Three More Tickets Punched
Horizon League Championship
Butler 59 Milwaukee 44
The Bulldogs held Milwaukee to 30% shooting from the field, and Matt Howard connected on seven of nine shots to pace Butler with 18 points, as the defending National Final runner-up earned another spot in the Big Dance.
Summit League Championship
Oakland 90 Oral Roberts 76
The Golden Grizzlies displayed a great offensive show with the aid of numerous first half steals by Drew Valentine and Reggie Hamilton to build a double-digit lead by the break. After withstanding an early second half run by the Golden Eagles, Oakland pulled away to win the automatic bid.
Keith Benson topped Oakland with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Hamilton added 25 with six assists, while Will Hudson recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Sunbelt Conference Championship
U A L R 64 North Texas 63
The Trojans won their first Sunbelt Championship and earned their first bid to the NCAA Tournament since 1990.
SBC Player of the Year Solomon Bozeman drove from the backcourt to the left side of the top of the key and drained a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds remaining to give UALR the decisive points. Bozeman scored a game-high 20 points.
North Texas had led by seven points with less than two minutes to go, but the Mean Green wilted under the Trojan pressure defense. With one last chance to try to win, UNT committed a turnover on the inbounds pass.
11 Automatic Qualifiers To Date
| Team |
Conference |
Record |
| Arkansas-Little Rock |
Sunbelt |
19-16 |
| Belmont |
Atlantic South |
30-4 |
| Butler |
Horizon |
23-9 |
| Gonzaga |
West Coast |
24-9 |
| Indiana State |
Missouri Valley |
20-13 |
| Morehead State |
Ohio Valley |
24-9 |
| Oakland |
Summit |
25-9 |
| Old Dominion |
Colonial |
27-6 |
| St. Peter’s |
Metro Atlantic |
20-13 |
| UNC-Asheville |
Big South |
19-13 |
| Wofford |
Southern |
21-12 |
Two Tickets To Be Punched Tonight
Big Sky Tournament Championship @ 9PM ET On ESPN2
#2 Montana (21-9) at #1 Northern Colorado (20-10)
Semifinal Round
Montana 57 Weber State 40
Northern Colorado 73 Northern Arizona 70
These two split their regular season series with Northern Colorado winning 63-45 in Greeley, and Montana winning 55-42 in Missoula. Tonight’s game will be played at Butler-Hancock Hall in Greeley, so Northern Colorado will enjoy the home court advantage.
This game is a great study in contrasts. Northern Colorado is a quicker team, but Montana is a stronger team. Northern Colorado has one exceptionally dominant player, while Montana has more, albeit less exceptional, weapons.
The Bears’ offense runs through 6-1 senior guard Devon Beitzel. Beitzel averages a league-best 21 points per game, and he is deadly at the free throw line, where he connects on 91% of his tosses.
The rest of the team collectively shoots under 41% from the field and commits more turnovers than assists, so if the Grizzlies can stop Beitzel, or at least limit his touches, they have a chance of defending their crown.
Montana has the dominant big man in the conference in 6-11/260 senior center Brian Qvale. If the Grizzlies can keep this game a half-court affair, they stand a great chance of winning with Qvale plugging the middle on defense and controlling the boards at both ends of the court. Qvale averages 15 points and nine boards a game, and he had a double-double with 16 points and 17 rebounds in the semifinal round. Montana likes to limit possessions, so those numbers are even more impressive than they look.
In the win over UNC, Montana held the Bears to 23.3% shooting, while they shot just 32.6% in the loss at Greeley.
It is our opinion that the visiting number two seed will pull off the mild upset over the host numbone seed, but it is not a strong feeling.
