The rollercoaster ride in North Carolina’s basketball delivered a whiplash to UNC fans in the span of six days. A brutal home loss to Marquette on Wednesday. An impressive recovery victory over the state of Florida three days later. And now, a gut punch via Syracuse: a 72-70 loss to the Orange.
The bumpy ride we dropped here should come as no surprise, but it does not make it easier for UNC to absorb. The Tar Heels were an 11-seeded in Jerry Palm’s bracket that penetrated the day and took a win at Florida 11’s number 11. But Palm made it clear they were included with a warning that they were far from is safe.
Falling to the Orange does not drastically hurt his tournament chances, but it now flanks dangerously with a disaster, with margin of error declining rapidly. If there’s a silver lining here, the drama is bubbling around North Carolina – the state. It now represents a juicy final season against the Duke in the regular season, which may be the most bubbling battle with blue blood all season, and both teams are taking the thread off as they strive for big bids.
Speaking of rivalry, Bedlam delivered the goods again on Monday night. Oklahoma and Oklahoma States came down on the wire again after going to OT on Saturday, with OSU completing the result and backing its strong resume with another win in Quadrant 1. We’ll get to that in a second. But first a few thoughts on UNC-Syracuse before a turn in the rest of the evening winners and losers from across the ring.
Loser: North Carolina’s tournament profile hits
North Carolina moved from an 11-point series and in the field of 68 to Jerry Palm’s “last four in” with his loss to Syracuse, replacing Georgia Tech. So, yes, still in the field now, but hanging on a wire. It turns out that the tournament is not very good at committing 20 turnovers and making only four of 20 three-point attempts on Syracuse’s home court.
Winner: Syracuse survives
There’s a long list of teams at stake, and Syracuse’s 72-70 win over North Carolina has done well enough to keep it in the discussion. The Orange forced 20 times against UNC and scored 26 points from Buddy Boeheim, the coach of Jim Boeheim, who scored 1,000 points in his career.
Still, Cuse is 0-6 in Quad 1 events and needs not only to win, but also well win. In 2021, a victory over UNC is not it. To overthrow the tar heels was important to keep his Big Dance dreams alive, but his resume remains hollow.
Winner: Oklahoma State Gets Bedlam Cattle
After playing 45 minutes of basketball against each other on Saturday, no. 16 Oklahoma and no. 17 Oklahoma State met again Monday night and again delivered a good one with OSU winning 79-75 to complete the result. This is the first time the OU series has been done since Trae Young’s one-and-done season in 2017. This is especially noteworthy for OSU, as it gives the Cowboys eight Quadrant 1 wins. It’s best for all colleagues’ team this season with Illinois and Michigan, both projected the No. 1 seed in Jerry Palm’s latest Bracketology.
Loser: Atlantic 10 big candidates
After already winning the A-10, St. Bonaventure on Monday enters its final season finale against Dayton, who simply need to avoid a loss because a loss in the wise words of Jerry Palm would leave a big doubt. “But the Bonnies did not work with Mr Palm. Instead, they fell 55-52 in their game with the lowest scoring of the season, which inflicted a significant blow to the overall candidacy.
The loss on Monday was one of two cruel results in the A-10, with Richmond winning 76-73 against St. Louis. It also took place in a brutal way when Richmond’s Matt Grace hit a 3-pointer that came just after the last horn and was blown down. It’s too early to draw comprehensive conclusions from these results, but it’s a very crushing blow for two teams that entered the evening hoping to sneak into the Big Dance without the gold ticket to win the conference tournament.
Winner: Virginia finally gets back on track
There was no material danger that no. 21 Virginia, a No. 5 in Palm’s bracket, would not fall out of the tournament picture. But three consecutive losses over the past two weeks have hurriedly slipped from ACC frontrunner to ACC runner-up. It is treading water, and getting back on track against Miami on Monday in a 62-51 victory – even against Miami – qualifies as a victory for the reigning champion. Great confidence builder as it moves to the final season Saturday against Louisville.
Loser: Rutgers walk into Pinnacle Bank, tumble hard
Maybe – OK, definitely – the most beautiful result of Monday night: Nebraska 72, Rutgers 51.
Yes, Rutgers scored 51 points and lost by 21 points to the worst team in the Big Ten. This is Nebraska’s biggest win in league games since it beat, you guessed it, Rutgers in January 2016 by 34 points.
As expected, Western Kentucky did business with FIU on Sunday, winning 91-58. The Hilltoppers followed that up with a 71-59 victory over FIU on Monday to sweep the series for two games. Palm read that a loss would have wiped out their great hopes, and although a victory does not trap them, it absolutely keeps them in the bubble discussion. Winning the C-USA tournament might be the safest way to hit a ticket, given its shaky evidence for an athlete.
Loser: Tubby Smith, High Point suit Winthrop
Tubby Smith’s High Point Panthers, who were two days removed from a win over USC Upstate in the first round of the Big South tournament, found their low and fell 83-54 against Winthrop in their biggest loss of the season. The two teams met two weeks ago in a rugby series at High Point’s home field, with Winthrop taking both, but with only six and eight points respectively. The 29-point defeat is the biggest program since Gardner Webb fell 31 points last season. (This loss occurred two weeks after the two teams went to OT and Gardner Webb won by three points.)
Winner: Oregon stays warm
Do not look now – especially if you are UCLA! – but Oregon makes a turn at the Pac-12 crown. The Ducks (17-5, 12-4 Pac 12) won their third straight 80-69 game over Arizona on Monday. This is their eighth win in nine games. Oregon, an 11-seed entering the day, did well with its prospects in the final tournament, but it’s high time we recognized that this team has real goods. Chris Duarte scores 22 points and Eugene Omoruyi adds 21 in the win over the Wildcats. There are some legitimate stars who can sustain this team for a deep run. They seem to be making progress at the right time and reaching full health.