By R.L. Bynum
Elliot Cadeau, Ian Jackson and Teonni Key are headed to the Sweet 16 to face familiar foes they’ve never beaten. Meanwhile, the college careers of Ven-Allen Lubin, Tyler Nickel, Jalen Washington and Puff Johnson came to heartbreaking ends in the NCAA tournament.
Here’s when you can watch those former Tar Heels this weekend:
- Cadeau’s No. 3-ranked and No. 1-seed Michigan team (33–3) faces No. 18-ranked Alabama (25–9), a No. 3 seed, at 7:35 Friday (TBS) in Chicago in the Midwest Regional
- Jackson’s No. 13-ranked and No. 5 seed St. John’s team (30–6) faces No. 1 Duke (34–2) in the East Regional in Washington at 7:10 Friday (CBS) in Washington.
- Key’s No. 17-ranked and No. 5-seed Kentucky team (25–10) takes on No. 3-ranked and No. 1-seed Texas (33–3) in the Fort Worth 3 Regional.
Cadeau is 0–2 against Alabama, Jackson is 0–3 against Duke and Key is 0–2 against Texas.
Cadeau had two excellent floor games with only three turnovers as No. 3-ranked Michigan rolled to two NCAA tournament victories in Buffalo, 101–80 over Howard and 95–72 over Saint Louis.
“I would say just patience on offense,” Cadeau said, explaining his team’s low turnover rate. “These last two games, we felt like offensively we could get anything we wanted to. We didn’t have to make any home-run plays. We could just hit singles and score every time. That was our mentality going into the game those last two games.”
Cadeau had five points and nine assists for the Wolverines against Buffalo, then collected 12 points, three 3-pointers, four rebounds and eight assists in the second-round game.
Both of Cadeau’s losses to Alabama came as a Tar Heel, including scoring eight points in only 13 minutes in the Crimson Tide’s 89–87 victory in the 2024 West Regional Sweet 16 in Los Angeles. Cadeau had one point and four assists in Carolina’s 94–79 home loss to the Tide on Dec. 4, 2024.
While it was easy for the Wolverines to advance, St. John’s (30–6) needed a buzzer-beating drive by Dylan Darling to earn a 67–65 second-round win Sunday in San Diego over No. 17-ranked and No. 4-seed Kansas.
Jackson scored 10 points and two 3-pointers in Sunday’s game after contributing nine points, two rebounds and two assists in Friday’s 79–54 first-round victory over Northern Iowa.
Jackson scored eight points in both regular-season UNC losses last season to Duke, 87–70 at Duke and 92–69 in Chapel Hill, then played 10 scoreless minutes in the Tar Heels’ 74–71 loss to the Blue Devils in the ACC tournament.
Key notched her ninth double-double of the season Monday and third in four games in Kentucky’s 74–73 win over No. 11-ranked and No. 4-seed West Virginia on its home court.
Key collected 19 points and 10 rebounds after contributing 10 points in Saturday’s 71–56 first-round victory over James Madison.
In two losses to Texas (67–49 at home on Feb. 13, 2025, and 64–53 at Texas this season on Feb. 9), Key combined for 20 points.
Nickel and Washington were narrowly denied the chance to continue their college careers for at least another game.
Commodores guard Tyler Tanner’s desperation buzzer-beating shot went in and out as No. 22-ranked and No. 5-seed Vanderbilt (27–9) lost to No. 15-ranked and No. 4-seed Nebraska 74–72 on Saturday in the second round of the South Regional before a partisan Cornhuskers crowd in Oklahoma City.
Nickel got hot from the perimeter and finished with 16 points and five 3-pointers, but couldn’t find the range in the closing minutes, and was a team-low -9. He added five rebounds after scoring 12 points in Thursday’s 78–68 first-round victory over McNeese State.
Washington combined for 10 points and eight rebounds in the two games, but was a team-high +6 in the Nebraska game.
Lubin tied his season-low with six points and had five rebounds before fouling out in N.C. State’s 68–66 First Four loss last Tuesday in Dayton.
Johnson watched from the bench as his Ohio State team lost 66–64 to TCU in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Greenville, S.C. His career began with 14 games at Carolina during the 2020–21 season, and included two seasons at Penn State before playing nine games for the Buckeyes.
