The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN collegiate basketball players and coaches experienced success in the men and women’s brackets of the 2024 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) March Madness basketball tournament over the weekend.

The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) Rebels, led by Grand Bahama native Yolett “Coach Yo” McPhee-McCuin, ran away with a 12-point victory over the 10th seeded Marquette University Golden Eagles at the Joyce Center in Notre Dame, Indiana on Saturday.

The Lady Rebels’ 67-55 win secured them a spot in the second round against no. 2 Notre Dame at 2pm today.

In the men’s tourney bracket, Fredrick King and the Creighton University Bluejays came up big versus the University of Oregon Ducks 86-73 in a game that went to double overtime at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Saturday. The Bluejays are now set to take on no. 2 Tennessee Volunteers in NCAA Sweet 16 action at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan on Friday.

Meanwhile, AJ Storr and the no. 5 Wisconsin Badgers came up short against the no.12 James Madison Dukes 72-61 in their NCAA March Madness first round matchup to witness their season come to an early end on Friday.

Ole Miss Rebels vs Marquette Golden Eagles

“Coach Yo” and the Lady Rebels cracked NCAA Sweet 16 territory last season for the first time in 16 years and are a win away accomplishing the feat again after knocking off the Golden Eagles on Saturday.

The Rebels and Golden Eagles both appeared determined not to go home but, in the end, Ole Miss and forward Madison Scott would have the final say to propel the team to a second straight NCAA Second Round appearance. Scott scored a game-high 20 points complemented by 6 boards and four dimes in 35 minutes played. Ole Miss guard Kennedy Todd-Williams put up 15 points and pulled down 7 rebounds in the opening round win. The Lady Rebels trailed by two after the first period of the contest but regained their composure in the second quarter with their best offensive output of the ball game. The no.7 team put together a 10-0 run during this quarter and went on to outscore the Golden Eagles 22-17 going into halftime.

The defensive presence of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) team interrupted the Golden Eagles’ offence leaving them without a made field goal in three out of the final four minutes of the second period. The 2023 Battle 4 Atlantis women’s champions went into the locker rooms ahead by 3 (36-33).

Despite shooting 43.5 per cent from the field, Ole Miss along with the Golden Eagles struggled to put together a formidable offensive stretch in the third. Both teams scored 13 apiece but the Rebels once again had a three-point advantage to close out the quarter.

The swarming Rebels defence was on full display in the fourth quarter of round one. The Golden Eagles were unable to clear double digits and were relegated to just 25 per cent shooting from three in the game. Ole Miss led by as much as 11 and kept Marquette’s scoring at bay allowing them just one field goal in the final two minutes of the game. They outscored their opponents 18-9 en route to their round two appearance.

Ole Miss outrebounded their opponents 43 to 33 in the win.

The Rebels will have their hands full against no. 2 Notre Dame in their first ever matchup today.

Creighton BlueJays vs Oregon Ducks

The Bluejays kept on rolling in the NCAA D1 men’s basketball tournament on Saturday. Andros native King did not register any minutes against the Ducks but his team pulled off a hard-fought win. The matchup was a see-saw affair between both teams featuring six ties and two lead changes in just the first half.

Oregon guard Jermaine Couisnard was on fire against the Bluejays. He scored 15 of his game-high 32 points in the first half to put the Ducks ahead 32-30 with 1:46 on the clock. The Bluejays then managed to connect on back-to-back three-pointers courtesy of Steven Ashworth and Baylor Scheierman to go into halftime ahead 36-34.

The matchup remained tightly-contested the rest of the way as the Bluejays forced OT after Scheierman nailed a go ahead jump shot with 9.0 seconds to go tying the score at 62 apiece.

In the final moments of the first overtime, Creighton University advanced 71-68 on the scoreboard following a pair of made free throws by Ashworth. However, Couisnard hit a timely three ball to tie the game and force an extra five minutes of play.

The Ducks ran out of gas in the second OT while the Bluejays outscored them 15-2 to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16.

Wisconsin Badgers vs James Madison Dukes

Storr and the no. 5 Badgers saw their season come to an untimely end against the Dukes on Friday at the Barclays Center. The Dukes overwhelmed the Badgers in the first half, forcing them to commit 14 turnovers, which translated into a 33-20 lead going into the intermission.

The Bahamian guard struggled against the Dukes’ defence. He was the team’s second highest scorer with 13 points but shot 5-for-14 from the field and failed to connect on any of his three point attempts. Despite the tough scoring night, he managed to collect 4 rebounds and 2 steals in the loss.

Storr’s team shot 37.3 per cent from the field and 38.1 per cent from deep. The Dukes picked the ball off 14 times compared to 6 steals earned by the Badgers.

The Rebels and Bluejays will continue their NCAA D1 basketball journeys this week as they look to take it all the way.