← Eye On College Basketball
Eye On College Basketball
2026 March Madness Round 2 Sunday Recap! Iowa ends Florida repeat bid; A tournament Darling for St. John's; Grading Mark Pope at Kentucky + more
01:25:32
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- [00:00]
Matt Norlander
Ion College Basketball is presented by Shipt. With Shipt, you can order same day delivery for everything you need for game day, groceries, decor and so much more from local stores. Download the app or order now@shipt.com that's s h ipt.com ion college basketball is also presented by Domino's Best Deal Ever Right now you can get any pizza with any toppings for one great price at Domino's. Let me say that again. Any pizza, any toppings for one great price. It really is their best deal ever. You know how during tournament season there's always that one game you absolutely cannot miss? Whether it's a buzzer beater in the men's bracket or a massive upset in the women's tournament, Having instant access right when the action heats up is everything. That's why Sling is so clutch. Get instant access to the men's and women's college basketball tournaments. Starting for just $4.99 you can catch all the action on TNT, TBS and more. So when the moments that matter happen, you're not scrambling to find a stream. And and if you're thinking I want even more hoops, you can add an extra pack to your subscription for just $1. Sling offers flexibility. No overpaying, no over committing their flexible passes. Subscription lets you watch live college basketball when you want and you can start watching in minutes. It's tournament level excitement. Just tournaments so crazy they'd be crazy to miss. Sling makes it easy to watch the games you want when you want without locking into a full subscription. Sling lets you do that, but visit sling.com to learn more. Welcome back into the show. It is late. We have a sweet 16. We are joined by a sweet, sweet duo for the second show in a row. It is Adam Finkelstein joining and look at that. The one and only Sam Bassini back on the show. Back for an entire show. GP in the studio. Late, late, late. Yet again. We've been getting some comments. Why can't Norlander and Parrish do the podcast together when the tournament's happening? Because we both have studio duties and I got to go out and fly and go to the rest regional. So we're not going to hop on the show at 2:45am can't do that. Happy to have these fellas on. Sam obviously making his annual appearance on the pod for the second consecutive night. We have big time ball major action to get to. Don't tell me this tournament isn't the best thing in sports. Don't tell me the surprise, the awe, the shock the chalk. Nah. No, no, no, no. Four one seeds getting back to the final four. See you in a couple of decades. Okay. Florida is out of this thing. Iowa got it done in incredible fashion. Shocking fashion. Sam Fink, happy to have you on the show. We're going to talk about all eight games. We're going to dive in right here, right now. I'm going to go to Sam first. I got notes galore on this, but the floor is yours, quite literally. Sam, it's a pleasure to have you back. I know we try and get you with regularity, but this time, no GP you're good to go. Thanks for joining us. Floor is yours on this game and whatever you want to get going with this pod.
- [03:08]
Sam Finkelstein
Well, the timing worked out perfect. It's like 4pm here in Australia, so given that you guys needed a night owl, it's great, great. But the first thing that I have to talk about here is how much better Norlander has gotten at the intros and things like that since I departed the show. It's unbelievable. We got rhyming now. We got all sorts of real genuine skill and talent as a host. Not to say you didn't have it before, but my God, listen to that man's voice.
- [03:37]
Matt Norlander
Shots of plenty between you and Fornelli. And don't worry, Fornelli is so insufferable. His align iron the sweet 16. Good guy. But I appreciate that, buddy. Thank you so much. I. I didn't screw up. The sponsor read at the top of the show. Good to go. I say Iowa beats Florida, becomes the ninth nine seed to be the one ever. Sam Vicini. You say what?
- [03:59]
Sam Finkelstein
First and foremost, Ben McCollum is just genuinely one of the elite coaches in college basketball. And I think that the quicker we all recognize that, the easier it will be to understand this. I genuinely thought this was probably the the best chess match, coaching wise that we've seen in the tournament to this point. For the first 27 minutes of this game, it felt like Iowa was able to get whatever it wanted in terms of running ball screens at Alex Condon, playing in drop coverage. And then right around the 13 to 14 minute mark of the second half, Florida switches their defense. They start switching all actions, right? And from that point, the were the make it a little bit more difficult for Iowa to get the shots that they want. And then this became a really tight one and a really tightly contested battle. I loved the way that Iowa then came up with some adjustments to find shots when they started denying sturts the ball. I. I loved the back and forth of this game. And I thought that in the end Ben McCollum ended up just getting the better by a hair of Todd Golden. And I think that's exactly where I wanted to start with this.
- [05:10]
Matt Norlander
He sounded just like Paris just now. It's just amazing. That's exactly the things I would have said, without a doubt. Think your takeaways on the game.
- [05:18]
Gary Parrish
Well, the only thing he missed was I say this to say that.
- [05:22]
Matt Norlander
I say all that to say that.
- [05:25]
Sam Finkelstein
You know, it's funny, I've picked that up on my show now because of him. Like I say, by the way, the
- [05:31]
Matt Norlander
Game Theory podcast, A game Theory podcast with Sam Pacini, please do check it out.
- [05:35]
Gary Parrish
I, I said it once and then I, I put myself in the penalty box that. So anyways, I, I would. The thing that surprised me most going into this game, if you had told me that Bennett Sturtz was going to be 5 of 16 from the floor and O of 9 from the three point line, I would have told you that Florida was going to win by double figures. So the thing that I thought was most surprising was that Iowa played them even inside the paint. Now a lot of that is a credit to the game planning and how well they executed and how well chased and moved. But the fact they shot 70% on two point field goals I thought was really telling. Ruben Chignello had zero points and one rebound in 19 minutes. I thought that was, you know, really problematic for Florida. And then as good as Condo was offensively because he had 21 and 7 was certainly targeted, as Sam mentioned, on the defensive end of the floor. So not the way that I would have expected Iowa to be able to pull off an upset. But obviously this all leads to what was just an epic, thrilling finish.
- [06:37]
Matt Norlander
There's so much to get to from this game. Oh man, there are no Cinderellas left in this tournament. I'm, I'm very much a stickler on this. You cannot be a Cinderella unless you are a bonafide mid major program. But between Nebraska and Iowa, those are the two closest you could possibly get and they are extremely likable. They're going to play in the sweet 16. We'll get a quickie. Sweet 16. Look ahead at the end of the podcast. I agree with Sam on the, on the matching wits. They also carry themselves similarly in terms of their confidence, their swagger, their arrogance. And to see those guys chirping back and forth against with each other was. Oh, I thought it was great. I mean they were pissed off. There was some feisty Play. There was some chippy play. Iowa showed up and wasn't going to take any shit whatsoever. Despite the fact that from a physicality and roster and size standpoint, like I said, I sent it earlier. Broadly speaking, Iowa has no business beating that Florida team. But that's what the tournament can provide you, man. Again, the continual capacity to shock. And Oz, just when we think we know it, we don't. And how about this? We just can't get reigning champions to get to the sweet 16. It is insane how many reigning champions over the past 15 years haven't done it. In fact, the only one that has is the Yukon team that went back, back to back. Incredible stuff. McCollum is a coaching wizard and, and I was, I was so Damn impressed. Here's McCollum's record in the NCAA tournament, including D2. You ready for this? 35 and 8. 35 and 8. He's 3 and 1 in the D1 tournament, 32 and 7 in D2, which includes what, four national titles at Northwest Missouri State. Master class stuff. How about Florida with only one block in this game, guys. How about Iowa? I think mentioned it before. 19 of 27 from 2 point range, ironically enough, didn't shoot well from 3, but the seventh final one in the corner there. Beautiful. No, look, pass from Sturts. They hit that one and I just thought the design was great. Sturt's not even having a good game. He had 13 points, 5 of 16 from the field, 0 of 9 from beyond the arc. It was his most misses without a make from three in his career. So he was probably at a C plus overall. But then you've got Alvaro for Fulgaris era Fulgaris, by the way, for our Queens of the Stone Age fans out there. He goes for 14 points. A Robert Morris transfer hits the winner. Incredible scenes all around there for Iowa. Can we talk last, last plays here? And actually how this game ended with Iowa choosing to run what it did, getting that three up. If you actually watch that play and how it goes, it played out. They were even in decent position to get the offensive rebound. Golden talked about afterward how they were trying to foul to extend the game. Yes, foul up two. Which is a concept that he and his. One of his chief assistants, Jonathan Sapphire, kind of pioneered about a half decade ago. Sam, I'll throw it right back to you. Give me anything you want on, on the ending sequence that actually led to Iowa ripping this, ripping this upset.
- [09:38]
Sam Finkelstein
So yeah, I have no problem with the foul up to strategy. Would I employ it? I don't know, it's like a 50, 50 case to me against Iowa. I don't know that I would have necessarily if only because they had three or four 80% foul shooters on the court. But if you're going to do it, and again, I don't have a problem with Florida doing it. I think to me what the problem was more was execution. Because if there's one guy to me that you can't let catch the ball in that circumstance, it's Bennett Sturts. And if you're going to do this to me, I think you need to play the man defending the inbounder off of the inbounder and have him deny Certs the ball. At the end of the day, wherever he is, he needs to go find Certs and double. Especially if you're going to play trailing coverage and have Boogie Fland go over the top or under in that case. I guess that screen, it just makes it too easy for Sturts to potentially catch the ball downhill. I would imagine that their execution in terms of how they wanted this to work was they wanted Xavian Lee to help more aggressively off of his man, the screener, in order to be there to foul starts and make sure that he didn't get downhill. But to me, I think it's just a lot easier if you're going to press in that circumstance. The one situation you can't have is you can't have Bennett Sturt, one of the most creative, high level, intelligent basketball players in the entire country, going downhill with a potential 3 on 2 situation with, you know, 10 seconds left in the game or whatever it was.
