The Review-Journal’s Adam Hill, Kelly Stewart and Matt Youmans compete against handicappers Bruce Marshall and Ken Thomson in a contest covering NCAA Tournament games today and Friday.
NCAA Tournament
It was not predetermined, and this is unlikely to be a popular pick. Even since the return of senior forward Ryan Kelly from a foot injury, Duke has been far from dominant. So how did it come to this?
A sampling of some of the best places in town to experience the NCAA Tournament:
If anything, the shove exposed the urgency that has attached itself to Mike Montgomery’s legacy. Perhaps it was for motivation’s sake, of driving his best player to greater heights. Perhaps it came from that cavernous place that said the moment was big, the game was bigger, and not many of either are left in his coaching career.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Exaggerating a bit, Anthony Bennett called the moment a “dream come true.” But only recently did he envision arriving here.
Matt Youmans, Kelly Stewart, Jimmy Vaccaro and Ken Thomson discuss the Thursday match-ups in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — An unlikely spokesman stepped up this week to promote New Mexico, UNLV and the rest of the Mountain West. Charles Barkley is as serious as a comedian, but when he talks, people listen.
The Mountain West stuck out its chest a little farther Sunday when five of its nine basketball teams were selected to the NCAA Tournament, but that’s already old news. What matters now is how each performs when the madness begins.
The sight of Carlos Lopez-Sosa standing in front of the bench in his warmups applauding teammates and trying to ignite the crowd has become an indelible image for UNLV fans.
It was a little past 3 p.m. Sunday when Bryant Gumbel’s brother announced that seventh-seeded San Diego State would play 10th-seeded Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament in Philadelphia on Friday.
Brittney Griner and Baylor’s path to a second straight national championship will have a familiar feel.
UNLV is seeded No. 5 in the East Region and will open NCAA Tournament play Thursday against No. 12 seed California at San Jose, Calif.
One of the most dramatic wins of UNLV’s season was a 76-75 December victory at California on an offensive rebound and putback by Quintrell Thomas with 1.2 seconds remaining.
It’s tough to predict how far Oklahoma State will go in the NCAA Tournament, but few teams are loaded with better young talent, starting with freshman point guard Marcus Smart. He’s a good bet to go early in this summer’s NBA Draft.
This is what happened at some point in a conference room Sunday that housed the NCAA Tournament selection committee in Indianapolis: UNLV was placed in the bracket as a No. 5 seed and Cal was placed opposite it as a No. 12, and a red flag appeared on the movie theater-size projection screen displaying the matchup.
