Tourney Central 3/7/2008 (Day 4)
Bullet Points
- There was an upset in the Atlantic Sun quarters, as No. 6 Gardner-Webb routed No. 3 Stetson.
- The Big South final is set: UNC Asheville and Winthrop, the league's top two seeds. The game will be played Saturday.
- In the MVC first round, No. 8 Indiana State and No. 7 Missouri State advanced to play top seeds Drake and Illinois State, respectively.
- The Northeast Conference quarters went as planned; all four top seeds advanced.
- It's First Round Friday -- or "Pillowfight Friday," if you prefer -- in several leagues tonight. These leagues will hold play-in games while their top seeds look on: the CAA, Metro Atlantic, the SoCon, America East and WCC.
- The Atlantic Sun and Ohio Valley semifinals play out tonight, in advance of championship games tomorrow. The Missouri Valley continues with a quarterfinal round in St. Louis, and the Horizon League will hold its second round at Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Brackets
Atlantic Sun
Gardner-Webb trailed by 11 with 4:34 remaining in the first half, but went on to score 54 points in the second to run away with the upset win. Lipscomb, the host school, played from behind the entire game and their comeback fell short against ETSU. No host has won this tournament since 2001 (Georgia State).
[6] Gardner-Webb 82, [3] Stetson 63 | GameFlo
[4] East Tennessee State 81, at [5] Lipscomb 74 | GameFlo
Big South
Kenny George had his fifth double-double of the season (19 and 11) to lead UNCA to its first title game in five years. Winthrop will participate in its fourth consecutive championship final; Michael Jenkins had 14 points in the win. Arizona Reid, the reigning MMBOW, scored 21 in his final collegiate game.
at [1] North Carolina-Asheville 75, [4] Liberty 57 | GameFlo
[2] Winthrop 61, [3] High Point 53 | GameFlo
Northeast
Robert Morris needed a late 17-3 run to survive Monmouth. Wagner also used a late push, burying LIU in free throws 11-4 down the final stretch. Sacred Heart shot 55 percent in their victory, and Mount St. Mary's dominated Quinnipiac, scoring the first 13 points of the ballgame and cruising to an easy win.
at [1] Robert Morris 64, [8] Monmouth 50 | GameFlo
at [2] Wagner 71, [7] Long Island 62 | GameFlo
at [3] Sacred Heart 84, [6] Central Connecticut State 71 | GameFlo
at [4] Mount Saint Mary`s 80, [5] Quinnipiac 70 | GameFlo
Missouri Valley
Indiana State won a play-in game for the fourth straight year, and Wichita State's 11-20 record is only its third 20-loss record in school history. Missouri State rolled in the late contest.
[7] Missouri State 69, [10] Evansville 46 | GameFlo
[8] Indiana State 71, [9] Wichita State 67 | GameFlo
On Tap Tonight
Ohio Valley
No. 6 Tennessee State is a dangerous seed indeed, having topped tonight's semifinal opponent within the past month. Austin Peay will need to find a way to stop UTM's Lester Hudson, just recently named OVC Player of the Year.
7:00 pm ET - [1] Austin Peay 22-10 (16-4) vs. [4] Tennessee-Martin 17-15 (11-9) | Preview
Recent: 01/17/2008 TENNM 71 @APSU 86 01/03/2008 APSU 90 @TENNM 85 
9:00 pm ET - [6] Tennessee State 14-16 (10-10) vs. [2] Murray State 18-12 (13-7) | Preview
Recent: 02/14/2008 MURR 70 @TSU 75 01/05/2008 TSU 88 @MURR 92
Atlantic Sun
Tonight's 1-4 semifinal is a rematch of last year's final, when the No. 2 seeded Bruins flattened ETSU on the way to the championship. The other semifinal is the Artis Gilmore Classic; the 7-2 legend played for both schools back in the Seventies.
7:00 pm ET - [6] Gardner-Webb 16-15 (9-7) vs. [3] Jacksonville 17-12 (12-4) | Preview
Recent: 02/02/2008 GWEBB 62 @JAX 75 01/25/2007 JAX 64 @GWEBB 59
9:15 pm ET - [4] East Tennessee State 19-12 (11-5) vs. [1] Belmont 23-8 (14-2) | Preview
Recent: 02/14/2008 BELM 87 @ETSU 75 01/17/2008 ETSU 83 @BELM 86
Horizon League
It's the second round in the HL. North Side (Loyola) versus South Side (UIC) -- who you got, Chicago? The 3-6 game features a rematch of last weekend's ESPN2 game at Valpo that sent Wright into No. 2 seed position after spending most of the year in second place.
6:00 pm ET - [6] Valparaiso 20-12 (9-9) vs. [3] Wright State 21-9 (12-6) | Preview
Recent: 03/01/2008 WRIG 73 @VALPO 75 12/06/2007 VALPO 71 @WRIG 66
8:00 pm ET - [4] Illinois-Chicago 17-14 (9-9) vs. [8] Loyola (Ill.) 12-18 (6-12) | Preview
Recent: 02/09/2008 UIC 60 @LOYO 55 01/12/2008 LOYO 68 @UIC 78
Missouri Valley
Today's quarterfinal game schedule will be severely altered if Bradley and Creighton relive their double-overtime classic from last weekend. Drake and Illinois State will play weary low seeds, while Southern Illinois will continue its push to an automatic bid that seemed impossibly far away just two months ago.
