SPORTS
Friday, March 25, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3B
Men’s College Basketball
Woodard, Hield lead Oklahoma’s Sweet 16 romp
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Kansas just had to take its time to
slow down Maryland, which entered
the game with every starter averaging
at least 11 points per contest. Its main
focus was keeping Maryland guard
Melo Trimble (17 points) from getting
hot, a strategy that worked as the
sophomore made just 5 of 16 from the
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By BERNIE WILSON
Associated Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Okla-
homa Sooners proved they can thrive
quite nicely in the NCAA Tournament
even if Buddy Hield isn’t going off.
Because of that, the Sooners are one
win away from returning to the Final
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Jordan Woodard scored 22 points
and Hield had 17 points and 10
rebounds to lead the second-seeded
Sooners to a 77-63 romp over third-
seeded and cold-shooting Texas
A&M in the NCAA West Regional on
Thursday.
It was a nice display of teamwork
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advanced to the Elite Eight for the
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Saturday against Oregon, which beat
Duke Thursday night.
“That’s even better,” Hield said.
“I’m able to have fun around there and
watch my teammates make shots and
make plays.”
Hield had scored 27 and 36 points
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victories.
“We shared the ball really well,”
he said. “I’m real proud of the guys
for stepping up and making shots. We
were just taking advantage of opportu-
nities. We tried to drive-and-kick and
when they doubled somebody I tried
to make the right pass.”
Oklahoma lost to North Carolina
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Oklahoma is trying to reach the Final
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when it lost to Indiana in the national
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Tyler Davis scored 17 for A&M
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16 with a thrilling double-overtime
victory against Northern Iowa after
rallying from 12 points down in the
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The Sooners made sure it would
require a big comeback in this one.
They blew open a close game by
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lead. The Sooners forced the Aggies
into bad shots and turnovers, and
Woodard was the catalyst on offense.
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half run with a 3-pointer and had
VILLANOVA 92, MIAMI 69
— At Louisville, Ky., the Villanova
Wildcats keep looking for a better
shot, not content with simply a good
look at the basket.
As a result, they’re putting on quite
the clinic in the NCAA Tournament
with their latest performance putting
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Ryan Arcidiacono and Kris Jenkins
each scored 21 points and No. 2 seed
Villanova never trailed in routing
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of the NCAA Tournament. The
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Oklahoma guard Isaiah Cousins (11) and guard Jordan Woodard celebrate as Texas A&M guard T.J. Wildcats turned in their best shooting
Distefano, left, wipes his face during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the re- performance yet in this tournament,
shooting 62.7 percent.
gional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 24, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif.
“If any team is shooting the way
Miami guard
another shot from behind the arc with
we’re
shooting right now, they’ll
Angel Ro-
3:15 to go. He also fed Khadeem
easily be the most dangerous team in
driguez
(13)
Lattin for a slam dunk and then hit a
the country,” Villanova senior forward
goes in for
sweet, off-balance bank shot as the
Daniel Ochefu said. “But hopefully,
a layup past
shot clock was close to expiring with
we’ll keep shooting like that, so we
Villanova
about 20 seconds left.
forward Dan- can keep playing the way we are.”
The Aggies went more than seven
iel Ochefu
The Wildcats (32-5) earned their
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during an
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NCAA col-
coach Jay Wright and seventh overall,
lege basket-
coming through with former coach
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ball game in
Rollie Massimino, who led Villanova
KANSAS 79, MARYLAND
Louisville,
63 — At Louisville, Ky., Perry Ellis
Ky., Thursday. WR WKH QDWLRQDO FKDPSLRQVKLS
sitting nearby.
scored 27 points to match a season
Villanova
Villanova will play top-seeded
won 92-69.
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Kansas
on Saturday in the regional
and top-seeded Kansas topped No.
AP Photo/John
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the opening weekend each of the past
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victory Thursday night. The win put behind senior forward Ellis, who behind the tournament favorite. two NCAA Tournaments.
