Wichita State, McDermott End Their Seasons
And then there were 16.
After four full days of action-packed Men’s NCAA basketball play, only 16 teams remain in their quest to hoist the championship trophy. There were upsets galore and brackets busting all over the place as it is going to be a tournament remembered as one full of upsets.
No. 1 Wichita State finally saw its season come to an end and its perfect record snap in its 78-76 loss to No. 8 Kentucky on Sunday. Â The Wildcats looked like what you’d expect in the tournament and now questions are lingering on how far the Wildcats will go in the tournament.
Can they win it all? Vegas gives them 20/1 odds to do so.
Andrew Harrison (5) and Julius Randle (1)
The Harrison twins were key contributors for Kentucky as Andrew Harrison scored 20 points while Aaron Harrison contributed 19 points. Julius Randle has also a huge factor including his 13 points, 10 rebounds and six assists from Sunday’s game but how will they fare against the instate rival, No. 4 Louisville in the Sweet 16?
Sunday’s win over Wichita State likely gave them a lot of confidence and Andrew Harrison said after Sunday’s game via CBS Sports, “We just felt so good beating a great team.  It shows how much work we’ve put in, how much we’re getting better.”
On Friday night the two teams will meet at 9:45 p.m. ET. Louisville sits at 5/1 to win it all.
So Long Dougie McBuckets
In other news from the weekend, with No. 3 Creighton’s loss to No. 6 Baylor, 85-55,  senior forward Doug McDermott closed the book on his college career and will go down as one of the greatest NCAA scorers with his 3,150 points. He sits as No. 5 on the all-time college scoring list but a closer look shows he did more than that, according to NBC Sports. Over his four years, he made it to the Big Dance three times with Creighton and this year, he was the Big East Player of the Year–the one and only year he played in this league after spending three in the Missouri Valley Conference before this year;s conference move.
Doug McDermott
McDermott took Sunday’s loss hard and said via CBS Sports, “This is the worst we’ve played all season, and it just stinks that it’s the last one. But that doesn’t take away from all my memories here. It’s tough to go out this way.”
Michigan State Keeps Rolling
After battling the injury bug for a lot of the season, No. 4 Michigan State’s players returned to health in time to win the Big Ten tournament and then find success in the tournament. Now as the team faces No. 1Â Virginia on Friday night, look for history to be on its side. According to NBC Sports, for all of the four-year seniors that coach Tom Izzo has coached, they’ve all made a trip to the Final Four.
For this current team, Adreian Payne and Keith Appling are yet to make it to this coveted spot.
Saturday’s game was a close one for Michigan State (can you say wake up call?) as they defeated No. 12 Harvard, 80-73. After his 41-point game against Delaware, Payne only scored 12 points against them.  He’ll need to show up against Virginia on Friday night at 9:57 p.m. ET.
Michigan State sits at 9/2 to win it all.
Sweet 16 Lineup
As for the rest of the eight games for the Sweet 15 games, here’s a look at the lineup that begins on Thursday night (ET).
- Â No. 2 Wisconsin vs. No. 6 Baylor (Thu. 7:47 p.m.)
- No. 10 Stanford vs. No. 11 Dayton (Thu. 7:15 p.m.)
- No. 1 Florida vs. No. 4 UCLA (Thu. 9:45 p.m.)
- No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 4 San Diego State (Thu. 10:17 p.m.)
- No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 11 Tennessee (Fri. 7:15 p.m.)
- No. 10 Stanford vs. No. 11 Dayton (Fri. 7:15 p.m)
- No. 3 Iowa State vs. No. 7 UConn (Fri. 7:27 p.m.)
