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San Jose State saw an important season of growth in its men’s college basketball program come to a disappointing end in hail of missed shots Monday, falling 67-57 to Radford in the College Basketball Invitational in Daytona Beach, Fla.

The Spartans, seeded No. 2, led by as many as eight points in the first half, fell behind early in the second half and were within 47-46 with 8:57 left before seeing the No, 10 Highlanders pull away down the stretch.

San Jose State ends its season at 21-14 one year after finishing 8-23 under coach Tim Miles, the Mountain West Coach of the Year. The Highlanders, from Radford, Va., and members of the Big South, are also 21-14 and play in the semifinals at the Ocean Center Tuesday night.

“We missed a lot of layups and in a low-possession, one-and-done tournament those are critical errors,” Miles said. “We didn’t play our best at the big moments. These guys accomplished a whole bunch all season but tonight there were too many turnovers and too many misses of inside shots that were right there for us.”

Guard Omari Moore, the MWC Player of the Year, led San Jose State with 17 points and added four rebounds and five assists. Tibet Gorener added 11 for the Spartans and hit four of six 3-point shots.

DaQuan Smith led a balanced Radford scoring attack with 16 points, with Kenyon Giles adding 11 and Shaq Jules and Bryan Antoine 10 each.

The Spartans shot just 36 percent from the floor (20-for-56) and had twice as many turnovers (12 to 6) as the Highlanders. A team that has hung its hat on rebounding all season, finishing sixth in the national in rebounding margin, was beaten 40-35 on the board.

It didn’t help that Ibrahima Diallo, a 7-foot center from Senegal, opened the game as a starter after injuring an ankle Saturday and had three quick rebounds in six minutes before reinjuring his ankle and missing the rest of the game.

“When Ibrahima went out, our rebounding went right with him honestly,” Miles said. “We just weren’t able to come up with the loose balls. You’ve got to credit Radford, they were really quick to the ball, they were on high-alert, and we weren’t.”

Considering San Jose State had Sunday off while Radford was playing on back-to-back days and was coming off an overtime win against Tarleton State, it made for a disappointing finish.

“We didn’t play our best basketball today and it stunk because that’s a team we feel like if we play 50 times, we win 49, but they got us today,” Moore said. “It’s our last game together as a group. That’s definitely a tough feeling for sure.”

Once the disappointment wears off, the Spartans can look back on winning 20 games for the first time since going 22-9 in 1980-81. Moore finished with 1,312 career points, sixth in career history, and cemented what Miles believes will be a spot in the Spartans Hall of Fame.

“I don’t think it’s quite hit me yet, but I think I’ve put together a career I can be proud of and my family can be proud of,” Moore said. “It’s definitely sad that it’s come to an end, but I love San Jose and I’m glad I was able to play a part in pushing this program in the right direction.”

Moore said he has another year of eligibility left if he wants it, but is leaning toward the process of getting prepared for the NBA Draft.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Pac-12 appointed George Kliavkoff as commissioner in the spring of 2021 for a bevy of reasons, perhaps none more significant than his ability “to see where the hockey puck was going to go,” according to former Oregon president  Michael Schill.

One puck zoomed past unexpectedly last summer, when USC and UCLA declared their intentions to flee to the Big Ten.

Now here comes another, in the form of the Pac-12’s media rights negotiations. Kliavkoff must do more than identify its direction; he must redirect a gilded puck into the back of the net.

This is exactly why the conference hired the former president of MGM Sports and Entertainment in the first place — to close a media deal that satisfies the revenue and exposure needs of the membership.

Nothing else matters. The stakes are nothing less than the future of the conference and the trajectory of major college sports on the West Coast.

Will Kliavkoff land a deal comparable in revenue to the Big 12’s agreement with Fox and ESPN that will distribute $31.7 million per campus?

Will the deal include sufficient exposure on broadcast and cable television?

Will the deal include an alternate revenue stream — perhaps a deal to sell statistical data — that has not been the subject of rumor and speculation for all these many months?

We could find out this week, when the Pac-12 Board of Directors gathers (remotely) for its latest meeting. Or perhaps the momentous votes will be cast next week. Or the first week of April.

Whatever the exact timing, resolution is close.

We know this because two presidents recently suggested as much.

Last week, Arizona State’s Michael Crow told the State Press that the conference had reached “the final stages” of the process while Arizona’s Robert Robbins told the Hotline (and other media outlets) that a deal was close. Both expressed confidence that Kliavkoff would present an acceptable proposal.

We found their comments instructive when cast against the backdrop of the past nine months.

Throughout this saga, the Pac-12 has remained remarkably disciplined in its messaging — disciplined to a fault, some would say.

As rumors of low-ball offers and mass defections dominated both traditional and social media, Kliavkoff stayed mum, an approach his negotiating partners undoubtedly appreciated.

But last week, those sounds of silence morphed into the Robert Robbins 2023 Media Tour — a series of on-the-record interviews by Arizona’s president with both regional and national outlets.

Robbins’ overall tone was optimistic: He needed to see the final offer before making a decision on Arizona’s conference affiliation but expressed confidence in the outcome.

Given the Pac-12’s message discipline, we should assume Kliavkoff knew ahead of time that Robbins was going public.

And we should assume that Robbins was briefed on the latest news from the negotiations — if not the specifics, then at least the general tone and trajectory.

Which tells us that Kliavkoff is deep enough into the process to have a sense for the numbers and was confident enough in what he’s heard from Apple, Amazon and ESPN to pass that sentiment along to Robbins.

There is no chance — none, zero, zip — that Robbins would go public if the situation appeared bleak behind the scenes.

Does that mean the Pac-12’s future is safe and secure? Only if Kliavkoff has seen the final offers and knows that even the worst proposal will be good enough. But that’s an assumption the Hotline isn’t prepared to make.

We don’t know if the negotiations have wrapped and all the bids are in. Until there’s a deal on the table and the presidents approve, the process could get derailed.

And if derailment occurs, if a wrench gets heaved from the other side of the negotiating table, it would constitute a colossal gaffe on Kliavkoff’s part — one that could spark the disintegration of the conference.

Could he misread the direction of the puck that badly? Given the advanced state of the negotiations, it seems unlikely.

Not impossible, but unlikely.

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716

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*** Pac-12 Hotline is not endorsed or sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Conference.

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After years of gut-punch losses, stumbles against lower seeds or missing March Madness altogether, San Diego State has broken through to the second weekend.

The Aztecs might be steep underdogs against top-seeded Alabama, but they’re No. 1 in tournament timing.

SDSU could not have picked a better year to advance to the Sweet 16, with the Pac-12 in the final stages of negotiating a media rights contract and determining whether the Aztecs are a suitable expansion option.

While a single weekend of results won’t make or break SDSU’s case for membership, it certainly doesn’t hurt. Optics matter, and the Aztecs look like a program that can solidify what will be a depleted basketball product once UCLA departs for the Big Ten in the summer of 2024.

In the past 15 years, SDSU has qualified for the NCAA Tournament 10 times, averaged a No. 7 seed on those occasions and advanced to the Sweet 16 three times (2011, 2014 and 2023).

Other than Arizona and Oregon, none of the remaining Pac-12 schools have more than five appearances over that span.

The Aztecs, who have averaged 24 wins per year for the past decade, would enter the conference as the third-best basketball program.

