The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

For the second consecutive year, the NCAA Men's Division I Tournament will feature a Bahamian player amidst the Final Four of "March Madness".

With Buddy Hield's record setting shooting as the catalyst, the senior guard and Grand Bahama native led his Oklahoma Sooners to the championship in the West region and a berth in the Final Four.

Hield scored 37 points, shot 13-20 from the field and an incredible 8-13 from three point range in the No.2 Sooners' 80-68 win over the No.1 ranked Oregon Ducks Saturday in Anaheim, California.

Oregon's defence had no answer for Hield's outside shooting as he scored 17 points in the first half, highlighted by his fifth three of the game, a deep jumper several feet behind the three point line with four seconds left to play in the half.

It gave the Sooners a 48-30 lead at the half and the Ducks never threatened as they trailed by as much as 17 in the second half.

"Just knowing when the defence slips up and I've got a chance to put it up, I just put it up because my confidence level is so high. [I'm] just taking shots in rhythm and taking shots I know I'm capable of making. My teammates just found me in open spots, really. Just catching the ball in rhythm and just being confident in every shot I take," Hield said, "I know coming in I had to be aggressive for us to win. So my teammates found me in good spots and I was able to step in and get good shots in rhythm. My teammates did a good job finding me all year, and tonight was another example of how they got me open."

Hield became the fifth Bahamian to reach the Final Four following Houston's Lynden Rose (1982), North Carolina's Rick Fox (1992), LSU's Magnum Rolle (2006) and Michigan State's Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn Jr (2015).

The two time Big 12 player of the year reached the 30 point mark for the 12th time this season and matched his career high in three point field goals made in his 37 point outburst, his third highest point total of the season.

Hield even managed to draw comparisons with future NBA Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant who was present for both of Hield's matchups in Anahem.

The shot just before the half drew a reaction from the Los Angeles Lakers star, but Hield quickly refuted any comparisons to Bryant.

"Yeah, that was my favourite shot because after that I looked at Kobe, and he saluted me afterwards, so that was the favourite one," he said laughing, "But I'm not Kobe Bryant, and they should not compare me. I'm far away from him. I just make shots. It's kind of cool, but me and Kobe are in two different classes and I don't need to be compared with him."

The Sooners' attention will now shift to Houston Texas for the Final Four. They will face the No.2 seed and South Region Champions, Villanova Wildcats.

The Sooners (29-7) and Wildcats (33-5) will face off Saturday, April 2 at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas at 6pm local time. The Wildcats are favoured by two points in the game which will be broadcast live on TBS.

Oklahoma advanced to its first Final Four since the 2001-02 season.

Hield said the advancement to the Final Four was a major goal of the Sooners prior to the season.

"We knew it was a work in progress, but hats off to Coach [Kruger]. He did a good job of keeping us sound, and he got us prepared each year, and every year was a different goal, and this year it was a Final Four year. So I'm just happy that we all made it here, and we've just got two more games to finish it out.

The Sooners fell short in last year's tournament with a loss to the Michigan State Spartans in the Sweet 16. The loss was a major reason for Hield's much debated return for a senior season and to a lineup that has started 104 consecutive games together.

"It's very exciting. Just battling with Khadeem [Lattin] for two years; me and Jordan [Woodard] for three years, and Ryan [Spangler] and Isaiah [Cousins] for four years, it's been pretty special. We worked all summer. We had a bad taste in our mouth last spring, and we wanted to work hard. As soon as we came back the next week, next day we were in the gym working out," Hield said, "Guys really wanted to get to this point. So we really worked hard. And our coaching staff was on us hard, and Coach was always on us seniors. So hats off to the senior class for leading us. Whether it was me scoring points or Isaiah initiating the offence or Ryan doing the dirty work, we all had a part in doing this. So I'm just happy for our leadership that brought us this far."