Chris Knoche recaps & analyzes the sweet 16 round of March Madness

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I'm Brian, I work at United Health Care.

So Brian, why do you care?

I care because I don't want to leave anybody behind.

I oversee one of the biggest resource center

in United Health Care.

I see people walked in in my office every day,

just like my parents.

They have no idea about the health care.

I feel like they have my uncles, aunties.

I treat it as people's life family.

I'm Brian and I'm committed to care.

Brayden Smith with the ball, five ticks, down to six.

Down to five, Smith shaking, bacon, Smith puts it up.

No!

The fight is gone!

With 0.7 left, Drake Kaufman ran,

has given Purdue the lead.

A chance of the last shot.

It's it!

No God!

Purdue advances!

The Boilermaker survive!

Drake Kaufman ran, wins it!

Probably got away with a little bit of a push off there.

But I thought the call on the other end,

before it on the three point play,

where Texas tied, it was kind of ticky-tack as well.

All of our college hoop stock on the Team 980 presented

by Bud Light, easy to drink, easy to enjoy.

Joining me right now is the voice along with Johnny Holliday

of Maryland Basketball on your Maryland Basketball Broadcast Network,

the games of which you hear right here on the Team 980.

Three Big Ten teams already into the Elite Eight,

an Iowa Illinois matchup head-to-head after Iowa knocked off Nebraska.

And we still have two to go.

There is right now, you know this, right?

A chance for an all Big Ten final four.

Did you see that coming?

Watching this league this year up close?

Well, I can't say I did.

I will tell you this, you know Michigan,

and we have discussed this, Kevin a few times.

Michigan's the best team, you know, in the Big Ten that I've seen since we've been in the Big Ten for 12 years now.

So I fully expected them to be in.

Illinois, to me, is really interesting because I've always,

I hate to use this term,

but I just, it's helped soft to me,

and you can't be soft and beat Houston.

So I clearly, I was wrong.

That's a great, great win.

And I think one of the things that Houston struggle with,

it's hard to believe how big Illinois is until you actually get on the court without me.

It's a, it's pretty daunting when you see that size up close and personal.

And I thought Houston,

Houston didn't certainly didn't give him their A game last night,

but credit to Illinois, that's a fabulous win right there, man.

You know, what was interesting about that game is that

Keaton Wogler, their freshman, who had 46, you know, at Mackey,

in a win over Purdue during the regular season,

and he's been one of the many talked about freshmen stars this year.

He did not have a great game statistically,

but I thought he controlled the game last night

as a six foot, six inch point guard

and was a big reason why they won that game.

What did you think?

Yeah, he's unflappable.

I really underlappable.

I think one of the reasons why people like him.

I mean, the 46 he dropped it,

and Mackey was sort of an anomaly.

You know, he's had a good year.

I think he averaged 17 or 18.

And he's been consistent.

I just think his demeanor, his size, Keaton.

When he and StoryOck of itch played together in the back court.

Yeah.

I mean, those are two Ranger 6667 guys

that, you know, a lot of college teams don't have.

And Wogler just plays way beyond his years.

I agree with him.

Didn't have to score.

I thought the same to a little, to a same degree,

with Braden Smith for Purdue.

You did not shoot the ball particularly well.

But, man, you know, you knew he was going to take that last shot.

It didn't go in.

But again, it's that gravity he creates

by making the move to the basket, you know?

And, you know, those are just two really special guys.

It was a good night for point guards I thought last night.

In terms of, you know, the Sturts has always been a stud for Iowa.

I would just will not go lay at this point in time.

It's crazy.

We'll get to that.

And the Hoyberg mistake if it is a coaching mistake here in a moment.

But, on Braden Smith, you know this.

And for those that are listening that don't know it.

The back, Purdue is one of those places for whatever reason.

They recruit kids.

And they just stay.

You know, there's not a lot of changing.

Fletcher lawyer and Braden Smith have been backward made since they were freshmen.

Settle an argument between me and a friend of mine.

I actually think Braden Smith is going to be an NBA player.

Do you?

Yes.

Yeah, I do.

And I see where he's projected.

I think mid-second round, something like that.

He just has, he has every intangible that you could possibly want.