- [11:15]
Gary Parrish
The thing that I would add to that is just the set itself. If you, you know, if that was run in a half court, we would call that Iverson action, like that kind of stagger screen where he cuts over the top. And it's not uncommon in a full court situation. But the fact that Boogie Fland was face guarding him, trying to deny Sturts the pass, I think the thing that no. 1, I haven't heard anybody talk about this, that imbalance pass had to be thrown just right, had to thread that needle because that angle was so fine. So that was as as big of a pass as there was all game long. And then it was just in a complete disadvantage there. I've heard like Thomas Hawk should have stayed on the corner. Well, there was no one else near the ball. So if he doesn't go get Sturts, then Sturts is going to get a layup and tie the game. So Hawk was really in a Almost impossible situation. But great read by Sturts. I thought it was great trust of the teammate and such an. It was so fitting for like the old school Iowa basketball team to end this on a bounce pass too. I just thought there was like something po. Poetic about that. Yeah.
- [12:17]
Matt Norlander
Dan Dick. I was in studio tonight with. With me, John Henson and Akeem Dermish, and he made the point, which is a good point that people just take for granted. Like high pressure moment. That pass and then starts. Brings up the floor. It's a little. No look. And the actual angle and speed of the B of the bounce pass was perfect. Like it wasn't too low. You kind of got it. You got to have the real kind of touch on that. It speaks to Sturts's ability overall and great talent as a point guard that they. That they got that done. Really impressive stuff. Josh, if we could. They had a good postgame moment in the press conference after where they actually. Sturge was speaking about his. About. About the winner here from his teammate. Give a quick listen to what they said was said in the huddle before they actually won the game.
- [12:57]
Gary Parrish
Drawn up for me to get downhill. And then this dude came up to me. He's like, I'm gonna be ready and
- [13:01]
Matt Norlander
I'm gonna make it. That's what he did. Did you actually say that? He said that?
- [13:05]
Gary Parrish
I said that?
- [13:06]
Sam Finkelstein
Crazy, man.
- [13:06]
Bennett Sturts
I did.
- [13:07]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [13:07]
Sam Finkelstein
Yeah.
- [13:08]
Gary Parrish
He's.
- [13:08]
Matt Norlander
He's got you guys. Oh, it's close. They're saying it's wrong. I don't hear it. Sorry.
- [13:12]
Sam Finkelstein
Yeah.
- [13:12]
Matt Norlander
Irrational confidence.
- [13:13]
Gary Parrish
That too.
- [13:14]
Matt Norlander
I love it. I mean, I'll work a lot to be. I know where I am right now.
- [13:17]
Producer Josh
I know, I know.
- [13:18]
Matt Norlander
Just so. Yeah, good stuff there. I might have a little bit of a slow Internet connection there, so I think you guys heard it in real time. I didn't hear it when it started up there, but that was really, really good stuff. Josh, if you want to play his B roll.
- [13:28]
Gary Parrish
The.
- [13:29]
Matt Norlander
The Gollum and. And golden trash talking each other. I thought that just took this to an even any of another level. We see this in arena here. I mean, we got. We got McCall, no jacket on with. With the. With the clipboard there. Golden, who has not been shy about talking his trash the entire season. I thought it was excellent. I thought it just. It gave the night even more juice. By the way, I don't know what the lines were, but this was the only upset on the Ken Palm line. Every other result, we're going to talk about the team that Ken Palm projected to win. Did win. Now there were some narrow ones there. Like Bama was a slight favorite. It destroyed them. Tennessee was a slight favorite. It went close but this is the only one that was an outright upset there. And, and good on, good on Iowa for doing it, man. Like they did not have a strong resume this season. They were a solid team but like when you looked at actually what they had done, like hadn't had a lot of world beating wins going into the tournament. Iowa's best wins were home against ucla, at Indiana, at Washington, home against Nebraska, like that kind. Like there's some, some stuff in there but nothing, nothing to this level. So extremely impressive there. Tavon Banks by the way had a team high 20. We haven't mentioned his name yet and he, he did himself a really nice job. Condon had 217 dimes in the loss. How cut himself 19 and then on the final play for Florida, we obviously need to talk about this. This is the second game this tournament and Sam's Buckeyes are the other one where team had a chance to tie or win the game and the play did not go as planned. And what a bitter irony for Florida a year after you win the title because the team you played on the last possession couldn't get a shot off. As reigning champions, your tournament run ends after you cannot get a shot off yourselves. Lee must have just got himself lost a time and place and space and couldn't get it to Hauk. Even if he got in time. I don't think Hauk was getting off the shot. So you know, think that was just, that was a little bit bitter. And Lee actually I thought, you know, comported himself quite well in the second half of the season. That was a little bit of a worry with him and flying to start but, but that was a, that was a bitter way for that one to end.
- [15:28]
Gary Parrish
You know, Todd spoke about this in the post game press conference. They asked him if it was drawn up to be a pass and he said his preference would have been if Lee got it on the rim. He thought that he had a step on his defender and if he jumped backwards he would have been able to draw the foul. So I think he was kind of trying to point out, you know, not throw his guy under the bus but basically say like, which is logical. Like no, we wanted to get the ball on the rim and let our offensive rebounders have a chance for a tip and that's what you assume you would do there. And I think that play might have been. But you know, he elected to make the pass there and in that second. The other thing Todd said was there were I think was 67 possessions in this game and everybody's going to talk about the last one, but there were plenty of things in the other 66 that led to the outcome. I'm paraphrasing here, but that was the general sense of his response when asked about it in the post game press conference.
- [16:21]
Sam Finkelstein
Well, and the reality of the Florida season this year, in my opinion, even though they got nuclear hot to end the year up until they lose to Arkansas or lost to Vanderbilt, I'm sorry, in the SEC tournament, was they weren't as versatile lineup wise as what they were a season ago and they didn't quite have the downhill creative guard that they had last year. Unbelievable shot maker Walter Clayton as well, but he's an underrated athlete that could get downhill and that ended up biting them both in the game throughout the entirety of it. Where I think they were kind of afraid to go small because their bread and butter this season has been hey, let's have Ruben Chignello, Alex Condon, Thomas Hauck, our three best players on the court all at once and we don't feel great confidence in the guards. Even though Boogie Fland and Xavian Lee got drastically better throughout the course of the season and Urban Clavchar is one of the best backup guards in the league. They didn't have that Will Richard, that wing that would allow them to potentially play Will Richard at the 2 and then have one of those guys on the court with their three bigs. Will Richard like sometimes even slid down to the four last year and let them go super small and flexible and have all sorts of different lineup constructions because of his length. So to me, when I, I look at the Florida roster, it just was one that was missing one flexible wing piece and it ended up biting them throughout the entirety of the game tonight, in my opinion.
- [17:51]
Matt Norlander
I think that's a fair, fair and valid point. I got a few nuggets for you and we can keep it moving. There's obviously plenty to get to. This was Iowa's second win over 1 seed in tournament history at that program. They beat 1 seed Syracuse back in 1980. Iowa fans know this, but first Sweet 16 appearance since 1999. I'm not at home otherwise you'd be hearing Prince sing that right now on the board. I did invite Chris Hassel onto the podcast Hassle if you are listening to this after the fact. Congrats buddy. He might be passed out on his front lawn right now.
- [18:22]
Gary Parrish
I Was thinking. I was thinking about hassle about 20 minutes.
- [18:24]
Matt Norlander
Did not respond, nor does he need to. I said do you want three minutes on the show? And he did not get back to me. But he had his moment. He had his window. It has passed. Just. I'm so thrilled for him. Without a doubt. By the way, Iowa represents the sixth Big Ten team into the Sweet 16. That is a conference record. Iowa was the worst seed to defeat a reigning national champion in the tournament since 11 seed Mason knocked out Carolina and 06. You heard me correct, people. Hit the 15 second rewind button and listen to that. Sad again. That was one of the more surprising ones I saw the entire day. Florida is the second team in the tournament ever, ever to win a game by 50 or more points and proceed to lose the next game. You ready for this? The only other team to do this was Kansas in 98. Both schools beat Prairie View A and M and then lost in the very next round. Chinyelu not having any kind of an impact in this game was obviously notable. How about Florida getting leveled on the boards by Iowa was the number one team in the country and rebound margin at plus 15. The two teams did not have a plus minus on each other. They both wound up with the same number of boards in this game. And then how about this credit to our CBS Sports research team on this game. Winning field goal in the final five seconds of an NCAA tournament game against a reigning national champion. It happened here tonight. It's only happened three times in history. Vic Rouse did it for Loyola Chicago, which one beat Cincinnati in 63. That Loyola Chicago team went on to win a national title. Arkansas US read in 81 over Louisville. That's one of the most famous shots ever. It's the beyond half court winner. There really is a case that that's the greatest buzzer beater in the history of the tournament. Over the rain champs Louisville and then here Folgaris against Florida. The other two happened as time expired 4.5 on the clock here. But rare, rare, special, special stuff. I also got to mention and I think Josh has a photo here of, of COOPER Koch in 99 when Iowa went to the Sweet 16. J.R. koch was on that team. School's gone 27 years since. And how about the fact that they in part like they fired Fran because it had kind of run his course. McCaffrey did a good job. He had, he had a national player of the year in Garza and he had, you know, multiple lottery picks but they couldn't break through to a sweet 16 and it's. It's a lesson learned that if you can go get the right guy, you can turn the thing right instantly. And the fact that they are in the sweet 16 in year one for him is just phenomenal. And on this roster is Cooper Koch. And in this game, he was a pivotal figure. Starting freshman guard goes for 12 points. It's four threes. And then afterward, father and son embracing. If you're watching the YouTube here, this is the best. Man. That is an awesome, awesome, awesome story. So, Iowa fans, I truly don't know the last time you led the pod. I'm reluctant to say that it might have been a McCaffrey meltdown. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. But here you go. You got a coach that brought along players like Sturts and Banks to name, you know, among the most notable. But there's like five or six guys that are on this Drake team a season ago that are on this team now that came from the D2 ranks, and you're in the damn Sweet 16. It's awesome. Before we go on, I want to. I want to toss it back to you, Sam, you go. Anything else on the game, period. McCollum, golden, the floor is yours. Just any. Any final touches on this before we keep it moving?
