INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – One of the beauties of the NCAA Tournament is that each team has a story.
Some are more exclusive than others.
Watch the first-round match between third-placed Arkansas and 14th-placed Colgate, which pits two of the nation’s fastest teams against each other in a game on Friday that could easily reach three digits for scoring.
Razorbacks are led by former NBA and Nevada coach Eric Musselman, whose dry humor and caustic wit make his press conferences a must. Musselman set up a dynamic squad heavily dependent on transfers – eight of the 15 players started their careers elsewhere, including three of their four top scorers.
There’s guard JD Notae, who spent two years in the state of Jacksonville. Justin Smith, who spent three years on the Indianapolis road in Indiana. Jalen Tate spent four years at Norther Kentucky, where he made an appearance at the NCAA Tournament, and Connor Vanover, who started his season in California.
Vance Jackson made two stops before reaching Fayetteville, spending one season at UConn and two more in New Mexico. Abayomi Iyiola came from Stetson, Emeka Obukwelu from Texas-Tyler and Brandon Kimble from the Mississippi Valley state.
On the other hand, Colgate lost just one game this season, regularly reaching 100 points and returning several players from the group two years ago, which led Tennessee to danger in defeat in the first round.
“I think this group that went through this a few years ago helps,” said Raiders coach Matt Langel. “I think it has helped us every day since then. The guys have an understanding, a trust and a connection that, when they play together, they can play with any team that exists. “
You will have to take your word for it. Colgate has done 14-1 this season, with all 15 games against just five opponents. Five of those games were victories against Boston, four against Holy Cross and three against the Army.
In fact, each team in this year’s tournament has a story. Here are some of them:
START THE FLAMES
Liberty also has some experience in NCAA tournaments, beating Mississippi State to reach the eighth finals a few years ago, and has been 82-16 in the past three seasons, despite having one of the lowest lineups on college rims.
The only regular who is over six feet tall is Blake Anderson, and he doesn’t break much of the tape. Gunner Darius McGee is a 5-9 spark plug. His defense mate, Chris Parker, breaks 6 feet of barley.
Flames’ opponent in the first round, Oklahoma State, has five players who are 6 to 8 or higher. This includes All-American striker Cade Cunningham, who 6-8 often plays the point and is responsible for maintaining his attack.
MONSTER EAGLE
Rarely does a four-star prospect find its way to a smaller school like Winthrop, and even more rare when it is a 6-9 pound immersion machine. But that’s exactly what the Eagles did in Tennessee to transfer DJ Burns, who returned home to Rock Hill, South Carolina, after spending his freshman season with the Vols.
Burns is a big reason – physically and in terms of production – Winthrop lost a single game by two points throughout the season, and why coach Pat Kelsey’s team full of highlights from Palmetto State has a live chance of defeating Villanova in the fifth place on Friday.
PLAYER (S) OF THE YEAR
East Washington point guard Jacob Davison was the Big Sky’s pre-season player of the year, but he wasn’t even a starter for the Eagles. His teammate, Tanner Groves, ended up becoming the league’s MVP – but it wasn’t even a choice of Big Sky before the season.
It is no wonder that Kansas coach Bill Self was horrified to see who played with his third player, Jayhawks, on Saturday.
“We have not received any favors in this business,” he said. “They have an average of five double digits and a sixth average of 8.5 points per game. They can score. They can shoot. They can stretch this out. They are a difficult team to protect. “
BIG MOMENTS, BIG SHOTS
Monte Santa Maria will probably be gone by next week. Such is life like a # 16 seed. But there is a good chance that Damian Chong Qui will make at least a few people remember him before the Mountaineers are sent away.
Forget your personal story – your mother was murdered, your father was paralyzed – but Chong Qui has a knack for making great plays at great times. He scored the last seven points to win Central Connecticut State, then did the same against Long Island. He hit the ball that forced overtime against Fairleigh Dickinson, then did the same thing against St. Francis. In the final of the Northeast Conference, he scored 17 of the 21 points after the break to book an NCAA trip.
The Mountaineers face Texas Southern in a top four game on Thursday night.
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