They would be middle-of-the-pack in football and provide a vital anchor in fertile recruiting grounds. And their improving academic profile, fueled by a change in California education law that allows the campus to award doctorate degrees in public health, surely appeals to Pac-12 presidents.

The conference’s existential crisis is nearing resolution. Expansion is an essential piece of the overall calculation, and the competitive backdrop cannot be dismissed.

SDSU would strengthen Pac-12 basketball. That seemed clear before the NCAAs began, but the Aztecs provided important evidence this weekend.

To the power ratings …

1. Alabama: The tournament’s top overall seed has looked the part, producing two dominant performances despite sub-standard games by star forward Brandon Miller. If Miller cranks it up, the Crimson Tide should roll into the championship game. Next up: San Diego State (Friday)

2. Houston: The Cougars proved their worth in picking apart Auburn in Birmingham and are two wins from playing the Final Four in their hometown. The starting five is stellar, but we wonder: Is the bench up to the challenge in the second weekend? Next up: Miami (Friday)

3. UCLA: No team plays better halfcourt defense or possesses a savvier duo than Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jaquez Jr. But the Bruins will go as far as their offense takes them, and rookie wing Amari Bailey is a vital piece of that equation. Next up: Gonzaga (Thursday)

4. Texas: The Big 12 tournament champs have an interim coach, a six-game winning streak, high-level perimeter play  and are efficient at both ends of the court. We foresee an Elite Eight showdown with Houston in Kansas City — for a trip to Houston. Next up: Xavier (Friday)

5. Arkansas: The Hotline considered picking the Hogs for the Final Four but instead slotted them into the Elite Eight. They’re impossibly long and possess NBA-level talent at multiple positions. And Eric Musselman navigates March as well as any coach in the land. Next up: UConn (Thursday)

6. Gonzaga: UCLA’s opponent is the anti-UCLA in many ways. Gonzaga’s problem isn’t offense — it’s never offense. But are the Zags capable of playing lockdown defense against a well-drilled foe with multiple scoring options? We aren’t convinced. Next up: UCLA (Thursday)

7. Tennessee: Admittedly, the Hotline was skeptical of the Vols’ prospects without injured point guard Zakai Zeigler, and they struggled to escape Louisiana in the opening round. But the performance against Duke, particularly on defense, forced us to reconsider. Next up: FAU (Thursday)

8. UConn: The Huskies were impressive in dispatching Iona and Saint Mary’s (both by double digits) but face a major jump in competition in the Sweet 16. They won’t have an advantage athletically against the Hogs. Next up: Arkansas (Thursday)

9. Michigan State: This is hardly an elite Tom Izzo team, but the East is wide open without No. 1 Purdue and No. 2 Marquette, and the Spartans have just the guard to take advantage in Tyson Walker. Next up: Kansas State (Thursday)

10. Xavier: Sean Miller is back in the Sweet 16, not with Arizona but Xavier — the program he led before moving to Tucson 14 years ago. The first year of his second stint with the Musketeers has been tremendous, but it ends two steps from the Final Four. Next up: Texas (Friday)

11. Kansas State: The Wildcats stumbled down the stretch and were an easy team to overlook once the NCAA field was unveiled. But after eliminating Kentucky, they are a clear threat to win the wide open East. Next up: Michigan State. (Thursday)

12. Creighton: Don’t sleep on the Bluejays, a preseason top-10 team that plays elite defense and handled Baylor with relative ease in the second round. If they don’t get cocky against the No. 15 seed, a date in the Elite Eight awaits. Next up: Princeton (Friday)

13. San Diego State: SDSU has the size and depth necessary to match Alabama, but the skill piece is murky — specifically, their ability to score efficiently against the tournament favorite. The Aztecs were 10-of-36 from 3-point range on the opening weekend. That percentage won’t cut it this week. Next up: Alabama (Friday)

14. Miami: The Hurricanes have quietly become an upper-echelon program in the ACC and stand one victory from their second consecutive appearance in the Elite Eight. To reach the next round, they need superb games from guards Jordan Miller and Isaiah Wong. Next up: Houston (Friday)

15. Princeton: We’re hesitant to doubt the Tigers after their stunning rally against Arizona and surgical beatdown of Missouri. But even if they survive the Sweet 16, the run will end against Alabama in the Elite Eight. Next up: Creighton (Friday)

16. FAU: The NCAAs have been a roaring success for the Owls, who defeated Memphis in the first round and Fairleigh Dickinson in the second. And that’s a good thing, because they now face the most physically dominant defense in the country. Next up: Tennessee (Thursday)

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716

*** Follow me on Twitter: @WilnerHotline

*** Pac-12 Hotline is not endorsed or sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Conference.

 

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STANFORD — It was an emotional and heartbreaking night at Maples Pavilion for Stanford, which saw its season end in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in a 54-49 loss to Ole Miss.

But through the tears of sadness and finality for the Cardinal’s seniors, Tara VanDerveer did offer one ray of sunshine: the head coach said Hannah Jump plans to return for a fifth year.

“Hannah Jump is planning to come back, so you know, we are excited about that,” VanDerveer said. “I always meet the fourth-year seniors before every game and I just said, ‘Hey, here, this is your last game [at Maples]. And she goes, ‘Not for me,’ but I knew that. We’re excited that she’ll be coming back.”

Jump declined to comment publicly about her future plans. But the senior had tears in her eyes when she spoke to Bay Area News Group about the emotions she was feeling after Sunday’s loss.

“Everything’s kind of hitting me right now,” Jump said. “It’s definitely not the way I wanted the season to end, not the way I wanted our seniors to go out. To lose this last game here at Maples, it’s heartbreaking.

“But Ole Miss played a great game, they were very aggressive, they sped us up a lot. We fought back and I was proud of us for fighting back in the third, fourth quarter. I was really proud of our grit and our fight and our will to come back. We just couldn’t finish it.”

Pinewood's Hannah Jump (24) shoots layup against Archbishop Mitty's Haley Jones (30) in the first period of their Central Coast Section Open Division girls basketball championship game in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)
Pinewood’s Hannah Jump (24) shoots layup against Archbishop Mitty’s Haley Jones (30) in the first period of their Central Coast Section Open Division girls basketball championship game in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Jump was a high school star at Pinewood, twice making the all-Bay Area News Group first team for the school just four miles down the road from Stanford. In her first two years with Stanford, Jump was a key piece off the bench and shot 43.2% from 3-point range for the national title-winning team in 2020-21.

But Jump began starting some games in 2021-22 and started every single game of 2022-23, averaging 31.7 minutes per game and blossoming into a major piece for Stanford. She set a program record with 100 3-pointers in a single season on 227 attempts and she’s in the top 10 in the country in both 3-pointers made and 3-point percentage (44.1%).

She played 36 minutes on Sunday night, scoring eight points and playing stout defense to help the Cardinal nearly come from down 13 midway through the third quarter. She expressed pride in how she’s grown into such a vital piece for the Cardinal, even through the pain of the loss.

“Everything I do out there impacts the game, which I think we saw today,” Jump said. “Whether it’s me shooting, defense or spreading the floor. I think this season has given me a lot of confidence. Confidence through Tara, confidence that my teammates have in me and confidence in myself. This is not how we wanted it to all end.”

It’s pretty clear that VanDerveer would welcome Jump back, too. While the Cardinal offense thrived inside, VanDerveer identified outside shooting as a problem for Stanford this season, even with Jump on the team.