The other thing is he's a very willing defender.

And, you know, in terms of measurables, I know this sounds kind of awkward.

He's got really long arms.

And he plays bigger than that size, whatever.

I don't even know what he's listed at.

I'm going to tell you in a second because you're describing my comp for him.

Because what I've said is I've said he reminds me a lot of Steve Blake.

Because Blake was a longer armed and a much underrated defender is a college player.

And by the way, he had that incredible competitiveness.

Now, he was taller.

Blake, because I looked at a Blake was six three.

Braden Smith is listed at six feet.

But I see Steve Blake in a long career, not a great career,

but a long career in the NBA for Braden Smith.

Well, I mean, that's a great comp.

And Blake played what, 13 years?

I think that's the final number of work.

Something like that. Right.

Yeah, I think that's fair.

I just think he's got every intangible you'd want.

Natural leader.

He's competitive as hell.

He does have that Blake gene in him.

You know, where he'll fight you for a spot.

You know, he's one of those guys that's going to get tested the first day he goes to camp.

But all he ever does is achieve survive and, you know, and move on.

And he's team's win.

That's bottom line.

He's just, he is conducive to winning.

And you got to value that.

All right.

The Iowa, I mean, the first two games, both of them.

And I don't know how you were consuming them.

I had a second screen.

So I was watching both of them simultaneously.

Do you have YouTube TV or cable?

That cable, but I was doing the same thing you were doing.

Yeah, basically, I was watching both camps.

But it was such an odd night last night.

I thought, okay, so the first game starts at like seven, ten, right?

Right. Kevin, they played nine, three minutes.

I know.

What happened?

What happened?

She had before.

So the first TV timeout came with 1038 left in the first half.

And you saw what they did.

They doubled up on the TV timeouts.

They have to.

Yeah, they have to.

But the amazing thing is that game starts a half hour earlier.

Right.

And Nebraska, Iowa, you get that race horse start.

And then that game ended up finishing later than Iowa.

They had all those reviews on in that situation to start the second half.

It took forever.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It was crazy.

But just stellar games.

Texas was really impressive to me.

They just kept making shots.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's a good club.

Fun to watch that team.

Yeah.

The reason I brought it up is on YouTube TV, you can go with, you know, the two games split screen.

But it's just.

For anybody that's got YouTube TV out there, the split screen or if you go quad box or whatever it is,

it's just too small.

Like for me, maybe it's just too small for me at this point.

But I went with, you know, with a, with the second screen on the laptop simultaneously.

Anyway, let's get to Iowa and Nebraska.

First of all, another really good basketball game.

We haven't talked about him.

Marilyn beat Iowa at home a month and a half ago.

I don't know how that happened, but how good is Ben McCollum?

I mean, just look at his record over the last five years.

You know, D2 championships.

He just doesn't lose.

He's so, he looks like he's wound a little tight.

I do not know.

He is.

You know, but I loved him taking on the Florida coach in that, in the game before that.

I mean, where those guys are barking at each other and I loved him doing that.

But I was so impressed.

We saw him early in the season in Iowa City.

Saw Iowa play and the stuff they run is perfect for the team that they have.

They're really well schooled defensively.

They don't make mistakes.

They're not going to beat themselves.

They don't turn it over.

I mean, you just really, really well coached and they understand the system that they play.

But man, the record is just amazing when they flash that up.

And I'd seen it several times having prepared for Iowa this year.

It's unheard of to have that record over five years at three different schools.

That's incredible.

Yeah, for those that don't know it, the Iowa head coach, Ben McCollum,

was at Northwest Missouri State D2 for many, many years.

Then got his first D1 job last year at Drake.

They went 31 and 4 at Drake.

One, their Missouri Valley Conference and the tournament and pulled an upset in the first round over Missouri

before losing in the second round.

Then he got the Iowa job this year.

But here's his record as a head coach, 450 and 107.

He's one 80.8% of the games that he's coached.

He has four division two national championships.

And he was on the side in which they took advantage of, I mean, that was an all-time blunder.

And I'll let you describe it because you've been a coach.

But for those that didn't see it and I talked about it a little bit at the beginning of the show,

down three with 58.8 seconds to go.

