Minnesota Remains in the Zone

When Sam Jacobson and Charles Thomas started firing away from long range, Temple’s matchup zone defense proved no match.

Jacobson made two quick three-point baskets as Minnesota asserted full command in the first half, and the top-seeded Golden Gophers dismantled Temple’s zone defense en route to a 76-57 victory Sunday in the second round of the Midwest Regional.

“We got some shots to drop,” Minnesota Coach Clem Haskins said.

“We got Sam open on the baseline and the shots went down. It looked like great coaching. But if those two shots don’t go down, it’s the same coaching.”

The Gophers (29-3) made 10 three-point shots while presenting a textbook example of how to defeat a zone. They patiently passed the ball until somebody came open, and took almost nothing but good shots while holding the Owls (20-11) to 31% shooting.

Temple center Marc Jackson worked inside for two quick baskets as the Owls opened the second half with a 7-0 run that trimmed the lead to 35-29. But Quincy Lewis stole a Temple pass and made a three-point basket to restore Minnesota’s lead to 10, 40-30, and the Gophers never were threatened again.

Clemson 65, Tulsa 59--Clemson got some help from an unlikely source in taking away the scoring threat of Shea Seals.

Tulsa’s all-time leading scorer spent most of the game on the bench in foul trouble. He had only five points on two-of-11 shooting.

“They just played extra hard defensively and they did a good job,” Seals said.

Terrell McIntyre and Merl Code combined for 31 second-half points to key Clemson (23-9).

Tulsa (24-10) helped the Tigers by making only 13 of 28 free throws.