SEASON 5
Recent Game Recaps
Epilogue, The Ninth: Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Memories
So We Meet Again
Rte. 139 - End of the Line
Hanging On
A Championship in Pictures
This Time of Year
Dotson Leads Ducks to the Sweet Sixteen
Grizzlies Overwhelmed by Orangemen
Empire
Challenge 11: Final Four Memories
By George, UConn is DeadButler and Us
Donning the Black and Gold
Challenge 10: Tourney Memories
The Madness of the Horizon LeagueThe Rare Ivy League Conference Tournament
MAC Madness
Anything Can Happen in the MAAC
Challenge 9: Shock The Neighborhood
A Youthful SurpriseFrom Worst to First
Peers and Seers
March 6, 2009 10:40 am ET by Kyle Whelliston |
Bullet Points
Brackets
Atlantic Sun
Belmont sub Mick Hedgepeth (a rock and roll name if ever there was one) scooped up an offensive rebound off Andy Wicke's missed shot with a second left in a tense game against No. 6 Mercer, and put it back for a one-point winner. The win kept the Bruins' hopes for a fourth consecutive A-Sun championship alive. In the late game, Lipscomb broke it open with a barrage of second-half 3's to eliminate the Fighting Camels. MMBOW Adnan Hodzic had 16 points in duty limited by excessive garbage time.
[3] Belmont 65, [6] Mercer 64 | GameFlo
at [4] Lipscomb 82, [5] Campbell 52 | GameFlo
Big South
Liberty was gaining control of the first semifinal, held at Radford's Dedmon Center, until VMI broke free with a run midway through the second half and cruised to a 20-point victory; the Keydets have won two games in 10 days versus the Flames by a total of 57 points. The home team got a career-high 35 points from Kenny Thomas (tied for the single-game BSC tourney record) and sank the defending regular-season champion Bulldogs in a barrage of late free throws. No. 4 UNC Asheville had cut the lead to two points with five minutes remaining.
[2] Virginia Military Institute 78, [3] Liberty 58 | GameFlo
at [1] Radford 94, [4] North Carolina-Asheville 86 | GameFlo
Missouri Valley
Indiana State eliminated Drake, last year's regular season and tourney champions, but nearly squandered a 13-point halftime lead. The Bulldogs cut the lead to one point with a minute and a half remaining. It was another in a series of minor upsets in the tourney's first day, but Wichita State made sure the No. 10 Bears didn't advance in the late game. Missouri State shot just 29 percent and converted only three of its 18 3-point attempts as the Shockers pulled away in the second half.
[9] Indiana State 62, [8] Drake 55 | GameFlo
[7] Wichita State 59, [10] Missouri State 46 | GameFlo
Northeast
Former MMBOW James Feldeine was a star with 22 points as Quinnipiac upset Long Island in overtime on the Blackbirds' own floor; Justin Rutty had a huge double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds. There was little last-second drama in the other three tilts. Top seed Robert Morris jumped out to a 17-6 lead on Saint Francis (NY) and never looked back. Defending titlist Mount Saint Mary's worked its way out of a close game with a late surge led by Jean Cajou (21 points, 10 in final five minutes). Sacred Heart won its Nutmeg State showdown-throwdown with CCSU behind 22 from Chauncey Hardy.
[5] Quinnipiac 86, at [4] Long Island 78 | GameFlo
at [3] Sacred Heart 76, [6] Central Connecticut State 64 | GameFlo
at [1] Robert Morris 73, [8] Saint Francis (NY) 60 | GameFlo
at [2] Mount Saint Mary's 72, [7] Wagner 62 | GameFlo
On Tap Tonight
America East
The A-East was strong in nonconference play, finishing just five games under .500, and put on a great conference race that went down to the final week. The two teams participating in tonight's "Pillowfight Friday" in Albany played no part in any of this. Hartford was the league runner-up last year, but the Hawks won as many games during the 2009 regular season (two) as they did during last year's tourney. Maine received a slight bump from last year's No. 9 seed, but this was the Black Bears' second consecutive single-digit season under Ted Woodward. They went 7-23 last year.
