Welcome to the latest edition of Talking Hoops With Ted Sarandis. Half of the Elite Eight is now set, and we had the game of the night early on with two defensive struggles in the latter part of the evening.
We start with the game of the night, which Ted covered in Louisville, as Purdue and Tennessee battled in an instant classic in the South region. There were wild swings in the game, and a couple of interesting team stat lines in terms of three-point and free throw shooting, but Purdue pulled it out in overtime. Along the way, Carsen Edwards became the first player since Stephen Curry to score at least 25 points in four straight NCAA Tournament games.
Later in Louisville, Virginia and Oregon battled in a slugfest, with the Cavaliers winning. Oregon tried to come back in the second half, but didn’t have enough. It was a contrast to the earlier game there.
Out west, we saw Gonzaga have a little too much for Florida State, especially down the stretch when the Seminoles tried to make a late run but couldn’t score, and Texas Tech simply shut down Michigan.
The big question heading into the Saturday night regional finals that result from this is the same for both games: can the team known more for its defense – Virginia (against Purdue) and Texas Tech (against Gonzaga) score enough to win the game?
We hope you enjoy the podcast and share it with your fellow college basketball fans. Be sure to tune in again in a couple of nights as we talk about the first regional finals, then for College Basketball Tonight for a more comprehensive breakdown later on.
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