Author: Michael Cohen

The first No. 1 seed succumbed around 9:35 p.m. ET on Sunday, by which time a last-ditch possession from Florida ended in a turnover by point guard Xaivian Lee as the final horn sounded, his wrap-around pass sailing fatefully awry. Moments earlier — before back-to-back timeouts that only amplified the searing tension at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida — Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras buried a 3-pointer from the right corner with 4.5 seconds remaining. He kissed his hand and pointed to the sky in celebration of what proved to be the winning basket, a swish that sent the Hawkeyes to…

One day was madness, the other was mundane.Split across Thursday and Friday, the opening round of this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament became an exercise in polarity. The former dripped with excitement in the form of Ohio State-TCU, Wisconsin-High Point, VCU-North Carolina and an instant classic between Siena and Duke in which the event’s No. 1 overall seed was nearly felled. The latter brought an onslaught of predictability as every single betting favorite advanced to the Round of 32 in the chalkiest of slates. Now we move onto the weekend. Here are my takeaways from the opening round of the NCAA Men’s…

The smiles and sheepish grins began spreading wider and wider around the 9:13 mark of the second half, following back-to-back eye-popping buckets from Michigan center Aday Mara, the second of which extended the Wolverines’ lead to 13 points. He followed his skyscraping alley-oop dunk with a remarkable offensive rebound-turned-twisting-reverse layup that drew a foul and produced a traditional three-point play. Mara and frontcourt partner Morez Johnson Jr. beamed with glee. Senior forward Will Tschetter unleashed a screaming fist pump. All of it in recognition of what the moment represented: the Big Ten title was secure. Michigan arrived at State Farm Center…

PeoplesBank Arena (Hartford, Conn.) — Not for the first time, an unmistakable voice cut through the free-throw silence with a poignant message for St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino, leader of the No. 15 team in the nation. This time, Pitino’s backup center, Ruben Prey, had been dinged for a Flagrant 1 foul against No. 6 UConn point guard Silas Demary Jr., his reckless contest of an attempted dunk, hacksawing his opponent to the ground. And after the replay review, as Demary stepped to the foul line, the words from this particular Huskies fan pierced the air. “Hey Pitino,” the person wailed,…

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN (NEW YORK) — Profanity-laced chants directed at UConn head coach Dan Hurley began ringing around the arena during the national anthem, at times overshadowing a tremendous rendition of the song. “F— you, Dan!” one St. John’s student shouted, alcoholic beverage in hand. “F— Dan Hurley!” a few others answered. The modern Big East’s most thrilling rivalry came to life before the ball was even tipped. It didn’t used to look and feel this way inside The World’s Most Famous Arena, where a sell-out crowd on Friday night bathed the building in red. The split, according to St. John’s head coach…