Northeast Conference Tournament Championship @ 7PM ET On ESPN2
#3 Robert Morris (18-13) at #1 Long Island (26-5)
Semifinal Round
Long Island 69 Central Connecticut 67
Robert Morris 64 Quinnipiac 62
Brooklyn has not been this excited over one of their own sports teams since the Dodgers won the 1955 World Series. Long Island is one of the most exciting teams in the nation, and their 26-5 record has throngs of Brooklynites cramming into the Wellness, Recreation, and Athletic Center. The WRAC holds just 2,500 seats, but you can bet that more than that amount will find their way into the game tonight, as they “Pack the WRAC.”
Those fans will be converging to the corner of Ashland and Dekalb tonight, dressed in all white, to watch what could be a blowout win for their team.
LIU is on a roll. The Blackbirds have won 12 games in a row (longest current streak in the nation) and 20 of their previous 21 games. They average almost 83 points per game. The Blackbirds have exceptional depth with eight players capable of scoring 15 or more points.
The Blackbirds pose difficult matchups with their roster, as they rely on quick guards and medium-sized forwards with great leaping ability to play at a fast pace. There is no center on the roster, but the two 6-7 forwards have controlled the boards in most games this year.
Those forwards are Julian Boyd and Jamal Olasewere, who team up for 25.4 points and 15.7 rebounds per game.
5-10 backup guard Jason Brickman plays just 22 minutes per game, but he leads the team with 5.3 assists per game. When he comes in the game, the pace picks up, and the Blackbirds shoot a lot of threes in transition.
Robert Morris is definitely not cannon fodder. The Colonials are the two-time defending NEC Tournament champions, and they believe they can three peat even on the road in hostile conditions.
The Colonials have won eight games in a row, relying on a stellar defense that limits possessions and pressures the guards. They are missing their leading scorer, as 5-9 guard Karon Abraham’s season ended two weeks ago with a torn Achilles Tendon. On the positive side, Abraham missed RMU’s win at LIU on December 2, as he was serving a multi-game suspension.
Velton Jones and Russell Johnson will have to shine tonight for the Colonials to pull off the upset. The duo are the only double figure scorers left, but both shoot less than 39% from the field.
Without Abraham, RMU shoots just 33.7% from behind the arc, so the only way they can possibly win tonight is to replicate the formula that was successful more than three months ago—control the tempo and prevent LIU from getting off any uncontested three-pointers.
We believe this game will begin slowly with RMU taking the lead in the early stages. Somewhere in the first half, LIU will go on one of their patented runs and gain the lead. Then, a second spurt will give them a commanding lead. RMU might cut into that lead, but we believe in the end, the Blackbirds will be celebrating at the WRAC. We do not believe the Brooklynites will be crying “Wait ‘Til Next Year.” This will be like October of 1955 in the borough.
Yesterday’s Other Tournament Results
Atlantic 10 Conference
First Round
LaSalle 75 St. Bonaventure 73 2ot
St. Joseph’s 71 George Washington 59 ot
Rhode Island 70 St. Louis 61
Dayton 78 U Mass 50
Big East Conference
First Round
Connecticut 97 DePaul 71
Rutgers 76 Seton Hall 70 ot
South Florida 70 Villanova 69
Marquette 87 Providence 66
M A C
First Round
Bowling Green 74 Northern Illinois 54
Ohio U 74 Toledo 57
Akron 67 Eastern Michigan 53
Buffalo 64 Central Michigan 50
M E A C
First Round
MD-Eastern Shore 87 F A M U 85 2ot
S. C. State 64 Delaware State 59
Ivy League Playoff Set
Princeton defeated rival Penn 70-58 last night in Philadelphia, forcing a one-game playoff for the Ivy League’s automatic berth. Princeton (24-6) will take on co-champion Harvard (23-5) Saturday afternoon at 4PM Eastern Time. The game will be played at Yale University in New Haven, CT, and it can be seen live on ESPN3.com.
Princeton has appeared in all seven Ivy League tiebreaking playoff games in the history of the league. This is Harvard’s first Ivy League basketball championship of any kind. The Crimson last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 1946.