Rasheed Sulaimon led Maryland with
“These last couple years and a
the Jayhawks back into the Elite 8 for PDGHRIIURPWKH¿HOG
Selden was right there with 18 points.
couple early exits wasn’t the best
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/DQGHQ /XFDV DGGHG SRLQWV thing for our program, but I think
It took time for the Jayhawks 7-of-16 shooting to help Kansas earn
WR JHW JRLQJ EXW RQFH WKH\ D EHUWK LQ 6DWXUGD\¶V UHJLRQDO ¿QDO and 11 rebounds while Frank Mason we just remain humble and try to get
III had 11 points for Kansas, which back,” Arcidiacono said. “It’s just a
¿QDOO\VHL]HGWKHOHDGODWHLQWKH¿UVW against Villanova.
7KH 7HUUDSLQV GLFWDWHG RXWZRUNHG 0DU\ODQG RQ WKH great feeling.”
half everything else fell into place
Ochefu added 17 points, and Josh
for their 17th straight victory. They WKH HDUO\ WHPSR DQG EULHÀ\ HQJDJHG glass and outscored the taller Terps
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emerged from the break to make their in a back-and-forth game with the LQWKHSDLQW
Better shooting also helped the 62.7 percent (32 of 51).
¿UVWVL[VKRWVDQGVWHDGLO\WDNHFRQWURO Jayhawks before eventually falling
Women’s College Basketball
Pac-12 living up to its billing in NCAA tournament
By TIM BOOTH
AP Sports Writer
Throughout the season,
the metrics kept saying the
Pac-12 Conference was the
best in the country.
When it came time to
back it up in the NCAA
Tournament, the Pac-12
delivered.
Pac-12 teams will make
up 25 percent of the Sweet 16
when the women’s regional
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No. 2 seed Oregon State,
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seed Stanford and No. 7 seed
Washington all advanced
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the tournament, giving the
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ence history. The league had
never advanced more than
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weekend.
“It’s awesome for the
Pac-12 to have four teams
in the Sweet 16. We only
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with,” Stanford coach Tara
VanDerveer said. “I think it’s
a big statement. I think the
win by Washington is huge.
Oregon for-
ward Jordan
Bell, left, and
forward Elgin
Cook, right,
blocks a shot
by Duke guard
Grayson Allen
during the
second half
of an NCAA
college bas-
ketball game
in the regional
semifinals
of the NCAA
Tournament,
Thursday,
March 24,
2016, in Ana-
heim, Calif.
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
... I think people really took
care of business and that’s
awesome. But we know
we’ve been playing against
good teams.”
Oregon State romped
into the regional semis a
year after getting upset in
the second round. UCLA
and Stanford both held off
upset bids on their home
courts. And Washington
pulled the surprise of the
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out two-time Final Four
participant Maryland on the
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The only stumble came
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State, which saw its run end
with a second-round loss to
perennial power Tennessee.
While the Pac-12 fell on
its face in the men’s tourna-
ment with six of seven teams
eliminated on the opening
weekend, the women’s
teams are living up to their
billing. The SEC is the only
other conference to advance
four teams to the regional
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VanDerveer said. “I think
ASU played a team that
AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker
In this March 21, 2016, file photo, The UCLA bench
cheers as they build a double-digit lead in the first half
against South Florida during a second-round game in
the NCAA Tournament in Los Angeles.
in a lot of ways is a really
talented team and they just
played really well.”
Here’s a look at the four
remaining Pac-12 teams:
OREGON STATE: A
season ago, the Beavers
were the upstarts looking
to the NCAAs as the next
step in their progression to
becoming an elite program,
only to get upset in the
second round on their home
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That lesson has hung with
Oregon State all season and
when the same situation
presented itself again, the
Beavers made quick work of
St. Bonaventure.
“We know we didn’t want
it to feel like that again,”
Pac-12 player of the year
Jamie Weisner said. “We
didn’t focus on the past. We
focused on what we had to
do going forward.”
The Beavers have what
appears to be the easiest
matchup of the remaining
Pac-12 teams, facing No. 6
seed DePaul in the regional
semis, but a win there would
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against Baylor in Dallas.
