When Louisville’s Rick Pitino made his first NCAA Tournament appearance as a coach, Jeff Capel was 8 years old. But Pitino didn’t think that gave him much of an advantage going into Sunday’s Oklahoma-Louisville game in Birmingham, Ala. Pitino’s Cardinals won the game 78-48.
“When you’re in the business a long time you learn what not to do,” Pitino said. “You don’t necessarily know any more than any young coach, you just learn what not to do in certain situations. That’s just time and experience.”
Accessible and energetic, young coaches made an impact in the tournament and college basketball this year. Three of the seven youngest coaches in Division I basketball earned berths, and the teams of three coaches 35 and younger were still playing Sunday.
Also in Birmingham, 31-year-old Brad Stevens led Butler against Tennessee. And Western Kentucky followed 35-year-old Darrin Horn into a Sunday matchup with San Diego, which the Hilltoppers won to advance to the round of 16 for the first time in 15 years.
Texas-Arlington’s Scott Cross, 33, also made the tournament, losing in the first round.
Capel is hip. He listens to Jay-Z and shares other common interests with his players. Stevens is always accessible, just a text message away no matter how late it is.
Capel says he makes sure he’s always accessible to his players. He doesn’t keep office hours or require them to make appointments for a chat.
“I like a lot of the same things our guys like. Does it help? I don’t know,” Capel said. “I don’t think it hurts. I do think there is a line that I draw with them where they have to understand that I am their coach. But I do want to be a friend to them. I do want to be someone who they feel comfortable talking with about anything.”
Notes
ONE-DAY DELAY
Closer, but still no cigar.
Texas A&M pulled within two of UCLA on Sunday. Too bad the game ended Saturday night.
The NCAA clarified the score of the top-seeded Bruins’ second-round victory over the Aggies, saying the officials waived off Russell Westbrook’s dunk as time expired and the final was 51-49 instead of 53-49.
“As the officials were leaving the court, they waived off the basket, ruling the ball was still in Westbrook’s hands when the clock expired,” Hank Nichols, national coordinator of men’s basketball officiating, said in a release Sunday. “Amidst the activity courtside, there was a misinterpretation of the signal.”
TEXAS-SIZED DISPARITY
On target, out of luck.
Texas went 13-of-26 (.500) from 3-point range in its 75-72 victory over Miami, a percentage most coaches can only dream about. But the Longhorns were 12-of-21 (.571) on free throws, a percentage that has coaches reaching for antacids.
TIME AFTER TIME
40 minutes aren’t enough.
Tennessee’s 76-71 victory over Butler on Sunday was the fourth overtime game of the first two rounds, matching last year’s total as the most since there were five overtime games in the first two rounds in 2000.
The Associated Press
The Sweet 16
East Regional
No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 4 Wash. St.
Tar Heels’ skinny: North Carolina cruises through Raleigh subregional (28 miles away) and is heading to Charlotte, a 145-mile drive.
Cougars’ skinny: Washington State’s record of 11-17 just two years ago may seem like a distant memory as the Cougars are Sweet 16 bound after easy wins in Denver. Defense, such as what Wazzu humbled Notre Dame with Saturday, will be the team’s rallying cry.
No. 3 Louisville vs. No. 2 Tennessee
Cardinals’ skinny: Louisville, the highest seed left from the vaunted Big East, matched its biggest rout in the NCAA Tournament in a 78-48 thumping of Oklahoma. The Cardinals trounced Kansas State by 30 in 1968.
Volunteers’ skinny: Tennessee, the only team this season to beat No. 1 South seed Memphis, thought it deserved a No. 1 seed of its own. But the Vols should just be happy to still be alive after needing overtime Sunday to get past seventh-seeded Butler.
Midwest Regional
No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 12 Villanova
Jayhawks’ skinny: Kansas won its first two rounds by an average margin of 21.5 points, which is no great surprise since the Jayhawks led Division I men’s basketball this season with an average margin of victory of 21 points.
Wildcats’ skinny: Villanova was on the edge of losing its season with a 3-6 start in the Big East before staging a February rally and winning six of its final nine. The Wildcats are one of only three Big East teams (and the lowest seeded) to make it out of the first weekend.
No. 3 Wisconsin vs. No. 10 Davidson
Badgers’ skinny: Wisconsin led the nation in scoring defense, and its unheralded starting guards — sophomore Trevon Hughes and senior Michael Flowers — outscored Kansas State’s backcourt 40-4 on Saturday.
Wildcats’ skinny: Stephen Curry may be the star (70 points over the weekend), but guard Jason Richards, right, was the NCAA leader in assists during the season and had 14 through the first two rounds.
South Regional
No. 1 Memphis vs. No. 5 Michigan St.
Tigers’ skinny: Only two players, Chris Douglas- Roberts (17.2 points per game) and Derrick Rose (14.1), averaged double figures at the start of the tournament, and the Tigers still beat teams by almost 19 points per game. It’s a total team effort for the team that has dropped just one game this season (to Tennessee).
Spartans’ skinny: Michigan State plays smashmouth basketball and appears to be peaking at the right time. Tom Izzo has the Spartans in their seventh Sweet 16 in his 13 seasons.
No. 3 Stanford vs. No. 2 Texas
Cardinal’s skinny: When forward Lawrence Hill scores in double figures, the Cardinal is 11-1. But with only 13 points in the tournament so far, he has to heat up.
Longhorns’ skinny: Despite the departure of Kevin Durant to the NBA, the Longhorns have thrived. Texas can win the big games. The Longhorns defeated three top-10 opponents, more than any other team in the country.
West Regional
No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 12 Western Kentucky
Bruins’ skinny: Maybe you have heard: Freshman center Kevin Love, left, is a really good player. And in case you needed proof, he had his 21st double-double against Texas A&M on Saturday, with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Oh, he had seven blocked shots, too.
Hilltoppers’ skinny: Senior guard/forward Courtney Lee, the Sun Belt’s player of the year, totaled 44 points and 16 rebounds during the opening weekend as Western Kentucky advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1993 after going winless in its six previous trips.
No. 3 Xavier vs. No. 7 West Virginia
Musketeers’ skinny: Xavier is perfect this season when it scores at least 61 points. The Musketeers’ 85 vs. Purdue were the most the Boilermakers gave up all season.
Mountaineers’ skinny: Think WVU is still sore that Michigan stole its coach last year? Not so much. The legendary Bob Huggins is taking West Virginia to its third Sweet 16 in four seasons. Meanwhile, John Beilein was 10-22 for the Wolverines in his first season in Ann Arbor.
Denver Post staff and wire services
