You're Up, Mitten State: Sweet Sixteen, Friday March 27

About Last Night:

Purdue 79, Texas 77

BoilerUp89: Before I get into the game, let me tell you a story. In 2022, a younger BoilerUp89 went to his parents house on a Friday night to watch Purdue play in the Sweet 16. Purdue was heavily favored. His twin sister's family also came over. The Boilers lost to 15 seed St. Peter's. In 2023, a more experienced BoilerUp89 went to his parent's house to watch Purdue basketball. Purdue was heavily favored. His twin sister's family also came over. The Boilers lost to 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson. I no longer watch Purdue basketball in the postseason at my parent's house or with my sister's family around.

Fast forward to this past Sunday. My family was texting trying to figure out when we could celebrate my aunt's birthday. We settled on Thursday night as my older sister's boys would be going on their annual fishing trip with their dad starting Friday. I went to my parent's house for the party after work. I left at 6:45 well before the game started. Purdue won. I am not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.

Purdue really struggled with Texas's big guards and wings. Tramon Mark had an incredible game for the Longhorns with 28 points while the Boilermakers were a dismal 20% from three (4 of 20). That was pretty much the recipe for Texas to beat Purdue and they had chances. Thankfully for the Boilermakers, TKR and Loyer had very good games to make up for a second consecutive subpar outing from Braden Smith and a 0/12 three point performance from the non-Loyer shooters.

Kind of...: I almost always cheer for B1G teams against non-B1G competition. I realize we have plenty of haterz here for whom that is anathema. Des gustibus and all that. So, nice work Purdue. That said, I'm even happier that Sean Miller lost.

HoustonBoiler: As BoilerUp89 already mentioned, Texas shot the ball very well, 44% on 3-point shots, while Purdue did not, 20% on 3-point shots. They had open looks, but just didn't connect, particularly from behind the arc. Rebounding was even - Purdue had 32 and Texas had 31. Purdue did limit their turnovers, having only 4. This game was close with both teams battling. Fortunately, Purdue had the last possession with the score tied and TKR was able to convert a tip in with 0.7 seconds remaining to win the game. I should have invested in an AED and connected the electrodes before the game.

Iowa 77, Nebraska 71

BoilerUp89: Look, I didn't watch this one. I was busy trying to avoid having a cardiac event during the other early game but I'll share some quick thoughts.

That's a rough way to see your best season end - to a rival. It's still a heck of a season, Nebraska. I know this one hurts, but build on it. Your program has the fan support. They've got a good coach. This shouldn't be the only Sweet 16 the Cornhuskers make under Hoiberg.

For Iowa, McCollum just jumpstarted his Iowa tenure. Nothing makes recruiting easier than a deep tournament run. Honestly, the reason I think Izzo recruited as well as he did in the 2000s is because of that early national title. I'm not picking you in the next round - Illinois and Houston are scary - but considering Iowa looking a tier behind the top teams in the B1G for most of the year, an Elite 8 is an incredible result.

MaximumSam: Somehow this game was started after Purdue tipped and ended before Purdue won. It will mostly be remembered for Nebraska only sending out four guys on defense at a critical moment, akin to Norman Dale. I guess that should stay in the movies.

Kind of...: Fred Hoiberg was born in Ames, Iowa, played his college ball at Iowa State, and now coaches Nebraska. Few people are as primed to hate the Iowa Hawkeyes as him. And yet, he does strange things against Iowa. Last time it was swatting at a camera-wielding student (and proffering a half reasonable excuse after the fact). Outdoing himself last night, he sent four players out for a critical post-timeout possession. After the game, he limply muttered something that sounded like he thought there should be a rule that the refs bail him out by providing a heads up. Think I'm kidding?

Hoiberg also said he wasn't sure whether the officials should have checked to make sure his team had five players on the court before they restarted the game.

'I've never been in a situation like that. I know they always count to make sure there's not six,' Hoiberg said. 'I don't know the rule on that with four. But yeah, again, it was a miscommunication, and unfortunately, it happened. But as far as the rule, I've never been a part of anything like that.'

No, dipshit. See, how it works is the refs are there to make sure you don't try to take an unfair disadvantage. They aren't concerned with you putting your team at a disadvantage.

Hoiberg has a really good offensive mind. He proved that at Iowa State and it got him the Bulls job which didn't work out, but, whatever. Plenty of college coaches struggle in the NBA. He's doing quite well at Nebraska, turning the program around.

But Ben McCollum is an old-fashioned tactician. He's thought through thinks at the situational level to such an extent that I'm confident you'll never hear him say "I don't know the rule on that."

And Iowa is in the Elite Eight for the first time in nearly 40 years.

HoustonBoiler: I didn't watch this one, but from the highlights, Iowa played really well during the final few minutes while Nebraska needs some work in that area. Congrats Hawks, now you get to play yet another conference game. Still a great season Huskers, and you have something to build on. Hoiberg is good coach.

Arizona 109, Arkansas 88

BoilerUp89: Arizona is good. Really, really good.

