Mark WiedmerThe word Zion is sometimes used to represent the kingdom of heaven.
And regarding the Bible, it may. But as of 7:15 Sunday evening, that word no longer has anything to do with next weekend's Final Four in Minneapolis. Thanks to a gritty, gutty effort from East Region No. 2 seed Michigan State, Zion Williamson and his Duke teammates - who went into this year's NCAA tournament as the biggest favorites we've seen in years - will be watching college basketball's final weekend with 63 other NCAA tournament teams whose seasons have already concluded.
"It was shocking," said Spartans point guard Cassius Winston, he of the 20 points and 10 assists against the Dookies. "I got the ball (on the final inbounds play) and got away. I was, like, I'm about to dribble it out, and this is really happening. It was crazy. It was a crazy moment."
It may have been crazy, but the Blue Devils' 68-67 loss wasn't necessarily the biggest upset of this past weekend. That honor would likely go to Midwest No. 5 seed Auburn's 77-71 overtime win against second-seeded Kentucky on Sunday afternoon. Not because the fifth-seeded Tigers didn't have the talent to beat the Wildcats, because they clearly did, what with gifted guards Bryce Brown and Jared Harper combining for 50 points.
But Auburn's top player - sophomore Chuma Okeke - wasn't on the court for this one. He was in a wheelchair parked behind the Tigers' bench, his season ended by a torn ACL in his left knee during Friday's victory over North Carolina.
And that injury rightly caused Pearl to observe in the team's postgame press conference: "Your kids play hard and play unselfishly and play together, obviously they're the Cinderellas of this tournament. And that's what makes March so special: Which team is it going to be?"
So there's no question that Auburn heads to Minneapolis as this Final Four's Cinderella, despite its very un-Cinderella 12-game winning streak. For not only are the Tigers now without Okeke for the remainder of the tournament - and shame on whatever Kentucky fan, if it truly was, posting a photo on Instagram of a banner that showed Okeke riding a scooter with a knee brace with the caption: "Okeke, are you riding?" - they're also the lowest seed remaining.
Yet Auburn certainly isn't the only unexpected participant. Much as the Tigers are making their first Final Four appearance ever, so is Texas Tech, which stunned West Region No. 1 seed Gonzaga on Saturday. The Red Raiders may not be the most exciting team left, but they'll be guarding Michigan State from the time the Spartans get off their chartered jet at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. They're long, fast and physical, and they make winning ugly a thing of beauty.
Then there's Virginia, which was believed to be the weakest of this tournament's No. 1 seeds when March Madness began on March 19. The Cavaliers were almost everyone's pick to be the first No. 1 seed to go home, at least partly because they were the first No. 1 seed in history to lose to a No. 16 seed a year ago.
They further cemented the belief that they'd never reach the Final Four by falling 14 points behind South No. 16 seed Gardner-Webb in the opening round. But they outlasted Oregon in the Sweet 16, then won perhaps the best game of the tournament by going to overtime to outlast Purdue and 42 points from amazing guard Carsen Edwards in Saturday's South final.
There's more than one reason why the Cavaliers have won the past two Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season titles, and those reasons - timely shooting, almost impenetrable interior defense, plus solid passing and ball handling - were all on display when most needed against the Boilermakers.
As for Michigan State, it would have surprised few basketball experts throughout the Midwest if the Spartans had been projected to reach the Final Four when the season began. But then guard Joshua Langford and his 3-point skills were lost to injury before mid-January, a broken hand took multiple games from big man Nick Ward and Kyle Ahrens went down in the Big Ten tournament.
But Winston never stumbled, and when it came time to deliver against the ridiculously talented Dookies, he made sure fifth-year senior Kenny Goins was in the right place at the right time to swish a dagger 3-pointer just over Williamson's fingertips to spell the difference in victory and defeat for the Big Ten tourney champs.
What happens next is difficult to predict. Michigan State should outlast Texas Tech, and Virginia should overcome an Okeke-less Auburn. But Duke and Kentucky were both favored to win Sunday, and neither did.
Said Pearl of what his Tigers have already accomplished and what is still in front of them: "This one was for Chuma! The next two are for Auburn."
To that point, the last team to beat basketball blue bloods Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky in the same tournament - as Auburn has - was 1997 national champ Arizona. So the Tigers can't make history in that sense. But if they win it all, they'll be the first No. 5 seed to ever hoist hardware on the last Monday of the season.
Said Auburn's Brown: "It's something you dream of. It's unreal. It's very, very emotional."
In other words, it's basketball Zion. Unless, of course, you're Zion and the Dookies.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.