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Elliot Cadeau, Michigan guard
6–1, 180 pounds | Junior | UNC 2023–25 (2 seasons)
Roster situation — Starter
Season statistics — 38 games, 38 starts, 10.2 points, 41.6 FG%, 37.7 3P%, 69.4 FT%, 2.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists
Team record: 35–3; Rank: No. 3
Friday: 90–77 win Midwest Regional Sweet 16 in Chicago vs. No. 18 Alabama — Started; 33:37, 17 points, 6–14 FG, 3–8 3FG, 2–5 FT, 5 rebounds, 2 fouls, 7 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal, 1 block, +15
Sunday: 95–62 win Midwest Regional final in Chicago vs. No. 23 Tennessee — Started; 34:20, 8 points, 3–7 FG, 1–2 3FG, 1–2 FT, 3 rebounds, 2 fouls, 10 assists, 3 turnovers, 2 steals, +30
Next game — 8:49 p.m. Saturday vs. No. 2 Arizona at Final Four in Indianapolis, TBS
Trayanna Crisp, Mississippi State guard
5–8 | Senior | UNC 2024–25 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starter
Season statistics — 30 games, 30 starts, 8.7 points, 38.3 FG%, 37.1 3P%, 84.6 FT%, 2.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists
Team record: 18–13
Season ended with SEC tournament loss
RyLee Grays, Tulsa forward
6–4 | Junior | UNC 2023–24 (1 season)
Roster situation — One of four forwards competing for time
Season statistics — 30 games, 2.3 points, 43.6 FG%, 4–10 3FG, 69.7 FT%, 2.3 rebounds, 8 blocks, 12 steals
Team record: 19–12
Season ended with loss in American Conference tournament
Ian Jackson, St. John’s guard
6–5, 195 pounds | Sophomore | UNC 2024–25 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starter, sharing time in a point-guard-by-committee mix
Season statistics — 36 games, 19 starts, 9.4 points, 40.9 FG%, 34.3 3P%, 90.0 FT%, 2.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists
Team record: 30–7; Rank: No. 13
Friday: 80–75 loss in East Regional Sweet 16 in Washington vs. No. 1 Duke — Didn’t start; 16 minutes, 5 points, 2–8 FG, 1–7 3FG, 2 rebounds, 2 fouls, 2 assists
Season ended with loss to Duke
Puff Johnson, Ohio State
6–8, 190 pounds | Graduate | UNC 2020–23 (3 seasons)
Roster situation — Reserve
Team record: 21–13
Season statistics — 9 games, 1 start, 2.3 points, 33.3 FG%, 3–7 3FG, 6–9 FT, 1.1 rebounds
Season ended with first-round NCAA tournament loss to TCU
Teonni Key, Kentucky forward
6–4 | RS senior | UNC 2022–24 (2 seasons)
Roster situation — Starting forward
Season statistics — 28 games, 28 starts, 11.4 points, 51.2 FG%, 2–15 3FG, 69.8 FT%, 7.5 rebounds, 1.2 blocks
Team record: 25–11; Rank: No. 17
Saturday: 76–54 loss in Fort Worth Regional 1 Sweet 16 vs. No. 3 Texas — Started; 31:31, 10 points, 2–8 FG, 0–1 3FG, 6–6 FT, 9 rebounds, 4 fouls, 2 assists, 2 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 steal, 1 block, -17
Season ended with loss to Texas
Ven-Allen Lubin, N.C. State forward
6–9, 250 pounds | Senior | UNC 2024–25 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starting center
Season statistics — 34 games, 34 starts, 13.6 points, ACC-leading 66.8 FG%, 27.3 3P%, 73.3 FT%, 7.1 rebounds
Team record: 20–14
Season ended with NCAA First Four loss to Texas
Tyler Nickel, Vanderbilt wing
6–7, 220 pounds | Senior | UNC 2022–23 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starting forward
Season statistics — 36 games, 36 starts, 13.5 points, 44.4 FG%, 40.0 3P%, 84.7 FT%, 3.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists
Team record: 27–9: Rank: No. 22
Season ended with loss to No. 4 Nebraska in the second round of the NCAA tournament
Paulina Paris, SMU guard
5–9 | Senior | UNC 2022–24 (2 seasons)
Season statistics — 20 games, 12 starts, 9.6 points, 39.9 FG%, 25.0 3P%, 69.7 FT%, 2.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists
Team record: 9–21, 2–16 ACC
Season ended with left foot injury in February
Will Shaver, Samford center
6–10, 265 pounds | RS junior | UNC 2022–23 (1 season)
Roster situation — Reserve minutes
Season statistics — 30 games, 2.6 points, 47.6 FG%, 33.3 3P%, 59.3 FT%, 2.6 rebounds, 17 blocks, 7 steals
Team record: 18–14
Season ended with loss in Southern Conference tournament
Cade Tyson, Minnesota wing
6–7, 180 pounds | Senior | UNC 2024–25 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starter
Season statistics — 31 games, 32 starts, team-leading 19.6 points, 50.0 FG%, 42.2 3P%, 82.6 FT%, 5.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists
Team record: 15–17
Next game — 10:30 Wednesday at College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas vs. Baylor, FS1 (first game since March 11)
Jalen Washington, Vanderbilt center
6–9, 240 pounds | Senior | UNC 2022–25 (3 seasons)
Roster situation — Backup center
Season statistics — 36 games, 9 starts, 8.9 points, 56.3 FG%, 29.4 3P%, 74.1 FT%, 5.6 rebounds, 1.3 blocks
Team record: 27–9; Rank: No. 22
Season ended with loss to No. 4 Nebraska in the second round of the NCAA tournament
Photo via mgoblue.com
