March Insanity – How far UNC can advance, what to do about unhealthy officiating and what we’ll be watching Sunday

The primary No. 1 seed has been crossed out out of your March Madness bracket. The primary earth-shaking second of the 2022 NCAA match’s spherical of 32 got here early Saturday, when the Baylor Bears fell to the North Carolina Tar Heels regardless of an epic rally (impressed by a controversial officiating determination that noticed UNC’s Brady Manek despatched off with a flagrant foul) to drive time beyond regulation. The 93-86 loss cemented the East as this occasion’s most wide-open area, with the Tar Heels, No. four seed UCLA and the upstart No. 15-seed Saint Peter’s Peacocks all getting primed for the festivities in Philadelphia subsequent weekend together with a crew to be decided.

Saint Peter’s was the day’s different large story, turning into simply the third 15-seed in historical past to succeed in the second weekend by dealing with Murray State 70-60.

In the meantime, the No. 1 seeds that weren’t Baylor — the Kansas Jayhawks and Gonzaga Bulldogs — each survived, however it was removed from simple for both.

As 24 groups are trimmed to 16 on Sunday, ESPN’s panel of Myron Medcalf, Jeff Borzello, John Gasaway and Joe Lunardi weighed in on Saturday’s occasions and in addition appeared forward to a Sunday schedule that can spherical out an exciting first weekend of Insanity.

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North Carolina, a crew we weren’t positive was going to be within the NCAA match a pair weeks in the past, has punched its ticket to the second weekend. How shocked would you be to see the Tar Heels in New Orleans?

Medcalf: With each Kentucky and Baylor eradicated from the East Area, I might not be shocked. I nonetheless assume Gonzaga, Kansas and Arizona are a step forward of the sphere. However this area is starting to really feel just like the “greatest crew proper now” could have an opportunity to succeed in New Orleans and perhaps extra. In current weeks, the Tar Heels received a street sport over Duke and have simply eradicated a No. 1 seed. I do not assume there’s a crew within the East Area that has been definitively higher than a UNC squad that’s 8-1 in its previous 9 video games. If Brady Manek is on the market — UNC is 7-2 this season when Manek makes at the very least 4 3-pointers — the Tar Heels could have an opportunity to succeed in their first Ultimate 4 since they received the nationwide title in 2017.

Borzello: I might nonetheless be shocked, however it’s not out of the query. The 1-seed, Baylor, is out, and the 2-seed, Kentucky, is out, that means it is a wide-open area. Purdue is the best seed remaining, however the Boilermakers’ protection leaves lots to be desired. Carolina shall be an underdog to UCLA within the Candy 16, however the Bruins should hope Jaime Jaquez Jr. is near 100% wholesome. Head coach Hubert Davis has the Tar Heels enjoying their greatest basketball of the season. They’ve defeated three NCAA match groups in March, which is identical quantity they defeated within the first 4 months of the season.

The personnel is sweet sufficient. Manek — who we assume will be capable to play within the Candy 16 regardless of his controversial ejection (extra on that in a bit) — has scored at the very least 20 factors in 5 of his previous six video games. Caleb Love wasn’t nice Saturday, however he typically is the catalyst for large Carolina wins. R.J. Davis simply scored 30 in opposition to Baylor. Armando Bacot is Armando Bacot. The Tar Heels have made 24 3s in two video games and held each Marquette and Baylor to fewer than 1 level per possession. If their perimeter capturing and protection continues, they’ve a shot to beat anybody.

Gasaway: This reply clearly is dependent upon whether or not Manek’s on the ground, and man, do we’ve proof to assist this rivalry. However let’s assume the senior will play his ordinary variety of minutes. UNC simply knocked off the East Area’s prime seed, and Saint Peter’s already carried out that service with respect to No. 2 seed Kentucky. On paper that is an open bracket, with Purdue assuming the crown as the best remaining seed. Even after a disastrous final 10 minutes of regulation in opposition to Baylor, the Tar Heels are nonetheless capturing the lights out within the match. A rerun of 2000 and a Ultimate 4 journey for an 8-seeded UNC crew would not be all that shocking.