“I think we have a great inside game with Cam on the block, and I think Cam can be more versatile,” VanDerveer said. “I think we struggled with perimeter shooting, and maybe shot selection.”

Jump’s potential use of the extra year of eligibility would be an immense help with that. But the end of the season will mean the end of the time with her other three seniors: Francesca Belibi, Haley Jones and Ashten Prechtel.

VanDerveer said Belibi has been accepted into an academic program at Harvard and isn’t sure if she would return. The coach added that Prechtel already has her master’s degree and wants to play professionally, as does Jones — Jump’s close friend, club teammate and high school rival.

Even if she comes back, the quartet that called themselves “The Funky Four” likely won’t be. And Jump said her time with the other three “meant everything.”

“We’re literally all sisters, we do everything together,” Jump said. “This being our final game as the four of us is really, really tough. We know we had bigger goals for ourselves, and in past years, we’ve been able to do that. It hurts to not be able to play to our full potential or get to those goals. But the love I have for these girls doesn’t change.

“I’m super excited for Haley and what’s coming for her in the next couple months, and whatever happens with the others, I’m super excited for them, too.”

Stanford Cardinal's Hannah Jump (33) celebrates her 3-point shot and foul against the Santa Clara Broncos in the second quarter at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Stanford Cardinal’s Hannah Jump (33) celebrates her 3-point shot and foul against the Santa Clara Broncos in the second quarter at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

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STANFORD — The senior class that led Stanford back to the top of women’s basketball knew Sunday was their final game in Maples Pavilion together heading into the game.

Ole Miss made it their final game, period.

The No. 8 seed Rebels stifled the No. 1 seed Cardinal all night en route to a 54-49 upset victory, ending Stanford’s season on their home floor in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

After a furious Stanford comeback tied the game with 1:16 to go, Hannah Jump threw the ball directly into the arms of Ole Miss forward Madison Scott, who was fouled by Haley Jones with 18 seconds to go.

Scott made two free throws and Stanford tried to feed the ball into Jones. But Ole Miss double-team caused Jones to lose the ball out of bounds. Ole Miss made its two free throws to go up four and, after its final timeout, Stanford committed another turnover on the inbounds pass.

The Rebels led by as many as 13 midway through the third and led by eight with six minutes to go. But Stanford held the Rebels scoreless for 5.5 minutes and came back to tie the game on layups from Cameron Brink, Jump and Jones followed by two free throws from Brink.

Stanford had a possession with the game tied and less than a minute, calling two timeouts to try and find the right play. On the inbound after the second timeout, Jump picked up her dribble in the corner and tried to hit Jones, but Scott stepped in front of the pass for the steal.

The late fourth quarter turnovers were the final three of 20 the Cardinal committed on the night. The Rebels’ defense also caused all sorts of problems for Stanford around the rim, with the official statistics showing that the Cardinal missed 21 layups.

Brink made a major impact after missing the first round game against Sacred Heart because of a stomach bug. The second-team All-American led the Cardinal with 20 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks.

In what ended up being her final game wearing Stanford red, Jones has 16 points on 7-of-19 shooting and eight rebounds. Jump added eight points. The rest of Stanford’s players only scored five points on the night.

The last time Stanford didn’t reach the Sweet 16 – which was also the last time the Cardinal lost an NCAA Tournament game at Maples Pavilion – was in 2007, when Florida State came across the country and knocked off Stanford 68-61 in the second round. It’s only the fifth time Stanford has lost an NCAA Tournament game at Maples Pavilion.

It’s also just the fifth time that a No. 1 seed hasn’t advanced to the Sweet 16 since the NCAA women’s tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1994 and the first time since 2009.

Ole Miss will advance to the Sweet 16 in Seattle Regional 4 and will play either No. 4 seed Texas or No. 5 seed Louisville on Friday at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle (time to be determined).

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ALBANY – In the end, Saint Mary’s just couldn’t keep up with the UConn men’s basketball team, which is headed back to the Sweet 16 for the first time in seven years.

Thanks to a steady 24 points from Adama Sanogo and 12 in the second half from a scorching-hot Jordan Hawkins, the fourth-seeded Huskies blew past fifth-seeded Saint Mary’s, 70-55, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Albany on Sunday.

UConn will meet No. 8-seed Arkansas (22-13) on Thursday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the program’s 18th Sweet 16 appearance all-time. The Huskies are 11-5 in regional semifinal games.

Sanogo added a team-high eight rebounds and made 11 of his 16 shots, while Hawkins heated up like a microwave and shot 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, making all four 3-pointers in a span of about three minutes.

Tristen Newton made three 3-pointers on four attempts and scored 13 points with five assists. Stuffing the stat sheet as usual, Andre Jackson scored six points while grabbing six rebounds and dishing as many assists.

Saint Mary’s started the game similar to how Iona did on Friday. The Gaels made seven of their first 10 shots, 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, to get ahead of UConn by as many as eight points before UConn head coach Dan Hurley sent in the reserves. Like they did in the first round, buckets from Donovan Clingan, Nahiem Alleyne and Joey Calcaterra cut UConn’s deficit to one with about nine minutes left until halftime.

The score remaining close, Andre Jackson soared to the rim for a defensive rebound and pushed the pace himself with about a minute left in the opening 20. The co-captain thread a needle with a bounce pass and found Calcaterra again in transition.

The University of San Diego transfer fired from the wing in front of Saint Mary’s bench and gave UConn its first lead since the score was 7-6.

Augustus Marciulionis answered with a 3-pointer that put Saint Mary’s back up two, but UConn point guard Newton, who hit one at the 2:37 mark to tie it, walked into another with four seconds left from the wing. His third made 3-pointer of the opening 20 minutes fell through the net with a second to spare and sent UConn into the break up one, 31-30.

Alex Ducas had eight points for the Gaels on 3-of-4 shooting before he went down holding his lower back with about five minutes left in the first half. The Australian senior guard, who entered Sunday averaging more than 12 points per game, struggled to walk off the court and sit comfortably on the bench. He did not return to the game.

Sanogo, who scored a season-high 28 points with 13 rebounds in the first round, scored six of UConn’s first nine and went into the locker room with a game-leading 10 points and six rebounds. The 6-foot-9 big man used his powerful dribble to get past Saint Mary’s 6-foot-10 center Mitchell Saxen and scored eight of the Huskies first 13 points after the break.

Right after Sanogo was given a rest, substituted for Clingan, Newton took the ball from Saxen in the paint and found Karaban on the wing opposite the Huskies’ bench in transition. Karaban, relatively quiet in his first three halves of March Madness, hit from 3 with 13:33 on the clock to give UConn its largest lead of the game, 46-40.

Jackson made a floater after and Newton drew a Saint Mary’s charge to ignite the UConn-heavy crowd in MVP Arena.

Hawkins, still struggling, only took one shot in the first half and missed. But when the sophomore fired again with just over 11 minutes left in the second and registered his first three points of the game, the crowd showed love. The decibel-level only continued to rise after Clingan slammed down an alley-oop pass from Jackson and then Hawkins made another from deep to give the Huskies a 56-45 lead at the 9:50 mark.

The sophomore Hawkins scorched the net twice more from deep in the next three minutes and just like that, UConn had a 62-47 lead and the dancing began in Albany.

UConn (27-8) is now 15-4 in second-round games since 1990.

