We’re inching closer and closer to the Final Four. The games are getting bigger, if not necessarily better. Yes, Duke-UConn, we’re looking at you.
But the game fans wanted for the Elite Eight is set with Iowa meeting LSU on Monday in a rematch of last year’s national title game. So, it’s hard to nitpick too much. That doesn’t mean we won’t try.
Here’s a look at the winners and losers from Saturday’s Sweet 16 games:
WINNERS
Basketball fans
The rematch hoop heads have been hoping for since last year’s national championship game is set. Iowa and LSU took care of their business Saturday and will play Monday night with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
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For those who missed last year’s game, and have been living under a rock since, LSU dominated Iowa on its way to winning its first national title. Or, as Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said, “We got run out of the gym last year. It was pretty bad.”
Not for the fans. The country tuned in to watch Caitlin Clark put on another clinic only to see Angel Reese give a seminar in both trash talking and backing it up.
More of this? Yes, please.
Sydney Affolter
It’s not easy moving into the starting lineup at the end of the season. Not that you’d know that from watching Iowa’s guard.
The junior is shooting over 58% since stepping in for the injured Molly Davis at the beginning of the Big Ten Tournament. She’s averaging 13 points a game – her season average is 7.9 ppg – and has missed just one free throw.
“Syd Affolter has the highest plus/minus of anybody,” Bluder said.
Not bad for someone who’d only started three games before Davis was injured in the regular-season finale.
Rayah Marshall
USC’s center can score, defend and amuse.
Marshall had her 21st double-double of the season, finishing with 11 points and 15 boards against Baylor. But afterward, she was a little too off-the-cuff when asked about JuJu Watkins’ emotional impact on the team.
“She’s a competitor. I can trust her with my life. Like, when it comes down to winning, she going to do what she has to do. She’s coming into the huddle after the third quarter fired up, like, `Let’s get our (expletive) together!’ Oh no,” Marshall said, before covering her mouth, mortified.
As the room erupted in laughter, Marshall said, “Well, that’s what she said!”
LSU’s guards on the glass
With LSU clinging to a two-point lead with less than a minute to play, Angel Reese had her layup blocked by UCLA’s Lauren Betts. Flau’jae Johnson grabbed the rebound and then scored on a layup of her own.
About 15 seconds later, Betts missed the second of two free throws and Johnson sprinted in to grab the ball. UCLA was forced to foul, and Johnson made one of two to push LSU’s lead to six with less than 30 seconds to play.
“Our guards did a great job tonight rebounding,” Angel Reese said.
“Yeah, I had more rebounds than Angel,” Johnson said.
“One!’ Reese protested. “Just one.”
Paige Bueckers
Ho-hum. Another NCAA Tournament game, another dominant performance from the 2021 national player of the year. Bueckers scored 24 points, grabbed five rebounds, snagged three steals, led her team to another win — this time 53-45 over Duke in the Sweet 16 — and made it look easy.
“I’m not really surprised,” said teammate Aaliyah Edwards, shrugging. “Some of the moves that she gets leading up to the bucket are pretty impressive, but she does what she does in practice (in games, too).’
LOSERS
Basketball fans
See above.
Look, we’ll take this rematch wherever and whenever we can. But we can all agree it’s occurring a weekend too early.
“I think everybody is pretty excited for it,” Bluder said. “I know that these are two really good basketball teams, and it’s almost unfortunate they’re meeting this early.”
Cori Close
And to think falling short in the NCAA Tournament once again wasn’t the worst thing in Close’s day.
The UCLA coach was forced to apologize for sharing a Los Angeles Times column that described both the matchup with LSU and LSU’s players in racist and misogynistic terms. LSU coach Kim Mulkey had, rightly, savaged the portrayal of her players, who were characterized as “villains” and “dirty debutantes.”
“I made a huge mistake in reposting without reading it first, and I am very sorry for that,” Close wrote. “I would never want to promote anything that tears down a group of people in our great game.
“I do not condone racism, sexism or inflammatory comments aimed at individuals in our community,” Close said before apologizing to Mulkey and her players. “I hope that I have proven over time with my behaviors and choices this was an isolated mistake and not the intention of my heart. My sincerest apologies for anything that communicated otherwise.”
UCLA’s 78-69 loss to LSU was the seventh time under Close that the Bruins have failed to get beyond the Sweet 16.
In Close’s 13 seasons at UCLA, the Bruins have made it to the Elite Eight just once.
“It’s hard in the moment to be honest with you about what’s it going to take,” Close said after the game. “We’ve obviously been to a lot of Sweet 16s and one Elite 8, and we want more. That’s my job this off-season, to figure out how we can earn more.”
Offensive sensibilities
Duke shot less than 21% in the first half against UConn. It was even more abysmal from 3-point range, making just 1 of 9 (11%) from deep.
The Huskies weren’t exactly singeing the nets, either, going 0-for-5 from 3-point range. But Aaliyah Edwards kept them respectable, making all but one of her six shots in the first half.