UCLA: The Bruins are in
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in 17 years thanks to guard
Jordin Canada. Held in check
by South Florida for three
quarters of the second-round
matchup, Canada scored 17
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quarter as the Bruins held on.
The last time UCLA
reached the regional semi-
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Bruins lost to Louisiana
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The Bruins’ reward for
getting this far is facing No.
2 seed Texas in Bridgeport,
Connecticut, and the winner
likely getting a date with
undefeated UConn.
STANFORD:
The
Cardinal needed a late rally
and Lili Thompson’s three-
point play in the closing
seconds to beat No. 12 seed
South Dakota State in the
second round. Stanford did
not win a share of the regu-
lar-season conference title or
the conference tournament
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But the Cardinal are in the
Sweet 16 for a ninth straight
season.
Stanford has the most
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regional semis, facing No. 1
seed Notre Dame.
WASHINGTON: The
Huskies are the surprise of
the four after beating Mary-
land in the second round.
It’s been 15 years since
the Huskies last made the
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a scorer like Kelsey Plum
anything is possible with the
Huskies. Plum had 32 points
in the win over Maryland and
will need another big game
when Washington faces
No. 3 seed Kentucky on the
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“We felt like the Pac-12
Conference schedule and
conference
tournament
particularly had really gotten
us prepared for (the Mary-
land) game and that weekend
and the way it all unfolded it
turned out to be 100 percent
true,” Washington coach
Mike Neighbors said.
DUCKS: Oregon breaks single-season win record
Freshman Brandon Ingram
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icance of playing Duke, defending
national title, all the Final Fours, short of its third Elite Eight trip
all the national championships that LQ ¿YH \HDUV ² DQG ERWK FRDFKHV
their program has been able to win. agreed the better team won.
Allen, the Blue Devils’ leading
It was a different feel to it.”
scorer,
got 12 of his 15 points in
Oregon was the champion of the
¿UVW 1&$$ 7RXUQDPHQW LQ the second half, but Duke couldn’t
but hasn’t been back to the Final make much progress in the second
Four since. The Ducks advanced half.
“They’re an athletic team, and
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that
plays into their defense,” said
since 2007 and the third time since
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2002.
Brooks hit four 3-pointers to thought we missed some shots
lead the Ducks, who also broke the around the rim. Could have gone
school’s single-season wins record XSVWURQJHUWR¿QLVKEXWJLYHWKHP
with their 31st. They’ve won credit for going up to challenge
10 straight since mid-February us.”
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while winning the Pac-12’s regu-
emerged proud of his young roster
lar-season and tournament titles.
“They’re not that deep,” Brooks DIWHU ORVLQJ ¿YH RI LWV ¿QDO
said of the Blue Devils. “I think games.
“They were the better team, that
(Grayson) Allen played the whole
game. They’ve really only got ZDV SUHWW\ REYLRXV´ .U]\]HZVNL
seven guys. We knew they were said. “They knocked us back. They
bound to get tired. We just kept were always in control of the game.
going and kept going, knowing Right at the end, I thought we could
they’d wear out. ... Some of them, do a Texas A&M (comeback) ...
their shoulders started to sag. Once EXW WKHQ DPD]LQJ WKLQJV KDYH WR
they got tired we could see it.”
happen.”
Continued from 1B
Oregon jumped out to an
11-point lead after back-to-back
3-pointers by Casey Benson and
Chris Boucher, and they got the
arena rocking with back-to-back
fast-break dunks from Bell and
Cook moments later.
KOBE IN THE HOUSE
Kobe Bryant and Apple CEO
Tim Cook watched the game from
a Duke fan section, while Nike’s
Phil Knight was among the Oregon
contingent. Rams running back and
Duke basketball fan Todd Gurley
also attended the game.
BRANDON’S BOW
Ingram had an outstanding
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points in Duke’s three games. If
the skinny 18-year-old forward
heads to the NBA as expected,
he’s likely to be a top-three pick
after showing incredible promise
in his only season in Durham. “I’m
not really worried about that right
now,” Ingram said of the NBA.
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school and being with my guys. I
love this team and I’d do anything
for this team.”