Before we get too deep into today’s newsletter, I want to issue a correction on yesterday’s: I wrote 2-ish paragraphs claiming that Texas’ backup center Nic Codie got out-rebounded for the game-losing bucket. Codie did sub in on Texas’ final defensive possession, but was not the player who got beaten for the board.

When I make small mistakes I fix the mistake in the web version of the post and move on. (Like when I mixed up Purdue guard Fletcher Loyer and his brother, former Davidson guard Foster Loyer, last week.) But, in this case, I blamed a season-ending failure on a player, writing that he got “bullied” and “bodied,” and then sent it to more than 10,000 inboxes. That’s a much bigger mistake than anybody on the court made on that play! I need to be more careful when accusing players of blame, especially college players.

Sorry to Codie, sorry to Texas, and sorry to you for putting incorrect info in your inboxes.

Now on to yesterday’s games! All the player info is correct this time. (I think!)

– Rodger Sherman

Repeat Robbery

🍀 (2) Notre Dame 67, ⚓️ (3) Vanderbilt 64

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a game with a higher percentage of focus on one player than Friday’s Sweet 16 game between Notre Dame and Vandy. When Notre Dame had the ball, the most important player on the court was point guard Hannah Hidalgo. When Vanderbilt had the ball, the most important player on the court was still Hannah Hidalgo. (And Vandy has the nation’s leading scorer in Mikayla Blakes!)

Hidalgo scored nearly half of Notre Dame’s 67 points, led the team in assists, led the team in rebounds despite being the shortest player on the court, and destroyed Vandy’s offense with 10 steals. With 31 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 steals, Hidalgo recorded just the second triple-double with steals in NCAA Tournament history.

The other triple-double-with-steals was accomplished by future WNBA All-Star Ticha Penicheiro for Old Dominion in 1998, but Penicheiro’s Monarchs were a 1-seed, and she got her triple-double in a 92-39 beatdown over 16-seed St. Francis. That Hidalgo did it in a close game against like competition is nuts.
Hidalgo should’ve had a quadruple double. She had seven assists, but her teammates shot 1-for-15 from three. At least three of those misses were wide-open looks off passes from Hidalgo. (Although maybe if those shots go in, Hidalgo doesn’t stay in the game long enough to get to 11 rebounds; her last two boards came in the final minute.)
A handful of players have put up similar statlines — some even accomplishing the rare quadruple-double — but again, the caliber of competition sets Hidalgo apart. Montana State’s Taylee Chirrick accomplished the last 10-steal triple-double before Hidalgo’s earlier this season, but she did it in a 48-point win over Portland State. North Carolina’s Indya Nivar also did it this season, but it was in a 35-point win over South Dakota State.
This game was really close! Vanderbilt had a chance to hit a game-tying three to send the game to overtime … but there was Hidalgo again, closing out on Blakes to force her into an ugly shot:

Galvan and Blakes each get a three point look but neither will fall, Notre Dame advances
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero.bsky.social) 2026-03-27T20:43:00.238Z

(Fine, I’ll say it: Blakes missed every three she took in this game and probably should have passed to the wide-open shooter on the other side of the court instead of trying to shoot over a hellhound.)
Hidalgo also set the single-season record for steals in this game (previously 192, set by Lamar’s Chastadie Barrs, which rhymes) and also set the record for most steals in an NCAA Tournament (it had been 23; she’s up to 26.)
I think Hidalgo’s closest player comp is Tyrann Mathieu. She scores a lot of pick-sixes, too.
This would’ve been Vandy’s first trip to the Elite Eight since 2002. (The Commodores hadn’t won a tournament game since 2013.) But Hidalgo stole that from them, too.

Around and down

😈 (3) Duke 87, 🐯 (2) LSU 85

I swear, rims act differently in the NCAA Tournament. Last week in the men’s tournament we saw Vanderbilt’s half-court heave rattle around the rim and out, when a normal half-courter would have just clanged away.

And Friday night in the women’s tournament, we saw Duke’s Ashlon Jackson hit a game-winning three that rolled around the inside of the rim twice. A toilet-bowl buzzer-beater. A legit 720. The judges are going to give this one an incredible score.