Lunardi: Ahem, ahem (clearing throat) … yours really, if reminiscence serves, stated on Faculty Basketball Reside proper after UNC received at Duke that we had been witnessing an ideal storm. North Carolina (and Memphis, if it beat Houston the subsequent day) had been each going to be in Eight vs. 9 video games two weeks therefore, and each — having underachieved their expertise for the higher a part of the season — could be in glorious positions to take out a 1-seed within the NCAA match’s second spherical.

You possibly can think about my dismay, then, because the Tar Heels performed grenade ball in blowing a 25-point second-half result in Baylor. That they basically received the sport once more in time beyond regulation might need been a good larger shock than constructing the unique lead. I additionally had Carolina in my Elite Eight earlier than the tourney started, shedding to Kentucky within the East Area ultimate. With Massive Blue Nation out of the best way, what’s yet another sport?

ESPN colleague Jay Bilas has railed all season about school basketball video games descending into “hockey and rugby” video games. Do you agree with Jay, and what (if something) is there to do concerning the officiating points that troubled Baylor-North Carolina on Saturday?

Gasaway: I make it some extent to at all times agree with Jay and his railing as a result of he is a VIP. It is also true that on this explicit matter he has some extent. If ever there have been a sport as an instance Jay’s invoice of indictment, it was absolutely the portion of the North Carolina-Baylor contest that transpired after Brady Manek was ejected for a flagrant 2. The Bears mounted an unbelievable comeback partially as a result of the Tar Heels displayed essentially the most inexplicable compulsion for dribbling into the closest nook on each possession.

However, one other vital issue within the rally was officers swallowing their whistles because the BU full-court press mauled UNC within the backcourt on inbounds passes. Along with the Manek ejection, there was additionally a, let’s say, interplay between Armando Bacot and Jeremy Sochan. It nearly appeared as if there have been stretches when the officers had been doubting themselves (with good motive), and a gentle type of anarchy ensued. So, sure, the sport was no oil portray, and I will defer to Jay on the reform program that can repair it. It’s also true, nevertheless, that there’ll at all times be complaints about officiating. It has been a part of the sport since Naismith.

Lunardi: You could possibly nearly hear the gears turning because the officers huddled. “It is in all probability not a flagrant 2 on Brady Manek, however we will toss him right here, not influence the result of the sport and play the final 10 minutes of a blowout with out incident. Message despatched.” Besides Carolina declined to observe the script and started handing the entire thing again to Baylor, at which level we went full circus mode.

Brief time period, I saved ready for the crew to name the coaches collectively and say, “Hey, subsequent chippy play and that man is out. Zero tolerance.” As a substitute we acquired Sochan and Bacot escalating their hand-to-hand (or was it leg-to-leg?) fight in plain sight. Each in all probability wanted to go after their late double foul, however I perceive the officers’ reluctance in that spot given the flip of occasions. It was lose-lose for them and the 2 groups.

Massive image, name one thing — something! — on a few Baylor’s traps (even a journey or two on Carolina) and we in all probability get to the end line unscathed. After that, clip all of the uncalled bumps and hacks from the primary half and make it the subsequent huge summer season blockbuster, “Freedom of Motion Strikes Again.” The toothpaste is not simply out of the tube, we will not even discover the empty tube.

North Carolina and Baylor are enjoying a bodily, robust, aggressive sport. However, it isn’t basketball. It is hockey and rugby. This has been occurring all season, and desires to alter.

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) March 19, 2022

Borzello: Officiating typically is an issue, so I agree with Jay. I do not often come out of a sport occupied with the officiating, although — besides on excessive events. Tennessee’s win over Arizona earlier this season was one in every of them. Saturday’s sport was definitely one other. The officiating was objectively horrible. The dearth of consistency was exceptional. When followers of each groups are in my mentions speaking about how dreadful the referees had been, you understand it is an issue. I might even take the Manek ejection out of the equation; it was the remainder of the sport that annoyed gamers, coaches and viewers.

