Shooting problems in 76,000-seat venue could be the backdrop to this Final Four

Reporting from Glendale, Ariz. —  Like he always does, Gonzaga guard Josh Perkins completed his practice routine of taking a three-point shot for his first shot inside a new arena. It led to an unfamiliar result.

“I airballed that one,” Perkins said Friday, “so then I started getting real close.”

That might be a good strategy in the Final Four. The games will be played on an elevated court inside University of Phoenix Stadium, a football venue that seats 76,000 for basketball games and can lead to bad showings for even the best shooters.

“You walk out there on the court and that is a lot of space behind the goals,” said North Carolina forward Justin Jackson. “At first, it is hard to get used to. We were joking and saying one of the freshmen would have at least five airballs this next practice. I think one of them had three.”

North Carolina may have an edge over its counterparts because it played in last year’s Final Four at Houston’s NRG Stadium, home of the NFL’s Houston Texans. Tar Heels guard Marcus Paige didn’t seem bothered by the sight lines when he buried a three-pointer in the final seconds of the national championship game, before Villanova’s Kris Jenkins responded with one of his own at the buzzer in front of 74,340 spectators.

Gonzaga beat UCLA inside NRG Stadium during a regional semifinal in 2015 before losing to Duke. Players said having a history of playing inside cavernous arenas helps.

“Once you get used to it,” Jackson said, “you get locked in on the basket more than the whole arena. But it also takes some experience.”

Backing the Pac

The Pac-12 ended one lengthy drought when Oregon became the first conference representative in the Final Four since UCLA in 2008. Next on the Ducks’ agenda is becoming the first Pac-12 team to win a national championship since Arizona in 1997.

“We’re not settling for being here because we’re hungry for more,” Oregon guard Dylan Ennis said. “We want to win this national title. We put our shoes on in the summertime and looked around, we didn’t say, ‘You know, we want to be second, third or fourth best in the country.’ We wanted to be the national champions.”

Meet the parents

South Carolina Coach Frank Martin lauded the NCAA for helping to fund parent travel to the Final Four, which is particularly meaningful to the Gamecocks considering they have players who hail from six countries. Forward Maik Kotsar said his parents would arrive from Estonia in time for South Carolina’s game against Gonzaga on Saturday.

“Most of their families couldn’t afford on their own four days before the trip to buy plane tickets and stay at $350-a-night hotels to come watch their kid play on this platform,” Martin said. “NCAA gets beat up a lot, but I think that’s something they should be applauded [for], the way they’ve worked to make this happen.”

Etc.

Oregon forward Tyler Dorsey on earning the nickname “Mr. March” after having scored at least 20 points in seven consecutive games: “I don’t care for the name. I play throughout the season.” … Gonzaga was the only team in the Final Four to win its conference tournament, and that came in the mid-major West Coast Conference. … With his father watching in the stands for the first time since he was in high school, UCLA’s Bryce Alford scored eight points for the West in the Reese’s College All-Star game during a 121-90 loss to the East at University of Phoenix Stadium. Steve Alford coached Bryce for the final time last week during the Bruins’ loss to Kentucky in a regional semifinal.

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