The Hoops National: March 7, 2010

This is the final Hoops National of the 2009-10 season.

Big Games

Atlantic 14: at Massachusetts 69, Rhode Island 67
MASS - 11-19 (5-11) [RPI: 200, State: 205] URI - 21-8 (9-7) [RPI: 30, State: 48]
Star of the Game: Ricky Harris 28 Pts (10-21 FG, 6-11 FT), 7 Reb

UMass Into A-14s With 69-67 Win Over URI - On Senior Day, Ricky Harris carried UMass into the Atlantic 14 Tournament with a game-winning lay-up with 3.5 seconds left to clinch a 69-67 victory. The UMass basketball team will advance to the Atlantic 14 Tournament as the No. 11 after topping Rhode Island on Saturday at a raucous Mullins Center. Harris scored a game-high 28 points and moved to third in career points, passing Lou Roe (1,905) and now has 1,917. (via Massachusetts)

Atlantic 14: Saint Louis 71, at Dayton 66
SLU - 20-10 (11-5) [RPI: 93, State: 72] UD - 19-11 (8-8) [RPI: 42, State: 60]
Star of the Game: Kwamain Mitchell 20 Pts (5-9 FG, 6-9 FT)

Billikens Down Dayton 71-66 - In the regular season finale, the Saint Louis Billikens handed Dayton just its' second loss in 44 games at UD Arena 71-66 in Dayton, Ohio on Saturday evening. The Billikens have earned the No. 4 seed for the Atlantic 14 Championship and open the tournament Friday, March 12, at 1:30 pm (CT) in Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. The Billikens claimed the early lead by hitting three 3-pointers to start the game. Kwamain Mitchell started the burst, and Kyle Cassity and Cody Ellis added treys for a 9-4 SLU margin. The Flyers took a 17-16 lead, but SLU answered with deep 3-pointers by Ellis and Mitchell to rebuild a 22-17 lead. Jon Smith, playing in his home state of Ohio, sank a layup and free throw for a 25-17 cushion midway through the first half. (via Saint Louis)

Western Athletic: at Utah State 81, New Mexico State 63
USU - 25-6 (14-2) [RPI: 31, State: 29] NMSU - 19-11 (11-5) [RPI: 69, State: 91]
Star of the Game: Tai Wesley 24 Pts (9-10 FG, 6-9 FT), 6 Reb, 6 Ast

USU Squashes New Mexico State, 81-63, Saturday To Celebrate WAC Title By Cutting Down Nets - Utah State celebrated its third-straight Western Athletic Conference regular-season championship and "Senior Night" with an 81-63 squashing of New Mexico State Saturday night at a sold-out Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The home Aggies used a 14-0 run overlapping halftime and held NMSU without a field goal for 7:25 in the second-half as USU won for the 15th game in a row. Before the game, Utah State honored its lone senior, guard Jared Quayle, who tallied 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists in his final game at the Spectrum. The navy-clad Aggies' avenged a 55-52 loss at New Mexico State back on Jan. 2 in both teams' WAC-openers. After USU lost at Louisiana Tech two nights later, the northern Aggies haven't lost since, running their win streak to 15, their longest of the season, the fourth-longest in school history and the second-longest current streak in the country behind Butler's 19 in a row. USU has won 19 of its last 21 games after opening the season with a 6-4 record. (via Utah State)
Other Games of Note

Atlantic 14: Richmond 89, at Charlotte 84 (OT)
RICH - 24-7 (13-3) [RPI: 28, State: 30] CHAR - 19-11 (9-7) [RPI: 59, State: 85]
Star of the Game: David Gonzalvez 29 Pts (9-15 FG, 7-10 FT), 10 Reb

Spiders Finish Regular Season 24-7, 13-3 In A-14 - Senior David Gonzalvez had a double-double with 29 points and 10 boards, and Kevin Anderson had 24, including the game-tying three-pointer to force overtime as Richmond finished the regular season with an 89-84 win over Charlotte on Saturday. The Spiders finished the regular-season 24-7, the most regular-season victories in school history, surpassing the 1985-86 team that won 22. Richmond is two wins shy of the school record for wins in a complete season by the 1987-88 Sweet 16 team (26). Richmond avenged a loss to Charlotte on Jan. 20, the Spiders' one loss in 15 home games. The Spiders have not lost in regulation since that setback on Jan. 20, with the one loss coming 78-76 in double-overtime at Xavier last Sunday. (via Richmond)

