Wegs Pool: For All the Marbles

Well, we had 4 great teams fight it out in San Antonio, and I can say we really were treated to 2 great games.

Semifinal 1 – Gators Bit Back

This game was a tale of two halves, as 1 Auburn really controlled the first half. The starting 5 for the Tigers limited the 1 Florida Offense to 38 points and were freely scoring from all angles. F Johni Broome did his part for Auburn with 12 first half points. For the Gators, if it were not for G Walter Clayton, Jr. (34 points, 4 Rebounds), the 8 point deficit would have been much larger. In the 2nd half, the Gators turned up the defensive intensity. In watching the game, the ball pressure was much tighter and the block outs on the glass really translated into more transition points. Florida tied the game with 16:30 to play, and then it was a back and forth battle.

Down the stretch, one of the key plays was a steal and contested dunk by G Alijah Martin (17 points, 3 rebounds) that revved up the Gator faithful. Then, when Clayton hit a tough three pointer from the corner, Auburn seemed to sink a bit with 4:29 remaining to give Florida a 69-65 lead. Florida was able to push the lead to 8 with 37 seconds, and despite some missed free throws won the game, 79-73. Florida held Broome to just 3 points in the 2nd half, to just 7 of 25 from behind the arc and only 27 points in the 2nd half. The Gators have not been in the title game since the Noah and Horford days in 2007.

Semifinal 2 – A Comeback for the Ages

1 Duke entered San Antonio as the favorite, but many would argue that they were not as battle tested as the other 3 teams given their poor ACC competition. However, in the first half, the Blue Devils definitely looked like the better team, as Houston struggled to score, down as many as 12 points. Really, much like Florida, if it were not for Cougar G LJ Cryer’s 12 points including 2 late triples, the 34-28 advantage could have been much worse.

In the second half, I, for one, thought Duke was dominating Houston at their own game. Duke’s D was limiting the Cougars to one shot including a lot of threes that seemed ill-advised. Duke’s lead was built to 14 points as late as 8:17 remaining in the half. A lot of people either switched off the game or left viewing parties, as it seemed a foregone conclusion that Duke would face Florida on Monday. I know that a guy at the party I was at bought in on Houston as an 8-1 Moneyline Underdog at that point.

HC Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars, who only lose in OT games this season, turned up the pressure and played with the grit that only Houston can play with. Cryer started it off with back to back possessions of a three, 1 free throw technical and a bucket. F J’Wan Roberts (11 points, 12 boards) scored a bucket, and F Joseph Tugler (4 points, 8 rebounds) followed a shot up to cut the Duke lead to 4 with 5:05 to play. Duke’s G Tyrese Proctor (7 points) ended the 10-0 run and scoring drought with 2 free throws. When Houston missed a deep shot, and F Cooper Flagg (27 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) hit a three himself with 3:04 to go and lead back to 9 at 64-55, it looked grim for Houston. Not for this team, G Emanuel Sharp (16 points, 3 rebounds) drove for a layup, then after a stop, 2 more free throws, and the lead was 6 with 1:27 to play. Flagg hit 2 free throws on the next possession, but Sharp had another answer with 2 free throws of his own (back to 5 points). On the next inbounds, the Cougar defender actually knocked the ball out of the Duke inbounder for a technical foul with 1:14 to make it 67-61, again, curtains, right? Wrong. Houston got a stop and Sharp hit a trey this time to cut the lead to 67-64 with 34 seconds. Duke was sweating now. Another defensive rebound by Houston and a Sharp three missed, but Tugler tip, slammed the ball to get to within 1 at 24 seconds. Houston fouled Proctor who missed the front end of a one and one, and a potentially questionable call on Flagg giving Roberts free throws which he hit both to give Houston their first lead since early in the game. On the next Duke possession with 17 remaining, the Blue Devils went to Cooper Flagg who caught the ball on the left win, a couple dribbles, spin and a contested fadeaway fell short and the Cougars rebounded the ball to Cryer with just 3 seconds and 2 free throws. Cryer (26 points, 6-9 from 3) calmly hit them both to stretch the Houston lead, 70-67. Duke’s attempt was a poor pass down court and no real look at the basket for a Houston winner!!! Houston outscored Duke 25-8 over that final 8 minutes. Duke did not hit from the field for the final 3:04 since the Flagg three pointer. HC Kelvin Sampson reaches his first ever NCAA Final at 69 years old. If Houston wins on Monday, he will be the oldest coach to win a title in NCAA history.

Wegs Pool Standings

That Duke result really influenced the field. Now, we have a Winner of the Pool, but all the places after 1st are up for grabs which will come down not just to who wins, but the score, as the tiebreaker of total points will come into play. I also have removed all the deadbeats from the standings, and we have 156 in the Pool.

Standings after the Final Four

It will be for all the other marbles on Monday night.

Wegs