The Mid-Majority

The Diff: Round One, Day One

2010-03-18T12:27:33Z

We do this every year around this time, and here again are the differences in athletic and basketball budgets between the teams in today's mid-versus-notso games. Our Red Line that separates those above and us here below is based on average athletic budgets, and teams in the Upper 8 beat the Other 24 a full 85 percent of the time.

So money is very important in this sport. Money is what makes conferences "power conferences," because money is power. Money is what lets programs retain their overachieving head coaches, travel the world recruiting the best players available, and build facilities that will help them compete. When the low seeds face off against the big boys today, remember what they're up against: cash, baby. All figures from the U.S. Department of Education.

[11] Old Dominion vs. [6] Notre Dame - 12:25 pm
South (Houston) Region - New Orleans, LA
Athletic ODU: $17,974,306 ND: $60,117,476 ($43m diff/28% of ND's)
Men's Basketball ODU: $2,229,772 ND: $3,908,815 ($1m diff/67% of ND's)

[15] Robert Morris vs. [2] Villanova - 12:30 pm
South (Houston) Region - Providence, RI
Athletic RMU: $10,647,726 NOVA: $23,925,128 ($13m diff/43% of NOVA's)
Men's Basketball RMU: $1,167,353 NOVA: $4,930,726 ($3m diff/25% of NOVA's)

[13] Murray State vs. [4] Vanderbilt - 2:30 pm
West (Salt Lake City) Region - San Jose, CA
Athletic MURR: $11,176,152 VAND: $45,521,856 ($34m diff/24% of VAND's)
Men's Basketball MURR: $1,302,125 VAND: $7,495,815 ($6m diff/14% of VAND's)

]]> [15] North Texas vs. [2] Kansas State - 2:40 pm
West (Salt Lake City) Region - Oklahoma City, OK
Athletic NTEX: $15,762,952 KSU: $40,409,152 ($25m diff/38% of KSU's)
Men's Basketball NTEX: $1,379,201 KSU: $4,837,418 ($3m diff/25% of KSU's)

[14] Sam Houston State vs. [3] Baylor - 2:45 pm
South (Houston) Region - New Orleans, LA
Athletic SAMH: $7,884,584 BAY: $44,151,764 ($37m diff/16% of BAY's)
Men's Basketball SAMH: $669,382 BAY: $3,356,126 ($2.4m diff/20% of BAY's)

[12] Texas-El Paso vs. [5] Butler - 4:45 pm
West (Salt Lake City) Region - San Jose, CA
Athletic BUTL: $10,595,162 UTEP: $22,598,732 ($12m diff/46% of UTEP's)
Men's Basketball BUTL: $1,803,345 UTEP: $3,036,404 ($2m diff/60% of UTEP's)

[9] Northern Iowa vs. [8] UNLV - 7:10 pm
Midwest (St. Louis) Region - Oklahoma City, OK
Athletic UNI: $14,180,945 UNLV: $32,352,836 ($18m diff/44% of UNLV's)
Men's Basketball UNI: $1,543,869 UNLV: $3,550,110 ($2m diff/33% of UNLV's)

[16] East Tennessee State vs. [1] Kentucky - 7:15 pm
East (Syracuse) Region - New Orleans, LA
Athletic ETSU: $5,185,600 UK: $67,795,056 ($62m diff/7% of UK's)
Men's Basketball ETSU: $978,100 UK: $8,584,145 ($7m diff/11% of UK's)

[14] Ohio vs. [3] Georgetown - 7:25 pm
Midwest (St. Louis) Region - Providence, RI
Athletic OHIO: $20,448,176 GU: $28,956,476 ($8m diff/71% of GU's)
Men's Basketball OHIO: $1,432,379 GU: $7,912,606 ($6m diff/14% of GU's)

[16] Lehigh vs. [1] Kansas - 9:30 pm
Midwest (St. Louis) Region - Oklahoma City, OK
Athletic LEH: $21,860,748 KU: $65,707,112 ($44m diff/32% of KU's)
Men's Basketball LEH: $823,248 KU: $9,386,335 ($8.5m diff/8% of KU's)

[14] Montana vs. [3] New Mexico - 9:40 pm
East (Syracuse) Region - San Jose, CA
Athletic UMT: $13,525,237 NM: $28,806,308 ($15m diff/46% of NM's)
Men's Basketball UMT: $1,232,754 NM: $3,888,141 ($2m diff/33% of NM's)

A Day for Dreaming

2010-03-17T19:58:57Z

It's the Wednesday before the Thursday of the Tournament, a day for hopes and dreams and wishes. Today, we're all still believing that the impossible will become possible. Every time we play the games in our heads, those teen seeds from one-bid leagues always seem to find a way to pull out wins in the end. This is a day for "well, if this happens, and that happens, and we stay out of foul trouble, then mayybe..."

As you probably know, Beth Ann Cosgrave and I wrote a book about this very day! We did it with the help of some friends, too. It's called Bally's Dream, and we'd like to dedicate it to Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Vermont, Lehigh and East Tennessee State, the No. 16 seeds who will be attempting to make history over the next two days.

Click on the pages to turn them!

And it's available for purchase! (Buying a copy helps kids, too.) We are sold out of our first run of the paperback, but another big box was ordered today. (In other words, please allow 1-2 weeks for delivery.) I've been getting messages about paperbacks arriving in happy places all across Hoops Nation, but my apologies to anyone who didn't receive it yet. It's coming, it's coming!

I just got word last night that the hardcover, on the other hand, was held up at the printer. It will be another 1-2 weeks for those to be delivered, but by that time the Tournament (or at least Season 6) will be over. So if you preordered, please watch your e-mail box for a list of options. We will make it right, and I humbly apologize for an unforseen mixup that was, ultimately, out of our control.

An important order of business! Dina S. from Charlotte won the drawing among preorderers for Bally No. 99. Congratulations, Dina! Your new orange friend will be along soon, yes!

To all, please enjoy this anticipatory day to the fullest... the feeling won't last forever. The next few days will be full of heartbreak, unmet expectations and missed chances -- but with a few moments of victory mixed in to remind us all of the possibilities. Right now, though, all 25 Tournament dreams are alive, and each team has a chance.

Mid-Majority Tournament Chat Block No. 3

2010-03-17T16:59:42Z

Tournament Chat Block No. 3

Due to unpopular demand, we are holding one-hour Chat Blocks every day this week. Here's the schedule (all times EDT): Monday at 3 pm, Tuesday at 2 pm, Wednesday at 1 pm, Thursday and Friday at 5 pm.

And don't forget about our bracket contest!

P.I.G. Party 2010

2010-03-17T03:58:10Z

DAYTON, Ohio -- Just the word "playoffs" tightens heart muscles, bates breaths, causes sleepless and nervous palpitations. Fans can't wait for the fun to begin. In the professional ranks of American-Style Football, "wild card weekend" is the start of a month of lost weekends. ALDS and NLCS and conference quarterfinals... this is the terminology of anticipation.

At the NCAA Tournament, not so much. Because of the airport handshakes that split the Mountain West from the WAC a decade ago, the first day of the Big Dance is not Thursday but Tuesday. There's an extra game necessary to break 65 down to 64, and this is the true first day of the playoffs. This Play-In Game, this P.I.G., is supposed to be an explosion of excitement, the first day of March Madness, the kickoff of the fourth and final chapter of our beautiful season.

"Be honest with me," I said to University of Dayton SID Doug Hauschild, who oversees media at the 10-year-old event. "Other than the locals, and the folks from Winthrop and Arkansas-Pine Bluff, how many out-of-town journalists are here today?"

"There's an AP radio guy from Cincinnati, I don't know if you'd count him," Doug replied. "But really, you're it."

So I feel a strong obligation to share the story of Arkansas-Pine Bluff's historic and groundbreaking NCAA win over Winthrop, because, apparently, no other faraway media felt this game was important enough to make the trip to watch it.

]]>

***

This is the 10th NCAA Play-In Game. (There is no commemorative logo merchandise to celebrate this fact.) This was my fifth. And it was the second Mid-Majority P.I.G. Party, held at the South Park Tavern in Dayton. This is where people come and enjoy Dayton-style pizza, beverages, and put all their Ballys together for a big orange reunion.

The owner of the SPT is Bill Daniels, who was immortalized in this ESPN.com column three years ago as the pioneer of the Opening Round movement. He first brought 20 friends to the P.I.G. in 2004. This year, he had a block of over 1,000 seats reserved, and boxes of his famous "DAYTON FANS SAY: GO [64/65] SEED" signs. The posters had a slightly different message this time, because he was able to get them to the printer and back before Tuesday. On each side, Go Arkansas-Pine Bluff! Or Go Winthrop!

"I picked yellow because it's a team color of both schools," Bill would tell me later.

When I'd arrived at the Tavern at 5:30 pm, the P.I.G. Party was in full swing. Bill pulled me aside. I knew what he was going to say, I was ready for it.

"I read what you wrote last December," he said. "All I can say is that I'm really sorry that you got bad service that night."

I could tell that he was hurt. I tried to explain that I was just calling it as I saw it, and that I wanted to say something larger about Dayton as a place, not send his restaurant into bankruptcy with a bad review.

"No, I got it," said Bill. "It was a weird night, two days before Christmas, and there was a lot of stuff going on." Then he smiled. "I want to make sure you know we have a high batting average."

Everything about the South Park Tavern was incredible on Tuesday, there was nothing I could possibly say other than that.

***

The game itself started at 7:30 pm at beautiful subterranean UD Arena. It would be the 83rd men's NCAA Tournament game ever played there, equalling Kansas City's art deco Municipal Auditorium for most ever.

This was a game between champions. Arkansas-Pine Bluff had won the SWAC tourney championship in Shreveport-Bossier, La. three days before, and was making its first-ever appearance at the Big Dance. Winthrop is more used to the bracket experience, having won nine Big South titles in 12 years. The Eagles also played in the first PIG, losing to Northwestern State of the Southland.

The P.I.G. is a real, actual NCAA Tournament game; that antiseptic feeling, all those blue curtains, make it clear that you've crossed over to the other side. There is a giant blue NCAA circle logo in the center of the court. All logos are covered, except for those on the Vitamin Water™ tanks behind the benches. And the cup rule is strongly enforced. Media members can't go out on the floor holding a can. Everything must be poured into a Vitamin Water™ logo cup, whether it's Vitamin Water™ or not. But there's a lot of Vitamin Water™ if you want it.

On the court, the two teams battled through a low-scoring first half, both fighting to stay above 25 percent shooting. But that's to be expected from two teams that used tough, bruising defense to win their leagues. Halftime came quickly enough, and Pine Bluff was up 24-23.

A few eagle eyes noticed that Pine Bluff had committed a breach of NCAA etiquette in the first half -- they did not wear their circle logos on the upper corners of their white Russell Athletic jerseys. When they came out of the locker room following a stone-quiet halftime (Red Panda, Quick Change and laser sound effect gymnastic megamixes are, sadly, gone until Season 7), they were properly circled, and they started running blue streaks around Winthrop.

With a series of 3's, the Golden Lions started to pull away. Over a seven-minute stretch, UAPB outscored the Eagles 13-3 and a realization began to set in: the SWAC was about to win an NCAA game.

No SWAC team had won an NCAA Tournament game since 1993, when Ben Jobe's Southern Jaguars shot within seven seconds, asked questions later, and left Georgia Tech with no answers. Every year since, the league's representative has been crushed by a No. 1 seed, or embarrassed in the P.I.G. The SWAC has been relegated to Dayton five times in ten years, and was zero for its first four tries.

Down the stretch, as Winthrop lost its fight, Pine Bluff rose to its destiny. The Golden Lions kept hitting long 3's and midrange 2's, and built a 17-point lead. Finally, the buzzer sounded. The team was one for one in the NCAA Tournament -- the only team in Division I with a perfect 1.000 winning percentage -- and the band delivered a happy message. This, they announced, was how they do it.

Most importantly, though, Pine Bluff's 61-44 win guarantees the SWAC a $1.2 million NCAA win share, that will be distributed around the conference. That's roughly the amount of two guarantee game checks per school. Who knows if these cash-strapped programs will use that money to stay home instead of spend winters out on the road, like Arkansas-Pine Bluff did at the beginning of the season whilst compiling a perfect 0-11 nonconference record.

"The trip to Michigan was tough," recalled Pine Bluff senior forward Lebaron Weathers, remembering a trip to face the Big Ten's Wolverines, who beat them 67-53 on Dec. 5. "The game was Saturday, we had to bus back home on Sunday and be back in school on Monday. That takes a lot out of you."

Perhaps a couple years in the future, SWAC teams will have a little something left, thanks to Arkansas-Pine Bluff's breakthrough.

For now, however, there's still a Most Honest Game In College Basketball that can serve as a canvas for these dreams, validation for these forgotten warriors. This is the last year of the contract between the NCAA and Dayton to host the P.I.G. There's still an outside chance that this was the last one ever, with the possibility of a 96-team mammoth bracket looming. There's still the chance that Arkansas-Pine Bluff will be the P.I.G. champions in perpetuity, forevermore.

But we're not even going to entertain those thoughts right now. The P.I.G. is imperfect, it was born out of greed, but we choose to see the best in it and celebrate its annual arrival. It is our tradition, our holiday, our game.

Too Big Yo

2010-03-16T21:55:33Z

You've heard the old story before. A bunch of crazy college kids record a silly rap on someone's laptop, one of them just so happens to be a star player for a NCAA Tournament-bound mid-major team, and they upload it to YouTube, Then, some fans find it. Then it goes national, yadda yadda yadda, and the kids freak out and take it down.

This, my friends, is the story of former MMBOW Gordon "Spankmaster" Hayward of Butler, who went under alter ego "G-Time" for this studio session (hey, Kool Keith has about 10 names), and laid down some SMAC RAP about what's going to happen over the next three weeks.

But to remove this masterpiece from the internet, to deny that something like "Too Big Yo" ever existed, is like dropping a triple-double in a game and trying to convince the world that it never happened. And science has proven that there is nothing more funny than white guys from Indiana rapping, right? So here, then, thanks to the magic of intertron technology, is the surviving audio. Ladies and gentlemen, it doesn't matter if you are a Butler fan or not, this is our anthem for the 2010 Big Dance. (Spank comes in at the 1:50 mark.)

"Too big" ups to TMM hero Mike Miller, who tipped us off to this in the first place.

Mid-Majority Tournament Chat Block No. 2

2010-03-16T17:59:46Z

Tournament Chat Block No. 2

Due to unpopular demand, we are holding one-hour Chat Blocks every day this week. Here's the schedule (all times EDT): Monday at 3 pm, Tuesday at 2 pm, Wednesday at 1 pm, Thursday and Friday at 5 pm.

And don't forget about our bracket contest!

