Dash to the Desert continued with Episode 2 on Sunday night, as YurView analysts Vin Parise and Scott Williams were joined by Mark Ewing, Adam Finkelstein, Kevin McNamara and Chris DiSano to look at the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
With Rhode Island losing a heartbreaker on Sunday night to the Oregon Ducks, DiSano was first up, discussing how the Rams came up just short of a Sweet 16 berth.
“They just tightened up over the final three minutes, and couldn’t close it out,” said DiSano.
Ewing was on deck, and he talked about the ridiculous shooting from the Kansas Jayhawks over the final minutes of their game with Big 10 powerhouse Michigan State.
Sticking with those midwestern teams, Ewing then bantered with Vin and Scott about the criminally under-seeded Wichita State Shockers, who lost to John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats in a extremely close Second-Round contest, just as they had a few years ago when vying for an undefeated season. Gregg Marshall’s team had two late-game chances to win it, but both times had three-point field goal attempts blocked.
The Shockers return all of their contributors for the 2017-18 season and “maybe next year they’ll be seeded correctly,” Ewing quipped.
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After Williams relayed his nervousness during the Arkansas-North Carolina game, in which his Tar Heels advanced, the pair was joined by Providence Journal writer Kevin McNamara to talk about the Big East’s showing in the Big Dance.
Finally, Finkelstein joined in when the topic shifted to the wide-open West Region – where Gonzaga will face their toughest test yet in relentless West Virginia team – and Arizona will face the 11-seed Xavier Musketeers who dismantled a talented Florida State team in the Round of 32. Finkelstein brought up the bond between Xavier coach Chris Mack, who was an assistant under Arizona coach Sean Miller with the Musketeers.
Arizona is “facing an opponent who knows them better than anybody in the country…these guys remain very close, their staffs remain very close…there’s a lot of knowledge about these coaches and what the other one is going to do,” said Finkelstein.
Watch the entire episode here (or check local listings for it on your local YurView channel), and don’t forget to check out the Overtime segments with Vin and Scott, as 16 teams are still on their Dash to the Desert.