7:00 pm ET - [9] Hartford6-25 (2-14) vs. [8] Maine 8-20 (4-12) | Preview
Recent: 02/11/2009 HART 63 @UME 68 01/14/2009 UME 71 @HART 76
Atlantic Sun
Both of the semifinal matchups ended in season splits, and it's difficult to predict winners tonight -- mostly because No. 4 Lipscomb will be going up against the top-seeded Jacksonville Dolphins on its home floor, with its mildly disruptive LUnatics fan section in tow. ETSU has been waiting a year for this. In last year's semifinal, the Bucs led by a point late when Kenyona Swader received a hard foul from Belmont's Henry Harris. The official whistled Swader for a technical, claiming the player said something derogatory after the foul. Belmont pulled ahead with the TFT's, then Swader missed the front end of the original one-and-one, paving the way for a Bruin win. If you didn't see it, you can relive it for the first time.
7:00 pm ET - [2] East Tennessee State21-10 (14-6) vs. [3] Belmont 19-11 (14-6) | Preview
Recent: 02/14/2009 ETSU 73 @BELM 76 01/19/2009 BELM 57 @ETSU 87
9:30 pm ET - [1] Jacksonville17-12 (15-5) vs. [4] Lipscomb 17-13 (12-8) | Preview
Recent: 02/26/2009 JAX 82 @LIP 92 12/06/2008 LIP 67 @JAX 83
Colonial
The four top seeds await their missions, which will be issued after today's four-game first-round slate.
12:00 pm ET - [9] Delaware13-18 (6-12) vs. [8] Georgia State 11-19 (8-10) | Preview
Recent: 02/07/2009 DEL 67 @GSU 70 01/24/2009 GSU 48 @DEL 60
2:30 pm ET - [12] North Carolina-Wilmington7-24 (3-15) vs. [5] Hofstra 20-10 (11-7) | Preview
Recent: 02/28/2009 UNCW 81 @HOFS 88 01/28/2009 HOFS 80 @UNCW 78
6:00 pm ET - [10] William & Mary10-19 (5-13) vs. [7] James Madison 18-13 (9-9) | Preview
Recent: 02/14/2009 CWM 67 @JMU 76 01/10/2009 JMU 74 @CWM 65
8:30 pm ET - [11] Towson10-21 (5-13) vs. [6] Drexel 15-13 (10-8) | Preview
Recent: 02/15/2009 TOWS 65 @DREX 78 01/31/2009 DREX 60 @TOWS 53
Horizon League
In what should be a lightly attended evening of basketball at Hinkle Fieldhouse, four lower seeds fight over the opportunity to fight No. 1 Butler and No. 2 Wisconsin-Green Bay on Saturday evening. Three of the four defended their home courts in Tuesday's first round, but Illinois-Chicago arrived in Indianapolis via Youngstown, where they beat the homestanding Penguins in the 6/7 game.
6:00 pm ET - [5] Wisconsin-Milwaukee17-13 (11-7) vs. [4] Wright State 19-12 (12-6) | Preview
Recent: 02/26/2009 UWM 60 @WRIG 70 12/06/2008 WRIG 59 @UWM 66
8:00 pm ET - [7] Illinois-Chicago16-14 (7-11) vs. [3] Cleveland State 22-10 (12-6) | Preview
Recent: 02/05/2009 CLST 66 @UIC 63 01/10/2009 UIC 69 @CLST 79
Metro Atlantic
The other tourney being held in Albany will hold its own annual pillow party. It may be the last opportunity of the season to catch the Jimmy Patsos show, as his Loyola (Md.) squad fell hard after three straight years of progress. Iona has flatlined at 12 wins this year despite a strong influx of Big East transfers in Kevin Willard's second year, and all Marist has received in its first year of Chuck Martin's rule is Dribble Drive Mess.
7:30 pm ET - [9] Canisius10-19 (4-14) vs. [8] Loyola (Md.) 12-19 (7-11) | Preview
Recent: 02/16/2009 CANI 69 @LMD 67 01/03/2009 LMD 86 @CANI 62
9:30 pm ET - [10] Marist9-22 (4-14) vs. [7] Iona 12-18 (7-11) | Preview
Recent: 02/07/2009 MAR 65 @IONA 66 12/05/2008 IONA 50 @MAR 51
Missouri Valley
The Valley will try to avoid any and all Bizarro overtones as its quarterfinals get underway this afternoon. But Northern Iowa received its worst nightmare last night: another date with an Indiana State squad that opened the Panthers' season with a loss and nearly escaped with a season sweep in late January. In fact, three of the four quarterfinal matchups are replays of splits; only Illinois State won both games, against Evansville. Creighton still holds a distant chance at an at-large bid due to severe bubble weakness, but their minimum requirement is to make it to Sunday's final.