Mid-Majority Tournament Chat Block No. 1

2010-03-15T18:59:36Z

Tournament Chat Block No. 1

Due to unpopular demand, we are holding one-hour Chat Blocks every day this week. Here's the schedule (all times EDT): Monday at 3 pm, Tuesday at 2 pm, Wednesday at 1 pm, Thursday and Friday at 5 pm.

And don't forget about our bracket contest!

STOP. Don't Fill It Out.

2010-03-15T16:48:31Z

INDIANAPOLIS -- I see you printing out that CBS blank bracket at work, starting to fill it out in pencil. (You like Murray State's chances for the upset, I see.) I noticed that you'd opened a Fantasy account at ESPN,com, getting ready to fill out 10 different contingency entries. (But you're definitely hedging those bets on Murray State, aren't you?) Seriously, just stop right there. Don't do it. Sure, it's a shared experience with all your friends and online buddies, but stop. Do not enter the contest. There is a better way.

I have not filled out the complete six rounds of a bracket, in advance, for seven years. Growing up, I never filled the whole thing in. Two years ago, in this space, I put forward my reasoning why you shouldn't enter your office pool. I never fully understood why secretaties and cubicle dwellers and sportz junkies are so adamant about proving their ability to see the future, especially when most of them haven't seen enough of the past-in-context to have any sort of real perspective. And Bracket Whining Syndrome (BWS) is a national March menace, the disorder that causes people to say things like "Awwww man, my bracket got busted by [fill in the 11 seed]." (Side effects include bystanders experiencing strong urges to kick BWS sufferers in the Pants Region.)

I've always believed that March Madness is more fun, and more mad, when the games are simply enjoyed for what they are -- individual pieces of America's most spectacular and dramatic sporting event. Putting myself in the middle of things, selfishly rooting for teams because a win would give me a certain number of pool points, detracted from that experience. And in the early days before The Mid-Majority, I ran into a rare fellow with whom I found bracket simpatico.

]]> Christopher Monks was, technically, the first guest-poster on this site -- he did the recap of Game 69 of the 100 Games Project, about how he and I weren't able to meet at a Princeton-Harvard game. He went on to become the editor of the popular and award-winning humor website McSweeney's Internet Tendency, and write The Ultimate Game Guide To Your Life. (Sadly, I am not able to claim that TMM was his "big break.") Chris told me that he and his father put together a fill-it-in-as-you-go bracket every year since the early 1990's.

His dad makes the sheet, and Chris fills out the team names. "About ten years ago we sent a pic of us with all the boards we'd done to Sports Illustrated hoping to win over the heart of whoever is in charge of special interest stories," he told me five years ago. "But we never got a reply. Bastards."

Filling in the bracket as the winners win allows you to experience the NCAA Tournament in a pure way, naturally and organically with no artificial additives. If you don't know the two teams in any particular game very well, your rooting interest will develop based on who's playing with superior intensity and guts, not based on who you thought had the cooler mascot back on Saint Patrick's Day. There's a better chance you'll remember the moments for what they were, not because they helped you get bragging rights over Jim from R&D.

So be a conscientious objector. Opt out. Just try our way this year. It might even end up being a bonding experience for you and your son, father, mother, wife, girlfriend or neighbor. Or, perhaps, all of them together.

But I know that if your behavior is going to be altered, you're going to have to be rewarded for it. That's why we're turning this into a contest.

We are proud to announce The Mid-Majority's First Annual As-You-Go Bracket Contest. The person who puts together the most awesome, most creative, best-designed bracket will win a trip to the Season 7 Symposium (held in September or October, exact date TBA) at our headquarters, the Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Airport. It's three days, two nights and one room paid by us, as well as round-trip airfare for two -- or round-trip gasoline at current rates if within 250 miles of Indy -- for the second annual season gear-up party/hoops chat/drinking contest/Sports Bubble Stadium tour/funfest weekend. (But you're all invited anyway.)

Here are the rules and procedures for this contest:

You must submit a picture of your bracket by Thursday at 12 pm Eastern Daylight Time. You can do this via e-mail (bally [at] midmajority [dot] com), via tweetback (@midmajority) or if you're a Bally Club member, you can attach them to the official entry thread. All entries will be posted on the main site on Thursday, which will be the official acknoledgement of your entry.

The winner will be announced right before the Epilogue. (For you new folks, Season 6 will end abruptly when the last of the 26 mid-majors are eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.) Bally and I will be the arbiters, but we'll take suggestions and nudging from the populace.

The second round must not be filled out. (Until the second round pairings are known.) On Monday morning, whether Season 6 is finished or not by then, please send in an updated picture.

Entrants found to have entered a national website bracket contest will be eliminated immediately by The Robot. He will recognize you from your BWS symptoms.

Only entries from the United States, please. (We're going to end up with a budget surplus from Season 6, but it's not going to be that big.)

Your entry must be really awesome. Good luck, Hoops Nation!

Champions of Hoops Nation 2010

2010-03-15T14:10:23Z

INDIANAPOLIS -- We pause to repect the accomplishments of Utah State, Richmond and Xavier. Heck, even Gonzaga. And even though we don't draw the line between power conferences and "none of the above" the same way as the people on TV, there were some other schools that don't play in the Premier League of American-Style Collegiate Football (PLASCF) that made it past the Selection Committee too. But the fact remains that all of these teams lost their last game.

Here, Hoops Nation, are your champions. A majority of them won the "marathon" of the regular season. Some didn't. But all survived a March test in miniature, a series of one-and-done games where a loss meant long nights of cold sweat, mentally organizing lists of positive accomplishments, and the real possibility of being sent to a March tournament without office pools. But these teams, pictured below, are ready to do life-or-death battle this week, because they recognize the challenge, and have risen to it.

For most of these teams, the happy moments pictured here will be the last of their kind. They will find their dreams shredded by superior teams. For some of them, this is only the beginning. But all of them are champions, and that's the word that's going on the banners in their home gyms. Here they all are, pictured alongside diagrams and maps of the paths they took to arrive in the Tournament, the bridges between their dreams and their NCAA reality.

]]> America East

March 06 - Quarterfinals
[1] Stony Brook 68, [8] Albany 59 | GameFlo
[4] Boston University 87, [5] Hartford 46 | GameFlo
[2] Vermont 76, [7] Maryland-Baltimore County 59 | GameFlo
[6] New Hampshire 68, [3] Maine 57 | GameFlo

March 07 - Semifinals
[4] Boston University 70, [1] Stony Brook 63 | GameFlo
[2] Vermont 57, [6] New Hampshire 38 | GameFlo

March 13 - Final
at [2] Vermont 83, [4] Boston University 70 | GameFlo

Atlantic 14

March 09 - First Round
at [8] Saint Bonaventure 83, [9] Duquesne 71 | GameFlo
at [7] Dayton 70, [10] George Washington 60 | GameFlo
[11] Massachusetts 59, at [6] Charlotte 56 | GameFlo
at [5] Rhode Island 87, [12] Saint Joseph`s 76 | GameFlo

March 12 - Quarterfinals
[1] Temple 69, [8] Saint Bonaventure 51 | GameFlo
[5] Rhode Island 63, [4] Saint Louis 47 | GameFlo
[2] Xavier 78, [7] Dayton 73 | GameFlo
[3] Richmond 77, [11] Massachusetts 72 | GameFlo

March 13 - Semifinals
[1] Temple 57, [5] Rhode Island 44 | GameFlo
[3] Richmond 89, [2] Xavier 85 | GameFlo

March 14 - Final
[1] Temple 56, [3] Richmond 52 | GameFlo

Atlantic Sun

March 03 - Quarterfinals
[8] Kennesaw State 72, [1] Lipscomb 69 | GameFlo
[2] Jacksonville 76, [7] North Florida 69 | GameFlo
[5] East Tennessee State 72, [4] Campbell 64 | GameFlo
at [6] Mercer 87, [3] Belmont 81 | GameFlo

March 05 - Semifinals
[5] East Tennessee State 69, [8] Kennesaw State 64 | GameFlo
at [6] Mercer 66, [2] Jacksonville 63 | GameFlo

March 06 - Championship
[5] East Tennessee State 72, at [6] Mercer 66 | GameFlo

Big Sky

March 06 - First Round
at [4] Montana 81, [5] Northern Arizona 60 | GameFlo
[6] Portland State 68, at [3] Montana State 65 | GameFlo

March 09 - Semifinals
[4] Montana 68, [2] Northern Colorado 63 | GameFlo
at [1] Weber State 69, [6] Portland State 60 | GameFlo

March 10 - Final
[4] Montana 66, at [1] Weber State 65 | GameFlo

Big South

March 02 - Quarterfinals
at [1] Coastal Carolina 82, [8] Virginia Military Institute 73 | GameFlo
at [4] North Carolina-Asheville 84, [5] High Point 73 | GameFlo
at [2] Radford 64, [7] Charleston Southern 61 | GameFlo
at [3] Winthrop 80, [6] Liberty 72 | GameFlo

March 04 - Semifinals
[3] Winthrop 61, [2] Radford 46 | GameFlo
at [1] Coastal Carolina 92, [4] North Carolina-Asheville 73 | GameFlo

March 06 - Final
[3] Winthrop 64, at [1] Coastal Carolina 53 | GameFlo

Big West

March 10 - First Round
[5] Cal State Fullerton 84, [8] Cal State Northridge 76 | GameFlo
[6] Cal Poly 73, [7] California-Irvine 69 | GameFlo

March 11 - Second Round
[3] Long Beach State 79, [6] Cal Poly 69 | GameFlo
[4] California-Davis 68, [5] Cal State Fullerton 65 | GameFlo

March 12 - Semifinals
[1] California-Santa Barbara 76, [4] California-Davis 62 | GameFlo
[3] Long Beach State 68, [2] Pacific 61 | GameFlo

March 13 - Final
[1] California-Santa Barbara 69, [3] Long Beach State 64 | GameFlo

Colonial

March 05 - First Round
[8] Towson 91, [9] North Carolina-Wilmington 74 | GameFlo
at [5] Virginia Commonwealth 66, [12] Delaware 49 | GameFlo
[7] Hofstra 68, [10] Georgia State 67 | GameFlo
[11] James Madison 77, [6] Drexel 65 | GameFlo

March 06 - Quarterfinals
[1] Old Dominion 86, [8] Towson 56 | GameFlo
[5] Virginia Commonwealth 75, [4] George Mason 60 | GameFlo
[2] Northeastern 74, [7] Hofstra 71 | GameFlo
[3] William & Mary 70, [11] James Madison 65 | GameFlo

March 07 - Semifinals
[1] Old Dominion 73, [5] Virginia Commonwealth 69 | GameFlo
[3] William & Mary 47, [2] Northeastern 45 | GameFlo

March 08 - Final
[1] Old Dominion 60, [3] William & Mary 53 | GameFlo

Horizon League

March 02 - First Round
at [5] Cleveland State 80, [8] Loyola (Ill.) 66 | GameFlo
[7] Detroit 89, at [6] Valparaiso 82 | GameFlo
at [3] Wisconsin-Green Bay 81, [10] Youngstown State 67 | GameFlo
at [4] Wisconsin-Milwaukee 73, [9] Illinois-Chicago 67 | GameFlo

March 05 - Second Round
[7] Detroit 62, [3] Wisconsin-Green Bay 53 | GameFlo
[4] Wisconsin-Milwaukee 82, [5] Cleveland State 75 | GameFlo

March 06 - Semifinals
[2] Wright State 69, [7] Detroit 50 | GameFlo
at [1] Butler 68, [4] Wisconsin-Milwaukee 59 | GameFlo

March 09 - Final
at [1] Butler 70, [2] Wright State 45 | GameFlo

MEAC

March 09 - First Round
[7] Bethune-Cookman 64, [10] Florida A&M 53 | GameFlo
[9] North Carolina A&T 65, [8] Howard 55 | GameFlo
[6] Maryland-Eastern Shore 64, [11] Coppin State 58 | GameFlo

March 10/11 - Quarterfinals
[1] Morgan State 84, [9] North Carolina A&T 57 | GameFlo
[2] Delaware State 57, [7] Bethune-Cookman 55 | GameFlo
[3] South Carolina State 59, [6] Maryland-Eastern Shore 53 | GameFlo
[5] Hampton 73, [4] Norfolk State 70 | GameFlo

March 12 - Semifinals
[1] Morgan State 74, [5] Hampton 67 | GameFlo
[3] South Carolina State 70, [2] Delaware State 66 | GameFlo

March 13 - Final
[1] Morgan State 68, [3] South Carolina State 61 | GameFlo

Metro Atlantic

March 05 - First Round
[9] Manhattan 94, [8] Loyola (Md.) 79 | GameFlo
[7] Canisius 72, [10] Marist 54 | GameFlo

March 06 - Quarterfinals
[5] Rider 69, [4] Saint Peter`s 57 | GameFlo
at [1] Siena 78, [9] Manhattan 61 | GameFlo
[2] Fairfield 67, [7] Canisius 57 | GameFlo
[6] Niagara 68, [3] Iona 64 | GameFlo

March 07 - Semifinals
at [1] Siena 72, [5] Rider 62 | GameFlo
[2] Fairfield 69, [6] Niagara 63 | GameFlo

March 08 - Final
at [1] Siena 72, [2] Fairfield 65 | GameFlo

Mid-American

March 07 - First Round
[9] Ohio 85, at [8] Ball State 77 | GameFlo
at [6] Eastern Michigan 65, [11] Northern Illinois 59 | GameFlo
at [5] Buffalo 72, [12] Toledo 54 | GameFlo
at [7] Western Michigan 75, [10] Bowling Green 73 | GameFlo

March 11 - Quarterfinals
[7] Western Michigan 69, [2] Central Michigan 60 | GameFlo
[3] Akron 97, [6] Eastern Michigan 89 | GameFlo
[9] Ohio 81, [1] Kent State 64 | GameFlo
[4] Miami (Oh.) 73, [5] Buffalo 59 | GameFlo

March 12 - Semifinals
[3] Akron 66, [7] Western Michigan 64 | GameFlo
[9] Ohio 54, [4] Miami (Oh.) 42 | GameFlo

March 13 - Final
[9] Ohio 81, [3] Akron 75 | GameFlo

Missouri Valley

March 04 - First Round
[8] Drake 63, [9] Southern Illinois 61 | GameFlo
at [7] Missouri State 52, [10] Evansville 46 | GameFlo

March 05 - Quarterfinals
[1] Northern Iowa 55, [8] Drake 40 | GameFlo
[5] Bradley 81, [4] Creighton 62 | GameFlo
[2] Wichita State 73, [7] Missouri State 63 | GameFlo
[3] Illinois State 69, [6] Indiana State 65 | GameFlo