- [21:58]
Sam Finkelstein
No, I'm good, honestly. Like, I again would just note, I think Ben McCollum is probably one of, like, I'll be conservative. I think he's probably one of the 10 best coaches in the country. From an X's and O's.
- [22:10]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [22:10]
Sam Finkelstein
Like, in game perspective, a whole lot of other things go into building a program, recruiting, getting players, everything like that. Not sitting here saying He's a top 10 coach in the country overall. Right. But X's and O's in game. You mentioned earlier the NCAA tournament number, he's 35 and 8. When they lost to Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament, I think that was the first time that he'd lost a conference tournament game in like eight years or something crazy. Like these one game moments, these one game things that he has to prepare for. He's unbelievable at it.
- [22:50]
Gary Parrish
And to that point, I will put a bow on it with this. If you really wanted to see Todd flex his. Flex his jaw afterwards, it was when he was asked about. Ben made a comment about how he noticed something on film last night in Florida with, like, his 11th hour preparation that he could take advantage of it. Someone asked Todd about it, and you could. You could. Todd had a physical reaction to that question. So it was. It added to. To some of the theater from the game, everything you guys said and you
- [23:21]
Sam Finkelstein
know, this season started for Florida against Arizona and they lose to Arizona in that was it neutral site game where Coape just relentlessly short rolled in drop against Alex Condon who was playing drop coverage and just absolutely obliterated them in Xavian Lee. Alex Condon coverages. Right. It ends basically in the same way, I think that Iowa won that game in the first 27 minutes where they got up 12 or 14 points or something like that, where they did the same exact thing. They attacked the Condon Lee ball screen combination relentlessly. And you know, it's kind of, it's poetic in a bad way, I guess for Florida, unfortunately, took the words right
- [24:09]
Matt Norlander
out of Gary Paris's mouth for sure. Florida had a really, really good season. It's tough to repeat. It's so tough. And this, this reminder of how precious even sweets I'm not even talking final fours or early dates. Sweet 16 runs need to be cherished for that exact reason. Let's take a quick break and then after that, you know, we're going next St. John's over Kansas and a terrific second round game. First quick word from our partners. Getting everyone together to watch the game is fun until you realize you're running low on snacks right before halftime. That's why Shipped is there for you on game day. Whether going for that classic spread chips and diploma or mixing in even a few healthier options, I can, and so can you, order all the favorites for same day delivery to keep the party going. Especially now that March is here. And if that ship bowl is looking suddenly too empty, no stress. Just place another order and it shows up the same day. Shipt makes last minute hosting so much easier. You can get snacks, party supplies, decorations and more delivered from nearby stores. I'm talking grocery runs from places like Safeway or Albertsons, party decor from Michaels or even a quick Target order, all while you're getting ready for guests. With Shipt, you can order same day delivery on groceries, gifts, and so much more. And shoppers are known for incredible attention to detail and care. Plus, with an annual Shipt membership, you get unlimited orders, zero delivery fees on orders over $35, exclusive deals, and even the option to request your favorite shoppers again. Download the app or order@shipped.com that's s h I p t.com spring always gets
- [25:42]
GP (Guest Producer or Host)
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- [26:59]
Producer Josh
All right Norlander, we're settling this right now. We're doing a pizza topping draft.
- [27:04]
Matt Norlander
A full on Pizza Draft. Two Loaded Pizza builds just 9.99 each with Domino's best deal ever. I am ready GP all right, I'll go first.
- [27:13]
Producer Josh
Let's go. Handmade pan crust, pepperonis, extra cheese, jalapenos, onions and garlic parmesan sauce please.
- [27:20]
Matt Norlander
Garlic parmesan sauce. Okay, I'm going thin crust, red sauce, spinach. You know what, give me some banana peppers too. Thin crust. It's the four seed of all pizzas. I stand by it.
- [27:32]
Producer Josh
See, this is why this deal is perfect. Everyone gets exactly what they want.
- [27:36]
Matt Norlander
Especially for a watch party. You can build all the large pizzas you need, customize each and every single one and keep the whole crew happy for just 9.99 each.
- [27:44]
Producer Josh
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- [28:13]
Matt Norlander
extra GP for the live audience there. I hope this.
- [28:16]
Sam Finkelstein
I'm just glad. I'm glad I got to hear him. I'm glad I got to see his face. It's beautiful.
- [28:20]
Matt Norlander
I am glad GP is. GP's in the stud so late folks. Again, like it just can't out. He did one night on Friday. He's gonna be on many of the next like five or six pods. Don't you shout out, shout out to
- [28:30]
Gary Parrish
that guy on X who is just crushing Sam and I though, like what, what are these two bozos? We're here for Norlander and Parish. So shout out to that guy.
- [28:39]
Matt Norlander
Hey, real ones, real ones. No, it's, it's all good. GP and I are scheduled to be back together, reunited once again for our Tuesday podcast. St. John's wins in the east region 67, 65 over Kansas. Dylan Darling, the darling of this tournament. A game winning layup as time expired. It is the first game winning buzzer beater shot of this tournament in the first since Crab 5 shouts to Derek Queen did it from Maryland over Colorado State. Also in the second round of last year's tournament, Darling set a record. He is the only player ever to hit a game winning shot in the tournament and have that shot be his only points in a game. A mind blowing stat. Johnny's dancing. First time sweet 16 stage since 99. Play the prince in your head. Seeking their first final four, of course since 85. Pitino now joins Lon Krueger and John Calipari as the only coaches to lead four schools to the Sweet 16. How about Rick Pitino having made a Sweet 16 in the 80s, 90s, 2000s, 2000s and 2000s. Only one coach has done it in more decades. Trivia time was the only coach to make it in six decades. Sweet 16. Either you can. Can you get it first? Who is it?
- [29:57]
Gary Parrish
Coach K. No.
- [30:00]
Sam Finkelstein
Oh, Adolph Rupp?
- [30:03]
Matt Norlander
No.
- [30:05]
Sam Finkelstein
Dean Smith? Like.
- [30:07]
Matt Norlander
No.
- [30:07]
Sam Finkelstein
Just going with the long term.
- [30:09]
Matt Norlander
Like I'll give you, I'll give you a hand. Like Bayheim. Yeah. Bayheim is the answer. He did it in six decades with the Q's. At least he better have. I saw that in our research earlier, so hopefully I'm not inventing a stat. That's not true. Patina was also the third oldest coach to get to the Sweet 16 at 73. K and Bayham were the only ones that were older. Let's get into the game and everything about it. Zubie Edge of four goes for 18, nine and four. St. John's hoists a season high 35 three pointers in this game. I was fascinated by the, by the game plan. There were long stretches, guys of this game, where it was rough. Capital R O U G H rough, or if you prefer R U F F rough because it was not fun for stretches. But between Zubi Hopkins, by the way, hit six triples, including a big one down the stretch. Johnny's wound up going 11 of 35. That equates to 31.4% from deep. Meanwhile, Peterson, 21 points, including the two freebies that actually put the game tied late when Kansas was closing the gap and we really might have had something there. Council had himself a nice night, but Trey White with just four Badunga. Some good, some not so good, not enough help there. I throw it to Fink first. There's a. There's a lot to get to on this game as well. So take it whatever direction you want. Winning side, losing side, final play, whatever it is, it's all you.
- [31:38]
Gary Parrish
Quick point on, on Hopkins, because you mentioned like six threes for a guy who shot 31% from behind the arc on the year, that wasn't expected. And then the final one, which was by design a flare, which is one of the toughest threes to take. And he knocked it down. Huge shot. I did think that Kansas, you know, one of the common themes in these most memorable moments is special situation, execution, you know, when the game comes down to a play or two. And I thought that Kansas mismanaged the clock when they had three fouls to give and it put him in a position where Marco Jackson was really alone on an island with Darling. Now, he didn't have a foul to give. His toes opened up about 10ft from the top of the key. Everyone was out of position to help, especially Melvin Council and Darren Peterson and the strong side of the floor, he just got beat. And I think there was too much time left on the clock because they mismanaged how they. They used those fouls to give and ultimately that. That ended up costing them the game.
- [32:38]
Sam Finkelstein
Look, I, I want to give St. John's a lot of credit here because I had some very real questions about how this team would generate offense in general throughout the course of the season. This is not a team that has an immense amount of shooting. I love the way that they utilize Zubie Eggio for in order to create some space, you know, with his versatility, his ability to step out and shoot. I think Dylan Darling has been outstanding for them. I know he had, you know, only two points. The two points being the two most Important points, but his passing, his decision making. You know, there were two guys in Joseon, Sanon and Ian Jackson that were certainly higher regarded transfers than Darling coming into the year. And Darling, I think has proven pretty clearly to be the one who is most important to their success. Coming from Idaho State. I think my biggest takeaway though is Kansas a little bit here and Norlander was giving me some early on because I. Before we started this, that is because I asked producer Josh shout out producer Josh for a number, for a stat. And it was purely. How many points per possession did Kansas have in the first half versus in the second half? In the first half they had 0.7 points per possession. In the second half they had 1.3 points per possession. And the reason that I asked that was because the thing that I noticed most was that Kansas this season finally decided to put the ball in Darren Peterson's hands more consistently as the primary playmaker. I think throughout the year, Bill Self, and there are reasons for this, like they're, you know, from his injuries, from the fact that the spacing gets a little bit wonky if you're playing Melvin Council off the ball, everything like that, I totally get it. But I think throughout the year he is played Darren Peterson off of the ball and asked him to run off of actions, run off of pin downs, run off of flares, whatever you want to do. A little bit more than what I would have expected after his senior season in high school at Prolific Prep. I mean, think you can, you know, probably more than I did. I thought that what made Darren the number one player in the country his senior year was the way that he improved as a ball screen, decision maker, playmaker, passer, driver to the rim. And again, I think that the injury sapped him the ability to drive. But I was pretty stunned throughout the course of the year that it took up until this second half for Bill just to say, all right, I'm taking my foot off the break and I'm just giving this guy the ball and letting him rock. And I think that, you know, a huge reason why Kansas came back in this game and why we're sitting here looking at them averaging 1.3 points per possession against an awesome St. John's defense in the back half of the year was that they let Darren rock with the ball in his hands. And I do wonder if Bill Self might end up kicking himself a little bit for not being willing to do that a little bit earlier.