Nebraska called timeout.

They're on defense down three.

They're full court pressing.

And then a player, Fulgaris, breaks free and is all by himself on the other end of the floor.

Catches it, dunks gets fouled.

They're up six, pretty much game over.

And the reason it happened is that Nebraska had only four players on the floor.

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Testing season is right around the corner.

And this is when confidence really matters.

When kids take time to review key concepts and strengthen their skills before assessments,

it can make all the difference.

IXL helps reinforce what they're learning right now,

so they walk into every test feeling prepared, capable and confident.

IXL is an award-winning online learning platform that helps kids truly understand what they're learning,

whether they're building math confidence, strengthening reading and writing skills,

or reviewing science concepts.

Designed for students from pre-K through 12th grade,

IXL delivers personalized interactive practice that adapts to your child's level and pace.

It's an easy, effective way to support learning as the school year heads into its final stretch.

Studies show kids who use IXL score higher on tests, proven in all 50 states.

IXL is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the US.

Make an impact on your child's learning.

Get IXL now.

And listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at IXLLearning.com slash audio.

Visit IXLLearning.com slash audio to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.

I'm Brian. I work at Unite Healthcare.

So Brian, why do you care?

I care because I don't want to leave anybody behind.

I oversee one of the biggest resource center in Unite Healthcare.

I see people walked in in my office every day, just like my parents.

They have no idea about the healthcare.

I feel like they're my uncles, aunties.

I treat it as people like family.

I'm Brian and I'm committed to care.

You're asking me, you're asking me to describe something I've never seen happen.

It's hard to explain. It's harder to fathom.

You have, you know, you need to get a proven great head coach and a cadre.

Like what do you have?

10 guys on that bench in suits.

Is that how many boyburg has?

Everybody does anymore.

There are two rows of coaches anymore on these benches.

To think that these guys are leaving the huddle that doesn't dawn on somebody

that there are four white jerseys out there.

It's lost on me.

I don't know how that could happen.

I've not heard Hoyberg's comments.

I know him enough to know that he'll fall on the sword.

There's no question.

He's an accountable guy.

He's just made that way.

That's a staff failing.

That's one you can't have.

I've never seen it before.

And then you throw in the moment itself where you are in that game.

You get one stop in that game.

You're right where you want to be if you're Nebraska.

But you're not going to get to stop playing four on five.

That's about, honestly, that's about 42nd short of Weber calling a timeout

that Michigan didn't have in a national championship game.

A lot of coaches said this.

I will tell you, even at the youth level, it happens where a referee will say,

hey, coach, you've got four out here.

You need another one out here.

Or coach, you got six out here.

You got to take somebody off the floor.

A lot of times, referees will help out.

And some of the coaches that were commenting on it after the game last night said the same.

But clearly they didn't do it in that spot.

And then what made it worse, Nakie, is that the one player they left open

with the four they had on the floor was the guy at the other end of the floor.

So yeah.

Yeah.

And that guy too, you know, every tournament is about role players kind of taking a star turn.

And full garrison is kind of having his moment here in these last couple of games.

He's talented, talented kid.

And you know, it was very enigmatic.

I thought this year for Iowa, but his contributions now sort of take them to a new level.

And I get it.

I get where officials oftentimes will say that I just, you can't count on the officials to say that's not, you know, that's on you as a staff.

He took the blame.

He said that's on me.

He said, you know, sometimes referees will say that, but this one's on the coaches.

You give, do you give Purdue a chance against a team now?

I think along with Michigan maybe, but I think after Arizona's performance last night,

there are a lot of people that believe Arizona is going to go on and win this tournament.

Do you give Purdue a shot tomorrow night?

Certainly give them a shot.

It's a one game deal.

You don't have to beat them two out of three.

So I give them a shot.

And then Purdue's guys are just so experienced.

Arizona does not have Purdue's experience.

I think the guy who has to play to a certain level is Craig Hoffman-Win.

I just think that Arizona is so big and strong.

Hoffman-Win is sort of the forgotten guy in that Purdue lineup.

You know, they've got the big guy come in, the big Australian come in and do play well for him this year.

The guards, of course, have been great, but Hoffman-Win is a handful.