March 06 - Semifinals
[1] Northern Iowa 57, [5] Bradley 40 | GameFlo
[2] Wichita State 65, [3] Illinois State 61 | GameFlo

March 07 - Final
[1] Northern Iowa 67, [2] Wichita State 52 | GameFlo

Northeast

March 04 - Quarterfinals
at [1] Quinnipiac 84, [8] Monmouth 75 | GameFlo
at [2] Robert Morris 71, [7] Central Connecticut State 63 | GameFlo
at [3] Mount Saint Mary`s 65, [6] Saint Francis (PA) 50 | GameFlo
at [4] Long Island 63, [5] Fairleigh Dickinson 61 | GameFlo

March 07 - Semifinals
at [1] Quinnipiac 83, [4] Long Island 78 | GameFlo
at [2] Robert Morris 80, [3] Mount Saint Mary`s 62 | GameFlo

March 10 - Final
[2] Robert Morris 52, at [1] Quinnipiac 50 | GameFlo

Ohio Valley

March 02 - Quarterfinals
at [2] Morehead State 87, [7] Jacksonville State 54 | GameFlo
at [1] Murray State 84, [8] Tennessee State 51 | GameFlo
[6] Tennessee Tech 68, at [3] Austin Peay 65 | GameFlo
at [4] Eastern Illinois 68, [5] Eastern Kentucky 61 | GameFlo

March 05 - Semifinals
[1] Murray State 55, [4] Eastern Illinois 51 | GameFlo
[2] Morehead State 76, [6] Tennessee Tech 47 | GameFlo

March 06 - Championship
[1] Murray State 62, [2] Morehead State 51 | GameFlo

Patriot League

March 03 - Quarterfinals
at [1] Lehigh 64, [8] Army 45 | GameFlo
[7] Holy Cross 67, at [2] Bucknell 64 | GameFlo
at [3] Lafayette 73, [6] Colgate 65 | GameFlo
at [4] American 62, [5] Navy 60 | GameFlo

March 07 - Semifinals
at [3] Lafayette 66, [7] Holy Cross 63 | GameFlo
[1] Lehigh 79, [4] American 57 | GameFlo

March 12 - Final
at [1] Lehigh 74, [3] Lafayette 59 | GameFlo

Southern

March 05 - First Round
[N6] Elon 66, [S3] Davidson 59 | GameFlo
[N4] North Carolina-Greensboro 66, [S5] Furman 65 | GameFlo
[S4] The Citadel 55, [N5] Samford 43 | GameFlo
[N3] Chattanooga 82, [S6] Georgia Southern 62 | GameFlo

March 06 - Quarterfinals
[N2] Western Carolina 68, [N6] Elon 57 | GameFlo
[S1] Wofford 59, [N4] North Carolina-Greensboro 47 | GameFlo
[N1] Appalachian State 71, [S4] The Citadel 61 | GameFlo
[S2] College of Charleston 96, [N3] Chattanooga 69 | GameFlo

March 07 - Semifinals
[S1] Wofford 77, [N2] Western Carolina 58 | GameFlo
[N1] Appalachian State 77, [S2] College of Charleston 54 | GameFlo

March 08 - Final
[S1] Wofford 56, [N1] Appalachian State 51 | GameFlo

Southland

March 10 - Quarterfinals
[2] Stephen F. Austin 77, [7] Texas-Arlington 54 | GameFlo
[3] Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 78, [6] Texas-San Antonio 66 | GameFlo
[1] Sam Houston State 62, [8] Nicholls State 57 | GameFlo
[4] Southeastern Louisiana 79, [5] Texas State 78 | GameFlo

March 11 - Semifinals
[2] Stephen F. Austin 60, [3] Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 53 | GameFlo
[1] Sam Houston State 88, [4] Southeastern Louisiana 85 | GameFlo

March 13 - Final
[1] Sam Houston State 64, [2] Stephen F. Austin 48 | GameFlo

Badlands Conference

March 06 - Quarterfinals
[1] Oakland 85, [8] Missouri-Kansas City 70 | GameFlo
[2] IUPUI 77, [7] Western Illinois 68 | GameFlo
[5] IUPU-Fort Wayne 71, [4] South Dakota State 66 | GameFlo
[3] Oral Roberts 65, [6] North Dakota State 64 | GameFlo

March 08 - Semifinals
[1] Oakland 71, [5] IUPU-Fort Wayne 58 | GameFlo
[2] IUPUI 69, [3] Oral Roberts 65 | GameFlo

March 09 - Final
[1] Oakland 76, [2] IUPUI 64 | GameFlo

Sun Belt

March 06 - First Round
[9] South Alabama 52, [8] Florida Atlantic 51 | GameFlo
[5] Arkansas State 89, [12] Arkansas-Little Rock 82 | GameFlo
[4] Western Kentucky 83, [13] New Orleans 58 | GameFlo
[6] Denver 71, [11] Florida International 64 | GameFlo
[10] Louisiana-Monroe 76, [7] Louisiana-Lafayette 75 | GameFlo

March 07 - Quarterfinals
[4] Western Kentucky 65, [5] Arkansas State 64 | GameFlo
[1] Troy 67, [9] South Alabama 55 | GameFlo
[2] North Texas 69, [10] Louisiana-Monroe 66 | GameFlo
[6] Denver 73, [3] Middle Tennessee 58 | GameFlo

March 08 - Semifinals
[1] Troy 54, [4] Western Kentucky 48 | GameFlo
[2] North Texas 63, [6] Denver 56 | GameFlo

March 09 - Final
[2] North Texas 66, [1] Troy 63 | GameFlo

SWAC

March 10 - Quarterfinals
[2] Arkansas-Pine Bluff 69, [7] Mississippi Valley State 66 | GameFlo
[8] Grambling State 65, [1] Jackson State 57 | GameFlo
[3] Alabama State 56, [6] Alabama A&M 45 | GameFlo
[5] Texas Southern 66, [4] Prairie View A&M 49 | GameFlo

March 12 - Semifinals
[2] Arkansas-Pine Bluff 46, [3] Alabama State 43 | GameFlo
[5] Texas Southern 60, [8] Grambling State 57 | GameFlo

March 13 - Final
[2] Arkansas-Pine Bluff 50, [5] Texas Southern 38 | GameFlo

West Coast

March 05 - First Round
[5] Loyola Marymount 87, [8] Pepperdine 84 | GameFlo
[6] San Diego 61, [7] Santa Clara 59 | GameFlo

March 06 - Second Round
[5] Loyola Marymount 84, [4] San Francisco 76 | GameFlo
[3] Portland 72, [6] San Diego 57 | GameFlo

March 07 - Semifinals
[1] Gonzaga 77, [5] Loyola Marymount 62 | GameFlo
[2] Saint Mary`s 69, [3] Portland 55 | GameFlo

March 08 - Final
[2] Saint Mary`s 81, [1] Gonzaga 62 | GameFlo

Western Athletic

March 11 - Quarterfinals
[1] Utah State 84, [8] Boise State 60 | GameFlo
[4] Louisiana Tech 74, [5] Fresno State 66 | GameFlo
at [2] Nevada 87, [7] Idaho 71 | GameFlo
[3] New Mexico State 90, [6] San Jose State 69 | GameFlo

March 12 - Semifinals
[1] Utah State 85, [4] Louisiana Tech 55 | GameFlo
[3] New Mexico State 80, at [2] Nevada 79 | GameFlo

March 13 - Final
[3] New Mexico State 69, [1] Utah State 63 | GameFlo

Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have a Bracket

2010-03-15T01:39:55Z

Happy Selection Sunday, the day when Christmas morning comes at 6 pm.

Tourney Central 3/14/2010 (Day 13)

2010-03-14T14:48:22Z

Bullet Points

Seven championships were decided on the penultimate day of Championship Fortnight. All hail Vermont, back in the Dance for the first time since 2005 (Season 1) and also for the first time in the Mike Lonergan era. Congratulations to Morgan State; the Bears navigated the always-difficult MEAC tourney to repeat as titlists. We salute UC Santa Barbara, which hadn't won the Big West tourney title since 2002. Sam Houston State, consistently one of the best teams in the Southland, broke through in the tourney for the first time since 2003.
Congrats, as well, to the surprise winners. The Ohio Bobcats completed a stunning run through the MAC tourney as a No. 9 seed, defeating Akron in overtime to claim that school's first Dance card since Season 1. New Mexico State had to knock off the top two seeds to win the WAC, but the Red Aggies completed the task late last night.
And a special hoorah is in order to yesterday's first-time dancers: Arkansas-Pine Bluff of the SWAC, just five years removed from winning a single game out of 27.
And, of course: well done, South Dakota, which won the first-ever Great West championship and will now play in a lesser postseason tournament.
Chaos into order in just 12 days. Two weeks ago, there were 247 teams with NCAA dreams. Now there are 22. A few of the runner-ups will sneak through the Selection Committee's side door, but the champions of Hoops Nation won their bids on the floor, but defeating any and all comers. We salute each and every one of them.
Today at approximately 3:00 p.m. Eastern time, either Richmond or Temple will be the Atlantic One, and Championship Fortnight will be complete.

]]> Brackets

America East

at [2] Vermont 83, [4] Boston University 70
Star of the Game: Marqus Blakely 24 Pts (7-10 FG, 10-17 FT), 18 Reb

Men's Basketball is Heading to the Big Dance, Cats Top BU 83-70 - Behind a monster performance from the Reggie Lewis Most Outstanding Player Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J.), the Vermont men's basketball team topped Boston University 83-70 in front of a sold-out Patrick Gym on Saturday afternoon to win the 2010 America East Championship. The Cats will now advance to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in school history, as they will find out where and who they will play on Sunday night at 6 p.m. when the NCAA Selection Show takes place live on CBS. The trip to the NCAA Tournament is the first for the Cats since 2005 when they knocked off Syracuse in the first round. The 2005 appearance was the last of three straight for Vermont. The Cats will enter the tournament having won 11 of their last 12 games overall and with a record of 25-9. The 25 wins are tied for the most in school history. (via Vermont)

Big West

[1] California-Santa Barbara 69, [3] Long Beach State 64
Star of the Game: Orlando Johnson 20 Pts (4-11 FG, 11-12 FT)

The Gauchos are Going Dancing! UCSB Wns Big West Title Over Long Beach, 69-64 - Orlando Johnson, named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, was the first to step-up, giving UCSB the lead for good with a pair of free throws with 4:52 remaining. Following a defensive stop on the other end, Johnson took a pass from Nunnally and powered his way for a lay-up giving the Gauchos a 56-53 advantage with 4:03 to play. Plater pulled the 49ers back within one, 56-55, making two free throws with 3:45 left on the clock. At the 3:22 mark, it was Johnson again as he made another pair of free throws. A Casper Ware jumper from just inside the free throw line narrowed the edge to one, 58-57, with 3:06 left. Johnson answered again, drawing another foul and making two more free throws to push the lead back to three, 60-57, with 2:43 remaining. Again, the 49ers would battle back as T.J. Robinson made a reverse lay-up to pull them back within one, 60-59 with 2:09 to play. Two free throws by Ware with 1:45 left and one by Robinson with 28 seconds to play cut the Gauchos' lead to 63-62 with 28 seconds remaining, setting the stage for the clutch free throws by Powell and Nunnally. Powell was intentionally fouled and made his first two with 27 seconds left. After UCSB forced Long Beach into a turnover, Powell was fouled again with just under seven seconds to play and he made two more. A lay-up by Larry Anderson made it 67-64 with 2.8 seconds left. This time, it was Nunnally, an All-Tournament Team selection, who was fouled intentionally, and like his teammates, he made both of his free throws. Ware missed a 3-pointer as time ran out and the Gauchos were Big West Tournament champions for the first time since 2002. (via California-Santa Barbara)

MEAC

[1] Morgan State 68, [3] South Carolina State 61
Star of the Game: Kevin Thompson 18 Pts (8-10 FG, 2-3 FT), 10 Reb

Morgan headed to NCAA tournament for second straight year - Kevin Thompson had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Morgan State claimed its second consecutive NCAA tournament berth by beating South Carolina State 68-61 on Saturday in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title game. League player of the year Reggie Holmes added 17 points for the top-seeded Bears (27-9). They shot 53 percent to overcome 20 turnovers and avenged their only regular-season conference loss by becoming the first repeat MEAC champion since Hampton in 2001 and '02. Khalif Toombs had 15 points to lead the third-seeded Bulldogs (18-14). They were denied their first NCAA berth since 2003 after shooting 31 percent and committing 19 turnovers. Morgan State held South Carolina State without a field goal for nearly 6 minutes and used a 13-2 run to take a 44-34 lead with 11½ minutes left, then went 5 for 6 from the line in the final 2 minutes to seal it. (via Morgan State)

Mid-American

[9] Ohio 81, [3] Akron 75 (OT)
Star of the Game: D.J. Cooper 23 Pts (7-16 FG, 4-4 FT), 7 Reb, 6 Ast

Ohio Stuns Akron, Wins Fifth MAC Tournament - Ohio's backcourt of Armon Bassett and D.J. Cooper combined for 48 of Ohio's 81 points as the ninth-seeded Bobcats scored a historic win for the program, downing top-seeded Akron 81-75 in overtime Saturday evening in the Mid-American Conference championship game. The win clinched Ohio's fifth MAC Tournament victory. The previous triumphs were 1983, 1985, 1994, 2005. Ohio improved to 21-14 and will now await its seeding in the 2010 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. The bracket will be announced Sunday at 6 p.m. ET on CBS. Akron dropped to 24-10. Bassett was named Tournament MVP after scoring 25 Saturday on 8-16 field goal shooting. He was named Tournament MVP after averaging 29 points per game. His 116 points and 49 free throws also set a MAC Tourney record. Cooper shook off earlier struggles in the tournament to record 23 points on five 3-pointers, with seven rebounds and six assists. Kenneth van Kempen, Ohio's all-time leader in games played, chipped in 10 and a team-high nine rebounds. (via Ohio)

David Maxwell

Southland

[1] Sam Houston State 64, [2] Stephen F. Austin 48
Star of the Game: Gilberto Clavell 21 Pts (7-10 FG, 7-8 FT)

Bearkats punch ticket to NCAA Tournament - It is has been seven years since the Bearkats were in the NCAA tournament. They punched their second trip to the Big Dance on Saturday. The Kats stormed out to an early lead on Stephen F. Austin and never looked back in a 64-48 win over the Lumberjack to win the Southland Conference Tournament title and earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Ashton Mitchell, who was named tournament MVP, finished the game with 13 points and six assists. Gilberto Clavell led the way for the Kats with 21 points and was also named to the all-tournament team. Senior Corey Allmond scored 19. The Kats scored eight of the first 10 points in the game and built the lead to double digits on a 3-pointer by Mitchell with 11:28 to play in the first half. After a layup by Denzell Barnes for SFA, Allmond answered right back with a 3 and the lead never got back to single digits again. (via Sam Houston State)

