So much for three Big East teams making the Final Four.

No. 2 Michigan State came out and just gave it to No. 1 Louisville 64-52 behind 19 points and 10 rebounds from Goran Suton in the Midwest Regional final in Indianapolis. Durrell Summers added 12 points for the Spartans.

“I take my hat off to my players,” Spartans coach Tom Izzo told CBS. “They prepared so well the last day and a half. And we played well and that is a great Louisville team. I didn’t know if we could beat them. But I thought we had a chance if we checked them and we checked pretty good and Goran Suton made some shots.”

Michigan State, buoyed by the presence of Magic Johnson, will face UConn in one national semifinal while Villanova will meet either North Carolina or Oklahoma. (more…)

The Allman Brothers Band wrapped up their momentous 40th anniversary 15-show run Saturday night at the Beacon Theater.

I wasn’t there because I was in Boston watching Scottie Reynolds and Villanova win an instant classic thriller over Big East rival Pitt, 78-76, that propelled the Wildcats to their first Final Four since 1985.

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BOSTON – With the East Regional final all tied up at 76 and the final seconds ticking down, Scottie Reynolds jetted the length of the court, elevated in the paint and put up a short jumper that rolled around and in as the final horn went off.

Villanova 78, Pittsburgh 76.

The Villanova players and fans went wild because their team appeared headed to the Final Four.

Read the full story here.

Corey Chandler will return to Rutgers for his junior season after a meeting this week with head coach Fred Hill.

“He is staying,” a source close to Chandler said. “He had a heart-to-heart it seems and patched things up [with Hill]. His ticket for the overseas trip [to Spain and the Canary Islands in May] is purchased and everything. He wanted to stay in the end.”

The 6-foot-2 Chandler had initially expressed frustration with his role and said he might transfer and many close to the program thought it was a done deal. Now it appears he’ll stay.

“I am proud to be at Rutgers,” Chandler said in a statement earlier this month. “Earlier this week, I vented my frustrations after a tough loss, in a private phone call. I apologize to Coach Hill, the coaching staff and my teammates for the distraction it created. I look forward to remaining a Scarlet Knight and doing whatever I can to help the team win.”

The high school careers of Lance Stephenson and James Padgett came to an end Saturday…and Maryland coach Gary Williams was there to watch it.

“I was surprised to see him,” Stephenson told the New York Post.

James Stukes, an uncommitted 6-5 small forward, had 22 points and Miami-bound guard Durand Scott added 16 as Rice crushed two-time defending State Federation champion Lincoln 77-50 in a Class AA boys semifinal in Glens Falls, N.Y. Rice will meet Newburgh Free Academy on Sunday for the state championship.

Stukes, who decommitted twice from Robert Morris, will prep next year at South Kent (Conn.) and said he could still wind up at Robert Morris.

Stephenson, New York State’s all-time scoring leader, had 14 points, six rebounds and two assists for Lincoln and the 6-8 Maryland-bound Padgett posted 12 points and 10 boards.

“You gotta lose some games,” Stephenson told the Post. “I thought it would be closer. We gave up. I was surprised, but it happens.”

As first reported here, the 6-5 Stephenson is expected to announce next week that he will play at Kansas, which lost to Michigan State Friday night in the Sweet 16. Maryland and St. John’s also made Stephenson’s final list. (more…)

BOSTON — Mike Tranghese spent Thursday night watching college basketball on television.

Two games on two televisions, in fact.

“I have a DirecTV package,” Tranghese, the Big East Commissioner, said in a phone interview. “That’s the only way you can see all the games. I watch them simultaneously.”

From his home in Rhode Island, Tranghese saw three Big East teams advance to the Elite Eight: UConn, Pittsburgh and Villanova (also advancing on Friday night, Louisville). Syracuse came up short on Friday night, falling to Oklahoma, 84-71. UConn, Pitt and Louisville are all No. 1 seeds.

Read the full story here.

If UConn wins its third national championship under Jim Calhoun, will the coach consider retiring?

“I don’t know,” Calhoun told ESPN.com. “I’m going to have to think about it.”

As Gene Wojciechowski points out in his column,  Calhoun has been through the ringer this year: cancer treatments,  a season-ending injury to guard Jerome Dyson, the infamous salary postgame drama with a blogger, missing UConn’s opening-round tournament game against Chattanooga because of dehydration. (more…)

Billy Donovan denied reports that he will take the newly vacated Kentucky job and said he plans to remain at Florida.

“In response to the rumors circulating about my interest in other jobs, I wanted to address this as quickly as possible. I am committed to the University of Florida and look forward to continuing to build our program here,” Donovan said in a statement. (more…)

Nick Mariniello is back on the New Jersey coaching scene.

After a year off, Mariniello, 42, took the job at Hudson Catholic in Jersey City on Thursday.

“The school has a very rich tradition in athletics and academics,” Mariniello, who will continue to teach at West Caldwell Tech, said Friday by phone. “I think a lot of things are in place to be successful.”

As a Catholic regional school, Hudson Catholic can draw on players from throughout North Jersey and the state. Mariniello brings a proven track record of success and of sending kids to college, so you have to think it would be an attractive spot for some top players.

Mariniello posted a career record of 186-50 during nine years at Bloomfield Tech. He led the Spartans to four Group 1 state titles, two Tournament of Champions finals and one Essex County championship. He was named the New Jersey Coach of the Year in 2002-3 by the Star-Ledger. Mariniello was also the MSG Tri-State Coach of the Year in 2006-7. The Spartans were nationally ranked by USA Today in 2003-4 and in 2005-6 they finished 17th in the nation. (more…)

This Nate Miles story just keeps getting better and better.

Two days after Yahoo! Sports broke the huge story related to UConn’s alleged recruiting violations associated with Miles comes the news that Josh Nochimson paid for Miles to have surgery in Tampa.

The Tampa Tribune reports that M. Christopher MacLaren of the Tampa Bay Bone and Joint Center said he performed surgery on Miles at the Tampa Bay Surgery Center. (more…)