1:05 pm ET - [9] Indiana State11-20 (7-11) vs. [1] Northern Iowa 20-10 (14-4) | Preview
Recent: 01/31/2009 UNI 61 @INST 57 12/28/2008 INST 85 @UNI 84
3:35 pm ET - [5] Southern Illinois13-17 (8-10) vs. [4] Bradley 17-13 (10-8) | Preview
Recent: 01/18/2009 BRAD 62 @SIU 68 12/28/2008 SIU 63 @BRAD 79
7:05 pm ET - [7] Wichita State16-15 (8-10) vs. [2] Creighton 25-6 (14-4) | Preview
Recent: 01/17/2009 CREI 61 @WICH 74 12/28/2008 WICH 56 @CREI 68
9:35 pm ET - [6] Evansville17-12 (8-10) vs. [3] Illinois State 22-8 (11-7) | Preview
Recent: 02/11/2009 ILST 70 @EVAN 68 12/31/2008 EVAN 50 @ILST 80
Ohio Valley
All four top seeds won out in the campus-site first round on Tuesday, so they'll converge on Nashville's NHL arena tonight. This was the level that three-time MMBOW Lester "Done Ruthless" Hudson made it to last season, but Austin Peay ended the Skyhawks' NCAA dream in overtime. He appears to be on some sort of mission of something, dropping 42 on Tennessee Tech the other night. APSU is mourning the loss of the architect of Peaymania, highly-successful head coach Lake Kelly, who died yesterday at a hospital in Kentucky.
7:00 pm ET - [4] Morehead State17-15 (12-6) vs. [1] Tennessee-Martin 22-8 (14-4) | Preview
Recent: 02/28/2009 MORE 65 @UTM 79 12/04/2008 UTM 71 @MORE 80
9:00 pm ET - [3] Murray State19-11 (13-5) vs. [2] Austin Peay 18-12 (13-5) | Preview
Recent: 02/07/2009 MURR 80 @APSU 83 01/10/2009 APSU 58 @MURR 57
Southern
It's inevitably going to be billed as the Stephen Curry show, but there are plenty of great non-Davidson storylines as the oldest league tourney in the land resumes in Chattanooga this afternoon. Keep an eye on College of Charleston, a dangerous team that won 23 games, split with Davidson, and is headed for another collision in Sunday's semis. There's a chance that there could be an all-Charleston final -- one of the best redemption stories in Hoops Nation this year, The Citadel, is in a position to make the NCAA tournament for the first time ever. And this is no Division II transitional, the Bulldogs have been playing and failing every year since the Tournament began in 1939.
2:00 pm ET - [S5] Georgia Southern8-21 (5-15) vs. [N4] Appalachian State 12-17 (9-11) | Preview
Recent: 02/02/2009 APST 95 @GS 82 01/19/2008 GS 81 @APST 88
4:30 pm ET - [N6] North Carolina-Greensboro5-24 (4-16) vs. [S3] College of Charleston 23-7 (15-5) | Preview
Recent: 01/29/2009 UNCG 73 @COFC 89 12/06/2008 COFC 77 @UNCG 62
7:00 pm ET - [N5] Elon10-19 (7-13) vs. [S4] Wofford 16-13 (12-8) | Preview
Recent: 01/26/2009 ELON 71 @WOFF 74 02/09/2008 ELON 70 @WOFF 67
9:30 pm ET - [S6] Furman6-23 (4-16) vs. [N3] Samford 14-15 (9-11) | Preview
Recent: 02/05/2009 SAMF 57 @FURM 63 01/08/2009 FURM 60 @SAMF 71
West Coast
Thousands of Catholics and Jesuits descend on Sin City... seriously, what could go wrong? The WCC's weekend in Las Vegas begins tonight with two low-seed eliminators in what is certainly Hoops Nation's most aesthetically advanced bracket. Anybody who can make a kid's mobile out of this structure, takes a picture and sends it in to bally at midmajority dot com, will receive a lifetime Basketball State subscription.