Ashlon Jackson hits a buzzer beating three and Duke knocks out LSU
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero.bsky.social) 2026-03-28T04:25:47.066Z

I was going to write that this was “the longest I have ever seen a shot spin on the rim.” Thankfully a Physics Enthusiast at the NBA uploaded a six-minute long “spinning on the rim” montage.
Yeah I watched all of it. I guess my one critique is that I think proper YouTube etiquette would’ve been to format the video as “shots rolling around the rim but they keep getting longer.”
Respect to Duke for going for it. The Blue Devils were trailing by one. They didn’t need a three. They just needed any bucket. A two would’ve been nice. They probably should’ve attacked the hole and hoped to either hit a game-winner or get fouled.
But Duke coach Kara Lawson drew up two three-pointers to win the game. The first went to Taina Mair, whose shot missed and deflected out of bounds off an LSU player.
Then Lawson drew up this play for Jackson, who was shooting 4-for-23 (17.3 percent!) on three-pointers in the NCAA Tournament.
Big redemption arc for Jackson. Just 15 seconds earlier, with Duke leading by one, she missed back-to-back free throws, allowing LSU to take the lead on the next possession.
Heartbreak for LSU, which trailed by 10 points with five minutes remaining, and took the lead with seconds to go.
It’s especially heartbreaking for Flau’jae Johnson, the star LSU guard who was so vital to the program’s revitalization and national championship run. She bit on Jackson’s pump fake, allowing her to step through for an easier look at the hoop. And that’s the final moment of Johnson’s college career.

Men’s Tournament

😈 (1) Duke 80, ‼️ (5) St. John’s 75

Duke got point guard Caleb Foster back just three weeks after he had surgery on a broken foot, and it may have saved the season. Foster isn’t Duke’s best player, but he’s their point guard, and without him the Blue Devils had to turn to freshman Cayden Boozer. In a neck-and-neck battle with St. John’s, which suddenly learned how to shoot three-pointers for the NCAA Tournament, Foster had 11 second-half points and no turnovers to keep the 1-seed’s hopes alive.

🐕 (2) UConn 67, ⚔️ (3) Michigan State 63

Gonna be honest, I sorta tuned out of this one when UConn went up 25-6 in the first few minutes. But Michigan State rallied all the way back and the teams traded leads down the stretch. Shoutout to UConn’s Tarris Reed Jr., a 58-percent free throw shooter, for going 4-for-4 from the line in the final minute.

〽️ (1) Michigan 90, 🌊 (4) Alabama 77

Update on yesterday’s post: Michigan has now re-taken the #1 spot in Ken Pomeroy’s ratings, knocking Arizona down a peg. This is surely more interesting than Yaxel Lendeborg playing such a dominant and complete style of basketball that his teammates have started calling him Dominican LeBron.

🙋 (6) Tennessee 76, 🌪️ (2) Iowa State 62

Do you remember how wrong I was about my upset picks? Well, I was a similar level of wrong about “Iowa State being as good without Joshua Jefferson.” The game was not as close as the scoreline makes it look because Iowa State forced 17 turnovers.

Women’s Tournament

🐕 (1) UConn 63, 👣 (5) North Carolina 42

The Huskies have now held back-to-back opponents to their lowest scoring totals of the season. It’s nice that the rest of the tournament has been fun because UConn looks on track to win the championship by 30 points.

🐻 (1) UCLA 80, 🐿️ (4) Minnesota 56

Oh yeah. UCLA also might win the championship by 30 points.

Did you know! On this day in 1967, college hoops banned dunks? I did a short deep dive (a shallow dive?) into the bizarre rule, the silly justifications for it, and the likely racism that actually prompted it. Plus we found video of Pat Riley getting dunked on.

We’re going to try to make “Short-Form Videos That Don’t Suck.” Bold idea, let’s see if it works out! History, research, etc. We’re putting them out on Instagram reels, TikTok, and YouTube shorts, pick your platform!

Just a heads up, instead of doing an update about half the men’s Elite Eight tomorrow, I’m just gonna recap the whole thing Monday morning. Enjoy your weekends!