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The Pac-12 did not find redemption in the NCAA Tournament. With two rounds down, three teams have been eliminated and only one, UCLA, remains alive.

The conference was as bad in March as it looked all season, when the thin top and the soft middle were on display for all to see (and criticize).

But not all disappointment is created equally.

Let’s assign the Pac-12’s woes in the NCAAs into three buckets:

— Arizona’s gruesome exit.

The loss to Princeton, in which the Wildcats were outscored 24-8 down the stretch by a No. 15 seed, is arguably the worst loss in school history.

(At least when Arizona melted down against No. 15 Santa Clara three decades ago, it lost to a future Hall of Famer in Steve Nash.)

We questioned Arizona’s toughness prior to the NCAAs but didn’t expect that it would be an issue in the first round. But  the Wildcats lacked energy, fortitude and grit — the essential building blocks for March success — against Princeton.

Combine the timid showing with their 2022 elimination game against Houston, in which the Wildcats cowered from a rock fight, it’s clear that coach Tommy Lloyd must rethink his approach to roster construction.

His plan works for the regular season, but to thrive in the NCAAs, Arizona needs to get tougher, mentally and physically.

— The bubble sitters.

USC and Arizona State played to their seeds in the NCAAs, which was exactly the problem. Their upside was sketchy from the start given the difficulties often faced by all teams assigned to the No. 10 and 11 slots.

Both were solid underdog against middle-of-the-pack opponents from stronger conferences, and both faced logistical hurdles, as well:

USC went across the country, to Columbus, Ohio, for a 9:15 a.m. (Pacific) tipoff against Michigan State.

ASU’s path was even more treacherous with a First Four game in Dayton on Wednesday, followed by a Friday affair at altitude in Denver. That the Sun Devils failed to hold a late lead against a stout opponent (TCU) was no surprise.

— The non-qualifiers.

Ultimately, the Pac-12’s problem was a lack of quality depth. Send just four teams into the NCAAs, with two of them assigned double-digit seeds, and the likelihood of a poor collective performance soars.

The framework for March was set in November and December with a series of ghastly non-conference losses — there are too many to name — and pillowy soft schedules.

Once league play began, Utah, Colorado, Washington State, Washington, Stanford, and Oregon were facing steep climbs to qualify for the NCAAs.

None made the necessary strides.

None had the requisite combination of talent and consistency.

Any improvement for the Pac-12 in the final month of the season must begin with better results in the first month.

Now, our look at winners and losers from the first and second rounds …

Winner: The little guys. Nine schools that don’t play major college football advanced to the second round, including two Cinderellas from New Jersey (No. 15 Princeton and No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson).

Losers: No. 12 seeds. Traditionally, the No. 12s have played havoc with March Madness brackets, but not this year. Oral Roberts, VCU, Drake and Charleston were 0-4 in the first round.

Winner: First Four teams. Three schools that survived in Dayton went on to win their round-of-64 matchups: Pittsburgh, Arizona State and, of course, Fairleigh Dickinson.

Loser: Blueblood programs. North Carolina didn’t qualify for the tournament, while Kansas, Duke and Kentucky lost in the second round. It’s the second time in three years that the Sweet 16 doesn’t feature any members of that illustrious  quartet — but only the second time this century. We’ll see if their absence impacts tournament TV ratings.

Winner: UCLA. The Bruins advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive season, fending off Northwestern in the second round. However, the victory came with a potential cost as reserve guard David Singleton injured his ankle in the final minute. His effectiveness in the next round is unknown, but the Bruins are running out of healthy guards. Defensive star Jaylen Clark is out for the season.

Loser: Arizona. Plenty of high-profile basketball programs have lost to No. 15 seeds, but Arizona is the only school to have been victimized twice with the loss to Santa Clara in 1993 and Princeton in 2023. Thirty years ago, the Wildcats regrouped and advanced to the Final Four in ’94. Will they follow that path next season?

Winner: Princeton. The Tigers rallied to stun Arizona, then walloped Missouri in the second round to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1967. The run comes seven months after the passing of legendary Princeton coach Pete Carril. Somewhere, he’s smiling … maybe.

Loser: Purdue. The Boilermakers joined Virginia as the only No. 1 seeds to lose to the No. 16, but the issues for coach Matt Painter’s program run deeper than one game. Purdue has been bounced from the NCAAs by the No. 13, 15 and 16 seeds in the past three years.

Winner: San Diego State. The Aztecs beat No. 12 Charleston in the first round and No. 13 Furman in the second to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in almost a decade. (Sometimes, fate twists in your favor.) Next up for SDSU: The top overall seed, Alabama.

Loser: Mountain West (excluding SDSU). Three of the conference’s four participants were bounced in the First Four or the first round, continuing a ghastly trend. The MW has just two opening-round wins since 2016.

Winner: Eric Musselman. The Arkansas coach is one of the best in the game in March. His Razorbacks took down top-seeded Kansas on Saturday, giving Musselman his third consecutive trip to the Sweet 16 and fourth in the past five tournaments.

Loser: Tony Bennett. Another first-round flameout for Virginia left Bennett with a fascinating resume: In the past five postseasons, he has one NIT bid, three first-round losses in the NCAAs … and one national championship.

Winner: Sean Miller. The former Arizona coach, who was not personally penalized for the program’s misdeeds — — we got a good chuckle over that decision — resurfaced at Xavier and has guided the Musketeers into the Sweet 16. With two more wins, Miller will set foot on ground he never touched while at Arizona: The Final Four.

Loser: Kentucky. The Wildcats are paying coach John Calipari $8.5 million annually, and all they have to show for it is another early exit from the NCAAs. Then again, it’s far better to lose to Kansas State in the second round than St. Peter’s in the first.

Winner: Houston. The Cougars hammered Auburn in the second round and are two victories from playing in the Final Four in their hometown. And if they don’t fill the Midwest region’s spot in NRG Stadium, that school from Austin just might.

*** Note: This article will be updated Sunday night at the conclusion of second-round games.

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Zia Cooke scored 21 points and Aliyah Boston had her 81st career double double as top-seeded South Carolina shook off a slow start to power past eighth-seeded South Florida and into the Sweet 16 with a 76-45 victory Sunday.

The Gamecocks improved to 34-0 with their 40th straight win overall and moved four victories away from a second straight national title. They’ll head to Greenville, where they won the Southeastern Conference Tournament two weeks ago, to play for a spot in the Final Four.

Boston, the program career record holder for double doubles, finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds, coming out of her final game at home to a huge ovation.

South Florida (27-7) entered looking for a program-record 28th win this season and its first berth in the Sweet 16, but after a feisty start, couldn’t hang with the Gamecocks.

Elena Tsineke, just 5-of-16 shooting in Friday’s OT win over Marquette, scored seven of the Bulls’ first 10 points on the way to a 16-12, first quarter lead in front of an edgy crowd on South Carolina’s home court.

But Boston, the All-American and two-time Southeastern Conference player of the year, took things over in the second period.

Her inside basket put South Carolina ahead to stay 21-20 as it outscored the Bulls 21-13 in the period. And Boston wasn’t just active offensively, she got after it on defense twice diving on the floor to chase free basketballs.

Late in the second quarter, the 6-foot-5 Boston stopped a drive by Maria Alvarez near the basket, then ran out to the sideline to double team Emma Johansson into a turnover.

