that was ripe for upsets because of the shorthanded nature of both these teams in the final scores here in both games, massively misleading in both situations. The winning team was pushed into the latter stages of the second half. But for Alabama, LeBaron Phylon was unbelievable. If that game goes to overtime, we're talking about a lebaron Phylon and Ortega away doing something that hadn't been done since Larry Bird today. You know, he didn't get the extra five minutes that otega away, guys. So he just Finished with a paltry 29, 8 and 7. You know, but man, he was, he was great. And then Texas Tech, they've adapted so well after JT toppins injury because they're just going even more, leaning even more heavily into the three ball, right? So that sets up Texas Tech and Alabama to be a, another one of these three point roulette sort of games. And the crazy thing is these two teams are playing and Namari Burnett is not on either of their teams. Which kind of wild.
- [42:23]
Gary Parrish
Final scores in the East Region. UCLA 75, UCF 71, UConn 82, Furman 71, Terrace Reed 31 points, 27 rebounds. UCLA, Yukon. That's going to happen Sunday, 8:45pm Eastern. You'll be able to watch it on TNT. Pray for the refs. They're going to have an officiating crew on that game. And in one ear they're going to have Mick Cronin and in the other ear they're going to have Dan Hurley. Woo. Buddy, you couldn't pay me enough.
- [42:57]
David Cobb
They were silently rooting for old Bob Richie and his farming paladins.
- [43:01]
Gary Parrish
Please. Can you imagine there's another scenario where on Sunday. Hey guys, who we working with on Sunday? Bob Richie and Johnny Dawkins. Oh, that sounds pleasant. That sounds amazing. Oh, that's gonna be awesome. Oh, never mind. No, it's Mick Cronin and Dan Hurley. What?
- [43:20]
David Cobb
Yikes.
- [43:21]
Gary Parrish
What?
- [43:23]
David Cobb
Over under technical fouls, one and a half.
- [43:25]
Gary Parrish
Oh man. Let's take the over. Let's go with the over.
- [43:29]
David Cobb
I think you got to plot line to watch player availability for that game. Right? Because you had UConn today, no Silas, no Jalen Stewart and then no, no Tyler Billido for, for UCLA tonight. So I mean you kind of really got pushed here in, in a way that was at least more, you know, more surprising as a, as a two seed than it was for UCLA to kind of be in a tight one late against 10 seed UCF. I really never felt like UCLA was in grave danger, but it did kind of feel a little, little iffy there on, on Yukon. Ultimately Furman just didn't have the gas. Like when they beat. Oh gosh, whoever. They beat Virginia. I think a few years back, like that team was like really pretty good. This Furman team was good, but they were not. They, they were like fringe top 100 at Ken Palm as opposed to that team a few years back that was. I think they were in the 60s at Ken Palm. So I didn't necessarily expect this from Furman even with some of Yukon's, you know, better players out. But you know, it made for some entertainment. A little drama in a window that was a little bit, a little bit lame.
- [44:38]
Gary Parrish
So two more games to get to Kansas 68, Cal Baptist 60, St. John 79, Northern Iowa 53 so we get St. John's in Kansas, Bill Self and Rick Patino, 5:15pm Eastern on CBS. So the CBS triple header Sunday. Miami, Purdue, Kentucky, Iowa State, St. John's Kansas. Darren Peterson again against Cal Baptist, 28 points in 37 minutes. He looked the part and you know, it's still not too late to rewrite his story. I know it's been a frustrating, perhaps that's the most accurate word to put on it, frustrating season for Darren Peterson for a variety of reasons. But let's see where this thing goes from here. Obviously St. John's is a favorite in the game, has opened as a three and a half point favorite even though Kansas is the better seated team. So barring a surprise, it's supposed to end on Sunday for the Jayhawks. But as I've said, and maybe it doesn't necessarily apply here, but as you try to wrap your head around how could KU go on a run, it's in most games they're going to have the best player and in most games they're going to have the best coach. Now I'm not going to get into a Bill Self, Rick patino debate at 3:15 in the morning, but you've still got a Hall of Fame coach. You've still got maybe the number one pick in the draft. If I could only, I think watch one game on Sunday, St. John's Kansas is the one I'd want to, I'd want to dive into.
- [46:08]
David Cobb
Could not agree more. What a great matchup. By the way, disregard me trying to recall Furman's Ken Palm ratings off the top of my head at 3:15am I just looked them up. I was like, whoa, I wasn't even close. Yeah, they're like in the 180s this year. But anyway, St. John's Kansas will be, it's one of multiple great matchups that we have in the second round and that's the upside to these tournaments where we don't get a ton of upsets and a ton of double digit seeds advancing. Like yes, it's great that we have High Point still. Still, you know, in this thing in the second round, like that's, that's awesome. Like we have four double digit seeds still alive in this tournament and, and on a certain level that's important for the health of the tournament and its widespread appeal to the masses. But then you look at some of these second round matchups that we get, that we get because of the historic dominance we're seeing from the better teams and the better programs. And to me, it's like there's no better example of that than St. John's Kansas. And you think about potential, the potential of teams in this bracket. I mean, for the last month, St. John's has been operating at a top 10 level. They got a five seed. They've been operating at a top 10 level, though. And then you look at Kansas and it's like they're all over the map and they're unpredictable. But in terms of the potential, because of Darren Peterson, the potential is obviously there. So you have two teams that, that have potential far beyond what their seating number suggests, going at it in the second round. So that is, you know, and to maybe go on and face number one, see Duke. Right? So, so yeah, it's. It's gonna be a great game.
