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SPORTS
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
APRIL 7, 2022 |
NORTHERNIOWAN.COM
|
COLIN HORNING Sports Editor
VOLUME 118, ISSUE 47
College basketball crowns its champions
Tribune News Service
Kansas won their second national championship under head coach Bill Self, defeating North Carolina on Monday night.
DREW HILL
Sports Writer
Both the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments finally came to a close this past weekend. After nearly three weeks of edge-ofyour-seat action, upsets and dominant performances, the champions have cut down the nets and made their mark on history. In the women’s Final Four, with the semifinal games being played on Friday and the championship on Sunday, familiar faces dueled it out.
First, No. 1 overall-seed South Carolina took down Louisville 72-59 behind 23 points and 18 rebounds from player of the year Aliyah Boston. Then, in a tight game, Connecticut (UConn) upset the defending champion Stanford Cardinal 63-58 to set up a championship game with South Carolina. Unlike the Final Four game between Stanford and UConn, this game was not very close, with South Carolina winning 64-49 to claim its second championship of the last five tournaments, with the other in 2017. Coincidentally,
2017 was the first time in five years that UConn did not win a championship, snapping a four-in-a-row streak that began in 2013. The last time the UConn women had a national title drought five years or longer was before 1995, the first of their women’s championships. The men’s Final Four started off with a near blowout, as the lone surviving oneseed, the Kansas Jayhawks, took down Villanova 81-65. Villanova was missing key starter Justin Moore, who was injured in their previous game, and it showed in the defeat. The other semifinal game was a legendary matchup sports commentators and reporters dream of: Duke versus North Carolina. Strangely, despite incredible NCAA tournament success among both teams, with the teams combining to claim nine of the thirty championships from 1991-2021, the two rivals had never faced in the NCAA tournament. What made the game even more monumental was that this was the last game of Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, arguably the greatest coach in NCAA basketball history, with 1,202 wins. The teams had split the season series, with each team winning at the other’s home
court. The first half saw both teams go back-and-forth in a battle of explosive offenses. With Duke leading in the second half, North Carolina did what they have done all tournament, nailing three three-pointers in a row, followed by two more baskets to take a 47-41 lead. Duke responded with a 6-0 run to tie the game. Both teams kept battling in the second half. With North Carolina up by one with about 25 seconds left, guard Caleb Love hit a three-pointer to extend the Tar Heels’ lead to four. Love made three out of four free throws to close out the game and give North Carolina an 81-77 win over their hated rivals. It was a game that neither team will soon forget. The title game looked like it would not be quite as exciting at several points. North Carolina proceeded to close the half on an 18-3 run to take a 40-25 lead into halftime. They were 46-0 when leading by ten or more at the half in the NCAA tournament, and all momentum favored the Tar Heels going forward. However, Kansas had no plans to roll over and quit. In less than ten minutes, the Jayhawks tied the game at 50. Less than a minute later, they had a six-point lead at 56-50.
North Carolina kept fighting, and they finally regained the lead at 69-68 with about 1:40 to go. Kansas’ David McCormack nailed a hook shot to give Kansas back the lead. On the next play, Armando Bacot, North Carolina’s star who became the first player to get a double-double in six games in the NCAA tournament, injured his ankle, which forced him to sit out the rest of the game. With him out, McCormack scored another hook shot to give Kansas a 72-69 lead. North Carolina missed two threes, and then threw the ball out of bounds to give it to Kansas with 4.3 seconds left. The game appeared to be over. Following a KU turnover Love missed a lastchance three, and Kansas won the championship. It was Kansas’ first championship since 2008. They made history by overcoming the largest deficit in championship history, being down 16 at one point. If North Carolina had won, they would have made history by being just the second ever eight-seed to win a championship. Now that the tourney is over, college basketball fans are left asking, “What next?” It’s going to be a long eight months until college basketball starts again in November.
GOLF
What does Tiger’s return mean for the Masters? HUNTER FRIESEN Sports Writer
Is there some unknown deep-seated hatred toward March Madness from some of our biggest athletes? NFL quarterback Tom Brady stole the spotlight from Selection Sunday when he announced his surprising un-retirement and return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for one more season. And now this past Saturday, on the day of the Final Four, golf superstar Tiger Woods made headlines when he announced that he would be a game-time decision for playing in this weekend’s Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. Of course, I am kidding. But it does seem that athletes around the world are jealous that college basketball gets a whole month dedicated to them. And never mind that the term “game-time decision” has never been used to describe a golf player. Tiger’s comments may seem a bit like he’s trying to
lead us on. One could say it’s a conspiracy by the Masters brass to drum up interest in their annual tournament. It’s not an unsubstantiated theory considering Tiger’s previous win at the tournament in 2019 drew 10.81 million viewers, while last year’s tournament without him attracted 9.45 million. But even if Tiger participates in this year’s tournament (which is getting more and more likely by the day), will he be able to compete for his sixth green jacket? It’s only been 13 months since he was injured in a brutal car accident that resulted in substantial damage to his right leg, along with other minor injuries. You never know how Tiger will play these days. He’s had on and off results at tournaments over the years, with some missed cuts and some wins. This year’s prestigious event is packed to the brim with previous tournament winners and highly-decorated stars. Since Tiger’s relative demise over the years due to injuries, golf has seen a surge
in parity. Every tournament has at least a dozen names with an equal chance of winning, and The Masters will be no different. Cameron Smith and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler are the ones at the top of the betting odds. Each has been surging at the smaller tournaments over the past few months but hasn’t had much success in the majors. On the opposite side sits Brooks Koepka, who seems to always overperform when the lights are brightest. He’s finished in the Top 10 twelve times in the past 16 major tournaments, including four victories. The previous World No. 1, Jon Rahm, is a beacon of consistency, as he’s finished in the Top 10 in each of his previous four Masters. The same goes for Tony Finau. He’s had a bit of a rough stretch these past few months but could make the necessary adjustments before this weekend. The one fan-favorite who will not be playing this year is three-time win-
Tribune News Service
Tiger Woods recently announced that he would be playing in this year’s Masters tournament, a little over one year after he was in a major car accident resulting in multiple injuries.
ner Phil Mickelson, who’s still embroiled in controversy over his actions and comments over the previous months. Apart from his surprise PGA Championship win last year, Phil hasn’t been as competitive as he used to be, so it’s not like this weekend’s event lost one of its top contenders. It’ll be
interesting to see who will don the coveted green jacket this Sunday. I could quadruple the length of this article and still leave off quite a few names worth mentioning. It just goes to show that there isn’t a better tournament out there to get golf back on the menu for sports fans around the world.
