Tuesday’s college basketball tournament served as an excellent aperitif for what is to come during the week of the conference tournament, as we move into Selection Sunday at CBS. Five teams punctured their tickets to the NCAA Tournament by winning their conference tournament title games, the country’s No. 1 team was startled and the ACC started the tournament with Duke taking the floor as the No. 10 seed.
Blue Devils defeated Boston College No. 15 86-51 to kick-start their quest for an unlikely five-day race at the event, but the biggest moment of the first day of the ACC tournament came overnight. That moment belonged to the 11th Notre Dame seed and to guard Trey Wertz. More on that in a moment, as we get to the winners and losers of a full day of basketball postseason.
Winner: Gonzaga rallies vs BYU, remains undefeated
The only remaining undefeated team in college basketball entering Tuesday was No. 1 Gonzaga. And for a time in Las Vegas, it looked like the list would shrink to zero, with BYU leading the Bulldogs with the highest ranking by up to 14 in the WCC title game. But the Zags did what they always do, shaking off an early fall to return with an 88-78 victory to improve to 26-0. Freshman guard Jalen Suggs played the hero during the comeback win with 23 points. Get used to that name, because Suggs has the intangibles to become a legend during the NCAA Tournament, and he proved on Tuesday that he can shine in the spotlight. With the victory, Gonzaga essentially achieves the general classification nº 1 in the NCAA Tournament.
Winner: Notre Dame at the doorbell
When Daivien Williamson hit his fifth 3-point basket for Wake Forest with 7:20 left, the Demon Deacons’ number 14 took the lead 75-63 and it looked like they would live to fight another day. Fighting Irish had other plans, however. Notre Dame crowned a series of 17-2 to end the game, when Wertz drilled a depth of 3 points in the bell to give his team a dramatic victory by 80-77. Wertz scored 4 out of 5 in the 3-point streak during the game to redeem himself after a difficult victory in Notre Dame’s victory over the state of Florida on Saturday. His final shot propelled Fighting Irish to face North Carolina’s No. 6 seed in Wednesday’s second round.
Winner: Rick Pitno’s Iona team gets a win
Don’t call it a comeback, but in his first post-season college basketball game since 2017 in Louisville, Rick Pitino directed Iona to a 72-48 victory over Quinnipiac in the opening round of the MAAC Tournament. No. 9 seed Gaels now advance to the quarterfinals with No. 1 seed Siena. Before dismissing Iona’s chances of pulling a turn against her best-ranked opponent, consider the following: MAAC ranked its tournament by the total number of victories in the conference. Had Iona been sown by the winning percentage in the league, Iona would have been second or third, after 6-3 in the league during the regular season. So yes, maybe don’t sleep on Pitino’s team
Loser: Pittsburgh reconstruction still has a long way to go
After an 8-2 start that included a 4-1 start to the ACC game, it looked like Pittsburgh could be turning a corner in Coach Jeff Capel’s third season. But after being eliminated in the first round of the ACC Tournament on Tuesday, Pittsburgh still has a long way to go. With injuries, transfers and problems with COVID-19 affecting the Panthers, they lost 10 of their last 12 games to end with a record losing streak for the fifth consecutive season. Former coach Kevin Stallings left a lot of rubble after the 2017-18 season and Capel is still looking for a foothold as Pittsburgh tries to get out of the wreckage.
Winner: Duke plays his best basketball
Duke’s difficulties this season have necessitated a recalibration of expectations for the program that makes Tuesday’s result worthy of “winner” treatment. Typically, the Blue Devils defeating a disastrously bad Boston College team by 35 points would justify a shrug. But they get applause for doing so on Tuesday, especially since it was just three days after a 91-73 loss to North Carolina, which downgraded Duke to tenth place in the ACC tournament. The Blue Devils (12-11) probably still need to win four more games in four days this week to reach the NCAA Tournament. But Tuesday’s 15 of 32 effort on the 3-point line was a start, and the strong performances by freshmen DJ Steward and Mark Williams were a tantalizing reminder of the potential that has always existed with this team.
Maybe, just maybe, this team is ready to have some fun to end a season full of adversity.
Loser: Iowa ignores Roy Marble
The Hawkeyes did the right thing on Sunday, removing shirt 55 from central star Luka Garza after their last game at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena. In the process, they apparently offended the family of another great character of all time. Athletic director Gary Barta apologized on Tuesday to the family of Roy Marble, who held the program’s scoring record before Garza broke it last month. Marble’s 23 jersey was never retired, although he led the program during a strong run in the late 1980s.
“We have known since Sunday that Roy Marble’s family has been hurt and feeling disrespected since that day,” said Barta, according to the Associated Press. “I just want to take a moment and share that this disrespect was not intentional at all and to publicly apologize for it.”
Winner: Mount St. Mary’s conquers NEC
Mount St. Mary’s won the NEC on Tuesday, when he defeated Bryant 73-68 in the game for the NEC title. It is the sixth time in the school’s history that Mountaineers have won the league’s automatic offer to get a ticket to Big Dance, and it marks the first time with coach Dan Engelstad, 36 (and third). This is a program with a history of pride at the Division I level, legitimately earning a place at the table among the big dogs.
Winner: other automatic bids won
In addition to Mount St. Mary’s and Gonzaga, three others closed their bids on Tuesday, and the other three will dance for the first time in more than a decade. Drexel broke the longest drought in the group by solidifying its first NCAA Tournament bid since 1996 with a 63-56 victory over Elon in the final of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament. Cleveland State goes for the first time since 2009, after beating Oakland 80-69 in the Horizon League final. So Oral Roberts avoided a breakdown in the second half to win the North Dakota State 75-72, after leading 45-20 at the break to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008.