The fixed Bacot-Sochan jockeying ought to have been nipped within the bud a lot earlier. The referees had no thought easy methods to officiate Baylor’s second-half stress, seemingly subscribing to the “in the event that they’re fouling on each play, we will not name fouls” methodology. They ignored fouls that they known as within the first half, and different calls had been questionable at greatest. It was only a actually poorly officiated sport, and it might be a storyline if the crew of Kipp Kissinger, Brent Hampton and Donnie Eppley officiated one other sport on this yr’s match. I am unsure there’s actually something to do about it; the NCAA match is meant to function the perfect officers within the sport and having an opportunity to officiate later rounds within the match is the reward. What extra is the NCAA imagined to do apart from change the principles?

Medcalf: If they are not stopping video games to let a few gamers combat, then we’re not watching any hockey-like affairs. I feel we’re typically selective in our evaluation of officiating. Massive moments and impactful calls in shut video games have a tendency to change our views however do not at all times outline what’s occurring for 40 minutes in a whole bunch of video games across the nation. I do assume, nevertheless, we’ve a problem with consistency. That is the phrase coaches used every time I spoke with them previous to video games this season. They did not ask for calls to go their manner. They only wished to have the ability to belief that the officiating could be comparable all through the sport.

That takes us to the UNC-Baylor state of affairs. When the tempo modified and Nolan Richardson appeared to exchange Scott Drew because the coach within the second half for the Bears, the officiating modified. Plenty of calls that had been both missed or ignored throughout Baylor’s comeback from a 25-point gap would have all been fouls within the first half of the sport. That is the issue. Officers set the tone for the way a sport shall be performed, after which they modify the tone in actual time.

The one actual change is to make officers accessible for questions earlier than and after video games. The continued secrecy of officiating in a world with the web doesn’t make sense. Speaking to the media will not create extra hurt for them. If something, it is going to assist us perceive their reasoning and strategy to essential calls. Faculty basketball followers deserved to listen to from the officers within the UNC-Baylor sport. However the present system doesn’t enable this alteration, which might add the layer of accountability that may assist everybody concerned.

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Gonzaga had one other shaky first half earlier than rallying to take down Memphis 82-78. What’s your greatest fear concerning the Zags, and do you count on their sluggishness to show deadly sooner or later?

Lunardi: I do not assume it was sluggishness. It was a punch within the mouth from Memphis that Gonzaga ought to have been extra ready for after final yr’s beatdown by Baylor within the championship sport. The Tigers had a wise sport plan and performed to their energy, with the Zags complicit all the best way.

After halftime — as Drew Timme was doing his Christian Laettner imitation — it was Memphis that appeared like a deer within the headlights. First, coach Penny Hardaway inexplicably left Jalen Duren on the ground to select up a fourth foul. Then he stubbornly refused a number of timeout alternatives his crew desperately wanted. It remained a brave effort from the Tigers that also pushed the nation’s prime crew to the restrict.

For the Zags, was this the “nice escape” each champion wants? Or a weak point positive to be exploited in a later spherical? It says right here Gonzaga will get an absolute take a look at from Texas Tech within the West Area ultimate, and definitely Purdue if that’s the Ultimate 4 opponent. I additionally count on Timme & Co. to be prepared when the time comes.

Medcalf: I feel the concern is that this crew’s capability to separate from an opponent or launch a comeback if Drew Timme is struggling. On Saturday, he carried the Bulldogs, who had been down by double digits within the first half in opposition to Memphis earlier than Timme’s rally within the second half. However I feel that is a priority for any crew in Gonzaga’s state of affairs. Most elite packages could have challenges if their greatest participant goes chilly. However Timme is often dependable.

