Conference Tournament Update–Sunday, March 5, 2017

First Ticket Punched

Welcome Jacksonville State to the giant Dance Studio of March.  The Gamecocks have been a small football factory at the FCS level, noted for upsetting Ole Miss and almost knocking off Auburn in recent years.  As a basketball member of Division 1, JSU has never been a contender for the NCAA Tournament.  In fact, in a score of seasons at the D1 level, the school has produced just four overall winning records with no conference championships.

Last year, the Gamecocks finished just 8-23 and parted ways with Coach James Green.  Enter Coach Ray Harper, who had just resigned from Western Kentucky following a WKU School suspension of three key players.  Harper came to JSU with two Division II national titles, two NAIA national titles, and two D1 NCAA appearances while with the Hilltoppers.

Even with such a stellar resume, not even Coach K himself could have made the so-called media experts select the Gamecocks to finish first in the Ohio Valley Conference this year, nor even make the upper half of the standings.  JSU was a consensus 12th-place pick out of 12 teams in the league.

Not only did Harper guide the Gamecocks well above last place, he took JSU to a winning record in the league and winning record overall.  Then, he upset top-seed Belmont to make it to the OVC Championship Game, where the Gamecocks looked like they were definitely the best team in the league at this point of the season.

Jacksonville State thus becomes team number one in the NCAA Tournament with an overall record of 20-14.  They are likely to be a #16 seed and at best a #15, but they will not lay down and allow a #1 seed to walk all over them.  Expect a tough fight from these Gamecocks.

 

Three More Tickets Issued Today

By the end of the day, there will be a quartet of teams in the Field of 68.  Surprise 7th-seed Campbell (17-16) faces a challenging task, as the Camels must go to top-seed Winthrop (25-6) to decide the Big South Championship.  That game will air on ESPN at 1:00PM Eastern Time.  If Campbell wins, the Camels are virtually assured of knowing they will have to go to Dayton for a First Four game.  If Winthrop wins, the Eagles just might move up to a 13-seed and should be no worse than a 14-seed, and a formidable one at that.

 

An hour later, the finale of Arch Madness (Missouri Valley Conference) tips off on CBS, and the top two seeds have made it to the championship round for their rubber game grudge match.  Top-seed Illinois State (27-5) is actually an underdog to second-seed Wichita State (29-4) and for good reason.  The Shockers look as strong at this point of the season as they did when they advanced to the Final Four a few years back.  Coach Greg Marshall’s WSU team has won 14 games in a row, including an incredible 41-point win over ISU four weeks ago.  Some bracketologists believe that the loser of this game could move outside of the good part of the bubble, but most of our Bracketology Gurus have the Valley sending both teams to the Dance.

 

At 3:00 PM Eastern today, the Atlantic Sun Title Game will tip off in a game between rivals from the Sunshine State.  3-seed North Florida (15-18) visits perennial league champion and top-seed Florida Gulf Coast (25-7).  The two teams played in Fort Myers at the end of January, and FGCU pulled away in the second half to win by 15 thanks to a hot night from guard Brandon Goodwin.  In a semifinal win at 2-seed Lipscomb, you might have been confused and thought that the names on the back of the UNF jerseys read, “Curry,” “Harden,” and “Korver,” as the Ospreys hit three-pointer after three-pointer to pull away from Lipscomb quickly.  They will have to have a repeat performance to have a chance to upset FGCU today.

 

Have We Got Offense For You

We are true hardwood junkies here on the PiRate Ship.  And, we keep a close watch on all the low and mid-major conferences, where there are teams operating under the radar and not getting any national publicity.  If you really love basketball and especially love the style of play that was prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s, when teams raced up and down the floor with 80-possession games, then there is a must watch game for you tonight.

In the Summit League, at 9:30 PM Eastern Time, Fort Wayne will take on Omaha in a quarterfinal match.  The last time these two teams squared off, Ft. Wayne won 108-101 in overtime, and there is no reason to think tonight’s game will be much different.  That 45-minute game saw both teams accumulate 91 possessions, and even if they only play 40 minutes tonight, they could easily top 80 possessions apiece.

 

The Inaugural Ivy League Tournament Is Finally Set

Call us snobbish or traditional, but most of us buckaroos and buckarettes here really like the Ivy League basketball season.  Our head Captain here can remember Bill Bradley playing at Princeton and Jim McMillan playing at Columbia, and he has followed this league like he is the commissioner himself.

Last night, Penn upset Harvard, while Columbia fell to Yale.  The Lions could not protect a five-point second half lead, and then after Yale took a four-point lead, Columbia fought back to tie the game with less than 90 seconds to go.  A missed three-pointer when there was a possible high-percentage two-pointer available led to Yale getting the rebound with the lead in the final minute, and the Bulldogs then held onto the ball, forcing Columbia to foul.  Unfortunately for the Lions, they had yet to put Yale in the bonus, and they did not force the seventh foul until there were less than five seconds remaining.  Miye Oni hit both foul shots for Yale to put the dagger in CU’s hopes.

So, the first ever Ivy League Tournament will feature top-seed Princeton, who went a perfect 14-0 in the league facing fourth-seed Penn in one semifinal match, while Harvard and Yale meet in the other semifinal.  If the Ivy League had wanted to script the perfect first ever tournament, they would have wanted it exactly like this.  Two sets of arch-rivals with the weakest of the four teams hosting the thing at the most venerable Eastern gymnasium, the Palestra.  Hey Ivy League brass–we are waiting for our media pass!  We’ll sit anywhere and even move the dust mop across the floor at halftime and during timeouts.

Today’s Tournament Schedule (by Conference)

Time	Network	Conference	Team	vs.	Team
3:00 PM	ESPN	A_Sun TITLE	Florida Gulf Coast	vs.	North Florida
1:00 PM	ESPN	B-South TITLE	Winthrop	vs.	Campbell
2:00 PM	Comcast SN	Colonial	UNC-Wilmington	vs.	William & Mary
4:30 PM	Comcast SN	Colonial	College of Charleston	vs.	Northeastern
5:00 PM	ESPN3	Horizon	Green Bay	vs.	Illinois-Chicago
7:30 PM	ESPN3	Horizon	Northern Kentucky	vs.	Wright St.
4:30 PM	ESPN3	MAAC	Monmouth	vs.	Siena
7:00 PM	ESPN3	MAAC	St. Peter’s	vs.	Iona
2:00 PM	CBS	MVC  TITLE	Illinois St.	vs.	Wichita St.
12:00 PM	CBSSN	Patriot	Boston U	vs.	Lehigh
2:00 PM	CBSSN	Patriot	Bucknell	vs.	Navy
5:00 PM	ESPN3	SoCon	UNC-Greensboro	vs.	Wofford
7:30 PM	ESPN3	SoCon	East Tennessee St.	vs.	Samford
7:00 PM	ESPN3	Summit	South Dakota St.	vs.	Denver
9:30 PM	ESPN3	Summit	Omaha	vs.	Fort Wayne

Schedule by Tip-off Time

Time	Network	Conference	Team	vs.	Team
12:00 PM	CBSSN	Patriot	Boston U	vs.	Lehigh
1:00 PM	ESPN	Big South	Winthrop	vs.	Campbell
2:00 PM	Comcast SN	Colonial	UNC-Wilmington	vs.	William & Mary
2:00 PM	CBS	MVC	Illinois St.	vs.	Wichita St.
2:00 PM	CBSSN	Patriot	Bucknell	vs.	Navy
3:00 PM	ESPN	Atlantic Sun	Florida Gulf Coast	vs.	North Florida
4:30 PM	Comcast SN	Colonial	College of Charleston	vs.	Northeastern
4:30 PM	ESPN3	MAAC	Monmouth	vs.	Siena
5:00 PM	ESPN3	Horizon	Green Bay	vs.	Illinois-Chicago
5:00 PM	ESPN3	SoCon	UNC-Greensboro	vs.	Wofford
7:00 PM	ESPN3	MAAC	St. Peter’s	vs.	Iona
7:00 PM	ESPN3	Summit	South Dakota St.	vs.	Denver
7:30 PM	ESPN3	Horizon	Northern Kentucky	vs.	Wright St.
7:30 PM	ESPN3	SoCon	East Tennessee St.	vs.	Samford
9:30 PM	ESPN3	Summit	Omaha	vs.	Fort Wayne

Coming Tomorrow: An updated Bracketology Gurus report plus all the tournament brackets and the schedule of games for Monday.

Bracketnomics 2013: Final Four Saturday–April 6, 2013

2013 NCAA Tournament— Semifinal Round, April 6, 2013

Ttimes Eastern Daylight

 

Site: Georgia Dome in Atlanta

Network: CBS

Time	Favorite	Underdog	Line
6:09 PM	Louisville (33-5)	Wichita St. (30-8)	10
8:49 PM	Michigan (30-7)	Syracuse (30-9)	2

Elite 8 Record: 2-2

Tournament Total: 38-22

Teams Remaining In Bracket: 1 of  4 (But Louisville was our pick to go all the way)

 

PiRate Ratings Criteria Formula Statistics

Criteria	Louisville	Michigan	Syracuse	Wichita St.
Scoring Margin	16.2	12.6	12.2	8.9
FG% Margin	6.4	6.2	7.2	4.8
Rebound Margin	3.7	3.1	3.7	8.0
Turnover Margin	6.0	2.8	3.2	0.4
Steals	10.9	6.2	9.1	7.5
R+T	13.08	7.70	9.36	9.98
SOS	59.41	55.94	59.29	53.79
RD W%	81.8	68.4	65.0	71.4
Qualifiers	6	3	5	5
PiRate #	85.27	57.09	67.73	53.74
Modified	124.97	65.59	106.43	42.94

 

PiRate Criteria Means for 2000-2012 National Champions

 

Criteria	Champ Avg.
Scoring Margin	15.5
FG% Margin	8.7
Rebound Margin	6.2
Turnover Margin	1.3
Steals	7.8
R+T	9.29
SOS	57.09
RD W%	73.8
Qualifiers	7
PiRate #	75.88
Modified	94.78

 

 

Louisville vs. Wichita State

Roster—Louisville

#	NAME	HT	WT	POS	CL	HOMETOWN (PREVIOUS SCHOOL)
2	Russ Smith	6-00	165	G	JR	Brooklyn, N.Y. (Archbishop Molloy/South Kent)
3	Peyton Siva	6-00	185	G	SR	Seattle, Wash. (Franklin)
5	Kevin Ware	6-02	175	G	SO	Bronx, N.Y. (Rockdale County (Ga.))
10	Gorgui Dieng	6-11	245	C	JR	Kebemer, Senegal (Covenant/Huntington Prep)
11	Luke Hancock	6-06	200	F	JR	Roanoke, Va. (George Mason)
12	Mangok Mathiang	6-10	200	C	FR	Melbourne, Australia (IMG Academy (Fla.))
14	Logan Baumann	6-00	165	G	FR	Hartford, Ky. (Ohio County)
15	Tim Henderson	6-02	195	G	JR	Louisville, Ky. (Christian Academy)
20	Wayne Blackshear	6-05	230	G/F	SO	Chicago, Ill. (Morgan Park)
21	Chane Behanan	6-06	250	F	SO	Cincinnati, Ohio (Bowling Green)
22	Jordan Bond	6-00	165	G	FR	Louisville, Ky. (duPont Manual)
24	Montrezl Harrell	6-08	235	F	FR	Tarboro, N.C. (Hargrave Military Academy)
25	Zach Price	6-10	250	C	SO	Cleveland, Ohio (Jeffersontown)
32	Michael Baffour	6-02	170	G	JR	Lexington, Ky. (Bryan Station)
33	Mike Marra	6-05	215	G	SR	Smithfield, R.I. (Northfield Mt. Hermon School)
44	Stephan Van Treese	6-09	245	F	SR	Indianapolis, Ind. (Lawrence North)

 

Coach: Rick Pitino 12^th year at UL: 308-111

28 seasons overall: 662-239

(Hawaii, Boston U, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville)

 

 

Roster—Wichita St.

