Daily Briefing — Mar. 5, 2022: The bigger they are, the Harden they fall

But first: The EuroLeague regular season has come to an end! Our Antonio Losada catches you up on a surprisingly eventful week.

Watch List, Saturday, March 5

(All times in Eastern)

Must-watch

#13 Ohio State v. #14 Indiana, 3:30 p.m., BTN — Big Ten semis

Good games

None

Also watchable

RV* Dayton v. VCU, 11 a.m., CBS Sports Network — A-10 semis

#3 N.C. State v. #21 Virginia Tech, noon, ACC Network — ACC semis, but arguably the best player here is out (see below)

#20 Notre Dame v. Miami, 2:30 p.m., ACC Network — ACC semis

#12 Iowa v. Nebraska, 6 p.m., BTN — Big Ten semis

Friday, March 4 recap

RV Princeton: 69-43 win over Penn to win the Ivy League regular-season title outright. Held the Quakers to 23.1% shooting from the field and 27.8% from three; notched 10 steals.

(All rankings below reflect tournament seeding)

ACC tournament quarterfinals

#1 N.C. State beat #9 Florida State, 84-54. It would be surprising not to see FSU in the NCAA Tournament.

#3 Notre Dame beat #6 Georgia Tech, 71-53. The Yellow Jackets will of course be dancing, but they are not going to host games.

#5 Virginia Tech beat #4 North Carolina, 87-80 in overtime. The Hokies were already playing without a starter who shot 40.6% on five threes a game this year in Cayla King, and then ACC Player of the Year center Elizabeth Kitley fell on her shoulder in the second quarter and didn’t return; she’s unlikely to play in the rest of the tournament. The Tar Heels are now unlikely to host NCAA Tournament games.

#7 Miami beat #2 Louisville, 61-59. The Cardinals had a 99.9% win expectancy with a 15-point lead and 4.5 minutes to go. Hurricane freshman Ja’Leah Williams then took a pick-six before combo forward Destiny Harden took over. Harden scored each of the last 15 points of the game, including the following buzzer-beater, to finish with a 27-point, 10-rebound double-double on 11-for-15 shooting (4-5 3pt.) against three turnovers.

From the vantage point of the guy sitting right next to me (Her Hoop Stats’ Gabe Ibrahim):

Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals

#1 Ohio State beat #8 Michigan State, 74-58. The Spartans’ season is over.

#2 Iowa beat #7 Northwestern, 72-59. The Wildcats are probably still an NCAA Tournament team.

#5 Indiana beat #4 Maryland, 62-51. The Terps now may not be hosting NCAA Tournament games, but they probably will. Who knows?

#6 Nebraska beat #3 Michigan, 76-73. There’s a good chance the Wolverines don’t host games as a result — but as with Maryland, who the heck knows?

Pac-12 Tournament semifinals

#1 Stanford beat #5 Colorado, 71-45. Center Cameron Brink is now 5-for-7 from three in her last five games, and she finished this game with 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting (1-1 3pt.), nine rebounds, four steals and two blocks against one turnover … but committed four fouls in 28 minutes. The Buffaloes are probably still dancing.

TDB Cameron Brink Foul Watch: Four fouls in 28 minutes on Friday; 5.1 fouls per 40 minutes (12th percentile, per Her Hoop Stats), 6.4% foul percentage (11th percentile) for the season.

#6 Utah beat #2 Oregon, 70-63. The Utes won the third quarter 23-8.

SEC Tournament quarterfinals

#1 South Carolina beat #8 Arkansas, 76-54. Gamecocks center Aliyah Boston led with 17 points on 6-for-10 FG (0-2 3pt.) and 14 rebounds (five offensive) for a double-double, plus five assists, five steals and two blocks against two turnovers — just the seventh 17/15/5/3/2 game in the Her Hoop Stats era and the first since 2016. The Razorbacks are a near lock for the tournament.

#3 Tennessee beat #11 Alabama, 74-59. After the Crimson Tide broke a 21-year streak without an NCAA Tournament appearance last year, they are now starting a new streak.

#4 Ole Miss beat #5 Florida, 70-60. Florida’s still going dancing.

#7 Kentucky beat #2 LSU, 78-63. Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey threw an absolute temper tantrum over point guard Khayla Pointer getting correctly called for an offensive foul for deliberately sticking out her leg to create contact on a three. Mulkey stormed onto the court while the ball was live, got completely in the ref’s face while he was trying to run along with the action, and got T’d up. And really should’ve been ejected.

Wildcats wing Rhyne Howard led with 32 points on 11-for-18 shooting from the field and 6-for-8 from three, three rebounds, three assists and two blocks against two turnovers.

Big East Tournament first round

#6 Seton Hall beat #11 Butler, 58-39.

#7 St. John’s beat #10 Xavier, 76-69.

#9 Georgetown beat #8 Providence, 68-55.

A-10 Tournament quarterfinals

#1 Dayton beat #9 Davidson, 60-55 in overtime.

#3 UMass beat #6 Fordham, 66-63.

#7 St. Joseph’s beat #2 Rhode Island, 51-48. The Rams go from a strong case for an at-large bid to fully out of contention for the NCAA Tournament.

#4 VCU beat George Washington, 55-47.

WCC Tournament quarterfinals

#7 Santa Clara beat #6 San Diego, 86-79.

#9 Loyola Marymount beat #5 St. Mary’s, 71-64.

*Receiving Votes