The Gamecocks, outrebounded 10-9 the first 10 minutes, took control of the glass after that, finishing with a comfortable edge of 52-28.

South Florida made just five of its 28 shots the final 20 minutes and was held to its lowest point-total this season, 25 below its season’s average.

Tsinkeke led the Bulls with 20 points. Fankam Mendjiadeu was held to just four points on 2-of-9 shooting.

BIG PICTURE

South Florida: It should be a different Bulls lineup with fifth-year senior Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu and Tsineke likely gone. Sammie Puisis, the Florida State transfer listed as a junior, can return and if she does, could become an even more dynamic scorer than she was this season. Carla Brito was a freshman starter and should play a bigger role next season.

South Carolina: Just another day at the NCAA Tournament office for the Gamecocks, who’ve been a near Sweet 16 lock under Dawn Staley the past decade of so. They’ve reached the round of 16 in 10 of past 11 tournaments, only missing in 2013. There was no tournament in 2020 due to COVID-19.

UP NEXT

South Carolina will face either fourth-seeded UCLA or fifth-seeded Oklahoma in the Sweet 16 next Saturday.

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Branson School baseball reigned supreme in a 10-3 victory over non-league foe Middletown on Saturday behind some big hitting. Luke Shane, Cooper Tenney and Kaden Gustafson each doubled as the Bulls collected 10 hits. Noam AuYeung and William Ashley each contributed two RBI to the offense.

Branson pitchers Charlie Zwibelman, Cooper Tenney, William Ashley and Wilson Wendt, held the Mustangs to only three runs.

• Colin Day accounted for the bulk of Tam High’s offense in a 3-1 non-league loss to Rancho Cotate in Mill Valley on Saturday. The Red-tailed Hawks had four hits, including two doubles by Day, who also scored Tam’s lone run. Colin Lam and Charlie Blau had Tam’s other hits, one each. The Hawks (4-7) are scheduled to host Terra Linda on Monday.

• Ozzie Shenk threw three scoreless innings as San Domenico roared past Urban 11-1 in 5 innings on Saturday at Novato High School. Alec Clark boosted the Panthers’ offense with a double to the wall, and Will Rothstein was 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Gytis Gervickas was 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI and Shenk was 1-for-1 with two walks for the Panthers, who are scheduled to face rival Marin Academy on Wednesday evening at Albert Park.

Boys tennis

Shaking up its lineup a little, the Branson School still cruised to a 7-0 sweep of Terra Linda on Friday. In the only match that went more than two sets, the Bulls’ Roshan Belani defeated En-Yu Liu at No. 4 singles. Branson’s Andrew Peng held on for a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 3 singles, and Max and Oliver Goldman both won at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively.

• Marin Catholic’s Andrew Gorczycki knuckled down for a three-set win at No. 1 singles as the Wildcats’ swept visiting Novato 7-0 Friday. Gorczycki turned away the Hornets’ Matthew Moyer 6-3, 0-6, 10-4 in a thrilling matchup. Jack Millar, Colin Johnston and Ian Parnes also won singles matches for the Wildcats.

• Tam swept doubles play on its way to a 6-1 victory over Archie Williams on Thursday. Charlie Dunn and Race Sallady held off their counterparts from Archie Williams, 7-5, 6-3, at No. 1 doubles. Tam’s Tyler Byrne, Emmett McEvilley and Diego Castillo each won their singles matches. The Peregrine Falcons’ PJ Krill pulled off a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles to help Archie Williams avoid the sweep.

• Jesse Chi and Arseniy Korolev picked up singles wins at the top two spots in the order to help clinch Friday’s win for San Marin, which went on to sweep San Rafael 7-0. Cash Connors and Anton Bogak also won singles matches.

Boys volleyball

Will Hatch had a team-high eight kills as Tam topped International, 25-17, 25-22, 25-17 on Friday night.   Adrien VanDoren added four kills and three aces. Freshman Dante Styles had five kills and a key nine-point service run to help Tam rally to win the second set.

Women’s basketball

Redwood High grad Jenny Walker, a senior forward at New York University, is a second-team selection to the College Sports Communicators Women’s Basketball Division III Academic All-America squad.

Walker, a Media, Culture, and Communication major in NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, is one of eight recipients to maintain a perfect 4.0 GPA. She averaged 12.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, 0.9 assists and 0.8 steals per game to help NYU claim its second straight UAA title.

The senior forward was also a Second Team All-UAA selection and UAA All-Academic honoree this year. Walker scored in double figures 16 times on the season, highlighted by a career-high 34 points with 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals in a home win over Emory University on January 20. She ranked sixth in the Association in blocks per game, seventh in field-goal percentage (49.1), ninth in rebounding and 10th in scoring.

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  • KENTFIELD CA - MARCH 18: D'Andre Gaines (26) of College...

    KENTFIELD CA – MARCH 18: D'Andre Gaines (26) of College of Marin belts a solo home run in the first inning to put the Mariners up 1-0 during their baseball game against Contra Costa at College of Marin in Kentfield, Calif., on Saturday, March 18, 2023. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)

  • KENTFIELD CA - MARCH 18: College of Marin pitcher Jake...

    KENTFIELD CA – MARCH 18: College of Marin pitcher Jake Verwiel (18) throws against Contra Costa during their baseball game at College of Marin in Kentfield, Calif., on Saturday, March 18, 2023. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)

  • KENTFIELD CA - MARCH 18: College of Marin third baseman...

    KENTFIELD CA – MARCH 18: College of Marin third baseman Jake Ferguson fields a ball during their baseball game against Contra Costa at College of Marin in Kentfield, Calif., on Saturday, March 18, 2023. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)

  • KENTFIELD CA - MARCH 18: Payton Harris (38) of College...

    KENTFIELD CA – MARCH 18: Payton Harris (38) of College of Marin makes a running catch deep in left-center field during their baseball game against Contra Costa at College of Marin in Kentfield, Calif., on Saturday, March 18, 2023. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)

  • KENTFIELD CA - MARCH 18: Lucas Schaefer (24) of College...

    KENTFIELD CA – MARCH 18: Lucas Schaefer (24) of College of Marin rounds the bases after hitting a home run during their baseball game against Contra Costa at College of Marin in Kentfield, Calif., on Saturday, March 18, 2023. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)

  • KENTFIELD CA - MARCH 18: Contra Costa outfielders Octavio Martinez...

    KENTFIELD CA – MARCH 18: Contra Costa outfielders Octavio Martinez (2), left, and Jaylen Edmonds take a knee during a pitching change while being down 20-2 against College of Marin during their baseball game at College of Marin in Kentfield, Calif., on Saturday, March 18, 2023. The game was eventually called after sixth inning with College of Marin leading 25-2. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)

  • KENTFIELD CA - MARCH 18: Logan Fiene (1) of College...

    KENTFIELD CA – MARCH 18: Logan Fiene (1) of College of Marin is safe as he dives back into first base behind Contra Costa first baseman Jack Dischinger (27) on a pickoff attempt during their baseball game at College of Marin in Kentfield, Calif., on Saturday, March 18, 2023. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)

  • KENTFIELD CA - MARCH 18: College of Marin shortstop Jacob...

    KENTFIELD CA – MARCH 18: College of Marin shortstop Jacob Campbell (7) forces out the runner sliding into second base then throws out the batter heading to first base to turn a double play during their baseball game against Contra Costa at College of Marin in Kentfield, Calif., on Saturday, March 18, 2023. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)

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A threatening gray, overcast sky never produced a drop of rain Saturday afternoon at the tidy College of Marin baseball field.