#	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Pos.	Yr.	Hometown (Prev School)
0	Chadrack Lufile	6-09	251	F	Jr.	Burlington, Ontario, Canada (Coffeyville CC)
1	Derail Green	6-07	199	F	Fr.	Houston, Texas (Klein Forest HS)
2	Malcolm Armstead	6-00	205	G	Sr.	Florence, Ala. (Chipola JC) (Central Park Prep)
3	Evan Wessel	6-05	201	G	So.	Wichita, Kan. (Heights HS)
5	Demetric Williams	6-02	178	G	Sr.	Las Vegas, Nev. (Cheyenne HS)
11	Cleanthony Early	6-08	215	F	Jr.	Middletown, N.Y. (Sullivan JC)
15	Nick Wiggins	6-06	187	G	Jr.	Toronto, ON (Wabash Valley [Ill.] College)
20	Kadeem Coleby	6-09	251	C	Sr.	Nassau, Bahamas (Louisiana-Lafayette)
21	Ehimen Orukpe	7-00	250	C	Sr.	Lagos, Nigeria, (Three Rivers [Mo.])
22	Carl Hall	6-08	238	F	Sr.	Cochran, Ga. (NW Florida St.)
23	Fred Van Vleet	5-11	190	G	Fr.	Rockford, Ill. (Auburn HS)
31	Ron Baker	6-03	218	G	Fr.	Scott City, Kan. (Scott City HS)
32	Tekele Cotton	6-02	202	G	So.	Marietta, Ga. (Whitefield Academy)
33	Zach Bush	6-06	175	F	Fr.	Wichita, Kan. (Goddard Eisenhower HS)
50	Jake White	6-08	232	F	So.	Chaska, Minn. (Chaska HS)

 

Coach: Gregg Marshall 6^th year at WSU: 139-69

15 seasons overall: 333-152

(Winthrop, Wichita St.)

 

Team Stats—Louisville

Player	G	GS	Min	FG	FGA	FG%	3pt	3ptA	3pt%	FT	FTA
Russ Smith	38	35	1143	223	527	.423	57	172	.331	215	261
Gorgi Dieng	31	30	959	121	227	.533	0	0	.000	73	112
Peyton Siva	38	38	1177	132	320	.413	38	125	.304	74	86
Chane Behanan	37	35	961	143	283	.505	1	12	.083	69	131
Wayne Blackshear	37	32	754	102	242	.421	43	135	.319	43	62
Luke Hancock	38	8	836	86	211	.408	55	148	.372	55	71
Montrezl Harrell	38	3	626	92	163	.564	0	0	.000	32	63
Kevin Ware	37	1	616	59	132	.447	15	37	.405	34	51
Stephan Van Treese	35	1	402	26	40	.650	0	0	.000	12	17
Zach Price	16	7	123	8	15	.533	0	0	.000	4	8
Tim Henderson	25	0	88	6	20	.300	4	17	.235	0	0
Logan Baumann	4	0	11	0	4	.000	0	0	.000	2	2
Michael Baffour	6	0	12	0	3	.000	0	2	.000	2	4
Jordan Bond	5	0	17	0	3	.000	0	2	.000	0	0
Totals	38	38	7725	998	2190	.456	213	650	.328	615	868
Opponents	38	38	7725	778	1987	.392	207	658	.315	444	681
Player	FT%	F	DQ	Ast	TO	Bk	Stl	Reb	Avg	Pts	Avg
Russ Smith	.824	95	0	111	100	2	81	129	3.4	718	18.9
Gorgi Dieng	.652	77	3	60	56	78	43	296	9.5	315	10.2
Peyton Siva	.860	99	3	220	102	6	84	87	2.3	376	9.9
Chane Behanan	.527	63	0	40	60	16	52	233	6.3	356	9.6
Wayne Blackshear	.694	92	0	24	24	10	33	120	3.2	290	7.8
Luke Hancock	.775	78	1	50	39	3	36	100	2.6	282	7.4
Montrezl Harrell	.508	48	0	7	22	27	20	141	3.7	216	5.7
Kevin Ware	.667	58	1	31	42	4	39	66	1.8	167	4.5
Stephan Van Treese	.706	42	0	9	13	10	17	111	3.2	64	1.8
Zach Price	.500	23	0	0	5	5	1	22	1.4	20	1.3
Tim Henderson	.000	5	0	3	6	1	6	10	0.4	16	0.6
Logan Baumann	1.000	1	0	0	1	0	0	3	0.8	2	0.5
Michael Baffour	.500	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.2	2	0.3
Jordan Bond	.000	1	0	1	0	0	1	3	0.6	0	0.0
Team					7			84	2.2
Totals	.709	682	8	556	477	162	413	1406	37.0	2824	74.3
Opponents	.652	731	X	385	707	128	216	1264	33.3	2207	58.1

 

Team Stats—Wichita St.

Player	G	GS	Min	FG	FGA	FG%	3pt	3ptA	3pt%	FT	FTA
Cleanthony Early	38	21	942	176	390	.451	45	144	.313	123	156
Carl Hall	31	25	886	141	262	.538	0	2	.000	106	158
Malcolm Armstead	38	38	1085	146	363	.402	61	172	.355	61	76
Ron Baker	17	14	436	42	104	.404	27	78	.346	35	43
Demetric Williams	38	26	966	97	252	.385	32	114	.281	62	81
Tekele Cotton	38	27	896	88	200	.440	23	64	.359	44	82
Evan Wessel	8	8	152	16	33	.485	11	24	.458	1	1
Nick Wiggins	35	1	460	58	133	.436	31	73	.425	27	37
Fred Van Vleet	38	0	607	59	149	.396	20	47	.426	26	36
Jake White	36	0	399	51	109	.468	3	27	.111	25	35
Ehimen Orukpe	35	30	538	39	83	.470	0	0	.000	17	42
Chadrack Lufile	29	0	233	19	34	.559	0	0	.000	8	20
Totals	38	38	7600	932	2112	.441	253	745	.340	535	767
Opponents	38	38	7600	775	1971	.393	229	714	.321	534	745
Player	FT%	F	DQ	Ast	TO	Bk	Stl	Reb	Avg	Pts	Avg
Cleanthony Early	.788	97	3	23	61	34	29	202	5.3	520	13.7
Carl Hall	.671	73	0	22	41	55	14	213	6.9	388	12.5
Malcolm Armstead	.803	86	0	150	86	2	74	146	3.8	414	10.9
Ron Baker	.814	35	0	32	22	5	14	50	2.9	146	8.6
Demetric Williams	.765	84	2	86	63	1	44	98	2.6	288	7.6
Tekele Cotton	.537	78	1	65	43	6	39	149	3.9	243	6.4
Evan Wessel	1.000	15	0	15	5	1	2	14	1.8	44	5.5
Nick Wiggins	.730	29	0	11	21	6	10	63	1.8	174	5.0
Fred Van Vleet	.722	42	1	86	43	2	35	71	1.9	164	4.3
Jake White	.714	48	0	10	28	0	7	107	3.0	130	3.6
Ehimen Orukpe	.405	71	0	8	46	56	11	155	4.4	95	2.7
Chadrack Lufile	.400	22	0	9	12	8	5	52	1.8	46	1.6
Team					10			141	3.7
Totals	.698	680	7	517	481	176	284	1461	38.4	2652	69.8
Opponents	.717	680	X	400	496	113	212	1157	30.4	2313	60.9

 

Schedule—Louisville

Opponent	Score
MANHATTAN	79-51
SAMFORD	80-54
MIAMI (OH)	80-39
vs NORTHERN IOWA  (Bahamas)	51-46
vs MISSOURI  (Bahamas)	84-61
vs DUKE  (Bahamas)	71-76
ILLINOIS STATE	69-66
at COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON	80-38
MISSOURI-KANSAS CITY	99-47
at MEMPHIS	87-78
FIU	79-55
vs WESTERN KENTUCKY  (Nashville)	78-55
KENTUCKY	80-77
PROVIDENCE	80-62
at SETON HALL	73-58
USF	64-38
at CONNECTICUT	73-58
SYRACUSE	68-70
at VILLANOVA	64-73
at GEORGETOWN	51-53
PITTSBURGH	64-61
MARQUETTE	70-51
at RUTGERS	68-48
at NOTRE DAME	101-104
ST. JOHN‘S	72-58
at USF	59-41
SETON HALL	79-61
at DEPAUL	79-58
at SYRACUSE	58-53
CINCINNATI	67-51
NOTRE DAME	73-57
vs VILLANOVA  (BE Tourn.)	74-55
vs NOTRE DAME  (BE Tourn.)	69-57
vs SYRACUSE  (BE Tourn.)	78-61
vs NORTH CAROLINA A&T  (ncaa)	79-48
vs COLORADO STATE  (ncaa)	82-56
vs OREGON  (ncaa)	77-69
vs DUKE  (ncaa)	85-63

 

Schedule—Wichita St.

Opponent	Score
North Carolina Central	71-57
at Virginia Commonwealth	53-51
Western Carolina (Cancun Challenge)	79-63
Howard (Cancun Challenge)	69-50
(n) DePaul (Cancun)	75-62
(n) Iowa (Cancun)	75-63
Tulsa	86-60
at Air Force (MVC/MWC Challenge)	72-69
Northern Colorado	80-54
at Tennessee	60-69
Charleston Southern	65-53
Southern Mississippi	59-51
Northern Iowa	66-41
at Drake	75-63
at Bradley	69-63
Southern Illinois	82-76
at Evansville	67-71
Illinois St.	74-62
Crieghton	67-64
at Missouri St.	62-52
Bradley	73-39
Indiana St.	55-68
at Northern Iowa	52-57
at Southern Illinois	62-64
Missouri St.	79-50
Drake	71-56
at Illinois St.	68-67
at Indiana St.	66-62
Detroit (Bracketbuster)	94-79
Evansville	56-59
at Creighton	79-91
Missouri St. (mvc–St. Louis)	69-59
Illinois St. (mvc–St. Louis)	66-51
Crieghton (mvc–St. Louis)	65-68
(n) Pittsburgh ncaa	73-55
(n) Gonzaga ncaa	76-70
(n) La Salle ncaa	72-58
(n) Ohio St. ncaa	70-66

 

Vital Statistics

FG% Margin: Louisville by 1.6%

Rebound Margin: Wichita St. by 4.3

Turnover Margin: Louisville by 5.6

R+T Margin: Louisville by 3.1 extra possessions

SOS: Louisville by 5.6 points per game

 

PiRate Pick: Louisville 73  Wichita State 61

 

Other: Louisville winning the national championship one year after their rival Kentucky won it would not be something new.  It has happened before.  In 2010, Duke won the title a year after North Carolina.  In 1993, North Carolina won the title a year after Duke.  In 1983, North Carolina State won the title a year after North Carolina.  In 1961, Cincinnati won the title a year after Ohio State, and to make it sweeter, the Bearcats beat the Buckeyes in the championship game (and repeated that victory the following season.  Ohio State had refused to play Cincinnati in the regular season.