1:05 pm ET - [8] Indiana State 15-15 (8-10) vs. [1] Drake 25-4 (15-3) | Preview
Recent: 02/02/2008 DRAKE 83 @INDST 77 01/09/2008 INDST 50 @DRAKE 75
3:35 pm ET - [5] Bradley 17-14 (9-9) vs. [4] Creighton 20-9 (10-8) | Preview
Recent: 03/01/2008 BRAD 110 @CREI 111 02/16/2008 CREI 59 @BRAD 87
7:05 pm ET - [7] Missouri State 17-15 (8-10) vs. [2] Illinois State 22-8 (13-5) | Preview
Recent: 02/13/2008 MOST 57 @ILLST 69 02/02/2008 ILLST 64 @MOST 63
9:35 pm ET - [6] Northern Iowa 17-13 (9-9) vs. [3] Southern Illinois 17-13 (11-7) | Preview
Recent: 02/20/2008 UNI 47 @SIU 67 02/02/2008 SIU 63 @UNI 68
Colonial
This day is always for the diehards, a full day of scrappy hoops that always produces a surprise or two. Watch out for Georgia State, a team that's been known to amp up its energy on this day and produce a low-seed run. GSU beat W&M last year in the 8-9 game.
12:00 pm ET - [9] Towson 12-17 (7-11) vs. [8] Hofstra 12-17 (8-10) | Preview
Recent: 02/20/2008 TOWS 67 @HOFS 81 01/30/2008 HOFS 51 @TOWS 60
2:30 pm ET - [12] Georgia State 9-20 (5-13) vs. [5] William & Mary 14-15 (10-8) | Preview
Recent: 01/12/2008 CWM 60 @GSU 58 03/02/2007 GSU 70 CWM 68
6:00 pm ET - [10] Drexel 12-19 (5-13) vs. [7] Delaware 13-16 (9-9) | Preview
Recent: 02/16/2008 DREX 62 @DEL 60 01/05/2008 DEL 67 @DREX 63
8:30 pm ET - [11] James Madison 13-16 (5-13) vs. [6] Northeastern 13-16 (9-9) | Preview
Recent: 12/01/2007 JMU 68 @NU 65 02/10/2007 NU 67 @JMU 64
Metro Atlantic
With the stratified state of the MAAC, this will be a great day to check up on the league's rebuilding projects. None of the coaches participating have been with their programs for more than two seasons.
7:30 pm ET - [9] Saint Peter's 6-23 (3-15) vs. [8] Manhattan 11-18 (5-13) | Preview
Recent: 02/03/2008 MANH 68 @SPC 78 12/07/2007 SPC 62 @MANH 65
10:00 pm ET - [10] Canisius 5-24 (2-16) vs. [7] Iona 12-19 (8-10) | Preview
Recent: 02/18/2008 IONA 57 @CANI 52 02/08/2008 CANI 59 @IONA 66
Southern
Bobby Cremins and Charleston show up on this year's Low Seed Day after pushing Davidson in last year's final. They'll take on The Citadel for the third time in what's become a very faded city rivalry.
3:00 pm ET - [9] Western Carolina 10-20 (6-14) vs. [8] Wofford 15-15 (8-12) | Preview
Recent: 02/28/2008 WOFF 57 @WCU 62 01/26/2008 WCU 73 @WOFF 83
5:15 pm ET - [10] Furman 7-22 (6-14) vs. [7] Elon 11-18 (9-11) | Preview
Recent: 01/12/2008 ELON 60 @FURM 58 12/01/2007 FURM 61 @ELON 66
7:30 pm ET - [11] The Citadel 6-23 (1-19) vs. [6] College of Charleston 14-16 (9-11) | Preview
Recent: 02/04/2008 CITA 48 @COFC 63 01/14/2008 COFC 69 @CITA 46
America East
At the Mid-Majority Events Center in Binghamton this evening, the bottom two seeds have the stage to themselves. Stony Brook dominated this series, so you might see Wolfie again on quarterfinal day.
7:00 pm ET - [8] Stony Brook 6-22 (3-13) vs. [9] Maine 7-22 (3-13) | Preview
Recent: 02/23/2008 STONY 56 @UME 51 01/06/2008 UME 59 @STONY 75
West Coast
The games played tonight are two levels removed from the top seeds in a bracket structure vaguely reminiscent of Mike Tyson's Punch Out. Tonight's Glass Joes will battle it out in the Minor Circuit for a spot in the World Circuit this weekend, and are more than likely not to get their Dream Fight in the 2008 NCAA's.
9:00 pm ET - [8] Loyola Marymount 5-25 (2-12) vs. [5] (name redacted) 9-20 (5-9) | Preview
Recent: 03/01/2008 LMU 79 @SF 88 02/04/2008 SF 67 @LMU 72
11:00 pm ET - [7] Portland 9-21 (3-11) vs. [6] Pepperdine 10-20 (4-10) | Preview
Recent: 02/11/2008 PEPP 71 @PORT 66 01/12/2008 PORT 82 @PEPP 78
| Season 4 (2007-08) Tourney Central 2008 |
