The "Red Reckoning" Is Stuck in Traffic, Nebraska basketball is immortal, and Purdue Forgot How to Score
If you love defense, look away. If you love chaotic buzzer-beaters and watching No. 1 teams get run out of their own gym, pull up a chair. Saturday in college basketball was the kind of day that makes coaches lose hair, and fans lose their voices.
Let’s start in Raleigh, where the "hype train" has officially derailed and caught fire.
The "Red Reckoning"? More Like a Red Flag.
Remember when NC State hired Will Wade and released a hype video promising a "Red Reckoning"? It sounded terrifying. It sounded ominous. Right now, it sounds like a bad marketing pitch for a clearance sale.
The Wolfpack lost in overtime to No. 19 Kansas, 77-76. That drops them to 0-4 against high-major opponents. The "Reckoning" has apparently been rescheduled for a later date due to a lack of defense.
How bad was it? Kansas guard Melvin Council Jr.—a man who shoots 27% from three—turned into Steph Curry. He dropped a career-high 36 points and hit nine three-pointers. Nine! Before this game, he had made five all season. That’s not poor defense; that’s hospitality.
Wade’s strategy was to let him shoot. Well, Will, he shot. And he kept shooting. And now you’re 7-4. The analytics said let him shoot; the scoreboard said, "Maybe guard him?"
The Cornhuskers Are Immortal
Meanwhile, in Illinois, Nebraska decided that losing is for other people.
The Huskers are 11-0. They have won 15 straight games. I’m pretty sure that’s illegal in the state of Nebraska, where heartbreak is usually a major export.
They went into Illinois, blew a 14-point lead, and let the Illini tie it up with 17 seconds left. Disaster? No. Jamarques Lawrence caught a pass with barely enough time to blink and buried a three-pointer with 0.2 seconds left.
83-80, Nebraska.
Pryce Sandfort dropped 32 points, and the Huskers silenced 15,000 fans at the State Farm Center. Fred Hoiberg has this team in the Top 20, and they are the only power conference team to never win an NCAA Tournament game. If they keep playing like this, they might win the whole thing just to confuse historians.
The Alien in Madison Square Garden
Speaking of buzzer-beaters, let’s check in on BYU vs. Clemson.
At halftime, BYU was down 43-22. They gave up a 21-0 run. They looked like they were ready to catch an early flight home.
Then AJ Dybantsa woke up. The freshman phenom—who is definitely an alien sent here to humiliate human defenders—scored 22 of his 28 points in the second half. He outscored the entire Clemson team (21) in the second half by himself.
Clemson tied it up with 5.5 seconds left, but Robert Wright III hit an off-balance three at the horn to win it 67-64. Two buzzer-beaters in one day? My heart rate cannot handle this.
Massacre at Mackey
Finally, we go to West Lafayette, where a crime was committed.
No. 10 Iowa State walked into Mackey Arena and absolutely dismantled No. 1 Purdue, 81-58.
They beat the No. 1 team in the country by 23 points. On the road. Purdue hadn't lost a non-conference home game since 2019!
The Cyclones are shooting the ball like the rim is the size of a swimming pool. Milan Momcilovic (20 points) was unguardable. Purdue scored a season-low 58 points. Iowa State is angry they didn't get paid in Vegas, and they are taking it out on the rest of the country.
The Sanchez Verdict: Will Wade needs a defense, Nebraska needs a map to the Final Four, AJ Dybantsa needs a DNA test to prove he's human, and Purdue needs a hug.
Sanchez out.
