The Road To The Final Four

By Christy Flom on April 2, 2015

March Madness has officially dwindled down to the Final Four this weekend in Indiana. After so many games these past couple of weeks, I wanted to reflect on some of the great plays that made the games live up to the crazy expectations of March.

Making it to the Sweet 16 was a close call for many teams and making it to the Elite Eight and the Final Four were call for even bigger celebrations.

Image via Flickr.com

While some of the best plays may happen in the Final Four and National Championship games, there have been some insane shots and plays leading up to the last weekend of games.

From the first round of crazy upsets to the hard fought games of the Elite Eight, here is a look at the best plays of each round that have brought us to our Final Four teams of Wisconsin, Duke, Kentucky and Michigan State.

To start, let’s go back to the second round of the tournament. Over half the games in this round came down to last minute shots or overtime play, making it hands down the most exciting time of the tournament.

One especially notable moment amidst all of the upsets was when Georgia State beat Baylor. During this game, guard R.J. Hunter hit the game winning shot sending the No. 3 ranked Baylor Bears packing.

Not only was this far three a great shot, but Hunter is the son of head coach Ron Hunter, who actually fell out of his chair on the sidelines after the shot was made with just over two seconds left in regulation.

Moving on to the third round, there were far less major upsets. In games where the rankings differed dramatically, like No. 2 Arizona and No. 10 Ohio State, there were less intense endings to the games sending many higher-ranking teams to the Sweet 16.

However, one standout play was in the Butler verse Notre Dame game. Tied in the last minutes of the game, Notre Dame’s defensive efforts were what sent the game into overtime allowing them to eventually finish off the Bulldogs.

Senior Pat Connaughton blocked a last second three-point attempt and then forced an air ball by Butler with .2 seconds left.

This insane block is why Connaughton was named one of the top players in the Atlantic Coast Conference as he helped lead his team all the way to the Elite Eight.

While their season unfortunately ended there with a disappointing loss against Kentucky, Connaughton was a huge reason as to why Notre came closer than any other team so far in the tournament in challenging Kentucky’s perfect record.

In the Sweet 16, the games became intense, with back and forth scoring in every game as teams battled hard to come out on top.

In the Wisconsin verses North Carolina game from last Friday, Wisconsin ended up winning this game 79-72 but lagged behind in the first half. A key moment in the game was when junior forward Sam Dekker had a last second put-back to head into the half down by one with the momentum in their favor.

Replays of this shot show the ball was in the air with less than .2 seconds left on the clock, making Dekker’s efforts even more remarkable.

Another highlight moment in the Sweet 16 was when Kentucky had a rather easy time sliding by West Virginia, winning 78-39.

To cap off their whopping win, sophomore guard Aaron Harrison wrapped the ball around his back, and threw it up behind him as Jevon Carter for West Virginia fouled him going out of bounds.

The best part of the play is the ball went in the basket, too, showcasing the skills of the No. 1 ranked Wildcats as they head into the Final Four as the last undefeated team this season.

Moving on to Michigan State’s narrow win over Oklahoma in the Sweet 16, the Spartans came out to a slow start in the first half. While there were no huge slam-dunks or last second game changing baskets, there were smart hustle plays that helped keep them in the game against Oklahoma and then later Villanova whom they beat in overtime.

A great example of one of these hustle plays and definitely a highlight of the game was when senior Branden Dawson pursued a ball out of bounds and instead of falling off the court giving the ball to Oklahoma, he threw the ball against an Oklahoma player already on the floor out of bounds.

This gave Michigan State the ball right before halftime, allowing them to stay within five points at the half making their comeback fairly easy in the second half to take the lead. There have been several of these types of plays like in the Duke verse Gonzaga game in the Elite Eight.

Finally, as I mentioned earlier, Notre Dame came extremely close to beating Kentucky in the Elite Eight. They had the lead until there was just over three minutes to play. It was once again Harrison who came up clutch making a huge three-pointer from well beyond the arc for Kentucky to take the lead 64-63 as the clock continued to wind down allowing Kentucky to remain undefeated.

It’s no surprise that the teams with the big plays in the Sweet Sixteen made it to the Elite Eight and now the Final Four. After hard fought games, Kentucky, Duke, Michigan State and Wisconsin will battle it out this Saturday, April 4 for a shot at the National Championship Monday, April 6.

I’m sure there will be more giant plays, dunks, steals and blocks as we watch to find out who the reigning champs will be next week!

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