San Diego State defeats FAU; UConn downs Miami
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The college basketball world will be focused on Houston, where the men’s Final Four tipped off Saturday.
The Cinderellas have taken over the sport in the last two weeks and now four teams who each surprised during the tournament are ready to play after leaving busted brackets along the way.
Florida Atlantic, a school of about 25,000 students located in Boca Raton, Florida, made only its second NCAA Tournament appearance. The Owls blitzed through the East Region, but lost to San Diego State 72-71 after the Aztecs came back from a 14-point deficit and won the game on Lamont Butler’s buzzer-beater.
In the second semifinal, UConn continued its March Madness domination, cruising past No. 5 Miami 72-59.
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UConn continues NCAA Tournament domination with win over Miami
Forward Adama Sanogo had a game-high 21 points and No. 4 Connecticut continued a historically dominant march through this NCAA men’s basketball tournament with a 72-59 win against No. 5 Miami to reach Monday night’s national championship game.
The Huskies will face No. 5 San Diego State, which beat No. 9 Florida Atlantic 72-71 in the first national semifinal on a last-second buzzer beater by guard Lamont Butler.
This has been an NCAA tournament for the ages for UConn, which has now beaten five teams by at least 13 points: No. 13 Iona (87-63), No. 5 Saint Mary’s (70-55), No. 8 Arkansas (88-65), No. 3 Gonzaga (82-54) and the Hurricanes.
While the Aztecs are the first team in men’s tournament history to win Elite Eight and Final Four games by one point apiece, UConn was only the eighth team to reach the semifinals having defeated four opponents by 15 or more points.
This one, like the wins against Arkansas and Gonzaga, saw the Huskies in almost wire-to-wire control.
— Paul Myerberg
Miami’s Nijel Pack on bench with broken shoe
Hurricanes sophomore guard Nijel Pack is on the bench with what CBS reports is a broken shoe. The team checked the locker room for a replacement and an assistant came to the bench with a pair of black sneakers. Pack looked them over before shaking his head and handing them back. The assistant ran back to the locker room as Jordan Hawkins made a pair of free throws to extend Connecticut’s lead to 53-40.
Pack has eight points for the Hurricanes.
Pack returned to the court with about four minutes left in the game. SportsCenter reports that the UConn staff found a pair of shoes for him to wear.
The UConn Huskies take their largest lead of the game into the half, up 13 points over the Miami Hurricanes after Joey Calcaterra made a three-point shot at the buzzer. The Huskies go into the break up 37-24.
The Hurricanes tied the game at 19 with 8:23 on the clock, but UConn went on an 8-0 run to take back the lead. Miami was held to only nine field goals in the first half.
Huskies junior forward Adama Sanogo is…
Read More: San Diego State defeats FAU; UConn downs Miami 2023-04-02 03:22:30