March Madness: Elite Eight Day 1

Bucky keeps rolling down their familiar tournament path, Kentucky fights off the Irish, and a handful of NBA hopefuls add to their pre-draft résumé.

The state of Wisconsin, where I reside, was like a ghost town for a few hours today. Then phones started blowing up with text messages. Bucky is back in the Final Four thanks to heroics from two draft-ready upper classmen. The Fighting Irish almost fought off the ceaseless tide of the Kentucky Wildcats machine that used two late free throws to seal the victory, move to 38-0, and secure a semi-final rematch with the Badgers.

Stanley Johnson, F/Arizona

Sometimes it just is not your night. At the collegiate level, having an off night looks all the worse because this is already a level below the pro circuit. Between the five fouls, two turnovers, and a finger in the eye, Johnson just didn’t have the kind of night that we would have liked to see. Instead of a showcase for this lottery-projected player, we had to wonder when he would come back into the game after taking a finger to the eye. The upside for Johnson is that he did hit 2-of-4 on field goal attempts and knocked down both free throw attempts that he had. Six points isn’t much, but between foul trouble and eye trouble, six points on four shots is pretty efficient for a college player even if he was unable to impact the game.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, F/Arizona

If scoring was all that mattered, Hollis-Jefferson had a great game against the Badgers. Unfortunately, he also battled foul issues. Further mirroring teammate Johnson, Hollis-Jefferson shot 50 percent from the field and 5/6 from the line; one nice thing about the college kids, they tend to stay on the right side of the shots/points equation. While the scoring was better from Hollis-Jefferson, who benefited from not being poked in the eyeball, he also didn’t commit any turnovers and hauled in eight rebounds. A fair game for the Arizona forward that should not swing his draft stock too much in either direction.

Frank Kaminsky, F/Wisconsin

Kaminsky had the game of a lifetime against the Wildcats on Saturday. He notched one block, steal, and assist while getting himself to the line for 12 free throws. The ability to live at the line helped erase the concern of his 9-for-20 night from the field. The 7-foot forward showcased his footwork and post ability throughout his 29 point, six rebound outing. In one particular sequence he worked a three-point line backdown to pivot to up-and-under that has to have some NBA scouts excited. We’ve seen what Mirotic has done this year; Kaminsky is probably not a player with the same ceiling, but his range and versatility could make a nice addition to any squad jealous of what the Bulls have in their rookie.

Sam Dekker, F/Wisconsin

In a game that featured not one, two, or three, but FOUR potential first-round draft pick forwards, Dekker decided to post a career-high 27 points by raining three-pointers all over the Wildcat hopes and dreams. The ultimate scoring line of the night, Dekker posted his 27 points on 8-for-11 shooting and 6-for-7 from the free throw line. Dekker added five rebounds and an assist while only committing one turnover and two fouls. Clean, effective, clutch play from Dekker is the reason Wisconsin is getting ready for another run at Kentucky. I saw one draft board last year that had him in the mid-20s if he had left and I see no reason that he couldn’t move even closer to the lottery based on who else is available and team needs. On Wisconsin.

Jerian Grant, G/Notre Dame

Grant deserves an award. It may not exist, but we need to get this started. Hereby, Jerian Grant is the winner of the first, maybe last, Thibodeau Award for Playing Tired. I don’t know much about the depth of Notre Dame. One reason is that I watch very little college basketball, and the other reason is that they only run seven deep. The two bench players that made it into the game combined for just 16 minutes. Grant played every minute of this tournament and, as the announcers pointed out, was showing the signs of fatigue by the time he had to dribble up court through a trap with no timeouts, down two, with less than six seconds remaining in the game. There was only a brief moment he could have dished it off, and by that time, it would not have resulted in a shot so Grant was forced into an unfortunate scenario of trying to shoot a corner three in a triple team as time expired. That’s not a great way to have to remember Grant in this tournament. Any guard who runs 40 full minutes against the overall No. 1 seed and undefeated Kentucky Wildcats and commits only one turnover has done a good job. He put up 15 points and six assists, but only hit 1-of-6 from three-point range; a combination of dealing with the size of the Wildcat forwards when they stepped out to guard him and Grant’s surely-tiring legs that didn’t have the spring needed as he attempted step-back after step-back trying to create enough separation to get his shots off.

Karl-Anthony Towns, F/Kentucky

Towns was the man for Kentucky. He put up 25 huge points for the Wildcats and put in a big 2-point shot at the rim late when Notre Dame needed a stop. He was active in all aspects of the game, contributing five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. Towns did all of this while carrying foul trouble that briefly forced him to the bench. While I would not consider it concerning at this point, the strong work of Towns was overshadowed for large stretches by the play of counterpart Zach Auguste who scored 20 points of his own for the Fighting Irish and managed to pull in six offensive rebounds while committing no turnovers. Both players shot 10-of-13 on the night for one of the best player-versus-player stat lines that I’ve ever seen from forwards in the late stages of the tournament. Towns also benefited from some calls that probably should not have gone his way, including an and-one opportunity in the first half that put the Wildcats ahead by five points. Towns has earned his respect and while he won’t get his calls right away in the NBA, he definitely deserves to have his name called early.