 

Cincinnati comes into play on Wichita State’s side as well.  The Bearcats were members of the Missouri Valley Conference when they won those back-to-back titles.  The MVC has four national championship teams from the past.  In addition to Cinti, Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) won back-to-back titles in 1945 and 1946, while in the Valley.  The Cowboys moves to the Big 8 for the 1958-59 season.

 

Michigan vs. Syracuse

Roster—Michigan

#	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Pos.	Year	Hometown (High School)
1	Glenn Robinson III	6-06	210	F	FR	St. John, Ind. (Lake Central)
2	Spike Albrecht	5-11	170	G	FR	Crown Pt., Ind. (Northfield Mt. Hermon Prep MA)
3	Trey Burke	6-01	190	G	SO	Columbus, Ohio (Northland)
4	Mitch McGary	6-10	250	F	FR	Chesterton, Ind. (Brewster Academy [N.H.])
5	Eso Akunne	6-02	225	G	SR	Ann Arbor, Mich. (Gabriel Richard)
10	Tim Hardaway Jr.	6-06	205	G	JR	Miami, Fla. (Palmetto Senior)
11	Nik Stauskas	6-06	190	G	FR	Mississauga, Ontario (St. Mark’s School MA)
13	Matt Vogrich	6-04	200	G	SR	Lake Forest, Ill. (Lake Forest)
15	Jon Horford	6-10	250	F	SO	Grand Ledge, Mich. (Grand Ledge)
20	Josh Bartelstein	6-03	210	G	SR	Highland Pk., Ill. (Phillips Exeter Acad. [N.H.])
22	Blake McLimans	6-10	240	F	SR	Hamburg, N.Y. (Worcester Academy [Mass.])
23	Caris LeVert	6-05	170	G	FR	Pickerington, Ohio (Central)
32	Corey Person	6-03	210	G	GS	Kalamazoo, Mich. (Central)
44	Max Bielfeldt	6-07	245	F	FR	Peoria, Ill. (Notre Dame)
52	Jordan Morgan	6-08	250	F	JR	Detroit, Mich. (University of Detroit Jesuit)

 

Coach: John Beilein 6^th year at UM: 121-84

35 seasons overall: 672-402

(Erie CC, Nazareth, LeMoyne, Canisius, Richmond, West Virginia, Michigan)

 

Roster—Syracuse

#	Name	HT.	WT.	POS.	CL.	HOMETOWN / HIGHSCHOOL
0	Michael Gbinije	6-07	200	F	So.	Richmond, Va. / Benedictine College Prep
1	Mchl. Carter-Williams	6-06	185	G	So.	Hamilton, Mass. / St. Andrews School, R.I.
3	Jerami Grant	6-08	203	F	Fr.	Hyattsville, Md. / DeMatha Catholic
4	Nolan Hart	5-10	152	G	Jr.	Albany, N.Y. / Albany Academy
5	C.J. Fair	6-08	215	F	Jr.	Baltimore, Md. / City College HS/Brewster Acad.
10	Trevor Cooney	6-04	195	G	So.	Wilmington, Del. / Sanford School
12	Baye Moussa Keita	6-10	215	C	Jr.	Saint Louis, Senegal / Oak Hill Academy
13	Griffin Hoffmann	6-01	178	G	Sr.	New York, N.Y. / York Prep
14	Matt Lyde-Cajuste	6-05	215	F	Sr.	Mt. Vernon, N.Y. / Iona Prep
20	Brandon Triche	6-04	210	G	Sr.	Jamesville, N.Y. / Jamesville-DeWitt
21	Noel Jones	6-06	230	F	Jr.	Halifax, N.S. / Halifax Grammer School
23	Russ DeRemer	6-05	203	G	Jr.	Wrentham, Mass./Worcester Academy
25	Rakeem Christmas	6-09	242	F	So.	Philadelphia, Pa. / Academy of the New Church
32	DaJuan Coleman	6-09	288	F	Fr.	Jamesville, N.Y. / Jamesville-DeWitt
33	Albert Nassar	6-06	195	F	So.	Stuart, Fla. / South Fork
43	James Southerland	6-08	215	F	Sr.	Bayside, N.Y. / Cardozo/N. Dame Prep (Mass.)

 

Coach: Jim Boeheim 37^th year at SU: 920-313

 

Team Stats: Michigan

Player	G	GS	Min	FG	FGA	FG%	3pt	3ptA	3pt%	FT	FTA
Trey Burke	37	37	1314	251	541	.464	72	189	.381	122	151
Tim Hardaway, Jr.	36	36	1250	192	431	.445	70	181	.387	73	105
Nik Stauskas	37	31	1153	137	291	.471	79	176	.449	74	87
Glenn Robinson, III	37	37	1239	159	281	.566	23	69	.333	65	97
Mitch McGary	37	6	704	127	210	.605	0	0	.000	21	46
Jordan Morgan	34	27	560	70	120	.583	0	0	.000	21	39
Jon Horford	30	4	272	33	57	.579	0	0	.000	17	24
Caris LeVert	31	1	323	25	84	.298	11	39	.282	7	14
Spike Albrecht	37	0	285	20	48	.417	12	26	.462	9	9
Eso Akunne	18	0	51	8	26	.308	4	12	.333	1	2
Max Bielfeldt	20	0	106	9	20	.450	0	2	.000	5	12
Matt Vogrich	26	6	125	9	27	.333	5	19	.263	3	4
Corey Person	13	0	43	3	7	.429	2	3	.667	2	3
Blake McLimans	16	0	20	4	15	.267	2	11	.182	1	2
Josh Bartelstein	6	0	10	0	1	.000	0	0	.000	0	2
Totals	37	37	7455	1047	2159	.485	280	727	.385	421	597
Opponents	37	37	7455	890	2105	.423	231	715	.323	318	469
Player	FT%	F	DQ	Ast	TO	Bk	Stl	Reb	Avg	Pts	Avg
Trey Burke	.808	67	0	253	81	18	59	115	3.1	696	18.8
Tim Hardaway, Jr.	.695	70	0	84	68	17	25	166	4.6	527	14.6
Nik Stauskas	.851	23	0	50	43	9	20	113	3.1	427	11.5
Glenn Robinson, III	.670	43	0	41	29	10	39	203	5.5	406	11.0
Mitch McGary	.457	84	0	18	43	25	41	228	6.2	275	7.4
Jordan Morgan	.538	50	1	13	32	3	15	153	4.5	161	4.7
Jon Horford	.708	44	0	9	14	16	8	68	2.3	83	2.8
Caris LeVert	.500	37	0	23	8	2	5	29	0.9	68	2.2
Spike Albrecht	1.000	23	0	28	12	1	12	29	0.8	61	1.6
Eso Akunne	.500	4	0	5	1	0	0	12	0.7	21	1.2
Max Bielfeldt	.417	8	0	3	3	1	3	31	1.6	23	1.2
Matt Vogrich	.750	8	0	5	3	0	2	23	0.9	26	1.0
Corey Person	.667	4	0	2	1	0	0	1	0.1	10	0.8
Blake McLimans	.500	4	0	1	1	1	1	13	0.8	11	0.7
Josh Bartelstein	.000	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0.0	0	0.0
Team								118	3.2
Totals	.705	470	1	536	339	103	231	1302	35.2	2795	75.5
Opponents	.678	564	8	463	451	117	193	1186	32.1	2329	62.9

 

Team Stats—Syracuse

Player	G	GS	Min	FG	FGA	FG%	3pt	3ptA	3pt%	FT	FTA
C. J. Fair	39	39	1357	208	442	.471	29	61	.475	114	151
Brandon Triche	39	39	1312	181	436	.415	49	168	.292	122	164
Mchl. Carter-Williams	39	39	1373	154	388	.397	35	118	.297	129	186
Rakeem Christmas	39	39	810	85	161	.528	0	0	.000	30	51
DaJuan Coleman	24	20	305	42	96	.438	0	0	.000	30	65
James Southerland	33	10	976	159	349	.456	83	206	.403	45	57
Jerami Grant	39	9	555	52	114	.456	6	15	.400	41	73
Baye Moussa Keita	39	0	655	53	87	.609	0	0	.000	39	65
Trevor Cooney	38	0	431	46	143	.322	27	103	.262	11	15
Albert Nasser	5	0	3	1	1	1.000	1	1	1.000	0	0
Noel Jones	6	0	8	1	2	.500	0	0	.000	0	0
Matt Lyde-Cajuste	13	0	22	1	6	.167	0	3	.000	0	0
Nolan Hart	11	0	15	1	6	.167	0	3	.000	0	1
Griffin Hoffman	12	0	15	0	5	.000	0	4	.000	1	4
Russ DeRemer	11	0	13	0	2	.000	0	1	.000	0	0
Totals	39	39	7850	984	2238	.440	230	683	.337	562	832
Opponents	39	39	7850	773	2101	.368	238	843	.282	502	742
Player	FT%	F	DQ	Ast	TO	Bk	Stl	Reb	Avg	Pts	Avg
C. J. Fair	.755	60	0	28	63	41	44	272	7.0	559	14.3
Brandon Triche	.744	81	2	136	107	5	50	134	3.4	533	13.7
Mchl. Carter-Williams	.694	87	4	290	131	19	109	190	4.9	472	12.1
Rakeem Christmas	.588	99	3	8	34	72	18	178	4.6	200	5.1
DaJuan Coleman	.462	30	0	4	23	9	13	95	4.0	114	4.8
James Southerland	.789	76	2	36	38	29	49	173	5.2	446	13.5
Jerami Grant	.562	54	1	17	26	16	17	111	2.8	151	3.9
Baye Moussa Keita	.600	95	2	6	22	45	21	147	3.8	145	3.7
Trevor Cooney	.733	32	0	23	19	3	28	31	0.8	130	3.4
Albert Nasser	.000	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0.2	3	0.6
Noel Jones	.000	2	0	0	0	1	0	6	1.0	2	0.3
Matt Lyde-Cajuste	.000	0	0	1	1	2	1	4	0.3	2	0.2
Nolan Hart	.000	0	0	1	6	0	1	3	0.3	2	0.2
Griffin Hoffman	.250	1	0	0	4	0	3	1	0.1	1	0.1
Russ DeRemer	.000	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0.2	0	0.0
Team					10			154	3.9
Totals	.675	618	14	550	485	242	355	1502	38.5	2760	70.8
Opponents	.677	714	9	521	608	125	270	1357	34.8	2286	58.6