- [35:42]
Matt Norlander
Go ahead, Frank.
- [35:43]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, I'll just speak to that real quick because I, I agree I do suspect it had a lot to do with the injuries though because I think that was always the plan to put the ball in his hands and, and I won't go down the rabbit hole. Of all the ways in which we still know Darren Peterson isn't 100% like even today, you know, there's a long list. The, the elevation, the, the start stop, all that stuff. And we could, Sam and I could talk about that for 20 minutes. We won't. But the bottom line is he doesn't look to me like he's 100 even now. And so I think that, I think that the decision to move him off the ball was to try and I assume it was rooted in trying to save him as much as they could. But to Sam's point, completely agree. Coming into the year I envisioned him as an on ball player as I do moving forward as well.
- [36:35]
Matt Norlander
Still some weird stuff down the stretch with Peterson and yeah, I agree. I think we all got to agree that he is just not operating at 100. That's just the reality of it. I think Bill Self went about as far as he could publicly and wanted to with just speaking what it was. Like I said this on HQ earlier. I don't know if Kansas has a program had a 10 day stretch where everyone was rowing in the same direction and everything was going the way they wanted to go, playing the way they wanted to play. And, and here you've got a KU program has again failed to reach the Sweet 16. This is now four tournaments in a row. The program hasn't made it to the second weekend of the tournament. That hasn't happened since the early 1980s and they won a title in 2022. Well earned, hard fought, good team, fun team. But that's the only tournament in the past seven where Kansas got to at least a sweet 16. It is lost to a worst seeded team in each of the last six tournaments it's played in. That's the big picture stuff down the stretch over the past month. This was a bad offensive team in fact. Now let me check this in real time here. So Kansas 117.6 adjusted offensive efficiency, 59th in the country. He hasn't had a team. There's the, the biggest irony with everything here is that Self has not had a team that was this inefficient, frustrating to watch overall offensively. And I know the past two teams haven't been great either. They haven't. This, this team was right there with it and you'd have to go back well over, well over A decade at this point. Just, just weird it was. And they like they played tight near the end and the, and the win Friday or I guess that was. Yeah, that was Fry. Was that really Friday? It was Friday and I wasn't on the show Friday. That was a GP and Cobb special. But even after, like John Henson said on hq, he's like, look what, look at the team right now. He's like, I'm not going to overanalyze, but when teams win close games in the tournament and they're doing these whole like on cam post game interviews, one guy's talking and everyone's having fun behind him and everyone was just flat stone faced on Kansas now maybe they were a little shell shocked with cbu. And I'm saying, I'm not saying all that carried over to the St. John's thing, but just a kind of a weird season for Kansas and, and ultimately something of a letdown. And the weird stuff about the game was I bring back up this box score real quick. St. John's earned the win. Thank God that that backcourt wasn't a factor. We've had like five instances in the tournament where officials are missing like blatant stuff. Can we get rid of this for the rest of the. Like some of the stuff isn't mattering in the ultimate verdict of the game. But still, like that would have been a thing had Kansas won and it wasn't a backcourt. The ball got deflected. I'm digressing here. See, let's see. Kansas was better from the foul line. It was better from 3 point range. It was better from 2 point range. It was better field goal wise. It had more boards. Geez, man. And then turnovers. Ah, that's where it is. Eight to 16. So Johnny said eight turnovers. Kansas had 16. That kind of, that kind of did them in. Kansas had nine blocks in the game to, to St. John's eight. Just an ugly game that turned into a riveting game. And then Darling with, with the play at the end and saving them after Ku went on, I think, guys, a 239 run and really, really had the game flipping in one particular direction. We do have Patino on Darling and the winner. Josh, let's hear this real quick because this was maybe, maybe there's been a lot of good quotes. Maybe this was the best quote of the entire weekend.
- [40:10]
Bennett Sturts
Here's the amazing thing and the funniest thing I've ever been involved with. So we're going to run a play and. But they got fouls to give. And Bells comes up to me and says, run power, which is a high back screen pick and roll. So I walk away. I said, okay, power walk away and said, wait a second. He hasn't scored a bucket and he wants to run a play for himself. And I'm thinking as I'm walking, I said, said, but he's Bells. And not only did he do it, he went with his right hand. So real proud of him because to want the ball when you haven't made a shot is unbelievable. So both of these guys had a major impact in us winning tonight. I'm so happy for St. John's and the fans. We had great fans out here and we get to go to D.C. and I'm just so jubilant, so happy for the fellows. We've taken another step now, so it's just awesome. Proud of our guys and now it's just starting. The fund's just starting.
- [41:14]
Matt Norlander
That. That's a really good quote. Patina was a gangster. J. Wright level, non reaction when the game was won. Great stat here from St. John's in the first 117 seasons of St. John's the team won 30 games twice and they've done that and matched in the past two years under Pitino. We'll have more on St. John's obviously heading into later in the week. One more thing for you guys here, Josh. Let's play the clip from self post game. Let's talk. Let's just talk self real quick. He was asked about his future and here's what he said. Well, I haven't really gone through much on the court. You know, I've gone through some stuff off the court. So I'll get back and get with family and visit and see what's going on. I love what I do, you know, I need to be able to do it where I'm feeling good and healthy to do it, you know, fairly well. So I'll get back home and it'll all be discussed. Fink, you go first.
- [42:14]
Gary Parrish
It's the first time we've ever heard him acknowledge that this future was at all uncertain. So I, I think that's something, you know, we'll see what happens. But it's the first time, you know, he's ever said anything, you know, it's usually like, yeah, I feel great. I'm ready to go. That was, that was a different answer. I think that's notable. I don't, I don't want to, you know, I don't want to speculate on, on what else it could Mean, but I. I do know it's the first time he said anything that. That sounded that uncertain before.
- [42:48]
Sam Finkelstein
Well, and, you know, I want Bill Self around for as long as possible. College basketball is better when Bill Self is involved. Like, despite the fact that I just laid some, you know, minor criticism of what I wanted to see from them this year, I still think that Bill Self is one of the best coaches in the entire country. Undeniably so. It would be terrible if he decides to leave. I guess that where I would pivot this to Matt is obviously he brings Jacques Vaughn back to the staff recently. Jacques Vaughn is a former NBA coach. I wasn't really a fan of what Jacques Vaughn did when he was in the NBA, if I'm being completely honest. From a scheme perspective, from a lot of different perspectives. I mean, you're the coaching newsbreaker, certainly, among the three of us here. What are your thoughts on what that would look like if. If something like this was to happen?
- [43:44]
Matt Norlander
All right, we can be relatively quick on this because we still have a lot to go, and Monday is going to be a noisy day on the carousel. Just get ready Monday.
- [43:53]
Gary Parrish
And I think Matt just said, pass.
- [43:55]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, there's just a lot more coming. Like, there's just. There's a lot that's going to be happening over the next 48 hours. Some of the stuff is kind of out there and some of it isn't, but be ready for that. It will be a busy day on Monday, for sure. So Self was on the podcast and I asked him if he was going to coach, not just like next year, but, you know, in the next couple of years, and he gave a similar answer to what you heard. But if you actually go back and listen to what Self said on this podcast versus what he just said there after the game, keep in mind he just got knocked out of the tournament. Okay. And it's a very emotional thing in the moment there. It's a different tone. I will say that there has been an increase in speculation over the past two to three weeks in the industry about whether or not this would wind up being the last season for Bill Self. I don't know if it will be. I. I would lean more no than yes at this point, but who the heck knows? He has had to deal with the heart stuff on multiple occasions, obviously. But he has said he has felt better than he has felt in a long time. I hope he sticks around. My read on the entire situation is Jacques Vaughn would obviously be involved in that coaching search, but I do not. I am not of the impression that he would be the overwhelming front runner to be the next coach at Kansas. As things stand right now, as always, sit and wait and see. And we'll wait on a timeline with all of that. The fact that this is now kind of lingering out there in the air also makes it interesting in that most people expect Hubert Davis to not be the coach at North Carolina anymore. And so now you've got the situation where two of the four, four best jobs in college basketball could not, will, could open in relatively close proximity to each other. But if that does happen, like Carolina's train is, you know, three, four, five, six metaphorical hours ahead of the Kansas one, if that even happens. So we'll see on that. GP and I will talk on a lot of coaching stuff eventually at some point. The self stuff, though, obviously ramps up a lot, all the more because of how prestigious that job is. Let's keep it moving. We have more to do. No shot we're getting this done in under an hour. We have another break, but I'm told for our viewing audience, we will not see Gary Parish right now. Josh, fired away.