- [47:46]
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- [48:12]
Gary Parrish
Why don't you take one from Saturday, then I'll take one from Sunday, then we'll say good night and I'll wait for the sun to rise. I'll just sit here and wait for the sun to rise.
- [48:20]
David Cobb
Well, it already is Saturday. So today, tcu, Duke's my game to watch. I'm not okay, by the way, Gary, did you mean to pick Sienna straight up in our. In our picks?
- [48:30]
Gary Parrish
Okay, here's the website. Here's the problem of I, I. No, but there was a time where I was like, let's just ride this thing out and see what happens. I don't. I. It was on me. It's sometimes, sometimes you will see things underneath my name that are incorrect and it is other people's fault. This time it was mine. I just sent in. We should send in against the spread picks and straight up picks. I just sent in against the spread picks and that got computed to. I guess he's just taking Sienna straight up. But I corrected him eventually but there was a moment where I texted when I noticed that I texted Marcus or got him in Slack, our fine editor whose sleeping habits are about as goofy as mine. And I was like, hey, can you. Can I send you straight up pics and can we get this corrected? Because it's on me. I'm the one that messed it up. But. But it is messed up. And so he was like, sure. And I was like, yeah, obviously, make Duke my pick. And then at halftime, I was like, I texted him again. I was like, flip it back. Flip it back to Sienna. This is gonna be. This is gonna go down in history. But no, I did not. I did not think Duke was going to lose to Sienna, but I did enjoy. Enjoy the game. I will say that Duke is 40 without Caleb Foster. That's obviously great, but, you know, I'm a data sorter, and if you go over to Torvik and just sort the data over those four games, you know, Duke's offense goes from top 10 in the country to outside of the top 20. The defense goes from top 10 in the country to outside of the top 60. It. It doesn't mean that they'll lose to TCU, but it does suggest they're not the same team without this guy. And TCU, meantime, is like 10 and 2 in their past 12. They've been playing well. And so that is an interesting one to. To keep an eye on. On inside college basketball or bracket breakdown late tonight on CBS Sports Network. One of the questions in jump ball was, you know, all the nine seeds advanced, which one has the best chance to pull off an upset against a one, And I don't think any of them are going to pull off the upsets. I think all the nine seeds lose in the round of 32. But if you're looking for a combination of. This team's really been playing well lately, and this team is shorthanded and hasn't been playing as well lately. That TCU Duke matchup is. Is certainly a place to point on Sunday. I've already tipped my hand on it. It's St. John's and Kansas in the east region on CBS. 515. Just anytime you can get two hall of Fame coaches, two men who have won multiple national championships, and then perhaps the number one pick in the draft, you know, sign me up for that every time. Obviously, Darren Peterson was terrific in the round of 64. Every once in a while, a guard can take over in this event and carry a team further than its seeds suggest was likely. And Darren Peterson, he's obviously got that kind of ability. So yeah, Duke, TCU on Saturday, St. John's Kansas on Sunday. We're going to call those the Sling Games to Watch.
- [51:30]
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- [51:48]
Gary Parrish
With that, I think we'll call it a show. Shouts to Devin Downey Shouts to Chester Scout, S.C. shouts to Terry Teagle legend Hulk Larnell. Thank you guys once again for watching and listening to the I Am College Basketball Podcast. To any of you that are out there live and like there's more of you here than I thought would be here live. This is crazy. Like I it's actually my job to stay up and do this. It's Davis, Cobb, Jock, you guys. You guys gotta get you. Hope you don't have anything early to do on Saturday morning, but we do appreciate you. It blows my mind that this many people be up in the middle of the night hanging out with us. So thank you guys. David Khan thank you. We're not gonna make a habit of doing shows this late too often, but I I don't want to go the whole weekend without being on the pod so I don't have to get up in the morning. This was a good night to do it. Appreciate Cobb staying up with me. Norlander will be back after Saturday's games. We'll figure out the rest of the schedule after that. But appreciate everybody being here. Cobb, you're the best. Until next time. Take care. Paramount Podcasts Guys, by now you've heard me talk about Collars and company makers of the dress collar polo. They've already sold over a million of these a amazing shirts. Well, Collars and Co just came out with the new Maverick Performance blazer. This blazer is sharp and wrinkle resistant so you can travel anywhere with it. Just throw it in your bag and it will remain wrinkle free. It even comes with security zip pockets, a sunglasses loop and an optional pocket Square. So visit collarsandco.com and use code TIKI for 20% off@collarsandco.com.