2021 NCAA tournament live updates: Elite Eight scores and analysis from Monday’s games

INDIANAPOLIS — Last weekend and Monday, amid an insular country disconnected from most of the world by two prudish oceans, in an event called “Madness” only one nation has hatched and cherished, a Swiss man had an aria of a stat line. A Canadian son of Nigerian immigrants had numbers like a daydream. His Dominican teammate had a near-sonnet.

A man from Bordeaux, France, as if that weren’t enviable enough, posted 12 points and eight rebounds for favored Gonzaga. A giant of a man from Jamaica had 21 points, nine rebounds, two steals and two blocks but wound up with March sadness with Illinois. A German player for Michigan, the younger brother of another German player for Michigan who graced the 2018 Final Four, had 15 points, seven rebounds and two assists.

The idea of a frenzied basketball tournament played by college students can seem batty to the rest of the world, yet it also has come to seem dreamy to the rest of the world. Of the 1,051 players on 68 teams who began here, 157 from 49 countries and four unincorporated territories listed hometowns abroad. Ten years ago, those totals were 78 players and 31 countries.

“It’s not slowing down,” Illinois Coach Brad Underwood said Friday, five days after his team’s soaring season ended against Loyola Chicago’s mastery. “I see it just continuing to grow. It’s a big part of what we do.”

Source: WP