He reminds me sort of a poor man's Carlos Boosery.

He's got the big, huge body.

You know, it gets Craig's great leverage in the paint.

But you can have to do it against a monstrous front line that Arizona's got.

I like Arizona in the game, but Purdue can win that game.

For sure.

It's just a one game deal.

That's all.

We've got two games here tonight.

I mean, and they are high profile games with high profile coaches for sure.

So, give me thoughts real quickly on St. John's Duke and then Michigan State UConn a Capitol one tonight.

I think you know, St. John's got to turn it into a street fight.

You know, you want to keep the game down, I think, scoring wise.

You've got to keep Duke out of the paint and away from easy buckets.

If you double Boosery, you throw it a lob to the backside for an easy dunk.

You almost have to play him honestly and cut the other guys out of the equation.

Again, St. John's only has to be once.

So, I mean, I think I like Duke in the game, but nothing would surprise you in around the 16th.

The other game is great.

This is, I mean, Michigan State UConn.

I mean, you talk about two coaches getting after it.

I'm a big is-oh guy.

I would love to see them win this game.

And I think they will.

I think they will beat Duke on.

I was impressed.

I was in Philly for those games.

Very impressed by Duke on the front line.

And of course, Hurley, he's his own personal clown show, but he can really coach.

They push the ball up the court.

They get the ball moving.

Great passing team.

I just think that this game will be worth the price of admission.

I can't speak to the others, but I think it'll be a high scoring, high leverage,

and down to the last two, three minutes Michigan State UConn.

By the way, I was just thinking about this 20 years ago in the same arena.

George Mason ended up beating, by the way,

Mark Turgeon's Wichita State Team in the 16 before winning in the elite eight

to go to the final four.

Really quickly before I let you run.

I think when we talked last, the goals were you got to figure out how to keep for L-Pain,

the player who was injured for Maryland this year, their center.

And now you got to figure out a way to keep Andre Mills.

And it looks like based on some of the reporting that's out there,

they're going to be able to keep both of them.

Is that what you're hearing and how huge would that be for next year?

Yeah, it is what I'm hearing, and it's monstrous.

I credit a couple of different factors here.

First of all, I credit for L, because he had he decided to go to the portal.

I'm sure he could probably make more money than Maryland is going to pay him.

That said, I know Maryland will pay him, handsomely.

I'm going to credit the AD, Jim Smith, to a new AD.

He came in saying, we will not be outspent.

And you never know what that looks like, Kevin.

But clearly he's going to the wall for buzz and for this team.

Because they're paying the freshman who's coming in, Baba, and they've got...

And they had to pony up for Pharrell.

Certainly they're going to have to pay Mills more than they paid him last year.

But they've got some guys exiting too.

But I just got to credit the athletic director and buzz for...

Buzz created that sort of atmosphere where Pharrell would want to be a part of it again.

Yeah, it's great news.

It's fantastic news.

Now you've got to fill in some pieces around him, veteran point guard.

I still need a couple of bigs, I think.

I figured out, and then hopefully it would be a better off season than the last one.

It's a really good point.

You know, a player like Pharrell Payne for those of you who don't know, he had...

First of all, I think he's got to get the medical red shirt, which I think they're going to get.

But if he had entered the portal, he would have been one of the top two or three big men in the portal.

And would have been able to command just top dollar.

But he got a really good number from Maryland last year to come.

He played in 10 games.

And so to feel like you still kind of owe the school and buzz in those to play a full season,

that is a credit to the kid.

I'm happy about that.

All right, I got to run.

Thanks for doing this as always.

All right, buddy.

Good talking to you.

Chris Nocki, everybody.

Again, all of our college hoops here on the team 980 presented by Bud Light,

easy to drink, easy to enjoy.

And get to Ben's standing next.

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I'm Brian.

I work at Unite Healthcare.

So Brian, why do you care?

I care because I don't want to leave anybody behinds.

I oversee one of the biggest resource center in Unite Healthcare.

I see people walking in my office every day, just like my parents.

They have no idea about the healthcare.

I feel like they are my uncles, aunties.

I treat it as people of my family.

I'm Brian, and I'm committed to care.

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