Kind of...: It's funny and all, but I think it's time we pull Coach Cal out of the locker, don't ya think?

Arizona IS really good. Purdue can beat them, though.

HoustonBoiler: Arizona jumped all over Arkansas and was up by double digits early in this game. Then I went to bed. I saw the final score this morning and thought, Purdue is going to have their hands full on Saturday.

Illinois 65, Houston 55

BoilerUp89: Impressive, impressive stuff from the Illini. The B1G is guaranteed a spot in the Final Four.

Kind of...: Really a bit of a yawner, both competitively and aesthetically. I elaborated on my growing hunch that Illinois was going to win on a couple of occasions already. Cougars had a 17:5 A/TO ratio and lost by double digits. Illinois's size and Houston's poor outside shooting were too much to overcome. Have fun with Iowa, Illini.

HoustonBoiler: This game was very close when I went to bed, but I read this morning that Illinois had a 17-0 run in the second half to pretty much take over the game. Nice work Illini!

Today's Games

#5 St. John's Red Storm v #1 Duke

7:10 ET/6:10 GTZ. CBS.

BoilerUp89: Duke is good and apparently bringing back their PG from injury for this one. The Red Storm are going to challenge Duke's offense. They've had the best defense in the country for the past month and it hasn't been close.

Kind of...: Unless St. John's gets hot from three, or Duke isn't hot from anywhere, I just don't see how Duke loses this game.

HoustonBoiler: St. John's has improved as the season progressed, but can they keep up with Duke? We'll see. Duke has been good all season though the ACC was trasch.

#4 Alabama Crimson Tide v #1 Michigan Wolverines

7:30 ET/6:30 GTZ. TBS/truTV.

BoilerUp89: Alabama is really thin inside. They don't have the post players to compete with Michigan on the glass or in the paint. Fortunately for Oats, he doesn't care. Bama is gonna let it fly from three. If they have a great shooting night, they can knock out Michigan. If they don't this could get ugly.

MaximumSam: Important factoid for non-Wisconsin B1G teams

Kind of...: Yep, Wisconsin now is what Purdue was under Keady (minus the regular-season titles), basically. Yep, Alabama is going to bomb away. Yep, it feels like Arizona/Arkansas redux. Yep, a Michigan loss would be stunning and hilarious (except for Nate Oats being happy).

HoustonBoiler: Alabama really lives/dies with their 3-point shooting. If they're on, they might be able to keep up with a very talented Michigan team. If Alabama is not converting 3-point shots, Michigan will win going away.

#3 Michigan State Spartans v #2 UConn Huskies

9:45 ET/8:45 GTZ. CBS.

BoilerUp89: I'm not the biggest Izzo fan in the world. He whines a bit more on the sideline than I would like and to be honest I'm still bitter about him winning a bunch of recruiting battles over Purdue back in the early 2010s. That being said, he's clearly my favorite coach in this one. Hurley is an asshole. I don't feel like UConn has been playing all that well lately - UCLA just couldn't get it done without Bilodeau. The Bruins were thin in the post with Bilodeau. Without him, they couldn't bang down low the whole game. MSU won't have that problem.

Kind of...: I'm relatively pro-Izzo, but the last time these two met in the tournament, in the 2014 Elite Eight, Sparty tuned in one of the most confusing performances I've seen out of MSU. Adreian Payne, who had 30 lbs on every UConn starter, decided to attempt 10 3's for the first time in his career. As a team, Sparty only attempted 17 2 pt FG's. And turned it over 16 times. The resulting .90 points/possession performance detonated one of Izzo's best chances for a second natty. That was 12 years ago, of course. But UConn is coached by Dan Hurley now, not Kevin Ollie. There seems to be a sense that this is Sparty's game to lose. Maybe. But if the post-game headline is "Reed, Karaban beat MSU at their own game" and UConn controls the paint are you really going to be that surprised?

HoustonBoiler: Yes Kind Of..., I will be surprised if UConn controls the paint because Tom Izzo MSU teams generally like to dominate inside in terms of scoring and rebounding. The question for MSU is can they score enough?

#6 Tennessee Volunteers v #2 Iowa State Cyclones

10:05 ET/9:05 GTZ. TBS/truTV.

BoilerUp89: Iowa State plays Purdue's rival Tennessee. Go Cyclones.

Kind of...: Joshua Jefferson is a game-time decision. Even without him, Iowa State should have a good chance. Nate Ament is an intriguing player with a ton of upside, but whisper-thin frosh don't always do the best against Iowa State's swarming defense. Lipsey/Gillespie is obviously a huge matchup. Tennessee has size inside, but Iowa State is 9th in 3 pt FG% (though that's mostly Momcilovic). For all the flak he takes, Rick Barnes is on the verge of a third straight Elite Eight. Iowa State's trying to make their second second WWII. Could be fun, might be Illinois/Houston, part II.

HoustonBoiler: This has the potential to be a pretty good game from a non-partisan viewpoint.