 

Schedule—Michigan

Opponent	Score
vs. Slippery Rock	100-62
vs. IUPUI TV (nit)	91-54
vs. Cleveland State (nit)	77-47
(n) Pittsburgh (nit)	67-62
(n) Kansas State (nit)	71-57
vs. No. 18 North Carolina State	79-72
at Bradley	74-66
vs. Western Michigan	73-41
vs. Arkansas	80-67
vs. Binghamton	67-39
(n) West Virginia (Brooklyn)	81-66
vs. Eastern Michigan	93-54
vs. Central Michigan	88-73
at Northwestern	94-66
vs. Iowa	95-67
vs. Nebraska	62-47
at No. 15 Ohio State	53-56
at No. 9 Minnesota	83-75
vs. Purdue	68-53
at Illinois	74-60
vs. Northwestern	68-46
at No. 3 Indiana	73-81
vs. No. 10 Ohio State	76-74 ot
at Wisconsin	62-65 ot
at Michigan State	52-75
vs. Penn State	79-71
vs. Illinois	71-58
at Penn State	78-84
vs. No. 9 Michigan State	58-57
at Purdue	80-75
vs. No. 2 Indiana	71-72
vs. Penn State (B10)	83-66
vs. No. 22 Wisconsin (B10)	59-68
vs. South Dakota State ncaa	71-56
vs. VCU ncaa	78-53
vs. No. 3 Kansas ncaa	87-85 ot
vs. No. 14 Florida ncaa	79-59

 

Schedule—Syracuse

Opponent	Score
at San Diego St. (Onboard Midway)	62-49
Wagner	88-57
Princeton	73-53
Colgate	87-51
at Arkansas (SEC/Big East)	91-82
Eastern Michigan	84-48
Long Beach St.	84-53
Monmouth	108-56
Canisius (Gotham Classic)	85-61
Detroit (Gotham Classic)	72-68
(n) Temple (MSG) (Gotham Classic)	79-83
Alcorn St. (Gotham Classic)	57-36
Central Connecticut	96-62
Rutgers	78-53
at South Florida	55-44
at Providence	72-66
Villanova	72-61
at Louisville	70-68
Cincinnati	57-55
at Villanova	71-75 ot
at Pittsburgh	55-65
Notre Dame	63-47
St. John’s	77-58
at Connecticut	58-66
at Seton Hall	76-65
Providence	84-59
Georgetown	46-57
at Marquette	71-74
Louisville	53-58
DePaul	78-57
at Georgetown	39-61
(n) Seton Hall (MSG) (BE)	75-63
(n) Pittsburgh (MSG) (BE)	62-59
(n) Georgetown (MSG) (BE)	58-55 ot
(n) Louisville (MSG (BE)	61-78
(n) Montana ncaa	81-34
(n) California ncaa	66-60
(n) Indiana ncaa	61-50
(n) Marquette ncaa	55-39

 

Vital Statistics

FG% Margin: Syracuse by 1.0%

Rebound Margin: Syracuse by 0.6

Turnover Margin: Syracuse by 0.4

R+T Margin: Syracuse by 1.7 extra possessions

SOS: Syracuse by 3.4 points per game

 

PiRate Pick: Syracuse 76  Michigan 70

 

Other: If Syracuse plays Louisville for the national title, it will be the fourth time conference opponents have faced each other in the championship game.  In 1988, Kansas beat Oklahoma in a big upset.  In 1985, Villanova beat Georgetown in an even bigger upset.  In 1976, Indiana beat Michigan to complete the last undefeated season of a national champion.

 

Michigan and Louisville or Michigan and Wichita State would continue a tradition of recent Midwest dominance in the Championship Game.  We consider Louisville and Lexington to be more Midwest than South.  There have been 11 Midwest schools in the 13 title games of the 2000’s.  There have been 9 teams from the South, 4 from the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast area, and 2 from the West.

 

The Big Ten has placed five teams in the Championship Game this century, but only one member one—Michigan State in 2000.  The Big East is 3-0 in 21^st Century National Championship Games.

PiRate Ratings NCAA Basketball Report for February 3, 2012

This week’s Low and Mid-Major Conference Teams in the RPI Top 50

  8: U N L V

16: Creighton

18: Colorado State

21: Gonzaga

22: San Diego State

28: St. Mary’s

30:WichitaState

33:Long BeachState

36:MurrayState

37: Brigham Young

38:New Mexico

47: Harvard

48: MiddleTennessee

 

This week, we look at the upper echelon of the non-power conferences, the so-called Mid-Majors.  We list seven conferences in this group that is just below the top eight leagues.

 

Colonial Athletic

1 bid only

Virginia Commonwealth made it to the Final Four last year, and George Mason has been there in recent times, but this league is down in 2012.  Only the conference tournament champion will play in the NCAA Tournament.

 

Virginia Commonwealth (10-2/19-5 RPI 94), Drexel (10-2/18-5 RPI 82), George Mason (10-2/18-6 RPI 113), and Old Dominion (10-2/15-9 RPI 130) are tied for first, well ahead of the rest of the pack.

 

Drexel may be the league’s best representative this year.  The Dragons can rebound with the power conference teams.  Samme Givens, Daryl McCoy, and Dartaye Ruffin team up for about 18 boards per game, and seven players contribute in a balanced scoring load.  Drexel holds opponents under 40% from the field.

 

Virginia Commonwealth still plays a helter-skelter style of ball, but the Rams cannot shoot the ball well.  VCU’s field goal accuracy is barely 40%.  Leading scorer Bradford Burgess shoots just 33.6% from the field.  Coach Shaka Smart has to find a way to get Juvonte Reddic the ball more.  Reddic, who averages 10.9 points per game, connects on better than 50% of his shots.

 

Horizon

1 bid with very slim chance at 2

 

Cleveland State (8-2/18-4 RPI 58) owns a double-digit win at Vanderbilt.  However, the Vikings have fallen in the RPI rankings to a point where they would need to win out and lose in the semifinals or finals of the Horizon League in order to earn an at-large bid.

 

Valparaiso (9-3/16-8 RPI 110)  is close to being as good as they were during their winning years in the early 1990’s.  However, they will not make it to the Big Dance unless they earn an automatic bid.

 

UW-Milwaukee (7-5/14-10 RPI 137), Youngstown State (7-5/12-10 RPI 147), and Butler (7-5/13-11 RPI 125) are the best of the rest. Butler appears to be in danger of missing out on post-season play this year.

 

Mid-American

1 bid only (remote chance for 2)

 

The MAC is not what it once was.  No team in the Western Division can even sniff a double digit RPI.  In the stronger Eastern Division, there are three teams that could compete in an opening round NCAA Tournament game.

 

Akron (7-1/15-7 RPI 56) is on the precipice of being an at-large bubble team.  The Zips are a balanced scoring teams with five players scoring between eight and 11 points per game. Akronis not all that strong on the boards, but the Zips shoot better than 48% from the field.

 

Ohio U (6-2/18-4 RPI 78) has a very tough closing schedule, and the Bobcats are likely to lose as many as they win from here on out.  Poor shooting will doom them in on the road.

 

Buffalo (6-2/13-6 RPI 92) holds opponents well under 40% from the field, and the Bulls can compete with anybody on the boards.  Javon McCrea and Mitchell Watt team for better than 31 points per game. Buffalomight be the most competitive of the three leaders in an opening round NCAA Tournament game.

 

Missouri Valley

2 for sure and possible 3 bids

 

The Valley is fertile in 2012.  Creighton (11-1/21-2 RPI 16) and WichitaState(10-2/19-4 RPI 30) are sure things to earn at-large bids to the Big Dance if they do not win the MVC Tournament. Northern Iowa (5-7/15-9) has the talent to pull off a conference tournament upset. 

 

Creighton has the 21^st century version of Larry Bird leading the team.  Doug McDermott averages almost 24 points per game and more than eight rebounds per game.  He connects on better than 62% of his shots, about 52% from behind the three-point line, and 82% at the foul line. 

 

The Blue Jays own wins over San Diego State and Northwestern, and they won at WichitaState.

 

Wichita State defeated UNLV, and the Shockers are a little stronger defensively than Creighton, but a little weaker offensively.

 

Mountain West

3 bids with a chance for 4

 

Even with the defection of BYU, this league is quite strong, perhaps the strongest of this group.

 

Five teams are still in contention for at-large bid status.  UNLV (5-1/21-3 RPI 8) is a sure thing.  The Runnin’ Rebels can score (80+ points per game), defend (9 steals per game and +15 scoring margin), and rebound (+5.4).  Mike Moser averages a double-double (14.7/11.6).

 

San Diego State (5-1/19-3 RPI 22) is only marginally weaker this year than last.  The Aztecs are still talented enough to advance deep into the tournament.  Coach Steve Fisher has two legitimate stars in Chase Tarpley and Jamaal Franklin.  SDSU owns wins over Arizona, California, UNLV, and Long BeachState.

 

New Mexico (4-2/18-4 RPI 38) may be the best of the top three in this league.  The Lobos can slaughter a team in a matter of minutes with deadly accurate shooting and strong defense.  Coach Steve Alford has this team playing like an oldIndianateam.  UNM defeated St. Louis, Wyoming, and ColoradoState, but there is a question about their strength of schedule.

 

Colorado State (3-3/14-7 RPI 18) and Wyoming(3-3/17-5 RPI 91) both have enough talent to win the MWC Tournament.

 

West Coast Conference

3 bids (possibly 4)

 

If the Mountain West is not the strongest Mid-Major, then this league is.  Three teams stand to make the NCAA Tournament, and if someone else can pull off the conference tournament upset, there is a chance that four could receive invitations.

 

St.Mary’s (11-0/22-2 RPI 28) continues to remain among the nation’s elite thanks to Coach Randy Bennett’s ability to recruit all over the planet.  This Gael team has the talent to make it to the Final Four.  They can score from the perimeter and in the paint.  The Gaels are accurate shooters, tenacious defenders, and tough rebounders.  They have defeated Gonzaga and already swept BYU.

 

Gonzaga (7-2/17-4 RPI 21) has defeated Notre Dame, Oral Roberts, Arizona, and Xavier this year.  The Zags lost to BYU last night.

 

BYU (7-3/19-6 RPI 37) moved to within half a game of Gonzaga.  The Cougars have four double figure scorers, led by Noah Hartsock at 17.8 points per game.

 

Western Athletic

1 or 2 bids

 

Nevada (8-0/19-3 RPI 55) is on the at-large bubble.  If the Wolf Pack wins the WAC regular season title with no more than one loss, they could sneak into the Big Dance as one of the final at-large teams if they lost in the conference tournament finals. Nevada owns a win over Washington, and they lost at UNLV by just four points.