I do assume the Georgia State and Memphis video games, nevertheless, confirmed {that a} fast crew with size may give the Bulldogs bother. Nonetheless, the best way the Bulldogs completed each video games confirmed how tough it is going to be to beat them. Getting into the matchup, Memphis had misplaced two video games in two months. The Tigers had been higher than their seed. They might have challenged each crew within the discipline and defeated a bunch of them on Saturday, too. Let’s take into account that in our evaluation of this sport. I feel the Bulldogs can nonetheless march to the nationwide title. However this is not the Gonzaga crew that had an aura of invincibility final season. These Bulldogs are extra weak.

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Gonzaga advances to the Candy 16 due to a scoring rampage from Drew Timme within the second half.

Borzello: I do not assume many individuals anticipated Gonzaga to only stroll by Memphis on Saturday, not with the best way the Tigers have performed over the previous two months. There are only a few groups left within the bracket that will not battle with Memphis proper now, and Gonzaga sort of acquired punked a bit within the first half. Timme struggled, Holmgren struggled, the 3s weren’t falling, the free throws weren’t falling. It wasn’t a torpid begin, Memphis was simply the superior crew for 20 minutes. Solely Timme and the Gonzaga workers and gamers know what occurred in that halftime locker room, however no matter it was, Timme got here out and appeared like the perfect participant in school basketball.

My greatest concern is not Gonzaga’s sluggish begins in opposition to Georgia State and Memphis; we have already seen a 1-seed, 2-seed and 3-seed lose within the first three days of the NCAA match. That is simply what occurs in March. My greatest concern is whether or not the Zags can constantly create offense if Timme is struggling or will get in foul bother. They do not have the explosive, elite perimeter gamers they did final season, so lots will fall on the shoulders of Andrew Nembhard. He was improbable on Saturday and must proceed to play at a excessive degree.

Gasaway: Give Memphis credit score. The Tigers smacked Gonzaga within the mouth, and the sport felt very very like what Baylor did to this identical crew final April. Then Timme placed on his superhero outfit and the remaining is historical past. If there’s one notice of concern going ahead, nevertheless, it is that the sluggishness is taking a particular type that actually does hearken again to the Bears and the nationwide title sport. In opposition to Memphis, Mark Few’s crew shot much more precisely from the sphere, however it nearly did not matter. The Tigers pulled down one in each three misses and did not flip the ball over. That is exactly the method Baylor used a yr in the past. The Bulldogs might want to hold making pictures, as a result of opponents would possibly get many probabilities to attain in opposition to this crew.

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Doug Edert drains three huge pictures down the stretch for Saint Peter’s in a 70-60 win over Murray State within the NCAA match.

What else caught your eye on Saturday?

Medcalf: Saint. Peter’s. And Shaheen Holloway. Wow. He outcoached John Calipari in Thursday’s win over Kentucky. That was a school-altering win. However the subsequent step was tough, too. You see a number of younger coaches stumble in that second-round sport due to the restricted prep time and relaxation. For 3 months, no crew on Murray State’s schedule may discover a solution to stall the Racers. However Holloway was prepared. I do not know the way a crew that misplaced at Siena (NET rating: 238) by 14 factors a month in the past is within the Candy 16 after beating a Kentucky crew with nationwide title aspirations and Murray State, the most popular crew within the nation. However March is wild like that.

Borzello: The Peacocks! Saint Peter’s has Peacocked its manner into America’s hearts. This has shortly turn out to be among the best sports activities tales of the yr. Upsets occur yearly within the NCAA match, that is to be anticipated — however a 15-seed making the Candy 16? Not a lot. Saint Peter’s is simply the third 15-seed to win two NCAA match video games, and Saturday definitely wasn’t a fluke.

Not solely did the Peacocks beat Murray State, they by no means trailed. Not for a second. That is thought of the worst job within the MAAC, one of the crucial tough jobs in the whole area — and Holloway has them within the Candy 16. Kevin Willard talked about him on Friday night time as his potential successor at Seton Corridor, and now Holloway has extra NCAA match wins than his mentor. Simply an unbelievable story.