9:00 pm ET - [8] Loyola Marymount3-27 (2-12) vs. [5] San Diego 15-15 (6-8) | Preview
Recent: 02/12/2009 USD 57 @LMU 65 01/17/2009 LMU 59 @USD 70
11:30 pm ET - [7] San Francisco11-18 (3-11) vs. [6] Pepperdine 8-22 (5-9) | Preview
Recent: 02/28/2009 SF 70 @PEPP 62 01/29/2009 PEPP 69 @SF 67
- Four-time Atlantic Sun champion Belmont barely escaped Mercer, and Big South top seed Radford fought off a strong challenge from No. 4 UNC Asheville in that league's semifinals.
- The Big South final on Saturday is set: VMI at Radford.
- The three top seeds in the Northeast Conference won, but No. 5 Quinnipiac nipped No. 4 Long Island in overtime.
- The CAA, America East, MAAC, SoCon and West Coast begin play today with first-round games.
- More tourneys continue: the Ohio Valley and Atlantic Sun play semifinals in advance of Saturday's first autobid games. The Horizon League holds a second-round slate at Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Missouri Valley is down to eight teams and will eliminate four in today's quarterfinal round.
Brackets
Atlantic Sun
Belmont sub Mick Hedgepeth (a rock and roll name if ever there was one) scooped up an offensive rebound off Andy Wicke's missed shot with a second left in a tense game against No. 6 Mercer, and put it back for a one-point winner. The win kept the Bruins' hopes for a fourth consecutive A-Sun championship alive. In the late game, Lipscomb broke it open with a barrage of second-half 3's to eliminate the Fighting Camels. MMBOW Adnan Hodzic had 16 points in duty limited by excessive garbage time.
[3] Belmont 65, [6] Mercer 64 | GameFlo
at [4] Lipscomb 82, [5] Campbell 52 | GameFlo
Big South
Liberty was gaining control of the first semifinal, held at Radford's Dedmon Center, until VMI broke free with a run midway through the second half and cruised to a 20-point victory; the Keydets have won two games in 10 days versus the Flames by a total of 57 points. The home team got a career-high 35 points from Kenny Thomas (tied for the single-game BSC tourney record) and sank the defending regular-season champion Bulldogs in a barrage of late free throws. No. 4 UNC Asheville had cut the lead to two points with five minutes remaining.
[2] Virginia Military Institute 78, [3] Liberty 58 | GameFlo
at [1] Radford 94, [4] North Carolina-Asheville 86 | GameFlo
Missouri Valley
Indiana State eliminated Drake, last year's regular season and tourney champions, but nearly squandered a 13-point halftime lead. The Bulldogs cut the lead to one point with a minute and a half remaining. It was another in a series of minor upsets in the tourney's first day, but Wichita State made sure the No. 10 Bears didn't advance in the late game. Missouri State shot just 29 percent and converted only three of its 18 3-point attempts as the Shockers pulled away in the second half.
[9] Indiana State 62, [8] Drake 55 | GameFlo
[7] Wichita State 59, [10] Missouri State 46 | GameFlo
Northeast
Former MMBOW James Feldeine was a star with 22 points as Quinnipiac upset Long Island in overtime on the Blackbirds' own floor; Justin Rutty had a huge double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds. There was little last-second drama in the other three tilts. Top seed Robert Morris jumped out to a 17-6 lead on Saint Francis (NY) and never looked back. Defending titlist Mount Saint Mary's worked its way out of a close game with a late surge led by Jean Cajou (21 points, 10 in final five minutes). Sacred Heart won its Nutmeg State showdown-throwdown with CCSU behind 22 from Chauncey Hardy.
[5] Quinnipiac 86, at [4] Long Island 78 | GameFlo
at [3] Sacred Heart 76, [6] Central Connecticut State 64 | GameFlo
at [1] Robert Morris 73, [8] Saint Francis (NY) 60 | GameFlo
at [2] Mount Saint Mary's 72, [7] Wagner 62 | GameFlo
On Tap Tonight
America East
The A-East was strong in nonconference play, finishing just five games under .500, and put on a great conference race that went down to the final week. The two teams participating in tonight's "Pillowfight Friday" in Albany played no part in any of this. Hartford was the league runner-up last year, but the Hawks won as many games during the 2009 regular season (two) as they did during last year's tourney. Maine received a slight bump from last year's No. 9 seed, but this was the Black Bears' second consecutive single-digit season under Ted Woodward. They went 7-23 last year.