SWAC

[2] Arkansas-Pine Bluff 50, [5] Texas Southern 38
Star of the Game: Tavaris Washington 14 Pts (5-8 FG, 3-5 FT), 3 Stl

Golden Lions Basketball Makes History Capturing First NCAA Tournament Bid -Tavaris Washington 14 points and tournament MVP Allen Smith added 11 as the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff defeated Texas Southern 50-36 in the Farmers Insurance SWAC Basketball Tournament Men's Championship. The lead changed hands seven times early with one tie, but the Golden Lions took the lead for good at the 5:53 mark on a three-pointer by George Davis and never trailed again. UAPB led 26-20 at halftime. In the second half, Univ. Arkansas-Pine Bluff extended to a double-digit lead at 41-31 on a pair of free throws by Washington with 8:45 to play and maintained its double-digit lead the remainder of the game. (via Texas Southern)

Western Athletic

[3] New Mexico State 69, [1] Utah State 63
Star of the Game: Troy Gillenwater 15 Pts (6-12 FG, 2-2 FT)

Aggies Win WAC Tournament, Advance to NCAAs The New Mexico State men's basketball team won the 2010 WAC Tournament Championship after a 69-63 victory over Utah State, Saturday, March 13, at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nev. The Aggies earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament and are making their 18th appearance in school history. The Aggies improved to 22-11 and are going to the Big Dance for the first time since 2007 and in head coach Marvin Menzies' tenure. Junior guard Jahmar Young was named WAC Tournament Most Valuable Player after a team-high 19 points. Sophomore forward Troy Gillenwater also earned all-tournament team honors following a 15-point showing. Senior guard Jonathan Gibson was also in double-figures with 14 points. Utah State evened the score at 55-55 with 4:45 to play and then Gillenwater sank a 3-pointer before a floater from Young gave the Aggies a five-point lead, 60-55, at the 3:56 mark. Young pushed the advantage to 63-57 with a free throw at 2:26 for NM State. The Aggies held on and sophomore guard Hernst Laroche sealed the win with a pair of free throws with 14 seconds to play to give NM State its second WAC Tournament title in school history. (via New Mexico State)

Great West

[1] South Dakota 91, [2] Houston Baptist 86
Star of the Game: Kendall Cutler 21 Pts (7-11 FG, 7-8 FT), 8 Ast, 2 Stl

Coyotes Down Huskies for GWC Tourney Title and CIT Bid - Freshman guard Jake Thomas and junior guard Kendall Cutler both topped the 20-point mark to lead the No. 1 seed University of South Dakota men's basketball team to a 91-86 win over No. 2 seed Houston Baptist in the final of the Great West Conference Tournament on Saturday in the McKay Center. The 13th consecutive victory moved the Coyotes to 22-9 on the season and gave them an automatic bid to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. The entire field for the CIT will be announced on Sunday. USD enjoyed a double-digit advantage most of the second half until HBU clawed back to tie the game at 82 with 2:14 left. Sophomore guard Louie Krogman (White River, S.D.) responded with a three pointer and landed a driving layup on the next possession to put the Coyotes up five at the 1:11 mark. Free throws from senior center Steve Smith (Sioux Falls, S.D.) and Thomas (Racine, Wis.) and a block by senior forward Tyler Cain (Rochester, Minn.) sealed the win for South Dakota. (via South Dakota)

Atlantic 4

[1] Temple 57, [5] Rhode Island 44
Star of the Game: Juan Fernandez 14 Pts (5-8 FG, 2-2 FT), 7 Ast, 3 Stl

#17/17 Men's Basketball to Play for Third Straight A-14 Title After 57-44 Semifinal Win Over Rhode Island - ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Jumping out to a 15-2 lead and never looking back, the #17/17 and top-seeded Temple men’s basketball team defeated fifth-seeded Rhode Island (23-9) by a score of 57-44 in the Atlantic 14 Tournament semifinals. The Owls (28-5) battled through a roof-leak delay and a second-half comeback attempt by the Rams, and will face either #2 seed Xavier or #3 seed Richmond in the championship game on Sunday, March 14 at 1:00 p.m. on CBS. (via Temple)

[3] Richmond 89, [2] Xavier 85 1
Star of the Game: David Gonzalvez 26 Pts (5-13 FG, 13-14 FT), 2 Stl

Spiders Advance To A-14 Final - This was the Richmond's 10th win over a team that played in the postseason last year and the Spiders are 5-2 against team s in the top-50 in the RPI and 7-2 against teams in the top-52 in the RPI. Richmond tied the 1987-88 team for the most wins in a season at 26. Richmond head coach Chris Mooney has now set the single-season record for wins at every school he has played or coached at since high school. The Spiders won their fourth-straight game against a ranked opponent, including their third this season. It was the second time Richmond defeated Xavier while the Musketeers were ranked in the last 371 days. Richmond defeated then No. 17 ranked Xavier 80-75 last March in the Robins Center, took down then No. 13 ranked Florida 56-53 on Dec. 19 and took down then No. 17 ranked Temple 71-54 on Feb. 6. Richmond has won five of its last seven games against ranked teams since January 2008. (via Richmond)

On Tap Today

Atlantic 2

[1] Temple vs. [3] Richmond - 1:00 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

TU - 28-5 (14-2) [RPI: 15 State: 12] SOS: 67 Last 10: 9-1 Form: W W W W W PF/PA: 65.2/56.3
RICH - 26-7 (13-3) [RPI: 25 State: 27] SOS: 85 Last 10: 9-1 Form: L W W W W PF/PA: 69.8/62.4
Recent meetings: 02/06/2010 TU 54 @RICH 71 01/31/2009 RICH 65 @TU 74

Players to watch:
TU - #24 Lavoy Allen Jr. F (11.7 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 2.3 apg)
RICH - #14 Kevin Anderson Jr. G (18.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.6 apg)

Tourney Central 3/13/2010 (Day 12)

2010-03-13T14:16:01Z

Bullet Points

In the Patriot League, your champions are the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. The former Engineers defeated their cross-valley rival Lafayette with a strong second-half burst, and will go to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time.
Higher seeds were 12-4 on Friday. The No. 3 over No. 2 upset was popular, however. Long Beach moved past Pacific in the Big West, South Carolina State eliminated Delaware State in a MEAC overtime thriller, and in the late-late game, WAC tourney host Nevada is out, thanks to a game-winning basket by New Mexico State's Jahmar Young.
But the biggest surprise was Ohio, which has rode a No. 9 seed all the way to the Mid-American Conference final after defeating the eight, one, and now No. 4 Miami (Oh.). A nine has not made the MAC title game since Miami did in 2000.
On this penultimate day of Championship Fortnight, there will be seven autobid games. The America East, last seen six days ago, will match up Boston and Vermont. Only one of today's tilts is between the top two seeds: Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin in the Southland. It's No. 1 seed UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach in the Big West, defending MEAC champion and regular-season winner Morgan State goes against S.C. State, and top seed Utah State awaits New Mexico State in the WAC. The tattered SWAC bracket produced a 2-vs.-5 matchup between Pine Bluff and Texas Southern, and it's an odd 3-9 game in the MAC with Ohio and Akron.
And don't forget South Dakota and Houston Baptist, angling to be the inaugural Great West titlist. It's a championship!
The Atlantic 14 will continue its march to the Atlantic One today with semifinals.

]]> Brackets

Patriot League

at [1] Lehigh 74, [3] Lafayette 59
Star of the Game: Zahir Carrington 18 Pts (9-11 FG, 0-1 FT), 10 Reb, 2 Stl

Carrington leads Lehigh past rivals, into big dance - Senior Zahir Carrington scored 18 points, grabbed ten rebounds and blocked four shots en route to leading Lehigh to its first Patriot League championship since 2004 with a 74-59 victory over archrival Lafayette on Friday evening inside Stabler Arena in front of 4,259 fans. The Mountain Hawks harassed the Leopards into a 3-of-23 showing from three-point range and shot 49% themselves as they win their school record 22nd game this season and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in school history. Carrington earned Tournament MVP honors, while classmate Marquis Hall and freshman C.J. McCollum were named to the All-Tournament Team. Lafayette sees its season come to a close with an overall mark of 19-13. (via Lehigh)

Bill Adams/Express-Times

Big West

[1] California-Santa Barbara 76, [4] California-Davis 62
Star of the Game: James Nunnally 17 Pts (6-10 FG, 3-4 FT), 9 Reb

Gauchos Advance to Big West Championship Game with 76-62 Win Over UC Davis - Senior guard James Powell scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, including 10 in a row during a pivotal stretch, as UC Santa Barbara defeated UC Davis in the semifinals of the Big West Tournament on Friday in Anaheim, 76-63. The win sends the Gauchos to their second Big West Tournament championship game ever and first since 2002. They will play Long Beach State, a winner of Pacific in Friday's late game. Top-seeded UCSB (19-9), which led 33-11 when James Nunnally opened the second half with a lay-up, saw its once 22-point lead dwindle to five on five occasions in the second half. Fourth-seeded Davis (14-18) cut the advantage to five for the last time when Julian Welch made a jumper from the free throw line with 7:01 left. The Aggies had a chance to shrink the lead even more when Todd Lowenthal was fouled after Jaimé Serna missed a lay-up from under the backboard. Lowenthal, however, missed the front end of the one-and-one and Nunnally rebounded. (via California-Santa Barbara)

[3] Long Beach State 68, [2] Pacific 61
Star of the Game: Casper Ware 22 Pts (6-16 FG, 10-11 FT), 6 Ast, 5 Stl

LBSU advances to Big West Tournament championship game with 68-61 win over Pacific - Long Beach State gave Pacific a little taste of its own medicine Friday night in the semifinals of the Big West Conference Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Beach (17-15) turned the tables on Pacific a year after the Tigers (20-11) eliminated the 49ers from the Big West Conference Tournament after LBSU swept Pacific in the regular season. This year, the Tigers owned a regular-season sweep of the 49ers but LBSU won the one that counts advancing to the Big West Tournament championship game with a 68-61 win. Long Beach State will meet No. 1 seed UC Santa Barbara at 5 p.m. on ESPN2. Long Beach State did to Pacific what the Tigers did to The Beach and a number of other opponents this year. LBSU clamped down on Pacific defensively holding the Tigers to just 8-of-26 shooting (30.8 percent) in the first half and 21-of-59 shooting (35.6 percent) for the game. LBSU countered making 20-of-51 shots (39.2 percent), including a respectable (by Pacific's defensive standards) 42.9 percent in the first half when the 49ers built a 13-point halftime lead. (via Long Beach State)

Great West

[1] South Dakota 76, [5] Texas-Pan American 71
Star of the Game: Tyler Cain 16 Pts (7-11 FG, 2-3 FT), 17 Reb, 2 Stl

South Dakota Bucks Broncs, 76-71 - Junior guard Kendall Cutler scored six points in the final three minutes to lead the No. 1 seed University of South Dakota men's basketball team to a 76-71 win over No. 5 Texas-Pan American in the semifinals of the Great West Conference Tournament on Friday in the McKay Center. USD's 12th straight win moved it to 21-9 on the season and advanced it to tomorrow's final against No. 2 Houston Baptist at 8:30 p.m. CT. After trailing by double digits in the second half, the Coyotes clawed back into the contest and made a 10-2 run over the final 3:22 to grab the win. With USD down by one, junior guard Mitchell Bouie (Chicago, Ill.) made a bucket to give USD the lead, before Cutler (Brooklyn, N.Y.) notched the next six points, including two free throws with 14 seconds left. Freshman guard Jake Thomas (Racine, Wisc.) connected on two more free throws with four seconds left to ice the game. (via South Dakota)

[2] Houston Baptist 74, [6] New Jersey Tech 64
Star of the Game: Miles Dixon 15 Pts (5-8 FG, 4-5 FT), 8 Reb

Huskies Advance to Great West Championship Game - HBU defeated NJIT 74-64 on Friday night at the UVU Events Center to earn a spot in the Great West Tournament championship game on Saturday with an automatic bid to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament on the line. The Huskies jumped out to a 21-7 lead less than nine minutes in to the first half but NJIT fought back to lead 37-34 at the half. The game was back and forth in the second half until a pair of Andrew Gonzalez free throw made it 59-58 in HBU's favor. The Huskies led the rest of the way. (via Houston Baptist)

MEAC

[1] Morgan State 74, [5] Hampton 67
Star of the Game: Ameer Ali 14 Pts (6-10 FG, 2-3 FT), 8 Reb, 2 Stl

Ali, Smith and Davis Lead Morgan To Win Over Hampton, 74-67 - Winston-Salem, NC—March 12--Ameer Ali scored 12 of his team-high 14 points in the second half and Troy Smith and Joe Davis added 11 and 10, respectively after the half to lead Morgan State to a 74-67 win over Hampton University in the semifinals of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament at the Joel Coliseum. (via Morgan State)

[3] South Carolina State 70, [2] Delaware State 66 (OT)
Star of the Game: Jason Flagler 19 Pts (7-9 FG, 5-6 FT), 8 Reb

SC State Men Defeat Delaware State 70-66 in MEAC Tourney - South Carolina State blew a 15-point lead in the last 6:49 of regulation but came back to grab a 70-66 overtime win over Delaware State Friday in the semifinals of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament at the Lawrence Joel Veteran Memorial Coliseum. The victory earned third-year head coach Tim Carter and the third-seeded Bulldogs a trip to Saturday’s semifinals against top-seeded Morgan State Saturday at 2 p.m. The contest will be televised live by ESPN2. (via South Carolina State)

Mid-American

[3] Akron 66, [7] Western Michigan 64
Star of the Game: Chris McKnight 18 Pts (7-12 FG, 2-3 FT), 8 Reb

Men's Hoops Tops WMU in Thrilling 66-64 Semifinal Win - Chris McKnight scored on a putback with 6.8 seconds left in regulation, lifting the third-seeded Akron men's basketball team to a thrilling 66-64 victory over seventh-seeded Western Michigan on Friday in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena. McKnight scooped up the rebound underneath the basket after a miss on a driving layup by Steve McNees and was able to gather himself and bank in the game-winning shot. Western Michigan (18-15) guard David Kool was able to drive the length of the court and launch a 3-point attempt as the clock wound down, but the shot caromed off the rim and WMU was unable to corral the rebound in time for another shot. With the win, Akron (24-9) advances to Saturday night's MAC championship game against the winner of the second semifinal, between Ohio University and Miami (Ohio). It is UA's fourth-consecutive appearance in the championship game. The Zips never trailed in the first half and finished the game with a 41.4 percent (24-of-58) shooting performance from the field and converted 73.3 percent (11-of-15) from the foul line. (via Akron)