Gasaway: Saint Peter’s is Jersey sturdy, even when Holloway needed to make clear in his postgame interview that he is truly “a New York man.” Take into consideration what the Peacocks did. For 40 minutes of basketball, the nation was performing just like the opponent from the Ohio Valley Convention was the massive, unhealthy favourite. Holloway’s crew has performed with poise and confidence from the opening tip in opposition to Kentucky to the ultimate horn in opposition to Murray State. Now Saint Peter’s is heading to Philadelphia. If there’s one lesson the Wildcats and Racers may share with the opposite groups on the regional, it might be to not underestimate the Peacocks.

Lunardi: Saint Peter’s campus is nothing — and I imply nothing — like these of the opposite 15-seeds who’ve ventured into the Candy 16. Florida Gulf Coast (2013) and Oral Roberts (2021) are nation golf equipment in comparison with the nondescript Jersey Metropolis dwelling of the Peacocks. That is far and away essentially the most unlikely Candy 16 entrant within the historical past of the NCAA match.

Which Sunday matchup intrigues you essentially the most?

Borzello: There are some juicy matchups on Sunday, however I am most intrigued by Texas vs. Purdue — largely as a result of the winner of that sport has an actual shot at making a Ultimate 4. By way of the Boilermakers and Longhorns, it is a battle between one crew with an elite offense and a weak protection and a crew with a defense-first coach that has struggled to attain for lengthy stretches this season. However each groups additionally appeared like they took the week between convention tournaments and the NCAA match to iron some issues out. Purdue had its greatest defensive efficiency since November in opposition to Yale (though we have to take the opponent under consideration), whereas Texas had its most effective offensive outing since December in opposition to ACC tourney champ Virginia Tech. How will Texas cope with Purdue’s dimension? How will Purdue’s guards compete defensively in opposition to Texas’ bodily, veteran perimeter gamers? I am intrigued.

Medcalf: I like the Wisconsin-Iowa State matchup. Earlier than the season began, I do not assume anybody would have guess {that a} sport between a pair of groups that had been picked to complete close to the underside of their respective leagues would safe a visit to the Candy 16 for the winner. A win for both crew will prolong the story of one in every of school basketball’s greatest surprises.

Wisconsin appeared weak in opposition to Colgate. And counting on Johnny Davis to go on a late-game run to tug the Badgers to security won’t work this time. Then once more, Davis has been a clutch participant all yr. And an Iowa State crew that beat LSU, which performed with out former head coach Will Wade, has definitely had some ugly moments this season. However Izaiah Brockington (17.Three PPG, 7.Zero RPG, 37.1% from the 3-point line) may shine on the massive stage. Each groups have additionally exceeded the chances. Both Greg Gard leads Wisconsin to the Candy 16 after starting the yr as an afterthought within the Massive Ten or T.J. Otzelberger takes a crew that received two video games all of final season to the second weekend of the NCAA match.

Gasaway: I am instantly far more all in favour of TCU-Arizona than I might have believed heading into the spherical of 64. The Horned Frogs had been nearly precisely common on protection in Massive 12 play, however they positive did not appear to be it in opposition to Seton Corridor. Jamie Dixon’s crew completely dominated the Pirates, limiting them to 42 factors in 65 possessions. There’s at all times the likelihood that “common” in Massive 12 phrases means “excellent” as soon as these groups get to play opponents outdoors the league. That idea shall be examined in essentially the most rigorous doable manner in opposition to the explosive Wildcats.

Lunardi: I’m all around the Miami guards in opposition to Auburn. We have seen this film all the best way again to Jim Larranaga and George Mason. Coach L’s veteran guards will management the ball, management the sport and benefit from each Auburn turnover. Throw in some well timed shot-making and this shall be a type of huge seed-line upsets that actually is not.