Some things to watch in the NCAA championship game

Despite all reports of the action slightly skewed towards North Carolina, the spread has dropped a half-point.

First, when UA out-rebounded the Ducks by 10 in the Wildcats’ Pac-12 Tournament final win, knocking OR down to a No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region. Gonzaga has not played a particularly rough tournament slate. It seemed like OR might struggle after losing Chris Boucher, the team’s third-leading scorer and a spectacularly talented rim protector, to an ACL tear during the Pac-12 tournament. The 6-foot-3 junior was terrific in Saturday’s victory against SC, with 23 points (9-for-16 shooting), five rebounds and six assists. How could OR replace him?

Jordan Bell answers questions after the loss. Bell stepped up in Boucher’s absence and has been an absolute beast.

Gonzaga has 7-foot freshman Zach Collins, who had 14 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks in the Final Four win over SC.

Bell has embraced the account in his name and his now-bigger role for Oregon. He nearly had a triple double with blocks!

OR is a very good team.

Oregon’s Jordan Bell dunks during a practice session for their NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game Friday, March 31, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz.

It’s tough to understate just how incredible Tyler Dorsey has been in tournament play.

After years of Bruins, Dukes, Huskies, Tar Heels, with the occasional outlier from Villanova thrown in, it’s time for the northwest to grab the national spotlight. “We’ve been told how those guys (in 1939) played loose and free and together”. But a huge reason OR has advanced to its first Final Four of the NCAA Tournament since 1939 is the passionate play of its junior forward.

As much as I’d like to see the Cinderella team continue on their improbable journey it comes to an end at roughly 9pm Saturday.

Brooks returned and the team reeled off 17 straight wins before losing 74-65 at Colorado.

It is easy to be stuck looking at Karnowski, but he was not their leading scorer against SC. SC got out to an early 10-8 lead about five minutes into the game but that would be the last lead change until very later in the game.

“They change their defenses a little but not much”. They want to control that situation and draw up a play.

After leading by as much as 14 points in the second half, Gonzaga found themselves trailing SC 67-65 with7:06 to play in the game. They really do live and die by Sindarius Thornwell.

The first offensive rebound for the Tar Heels was a marriage of will and wingspan by Pinson, who Stretch Armstrong-ed the ball to Berry. He’s taking a ton of deep jumpers and drilling them all; he’s a rocket to the rim; his off-the-dribble game can spring him open when he decides not to drill a 3 in a defender’s face; and he finishes easily.

Many questioned the No. 1 seeds for both North Carolina (seven overall losses) and Gonzaga (weak conference) at the beginning of the NCAA tournament, but here we are three weeks later, and the Tar Heels and Bulldogs are each 40 minutes away from a national championship. They only beat 8 seed Northwestern by six in the round of 32, and then they only beat 4 seed WVU 61-58 in the Sweet 16 on a night that the Mountaineers shot just 26.7% from the floor. The Raleigh News & Observer also reported several men’s basketball players were in an African American studies course at the center of the scandal. Williams-Goss was named the WCC Player of the Year and is averaging a team-best 16.7 ppg.

Karnowski is a mountain at 7-1 and 300 pounds, but with soft hands and quick feet. Karnowski took a shot to the head, more specifically the eye, and it was feared he would not be able to return. The senior guard transferred from Cal to Gonzaga and has had a solid senior season. The Ducks aren’t too shabby from three-point range, either, knocking down 38.4 percent of their long-range attempts this season. They do have their flaws just like any other team however.

It took Few’s urging for Gonzaga to supply the coach with resources he needed to stay successful.