[9] Ohio 54, [4] Miami (Oh.) 42
Star of the Game: Armon Bassett 28 Pts (5-13 FG, 15-18 FT)

Bobcats Blanket Miami, Advance to MAC Title Game - -Ohio's Armon Bassett had another monster game in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament, powering the ninth-seeded Bobcats to a 54-42 win over fourth-seeded Miami Friday evening in Quicken Loans Arena. Bassett erupted for 28 points (15-18 FT), giving him a MAC Tournament-record 91 points and 42 free throws during the Bobcats' run past Ball State, Kent State and Miami. Ohio improved to 20-14 overall and advanced to Saturday evening's MAC title matchup with third-seeded Akron at 6 p.m. on ESPN2. The RedHawks dropped to 14-18 overall. DeVaughn Washington chipped in with 18 points and shared the team's top rebounding honors at seven with Kenneth van Kempen. D.J. Cooper had a team-high four assists. (via Ohio)

SWAC

[2] Arkansas-Pine Bluff 46, [3] Alabama State 43
Star of the Game: Terrance Calvin 12 Pts (5-14 FG, 2-5 FT), 12 Reb

Golden Lions Advance To SWAC Championship Game - Terrance Calvin's baseline jumper with one second to play gave #2 seed Univ. Arkansas-Pine Bluff a 46-44 victory over #3 seed Alabama State in a men's semifinal of the 2010 Farmers Insurance SWAC Basketball Tournament. UAPB (16-15) advances to the SWAC Tournament final for the first time since 2006 where it will face the Texas Southern - Grambling State winner on Saturday night. Alabama State's season ends at 16-15. With the score tied at 44-all, UAPB's Allen Smith stole the inbounds pass under his own basket with 22 seconds to play. The Golden Lions passed on using their final timeout and got the ball in the hands of Calvin, who drove the left side and floated a 10-footer jumper for the game winner. (via Arkansas-Pine Bluff)

[5] Texas Southern 60, [8] Grambling State 57
Star of the Game: Whitworth Treasure 21 Pts (7-15 FG, 4-7 FT), 3 Stl

Western Athletic

[1] Utah State 85, [4] Louisiana Tech 55
Star of the Game: Jared Quayle 16 Pts (5-8 FG, 2-2 FT)

Aggies Will Play New Mexico State In WAC Championship Game After Defeating Louisiana Tech 85-55 In Semifinals - Terrance Calvin's baseline jumper with one second to play gave #2 seed Univ. Arkansas-Pine Bluff a 46-44 victory over #3 seed Alabama State in a men's semifinal of the 2010 Farmers Insurance SWAC Basketball Tournament. UAPB (16-15) advances to the SWAC Tournament final for the first time since 2006 where it will face the Texas Southern - Grambling State winner on Saturday night. Alabama State's season ends at 16-15. With the score tied at 44-all, UAPB's Allen Smith stole the inbounds pass under his own basket with 22 seconds to play. The Golden Lions passed on using their final timeout and got the ball in the hands of Calvin, who drove the left side and floated a 10-footer jumper for the game winner. (via Utah State)

[3] New Mexico State 80,at [2] Nevada 79
Star of the Game: Wendell McKines 16 Pts (7-10 FG, 2-3 FT), 10 Reb

Young Hits Game Winner, Aggies Advance to WAC Championship - New Mexico State junior guard Jahmar Young hit the game-winning shot with five seconds remaining in regulation to lift the Aggie men's basketball team over Nevada, 80-79, in the WAC Tournament Semifinals, Friday, March 12, at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nev. The Aggies improved to 21-11 and advance to the title game against Utah State, Saturday, March 13 at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. NM State is making its third appearance in the championship game in the last four years. With the Aggies trailing, 79-78, Young sank a jumper from the elbow to finish with 15 points. Sophomore forward Troy Gillenwater had a season-high 21 points while junior forward Wendell McKines recorded his second consecutive double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Jonathan Gibson also scored 10 points for the Aggies. NM State is now 8-0 in games decided by five points or less this season. Nevada jumped to an early lead and scored the first seven points of the game. The Aggies answered with a 7-2 run to tie the game at 9-9 following a pair of sophomore center Hamidu Rahman free throws at the 17:20 mark. NM State collected its first lead, 13-11, with two free throws from Gillenwater with 16:09 to play.(via New Mexico State)

Atlantic 8

[1] Temple 69, [8] Saint Bonaventure 51
Star of the Game: Lavoy Allen 14 Pts (7-14 FG, 0-1 FT), 15 Reb

Men's Basketball Cruises to 69-51 A-14 Quarterfinal Victory Over St. Bonaventure - Holding a comfortable lead most of the way, the #17/17 Temple men's basketball team cruised its way into the Atlantic 14 Tournament semifinals with a 69-51 quarterfinal win over eighth-seeded St. Bonaventure (15-16). The Owls (27-5) will face #5 seed Rhode Island, a 63-47 winner over #4-seed Saint Louis, in their semifinal at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 13. Temple is looking to become the first A-14 team to win three straight titles since Massachusetts won five in a row from 1992-96. The Owls have now won eight straight which ranks as their longest streak since a run of 10 wins in 2000-01. Juan Fernandez hit four-of-five from behind the arc en route to a game-high 17 points, also dishing out a game and career-high-tying seven assists. Lavoy Allen notched his 13th double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, and Micheal Eric went six-of-eight from the field and finished with 13 points for Temple. (via Temple)

[5] Rhode Island 63, [4] Saint Louis 47
Star of the Game: Lamonte Ulmer 16 Pts (6-9 FG, 4-7 FT)

Rams Defeat Saint Louis 63-47 to Advance to the A-14 Semifinals - The Rhode Island men's basketball team (23-8) defeated Saint Louis 63-47 Friday afternoon at Boardwalk Hall and will advance to the semifinals of the 2010 Atlantic 14 tournament. Rhody advances to the semifinals of the league championship for the first time since the 2006-07 season with the win Senior Lamonte Ulmer led URI offensively as he netted 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. Freshman Akeem Richmond and sophomore Orion Outerbridge also chipped in with 13 and 10 points apiece. Defensively, Rhody held its opponent to under 50 points for the first time since Jan. 21, 2006 (URI 58, Richmond 46). (via Rhode Island)

[2] Xavier 78, [7] Dayton 73
Star of the Game: Jason Love 17 Pts (4-9 FG, 9-9 FT), 10 Reb

Xavier Rallies, Defeats Dayton 78-73 In A-14 Quarterfinals - The No. 24 ranked and No. 2 seed Xavier men's basketball team extended its win streak to eight games as the Musketeers fought back from a 15 point deficit to defeat Dayton 78-73 Friday night. With the win, the Musketeers advance to the semifinals of the Atlantic 14 Tournament where they will face Richmond on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on CBS College Sports national network and 55KRC-AM. Xavier has now reached at least the semifinals of the Atlantic 14 Championship for nine straight years. XU has reached at least the semifinals 11 times in 15 years as an Atlantic 14 Conference member. This was a hard-fought win. Xavier had to rally from a 15-point second-half deficit to secure the win over Dayton. The largest deficit Xavier had previously overcome this season was an 11-point deficit at George Washington with 9:31 left in the game on Jan. 10 in a 76-69 XU win. (via Xavier)

[3] Richmond 77, [11] Massachusetts 72
Star of the Game: Ryan Butler 14 Pts (4-6 FG, 3-4 FT), 7 Reb, 3 Stl

Richmond Advances To Quarterfinals With 25th Victory - Senior David Gonzalvez scored 15 points to lead five Spiders in double-figures as Richmond led by as many as 17 in a 77-72 Atlantic 14 Quarterfinal victory. The second seed Spiders (25-7) advance to the Atlantic 14 semifinals for the third time in nine seasons in the league and will play third seed and No. 24 ranked Xavier on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The Musketeers edged Richmond 78-76 in double overtime on Feb. 28 in Cincinnati. Xavier is the only Atlantic 14 team that the Spiders have not defeated this season. Gonzalvez made 5-of-11 field goals, including 4-of-6 three-pointers to finish with a team-high 15 points. He also had six rebounds, four steals and three assists. Junior Kevin Smith had 14 points, including four second-half dunks and senior Ryan Butler also had 14 points, making 3-of-4 three-pointers. (via Richmond)

On Tap Tonight

America East

[4] Boston University at [2] Vermont - 12:00 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

BU - 19-12 (11-5) [RPI: 140 State: 148] SOS: 204 Last 10: 8-2 Form: W W W W W PF/PA: 70.8/66.4
UVM - 24-9 (12-4) [RPI: 129 State: 119] SOS: 317 Last 10: 9-1 Form: W L W W W PF/PA: 70.2/64.2
Recent meetings: 02/09/2010 UVM 76 @BU 75 01/17/2010 BU 58 @UVM 78

Players to watch:
BU - #23 John Holland Jr. F (19.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 0.9 apg)
UVM - #23 Marqus Blakely Sr. F (17.2 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 3.7 apg)

Terriers, Catamounts Clash for America East Championship Saturday on ESPN2 - Looking to become the lowest seed to ever win the America East championship, the No. 4 Boston University men's basketball team visits No. 2 Vermont Saturday at 12 p.m. on ESPN2. The Terriers (19-12) have won eight of their last nine games, while the Catamounts (24-9) have captured 10 of the previous 11. BU is the active leader in the league with five titles and will try to capture its first since 2002. Holding a 5-8 record in championship finals, the Terriers dropped a heartbreaking 56-55 decision to Vermont in 2003 at Case Gym. Having never advanced past the semifinals in their first three attempts, the nine seniors made sure they would at least get one shot at the title before graduation by taking care of business last weekend in Hartford. Corey Lowe led the way with a combined 50 points against the No. 5 seed Hawks and No. 1 Stony Brook. He shot a stifling 17-for-28 (.607) and 12-for-18 (.667) from beyond the arc while also averaging 5.5 rebounds, 4.0 steals and 3.0 assists in the two contests. (via Boston University)

Big West

[3] Long Beach State vs. [1] California-Santa Barbara - 8:00 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

LBSU - 17-15 (8-8) [RPI: 124 State: 140] SOS: 114 Last 10: 7-3 Form: W L W W W PF/PA: 71.2/71.2
UCSB - 19-9 (12-4) [RPI: 102 State: 95] SOS: 194 Last 10: 8-2 Form: W W L W W PF/PA: 68.1/65.7
Recent meetings: 02/13/2010 LBSU 62 @UCSB 64 01/14/2010 UCSB 47 @LBSU 67

Players to watch:
LBSU - #15 TJ Robinson So. F (15.4 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 0.8 apg)
UCSB - #33 Orlando Johnson So. F (17.9 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.2 apg)

Great West

[2] Houston Baptist vs. [1] South Dakota - 9:30 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

HBU - 12-20 (9-3) [RPI: 329 State: 311] SOS: 344 Last 10: 7-3 Form: W W L W W PF/PA: 70.7/78.5
SDAK - 21-9 (11-1) [RPI: 223 State: 187] SOS: 341 Last 10: 10-0 Form: W W W W W PF/PA: 79.1/72.4
Recent meetings: 03/06/2010 HBU 84 @SDAK 97 01/28/2010 SDAK 92 @HBU 70

Players to watch:
HBU - #31 Andrew Gonzalez Jr. F (18.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.2 apg)
SDAK - #30 Tyler Cain Sr. F (15.1 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 2.3 apg)

MEAC

[3] South Carolina State vs. [1] Morgan State - 2:00 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

SCST - 18-13 (11-7) [RPI: 238 State: 224] SOS: 333 Last 10: 5-5 Form: W W L W W PF/PA: 69.8/69.6
MORG - 26-9 (17-1) [RPI: 105 State: 113] SOS: 292 Last 10: 8-2 Form: W W W W W PF/PA: 77.0/70.5
Recent meetings: 02/15/2010 SCST 71 @MORG 68 01/16/2010 MORG 72 @SCST 67

Players to watch:
SCST - #15 Jason Flagler Sr. G (15.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.1 apg)
MORG - #33 Kevin Thompson So. F (12.7 ppg, 12.0 rpg, 1.9 apg)

Mid-American

[9] Ohio vs. [3] Akron - 6:00 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

OHIO - 20-14 (7-9) [RPI: 107 State: 123] SOS: 112 Last 10: 7-3 Form: L W W W W PF/PA: 74.0/68.5
AKR - 24-9 (12-4) [RPI: 91 State: 92] SOS: 166 Last 10: 8-2 Form: W W L W W PF/PA: 70.6/64.9
Recent meetings: 02/14/2010 OHIO 88 @AKR 91 01/13/2010 AKR 67 @OHIO 62

Players to watch:
OHIO - #5 D.J. Cooper Fr. G (12.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 5.9 apg)
AKR - #32 Jimmy Conyers Sr. F (9.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.4 apg)

Southland

[2] Stephen F. Austin vs. [1] Sam Houston State - 4:05 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

SFA - 24-8 (11-5) [RPI: 152 State: 122] SOS: 314 Last 10: 7-3 Form: W W L W W PF/PA: 66.9/59.2
SAMH - 24-7 (14-2) [RPI: 79 State: 81] SOS: 208 Last 10: 8-2 Form: W W L W W PF/PA: 80.4/70.0
Recent meetings: 01/09/2010 SFA 57 @SAMH 66 01/10/2009 SAMH 73 @SFA 75

Players to watch:
SFA - #12 Eddie Williams Jr. G (13.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.7 apg)
SAMH - #14 Gilberto Clavell Jr. F (16.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.3 apg)

SWAC

[5] Texas Southern vs. [2] Arkansas-Pine Bluff - 8:30 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

TXSO - 17-15 (11-7) [RPI: 226 State: 242] SOS: 304 Last 10: 6-4 Form: W W W W W PF/PA: 68.8/66.2
UAPB - 16-15 (14-4) [RPI: 192 State: 215] SOS: 274 Last 10: 9-1 Form: W L W W W PF/PA: 64.9/65.5
Recent meetings: 02/22/2010 TXSO 53 @UAPB 57 01/25/2010 UAPB 67 @TXSO 70

Players to watch:
TXSO - #1 Deandre Hall Sr. F (16.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.7 apg)
UAPB - #21 Tavaris Washington Sr. F (9.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.9 apg)

Western Athletic

[3] New Mexico State vs. [1] Utah State - 10:00 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

NMSU - 21-11 (11-5) [RPI: 63 State: 82] SOS: 86 Last 10: 7-3 Form: W L L W W PF/PA: 78.9/78.3 USU - 27-6 (14-2) [RPI: 30 State: 27] SOS: 105 Last 10: 10-0 Form: W W W W W PF/PA: 74.0/59.4 Recent meetings: 03/06/2010 NMSU 63 @USU 81 01/02/2010 USU 52 @NMSU 55

Players to watch:
NMSU - #1 Jahmar Young Jr. F (20.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.2 apg)
USU - #42 Tai Wesley Jr. F (13.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.4 apg)

Atlantic 4

[5] Rhode Island vs. [1] Temple - 1:00 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

URI - 23-8 (9-7) [RPI: 41 State: 45] SOS: 95 Last 10: 5-5 Form: L W L W W PF/PA: 77.0/70.5
TU - 27-5 (14-2) [RPI: 14 State: 13] SOS: 60 Last 10: 9-1 Form: W W W W W PF/PA: 65.5/56.7
Recent meetings: 02/13/2010 URI 56 @TU 78 01/10/2010 TU 68 @URI 64

Players to watch:
URI - #15 Lamonte Ulmer Sr. F (12.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.3 apg)
TU - #24 Lavoy Allen Jr. F (11.8 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 2.3 apg)

[3] Richmond vs. [2] Xavier - 3:30 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

RICH - 25-7 (13-3) [RPI: 25 State: 28] SOS: 71 Last 10: 9-1 Form: W L W W W PF/PA: 69.2/61.7
XU - 24-7 (14-2) [RPI: 21 State: 16] SOS: 46 Last 10: 9-1 Form: W W W W W PF/PA: 79.9/68.4
Recent meetings: 02/28/2010 RICH 76 @XU 78 03/07/2009 XU 75 @RICH 80

Players to watch:
RICH - #14 Kevin Anderson Jr. G (17.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.6 apg)
XU - #55 Jordan Crawford So. G (19.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.9 apg)

Mid-Majority Chat Block, Episode 616

2010-03-12T20:00:34Z

The Mid-Majority Chat Block; Championship Fortnight Edition

OK, we had some technical difficulties, but let's try this again. I can haz Championship Fortnight Chat Block?