 

New MexicoState (5-2/16-7 RPI 89) is strong enough to win the WAC Tournament and earn an automatic bid.  The Aggies will not qualify as an at-large under any circumstance this year, even though they beat New Mexico.

NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 9 Update

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

1^st 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

2^nd 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

1^st 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. 

1^st 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

1^st Round

#8 Wyoming (10-20) vs. #9 T C U (10-21)  5 PM ET 

Pac-10 Conference

Tournament Site: Los Angeles

1^st 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

1^st 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

NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 8 Update

 

The Four Newest Dance Invitees

Did you see those conference championship games last night?  Was this the Monday Night Fights or basketball?  There were more cut men and cut women than in your average boxing card.

 

When it is all or nothing for these smaller conferences, you get what we saw last night—teams playing like their lives were on the line.

 

Colonial Athletic Association

Old Dominion 70

Virginia Commonwealth 65

 

Old Dominion 27-6

 

The Monarchs are capable of making a semi-surprise run in the Big Dance.  They lead the nation in rebounding margin, and they can score points in the paint. 

 

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

St. Peter’s 62

Iona 57

 

St. Peter’s 20-13

 

The Peacocks beat Alabama earlier in the season, and their defense could keep them within striking defense in an opening round game, but we cannot see SPC advancing to the second round.

 

Southern Conference

Wofford 77

College of Charleston 67

 

Wofford 21-12

 

The Terriers finally beat the Cougars (we predicted this yesterday), and they will not roll over and play dead in the first round.  This team returns to the Dance for the second consecutive season, and they will not back down.  They may not advance, but they will not be in awe of their heavily favored first round opponent.

 

West Coast Conference

Gonzaga 75

Saint Mary’s 63

 

Gonzaga 24-9

 

This edition of Zags may not be the most talented in the Coach Mark Few era, but they are playing their best ball at the right time.  It will depend on their bracket, but this team has Sweet 16 potential.

 

Three More Invitations Go Out Tonight

By 11:15 PM Eastern Time tonight, we will know the names of three more NCAA Tournament participants.  Let’s break down these games.

 

Horizon League Championship @ 9PM ET on ESPN

Butler (22-9)  at  Milwaukee (19-12)

 

Butler defeated Cleveland State in the semifinal round Saturday evening, while Milwaukee topped Valparaiso.  During the regular season, Milwaukee swept the Bulldogs, winning 76-52 at home and 86-80 in overtime on the road.  The top-seeded Panthers host this game.

 

Both teams are red hot coming into this title match.  Milwaukee has gone 10-1 in their last 11 games, and the only loss was in the Bracketbuster to Buffalo.  Their defense is what got them here, as they shoot only 43% from the field and 65% at the foul line.

 

Three Panthers average double figures in scoring, led by Anthony Hill.  Hill averages just under 16 points per game, but he broke out with a 24-point, 11-rebound performance in the semifinal game against Valpo.  Kaylon Williams is the X-factor for Panthers.  He can score when needed, rebound with the big men, and run the offense.  He recorded a triple-double earlier in the season against Butler (10 points-10 rebounds-10 assists), and he added a double-double in the second win over the Bulldogs.

 

Butler missed Gordon Hayward even more than most experts predicted.  The Bulldogs played a tough pre-conference schedule and limped into February.  With their backs against the wall, they reeled off eight consecutive victories to get to the title game tonight.

 

Most basketball fans know Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack from last year’s team that made the surprise run to the National Championship Game.  The duo has teamed for 32 points and 6.5 rebounds per game this year.  However, it has been the emergence of 6-11 sophomore center Andrew Smith that has allowed Butler to turn things around and look like a force to be reckoned with once again.  Smith averaged 11 points per game over the second half of the season.  In the eight game winning streak, he has averaged 32 minutes per game and pulled down close to eight rebounds per game.  His 63% field goal percentage has forced defenses to stop him first, giving Howard and Mack more room to get open.  Smith was a non-factor in the two games against Milwaukee, and he is the key to tonight’s game.  If he plays 32 minutes and gets double figure points and eight rebounds, Butler will be cutting down the nets yet again.

 

Summit League Championship @ 9PM ET on ESPN2

Site: Sioux Falls, SD

Oakland (24-9)  vs. Oral Roberts (19-14)

 

If you like high-scoring, fast-paced games, you will definitely clear your schedule to view this one.  Oakland is the second best offensive team in the nation, averaging 86 points per game (92 ppg in their last 10 games).  The Grizzlies connect on close to 50% of their field goal attempts, and they tend to hit spurts where they score 10 points in two minutes.  Oral Roberts averages 81 points per game and has no qualms running with Oakland.

 

Both teams are riding major winning streaks entering tonight’s title game.  Oakland has won 17 of their last 18 games, while the Golden Eagles have won 10 in a row.  In the regular season, Oakland won both high-scoring games, but both were nail-biters that went down to the wire. 

 

Oakland has a tall and short combination that has done a lot of the damage on opponents.  6-11 center Keith Benson is the best player in the league.  Benson averages 17.7 points and 10 rebounds per game.  He showed he can do it against the big schools, as he had 17 points and 12 rebounds in a close loss to Michigan State and 26 points and 10 rebounds in a big win at Tennessee. 

 

5-11 guard Reggie Hamilton is a threat to top 20 points any night.  He is quick and can get open without help from screens.

 

Oral Roberts has a star in its own right.  Dominique Morrison averages just under 20 points per game, and he doesn’t need to heave up 25 shots per game to get those points.  Morrison shoots 51.3% from the field, 40% from behind the three-point line, and 78.4% at the foul line.  He scored 56 points in the two games against Oakland.

 

This should be a great game, and we don’t believe Oakland is that much of a favorite.  ORU has been to the Big Dance four times in the last six years, while Oakland is the defending tournament champion.  We expect the winner to top 90 points in this game, and it is too close to call.  We say Oakland has about a 54% chance and Oral Roberts a 46% chance of winning.

 

Sunbelt Conference Championship @ 7PM ET on ESPN2

Site: Hot Springs, AR

 

North Texas (22-10)  vs. U A L R (18-16)

 

On paper this looks like a mismatch, even though the teams finished one game apart in the regular season.  North Texas finished fourth in the West with an 8-8 league mark, while Little Rock finished fifth at 7-9.

 

North Texas was one of the biggest underachievers this season.  The Mean Green returned four starters from their 2010 conference champion team and were expected to win again this year with the best backcourt and one of the best frontcourts in the league.  Instead, a 3-9 swoon in the middle of the season placed them out of contention for the West crown.  Since that awful slide, UNT has recovered with five consecutive victories.

 

6-5 senior guard Tristan Thompson has led the way for the Mean Green in the tournament, scoring 80 points in the first three games.  He has done a lot of the damage at the foul line, where he is 31-35 in Hot Springs, including an unbelievable 20-20 performance in the win over top-seed Florida Atlantic.  Thompson combines a quick move to the basket with a sweet shot from outside.  Beefy forward George Odufuwa averages 11 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, and UALR has a tough matchup problem against him.

 

The Trojans dropped both regular season games to North Texas, mostly because they could not compete under the basket.  Their chance to win this game will come down to limiting possessions and trying to win 55-50.  They have won three games in the tournament by getting to the foul line and hitting foul shots, while using the clock and taking 30 seconds to shoot on most possessions.  UALR’s big star in this tournament has been senior guard Solomon Bozeman.  Like Thompson, Bozeman has gotten to the free throw line and made the most of his opportunities.  He has connected on 37 of 42 attempts including an eye-popping 19 of 22 against Middle Tennessee last night.

 

We expect a low-possession, low-scoring game.  There may be fewer than 100 field goal attempts tonight.  North Texas has been there before, while UALR has never won the Sunbelt Conference Tournament.  We think that trend will continue, but it wouldn’t surprise us if this game stays relatively close for the entire 40 minutes.  We could see North Texas winning 60-54.

 

The Other Tournaments In Action Today

 

Atlantic 10 Conference

First Round At Higher Seed Home Court

 

#9 Dayton (19-12) at #8 U Mass (15-14)  9PM ET on CBSC

#12 St. Joseph’s (9-21) at #5 George Washington (17-13)  7PM ET on CBSC

#10 LaSalle (14-17) at #7 St. Bonaventure (16-13)  5 PM ET on CBSC

#11 St. Louis (12-18) at #6 Rhode Island (18-12)  7 PM ET no TV

 

Big East Conference

Madison Square Garden in New York City

 

#16 Depaul (7-23) vs. #9 Georgetown (21-9) 12 Noon ET on ESPN2

#13 Rutgers (14-16) vs. #12 Seton Hall (13-17) Approx. 2:15 PM ET on ESPN2

#15 South Florida (9-22) vs. #10 Villanova (21-10) 7PM ET on ESPNU

#14 Providence (15-16) vs. #11 Marquette (18-13) Approx 9:15 ET on ESPNU

 

Big Sky Conference

Semifinal Round At Higher Seed Home Court

#3 Weber State (18-11) at #2 Montana (20-9)

#4 Northern Arizona (19-11) at #1 Northern Colorado (19-10)

 

Mid-American Conference

1^st Round At Higher Seed Home Court  All Games At 7PM ET

 

#10 Northern Illinois (9-20) at #7 Bowling Green (13-18)

#11 Eastern Michigan (9-21) at #6 Akron (19-12)

#9 Central Michigan (10-20) at #8 Buffalo (17-12)

#12 Toledo (4-27) at #5 Ohio U (17-14)

 

Mideastern Athletic Conference

Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, NC

 

#9 South Carolina State (9-21) vs. #8 Delaware State (9-20)  9PM ET

#10 Maryland-Eastern Shore (8-21) vs. #7 Florida A&M (12-19)  6:30 PM ET

 

Note: One more 1^st round game Wednesday plus two quarterfinal games

 

 

NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 7 Update

NCAA Tournament Qualifier #4

Congratulations to the Indiana State Sycamores, the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament champions.  ISU defeated Missouri State Sunday by a score of 60-56, giving them eight wins in their last nine games.  This Sycamore team is not to be confused with the 1979 National Finalists with some guy named Larry Bird doing a lot of the scoring, but ISU (20-13) has enough talent to pull off an upset in the first round.  The last time they were in the Big Dance, ISU upset Oklahoma 70-68 in the first round of the 2001 tourney; they lost 85-68 to Gonzaga in the next round.  The Sycamores lost by nine at Notre Dame and by 13 against Purdue, so they can compete against Top 10 teams.

 

Indiana State joins UNC-Asheville, Belmont, and Morehead State as automatic qualifiers in the NCAA Tournament.

 

Four More Teams To Enter The Dance Party Tonight

The field of automatic qualifiers doubles from four to eight tonight.  Let’s take a look at the four conference championships for Monday.

 

Colonial Athletic Association

Virginia Commonwealth (23-10)  vs. Old Dominion (26-6)

7:00 PM EST on ESPN

 

In the semifinal round, VCU upset top-seed George Mason 79-63, while Old Dominion ousted Hofstra 77-69.  Bubble teams will be cheering hard for ODU because if VCU wins, the CAA could send an extra team to the Dance.  George Mason and ODU are virtually assured at-large spots, but VCU will be College Insiders, CBI or NIT-bound if they lose tonight.

