Busting Brackets
Fansided

NCAA Basketball: Biggest takeaways from 2019 Battle 4 Atlantis

By Tristan Freeman

PORTLAND, OREGON - NOVEMBER 12: Payton Pritchard #3 of the Oregon Ducks brings the ball up the court during the second half of the game at Moda Center on November 12, 2019 in Portland, Oregon. Oregon won the game 82-74. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OREGON - NOVEMBER 12: Payton Pritchard #3 of the Oregon Ducks brings the ball up the court during the second half of the game at Moda Center on November 12, 2019 in Portland, Oregon. Oregon won the game 82-74. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 5
Next
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MARCH 15: Jon Teske #15 of the Michigan Wolverines dunks the ball in the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at the United Center on March 15, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MARCH 15: Jon Teske #15 of the Michigan Wolverines dunks the ball in the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at the United Center on March 15, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

There was a surprise winner from the 2019 Battle 4 Atlantis NCAA Basketball Tournament. What are some key takeaways from the teams involved?

From the moment that Michigan State lost to Virginia Tech in the Maui Invitational and deprived us of a potential Kansas/Michigan State matchup, all eyes really took a turn to the Battle 4 Atlantis event that occurred days later. The quality of the NCAA Basketball teams involved guaranteed some compelling battles, including the quarterfinal bout of Seton Hall and Oregon.

That game was as good as advertised, with the Ducks surviving a barrage from star guard Myles Powell to move on to play Gonzaga in the semifinals. Dana Altman’s team managed to make another 15+ point comeback to take the game into overtime but the Bulldogs staved off Oregon for a one-point victory to advance to the finals.

They took on a Michigan team who after dispatching the Iowa State Cyclones in round 1, handled No. 6 ranked North Carolina for 40 minutes in a dominant victory. And despite there being four top-15 NCAA Basketball programs participating, it was the unranked Wolverines who took care of Gonzaga to win the Battle 4 Atlantis event, 82-64. Big man Jon Teske, who had 19 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks in the title game win, was named MVP of the event.

There’s a lot of takeaways from this event, including that you can expect Michigan to take a massive jump in the polls on Monday, while Oregon may take a tiny dip. As for what happened on the court and what it means, here are my observations for all eight teams.

Home/NCAA Basketball News