The Weak Ones Fall, The Strong Carry On

2010-03-12T19:07:59Z

CLEVELAND -- It was February 19, 2009, 11:49 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, during our nine-hour BracketBusters marathon chat. We have a lot of people sign in with names that aren't theirs, but we hadn't had any multi-platinum rock stars show up before.

[Comment From Tom Petty] Two questions. 1) What are your top 3 favorite songs of mine, all-time ... 2) If you had to start your college team with one player for one year would it be -- Blake Griffin, Hasheem Thabeet or Jodie Meeks.

OK, so it wasn't really him. And I bumbled the question, something about having sold all my Petty CD's. So it wasn't my doing when all of a sudden, every other question was about Tom Petty. It came as a complete surprise -- people sending in links to YouTube videos, remembering concert experiences, and inserting TP lyric puns in their questions. We've known for years that Bally is a fan, sure, but was there really this much overlap between Mid-Majority readers and Petty fans? And c'mon, really, how?

I mean, Tom Petty isn't exactly a "mid-major guy." He often shows up at concerts with a guitar that has a giant orange and green University of Florida Gators logo. He never attended, but there are stories about how he used to mow the athletic fields for extra cash, growing up in Gainesville.

But looking over his life and career, Tom Petty's the kind of underdog who fought to earn everything he got. He's the son of an insurance salesman. He doesn't have the European features that most rock stars have; I was in Florida recently, and there are a whole lot of people who look like Tom Petty there. Tom quit high school and once filed for bankruptcy. When he became a rock star, his mansion burned down, and has had plenty of legal battles throughout his career. He certainly didn't innovate anything -- there were three chords, chiming guitars and rock songs about girls before there was a Tom Petty, and he built his career on the shoulders of giants. His slurred nasal vocals could never get him beyond the "ha-ha round" on the first week of "American Idol," but he rocked the Super Bowl and built a legendary career on his own terms anyway.

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Also hidden in his life story are lessons about loyalty and friendship. Mr. Petty's Heartbreakers are a group of merry men who help him fulfill his vision, and most of them have been together on the same team for a quarter-century. He also remembers and helps his old friends; he reformed his old band Mudcrutch, with whom he moved from Gainesvlle to Los Angeles in the late 1960's, for an album and tour. His power in the marketplace is primarily derived from living up to his audience's expectations; he serves the fans before he serves the industry or popular convention, and he barely ever gives the impression that he's in it only for himself.

Tom's career has been pocked with misfires and questionable experiments, and there have been plenty of misses among the many hits. But that's because he's never been afraid to try out ideas in public, push himself, or just fail outright. There were the albums that didn't really work or hang together, critical and commercial failures like Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) or She's The One, and there are plenty of album tracks (like "Zombie Zoo") that make you cringe a little. But it's not like skipping songs in your shuffle is going to hurt Tom Petty's feelings.

Because most of Tom Petty's high-risk gambles have paid off. In 1979, he refused to be moved from one record company to another without his consent (upon ABC Records' sale to MCA), and when MCA threatened to raise the retail price of his fourth album from the industry-standard nine dolalrs to ten, he threatened to name it Eight Ninety Eight before MCA relented. That album turned out to be Hard Promises. Much later, he was one of the early pioneers of free MP3 distribution, back when nobody even knew what MP3 was. Here's a 256kbps copy of that song, just as crisp and crackling as the original... "Free Girl Now."

But the greatest Tom Petty songs have basic ingredients. One is a narrator in a fixed position in time (not necessarily in place; see "Runnin' Down a Dream.") The second ingredient is a destination. The songs themselves are about everything in between point A and point B, a road, the sky, a girl, a moment, Hollywood, fear, hesitation, faith, desire, anticipation, life itself. But in some cases, the narrator isn't even sure what that destination is -- just somewhere else that's better, where a second chance may lie.

They aren't exercises in writing obliquely, because most rebels don't have a clue and mysteries always need to be run down. All these songs -- like "Learning to Fly" and "Into the Great Wide Open" and "Room at the Top" and "A Higher Place" -- were written in the past 30 years, after the 15 years Tom spent locating his true voice. This was the first one, form that Hard Promises LP that I once bought for nine bucks (plus tax).

These songs represent true and basic human experience, and they're what separate Tom Petty from the average rock hero who sings about partying and women. I don't remember a time when Tom Petty ever wrote a song that exploits the lowest common denominator (which is very difficult when your signature vocal style involves repeating "baby" a lot). But take this version of "Learning to Fly," for example, from the recently-released Live Anthology. It's tough for me to get through, but it's because it elicits the kind of "Breakdown" that has little to do with going ahead and giving it to me. I don't know if it's the crowd taking the chorus or Tom singing "gonna fly over my troubles, gonna fly over my worries" over it, but this is basically church.

I'm not trying to draw any parallels here between what Tom Petty does and what we are trying to accomplish in this space. This is a site about college basketball, one of the most corrupt sports in America, one in which its chroniclers would be blacklisted for life if they revealed even a tenth of the "real reasons" why things happen. We just try to use it as a metaphor, and pretend it's beautiful. I'll never have a hit single or play at the Super Bowl... mostly because that would require knowing what the score is.

Tom and I work in different mediums. While I only dabble in songwriting, I'm primarily a children's book illustrator. But Tom Petty is an inspiration to me, and to many of you, because of his resilience, defiance, daring and loyalty. TP taught me to be good to my fans, and engage them in down-to-earth discussion (he has a radio show!) -- I used to be really bad at that. When I'm told I'm being too strident and precious, I think about The Last DJ -- Tom had something he wanted to say about money and greed, and he knew that his true fans would understand where he was coming from. And whenever I experience one of the many setbacks and failures this site has gone through in the past six years, I remember the line from "Straight Into Darkness": The weak ones fall, the strong carry on. No matter what, we have to keep going.

I haven't gone nearly as far, obviously. I'm still waiting for my Hard Promises moment that will never come. Even if it arrives, I'll still be three decades away from performing the Epilogue at the Final Four. I will be in at least my seventies by then.

Tom Petty is so prevalent in our society -- 60 million albums sold and at least that many spins on terrestrial and satellite radio every year -- that his songs just show up everywhere. A lot of times, he's like a bird on your shoulder, a better conscience, or just an observer of the state of things, making remarks and comments about proceedings in the foreground. Sometimes, it's uncanny how Tom always says the right things.

Like last night. It was March 11, 2010, at 11:45 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, after a long 12 hours of MAC quarterfinals. It was a crazy day: a No. 7 seed beat the No. 2, and the top seed had been dumped by a No. 9. As I was driving back to my hotel south of the Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport, I had to pull over to dispense with all the coffee I needed to get through the afternoon. Luckily for me, there was a late-night McDonald's.

And as I walked in to duck into the bathroom, there was Tom, singing to me over the speaker system.

Tourney Central 3/12/2010 (Day 11)

2010-03-12T13:24:06Z

Bullet Points

There were no bids awarded on Thursday. Instead, many of the late leagues held quarterfinal rounds, setting up semifinals for today.
The Southland and WAC put forward their top four seeds, but MEAC No. 5 Hampton snuck past No. 4 Hampton. The SWAC's bracket now has a 2-3-5-8 setup; Texas Southern ended Prairie View's season last night.
But no tourney is as upside-down as the MAC. In Cleveland on Thursday, there was a 9-over-1 upset (Ohio over Kent State), a 7-over-2 (Western Michigan over Eastern Michigan), and No. 3 Akron needed double overtime to dispose of No. 6 Eastern Michigan.
The Patriot League determines its champion this afternoon with a fantastic and unprecedented Lehigh Valley showdown between Lehigh and Lafayette.
The following conferences will hold semis today: the WAC, SWAC, MAC and MEAC. In Winston-Salem, today features the "MEAC JAMS Turn Up The Heat After Party" and a concert by the S.O.S Band)
The Big West will take the time to narrow four to two as well, but it doesn't rhyme with the other four.
There are a total of 17 games today.

]]> Brackets

Big West

[3] Long Beach State 79, [6] Cal Poly 69
Star of the Game: Larry Anderson 16 Pts (2-7 FG, 12-16 FT), 7 Reb, 3 Stl

LBSU advances to Big West Tournament semifinals with 79-69 win over Cal Poly - Nothing has come easy for Long Beach State this year and that was the case again in the quarterfinals of the Big West Conference Tournament on Thursday night.
The Beach built a double-digit first-half lead and then held off a furious Cal Poly rally in the second half eventually holding on for a 79-69 win at the Anaheim Convention Center. LBSU (16-15) advances to the semifinals where the 49ers will play No. 2 seed Pacific at approximately 8:30 p.m. Long Beach State started the game impressively. After giving up a jumper to Lorenzo Keeler 30 seconds in the game, the 49ers went on a 14-0 run over a 2:15 span to take a 14-2 lead. The Beach pushed the lead to as many as 14 in the first half before settling for a 13-point halftime lead. The run by the 49ers was impressive. It started with a T.J. Robinson basket before Stephan Gilling canned a three to give the 49ers the lead for good at 5-2. Caper Ware added a bucket and a free throw after being fouled on the play to make it an 8-2 49er lead. Robinson added a pair of free throws before Gilling hit his second 3-pointer of the game to push the lead to 13-2. Larry Anderson finished off the run making 1-of-2 free throws at the 16:26 mark to give LBSU a 12-point lead. (via Long Beach State)

[4] California-Davis 68, [5] Cal State Fullerton 65
Star of the Game: Dominic Calegari 13 Pts (4-7 FG, 3-3 FT), 6 Reb

UC Davis Advances To Big West Tourney Semifinals - Joe Harden scored a game-high 20 points and added nine rebounds to lead UC Davis to a 68-65 victory over Cal State Fullerton Thursday night in the semifinals of the Big West Conference Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena. The Aggies also had key contributions from freshmen Ryan Howley and Julian Welch. Howley scored a career-high 14 points, and Welch added 11. With the win, UC Davis (14-17) advances to the tournament semifinals to face top-seed UC Santa Barbara Friday night. The game tips at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPNU. It will be the first appearance ever for the Aggies in the Big West Tournament semifinals. Cal State Fullerton (16-15) had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds, but Gerard Anderson missed an off-balance jumper in the lane with four seconds remaining. Welch sank two free throws with less than a second remaining to seal the victory for UC Davis. Anderson led Cal State Fullerton with 17 points. (via California-Davis)

MEAC

[3] South Carolina State 59, [6] Maryland-Eastern Shore 53
Star of the Game: Jason Flagler 20 Pts (9-12 FG, 2-2 FT), 6 Reb

SC State Men Survive in MEAC Tourney - In a contest in which both teams struggled offensively, South Carolina State scored seven of the game's final nine points to earn a hard-fought 59-53 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore in the quarterfinals of t he Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament at the Lawrence Joel Veteran Memorial Coliseum. The third-seeded Bulldogs, who improved to 17-13 with the win, joined the SC State women in Friday's semifinals. Coach Tim Carter's team will meet Delaware State Friday at 8 p.m. The Lady Bulldogs will take the floor earlier, when Coach Doug Robertson's team, an upset winner over top-seeded North Carolina A&T on Wednesday -- meets fourth-seeded Howard, a 56-54 winner over Florida A&M Thursday. In Thursday's victory, Bulldog senior Jason Flagler tossed in 20 points and grabbed six rebounds to extend his SC State career one more game. Transfer Darnell Porter had 16 points and five boards in the win, the second in as many meetings by SC State over the sixth-seeded Hawks, who made it to the quarterfinals with a 64-58 win Coppin State.(via South Carolina State)

[5] Hampton 73, [4] Norfolk State 70
Star of the Game: Charles Funches 11 Pts (2-3 FG, 7-12 FT), 9 Reb, 2 Stl

Pirates Push Past Spartans Into Semis - The Hampton University men's basketball team defeated No. 4 seed Norfolk State 73-70 on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championships at the LJVM Coliseum. Charles Funches (Bayonne, N.J.) sank a free throw with 13:59 to play to give Hampton a 48-38 lead, but the Spartans responded with a 16-6 run to tie the game at 54-54 with 9:15 left to play on a free throw from Joey Dorsett-Jeffreys. The Spartans went up 62-59 on a Rob Hampton layup with 6:19 to play. Norfolk State held a 64-63 lead with 5:15 to play after Marcos Tamares hit a jumper, but Darrion Pellum (Hampton, Va.) sank a layup with 4:46 left to put the Pirates (14-17) up 65-64. Hampton would go up by five, 69-64, on a Brandon Tunnell (Wilmington, Del.) layup with 3:07 to play. (via Hampton)

Mid-American

[7] Western Michigan 69, [2] Central Michigan 60
Star of the Game: David Kool 26 Pts (7-15 FG, 12-14 FT), 2 Stl