Southland: at Texas State 101, Sam Houston State 97 (OT)
TXST - 15-15 (9-7) [RPI: 249, State: 207] SAMH - 22-7 (14-2) [RPI: 75, State: 79]
Star of the Game: John Rybak 25 Pts (9-14 FG, 4-8 FT), 8 Reb, 3 Stl

Men's Basketball Team Defeats Sam Houston State 101-97 In Overtime - The Bobcats honored senior John Rybak and Emmanuel Bidias A' Moute in a pre-game ceremony and celebrated the 50-year anniversary for its 1960 NAIA national championship team at halftime before the Bobcats overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half to record the victory. It is the second time in the last three years that Texas State has defeated a Southland Conference championship team in a final regular season game. In addition to Saturday's win over this year's SLC champion, Texas State defeated UT Arlington, 97-86, to end the 2007-08 regular season. (via Texas State)

Top Performances

Gold: Patrick Sullivan, Southeastern Louisiana - 24 Pts (7-13 FG, 10-10 FT), 17 Reb in 86-77 win vs. Northwestern State
Silver: Demond Watt, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi - 24 Pts (7-9 FG, 10-12 FT), 9 Reb in 82-79 win vs. Texas-Arlington
Bronze: Jack Eggleston, Pennsylvania - 25 Pts (8-14 FG, 9-11 FT), 11 Reb in 78-68 win vs. Dartmouth

Honorable mentions:
Tai Wesley, Utah State - 24 Pts (9-10 FG, 6-9 FT), 6 Reb in 81-63 win vs. New Mexico State
Dominic Calegari, California-Davis - 28 Pts (9-17 FG, 7-7 FT), 10 Reb in 92-86 win at Cal State Fullerton
David Gonzalvez, Richmond - 29 Pts (9-15 FG, 7-10 FT), 10 Reb in 89-84 win at Charlotte
John Rybak, Texas State - 25 Pts (9-14 FG, 4-8 FT), 8 Reb in 101-97 win vs. Sam Houston State

Full Scoreboard

Atlantic 14: RICH 89 @ CHAR 84 (OT) ... GW 57 @ TU 70 ... BONA 72 @ XU 93 ... LAS 59 @ SJU 74 ... URI 67 @ MASS 69 ... SLU 71 @ UD 66
Big West: UCD 92 @ CSF 86 (OT) ... UCI 91 @ POLY 84 (OT) ... PAC 66 @ CSN 47
Great West: NJIT 75 @ CST 81 ... UTPA 71 @ NDAK 68 ... HBU 84 @ SDAK 97
Ivy League: HARV 51 @ PRIN 54 ... CORN 79 @ YALE 59 ... DART 68 @ PENN 78 ... COLU 65 @ BRWN 56
Southland: NWSU 77 @ SELU 86 ... LAM 61 @ NICH 73 ... SAMH 97 @ TXST 101 (OT) ... UCA 76 @ MCN 72 ... UTSA 65 @ SFA 63 ... UTA 79 @ TAMC 82
SWAC: TXSO 66 @ SOU 62 ... JSU 60 @ ALST 59 ... GRAM 60 @ ALAM 81 ... PVAM 67 @ ALC 69
Western Athletic: SJSU 56 @ BOIS 85 ... HAW 69 @ ID 78 ... NMSU 63 @ USU 81 ... LTU 68 @ NEV 79
Other: SEA 74 @ UVU 64

Today's State of the Other 24 (full list)

1. Butler 102.316 ... 2. Northern Iowa 100.132 ... 3. Temple 99.175 ... 4. Xavier 98.315 ... 5. Utah State 93.669 ... 6. Richmond 93.146 ... 7. Siena 88.552 ... 8. Saint Mary's 88.489 ... 9. Old Dominion 88.477 ... 10. Virginia Commonwealth 85.127

Today's Full Schedule (all times Eastern)

Great West
New Jersey Tech 9-19 (4-7) at South Dakota 19-9 (10-1) - 9:00 pm

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