The College of Marin baseball team’s bats, on the other hand, did more than just threaten. They hit up a storm.

The Mariners completed a dominating three-game sweep of Contra Costa College with a 25-2 walloping of the Comets in a Bay Valley Conference contest in Kentfield.

COM batted through the order – and then some – in both the first and fourth innings, prompting the Comets to concede after five-and-a-half innings.

The Mariners’ one-sided victory came on the heels of an 11-0 romp against the Comets on Wednesday and a 23-0 shellacking of Contra Costa on Thursday to give COM a 3-0 start in conference play.

“Contra Costa is handcuffed by a lack of pitching,” veteran COM coach Steve Berringer said. “They have one good starter and he pitched really well against us on Wednesday. It took us four innings to get to him. Everybody else Contra Costa brought in (to pitch), we had really good at-bats against.”

Winning pitcher Jake Verwiel, a sophomore southpaw, faced the minimum batters in the first. After that, the COM hitters – sparked by D’andre Gaines’ laser beam leadoff homer over the left-field fence – were relentless against Contra Costa starting pitcher Jordan Holmes.

With one out, COM sent seven batters to the plate without recording another out. For the inning, the Mariners sent 14 to the plate and scored nine runs to break the game open before it had barely begun.

Tam High graduate Jake Ferguson provided the big hit of the rally when he sprayed an outside pitch to right field for a two-run single.

Four batters later, sophomore Jacob Campbell scorched a single through the box for another pair of runs.

Campbell, an All-BVC player last season, was 3 for 5 with a double, a triple and five runs batted in.

“When we got off to a big lead, I was pleased we didn’t start giving at-bats away,” Berringer said. “We didn’t get greedy trying to knock the ball over the fence. We stayed locked in and hit line drives all over the field.”

Holmes did not last through the first, allowing seven earned runs, four hits, two hit batsmen and a walk in two-thirds of an inning.

Meanwhile, Verwiel, an all-conference relief pitcher as a freshman, was all business through the first three innings, moving a lively fastball around the strike zone and shutting out the Comets on two hits.

“I thought the outing went OK,” said Verwiel, who struck out three, walked two and allowed two runs in 3⅔ innings. “I threw a lot of good pitches and a couple of good innings. But as a pitcher, there’s always room for improvement.”

Berringer was also mostly pleased with Verwiel’s outing.

“He was OK,” Berringer said. “It was a good learning opportunity for him. When a pitcher gets a big early lead he needs to stay aggressive and keep attacking the strike zone. Once we were way ahead, he got into a lot of three-ball counts instead of just pounding the ball in there.”

The Mariners (10-12) added two more runs in the third when Gainer and Campbell pulled off a rarity by connecting for back-to-back triples to lead off the frame. With two outs, Steven Elsner knocked in the second run when he ripped a double into the left-field corner.

By the time the fourth inning rolled around, Contra Costa was looking for pitchers in the grandstand.

The Mariners cashed in on the pitching-poor Comets, sending 18 players to the plate in a 14-run outburst. COM drew 10 walks in the inning – and, at one point, after three consecutive free passes – Lucas Schaefer teed up a waist-high fastball for a grand slam that landed well beyond the left-field fence. Schaefer had five runs batted in for the game.

“We have a lot of good hitters on this team,” Verwiel said. “They make the pitchers’ jobs a whole lot easier.”

COM sophomore relief pitcher Bryant Thornton, a graduate of Archie Williams High, was sharp in two innings of relief work. Thornton fired two scoreless innings and struck out four.

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ALBANY, N.Y. — Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino issued a warning about UConn to the rest of the teams in the NCAA Tournament, but most pressing, to Saint Mary’s.

“They physically dominated us at the five spot,” Pitino said after his Iona team fell in an 87-63 drubbing to UConn in the first found on Friday night before adding, “they’ve got all the metrics to win a National Championship.”

Then, the two-time National Championship-winning coach rattled those metrics off.

The assists. The dominance on the glass. The high shooting percentage, even from three. The backups that could be starters.

Forget a Cinderella story, Saint Mary’s is going to need to have its David vs. Goliath moment in the second round of the NCAA Tournament today.

As the fifth-seeded Gaels get set to take on fourth-seeded UConn, they’re facing a blue-blood program ready to regain its national prominence; playing in a venue a couple hours from campus.

“Obviously you can’t really stop that. They have a great fan base, and it’s going to be loud in there,” Saint Mary’s guard Alex Ducas said. “We’re a very composed team, and we trust in the five guys on the court and the guys who are supporting us on the bench. We’ve just got to keep a tight-knit huddle and keep relaying the message to each other, that it’s OK.

“We’re playing a road game. We’re used to it. We’re used to not having very many fans on the road. So it’s not new to us. We’ll fight wherever it is.”

They’ll do so at MVP Arena at 6:40 p.m. with a trip to Las Vegas in the West Region and the program’s first Sweet 16 appearance since 2009-10 at stake.

And that five spot Pitino was referring to? The goliath Adama Sanogo. The 6-foot-9, 240-pound All-Big East big man for UConn dominated in the first-round matchup vs. Iona, notching a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Along with the 7-foot-2, 265-pound freshman Donavan Clingan anchoring the Huskies, the Gaels frontcourt led by 6-10 All-West Coast Conference center Mitchell Saxen will have its hands full.

“I back my big man Mitchell Saxen all the way. I know he’s going to bring the effort every time,” Ducas said. “Obviously they have good two big men in their players, but I think we’ll be fine. We play hard. We play strong. We don’t give up. We love to fight, and we play physical. So I think it’s going to be an exciting matchup.”

Another key matchup is the contrasting playing styles of a team that likes to get out and run in UConn, and a Saint Mary’s team that likes to slow the game down. Bleeding out the shot clock in possessions and draining the clock — along with stifling defense – helped the Gaels hold VCU to a season-low 51 points in the first round on Friday night.

“We definitely want to get them out of their pace. When we play our style, it’s very hard to beat us,” UConn’s Alex Karaban said. “We’re just going to play our style of basketball. We’re going to play defense and try to get out there and run, which we’ve been pretty successful at. If we do that, I think we’ll be just fine.”

And the Gaels are just fine where they are. Overlooked, and picked to lose.

“Being underdogs and proving everybody else wrong, it’s exciting. It’s what you want,” senior guard Logan Johnson said. “We talk about it all the time. All these people doubt us. We’ve got a bunch of doubters, and we love to prove people wrong.”

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STANFORD — When Stanford is at full strength, it’s hard to find any team in the country that’s as tall and long as the Cardinal.

But it sure would help to have their All-American post player ready for what should be a tough battle for rebounds on Sunday.

Thankfully for the No. 1 seed Cardinal, Cameron Brink was able to practice on Saturday after she missed Friday’s game with a non-COVID related illness.

Brink, who posted on Instagram that she had an IV put in her arm, said she’s ready for Sunday’s 6:30 p.m. second round NCAA Tournament game against the No. 8 seed Ole Miss.

“It was just a stomach bug, and just dealing with that,” Brink said. “As long as I’m ready to play tomorrow, that’s all that matters.”

Stanford was able to do just fine without Brink in its first round game, blasting No. 16 seed Sacred Heart. But coach Tara VanDerveer admitted that “it is really different not having Cam out there” afterwards and would welcome her return to the lineup.