Strong Second Half Leads Broncos Past Central Michigan - Mid-American Conference Player of the Year David Kool scored 26 points, 24 in the second half, to lead No. 7 Western Michigan past No. 2 Central Michigan, 69-60, in the quarterfinals of the FirstEnergy MAC Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Kool hit 7-of-15 field goals and 12-of-14 free throws, while adding four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sophomore Flenard Whitfield tied his career high with 12 rebounds and added 12 points for his fourth career double-double. Freshman David Brown scored 11 points, the most in his career against a Division I opponent, and senior Donald Lawson added 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Central Michigan (15-15) led the whole game, including by 14 with 13:42 to go in the second half before WMU cut the lead to two. CMU re-established its lead back to five, 54-49, with 6:26 to play, but WMU (18-14) came back as Kool dished to Mike Douglas for a three-pointer in the corner to cut the lead to two. The Broncos got consecutive stops and Kool hit two free throws to tie and then a fadeaway in the paint to give WMU its first lead, 56-54, with 4:42 to go. (via Western Michigan)

[3] Akron 97, [6] Eastern Michigan 89 (2OT)
Star of the Game: Steve McNees 18 Pts (4-6 FG, 6-8 FT), 3 Stl

Men's Basketball Outlasts Eastern Michigan in 2OT Thriller - Steve McNees scored a season-high 18 points and nailed a 3-pointer with less than one second to go in overtime to help the third-seeded University of Akron men's basketball team to a 97-89 double-overtime victory over sixth-seeded Eastern Michigan on Thursday in a heated Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinal game at Quicken Loans Arena. A free throw toss by UA's Darryl Roberts tied the contest at 78 with just over one minute to go in the first overtime period, but Jay Higgins hit a 3-pointer to give Eastern Michigan (17-15) an 81-78 lead with eight seconds left. Then, with no Akron (23-9) timeouts remaining, McNees took the ball down the floor and knotted the score with a clutch triple taken from near the top of the key to force the second extra session. McNees was 4-for-6 from the floor, including a 4-for-4 showing from 3-point distance, and made 6-of-8 foul shots. He also had five assists and a career-high-tying three steals. UA outscored EMU 16-8 in the second overtime to claim the final margin, but in the final minute Eastern Michigan coach Charles Ramsey picked up his second technical foul and was ejected. Also, Eagles forward Brandon Bowdry was tossed for a flagrant foul and Akron's Anthony "Humpty" Hitchens had to leave the floor after picking up his second technical foul of the day. (via Akron)

[9] Ohio 81, [1] Kent State 64
Star of the Game: Armon Bassett 38 Pts (9-17 FG, 16-16 FT), 7 Ast

Bobcats Roar Past Kent State, 81-64 - Ohio's Armon Bassett exploded for 38 points and seven assists to lead the ninth-seeded Bobcats past top-seeded Kent State 81-64 Thursday evening in MAC Quarterfinal action at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Ohio improved to 19-14 overall and advanced to Friday evening's semifinal matchup (9 p.m., FSN Ohio). Kent State dropped to 23-9. Bassett connected on 16 of 16 from the free throw line, while Ohio made 27 of 32 (84.4 percent) attempts as a whole. Kent State was not as fortunate, making just 50 percent (13-26). The Bobcats also got 19 points and eight rebounds off the bench from DeVaughn Washington, who made all eight of his field goal attempts with an array of numerous #omgdunx. The perfect clip from the field tied a school record for single-game field goal percentage with Gary Trent (12-12, 11/25/94) and Paul Morris (10-10, 1/30/95). Washington and Bobcat center Kenneth van Kempen led the team with eight rebounds apiece. (via Ohio)

[4] Miami (Oh.) 73, [5] Buffalo 59
Star of the Game: Julian Mavunga 16 Pts (6-8 FG, 2-4 FT), 6 Ast, 3 Stl

Miami Advances to MAC Semifinals with Win Over Buffalo - A 17-0 scoring run by the RedHawks early in the game and a great pass from Julian Mavunga to Antonio Ballard late in the contest helped seal a 73-59 victory over Buffalo Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament. Kenny Hayes led the RedHawks with 27 points. Buffalo's Rodney Pierce hit a three-pointer to open the game and the Bulls held Miami off the board for the first three minutes. That would not be a sign of things to come as Hayes opened scoring for the RedHawks with a jumper at the 16:47 mark. That began the 17-0 run for Miami that opened up a 17-3 lead. During the run Rodney Haddix hit back-to-back three-pointers. He was fouled on the second one and hit the free throw to complete the three-point play. (via Miami (Oh.))

Southland

[2] Stephen F. Austin 60, [3] Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 53
Star of the Game: Eddie Williams 10 Pts (4-9 FG), 10 Reb

'Jacks Back In Title Game - Walt Harris scored a team-high 15 points and sank three free throws in the final 33 seconds Thursday to lead Stephen F. Austin to a 60-53 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the semifinals of the State Farm Southland Conference Basketball Tournament. The win moves the Lumberjacks into the tournament championship game for the second straight season. With the victory, SFA improves to 23-8 on the year and 12-11 all-time in Southland Tournament games, the first time the `Jacks have moved above .500 in tournament play since joining the league in 1987. SFA head coach Danny Kaspar picked up his 400th career win and will coach his team in the tournament finals Saturday for the fourth time in the last eight years. (via Stephen F. Austin)

[1] Sam Houston State 88, [4] Southeastern Louisiana 85
Star of the Game: Josten Crow 8 Pts (3-5 FG, 2-2 FT), 9 Reb, 2 Stl

Kats advance to Southland finals with win over SLU - For the second straight night, Lance Pevehouse came up with a big play and for the second straight night, the Sam Houston State Bearkats escaped the Merrell Center with a victory. Pevehouse hit a 3-pointer with 1:13 left in the game to give the Bearkats a two-point lead and he hit a free throw in the closing seconds to give the Kats an 88-85 win to advance to the Southland Conference finals on Saturday. With three minutes left to play in the game, Jason Marks hit a pair of free throws to put the Lions up 83-78. After a couple of Josten Crow free throws, Mitchell made a steal at mid-court and a layup cut the lead to just one with less than two minutes to play. (via Sam Houston State)

SWAC

[3] Alabama State 56, [6] Alabama A&M 45
Star of the Game: Tramayne Moorer 18 Pts (7-10 FG, 4-5 FT), 10 Reb, 2 Stl

A&M Defeated in Quarterfinal Action, 56-45 - Alabama A&M men's basketball team was defeated in quarterfinal action in the SWAC Tournament with a 56-45 loss to Alabama State. The first half was a low-scoring affair as the Bulldogs shot 22.6 from the field (7-of-31), while the Hornets were held to a 38.5 shooting clip (10-of-26) for a 27-18 margin after the first 20. Cornelius Hester led A&M in the game with 13 points. The Bulldogs end the 2009-10 season with an 11-16 overall record. A&M opened the second stint with a 7-0 run to trail 27-25 at the 17:56 mark, but would get no closer than that for the rest of the game, as ASU increased its cushion to as many as 14, 46-32, midway through the half. The Bulldogs were unable to hit a shot from behind the arc, as they were 0-12 for the game. (via Alabama A&M)

[5] Texas Southern 66, [4] Prairie View A&M 49
Star of the Game: David Burrell 11 Pts (4-4 FG, 1-1 FT), 6 Stl

Western Athletic

[1] Utah State 84, [8] Boise State 60
Star of the Game: Tai Wesley 18 Pts (9-15 FG, 0-1 FT), 10 Reb, 2 Stl

Aggie Men Advance To Seminfinals Of WAC Tournament With 84-60 Win Against Boise State Thursday - Utah State used a pair of double-doubles from senior guard Jared Quayle and junior forward Tai Wesley to run past Boise State, 84-60, in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament held here in the Lawlor Events Center Thursday. Utah State, who extended its winning streak to 16-straight games, improves to 26-6 on the season and 12-3 all-time in the WAC Tournament with the win. Boise State, who entered the game winners of three of its last four games, ends its season with a 15-17 record. Quayle recorded a career-high 13 rebounds in the game to go along with 13 points and four assists, while Wesley finished the game with 18 points, a season-high tying 10 rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots and two steals. Junior guards Pooh Williams and Brian Green both scored a career-high 18 points, as Williams had 13 after halftime while Green scored 12. Junior guard Tyler Newbold had seven points and seven boards for the home team. (via Utah State)

[4] Louisiana Tech 74, [5] Fresno State 66
Star of the Game: Jamel Guyton 31 Pts (11-14 FG, 6-6 FT), 11 Reb, 2 Stl

Guyton Leads Louisiana Tech over Fresno State 74-66 - Senior Jamel Guyton scored a career-high 31 points to lead Louisiana Tech to a 74-66 win over Fresno State in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Thursday at the Lawlor Events Center. The Bulldogs (23-9) advanced to take on Utah State (26-5) in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament on Friday at 8 p.m. CT. The No. 1 seeded Aggies defeated No. 8 Boise State 84-60 in the quarterfinals on Thursday. In addition to Guyton's career-high in points, he added 11 rebounds, five offensive, for his second-career double-double. The senior from Odessa, Texas scored in every fashion possible; driving to the basket, 15-foot jumpers, free throws (6-for-6) and three-pointers (3-for-5). He also added two steals, a block and an assist. Magnum Rolle and Olu Ashaolu joined Guyton in double figures. Rolle scored 12 points and added nine rebounds and Ashaolu had 11 points and eight boards. (via Louisiana Tech)

at [2] Nevada 87, [7] Idaho 71
Star of the Game: Luke Babbitt 21 Pts (8-15 FG, 3-3 FT), 7 Reb

Nevada 87, Idaho 71 - Luke Babbitt scored 21 points and all five starters finished in double figures as the Wolf Pack (20-11) poured in seven 3-pointers in the first half en route to an 87-71 win over Idaho Thursday night in the WAC tournament quarterfinals. Brandon Fields had 15 points, Joey Shaw 14, Armon Johnson 13 and Dario Hunt 12 for the second-seeded Wolf Pack (20-11), who shot 55 percent from the field and made 10 of 18 from 3-point range on the game. (via Nevada)

[3] New Mexico State 90, [6] San Jose State 69
Star of the Game: Jonathan Gibson 22 Pts (8-14 FG, 2-2 FT)

Aggies Handle San Jose State 90-69 - The New Mexico State men's basketball team defeated the No. 6 seed San Jose State, 90-69, Thursday, March 11, in the first round of the WAC Tournament, in the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nev. The No. 3 seed Aggies improve to 20-11 and meet No. 2 seed Nevada, Friday, March 12 at 10 p.m. on ESPN2. With the victory, NM State has recorded the 24th 20-win season in school history. Senior guard Jonathan Gibson scored a team-high 22 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the 3-point line while junior guard Jahmar Young contributed 16 points. Junior forward Wendell McKines posted a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds and sophomore forward Troy Gillenwater added 11 points. The Aggies raced to a 12-4 lead only 3:08 into the game after a layup from sophomore center Hamidu Rahman, pair of Gibson 3-pointers and two McKines jumpers. (via New Mexico State)

On Tap Tonight

Patriot League

[3] Lafayette at [1] Lehigh - 4:45 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

LAF - 19-12 (8-6) [RPI: 211 State: 215] SOS: 331 Last 10: 5-5 Form: W W L W W PF/PA: 72.9/71.4
LEH - 21-10 (10-4) [RPI: 159 State: 170] SOS: 304 Last 10: 8-2 Form: L W W W W PF/PA: 75.2/70.4
Recent meetings: 02/21/2010 LEH 75 @LAF 90 01/23/2010 LAF 57 @LEH 75

Players to watch:
LAF - #34 Jared Mintz Jr. F (14.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.0 apg)
LEH - #3 C.J. McCollum Fr. G (18.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.4 apg)

Lehigh hosts rival Lafayette for right to go dancing - It would be hard to write a better script than the one that will take place inside Stabler Arena on Friday evening as top-seeded Lehigh welcomes No. 3 seed and archrival Lafayette to town in the 2010 Patriot League championship. The winner of the 213th meeting between these rivals will receive an automatic berth to the upcoming NCAA Tournament as well as bragging rights in the Lehigh Valley for the next calendar year. Lehigh ran all over American in its semifinal game on Sunday by a score of 79-57 as freshman C.J. McCollum led four Mountain Hawks in double figures with 22 points, while Dave Buchberger knocked down four three-pointers en route to 16 tallies. The Leopards downed Holy Cross 66-63 in a down-to-the-wire semifinal behind 17 points from Jim Mower. Lehigh and Lafayette have never met in the Patriot League championship game. (via Lehigh)

Big West

[1] California-Santa Barbara vs. [4] California-Davis - 9:30 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

UCSB - 18-9 (12-4) [RPI: 101 State: 99] SOS: 194 Last 10: 8-2 Form: W W W L W PF/PA: 67.9/65.9
UCD - 14-17 (8-8) [RPI: 253 State: 224] SOS: 271 Last 10: 5-5 Form: L W L W W PF/PA: 69.8/70.5
Recent meetings: 02/06/2010 UCSB 81 @UCD 77 01/08/2010 UCD 47 @UCSB 68

Players to watch:
UCSB - #33 Orlando Johnson So. F (18.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.3 apg)
UCD - #11 Mark Payne Jr. F (15.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 4.2 apg)

Top-Seeded UCSB Opens Big West Tournament in Friday's First Semifinal Game - UCSB clinched the top-seed in the Big West Tournament with a 77-74 win over UC Irvine on Mar. 3. That was the Gauchos' last regular season game. When they take the court for their Big West Tournament semifinal game on Friday, Mar. 12, it will have been almost nine full days between games. The eight-plus days between the regular season finale and the first tournament game will be the longest such gap in program history. UCSB enters the Big West Tournament with an overall record of 18-9. The Gauchos completed Big West Conference play with a 12-4 record and they have won seven of their last eight and 10 of 12. Before losing a 60-57 decision at Cal Poly on Feb. 27, Santa Barbara had put together a season-best six-game winning streak. Dating back to the 2008-09 season, UCSB has won 18 of its last 23 conference games and if league tournament games are included, it is 19 of 25. (via California-Santa Barbara)

[3] Long Beach State vs. [2] Pacific - 11:30 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

LBSU - 16-15 (8-8) [RPI: 124 State: 143] SOS: 106 Last 10: 6-4 Form: W W L W W PF/PA: 71.4/71.5
PAC - 20-10 (12-4) [RPI: 120 State: 92] SOS: 216 Last 10: 6-4 Form: L L W W W PF/PA: 65.4/59.9
Recent meetings: 02/27/2010 LBSU 51 @PAC 61 02/17/2010 PAC 74 @LBSU 52

Players to watch:
LBSU - #15 TJ Robinson So. F (15.7 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 0.8 apg)
PAC - #34 Sam Willard Jr. F (11.3 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.6 apg)