- [46:05]
Producer Josh
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- [47:20]
Matt Norlander
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- [47:48]
Sam Finkelstein
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- [47:50]
Matt Norlander
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- [48:44]
Producer Josh
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- [48:53]
Matt Norlander
It is time for that weekend Whip Around. Let's go and talk about everything else that happened on Sunday. We'll start in the Midwest where second seated Iowa State disposed of number seven Kentucky 82 63. Kentucky got down early. Excuse me? Iowa State got down early. 10. Got to have 10 in the first half. No Joshua Jefferson this game, but Tamon Lipsey goes off 26 points, 10 assists, five steals, has a career high in scoring, tied his career high and assists and and played really, really well. Kentucky went on a drought to end the first half. Iowa State was leading at the half despite shooting less than 30% from the field, 20% from three. And it was not looking good for Kentucky then and there. And then we saw what happened in the second half they dropped 51 points. They were plus 18 on Kentucky. They shot 63.3% from the field overall and hit half of their three point shots. Congrats to TJ Altzelberger. Congrats, Iowa State fans. Iowa fans, everyone in the state of Iowa celebrate. You got plenty of reason to. OTS has brought this program to three Sweet 16s in five seasons. The program overall only has seven Sweet 16s to its name. Extremely impressive. Sam, I go to you first takeaways on the game.
- [50:03]
Sam Finkelstein
Yeah, I mean I don't really have a ton to be honest. Like I just felt like they totally suffocated Kentucky defensively, especially in that second half. I mean I know that I think they scored maybe a couple more points in the second half than they did in the first, but it just felt like they were like a cobra, constricting every single aspect of what Kentucky wanted to do on offense. And then shout out to Saban Lipsey. I've really loved Lipsey, you know, throughout the last couple of years, particularly of his college career. Unbelievable distributor, unbelievable playmaker for his teammates. Obviously doesn't shoot it wildly well from three, but steps up in drills three of six from three in this game has long been one of the best perimeter point of attack defenders that you'll find in the country and you know, ends up with five steals in this game against a team in Kentucky that didn't really have a great point guard option this season. I don't think that you can ignore the fact that Lipsy had five seals against this Kentucky team particularly.
- [51:04]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, that that was going to be my point. The and again we've talked a lot about this like with whatever the number was, reportedly 22 million that Kentucky spent on their roster to only bring in one true point guard on that roster. I think is is just was the fatal flaw as well. You know, you could talk about whether or not they should invest in someone like Jayden Quaint who's got the acl, but the lack of redundancy at the point guard position I thought was really inexcusable from a roster construction standpoint. Jalen Lowe gets hurt and you basically have no point guards. And against an Iowa State defense that prides themselves on being able to turn you over. This was not a good matchup for them. That's the way it played out. And then in addition to Lipsey being great mom Chalovich was Really good to 20 points, 6 of 12 shooting 4 of 9 from behind the 3 point line and you saw a little bit of like that JV mini Dirk Nowitzki stuff that he was actually known for in high school. I don't think many people realized that like those one legged step backs. That was kind of like that was his game back in the day. So. So kind of a give them credit without Joshua Jefferson. But this was a bad matchup for Kentucky and it showed.
- [52:12]
Matt Norlander
Let's have the Mark Pope discussion relatively quick here. This was tied for the largest blown lead of Kentucky season. They actually got up by as many as 12. They did the same thing against A and M earlier this month. Kentucky has failed. How about this one? Kentucky has failed to reach the elite eight. This is obviously on Pope. This goes back to Cal has not made the elite Eight six straight seasons. That that's the longest stretch in the history of the program. That just speaks to the power of Kentucky basketball. This was tied for the second largest loss in the history of the school. 19. So it's 19. It's not 29. It's not, it's not 32. But still it's a big number and had 20 turnovers in this game. Kentucky hadn't turned the ball over that many times in the game since December of 20th, the COVID year. That team was awful. They did it against Georgia Tech. The the ion college basketball podcast Twitter account put out a poll that asked users to grade Mark Pope as a coach through two seasons at Kentucky, not just this season and in real time. Right now. I'm going to read you the results of this and then Fink, you can go first. I want an exact grade. You can use a plus or minus if you so choose. The leading vote 50 is anywhere in the C, C plus, C or C minus. Number two is D plus or worse. Kentucky fans very online. I don't think you can make that case. Third place is B or B minus. And then just 3.8 of the vote was the A to B plus range. Great Mark Pope on the whole through two seasons think
- [53:38]
Gary Parrish
I think you know, maybe B minus for me but my biggest concern is roster construction. You know, Mark Pope the coach, you know, I think that's been fine. You know we could, we could debate the nuances of that but. But I think that his rosters have been flawed and to have 13 bodies and one point guard and you know, maybe you're most, you know, expensive player be someone who wasn't able to play all year long. There's been a lot of talk about general managers. I think some of that is like I'm not sure that when people talk about that they understand the variances and what like GMs do. You know, it's. It's a title that is common and a role that can vastly change. But it's clear to me that they, you know, could use some help with roster construction. And if and when that happens, I think we'll have a better be able to better assess the coach that that is, that is in charge of that talent. But he just had a flawed roster this year.
- [54:39]
Matt Norlander
Great for Pope.
- [54:40]
Sam Finkelstein
Yeah. And in that vein, so I, I would say like a C or something like that. I think right around where the consensus was to Fink's point on a general manager or something. It's been rumored at the very least reported I think in some places that Keegan Brown, the video coordinator of the Milwaukee Herd, who was with BYU during Mark Pope's time, maybe joining Kentucky in some sort of quote unquote, front office role to Finks point again, general manager jobs are so different around the country. Some of them are fundraisers, some of them are genuine roster builders. Some of them are, you know, agents like, like Jim Tanner at UNC is like an agency person who's a relationships person. Right. So these things vary across the board. What I would say is that Keegan Brown is a basketball person, so I would imagine he would be involved in helping to build the roster. At the very least, that's the key to me, I have no idea how they ended up with this roster, to be honest with you. When I talk to teams across the country right now about this upcoming off season season, people will bring up Kentucky as an example of what not to do right now from a roster construction perspective in a lot of different ways. Like first and foremost, they will say that the players that they brought in didn't really necessarily match the scheme that Mark Pope wants to run. That's a huge portion of going to get really good players. You got to make sure they fit what you want to do. Second, they will bring up spending in the middle class of player, right. Spending a very large number to go get Denzel Aberdeen, who was a bench player at Florida on their national title year. Going to get Dubate from Alabama. Going to get a number of these players that are, you know, somewhere between the 4th and 7th best player on a Kentucky roster, in all likelihood spending large numbers to go get them. That is, I think that what we see at the end of the day in this off season is probably teams start paying a premium for the elite level players that end up transferring and that are trying to be retained by their rosters. As well. And that middle class ends up not being quite as aggressively pursued in the same way due to, you know, Kentucky, as an example, this season, not necessarily being able to bring it.
- [57:15]
Matt Norlander
Pope has in the first two seasons. I'm a little more kind on the grade than you guys. I'd go B, maybe B minus 3 seed last year, sweet 16, 24 wins, 7 seed this year, 22 wins, 1 tournament games in both. It's Kentucky. The standard is higher. They paid more for the roster than anyone in the country. I get that. See what we do in year three, some Kentucky fans are going to want to put him on the hot seat. This is a purely objective standpoint. And at Kentucky fans, I get you. Like, you're. You're so invested, and that's what makes that fan base incredible. When you say a coach is on the hot seat entering a season, to me, that definition means if this coach does not make the NCAA tournament, he's out. Personally, even with the athletic director change. If you tell me a year from now, Pope has not made the tournament, it's going to be scorching hot. I am. I would stop short right here, right now, saying they would fire him after year three. As always, these things sometimes take on very interesting perspectives and temperatures when that happened. But I cannot imagine them firing him if he didn't make the tournament next year after year three as an alum and. And with multiple NCAA tournament wins really on his resume in year one, year two.
- [58:17]
Sam Finkelstein
Yeah, Matt, it would be insane if they don't fire him if they miss the NCAA tournament. Really. Like, you're Kentucky. You have all the money in the world, and I think, like, if you start to read between the lines of kind of what he was saying a little bit, and I've seen a couple of little things. I don't know that they're gonna have this much money this summer necessarily.
- [58:38]
Matt Norlander
You would think they would, but.
- [58:39]
Sam Finkelstein
Yeah, but at the same token, man, like, you're Kentucky if You miss the NCAA tournament after spending $22 million or whatever the number was, and you end up failing to get past the round of 32. And frankly, this. This season was not enjoyable for Kentucky fans. I don't think they didn't play an enjoyable brand of basketball. It seemed like the fans didn't enjoy really watching the team, frankly. Honestly, when I listen to Mark Pope, like, in press conferences and stuff, like, I'm. I've got questions. I'm just gonna say, like, totally fair.
- [59:12]
Matt Norlander
It's totally, totally fair. I tend to be a little more Lenient on this stuff. I'm not saying it wouldn't happen. I, I would lean that.
- [59:19]
Gary Parrish
I think, I think he. 10 seconds. I think he would tell you that is unacceptable at Kentucky. Oh, yeah, I think he would say missing the tournament is unacceptable. I think he would hold himself to a higher standard.