“We need Cam,” VanDerveer said. “We’re really happy that she’s back. I thought she practiced well today.”

VanDerveer said they’ll have to wait until tomorrow to figure out if Brink needs any minutes restriction, saying, “everyone is always day-to-day.Sunday’s opponent looked especially strong in their blowout win over Gonzaga, actually beating the Bulldogs by a wider margin than Stanford did earlier this year (84-63 on Dec. 4, 2023, although Gonzaga only had seven players that night).

VanDerveer quipped that she “didn’t sleep last night” in preparing for the matchup after the Rebels dominated the Bulldogs on the glass, grabbing 24 offensive rebounds en route to scoring 21 second chance points. For Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin, the Rebels reaching the 50-rebound mark for the fourth time this season can be credited to their tough conference slate.

“It’s playing in the Southeastern Conference. Every night, we are playing against elite level talent. We’re playing against elite athletes. And we have to fight,” McPhee-McCuin said. “We did not think that that would be impossible for us to do tonight or any time in the NCAA Tournament – unless we face South Carolina again; they are monstrous.”

But there’s another funny tidbit about those Gamecocks that both Ole Miss and Stanford share: they are the only two teams in the country to take South Carolina to overtime.

Stanford did so back on Nov. 20, when the reigning national champions came back from down 10 points entering the fourth quarter to win 76-71 at Maples Pavilion.

Ole Miss were also home on Feb. 19 when they took the undefeated Gamecocks to overtime and lost 64-57. The Rebels faced them again in the SEC tournament semifinals and lost 81-50.

In those two games, South Carolina’s size led the Rebels to getting out-rebounded by double digits (by 13 in each game). They’ve only been outrebounded by double digits one time all season.

Could Stanford’s similar size inside to South Carolina present a similar challenge to the Rebels? McPhee-McCuin isn’t sure, if only because of the Gamecocks’ size throughout their entire lineup.

“South Carolina, their front court is 6-6, 6-5, 6-4, 6-3. Stanford’s big, but I don’t remember their 2-guard being 6-3,” McPhee-McCuin said. “I think that they are going to be really good on the glass as well, but even versus South Carolina, we competed. They didn’t just annihilate us on the glass … That’s just who we are. So no matter what, we feel like we can rebound with the best of them.”

The numbers bear that out, too. Entering the NCAA Tournament, Stanford had the fifth-best rebounding average in the country, grabbing 45.6 per game. Ole Miss isn’t far behind, with their 41.7 rebounds per game ranking 21st out of 361 teams.

Stanford’s senior star Haley Jones and the Cardinal watched the first half of Ole Miss’ win over Gonzaga from the stands and left the impression that the Rebels were “very aggressive.” But that’s not anything Stanford hasn’t dealt with in the Pac-12, either.

“It’s going to be a challenge, but it’s not like anything crazy,” Jones said. “We prepare to rebound every single game, but now it’s just more of an emphasis … We’ve had games to prepare us for this — o-board teams like Colorado, South Carolina, Tennessee, we’ve prepped for that in the past. So it’s just really locking into that.”

And the key to the game? That’s an easy question to answer, both for the coach and for the player who didn’t play on Friday.

“Boxing out is what’s going to [matter],” Brink said. “We’ve just got to forearm them and make sure they don’t get an o-boards. Simple.”

VanDerveer added, “You have to rebound against this team. Our team is going to have to be aggressive. Can’t be the nice girls from Stanford.”

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, hoping to take her basketball team to the finals of the Women's NCAA Tournament, speaks after their opening round victory over Sacred Heart, Friday, March 17, 2023, at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, hoping to take her basketball team to the finals of the Women’s NCAA Tournament, speaks after their opening round victory over Sacred Heart, Friday, March 17, 2023, at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

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Considering San Jose State hadn’t played in the postseason in 12 years and was still looking for a breakthrough victory, its 75-52 win over Southern Indiana Saturday in the College Basketball Invitational carried a significance that belied the anonymity of the event.

The Spartans, seeded No. 2, handled the 15th-seeded Screaming Eagles with relative ease, taking a double-digit lead before the game at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla., was 10 minutes old and keeping its foot on the gas throughout.

“I think it’s very important for the image of our players, for the image of our program,” San Jose State coach Tim Miles said. “Let’s face it — San Jose State men’s basketball has been down for a long time and we’re trying to etch out a reputation for program support in the community, whether it be on campus or in the Silicon Valley. To do that, you need to do well.”

The game was a carryover of a season that has seen San Jose State go from 8-23 under Miles a year ago in his first season to 21-13. Southern Indiana, a former Division II program from the Ohio Valley Conference, fell to 16-17 and were overmatched from beginning to end.

Guard Alvaro Cardenas, a sophomore from Granada, Spain, led San Jose State with 22 points in 22 minutes, going 8-for-13 from the floor and 3-for-6 on 3-point shots. Omari Moore, the Mountain West Player of the Year, took just nine shots but scored 15 points with eight rebounds, six assists and zero turnovers.

For Southern Indiana, guard Isaiah Swope had 16 points and Tyler Henry 10. Forward Jacob Polakovich, an All-OVC performer who was averaging 12.4 points per game and was among the national leaders with 13.0 rebounds, had just six points and seven rebounds against the San Jose State interior defense.

Pretty much everyone got in the act for the Spartans, who will face either Tarleton State or Radford in the second round Monday. Ranked No. 6 in the country in rebounding margin, San Jose State beat Southern Indiana 50-25 on the glass.

Robert Vaihola played just 12 minutes and had 10 points and nine rebounds. The Spartans did all that good work mostly without Ibrahima Diallo, their 7-foot center from Senegal who departed with a left ankle sprain nine minutes into the game, did not return, and is questionable to play in the second round.

The Spartans will have bigger aspirations down the road, but for the moment are just fine with a big win in the CBI. Not counting conference tournaments, San Jose State had lots its five previous games — a loss to Creighton in the CBI in 2011, NCAA Tournament losses to Kentucky in 1996, Missouri in 1980 and Brigham Young in 1951, and and a 1981 defeat against UTEP in the NIT.

“It’s super important,” Cardenas said. “San Jose hasn’t been the best team over the years and playing in the postseason is always great no matter what tournament it is. It’s been a long time since San Jose played a postseason game and we were really excited to get the win.”

For Miles, it was gratifying to see his team stay true to the strengths that enabled the Spartans to go 10-8 in the MWC and beat Nevada — which made the NCAA Tournament — in the conference tourney.

“You never know as a coach in the postseason how the first game is going to go, matter what,” Miles said. “Look at Purdue (which lost to Farleigh Dickenson) in the NCAAs. “Our mindset was excellent. I thought we came out and we were who we are.”

Cardenas, who averaged 9.8 points per game coming in, said he was looking to be aggressive when opportunities presented themselves and liked the roster balance in terms of contributions.

“I tried not to force anything and make the shots that I had open, and I made them,” Cardenas said. “Sometimes it’s true we have relied on Omari too much and today we all shared the ball a little more and tried to be aggressive.”

 

 

 

 

 

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STANFORD — Stanford’s experience has been considered a massive advantage whenever the Cardinal takes the floor.

But even with several key contributors who have played in back-to-back Final Fours and won the national championship in 2021, the Cardinal will need their freshmen to make an impact, too.