Tigers To Take On Long Beach State In Big West Tournament Semi-Finals Tonight - he Pacific men's basketball team will take on Long Beach State in the semi-final round of the Big West Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center on Friday, March 12 at 9:00 p.m. The game will be televised nationally by ESPNU. The Tigers defeated the 49ers in both regular season matchups, with a 74-52 win at Long Beach State on Feb. 17 and a 61-51 victory in the Spanos Center on Feb. 27. Junior Pat Eveland (San Diego, Calif.) is averaging 7.8 points per game on the year, but 14.5 points per contest against the 49ers. Pacific's leading scorer, junior Sam Willard (Pierre, S.D.) is averaging 14.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game against Long Beach State. (via Pacific)

MEAC

[5] Hampton vs. [1] Morgan State - 6:00 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

HAMP - 14-17 (9-8) [RPI: 292 State: 248] SOS: 336 Last 10: 7-3 Form: W W W W W PF/PA: 65.6/63.7
MORG - 25-9 (17-1) [RPI: 104 State: 114] SOS: 295 Last 10: 8-2 Form: W W W W W PF/PA: 77.1/70.6
Recent meetings: 01/11/2010 MORG 73 @HAMP 63 02/23/2009 MORG 47 @HAMP 49

Players to watch:
HAMP - #21 Mike Freeman Sr. F (11.4 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 0.8 apg)
MORG - #33 Kevin Thompson So. F (12.9 ppg, 12.1 rpg, 1.9 apg)

[3] South Carolina State vs. [2] Delaware State - 8:00 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

SCST - 17-13 (11-7) [RPI: 240 State: 226] SOS: 333 Last 10: 5-5 Form: L W W L W PF/PA: 69.8/69.7
DEST - 17-11 (12-5) [RPI: 212 State: 214] SOS: 301 Last 10: 7-3 Form: L W L W W PF/PA: 58.2/57.9
Recent meetings: 01/11/2010 SCST 58 @DEST 67 01/10/2009 SCST 69 @DEST 52

Players to watch:
SCST - #15 Jason Flagler Sr. G (15.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.1 apg)
DEST - #55 Frisco Sandidge Sr. F (12.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.6 apg)

Western Athletic

[4] Louisiana Tech vs. [1] Utah State - 9:00 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

LTU - 23-9 (9-7) [RPI: 78 State: 72] SOS: 183 Last 10: 5-5 Form: L W L L W PF/PA: 74.9/69.7
USU - 26-6 (14-2) [RPI: 31 State: 28] SOS: 102 Last 10: 10-0 Form: W W W W W PF/PA: 73.7/59.5
Recent meetings: 02/17/2010 LTU 61 @USU 67 01/04/2010 USU 60 @LTU 82

Players to watch:
LTU - #15 Magnum Rolle Sr. C (14.4 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 0.9 apg)
USU - #42 Tai Wesley Jr. F (13.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.3 apg)

[3] New Mexico State at [2] Nevada - 11:59 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

NMSU - 20-11 (11-5) [RPI: 65 State: 85] SOS: 76 Last 10: 7-3 Form: W W L L W PF/PA: 78.9/78.3
NEV - 20-11 (11-5) [RPI: 63 State: 67] SOS: 75 Last 10: 7-3 Form: W L W W W PF/PA: 79.6/74.7
Recent meetings: 03/04/2010 NMSU 92 @NEV 100 01/04/2010 NEV 77 @NMSU 67

Players to watch:
NMSU - #1 Jahmar Young Jr. F (20.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.1 apg)
NEV - #5 Luke Babbitt So. F (21.7 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 1.9 apg)

Mid-American

[7] Western Michigan vs. [3] Akron - 7:00 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

WMU - 18-14 (8-8) [RPI: 152 State: 156] SOS: 155 Last 10: 6-4 Form: W L W W W PF/PA: 69.5/66.5
AKR - 23-9 (12-4) [RPI: 94 State: 93] SOS: 166 Last 10: 8-2 Form: L W W L W PF/PA: 70.8/64.9
Recent meetings: 01/27/2010 AKR 79 @WMU 70 02/08/2009 WMU 63 @AKR 87

Players to watch:
WMU - #23 David Kool Sr. G (21.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.7 apg)
AKR - #32 Jimmy Conyers Sr. F (9.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.4 apg)

[9] Ohio vs. [4] Miami (Oh.) - 9:30 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

OHIO - 19-14 (7-9) [RPI: 118 State: 127] SOS: 118 Last 10: 7-3 Form: W L W W W PF/PA: 74.6/69.3
MIO - 14-17 (9-7) [RPI: 150 State: 159] SOS: 80 Last 10: 6-4 Form: W L L W W PF/PA: 63.0/63.5
Recent meetings: 02/24/2010 MIO 68 @OHIO 70 01/16/2010 OHIO 67 @MIO 79

Players to watch:
OHIO - #5 D.J. Cooper Fr. G (13.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5.9 apg)
MIO - #14 Kenny Hayes Sr. G (15.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.2 apg)

SWAC

[3] Alabama State vs. [2] Arkansas-Pine Bluff - 3:30 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

ALST - 16-14 (12-6) [RPI: 278 State: 244] SOS: 342 Last 10: 7-3 Form: W W W L W PF/PA: 65.1/66.6
UAPB - 15-15 (14-4) [RPI: 195 State: 216] SOS: 275 Last 10: 9-1 Form: W W L W W PF/PA: 65.5/66.3
Recent meetings: 02/08/2010 ALST 42 @UAPB 47 01/11/2010 UAPB 73 @ALST 75

Players to watch:
ALST - #23 Menji Mundadi Sr. G (15.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 0.9 apg)
UAPB - #21 Tavaris Washington Sr. F (9.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.9 apg)

Hornet Duo Earns All-SWAC Basketball Honors - (via Alabama State)

[8] Grambling State vs. [5] Texas Southern - 9:00 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

GRAM - 7-20 (4-14) [RPI: 339 State: 333] SOS: 340 Last 10: 3-7 Form: L L L L W PF/PA: 64.0/73.6
TXSO - 16-15 (11-7) [RPI: 228 State: 237] SOS: 302 Last 10: 5-5 Form: L W W W W PF/PA: 69.1/66.5
Recent meetings: 02/13/2010 GRAM 66 @TXSO 87 01/16/2010 TXSO 74 @GRAM 59

Players to watch:
GRAM - #20 Lance Fuertado Jr. F (13.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.2 apg)
TXSO - #1 Deandre Hall Sr. F (16.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.6 apg)

Chris Moore Makes All SWAC - (via Texas Southern)

Great West

[5] Texas-Pan American vs. [1] South Dakota - 7:00 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

UTPA - 6-26 (4-8) [RPI: 336 State: 335] SOS: 319 Last 10: 3-7 Form: L L L W W PF/PA: 60.9/72.1
SDAK - 20-9 (11-1) [RPI: 223 State: 184] SOS: 341 Last 10: 10-0 Form: W W W W W PF/PA: 79.2/72.4
Recent meetings: 03/04/2010 UTPA 79 @SDAK 85 01/30/2010 SDAK 72 @UTPA 71

Players to watch:
UTPA - #11 Jared Maree Fr. G (9.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.3 apg)
SDAK - #30 Tyler Cain Sr. F (15.1 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 2.4 apg)

USD Men Face UTPA at Great West Tournament - After capturing the Great West Conference regular-season title last weekend, the University of South Dakota men's basketball team travels to Orem, Utah, for the GWC Tournament this weekend at the McKay Center on the campus of Utah Valley. As the No. 1 seed, the Coyotes (20-9, 11-1 GWC) received a bye into the semifinals and face No. 5 Texas-Pan American at 6 p.m. CT on Friday. The Broncs beat the Wolverines 56-53 in the first round on Wednesday. Texas-Pan American entered the tournament as the No. 5 seed after ending the regular season 4-8 in Great West Conference play, but upset No. 4 Utah Valley, 56-53, in the first round. Junior guard Nick Weiermiller led the Broncs with 18 points, followed by junior guard Julius Hearn with 11 and junior forward Matt Mierzycki with 10 points. The game was close throughout the second half with five lead changes and ties. In the final two minutes, either team had the opportunity to get the win. With 1:40 left in the game, a jumper by Weiermiller tied the score at 51, but a jumper by UVU's Baker at the 58 second mark gave the Wolverines their final lead of the night. Once again, Weiermiller answered with a 3-point shot giving the Broncs a 1-point advantage, 54-53. Two final free throws from Mierzycki secured the 56-53 win. Head coach Ryan Marks is 6-26 in his first season at UTPA. (via South Dakota)

[6] New Jersey Tech vs. [2] Houston Baptist - 9:30 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

NJIT - 10-20 (4-8) [RPI: 341 State: 327] SOS: 343 Last 10: 3-7 Form: W L L L W PF/PA: 61.4/66.5
HBU - 11-20 (9-3) [RPI: 329 State: 311] SOS: 344 Last 10: 6-4 Form: W W W L W PF/PA: 70.5/79.0
Recent meetings: 02/18/2010 HBU 62 @NJIT 58 01/16/2010 NJIT 62 @HBU 75

Players to watch:
NJIT - #1 Chris Flores Fr. G (13.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.3 apg)
HBU - #45 Mario Flaherty Sr. F (13.7 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 1.0 apg)

Atlantic 8

[8] Saint Bonaventure vs. [1] Temple - 12:00 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

BONA - 15-15 (7-9) [RPI: 156 State: 147] SOS: 117 Last 10: 6-4 Form: W W W L W PF/PA: 70.7/70.4
TU - 26-5 (14-2) [RPI: 16 State: 16] SOS: 64 Last 10: 9-1 Form: W W W W W PF/PA: 65.4/56.8
Recent meetings: 02/17/2010 TU 73 @BONA 55 02/22/2009 BONA 56 @TU 70

Players to watch:
BONA - #44 Andrew Nicholson So. F (16.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 0.5 apg)
TU - #24 Lavoy Allen Jr. F (11.7 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 2.3 apg)

Top-Seed Temple Opens A-14 Tournament Play Friday Against St. Bonaventure - - ATLANTIC CITY, NJ-The #17/17 Temple men's basketball team opens its defense of its Atlantic 14 Championship with a quarterfinal game with St. Bonaventure Friday afternoon (Noon/Comcast SportsNet/1210 AM WPHT) at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall. The top-seeded Owls will meet the eighth-seeded Bonnies for the third time in A-14 Tournament play and the first time since the 2000 Championship game won by Temple, 65-44, at the Spectrum. The other meeting came in the 1985 A-14 Quarterfinals, a 67-56 TU win. > (via Temple)

[5] Rhode Island vs. [4] Saint Louis - 2:30 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

URI - 22-8 (9-7) [RPI: 41 State: 49] SOS: 91 Last 10: 5-5 Form: W L W L W PF/PA: 77.4/71.2
SLU - 20-10 (11-5) [RPI: 83 State: 69] SOS: 109 Last 10: 8-2 Form: W L W L W PF/PA: 63.8/59.7
Recent meetings: 02/17/2010 URI 57 @SLU 62 02/14/2009 SLU 61 @URI 69

Players to watch:
URI - #15 Lamonte Ulmer Sr. F (11.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.3 apg)
SLU - #33 Willie Reed So. F (11.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 0.8 apg)

Bills Face Rhode Island in A-14 Championship Quarterfinals - Winners in eight of their last 10 games, the No. 4-seeded Saint Louis Billikens (20-10, 11-5 Atlantic 14) begin play in the A-14 Championship Friday, March 12, against No. 5 seed Rhode Island. Tip time at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., is 1:30 p.m. (CT). The Rams are 22-8 and posted a 9-7 record in league play. URI opened the A-14 Championship with an 87-76 win over No. 12 seed Saint Joseph's. Keith Cothran, a third-team All-Conference selection, tops URI with 15.0 ppg and 53 steals. Delroy James, another All-League third team choice, adds 12.7 ppg, and Lamont Ulmer averages 11.8 ppg and a team-high 7.3 rpg. Rhode Island ranks second in the league in scoring at 77.4 ppg and shoots 45.4 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from 3-point range and 70.3 percent from the free-throw line. The Rams top the A-14 in blocked shots per game (5.1) and assists per game (15.4). Head coach Jim Baron is 153-126 in nine years at Rhode Island and 359-328 in 23 seasons overall. The Billikens lead the series 5-2 and rallied for a 62-57 win in St. Louis Feb. 17. SLU overcame a 12-point deficit in that game for the victory. (via Saint Louis)

[7] Dayton vs. [2] Xavier - 6:30 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

UD - 20-11 (8-8) [RPI: 49 State: 58] SOS: 35 Last 10: 5-5 Form: L W L L W PF/PA: 69.6/61.8
XU - 23-7 (14-2) [RPI: 20 State: 18] SOS: 46 Last 10: 9-1 Form: W W W W W PF/PA: 79.9/68.3
Recent meetings: 02/06/2010 XU 65 @UD 90 01/16/2010 UD 74 @XU 78

Players to watch:
UD - #33 Chris Wright Jr. F (14.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.0 apg)
XU - #55 Jordan Crawford So. G (19.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.0 apg)

Dayton To Meet No. 24 Xavier In The A-14 Quarterfinals On Friday - The No. 7-seed University of Dayton Flyers will continue on, joining the field of eight, in the 2010 Atlantic 14 Men's Basketball Championship. The Flyers enter the weekend 20-11 overall and 8-8 in the Atlantic 14. The Flyers are coming off a 70-60 victory over the George Washington Colonials in the First Round. Dayton ranks in the Top 25 in the nation and first in the Atlantic 14 in rebounding margin (plus-6.3) and ranked in the Top 35 in the NCAA in scoring defense (61.8 points per game). Chris Wright leads the Flyers averaging 14.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. (via Dayton)

[11] Massachusetts vs. [3] Richmond - 9:00 pm ET | BBState Preview/Box

MASS - 12-19 (5-11) [RPI: 177 State: 194] SOS: 66 Last 10: 4-6 Form: L L L W W PF/PA: 70.6/74.8
RICH - 24-7 (13-3) [RPI: 26 State: 29] SOS: 71 Last 10: 9-1 Form: W W L W W PF/PA: 69.0/61.4
Recent meetings: 01/13/2010 MASS 63 @RICH 70 02/04/2009 RICH 71 @MASS 80

Players to watch:
MASS - #5 Ricky Harris Sr. G (19.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.0 apg)
RICH - #14 Kevin Anderson Jr. G (17.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.7 apg)

UMass To Face Richmond In A-14 Quarterfinals - After a pair dramatic victories to qualify for the Atlantic 14 Tournament and win an A-14 First Round game, the No. 11 seed UMass will look to continue its thrilling late-season run on Friday night. The Minutemen will take on No. 3 seed Richmond (24-7) at 9 p.m., in the final of four quarterfinal games at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. The winner will advance to the semifinals and face the winner of Xavier/Dayton on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (via Massachusetts)