There is a chance that the loser of this game could hold a slim chance of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Harvard is ranked #35 in the RPI, while Princeton is ranked #49. Harvard has two wins over top 50 teams as well as three losses. Their biggest win was at Boston College. Princeton has just one win against the top 50 and two losses. For the Ivy to earn two bids, the Tigers have to win Saturday and hope Harvard’s high RPI is enough to earn the second bid.
Conference Tournaments In Action Today
Big 12 Conference
Tournament Site: Kansas City
1st Round Games
#8 Nebraska (19-11) vs. #9 Oklahoma State (18-12) 12:30 PM ET
#5 Colorado (19-12) vs. #12 Iowa State (16-15) 3 PM ET
#7 Baylor (18-12) vs. #10 Oklahoma (13-17) 7PM ET
#6 Missouri (22-9) vs. #11 Texas Tech (13-18) 9:30 PM ET
Big East Conference
Tournament Site: New York City
2nd Round Games
#8 Georgetown (21-9) vs. #9 Connecticut (22-9) 12 Noon ET on ESPN
#5 St. John’s (20-10) vs. #13 Rutgers (15-16) Approx. 2:15 PM ET on ESPN
#7 Cincinnati (24-7) vs. #15 South Florida (10-22) 7 PM ET on ESPN
#6 West Virginia (20-10) vs. #11 Marquette (19-13) Approx. 9:15 PM ET on ESPN
Conference USA
Tournament Site: El Paso, TX
1st Round Games
#8 East Carolina (16-14) vs. #9 Central Florida (19-10) 1 PM ET
#5 Southern Miss (21-9) vs. #12 Tulane (13-16) 3:30 PM ET
#6 Marshall (21-10) vs. #11 Houston (12-17) 7:30 PM ET
#7 S M U (17-13) vs. #10 Rice (13-17) 10 PM ET
M E A C
Tournament Site: Winston-Salem, NC
Note: The MEAC has a unique way of scheduling their tournament. As a result, one first round game will be played today as well as two quarterfinal round games. The other two quarterfinal round games will be played Thursday.
1st Round
#6 Norfolk State () vs. #11 Howard () 3 PM ET
Quarterfinal Round
#1 Bethune-Cookman (20-11) vs. #9 South Carolina State (10-21) 7 PM ET
#2 Hampton (21-8) vs. #10 Maryland-Eastern Shore (9-21) 9:30 PM ET
Mountain West Conference
Tournament Site: Las Vegas
1st Round
#8 Wyoming (10-20) vs. #9 T C U (10-21) 5 PM ET
Pac-10 Conference
Tournament Site: Los Angeles
1st Round
#8 Stanford (15-15) vs. #9 Oregon State (10-19) 9 PM ET on Fox Sports Net
#7 Oregon (14-16) vs. #10 Arizona State (12-18) 11:30 PM ET on Fox Sports Net
Southland Conference
Tournament Site: Katy, TX (Houston Area)
Quarterfinal Round
#2 Northwestern State (LA) (18-13) vs. #7 Texas-San Antonio (16-13) 1 PM ET
#3 Sam Houston (17-12) vs. #6 Stephen F. Austin (18-10) 3:30 PM ET
#1 McNeese State (19-10) vs. #8 Nicholls State (14-13) 7 PM ET
#4 Texas State (15-15) vs. #5 Southeastern Louisiana (15-13) 9:30 PM ET
S W A C
Tournament Site: Garland, TX (Dallas-Ft. Worth Area)
Quarterfinal Round
#2 Jackson State (16-14) vs. #7 Prairie View (10-21) 12:30 PM ET
#1 Texas Southern (18-11) vs. #8 Arkansas-Pine Bluff (7-23) 9 PM ET
W A C
Tournament Site: Las Vegas
1st Round
#5 Hawaii (18-11) vs. #8 San Jose State (15-14) 3 PM ET
#6 Nevada (12-18) vs. #7 Fresno State (14-16) 5:30 PM ET
