13-year-old Nebraska boy picks perfect Final Four

We’re in the Final Four.

North Carolina is the only team in Phoenix with players who have prior Final Four experience – Gonzaga, Oregon and SC have been to one combined Final Four in their programs’ histories. A Charlotte native, she said she’d like to see her home team win the title. North Carolina freshmen Tony Bradley and Seventh Woods play limited reserve roles.

OR (33-5) had title dreams previous year, too.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Southeastern Conference coaches might have named Sindarius Thornwell the player of the year, but the senior has made a star turn in the NCAAs. Without any momentum heading into their first-round matchup with 10th-seeded Marquette, South Carolina was very much an afterthought.

It’s been an impressive journey for UNC this year, overcoming a few real scares in their first four games of the NCAA Tournament.

Samuelson was hurt when she was making a move toward the basket, and stepped on the foot of SC guard Bianca Cuevas-Moore.

This 2017 team is better.

While fans often knock Notice as a streaky shooter – he went 2 of 9 from the field in USC’s Elite Eight victory over Florida – his defense at the top has proven unyieldingly consistent, particularly in the NCAA Tournament. They are committed and tough. Gonzaga’s toughest out in the region proved to be Northwestern and West Virginia. Few’s Bulldogs had an nearly ideal season, losing only to BYU. Both Martin and 18-year veteran coach of Gonzaga, Mark Few, talk about leading their teams to the schools’ first Final Four.

Yet those Gonzaga teams, despite always reaching the tournament, rarely advanced far.

The first two games of the Final Four will be played on April 1. This run will cement the program’s legacy and legitimacy, but a trip to the championship changes everything. The South Carolina coach knows the definition of blue-collar work. South Carolina’s adjusted defensive efficiency ranks second in the country, trailing only Gonzaga’s. It kind of disappeared on us there the last month of the season. The Oregon Ducks have won nine of their last 10 neutral site games.

Either way, head coach Roy Williams wasn’t making it out to be as big of an advantage as it appears. “The people who want to judge me on a 30-second clip on the sideline out of a 40-minute game in a 24-hour day, that’s their prerogative”.

Why he’s here: The ankle problem has affected the junior point guard’s shooting, which is down to 32.6 percent overall and 23.1 percent on three-pointers throughout the tourney, but his ability to drive and get to the rim remains intact.

Defense: Oregon throws a variety of defenses at opponents.

That was the only assist for Harris, who finished with 10 points. The North Carolina Tar Heels have won 17 of their last 20 neutral site games.

Oregon’s defensive rebounding vs. Kennedy Meeks is the third double-digit scorer and Isaiah Hicks is grabbing 5.4 rebounds.

But Dorsey, a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard, understands good timing. The dean of college basketball coaches. Who has done the best job this season? You’ve probably even tuned in late on a Monday night when they’re playing in a bandbox gym in the West Coast Conference and beating a team that resembles Hickory High. Don’t underestimate redemption as a factor.

Easily the Cinderella story of the Final Four, the Gamecocks are an easy team to root for.

Luke Maye, North Carolina.

Berry said he was limited Thursday in Glendale, Ariz. Nigel Williams-Goss (Washington), Jordan Matthews (California) and Johnathan Williams (Mizzouri) were all either highly rated recruits or key contributors on their former teams.

For Under Armour, the chance to capitalize on South Carolina’s surprising run as a No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament is a welcome development.

In some form or other, that question has lingered at North Carolina all season.

No. 3 OR (33-5), 7:49 p.m.