South regional notes: Greene’s bad back keeps him out

Brannen Greene didn’t play against Maryland on Thursday night in the South Regional semifinals. The junior guard watched the game from the bench in sweats. He was unable to play due to back spasms that have been bothering him since the NCAA Tournament began.

He managed to suit up and play in the Jayhawks’ first two games against Austin Peay and Connecticut, but went scoreless in both. The injury worsened on Thursday. Greene was averaging 5.4 points and 2.1 rebounds on the season.

Svi Mykhailiuk came off the bench to score four points and grab two rebounds, while playing 11 minutes in place of Greene.

Aggresive Selden -- Wayne Selden delivered another strong game for the Jayhawks in the NCAA Tournament, finishing with 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

He scored more against Connecticut in the second round, finishing with 22 points, but this was arguably his best all-around game.

What worked best for him against Maryland? He was quick to answer.

“It was just being aggressive. That’s all it was,” Selden said. “I attacked the basket when they helped too much and I dished it off to Perry (Ellis) when they didn’t.”

Diplomacy – Jalen Brunson has done his homework.

“I know Kansas has never been lower than a 4 seed with Bill Self,” Villanova’s freshman point guard said of the KU coach. “Kansas is a winning team.”

And Saturday, No. 2-seed Villanova will get a chance to play the Jayhawks, the NCAA Tournament’s overall No. 1 seed, for a spot in the Final Four.

Brunson and his teammates buried No. 3-seed Miami 92-69 Thursday night in the South Regional’s first semifinal. KU did its part by pulling out the nightcap, beating Maryland 79-63.

Brunson talked about KU after the Wildcats’ win and before KU took the floor. He wasn’t about to make a rookie mistake and tip his hand too much about whether he’d rather play the Jayhawks or Maryland.

The two-time Illinois Gatorade player of the year, however, was recruited by KU. He never visited Lawrence, but he received a few calls from Self.

“It would definitely be exciting to play Kansas,” Brunson said.

Hot hands – Villanova shot 62.7 percent from the field in its regional semifinal win over Miami, including 10-of-15 on three-pointers for a season-high 66.7 percent.

Senior guard Ryan Arcidiacono scored 21 points after making 7 of 11 shots, including 4 of 7 three-pointers. Kris Jenkins, Nova’s powerful 6-foot-6, 240-pound forward, was even hotter while scoring 21. Jenkins made 8 of 10 shots and hit 5 of 6 three-pointers.

Miami had started the game hot, making 66.7 of its shots. The Hurricanes were burying threes early with 7-of-11 shooting from downtown.

But they couldn’t keep it up. Villanova started putting more pressure on Miami’s Angel Rodriguez after he had scored 10 points in the first half on 4-of-6 shooting.

Miami’s shooting dipped to 42.3 percent in the second half, and Rodriguez could add only three points after intermission,

“We had to force the ball away from Rodriguez,” Jenkins said, “and make others take those shots.”

One of Jenkins’ threes was from a good 35 feet. OK, the shot clock was running down, so he didn’t have much choice.

“If I shoot it,” he said, “I always think it’s going in.”

Downer for dynamic duo — The Miami backcourt of Angel Rodriguez and Sheldon McClellan lit up Wichita State for 46 points on 14-of-22 shooting last Saturday in a 65-57 win in Providence, R.I.

The All-ACC duo and pair of Big 12 transfers — Rodriguez from Kansas State and McClennan from Texas — was hardly as potent in a 92-69 blowout loss to Villanova on Thursday in the Sweet 16, combining for 39 points on 13-of-23 shooting. While those number might not seem that far off what they did against the Shockers, consider that Rodriguez only scored three points in the second half and while McClennan scored 17 points in the second half, 14 of those came in the final 10 minutes and after Villanova had the game firmly in hand.

“Just not how we wanted to go out,” McLennan said. “We played them tight for the first half but we just couldn’t put together any runs of our own nin the first half.”

Worth noting – Kansas is 3-2 in games against Villanova, last playing the Philadelphia school in a 2013 Bahamas tournament. Villanova won 63-59.… Villanova is in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2009, when the Wildcats went on to lose to North Carolina in the Final Four semifinal. KU returns to the Elite Eight for the first time since going on to lose the national title game in 2012 to Kentucky.… Ryan Arcidiacono, Villanova’s senior guard, played in his 141st career game. That’s most in school history, surpassing Dante Cunningham and Scottie Reynolds.

This story was originally published March 25, 2016 at 7:44 AM with the headline "South regional notes: Greene’s bad back keeps him out."