The Elite Eight is here and in the end, only the East region fell victim to upsets.
NCAA Tournament 2015: Schedule for NCAA Tournament Elite Eight games
The final two regions will have a champion on Sunday, setting up the Final Four.
Of the two lowest seeds still in the running, one of them will fall in the East regional finals. No. 4 Louisville square off Sunday against the No. 7 Michigan State, who knocked off No. 2 Virginia and No. 3 Oklahoma in consecutive weeks. It seems like you can never count out the Spartans thanks to head coach Tom Izzo and his March wizardry, but let’s not give him all the credit: guards Denzel Valentine and especially Travis Trice have played exceptional in the tournament so far.
For Louisville, leading scorer Terry Rozier and interior presence Montrezl Harrell both lead a top-heavy squad without much bench support, but the emergence of freshman point guard Quentin Snider has helped alleviate some of those concerns.
Sunday’s other game is No. 1 Duke vs. No. 2 Gonzaga. Justice Winslow had a 21-point, 10-rebound game on Friday for the Blue Devils, helping making up for Jahlil Okafor’s quiet outing of six points, eight rebounds and four turnovers. They both may need to get going against Gonzaga, who boasts one of the nation’s best offenses.
Against No. 11 UCLA, Gonzaga actually had an atypical outing, shooting just 40 percent from the floor and hitting only 3-of-19 shots from behind the line. However, their usual efficiency -- just five turnovers -- was there, and they still scored 74 points against an overmatched Bruins squad. Expect Kyle Wiltjer to bounce back from his quiet shooting night of eight points on 4-12 from the field.
Here’s the schedule (all times Eastern).
Sunday
No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 7 Michigan State at 2:20 p.m. on CBS
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 2 Gonzaga at 5:05 p.m. on CBS
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