And that’ll be especially important if All-American Cameron Brink misses No. 1 seed Stanford’s second round game against No. 8 seed Ole Miss at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday with a non-COVID related illness, too.

In their first taste of NCAA Tournament action, each of Stanford’s three freshmen — center Lauren Betts and guards Talana Lepolo and Indya Nivar — had a solid game in a first round rout of No. 16 seed Sacred Heart and got a chance to enjoy their first taste of March Madness.

“It’s just really exciting,” Betts said. “This is something that Indya and I have grown up watching for a very long time, so it’s just an honor to be here and play on this team and just have this experience with the amazing people I get to be with every day.”

Both Nivar and Betts said their Big Dance debut was just like any other, though Nivar added, “But just with a little bit more excitement behind it knowing that this game, we have to do what we have to do to get to the next.”

Nivar scored double-digit points for just the second time all season, making 4-of-6 shots (one 3-pointer) and both free throws to tally 11 points in 20 minutes. Lepolo, a Carondelet alum Lepolo had a game-high seven assists and three steals while adding three points in 23 minutes.

Perhaps most encouraging for the Cardinal was Betts’ night, as the 6-foot-7 center filled in for Brink had 10 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes of action. She gave Brink credit for helping her improve to this point in practice.

“I think Cameron and I, KiKi and I, go at it every day and definitely put me in this position,” Betts said. “Today, if someone can’t make it, I’m ready to go, and I know what I have [to contribute].”

Brink posted on Instagram that it was “just a stomach bug” right as the game started on Friday, but included a photo of her at the hospital with an IV in. She’s considered day-to-day.

But with as deep of a team as Stanford has, coach Tara VanDerveer often has a hard time taking her leaders, like seniors Haley Jones and Hannah Jump and Brink, off the floor.

“It is very hard to get minutes for 15 people. It’s really impossible,” VanDerveer said. “I feel sometimes like, when I watch the Warriors play, you know, sometimes someone might play a lot in this game, not that much in the next game. That’s really hard on a young person. But we’re led by Cam and Haley and Hannah Jump, and I think Talana is doing really well.”

Jones and Jump have played 35 minutes or more 15 times each this season and Lepolo has also crossed the 35-minute mark four times, even as a freshman.

So to have a night like Friday, where Jones only played 25 minutes, Jump and Lepolo each played 24 minutes and the players who filled in behind them and for Brink performed well, can be especially valuable at this time of year.

“Indya had a really great game. Lauren Betts came in and filled in beautifully. Fran [Belibi] did really well. There wasn’t anyone that did poorly,” VanDerveer said. “You know, we needed this for our team to kind of bust out a little bit, remind ourselves this is what we can do.”

But make no mistake: the Cardinal would prefer to have their two-time All-American post player back and healthy for Sunday’s game.

“It is really different not having Cam out there,” VanDerveer said. “But I thought different people stepped up very well for us.”

Rebels come in with confidence, similar close call to Stanford

Sunday’s opponent looked especially strong in their blowout win over Gonzaga, actually beating the Bulldogs by a wider margin than Stanford did earlier this year (84-63 on Dec. 4, 2023, although Gonzaga only had seven players that night).

The Rebels did that in part through their domination on the glass, grabbing 24 offensive rebounds en route to scoring 21 second chance points. For coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin, the Rebels reaching the 50-rebound mark for the fourth time this season can be credited to their tough conference slate.

“It’s playing in the Southeastern Conference. Every night, we are playing against elite level talent. We’re playing against elite athletes,. And we have to fight,” McPhee-McCuin said. “We did not think that that would be impossible for us to do tonight or any time in the NCAA Tournament – unless we face South Carolina again; they are monstrous.”

But there’s a funny tidbit about those Gamecocks that both Ole Miss and Stanford share: they are the only two teams in the country to take South Carolina to overtime.

Stanford did so back on Nov. 20, when the reigning national champions came back from down 10 points entering the fourth quarter to win 76-71 at Maples Pavilion.

Ole Miss were also home on Feb. 19 when they took the undefeated Gamecocks to overtime and lost 64-57. The Rebels faced them again in the SEC tournament semifinals and lost 81-50.

In those two games, South Carolina’s size led the Rebels to getting out-rebounded by double digits (by 13 in each game). They’ve only been outrebounded by double digits one time all season.

Could Stanford’s similar size inside to South Carolina present a similar challenge to the Rebels? McPhee-McCuin isn’t sure, if only because of the Gamecocks’ size throughout their entire lineup.

“South Carolina, their front court is 6-6, 6-5, 6-4, 6-3. Stanford’s big, but I don’t remember their 2-guard being 6-3,” McPhee-McCuin said. “I think that they are going to be really good on the glass as well, but even versus South Carolina, we competed. They didn’t just annihilate us on the glass. I guess that’s the point I’m making. That’s just who we are.

“So no matter what, we feel like we can rebound with the best of them, and we’ve shown that because at the end of the day, South Carolina is the No. 1 team in the country until someone beats them, and we’ve been able to rebound with them. So if anything, it gives us confidence.”

As Reported by Marin Independent Journal

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In: College basketball, College sports, Latest Headlines, NCAA Tournament, Sports

STANFORD — Most teams would struggle if they were missing an All-American.

Then again, most teams don’t have two All-Americans.

With Cameron Brink missing the game because of an illness, Haley Jones had 17 points and six rebounds to lead No. 1 seed Stanford to a 92-49 win on Friday night over No. 16 seed Sacred Heart in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The senior — who was named a third-team All-American by the Associated Press (AP) this week — scored all 17 of her points in the first half on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. Jones only played seven minutes in the second half as the Cardinal pulled away from the Pioneers.

The Cardinal will play in the second round on Sunday, with the time still to be determined, against the winner of No. 8 seed Ole Miss and No. 9 seed Gonzaga’s game.

Fellow senior Hannah Jump broke Stanford’s program record for 3-pointers in a single season when she beat the halftime buzzer from deep, with her third triple of the first half giving her 97 for the season. She passed Karlie Samuelson’s 2016-17 season and the 2010-11 season of Jeanette Pohlen, who was on the Cardinal’s radio call for the moment.

Jump finished with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, all from 3-point range. It’s a drastic improvement from her last time on the floor, when she didn’t score a point in Stanford’s loss to UCLA in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals.

Brink, who was a second team AP All-American, said that it is “just a stomach bug” and that she’ll “be back ASAP” on Instagram. She’s officially considered day-to-day by the program.

The Cardinal (29-5) didn’t seem to miss Brink’s presence against the Pioneers, whose tallest player is 6-foot-2. Stanford started 6-foot-1 Francesca Belibi in Brink’s place and the senior contributed a double-double, tallying 12 points and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes.

Stanford also increased 6-foot-7 Lauren Betts’ workload to fill in for Brink. In her first NCAA Tournament game, the freshman had 10 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes. She also had an emphatic block of Sacred Heart’s 5-foot-3 guard Ny’Ceara Pryor in the second quarter, one of three rejections on the night.

Pryor, who was the Northeast Conference’s Player, Defensive Player and Rookie of the Year this season, led the Pioneers with 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting.

Sacred Heart (18-14) kept the game close early, as Stanford only led 23-18 after the first quarter. The Cardinal then outscored the Pioneers 50-19 in the middle two quarters — 22-8 in the second and 28-11 in the third.

As Reported by Marin Independent Journal