As we move towards the end of March without any Madness in 2020, we arrive at the anniversary of some of the deeper runs in the past of Boston Celtics players in their college days.
And while it’s certainly no substitute for the Big Dance we all miss, in an absence of any basketball, revisiting those games is the next best thing available.
On the 24th of March, we have a trio of games played by current Celtics well into the deeper rounds of NCAA Tournaments past.
Rookies Grant Williams and Tacko Fall both had big games, and All-Star point guard Kemba Walker clashed with an NBA superstar on this date, with the three coming away from the day with two wins and a loss.
We’ll start with Williams, whose 19 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists help secure Tennessee’s 83-77 win over Iowa.
The Charlotte native’s big night pushed his Vols past the Hawkeyes for a fateful meeting in the Sweet Sixteen with now-teammate Carsen Edwards Purdue.
For fan favorite center Tacko Fall, today didn’t end so well a year ago. But his Knights nearly took out Duke and rookie phenomenon Zion Williamson in a game that came down to the wire.
The Blue Devils eked out the 77-76 win despite the UCF product’s 15-point, 6-rebound, 3-block performance, and while it didn’t get him the win, it did ge Fall on the radar of most NBA teams.
Finally, in 2011 during UConn product Walker’s historic run to the national title, his Huskies defeated Kawhi Leonard’s San Diego State Aztecs in an epic 74-67 win.
Leonard would log 12 points and 9 rebounds in defeat, while the Bronx native put up a game-high 36 points to earn UConn a berth in the Elite Eight against a dangerous Arizona squad.
