Former Buckeye Roddy Gayle Jr. plays role of hero as Michigan moves on to Sweet 16

For Roddy Gayle Jr., the negative discourse surrounding his junior season began on April 21, 2024, the day he decided to transfer to Michigan and play for new head coach Dusty May. There was nothing inherently wrong with Gayle’s decision — Michigan is a great place to be a student-athlete and May had taken his old team, Florida Atlantic, to the Final Four — but any change in allegiance from Ohio State to the Wolverines will be met with scrutiny. And Gayle had spent the first two years of his career with the Buckeyes, whose fans weren’t thrilled with his new locale.

Gayle quickly won over Michigan’s fan base with a series of impressive scoring efforts in the first few weeks of the season. He netted 13 points in his debut against Cleveland State and 11 points in his second game against Wake Forest. A few days later, in mid-November, he scored 10, 16 and 20 in consecutive outings while proving himself as a reliable perimeter shooter.

But the adoration began to fade toward the latter stages of the regular season, with Gayle receiving a hailstorm of criticism from fans when his shooting percentages dipped and his turnovers mounted. May even dropped him from the starting lineup in favor of Rubin Jones, another newcomer from North Texas. From Jan. 27 through the end of the regular season, Gayle only reached double-figure scoring twice in the span of 12 games. To outsiders, his confidence seemed shot.

Which is why Michigan’s 91-79 victory over fourth-seeded Texas A&M must have been so satisfying for Gayle, who poured in a season-high and team-high 26 points when May needed him most. Gayle shot 7-of-14 from the field overall, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range, and made all eight of his free throws in what was unquestionably his finest performance since a 32-point outburst with Ohio State on Dec. 30, 2023, in an overtime win against West Virginia. By scoring 21 of his points in the second half of Saturday night’s game, Gayle helped Michigan erase a 10-point deficit over the final 13 minutes.

The production from Gayle and starting center Vlad Goldin, who chipped in 23 points and snagged 12 rebounds, was enough for the Wolverines to overcome modest scoring efforts from some of their other stars. Power forward Danny Wolf and point guard Tre Donaldson only combined for 22 points, but the latter converted a beautiful, swooping layup in traffic with :59 remaining that all but put the game out of reach.

And now, after two years of futility under former coach Juwan Howard, the Wolverines are bound for the Sweet 16 in May’s first season.

St. John’s goes ice cold in second-round loss to Arkansas

Ever since the midway point of the season, by which time it had become clear that St. John’s was deserving of consideration among the best teams in the country, analysts have wondered what would happen if the Red Storm’s proverbial Achilles’ heel truly reared its ugly head. In other words, could head coach Rick Pitino’s group — which entered the Round of 32 ranked 329th in 3-point field goal percentage at 30.8% — persevere in a game when their statistically chilly perimeter shooting turned extra icy? Could the Red Storm still find a way to win?

What had been nothing more than a thought experiment for the better part of the season was finally examined in earnest against 10th-seeded Arkansas on Saturday afternoon, a trip to the Sweet 16 at stake. St. John’s, which had erupted for 14 made 3-pointers in a comprehensive 83-53 win over Omaha in the opening round, suddenly began to miss. And miss, and miss, and miss. Just one of the Red Storm’s 13 attempts from 3-point range found the target during a grating first half against the Razorbacks, who themselves were similarly inefficient from beyond the arc. That the only player who connected on a 3-pointer for St. John’s was reserve guard Lefteris Liotopoulos underscored how dire the situation was becoming. Starters Kadary Richmond, Aaron Scott and RJ Luis Jr. tried and failed on all six of their shots.

The result was a three-point halftime lead for Arkansas, whose coach, John Calipari, assembled a roster with enough length and athleticism to neutralize — or at least offset — the advantages St. John’s most often enjoyed in the Big East. Calipari’s team matched the Red Storm with 18 points in the paint during the opening stanza and nearly equaled them on the glass (29-25 in favor of St. John’s). The groundwork had been laid for a potential upset of seismic proportions; after all, the Razorbacks nearly missed the NCAA Tournament entirely following a swerving 19-12 regular season in which they lost more SEC games than they won.

And somehow, someway, amid some confluence of unknown reasons, the performance from St. John’s only worsened from there. The Red Storm missed 11 consecutive field goal attempts from the 3:40 mark of the first half to the 18:00 mark of the second, by which point their deficit on the scoreboard had increased to 11 points. Richmond fouled out with 6:28 remaining in just 16 minutes of playing time, his final stat line featuring the same number of points (five) as fouls (five) in a shocking display. Luis, who was named Big East Player of the Year, spent the final 4:56 on the bench for reasons that weren’t immediately clear, though he did endure a horrific 3-for-17 shooting effort.

But it wasn’t as if the Red Storm were without chances, especially in the last few minutes. As Arkansas’ players tightened under pressure — eschewing half-court offense for meandering, clock-draining possessions long before such a strategy would be generally advisable — the Razorbacks settled for worse and worse shots, missing six of their final 10 from the field. Had Pitino’s team been able to connect on any of its myriad attempts from 3-point range down the stretch, the outcome of Saturday’s game would likely have been different. But St. John’s missed seven 3s in the over the final 6:14, including six bricks in the last two minutes alone.

It was too much futility for the Red Storm to overcome: Arkansas 75, St. John’s 66.

A dream season for Pitino and his team had expired.

Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.

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