INDIANAPOLIS (AP)-Seton Hall’s Myles Powell and Marquette’s Markus Howard went head to head during the regular season in a pair of games befitting two of college basketball’s most dynamic players.
The potential for a third meeting washed away with the cancellation of the Big East tournament, then NCAA Tournament.
Fear of the coronavirus has taken grip on the nation. The NCAA Tournament, which was slated to start in full on Thursday, has been turned into March Sadness. All those matchups college basketball fans look forward to every year have been replaced by empty arenas and locked doors.
“Here it is the middle of March and we should be playing games,” Howard said. “It’s pretty crazy.”
They squared off again on Feb. 29 in Milwaukee and had a similar result; Howard scored 37 points, Powell had 28 and the Pirates won 88-79.
The selection committee has a knack for intriguing early-round matchups — Howard against Murray State’s Ja Morant last year was one — so it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see two of the nation’s top-scoring guards on a collision course.
Now, both are sitting at home, waiting for the dust to settle.
“For it to end so quickly, it was like … man,” Powell said.
Here’s a few more NCAA Tournament matchups we would have liked to see:
Hurley won two national championships under Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski and has been speculated to be the perfect candidate in Durham when Coach K retires.
Watching those two butt heads and turn shades of red would have been fun.
DAYTON VS. KANSAS: Kansas and Dayton were headed toward earning No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, so any meeting would have had to be in the Final Four or national championship game.
What a rematch it would be.
The Jayhawks and Flyers played a high-level game at the Maui Invitational, won 90-84 in overtime by Kansas.
Watching Devon Dotson and Udoka Azubuike square off against Obi Toppin and Jalen Crutcher again would have been must-watch, particularly with a national title on the line.
The Cougars led the nation in 3-point shooting at 42.2% and made 10.4 per game, third nationally. The Bluejays were only a few ticks behind, making 9.7 per game while shooting 38.6%.
The game could have had a combined 60 attempts from the arc.
WINSTON VS. PRITCHARD: Michigan State’s Cassius Winston and Oregon’s Payton Pritchard have been two of the nation’s steadiest point guards the past four years.
Winston played with a heavy heart all season after the death of his brother, yet still led the Spartans with 18.6 points and 5.8 assists.
Both are seniors, so it would have been nice to see them square off late in the tournament, maybe even the title game.
RUTGERS VS. HOFSTRA: Hofstra had not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2001. Rutgers had a longer drought, back to 1991.
Two feel-good stories could have keep going in what would have likely been a second-round-or-later matchup.
Now, disappointment and more waiting.
GARZA VS. NWORA: No. 14 Louisville against Iowa would have been a great game. Watching Jordan Nwora and Luka Garza trade baskets could have been epic.
The 6-7 Nwora led the Cardinals with 18.0 points per game while grabbing 7.7 rebounds.
Steven Enoch would have likely been matched up against Garza defensively, but there could have been a whole lot of fireworks between the two star players.