7:00 pm ET - [9] Hartford
Atlantic Sun
Both of the semifinal matchups ended in season splits, and it's difficult to predict winners tonight -- mostly because No. 4 Lipscomb will be going up against the top-seeded Jacksonville Dolphins on its home floor, with its mildly disruptive LUnatics fan section in tow. ETSU has been waiting a year for this. In last year's semifinal, the Bucs led by a point late when Kenyona Swader received a hard foul from Belmont's Henry Harris. The official whistled Swader for a technical, claiming the player said something derogatory after the foul. Belmont pulled ahead with the TFT's, then Swader missed the front end of the original one-and-one, paving the way for a Bruin win. If you didn't see it, you can relive it for the first time.
7:00 pm ET - [2] East Tennessee State
9:30 pm ET - [1] Jacksonville
Colonial
The four top seeds await their missions, which will be issued after today's four-game first-round slate.
12:00 pm ET - [9] Delaware
2:30 pm ET - [12] North Carolina-Wilmington
6:00 pm ET - [10] William & Mary
8:30 pm ET - [11] Towson
Horizon League
In what should be a lightly attended evening of basketball at Hinkle Fieldhouse, four lower seeds fight over the opportunity to fight No. 1 Butler and No. 2 Wisconsin-Green Bay on Saturday evening. Three of the four defended their home courts in Tuesday's first round, but Illinois-Chicago arrived in Indianapolis via Youngstown, where they beat the homestanding Penguins in the 6/7 game.
6:00 pm ET - [5] Wisconsin-Milwaukee
8:00 pm ET - [7] Illinois-Chicago
Metro Atlantic
The other tourney being held in Albany will hold its own annual pillow party. It may be the last opportunity of the season to catch the Jimmy Patsos show, as his Loyola (Md.) squad fell hard after three straight years of progress. Iona has flatlined at 12 wins this year despite a strong influx of Big East transfers in Kevin Willard's second year, and all Marist has received in its first year of Chuck Martin's rule is Dribble Drive Mess.
7:30 pm ET - [9] Canisius
9:30 pm ET - [10] Marist
Missouri Valley
The Valley will try to avoid any and all Bizarro overtones as its quarterfinals get underway this afternoon. But Northern Iowa received its worst nightmare last night: another date with an Indiana State squad that opened the Panthers' season with a loss and nearly escaped with a season sweep in late January. In fact, three of the four quarterfinal matchups are replays of splits; only Illinois State won both games, against Evansville. Creighton still holds a distant chance at an at-large bid due to severe bubble weakness, but their minimum requirement is to make it to Sunday's final.
1:05 pm ET - [9] Indiana State
3:35 pm ET - [5] Southern Illinois
7:05 pm ET - [7] Wichita State
9:35 pm ET - [6] Evansville
Ohio Valley
All four top seeds won out in the campus-site first round on Tuesday, so they'll converge on Nashville's NHL arena tonight. This was the level that three-time MMBOW Lester "Done Ruthless" Hudson made it to last season, but Austin Peay ended the Skyhawks' NCAA dream in overtime. He appears to be on some sort of mission of something, dropping 42 on Tennessee Tech the other night. APSU is mourning the loss of the architect of Peaymania, highly-successful head coach Lake Kelly, who died yesterday at a hospital in Kentucky.
7:00 pm ET - [4] Morehead State
9:00 pm ET - [3] Murray State
Southern
It's inevitably going to be billed as the Stephen Curry show, but there are plenty of great non-Davidson storylines as the oldest league tourney in the land resumes in Chattanooga this afternoon. Keep an eye on College of Charleston, a dangerous team that won 23 games, split with Davidson, and is headed for another collision in Sunday's semis. There's a chance that there could be an all-Charleston final -- one of the best redemption stories in Hoops Nation this year, The Citadel, is in a position to make the NCAA tournament for the first time ever. And this is no Division II transitional, the Bulldogs have been playing and failing every year since the Tournament began in 1939.
2:00 pm ET - [S5] Georgia Southern
4:30 pm ET - [N6] North Carolina-Greensboro
7:00 pm ET - [N5] Elon
9:30 pm ET - [S6] Furman
West Coast
Thousands of Catholics and Jesuits descend on Sin City... seriously, what could go wrong? The WCC's weekend in Las Vegas begins tonight with two low-seed eliminators in what is certainly Hoops Nation's most aesthetically advanced bracket. Anybody who can make a kid's mobile out of this structure, takes a picture and sends it in to bally at midmajority dot com, will receive a lifetime Basketball State subscription.
9:00 pm ET - [8] Loyola Marymount
11:30 pm ET - [7] San Francisco
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