- [59:30]
Matt Norlander
I think the price tag. This is a classic example of a number gets out. Pope has yet to deny the 22 million, by the way. He has never said that is not true. He has never said it and he could have easily said it. So that tells you all we need to know. But he has had his team wearing home whites with a sweet 16 and with wins in both seasons. So it could be much worse if you're Kentucky, but I understand the standard there. We see what happens next. Let's keep it moving and sorry, Kentucky fans, I'm about to talk Tennessee. Tennessee beats Virginia 79, 72 in the Midwest region. Rick Barnes has taken the falls to four consecutive Sweet 16s. Before he got there, they had never gone to more than two in a row. Good job out of him. This was a quality game. Tennessee was able to hold onto the rope throughout the entirety of it. That was quite impressive overall. And you know, to me, one of the, one of the things about this Tennessee team that I've kind of been up on, been down on, I think it's impressive that they were able to get here. They, they, they, they, you know, they outlive seed expectation. Amen's been solid. I'm still not as high on him as a lot of folks and we do not need to dive into draft talk right now. Gillespie for me has always been the guy he was. That again, Bishop Boswell is, is someone that I keep coming back to with this Tennessee team as, as a guy who just feels so critical to them, unlocking their potential and being a spoiler in this game in particularly at 13 points, nine assists. He's a 6, 4 hoss. Only three boards, but I love what he does and I think Estrella is also coming along pretty well. Virginia ends the season 30 and 6. Year one under Ryan Odom. Tester Ritter had himself a nice game. They had some botch plays, some missed shots. The Jakari White three from the corner attempt, I, I thought that was going to be online. Wasn't close. They don't get it done. That's all for me on this game, but I do want to hear from both of you guys. Think you go first.
- [61:18]
Gary Parrish
Jacoby Gillespie is, is way better than the average fan realizes. He's one of the best point guards in college basketball. And you don't. I will admit I didn't have a full appreciation for it until I saw him live. And I was like, oh no, like, like, you know, to your point about Nate and the, the draft stuff, like, yeah, whatever that is. But Jacoby's the guy and he. And I think as the years gone on, they've diversified their attack. They have five guys in double figures today. I think thought that was critical. Bought into the defensive identity of Rick Barnes as well. So that's the good. The bad is that Virginia put themselves in a position to win the game and then, I mean they just got tight, man. You know, I mean 12 missed layups in the game, two in the last couple of minutes, couple of air balls, couple of sh. Clock violations, turnovers. It was, you know, you hope these games, somebody wins it. I think unfortunately today Virginia just lost it in the last couple of minutes that they, they. There were a lot of mistakes down the stretch.
- [62:18]
Sam Finkelstein
Jakari White is a 43% three point shooter who got a wide open corner three. Nobody within eight feet of him probably. And he airballed it. I, my jaw was on the floor when that like I couldn't believe it when that happened. And yeah, I feel for Jakari White in such a real way on the Tennessee side. I'm so glad that Fink brought up Jacoby Gillespie. I think he's undeniably like the player in the country that, you know, might not be respected enough by fans. The way that he runs that team, the way that he can score, he can distribute, he takes on whatever hat Tennessee needs from him on a night to night basis. Bishop Boswell again. Norlander, you're on it. I think his defensive ability I think is really high level. The passing really stood out tonight. Nine assists with no turnovers and I will shout out Felix Akbara as well on the interior four blocks. He's a terrific defender. Unfortunately, my darling Ohio State Buckeyes could not, not hold on to him. But I really enjoy, have enjoyed the way this Tennessee team with all of its depth, with everything it has, it's just kind of figured out how to win games under Rick Barnes again.
- [63:32]
Matt Norlander
Vols fans, we're going to talk plenty about your team for the rest of the week here, but we are getting late and I got a few more games to mention. But I'll give you one more nugget if you want it. How about this? 50 points, 15 plus assists entering the Sweet 16. Since 1985, three players have done it. Billy Donovan in 87 they made the Final Four. Kemba Walker. In 2011 they won the title. Jacoby Gillespie. Good stuff there. Virginia. Yeah. Arrows going in the right direction. Didn't live up to seize expectation here, but got it done. Ryan Odom's got that moving and he's a really smart coach and I think they got one for the long haul there. Let's talk Yukon over UCLA out in the east 73.57. Cronin got a T. I don't think it was a legit tee. Alex Caravan. How about Alex cariban in game147 I believe getting his career high at 27 in this one there. No Tyler Billido for UCLA. Quite clearly a major factor there. We did see Stewart and Demery play off the bench. Demery played 22 minutes. They were able to contain Dent just a little bit. This was a competitive game for about the first 65 of it. And hello Yukon, back where you know you belong. Into the second weekend at minimum for the third time in a four year span. The Huskies by the way have never lost to a seven seed in their program's history. Dan Hurley gets it done. Caravan and then Reed Reed combined for. Combined for what? 41 points and 40 boards. Or I might have those numbers flipped on the inverse. The last time a player had at least 40 points and 40 rebounds in the first two games of a tournament was Duncan and 97 with Wake Forest. So they are feeling quite good about themselves. And all the more impressive for UConn they did this solo ball was a non factor and has not been good in the first two games. That cannot happen over the next two games. Otherwise UConn will not get out of that Eagle East Regional semi or final. But Sam, you're up. Yukon. Yeah, the sweet sixteen. What's your. What's your prognosis here?
- [65:21]
Gary Parrish
As.
- [65:21]
Matt Norlander
As they go two. Two games without too much resistance.
- [65:24]
Sam Finkelstein
Just. Just a few notes here. So first and foremost I think that. Think you know, having watched Alex Caravan probably from the time that he was in eighth grade in the Northeast, right In New England. Alex Haraban was a quiet kid. Kid, right. He was a kid that was just very low key. He's a super, super smart kid. I think he's like an accounting major who's like working on his masters or his. Has his masters by now. Awesome human being. Awesome kid. Was very, very quiet. Was like not a guy that was all that demonstrative as a leader coming into this season. I think the thing that has stood out most to me with Alex Caravan is how he's taken on that leadership role. He's taken on that. That emotional bellwether almost for UConn. When I watch them, he's popping the jersey, he's screaming at the fans. He's taking on that responsibility that Dan Hurley loves to get the fans engaged in the game. I think it's. I think it's a huge part of what their success has been, has been Alex Caraban's step into that leadership role after, you know, couple of seasons where he just wasn't that guy. So, you know, the 27 points are great. The, you know, 22 that he had against Furman, amazing. The leadership is what really stands out to me with Alex Caravan to that point.
- [66:43]
Gary Parrish
The timing of the points were huge because UConn trailed for the majority of the first half until he really got it going. It was the threes. It was also some of his. You know, he's really good at attacking closeouts and straight lines. He got a tough offensive put back. And contextually, it's important, too, because Solo and Braylon couldn't make a shot the first half. Silas didn't start. UCLA was sending the second defender at Terrace before the catch because he's so good at sealing the score before. You know, that's like Yukon's. They don't usually throw it to him and say, let him go to work. They do occasionally, but their best offense for him is when they draw something up to get him a catch and finish angle based on the right seal. UCLA took that away. So Alex really needed to step up. And he did also have to shout out Jaden Ross. Jaden Ross was huge, particularly at that same point in the first half. He made a couple of big, big threes, and he also upgrades the team defensively because with Solo, it's not just the fact that he's in a little bit of a shooting slump, it's that, you know, when he hurts you defensively as well, it's. It's double trouble. I do think his wrist hasn't been right all year long, but Jaden Ross was. Was huge in this one. I do share your sentiment, though, Matt. Like, they. They've got to get. They've got to get Solo and Braylon for that matter. He picked it up a little bit in the second half, but those guys have got to make shots for them to. To keep marching on here.
- [68:01]
Matt Norlander
And we got a quick clip on Cronin. And again, my. My Internet is slow, so I think this is going to play and I'm not even going to Hear it by the time it's done. Nevertheless, he was asked something in the post game. All transparency or I was on the TV desk doing segments. So I have not even heard this yet. Josh, go ahead and play it. The question the answer from Cronin after
- [68:18]
Sam Finkelstein
the loss, like anything needs to change with the approach, roster construction or the way you're.
- [68:23]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, I have no right now I'm working, worried about tonight, consoling the guys.
- [68:29]
Sam Finkelstein
We'll stay here in the front row.
- [68:31]
Matt Norlander
I'd like about five more million. There's my answer. I actually did hear that in real time. At least he was honest there. No, no slandering of the airline situation from the NCAA this season. That was a. That was a quote last year that might have brought me to tears on the podcast. Cronin's not wrong about that. He had money to play with. But everyone wants five more million. UCLA heads on home. Let's keep it moving. Arizona gets it done over Utah State to the tune of 78, 66 out there in the West. Utah State gave him a good fight. They did, but it was asking just a little bit too much and speaks to Arizona's capabilities defensively. When you look at false 11 Collins, they combined for 20 points and they made what, seven shots and 26 attempts. Something like that. 25 attempts. Good job. Adizona. Getting it done. Star of the game, I guess, Jaden Bradley. But Crevis also was really. I mean, it's just Arizona, like pick your poison. Pete had some moments. Bradley was good, Karchenkov was good. Defensively, Burry's had a huge three down the stretch there. Arizona moving on to the regional semis. I'll be seeing them in person, so plenty more from the Wildcats on me. This is now a fourth trip in five seasons to the Sweet 16 for Zona under Lloyd. Here's a nugget for you. The only other coach ever to make a sweet 16 or better in four of his first five D1 seasons that's a head coach, is Steve Laven. How about that Big time night on the boards for Arizona. Sam, thoughts on the game real quick.
- [69:53]
Sam Finkelstein
Yeah, I mean, like you said, they come in waves. At the end of the day, if it's not Ivan Karchenkov, it's Mo Creavis. If it's not Braden Buries, it's co opied, right? They have the deepest roster 1 through 7 in the entire country. And that's why they're my title pick. They can go big, they can go small. They have all the flexibility in the world. I've loved watching Braden Bird series step up into a more primary role and they have the ultimate closer and Jaden Bradley. So you know, I think this seems just going to be exceptionally difficult to beat and I think that what makes them different because that will be the question now moving forward for Arizona fans and for people across the country is what makes this different than the past where Tommy Lloyd has not been able to get to the final four. I think that it's the versatility, the different ways that they can beat you on a different night depending on what the matchup is that they're facing.