 

ODU has won eight games in a row and 12 of 13.  Big forward Frank Hassell has continued to improve and impress down below, and Notre Dame can tell you how well he plays in the postseason; ODU beat the Irish in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament.

 

VCU slumped at the end of the regular season, losing four of their final five games (and the one win was in the Bracketbuster) to fall from first to fourth.  The Rams won nine games in a row in the middle of the season, including a road victory over their opponent tonight. 

 

Forward Jamie Skeen will be the key man to watch.  If he can match or beat Hassell point-for-point and rebound-for-rebound, VCU should pull off the victory.  If Hassell wins the battle, then the Monarchs will live up to their preseason billing as best in the league. 

 

If the game comes down to the backcourt, then VCU has the superior tandem there with Bradford Burgess and Joey Rodriguez.  If the battle comes down to the rebounding game, ODU will win and maybe win by 10-20 points.

 

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

St. Peter’s (19-13)  vs.  Iona (22-10)

7:00 PM EST on ESPN2

 

St. Peter’s pulled off the big upset in this tournament, defeating #1-seed Fairfield 62-48 in yesterday’s semifinal round.  Iona slaughtered Rider 83-59 to earn their spot in the championship game.  The Gaels won their opener by 30 over Siena, so they are the clear-cut favorite tonight.

 

St. Peter’s is an experienced team.  The Peacocks’ top four players are seniors—Wesley Jenkins, Jeron Belin, Nick Leon, and Ryan Bacon.  The quartet averages a combined 45 points a game with all four averaging more than 10 points a game.  Their strongest asset is their defensive ability, and teams have a tough time scoring on SPU.  Unfortunately, the Peacocks barely top 40% shooting from the field and less than 64% at the foul line.  To win tonight, they need to connect on at least 45% of their shots and get some second chance opportunities.

 

Iona has the look of a champion.  The Gaels have won nine games in a row by an average margin of 18.6 points per game.  They swept SPU by 18 and 14 in the regular season.  Star forward Michael Glover has recorded 17 double-doubles, and the only thing that could prevent him from making it 18 tonight would be his early exit from the game due to the game being a blowout.

 

As you can surmise, we think Iona will put this game away with a big run about halfway into the opening half after a five to eight-minute period to calm the nerves.

 

Southern Conference

College of Charleston (24-9)  vs.  Wofford (20-12)

9:00 PM EST on ESPN2

 

Semifinal Scores

College of Charleston 63  Furman 58

Wofford 86  Western Carolina 72

 

The top two teams in the league meet for the third time and Charleston won the first two meetings.  The Cougars won the battle on the boards in both games and in turn took several more shots.  Andrew Goudelock was unstoppable in both games, and Wofford must do something to keep the ball out of his hands tonight and prevent him from scoring his average of 23 points per game to have a chance.

 

The Terriers are the defending SoCon Tournament champions, and they were the overwhelming pick to repeat as champions this year.  They will need a repeat of yesterday’s performance to pull off the upset.  Wofford connected on 54% of their field goals, 50% of their three-point attempts, and 80% at the foul line.  Their big three, Noah Dahlman, Jamar Diggs, and Cameron Rundles, teamed for 52 points and 16 rebounds.  Wofford also has excellent depth with three players capable of coming off the bench and scoring points and pulling down rebounds in massive numbers.

 

Charleston proved to be the better team in the regular season sweep, but we tend to believe this night will belong to Wofford.  The Terriers are playing up to their potential, while the Cougars are not. 

 

West Coast Conference

Saint Mary’s (24-7)  vs. Gonzaga (23-9)

9:00 PM EST on ESPN

 

Semifinal Round

Saint Mary’s 73  Santa Clara 64

Gonzaga 71  San Francisco 67

 

This is the game of the night.  We tend to believe both teams have done enough to punch a ticket to the tournament, but still, this will be a hard-fought rivalry game.

 

The teams split their regular season series, both winning close games on the other’s home court.  If you like offense, then this is the game for you.  Both teams routinely top 80 points per game, and both have enjoyed many nights where they shot in excess of 50% from the field.

 

Gonzaga has won eight games in a row, and the Bulldogs utilize great depth to wear down opponents.  They can go 10-deep with very little drop in talent, as no player averages over 14 points per game, and only one tops six rebounds per game. 

 

SMC relies on a trio of talented players in Mickey McConnell, Rob Jones, and Matthew Dellavedova.  They team up to average 43.3 points per game.  McConnell is one of the best outside shooters in the nation, and he is virtually automatic at the charity stripe.

 

This game is a tossup in the truest since, and we expect it to go down to the final minute for the third time this season.  They could not settle it in 40 minutes the last time they faced off, so this has to be considered a 50-50 game.  We will go with Gonzaga’s 50% chance tonight.

 

Continuing Tournaments

America East Conference

Semifinal Round

Boston U. 55  Hartford 49

Stony Brook 69  Vermont 47

 

Championship Game—Saturday, March 12@ 12 Noon on ESPN2

Stony Brook (15-16) at Boston U (20-13)

 

Northeast Conference

Semifinal Round

Long Island 69  Central Connecticut 67

Robert Morris 64  Quinnipiac 62

 

Championship Game—Wednesday, March 9 @ 7PM on ESPN2

Robert Morris (18-13) at Long Island (26-5)

 

Patriot League

Semifinal Round

Lafayette 73  American 71  2ot

Bucknell 66  Lehigh 64

 

Championship Game—Friday, March 11 @ 4:45 PM on ESPN2

Lafayette (13-18) at Bucknell (24-8)

 

Summit League

Quarterfinal Round

South Dakota State  85  I P F W  75

I U P U I  79  Missouri-KC  55 

 

Semifinal Round—Monday, March 7 @ Sioux Falls, SD

Oakland (23-9)  vs.  South Dakota State (19-11) @ 7:00 PM EST

Oral Roberts (18-14)  vs.  I U P U I (19-13) @ 9:30 PM EST

 

Sunbelt Conference

Quarterfinal Round

Western Kentucky 81  Louisiana-Lafayette 76

North Texas 78  Florida Atlantic 64

Middle Tennessee 73  Florida International 38

U A L R  59  Arkansas State 52

 

Semifinal Round—Monday, March 7 @ Hot Springs, AR

Western Kentucky (16-15)  vs. North Texas (21-10) @ 7:00 PM EST

Middle Tennessee (16-15)  vs.  U A L R (17-16) @ 9:30 PM EST

 

Coming Tomorrow: The Big Sky Conference and Horizon League Tournament Championships are decided, and four more conference tournaments begin.  Check back Tuesday afternoon for more coverage.

NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 6 Update

Congratulations To Three Champions

Three teams have punched their tickets to the Big Dance.

 

Big South Conference

UNC-Asheville 60  Coastal Carolina 47

 

UNC-Asheville 19-13

 

Atlantic Sun Conference

Belmont 87  North Florida 46

 

Belmont 30-4

 

Ohio Valley Conference

Morehead State 80  Tennessee Tech 73

 

Morehead State 24-9

 

Scores From Other Conference Tournaments

 

America East Conference

Vermont 57  Binghamton 46

Stony Brook 67  Albany 61

Boston U 69  New Hampshire 60

Hartford 66  Maine 63

 

Sunday, March 6 Semifinal Round

Vermont 23-7  vs. Stony Brook 14-16

Boston U. 19-13  vs. Hartford 11-19

 

Big Sky Conference

Weber State 79  Eastern Washington 70

Northern Arizona 65  Montana State 62

 

Tuesday, March 8 Semifinal Round

Montana 20-9  vs. Weber State 18-11

Northern Colorado 19-10  vs. Northern Arizona 19-11

 

Colonial Athletic Association

George Mason 68  Georgia State 45

Virginia Commonwealth 62  Drexel 60

Old Dominion 59  Delaware 50

Hofstra 72  William & Mary 56

 

Sunday, March 6 Semifinal Round

George Mason 26-5  vs.  Virginia Commonwealth 22-10

Old Dominion 25-6  vs. Hofstra 21-10

 

Horizon League

Butler 76  Cleveland State 68

Milwaukee 70  Valparaiso 63

 

Tuesday, March 8 Championship Game

Butler 22-9  vs. Milwaukee 19-12

 

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

Fairfield 55  Marist 31

St. Peter’s 70  Loyola (MD) 60

Rider 79  Canisius 64

Iona 94  Siena 64

 

Sunday, March 6 Semifinal Round

Fairfield 24-6  vs. St. Peter’s 18-13

Rider 23-9  vs. Iona 21-10

 

Missouri Valley Conference

Missouri State 60  Creighton 50

Indiana State 61  Wichita State 54

 

Sunday, March 6 Championship Game

Missouri State 25-7  vs. Indiana State 19-13

 

Southern Conference

Western Carolina 77 UNC-Greensboro 66

Wofford 67  Appalachian State 56

Furman 61  Chattanooga 52

College of Charleston 78  Elon 60

 

Sunday, March 6 Semifinal Round

Western Carolina 18-14  vs. Wofford 19-12

Furman 22-9  vs. College of Charleston 23-9

 

Summit League

Oakland 82  Southern Utah 66

Oral Roberts 72  North Dakota State 65

 

Sunday, March 6 Quarterfinal Round Continues

I P F W  18-11  vs. South Dakota State 18-11

I U P U I  18-13  vs. Missouri-Kansas City 16-13

 

Sunbelt Conference

Western Kentucky 66  Louisiana-Monroe 50

North Texas 83  Troy 69

Florida Int’l 53  Denver 49

U A L R  82  South Alabama 68

 

Sunday, March 6 Quarterfinal Round

Louisiana-Lafayette 14-14  vs. Western Kentucky 15-15

Florida Atlantic 21-9  vs. North Texas 20-10

Middle Tennessee 15-15  vs. Florida Int’l  11-18

Arkansas State 17-14  vs. U A L R  16-16

 

West Coast Conference

Santa Clara 76  Loyola Marymount 68

San Francisco 76  Pepperdine 59

 

Sunday, March 6 Semifinal Round

St. Mary’s 23-7  vs. Santa Clara 19-13

Gonzaga 22-9  vs. San Francisco 17-13

NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 5 Update 1

Two new conference tournaments begin today (Saturday), but more importantly the first three spots in the Big Dance Card will be filled.

 

All Times EST

Summit League Tournament

Tournament Site: Sioux Falls, SD

Saturday, March 5: Quarterfinal Round

G 1: #1 Oakland vs. #8 Southern Utah  7PM

G 2: #2 Oral Roberts vs. #7 North Dakota State 9:30 PM

 

Sunday, March 6: Quarterfinal Round

G 3 #4 I P F W vs. #5 North Dakota State 7 PM

G 4 #3 I U P U I vs. #6 Missouri-Kansas City 9:30 PM

 

Monday, March 7: Semifinal Round

G 5: G 1 Winner vs. G 3 Winner 7 PM

G 6: G 2 Winner vs. G 4 Winner  9:30 PM

 

Tuesday, March 8: Championship Game at 9PM on ESPN2

G 5 Winner vs. G 6 Winner

 

Hot Team:  Oral Roberts has won eight consecutive games by an average margin of 12.6 points per game.   This includes a key win over IUPUI that clinched the second seed.

