Elite Eight Arkansas.
Has a hoop to it and it ought to.
For the second consecutive season, or each time that Eric Musselman has coached the Arkansas Razorbacks within the NCAA Event, the Hogs have made it to a regional closing.
It was not an upset Thursday night time. The most effective group gained 74-68, sending No. 1 total seed Gonzaga dwelling licking the identical wounds that price the Zags the NCAA championship a 12 months in the past, as Baylor ended their good season.
The weaknesses have been apparent. An excessive amount of finesse, too little physicality.
An excessive amount of hype, too little athleticism.
Too little struggle towards a group that may bob and weave, jab and punch, and throw a knockout punch after they want it throw whereas at all times going toe to toe.
Gonzaga is a blue blood group. Its success within the NCAA Event is wonderful, however Thursday night time they ran right into a band of Razorbacks who have been fearless.
The Hogs didn’t suppose they may win. They knew they may, and the longer the sport went, the larger the chip bought on the Hogs’ shoulder.
The just about 10-point underdog Razorbacks took the lead with 18:05 left within the second half and by no means trailed once more.
The Zags threw each factor they’d at them, however it simply wasn’t sufficient.
With JD Notae preventing to shoot himself by means of a chilly night time going 9 of 29 from the sector, others stepped in and put the group on their shoulders.
It was a group win as a result of each participant on the court docket performed protection like they invented it.
Trey Wade, who averaged 3.2 factors per sport and lived extra on his protection and laborious screens, scored 15, hitting 6 of 10 from the ground together with 3 of 4 from behind the arc.
Jaylin Williams was known as a professional by the CBS announce group and sometime that will likely be proper, however Thursday night time the sophomore from Fort Smith was a double-double query that the Zags by no means had a solution for.
He had 12 rebounds and 15 factors and outplayed the extremely touted Drew Timme, who scored 25. However seven of these have been free throws, and he struggled to get round or over Williams who was a bull in a china store, turning the fine-tuned Zags into a large number.
The complete group deserved a sport ball.
For 5 days the Razorbacks have needed to stay with Gonzaga this, Duke that.
What different group beat two No. 1 groups this season?
Granted, the Hogs beat a No. 13 and No. 12 seed to get to the Candy 16, however that was THE No. 1 seed pulling all stops and a whole lot of their hair out to attempt to salvage yet one more that ended with a one-way ticket dwelling.
It was the primary time in 11 tries that the Razorbacks have crushed a No. 1 seeded group, however it in all probability gained’t be the final.
Within the opening half, Gonzaga seemed about as deserving of the No. 1 seed as Texas A&M who didn’t make the NCAA Event.
Arkansas’ bodily play and athleticism pressured the Zags into 9 early turnovers, and that helped restrict them to solely 29 factors, whereas the Razorbacks bought a coast-to-coast lay-up from Notae within the closing six seconds to take a 32-29 lead into the locker room.
The Razorbacks’ fast arms on the perimeter and Williams’ brute power down low pissed off the Zags, they usually made simply 24 of 64 pictures, lacking inside and outside as they have been held to twenty factors beneath their season common.
The stress bought to Gonzaga, which throughout one span turned it over thrice and went 0 for 7 from the sector.
Arkansas, taking part in with nice confidence and poise, attacked the glass, made clear passes and had nice spacing.
In truth, the Razorbacks seemed extra like a No. 1 seed than the Zags.
The NCAA Event is about surviving and advancing, however Thursday night time the Razorbacks made an announcement: Convey your A sport or be ready to go dwelling.