What To Watch: Men’s, women’s regional finals start Monday
Houston is seeking its first Final Four since getting there three straight times from 1982-84
What to watch on Monday at the NCAA tournaments in Indiana and Texas:
MEN
No. 2 seed Houston (27-3) vs. No. 12 seed Oregon State (20-12), Midwest Region final, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis. Tipoff: 7:15 p.m. EDT on CBS.
Houston leads the nation in field-goal percentage defense (.370) this season. … Oregon State opponents are shooting just 31.3% overall and 23.1% from 3-point range in the NCAA Tournament. … Houston is seeking its first Final Four since getting there three straight times from 1982-84. … Oregon State hasn’t reached the Final Four since 1963. … Oregon State is the first No. 12 seed to reach the Elite Eight since Missouri in 2002. That Missouri squad lost a regional final to an Oklahoma team coached by Kelvin Sampson, who’s now at Houston.
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No. 3 seed Arkansas (25-6) vs. No. 1 seed Baylor (25-2), South Region final, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis. 9:57 p.m. EDT on CBS.
Baylor leads the nation in 3-point percentage (.408). … Baylor also reached regional finals in 2010 and 2012. … Arkansas is in a regional final for the first time since 1995, when it lost to UCLA in the championship game. … Arkansas’ Justin Smith is averaging 20.3 points and 11 rebounds in three NCAA Tournament games. He has the most rebounds in this tournament of anyone left in the field.
WOMEN
No. 2 seed Baylor (28-2) vs. No. 1 seed UConn (27-1), River Walk Region final, Alamodome, San Antonio. Tipoff: 7 p.m. EDT on ESPN.
UConn is seeking to extend its NCAA record by making its 13th straight Final Four appearance. … Baylor is the reigning national champion since it won the title in 2019. … The series between these two powers is tied at 4-all, but Baylor won the past two meetings (in January 2019 and January 2020 ). Their scheduled regular-season matchup this year was called off after Baylor coach Kim Mulkey tested positive for COVID-19. … UConn’s Paige Bueckers and Baylor’s NaLyssa Smith are Associated Press All-America first-team selections.
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No. 3 seed Arizona (19-5) vs. No. 4 seed Indiana (21-5), Mercado Region final, Alamodome, San Antonio, 9 p.m. on ESPN.
Arizona and Indiana are both in an NCAA regional final for the first time. Indiana reached the Elite Eight in the AIAW tournament back in 1973. … Arizona has Pac-12 Player of the Year Aari McDonald, who scored 31 points in a regional semifinal victory over Texas A&M. …Indiana got this far by beating No. 1 seed North Carolina State in its regional semifinal.
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