 

Oakland enters the tournament riding a five-game winning streak.  The Golden Grizzlies won 15 of their final 16 regular season games.

 

Not Hot:  Missouri-Kansas City lost its last three games, but they were to three of the top four teams in the league.

 

Team Nobody Wants To Play: South Dakota State is only one hour from Sioux Falls, and the Jackrabbits will fill the arena.  Oakland would much rather play four-seed I P F W in the semifinals.  If SDSU wins their quarterfinal game, look for them to give Oakland fits in a semifinal match.

 

Oakland as Favorite:  The Golden Grizzlies finished 17-1 in league play, so they must be considered solid favorites.  Their lone league loss came at IUPUI, and in their 18 conference games they had a +14.2 scoring margin.    

 

Our Pick:  We will stick with the favorite to win here, even though we believe they will struggle to win their semifinal and final game.

 

 

Sunbelt Conference Tournament

Tournament Site: Hot Springs, AR (using Summit Arena and Convention Center Court)

 

Saturday, March 5: Opening Round

G 1: #3E Western Kentucky vs. #6W Louisiana-Monroe  7:45 PM (Convention Center)

G 2: #4W North Texas vs. #5E Troy  7:30 PM (Summit Arena)

G 3: #3W Denver vs. #6E Florida International  9:45 PM   (Summit Arena)

G 4: #4E South Alabama vs. #5W U A L R  10PM (Convention Center)

 

Sunday, March 6: Quarterfinal Round

G 5: G 1 Winner vs. #2W Louisiana-Lafayette  7:30 PM (Summit Arena)

G 6: G 2 Winner vs. #1E Florida Atlantic  7:45 PM (Convention Center)

G 7: G 3 Winner vs. #2E Middle Tennessee  10 PM (Convention Center)

G 8: G 4 Winner vs. #1W Arkansas State  9:45 PM (Summit Arena)

 

Monday, March 7: Semifinal Round (Summit Arena)

G 9: G 5 Winner vs. G 6 Winner  7PM

G10: G 7 Winner vs. G 8 Winner  9:30 PM

 

Tuesday, March 8: Championship Game (Summit Arena)

G11: G 9 Winner vs. G 10 Winner at 7PM on ESPN2

 

Hot Team: Louisiana-Lafayette has won 11 consecutive games, but seven of those wins were by five points or less or in overtime.  The Ragin’ Cajuns defeated both division winners in that stretch

 

Not Hot: Denver dropped from first to third when they lost their last three games and six of their final eight.  The Pioneers had won eight consecutive games in midseason, but they lost their offensive touch down the stretch.

 

Team That Nobody Wants To Play: After starting conference play 0-4, Western Kentucky righted the ship and won eight of their last 12 conference games.  The Hilltoppers greatly underachieved, and with two studs in Steffphon Pettigrew and Sergio Kerusch, WKU can beat anybody in the SBC.

 

Florida Atlantic As Favorite: The Owls started 8-0 in league play before faltering a bit down the stretch.  We do not feel strongly that FAU can win three games in three days.  In fact, we believe they will not even be around for the championship game. 

 

Our Pick: When UL-Lafayette takes on Western Kentucky in the quarterfinal round, we believe the winner of that game will upset FAU in the semifinal round and go on to win the league’s lone bid to the Dance.

 

The First Three Bids Go Out Today

 

The league championship games are on tap for Saturday.  Let’s look at the scores from Friday with the schedule for the three conference championship games.

 

Big South Conference— 4:00 PM on ESPN2

#3 UNC-Asheville (18-13) at #1 Coastal Carolina (28-4)

 

UNCA beat Charleston Southern 72-63 and High Point 62-45.  Coastal Carolina beat Gardner-Webb 83-72 and VMI 89-81

 

Atlantic Sun Conference—6:00 PM on ESPN2

Site: Macon, GA

#1 Belmont (29-4) vs. #6 North Florida (15-18)

 

Belmont defeated Kennesaw State 72-57 and Mercer 80-72.  North Florida defeated Jacksonville 68-64 and East Tennessee 59-55

 

Ohio Valley Conference—8:00 PM on ESPN2

Site: Nashville

#2 Morehead State (23-9) vs. #4 Tennessee Tech (20-11)

 

Morehead State beat Austin Peay 68-49.  Tennessee Tech beat UT-Martin 83-59 and Murray State 64-59.

 

Scores From Other Conference Tournaments

 

Colonial Athletic Association

#9 Georgia State 58  #8 UNC-Wilmington 52

#5 Drexel 75  #12 Towson  69

#7 Delaware 60  #10 Northeastern 58

#11 William & Mary 72  #6 James Madison 68

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday

#1 George Mason vs. #9 Georgia State

#4 Virginia Commonwealth vs. #5 Drexel

#2 Old Dominion vs. #7 Delaware

#3 Hofstra vs. #11 William & Mary

 

Horizon League

#3 Cleveland State 73  #6 Wright State 59

#4 Valparaiso 88  #5 Detroit 78

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday

#1 Milwaukee vs. #4 Valparaiso

#2 Butler vs. #3 Cleveland State

 

M A A C

#9 Marist 73  #8 Niagara 61

#7 Siena 68  #10 Manhattan 66 OT

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday

#1 Fairfield vs. #9 Marist

#4 St. Peter’s vs. #5 Loyola (MD)

#3 Rider vs. #6 Canisius

#2 Iona vs. #7 Siena

 

Missouri Valley

#1 Missouri State 58  #8 Southern Illinois 56

#5 Creighton 60  #4 Northern Iowa 57

#2 Wichita State 70  #10 Bradley 56

#3 Indiana State 52  #6 Evansville 50

 

Semifinal Round—Saturday

#1 Missouri State vs. #5 Creighton

#2 Wichita State vs. #3 Indiana State

 

Southern Conference

#5N UNC-Greensboro 71  #4S Davidson 64

#3N Appalachian State 65  #6S Georgia Southern 57

#3S Furman 61  #6N Samford 48

#4N Elon 85  #5S Citadel 74

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday

#1N Western Carolina vs. #5N UNC-Greensboro

#2S Wofford vs. #3N Appalachian State

#2N Chattanooga vs. #3S Furman

#1S College of Charleston vs. #4N Elon

 

West Coast Conference

#8 Loyola Marymount 72  #5 Portland 68

#6 Pepperdine 84  #7 San Diego 81

 

Quarterfinal Round—Saturday

#4 Santa Clara vs. #8 Loyola Marymount

#3 San Francisco vs. #6 Pepperdine

 

Ivy League Results (Princeton and Harvard)

Harvard 79  Penn 64

Princeton 77  Dartmouth 55

 

Princeton is now 11-1.  Harvard is now 11-2.  The two teams square off in Cambridge tonight.  If Princeton wins, the Tigers clinch the Ivy League title.  If Harvard wins, then Princeton must win at Penn Tuesday night to force a playoff for the Ivy League title.

NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 4 Update

Three more conference tournaments begin Friday, making it 11 tournaments in action.  The MAAC, Southern Conference, and West Coast Conference tournaments get underway.  

 

All Times EST

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament

Tournament Site: Bridgeport, CT

Friday, March 4: Opening Round

G 1: #8 Niagara (9-22) vs. #9 Marist (5-26)

G 2: #7 Siena (12-17) vs. #10 Manhattan (6-24)

 

Saturday, March 5: Quarterfinal Round

G 3: G 1 Winner vs. #1 Fairfield (23-6)

G 4: #4 St. Peter’s (17-13) vs. Loyola (Chi) (15-14)

G 5: G 2 Winner vs. #2 Iona (20-10)

G 6: #3 Rider (22-9) vs. #6 Canisius (15-14)

 

Sunday, March 6: Semifinal Round

G 7: G3 Winner vs. G 4 Winner

G 8: G 5 Winner vs. G 6 Winner

 

Monday, March 7: Championship Game At 7 PM on ESPN2

G 7 Winner vs. G 8 Winner

 

Hot Team: It depends on how you look at it.  Rider won their last five games, seven of their final eight, and 10 of their last 12.  Included in this was a road win at top seed Fairfield.

 

Iona won their final seven games including a victory over Fairfield as well.

 

Fairfield, prior to the season-ending loss to Iona had won five in a row and 12 of 13.

 

Not Hot: St. Peter’s was 9-3 in conference play and ended up 11-7 with an extra loss in the Bracketbuster.

 

Team Nobody Wants To Play: The obvious choice here is top-seeded Fairfield.  The Stags don’t get to play in their home gym, but they do get to play in their home town.

 

Fairfield as Favorite:  We are inclined to go against the Stags here, but not by much.  Iona and Rider should meet in the semifinals, and the winner of that game has a 50-50 chance of besting Fairfield in the final.

 

Our Pick:  Let’s go with the hottest team that has shown an ability to put away opponents quickly.  We’ll pick Iona to win in a mild upset.

 

 

Southern Conference Tournament

Tournament Site: Chattanooga, TN

 

Friday, March 4: Opening Round

G 1: #4S Davidson (17-13) vs. #5N UNC-Greensboro (6-23)

G 2: #3N Appalachian State (15-14) vs. #6S Georgia Southern (5-26)

G 3: #3S Furman (20-9) vs. #6N Samford (12-18)

G 4: #4N Elon (13-16) vs. #5S Citadel (10-21)

 

Saturday, March 5: Quarterfinal Round

G 5: G 1 Winner vs. #1N Western Carolina (17-14)

G 6: G 2 Winner vs. #2S Wofford (18-12)

G 7: G 3 Winner vs. #2N Chattanooga (16-15)

G 8: G 4 Winner vs. #1S College of Charleston (22-9)

 

Sunday, March 6: Semifinal Round

G 9: G 5 Winner vs. G 6 Winner

G10: G 7 Winner vs. G 8 Winner

 

Monday, March 7: Championship Game at 9:00 PM on ESPN2

G 9 Winner vs. G 10 Winner

 

Hot Team: Wofford won their final five regular season games by an average of 15.8 points per game.  Included in that run was an incredible 39 point win at Chattanooga, the host team for this tournament. 

 

Davidson closed with nine wins in their last ten games.  This includes an 11-point win over College of Charleston, a 14-point win over Chattanooga, and a nine-point win at Wofford.

 

Not Hot: After winning seven in a row, top-seeded College of Charleston dropped its last two games, allowing Wofford to tie them for the South Division title. 

 

Team Nobody Wants To Play: Chattanooga is the host team, and the Mocs are a much better team at home. 

 

College of Charleston as Favorite: C of C is not a heavy favorite.  In fact, we would classify the Cougars as a co-favorite at best. 