- [70:43]
Gary Parrish
Arizona had a 50% offensive rebounding rate tonight. They got 16 of 32 possible offensive rebounds. They shot. They shot 27 of 39 from the free throw line. Conversely, Utah got there 11 times. That was the game that that's that math is unbeatable and they're starting five. Everybody contributed. Braden Bury 16 and 9. Mo Crevas 11 and 14, Coapeat 14 and 10 and Jayden Bradley to Sam's point was cold early. Really, really got it going late. I think it's as simple as that.
- [71:14]
Matt Norlander
And Jared Calhoun, barring a stunner has coached his last game there. Expected to be the guy next up at Cincinnati. I doubt we get through Monday without that becoming a thing. So consider that a story before it's an actual story. Good on him. Really good coach. That's a homecoming. And Utah State now has to go find the next really good coach to run its program. Alabama beat Texas Tech 90 to 65 hand up. We were running live for a bit here on hq. This game was a stinker. I I just did not have eyes on this game for the majority of the evening. I didn't need to 19 made threes. Alabama at a cool 1.30 PPP here right cell with 24 points. Aiden Cherelle had himself a pretty a solid night I guess I I saw a couple tweets on him. He was apparently impressive. All I know is this game got out of hand early and Texas Tech unfortunately its season comes to an end at 23 and 11 no topping Anderson was was held to seven points here. I I got almost nothing for you on this game just because of all the stuff I was doing on the on the TV desk. Bama has made 31 threes in the tournament. They're one shy of the 90 loyal American team for the most of the first two game two rounds of a tournament with 32 and oh by the way NATO has this team in the Sweet 16 for a four straight year. Just like Barnes in Tennessee. That is a school record. He also has more tournament wins than any coach in program history. By winning tonight, he passed the tie with Wim Sanderson. Sam, you up?
- [72:44]
Sam Finkelstein
Well, Matt, you might not have a lot on this game, but I have a trivia time.
- [72:48]
Matt Norlander
I couldn't be less ready. Go ahead.
- [72:51]
Sam Finkelstein
In the last seven games of the year prior to this game, so the games without J.T. toppin, Texas Tech allowed a hundred in 16.5 points per 100 possessions. What would that have ranked nationally this season?
- [73:10]
Matt Norlander
You go first, Fink.
- [73:12]
Gary Parrish
I was just saying I hate it. I'm so glad I don't have to answer these questions on Sam's pod. I got no clue. 250th, I will say.
- [73:24]
Matt Norlander
I'm gonna say that's a cool 274.
- [73:28]
Sam Finkelstein
306th is where that would rank and it's only going to go down from here. So they just never figured out a way to defend without J.T. toppin. You know, just from a depth perspective, this team didn't have a crazy amount of it once Toppin was gone. The fact that they got through Akron and got to the round of 32 without Toppin, I think it was kind of a win at the end of the day. So kudos to Grant McCasland, kudos to, you know, that entire staff and you know, certainly Christian Anderson for the incredible year he had. It's just that ultimately they didn't have the juice at the end.
- [74:05]
Matt Norlander
Anderson off to the NBA.
- [74:08]
Sam Finkelstein
Yes, there are some. There are some oil barons in West Texas that I refuse to doubt in races that may involve copious amounts of cash. I'm not saying anything correct. Shout out Paramount plus and shout out Landman. We all know Billy Bob's going to go in there and offer Christian Anderson God knows what amount of money that comes from. No inside information. I'm not sitting here saying that, you know, he has some sort of crazy offer on the table. I would imagine he does, but he's one of them where I look at it in a guard heavy draft and I go, probably leaves, but you never know.
- [74:47]
Matt Norlander
Okay, fair enough. Last game is. What's the first tip of the day? Purdue beats Miami, gets it done out in the West. 79, 69. Purdue was got a win here despite it was their first tournament win when trailing at halftime since 2010 had been that long since they had come overcome a halftime deficit. They have now made the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in the past nine tournaments. This was Painter's 500th win at Purdue as the head coach. Good on him. Braden Smith 12 points, 8 assists, had 8 turnovers. Fletcher Lawyer came to play. He was hot early and he had himself a night only one missed shot in total going for 24, his most ever in a tournament game. CJ Cox left the game with what was described as a hyper extended knee. He says he should be good for the game against Texas and the regional semis out there in San Jose. We'll, we'll see on that. Purdue's offense is absolutely humming, folks. They have shot at least 50% from the field, 50 from 3 and 95 from the foul line in the NCAA tournament in this game and that match 2003 Marquette it matched 2002 Yukon in 1996 Syracuse to do that in a single game. Big time stuff there. Think any quick thoughts on on either side of it. Obviously a good year for Jay Lucas in year one a 19 win turnaround
- [76:02]
Gary Parrish
at the U. Yeah Jay Jay was phenomenal. Had a terrific year. I will say this. I I did not think Braden Smith played well. He's going to need to be better. 3 of 12 for the from the floor, 8 turnovers. Visibly frustrated. I thought that was masked by the shot making of Cox and Lawyer. And I also think just a quick note here. Trey KAUFMAN Ren had 19 and nine and man is that guy a good screener. I know I'm getting into the weeds here but normally you get a guy who like hits people when he screens and he's slow to roll. This guy hits people and he's quick to roll so he gets separation. He always gives you a numerical advantage. Then he's got that, that like short, short floater game too. So even though he can't stretch the floor because he's not a shooter, he, he always you know he gets you in a four on three or a two on one to play out of the short roll or whatever the case may be. But Braden Smith is going to need to be better particularly if we talk about a matchup with with Arizona next weekend.
- [76:56]
Sam Finkelstein
Yeah I mean look watched a little bit of this game. Not going to sit here and this
- [77:00]
Matt Norlander
was when Sam was sleeping in Australia
- [77:03]
Sam Finkelstein
by way the started at 3:15am Watched a little bit of it when I
- [77:08]
Matt Norlander
got I'm now an hour away from 3:15am by the way My goodness.
- [77:13]
Sam Finkelstein
I just want to call out Shelton Henderson. I really love the way he closed the year at Miami as well. 18 points 9 of 10 from the field to or 9 of 11 from the field today 8 rebounds, 4 assists. Monster defender, just super physical, super strong.
- [77:26]
Matt Norlander
Is he off to the league or is he going to come back?
- [77:28]
Sam Finkelstein
I think probably comes back because he really can't shoot. Shoot.
- [77:32]
Matt Norlander
Okay. And plus take advantage of a softer draft. Yeah, maybe, Pop. That's what I thought. But you guys, you guys know better than me, so.
- [77:37]
Sam Finkelstein
Yeah, terrific player. But I think probably goes back for one more year. You know, in Purdue, I mean, hey, they've won. What is that, six games in a row now including Big ten tournament. And they are rolling and won by
- [77:50]
Matt Norlander
an average of 14.5 points. Sam, by the way, sorry to chop in.
- [77:54]
Producer Josh
That was the weekend whip around brought to you by Dominoes. If you're settling in for a full slate of college basketball, it doesn't get better than Domino's. Best deal ever. Any pizza with any toppings for just 9.99. That's what I'm getting for game day. Shout out to Domino's for sponsoring prices higher in some locations. Select this Online only offer from 223 to 46 size. Availability varies by crust type. Max 7 toppings 6 for New York style and pan crust. Stuffed crust is extra. Excludes XL and specialty pizzas. Minimum purchase required for delivery prices, participation, delivery area and charges may vary.
- [78:27]
Matt Norlander
Barry, a couple of couple of segments then we'll get out of here. Boy, it is late Fink. I appreciate you staying up late, Sam. You're getting ready for dinner time. You're doing just fine. Now we're going to talk about tonight's most impactful performance in the same day delivery of the game brought to you by shipped your go to grocery delivery destination for anything you may need for game day. My most impactful performance is going to be tame. And Lipsey again 26 points, 8 of 15 from the field, 10 assists, 5 steals. Career high in points. He had only had 11 points in the previous two games. Now with no Joshua Jefferson in that spot lot for Iowa State, they get down early. Big time performance out of him. He's the third player with at least 25 points, 10 assists and five seals in a tournament game since assist became an official statistic. Bask back in 86. Anderson Hunt for UNLV did it 2023 Marquis Noel at the Garden.
- [79:14]
GP (Guest Producer or Host)
I was there.
- [79:14]
Matt Norlander
He did it as well and he was outstanding. He was the first player to get at least 2510 against Kentucky in a tournament game since Dwayne Wade did it in the famous triple double in the O3 tournament. I go Lipsy. You guys agree or you want to toss in another quick name. Real quick.
- [79:30]
Gary Parrish
Caravan's in a honorable mention.
- [79:32]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, that's fair. What about you, Sam?
- [79:34]
Sam Finkelstein
Yeah, Lipsy and Caravan were the two that I really felt like brought it today. I think Lipsy at the end of the day is probably the one that was the right call. So I'll, I'll agree with you, Matt. How about that?
- [79:44]
Matt Norlander
Okay, there we go. There we go.
- [79:46]
Gary Parrish
Ruben Chignello just missed.
- [79:48]
Matt Norlander
Okay. Yeah, exactly. Sweet 16 look ahead. So GP and I are going to get into this, but let's just our first initial thoughts on what we've got here by conference. Here's your rundown. Big Ten has six. That's a league record, by the way. SEC has four, Big 12 is three. Big east has two. ACC down to just one with Duke. We have nine teams in this year's Sweet 16 that were in last year's Sweet 16. That ties 2003 for the most year over year repeats for a sweet 16. And also for the second consecutive year, we have no mid majors in the Sweet 16. Every team that is represented comes from a power conference. That has never happened before in the history of the tournament. If you're curious on the teams that are back that were in this spot a year ago, Bama Zona, Arkansas, Duke, Houston, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue and Tennessee all made last year. Sweet 16 and this year, Sweet 16. Nebraska is the only school that's involved that has never been in the Sweet. Of course, it never won a tournament game until just a couple of nights ago. Meantime, we've got St. John's in Iowa back in here on this stage for the first time in 27 years. Really, really fun stuff. Fink floor is yours. First, your, your impressions on the sweet 16 and the two or three things. Take it in any direction you want that you are most intrigued by. With what, what's on the table with the regional semis.
