March 12, 2028
Miami defeats Duke, 77-67, in the ACC tournament final. North Carolina ended up losing their first tournament game, too; they were upset, 71-60, by Wake Forest.
The NCAA tournament committee chooses seven ACC teams for its field. We're assigned the #4 seed in the West Region. Southern California is the top seed in our bracket; the other #1s are UCLA, Tennessee, and Michigan State.
Amherst, led by new head coach
Stephen Corr and high-scoring junior
Colton Mullins, finishes the year with a 24-9 record and another NEC tournament victory. They're the #14 seed in the East.
March 17, 2028
NCAA West Region
Code:
(4) Virginia 69, (13) Ohio 61
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Ohio (23-10, 11-5):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Charles Plante C 32 2-3 4-5 1 3 0 2 8
Albert Jones PF 17 2-3 0-2 1 5 0 5 4
Jerry Stockdale SF 35 5-19 4-5 1 5 3 3 14
Joseph Schultz SG 37 5-7 1-1 0 2 2 1 11
Reuben Crigger PG 28 2-6 2-2 0 4 4 3 6
Stanley Porter PF 17 1-5 0-0 2 8 2 5 2
Ron Stelly SF 5 3-3 4-4 0 2 0 1 10
Gregory Rodriguez SG 15 2-4 0-0 1 3 1 0 4
Alex Carter PG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Howard Zapata PF 13 1-2 0-0 0 4 0 1 2
Turnovers: 18 (C.Plante 2, A.Jones 4, J.Stockdale 4,
J.Schultz 5, R.Crigger 1, S.Porter 1, G.Rodriguez 1)
Blocked Shots: 5 (C.Plante 2, A.Jones 1, J.Stockdale 2)
Steals: 6 (A.Jones 1, J.Stockdale 1, J.Schultz 3,
R.Crigger 1)
3P FGs: 0-7 (C.Plante 0-1, J.Stockdale 0-2, J.Schultz
0-1, R.Crigger 0-1, G.Rodriguez 0-2)
Virginia (23-8, 11-5):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Chris Burke C 30 2-4 0-4 2 8 0 5 4
Jonathan Mooney PF 30 5-7 1-1 2 8 1 4 11
Larry Wallace SF 24 5-12 2-2 3 4 1 4 13
Chris Como SF 36 6-17 6-6 1 5 3 1 21
Anthony Carreno PG 35 1-8 0-0 0 1 6 1 2
John Steinberg SG 22 6-12 0-0 1 3 2 1 14
Isaiah Young PF 17 0-2 2-2 1 6 1 0 2
Malik Galloway C 3 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Aaron Jackson PG 1 0-0 2-3 0 0 0 0 2
C. Dessauvage SF 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0
Turnovers: 10 (J.Mooney 2, L.Wallace 3, C.Como 3,
M.Galloway 1, C.Dessauvage 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (C.Burke 1)
Steals: 8 (J.Mooney 1, L.Wallace 1, C.Como 2,
J.Steinberg 3, M.Galloway 1)
3P FGs: 6-25 (C.Burke 0-2, L.Wallace 1-3, C.Como 3-8,
A.Carreno 0-6, J.Steinberg 2-6)
Player of Game: SG Chris Como (UVA)
The Ohio Bobcats wear green for this St. Patrick's Day contest, but it doesn't help them gain enough luck to upset us. We don't allow the Bobcats to make a single three-pointer, and we take very good care of the basketball.
Coach Whittaker has the Hoos playing at a slightly more urgent pace, since we have an edge in athleticism we often don't possess against ACC opponents.
Chris Como leads us with 20 points, a bit over his average of 17.4 PPG.
Record: 23-8.
March 19, 2028
NCAA West Region, Second Round
Code:
(5) #11 Florida 52, (4) Virginia 49
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Florida (26-8, 11-5):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Rene Lavelle C 33 2-5 0-0 2 6 7 1 4
Chris Brett PF 31 3-4 0-0 1 8 1 2 6
Elton Casares SF 13 2-5 4-4 0 2 0 4 9
Timothy Mateo SG 33 7-18 2-2 0 5 0 4 20
Clark Salinas PG 33 3-8 0-0 0 2 3 1 6
Bryon Russell SG 27 1-4 0-0 0 5 1 1 2
Alonzo James SF 14 1-7 0-0 0 0 1 2 2
Douglas Catlin PF 11 1-2 0-0 0 2 0 4 3
Chris Keim C 5 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
Turnovers: 13 (R.Lavelle 1, C.Brett 1, E.Casares 2,
T.Mateo 2, B.Russell 3, A.James 1, D.Catlin 3)
Blocked Shots: 9 (R.Lavelle 3, C.Brett 4, T.Mateo 1,
A.James 1)
Steals: 6 (R.Lavelle 1, C.Brett 1, E.Casares 1,
B.Russell 1, A.James 2)
3P FGs: 6-19 (C.Brett 0-1, E.Casares 1-2, T.Mateo 4-11,
C.Salinas 0-2, B.Russell 0-1, D.Catlin 1-2)
Virginia (23-9, 11-5):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Chris Burke C 34 1-5 0-0 2 11 1 0 2
Jonathan Mooney PF 32 1-5 0-0 3 9 2 3 2
Larry Wallace SF 34 5-16 6-10 3 10 1 1 16
Chris Como SG 36 3-7 3-3 0 3 3 1 9
Anthony Carreno PG 34 3-12 0-0 3 3 3 1 7
John Steinberg SG 9 2-2 0-0 0 1 0 3 5
Isaiah Young PF 15 0-2 5-6 1 5 1 0 5
Malik Galloway C 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
Aaron Jackson PG 5 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
C. Dessauvage SF 1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 3
Turnovers: 15 (J.Mooney 1, L.Wallace 3, C.Como 5,
A.Carreno 5, J.Steinberg 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (A.Carreno 1)
Steals: 4 (L.Wallace 1, A.Carreno 3)
3P FGs: 3-18 (C.Burke 0-1, L.Wallace 0-5, C.Como 0-1,
A.Carreno 1-7, J.Steinberg 1-1, A.Jackson 0-2,
C.Dessauvage 1-1)
Player of Game: C Rene Lavelle (FL)
Next we face a very good five seed in the #11-ranked Gators. They play defense with as much energy and tenacity as we do. Tonight, they're just a bit better than we are.
Larry Wallace posts a double-double in his final collegiate game.
Record: 23-9.