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No Saturday surprises
No upsets on a day when every favored team advanced to the Sweet 16. We take a look at the blowouts, plus the drama that arrived late. The Vols grinded out Texas, and Creighton won a double OT marvel.
Mike Miller
March 24, 2024
On an NCAA Tournament day without upsets and mostly filled with blowouts, an off-the-court story became the biggest headline on Saturday night: Dusty May will be Michigan’s new coach.
Expect more than a few coaching dominoes to start falling now that we’re down to 24 teams still in the Big Dance. (See an updated coaching list here.)
But it’s still the NCAA Tournament. Extended content on Dusty can wait.
Midwest Region: Two thrillers + Zags dominate
On a day where most of the games ended as routs, leave it to the nightcap to keep us glued to our screens.
The story: Creighton 86-72 double-OT win saw Oregon’s Jermaine Couisnard join Steph Curry and Glenn Robinson in NCAA tourney record books, but he ran out of gas after 32 points … on 33 shots.
That opened the door for Creighton. It forced OT thanks to a nice Baylor Scheierman jumper, missed a chance to win in OT when Trey Alexander’s shot was short. By double OT, when the Ducks looked tired, everything was falling for Creighton.
KALKBRENNER FROM DISTANCE ‼️
#MarchMadness@BluejayMBB
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB)
Mar 24, 2024
That was just the 16th made 3 for Kalkbrenner (19 points, 14 rebounds, 5 blocks) this season, and was part of a 15-0 run to start that second OT.
“Epic game,” said Creighton coach Greg McDermott, “Not sure I’ve been part of one quite like it in 35 years.”