 

Our Pick: Wofford is a team on a mission.  The Terriers came close last year, and they have the horses to win three games in three days.  Forward Noah Dahlman can take over a game at both ends of the court.

 

West Coast Conference Tournament

Tournament Site: Las Vegas

 

Friday, March 4: Opening Round

G 1: #5 Portland (20-10) vs. #8 Loyola Marymount (10-20)

G 2: #6 Pepperdine (11-20) vs. #7 San Diego (6-23)

 

Saturday, March 5: Quarterfinal Round

G 3: G 1 Winner vs. #4 Santa Clara (18-13)

G 4: G 2 Winner vs. #3 San Francisco (16-13)

 

Sunday, March 6: Semifinal Round

G 5: G 3 Winner vs. #1 St. Mary’s (23-7)

G 6: G 4 Winner vs. #2 Gonzaga (22-9)

 

Monday, March 7: Championship Round at 9:00 PM on ESPN

G 5 Winner vs. G 6 Winner

 

Hot Team: Gonzaga is peaking at the right time.  The Bulldogs won their last seven games by an average of 19 points a game.  Six of their nine losses were to quality teams.

 

Not Hot: St. Mary’s lost three games in a row before topping Portland in their regular season finale.  Of course, two of those losses were to Utah State and Gonzaga.

 

Team Nobody Wants To Play: Portland was not expected to win 20 regular season games again after losing so much to graduation, but the Pilots cannot be dismissed.  They could easily upset Santa Clara in the Quarterfinal Round, and then St. Mary’s will have to worry about an upset in the Semifinal Round.

 

St. Mary’s as Favorite: We don’t consider the Gaels the favorite in this tournament.  Gonzaga is clearly the better team at this point of the season.  GU’s path to the Championship Game will be easier than SMU’s.

 

Our Pick: Coach Mark Few has the Bulldogs playing their best at the right time.  We believe Gonzaga is the prohibitive favorite in this tournament.

 

Thursday’s Tournament Game Scores

 

America East Conference

#8 Binghamton 91  #9 Maryland-Baltimore Co. 65

 

Binghamton advances to take on top-seed Vermont when the Quarterfinal round commences Saturday.

 

Atlantic Sun Conference

#5 Mercer 73  #4 Lipscomb 63

#6 North Florida 68  #3 Jacksonville 64

 

The lower seeds won both games on Thursday.  Mercer, the host team, now advances to the Semifinal round to face top-seed Belmont, while North Florida takes on East Tennessee.

 

Big South Conference

#3 UNC-Asheville 62  #7 High Point 45

#1 Coastal Carolina  89  #4 V M I  81

 

Coastal Carolina hosts UNCA for the automatic bid at 4 PM Saturday.

 

Missouri Valley Conference

#8 Southern Illinois  57  #9 Illinois State  54

#10 Bradley 63  #7 Drake  48

 

Southern Illinois moves on to face top-seed Missouri State, while the last place seed Bradley faces number two seed Wichita State.

 

#4 Northern Iowa faces #5 Creighton, and #3 Indiana State faces #6 Evansville in the other quarterfinal games.

 

Northeast Conference

#1 Long Island  90  #8 St. Francis (PA)  75

#4 Central Connecticut State  64  #5 St. Francis (NY)  62

#2 Quinnipiac  78  #7 Mount St. Mary’s  59

#3 Robert Morris  78  #6 Wagner  74

 

LIU hosts CCSU and Quinnipiac hosts Robert Morris in the Semifinal round Sunday.

 

Ohio Valley Conference

#4 Tennessee Tech  83  #8 UT-Martin 59

#3 Austin Peay  76  #7 Southeast Missouri 60

 

Tennessee Tech brings a six-game winning streak into their semifinal match with top-seed Murray State.  Austin Peay faces Morehead State in the other semifinal game Friday night.

NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments–March 3 Update

We add three more conference tournaments to the active list today.  The America East,  Missouri Valley, and Northeast Conference tournaments commence; this brings the active tournament list to eight.

 

All Times EST

America East Conference Tournament

Tournament Site: 1^st Three Rounds at Hartford, CT

Championship Game Played On Home Court Of Higher Seeded Finalist

Thursday, March 3: Opening Round

G 1: #8 Maryland-Baltimore County (5-24) vs. #9 Binghamton (7-22)

 

Saturday, March 5: Quarterfinal Round

G 2: MD-Balt. Co./Binghamton Winner vs. #1 Vermont (22-7)

G 3: #4 Albany (16-15) vs. #5 Stony Brook (13-16)

G 4: #2 Boston U (18-13) vs. #7 New Hampshire (12-17)

G 5: #3 Maine (15-14) vs. #6 Hartford (10-19)

 

Sunday, March 6: Semifinal Round

G 6: G 2 Winner vs. G 3 Winner

G 7: G 4 Winner vs. G 5 Winner

 

Saturday, March 12: Championship Game

G 6 Winner vs. G 7 Winner at Higher Seed at 12 Noon on ESPN2

 

Hot Team: Boston U has won eight games in a row by an average of 12.1 points per game.  Included in that streak is a road win at top seed Vermont.  The Terriers swept the Catamounts this year and may have to make it three out of three to get to the Big Dance.

 

Not Hot: The bottom three seeds enter tournament play coming off multiple game losing streaks, but the big news here is that Vermont dropped its last two games after winning the previous ten in a row.

 

Team Nobody Wants To Play: Stony Brook underachieved all season.  Expected to contend for the conference title, the Seawolves finished a disappointing 8-8 in league play.  Stony Brook would have won three or four more conference games had Tommy Brenton not suffered a knee injury before the season began.

 

Vermont as Favorite:  The Catamounts have an easy quarterfinal game, but they will be in for a rough game in the semifinals.  If they win there, they may have to face Boston U for a third time after losing twice to the Terriers.  We do not consider Vermont as the clear-cut favorite in this tournament; in fact, we believe that Boston U, Maine, and Albany are almost co-favorites with the Catamounts.   

 

Our Pick:  We like Maine to upset the top two seeds and steal the automatic bid.  The Black Bears play competently on the road, and they have the best offense in the league.

 

Missouri Valley Conference

(Arch Madness)

Tournament Site: St. Louis

 

Thursday, March 3: Opening Round

G 1: #8 Southern Illinois (12-18) vs. #9 Illinois State (12-18)

G 2: #7 Drake (13-17) vs. #10 Bradley (11-19)

 

Friday, March 4: Quarterfinal Round

G 3: G 1 Winner vs. #1 Missouri State (23-7)

G 4: #4 Northern Iowa (19-12) vs. #5 Creighton (18-13)

G 5: G 2 Winner vs. #2 Wichita State (23-7)

G 6: #3 Indiana State (17-13) vs. #6 Evansville (15-14)

 

Saturday, March 5: Semifinal Round

G 7: G 3 Winner vs. G 4 Winner

G 8: G 5 Winner vs. G 6 Winner

 

Sunday, March 6: Championship

G 7 Winner vs. G 8 Winner at 2:00 PM on CBS

 

Hot Team: Missouri State won their last six conference games and lost only the bracketbuster game at Valparaiso in that time frame.

 

Not Hot: Northern Iowa was in contention for an at-large bid at 18-6 when the Panthers lost at Drake.  NIU concluded the regular season losing six of seven games.

 

Team Nobody Wants To Play: Missouri State may be the top seed, but Wichita State has performed much better on the road this year.

 

Missouri State as Favorite: The Bears are on a roll, but they cannot be considered a prohibitive favorite.  This league has several teams talented enough to advance to the NCAA Tournament.  Even #10 Seed Bradley is capable of winning this tournament.  The Braves won five of their final eight games.

 

Our Pick: Wichita State has a strong defense, plus what we think is the easier path to the Championship Game than Missouri State.  Northern Iowa knows they must win the tournament to gain re-admittance to the Big Dance.  A prospective semifinal match between UNI and MSU could be one of those memorable games that drain the winner and leave them with little left in the tank for the Championship Game.  We’ll pick the Shockers.

 

Northeast Conference

All Games Played At Home Court Of Higher Seed

 

Thursday, March 3: Quarterfinal Round

G 1: #8 St Francis (PA) (9-20) at #1 Long Island (24-5)

G 2: #5 St. Francis (NY) (15-14) at #4 Central Connecticut State (18-11)

G 3: #7 Mount St. Mary’s (11-20) at #2 Quinnipiac (21-8)

G 4: #6 Wagner (13-16) at #3 Robert Morris (16-13)

 

Sunday, March 6: Semifinal Round

(Tournament Re-seeds after Quarterfinals

Lowest Remaining Seed at Highest Remaining Seed

2^nd Lowest Remaining Seed at 2^nd Highest Remaining Seed

 

Wednesday, March 9: Championship Game

Semifinal Winners Meet At Higher Seed’s Home Court At 7:00 PM on ESPN2

 

Hot Team: How about four hot teams?  LIU won their last ten games and 18 of their final 19.  Quinnipiac won nine of their final ten, losing only at LIU.  Robert Morris won their final six games by an average of 11 points per game.  St. Francis (NY) won their final four games after losing two close games to LIU.

 

Not Hot: Central Connecticut had a shot at second place until they lost their last three games.  The Blue Devils had been hot in the middle of the schedule, winning 13 of 15 games.

 

Team That Nobody Wants To Play: Robert Morris is the two-time defending conference tournament champion,  and in Karon Abraham, they have a sharpshooter that can light it up when he is on.  Can he be on for three straight games?  We think not.

 

Long Island as Favorite: The Blackbirds can score as ably as any team in the nation, and they won 13 of 16 games away from home.  They are decided favorites in this tournament, and they know they will be confined to the NIT if they do not secure an automatic bid.

 

Our Pick: The NEC re-seeds the brackets after the first round (think NFL playoffs), so LIU will could conceivably play the #8, #7, and #6 seeds to get to the NCAA Tournament.  Regardless of whether they play the top teams or the bottom teams, they will play at home as long as they stay alive.  We do not see much opportunity for an upset, as LIU has a dominating inside presence with Julian Boyd and Jamal Olasewere.

 

Tournaments Underway

 

Atlantic Sun Conference

#1 Belmont 72  #8 Kennesaw State 57

#2 East Tennessee 54  #7 Campbell 53

 

The quarterfinal round continues Thursday as #3 Jackonsville plays #6 North Florida, and #4 Lipscomb plays the host team in #5 Mercer.

 

Ohio Valley Conference

#8 UT-Martin  68  #5 Tennessee State 64

#7 Southeast Missouri 65  #6 Eastern Kentucky 49

 

The Quarterfinal round begins Thursday night as #3 Austin Peay takes on #7 Southeast Missouri and #4 Tennessee Tech faces #8 UT-Martin.  The top two seeds, Murray State and Morehead State get a second bye into the Semifinal round.

 

Patriot League

#1 Bucknell  78  #8 Army  51

#2 American 69  #7 Colgate 53

#6 Lafayette 77  #3 Holy Cross 70

#4 Lehigh  87  #5 Navy 75

 

The Semifinal Round is Sunday with Bucknell hosting Lehigh and American hosting Lafayette.