After a pair of regional finals both on the men’s and women’s side on Monday and Tuesday night, the Final Four for college basketball in Indianapolis and San Antonio is now set to roll later this week.
In the women’s Elite 8 Monday night, the University of Connecticut Huskies edged the Baylor Bears 69-67. UConn (28-1) got 28 points from freshman Paige Bueckers to hold off Baylor (28-3). The Huskies advance to their 13th straight Final Four. In the second game, Arizona (20-5) got 33 points from Aarion McDonald for a 66-53 win over Indiana (21-6). It will be the first Final Four for the Wildcats. On Tuesday, the South Carolina Gamecocks (26-4) held Texas (21-10) to just 23% shooting and put five players in double figures for an impressive 62-34 win. The last time SC was in the Final Four they won the title in 2017. In the nightcap, the Stanford Cardinal (29-2) outscored Louisville (26-4) 52-25 in the second half to pull away for a 78-63 win. The Cardinal had their last appearance in the Final Four in 2017, where they lost to the Gamecocks in the National Title game, as this time will be a re-match in a National Semifinal.
On Monday night in the men’s Elite 8, the Houston Cougars (28-3) built a 17 point halftime lead and held on to take out the upstart #12 seed Oregon State (20-13) 67-61. Marcus Sasser led Houston with 20 points as they head to their first Final Four since 1984. In the second game, MaCio Teague had 22 points to lead the Baylor Bears (26-2) to an 81-72 win over Arkansas (25-7). It will be the first Final Four since 1950 for Baylor. On Tuesday night, the overall number one seed Gonzaga (30-0) got 23 points from Drew Timme and rolled over USC (25-8) 85-66. The Bulldogs have won 30 games five straight seasons, a first for any NCAA team. Gonzaga has reached the Final Four once previously (2017), where they lost to North Carolina in the National Championship game. In the final game of the Elite 8, Johnny Juzang had 28 points as the #11 seed UCLA (22-9) continued their run with a 51-49 win over Michigan (23-5). Franz Wagner had a look at a game winning three pointer with less than a second left for the Wolverines, but couldn’t get it to go. UCLA becomes the fifth #11 seed to reach the Final Four. They join Virginia Commonwealth (2011) as the only teams having to play in the First Four play-in round to reach the final weekend. The Bruins are an 11-time champion in the Tournament, and their last Final Four appearance was 2008 with their last title coming in 1995.
Schedule for Women’s Final Four in San Antonio:
Friday, April 2 National Semifinals
#1 South Carolina vs #1 Stanford- 6 p.m.
#1 UConn vs #3 Arizona- 9:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 4
National Championship game- time to be announced
Schedule for Men’s Final Four in Indianapolis:
Saturday, April 3 National Semifinals
#1 Baylor vs #2 Houston- 5:14 p.m.
#1 Gonzaga vs #11 UCLA- 8:34 p.m.
Monday, April 5
National Championship game- 9 p.m.