- [81:11]
Gary Parrish
I said this last night on, on this show, but I'm going to double down. I love the way the first week went. We had enough upsets to make it interesting, but we got the big boys moving on to the second week and I think that's what makes it exciting when you can have enough of Cinderella to kind of, you know, scratch that itch. But then you get the matchups you really want. And heading into Indianapolis as a result. Particularly intriguing to me is Duke. St. John's that's the one that, that, that I'm looking forward to. Although I will also say that Houston Illinois is a close second to me. Those are going to be some Real. Those are both final forec caliber games in the. In the Sweet 16.
- [81:51]
Sam Finkelstein
Yeah. I'll be honest. The first. I would say the second and third days of the NCAA tournament this year were fine by tournament standards. Right. I really enjoyed the first day. I really enjoyed today. I thought today was an outstanding day. Basketball Day.
- [82:05]
Matt Norlander
3 Best game of the tournament though. Vandy's been the best. Best game. But it was. They were surrounded by some lesser stuff. But I hear you.
- [82:12]
Sam Finkelstein
Yeah. And the game I'm most looking forward to right now is Arizona. Arkansas. Because if there is one player that I think can deal with what Arizona is going to present to him defensively, I want to see what Darius Acuff can do because Arizona is going to take away the rim and they have some monster perimeter defenders in Ivan Karchenkov and Jaden Bradley that both can take on the Acuff matchup. But Acoff is a genuine three level scorer. He is somebody who can find shots in a variety of different ways, both on and off the ball, in ball screens or coming off of any sort of pin down. I'm genuinely fascinated to see how Darius Acuff is able to play against that Arizona defensive unit, against Mount Crevass, against some of the bodies that Arizona is going to be able to throw at him. Him defensively.
- [83:07]
Matt Norlander
I can't wait for that game. I have some region envy in that. I buy. You know, I booked my flights in hotels. I was asked to cover the West Regional like six weeks ago. I said yes, but the East Regional and we'll send most. We'll talk about this later in the week. That that might be the most loaded regional in a decade or more when you consider the teams, the coaches, the players, the storylines, the overall appeal. But we got good stuff across the board. I mean, corn on corn in the Iowa, Nebraska and Houston. You got three Big Ten teams going to Houston. In Houston's backyard ticket situation there is going to be insane. There's a lot of wonderful stuff here. Well, we might power rank the Sweet 16 matchups on Tuesday, Josh, let's try and make that happen. But there's a lot of tasty stuff. First weekend. Was it the best one ever? No, far from the worst. We didn't have a lot of Cinderella action, but we got some shockers. You know, we got High Point doing what it did. We had Iowa beating Florida, which is the exact kind of result. Like no one was talking about that as a possibility going into this tournament. No one. Fornelli, you know, is trying to strut his stuff an Illinois fan, by the way, speaking up, speaking down on Florida and and backing up his beloved Hawkeyes. He's always been a closeted Hawkeye's fan and has long loved Iowa more than Illinois, but he prefers that not to be public information. Sorry for Nelli. They make the sweet 16, all bets are off. We'll see if we can get Fournelli on the pot before the end of this tournament, by the way, but this sweet 16 is looking mighty, mighty tasty again. We'll preview more of that later on this week. That was the same day delivery of the game brought to you by Shipt. You can use your shipped to order all your faves on the same day, from your favorite snacks to theme, favorite decorations. They have it covered. Download the app or order now@shipped.com that's shipt.com last thing and then we're getting out of here. Think I asked you to rank the top 10 players left in the tournament. Not as NBA prospects. These are college players. I know you did it. I haven't seen the list. You know, reel it off in real time and then Sam, give me your biggest gripe on who's not on the list that should be and which player you would have higher. Lower than where fantasm go. All right.
- [85:08]
Gary Parrish
Number one, Cam Boozer. Number two, Darius Acuff. Number three, Braden Smith. Number four, Yaxa Lundeborg. Number five, Jeremy Fears. Number six, Zubi. I'm apparently not an all American. Ezrifor. Number seven, LeBaron Filon. Number eight Bennett Sturts. Number nine a day Mara. Number ten Kingston Flem in a four way tie.
- [85:30]
Matt Norlander
Okay, who's the best player not on that list? Sam?
- [85:34]
Sam Finkelstein
I mean the immediate thing that I notice is nobody from Arizona but like I don't know that I can argue that like they might have five guys from 11 to 25 is kind of the thing that was that was just my immediate off the cuff answer is like it feels strange not to have anybody from Arizona the way Alex Caraban is playing right now. I get it that it might not be the sexiest name in the world to bring up the way he is playing right now. He has been outstanding and he does not want to go home. It feels like when you watch them play. So that might be my okay guy.
- [86:14]
Matt Norlander
Was Fears on the list?
- [86:17]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, he was six. He was also in my he was also in the top 10 before this was a second iteration of a list we did on HQ to start the week when the field began.
- [86:28]
Matt Norlander
Was Wagler on the list?
- [86:30]
Gary Parrish
He was not okay.
- [86:32]
Matt Norlander
Was Gillespie on the list?
- [86:35]
Sam Finkelstein
Yeah. That's a good name.
- [86:37]
Matt Norlander
Jefferson. Jefferson you can have. Not on the list now because of his health status. Do we think he'll play in the second weekend? I think he will.
- [86:47]
Gary Parrish
That looks pretty.
- [86:48]
Sam Finkelstein
Please, please give me your medical degree.
- [86:51]
Matt Norlander
I think he will. I'm gonna try and speak it into existence there. It's a fascinating list. Okay.
- [86:58]
Sam Finkelstein
Price Sanford would be another one.
- [87:01]
Matt Norlander
Really good. We mentioned him on the show. Like, I think he's the most underrated player in the country. Genuinely.
- [87:05]
Gary Parrish
Like Terrace Reed would be another one.
- [87:08]
Matt Norlander
Terrace Reed, dude, there are. This kind of goes in line with what I've been saying. Like it is a joke how many good players there are in this sport this season. Season. Like you try and fit 17 names onto a list of 10, it's awesome. That's good. Good stuff. I love that. I love both of you for hopping on here and going late. Sam, not late for you again. You're prepping for dinner. It's daylight there. By the way, what's the temp outside right now in Australia? What are we working with?
- [87:32]
Sam Finkelstein
It's a good question. I went for a run this morning in shorts and a long sleeve shirt and it was great. So probably, I don't know, 65 right now. It might be like 80, honestly.
- [87:42]
Matt Norlander
But.
- [87:43]
Sam Finkelstein
But yeah, I haven't been outside in four hours, so I'm not.
- [87:46]
Matt Norlander
It's.
- [87:46]
Gary Parrish
It's nice in San Jose, I'm sure. Matt. So you're gonna be all right.
- [87:50]
Matt Norlander
I haven't been outside in 10 hours at this point. I will see both of you at the final four. Sam's coming stateside.
- [87:55]
Sam Finkelstein
It's true.
- [87:56]
Matt Norlander
Love to see it. This was a long pod, but it was a big time day. Appreciate everyone. You will get another pod, I believe, on Tuesday with me and gp. Josh is also mentioning that we didn't mention Tamon Lipsey on the list again. One good player after another.
- [88:11]
Gary Parrish
2:30 in the morning. Josh, come on.
- [88:13]
Matt Norlander
2:30. And by the way, live chat with was humming. We appreciate that. Had to squeeze in another episode. So everyone, I hope you appreciate that we were able to give you these. The audience has been feasting on this stuff, so we didn't want to leave you hanging. Sam, always great when you hop on the show. We give you time to chat a little bit. And. And thank you so much, Fink. Appreciate you as well. Fink will be in studio for CBS Sports HQ next week. I'll be on the road covering the West Regional, but you'll hear from me and GP before then. Josh, I appreciate, appreciate you staying up. We got more guests coming throughout the, throughout the tournament. GP and I will have more shows together so don't worry, that's coming as well. Any final words from you two boys before we wrap it up?
- [88:51]
Sam Finkelstein
Shouts to Larnell that's it for me.
- [88:53]
Gary Parrish
Okay, Trotter and I have full Sweet 16 previews on CBS Sports Network tomorrow at noon Eastern Time. So nine and a half hours.
- [89:01]
Matt Norlander
We'll be good. There we go. There will be coaching movement on Monday. I don't intend on having emergency podcasts with that situation, but as always, stay tuned. Tuesday should be the latest. We'll have a show till then. Take, take a minute, get your rest. Sweet sixteen is coming up before you know it and we'll, we'll talk to you real soon.
- [89:25]
Gary Parrish
Paramount Podcasts the comedy movie event of the year. Mike and Nick and Nick and Alice. Now streaming only on Hulu and Disney plus.
- [89:35]
Matt Norlander
Time to party.
- [89:36]
Producer Josh
That's a great attitude.
- [89:38]
Matt Norlander
It's a time traveling ass kicking movie event.
- [89:42]
Sam Finkelstein
You sound insane.
- [89:43]
Gary Parrish
Starring Vince Vaughn, James Marston and Asa Gonzalez.
- [89:46]
Matt Norlander
I thought you were a clone.
- [89:47]
Sam Finkelstein
Well, clones aren't real, dummy.
- [89:49]
Gary Parrish
And time machines are super grounded in reality. Mike and Nick and Nick and Alice. Rated R. Written and directed by Ben David Grabinski.
- [89:56]
Matt Norlander
Only on Hulu and Hulu on Disney
- [89:57]
Gary Parrish
plus for bundle subscribers.