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SEASON 7

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Epilogue, The Ninth: Only Love Can Break Your Heart

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So We Meet Again

Rte. 139 - End of the Line

Hanging On

A Championship in Pictures

This Time of Year

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Grizzlies Overwhelmed by Orangemen

Empire

Challenge 11: Final Four Memories

By George, UConn is Dead

Butler and Us

Donning the Black and Gold

Challenge 10: Tourney Memories

The Madness of the Horizon League

The Rare Ivy League Conference Tournament

MAC Madness

Anything Can Happen in the MAAC

Challenge 9: Shock The Neighborhood

A Youthful Surprise

From Worst to First

Peers and Seers

Game 7-092: NCAA First Four, Game 3
March 17, 2011 9:47 am ET by Kyle Whelliston

[16] Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners vs. [16] Alabama State Hornets

March 16, 2011 6:30 pm
Dayton, OH
BBState Stats/Recap

It's the second day of the inaugural First Four, and the kind of matchup Dayton is used to: between a SWAC No. 4 seed and a Southland No. 7. Bally lands the greatest temp job in the world: guarding Gus Johnson's gametime snacks. (He's a big fan of Whoppers... count it!) An unconscious performance by a man who has definite opinions about the "House Party" movies, and a furious second-half comeback by the Hornets that ultimately comes up short. Also: a visit to the merchandise stand, six men on the floor, and lots of Elmore abuse. Texas Southern's head coach might have had to mothball his nice new NCAA Tournament suit, but we get to go white on white on truTV. And while Alabama State can't replicate last year's SWAC win, The Hornet kills it with hot moves to some old-skool Bell Biv Devoe.

@midmajority Game Tweets

17:13 #BUCKETS http://plixi.com/p/84493035
17:33 Going white on white under the gangsta pinstripes #changeup RT @thirstykilla Might need shades for @midmajority's shiny bowtie in HD tonight
17:36 Merch. Your favorite First Four team on a t-shirt for $25 US. http://plixi.com/p/84497725
17:38 Balls. http://plixi.com/p/84498046
17:43 Roadrunner hats not available at the merch stand. http://plixi.com/p/84498374
17:56 Bally gets buckets. http://plixi.com/p/84500573
18:14 It's 20 minutes before tip, and the Alabama State Mighty Marching Hornets have already achieved full dominance over UTSA's band. #blowout
18:17 FYI, the highlight of my day so far was when Gus asked where he could find the JOHNNNN.
18:20 RT @theswac: Of course, Elmore didn't attend an HBCU, but Gus is a Howard grad.
18:30Game No. 7-092: [16] UTSA vs. [16] Alabama State. NCAA First Four game 3. Everybody eats. http://plixi.com/p/84506821
18:38 UTSA. 19-13, 9-7, Southland tourney champions. No. 7 seed, beat top 3. Northwestern St (2), defending champs Sam Houston (3), McNeese (1).
18:39 Alabama State. 17-17, 11-7. SWAC tourney champs out of a 4 seed. Won 11 of last 12, including run thru Alabama A&M, RSC Tex So, Grambling.
18:40 #youareinformed, and let's play some PIG basketball!!
18:42 UTSA on the board first, Melvin Johnson III with a III.
18:42 Bally's job during this game is to guard Gus's snacks. http://plixi.com/p/84508981
18:44 All in for the Rams after this one. RT @VCUPav: http://twitpic.com/4a4s8i - @BallyBasketball
18:47 UTSA up 11-4 early on. The school is definitely in growth mode. Will join the WAC in 2012, and is adding American-Style Football this fall.
18:49 ALST has the worst record in the NCAAT at 17-up, but is one of the hottest clubs. Started 1-8, then 3-11.
18:52 Hornets' low point was shooting 32% and nearly getting Black Lined by Oakwood. Survived by 5 points, 54-49. The other team shot 24%.
18:53 ALST's turning point was a game at Texas Southern, eventual SWAC regular season champs. Lost 73-59, but they felt they played dumb.
18:55 Hornets won 11 of 12 after TXSO, mixing up their defense. They won the "rebound battle" by large margins, but the real reason was hard D.
18:56 ALST hasn't allowed more than a point per trip since 1/31, and .9 only twice. All those missed shots, there were lots of rebounds to get.
18:57 11:54 1H, it's 17-4 UTSA. Melvin Johnson III has 9. Gus Johnson just went for a snack: Whoppers.
19:00 Now 20-6. Another #unicornstat game developing here. UTSA up 14-4 in rebounding, but 2-for-10 ALST shooting is the real reason for that.
19:01 6-9 froshhh Jeromie Hill with a #BUCKET for UTSA, it's 22-8. He's Australian! From the same Aus Institute of Sport as the St Mary's guys.
19:03 After a quarter, it's 24-11 UTSA and ALST just got called for a rim-hanging tech. Not much going the Hornets' way, except the band battle.
19:08 Pretty much all Melvin Johnson III right now. 8:09 1H, and the 6-5 sophhh is outscoring Alabama State 13 (4/7)-11. 28-11 on the board.
19:09 Melvin Johnson was the Southland froshhh of the year in 2010 for being a #superhoop genius (42% 3FG). Doubled scoring to 14.8 ppg this year.
19:11 Melvin Johnson lists "House Party" and "House Party 3" as his favorite movies. What was wrong with 2?!?!? They did it for Pops!
19:13 RT @midmajority360: http://tmm7.me/fvv [LINK] NBCSports.com:: First 4 games draw more viewers than '10 opener
19:14 This is certainly not as competitive as yesterday's 16 game. UTSA 31, Melvin Johnson 16, Alabama State 15. Six minutes left in 1H.
19:20 Johnson, like every college baller in 2011, lists "playing video games" as his favorite activity. Playing this one on novice mode. 21 pts.
19:24 Frustration setting in in a real way for ALST. Second tech of the half, Johnson hits two TFT's, now has 23, and it's 40-15 UTSA at 3:21 1H.
19:25 Melvin Johnson: 7-for-12, 8-for-8 from the line, three boards. That's a full game line, not 17 minutes' worth.
19:27 ALST's Chris Duncan lays it up, but it circles the inside of the rim, pops out. As good a signal as any that you're not going to win.
19:29 Meanwhile, in the broadcast booth, the snack dish has gone from a candy mix to all Whoppers. GUS LOVES WHOPPERS. #OHHHHHHHHHHH
19:31 Melvin Johnson from the corner, and I think Gus (no relation) just said something awesome. And a Tyler Wood 3 at the HT buzzer. Humiliation.
19:35 Tempo-free HT, brought to you once again by BLAPP. Alabama State 21 points in 30 possessions (.70). UTSA has 48 points in 37 trips (1.29).
19:37 Ala State got T'ed up for having six guys on the floor. Let BLAPP's blend of lager, fruit juice and grain alcohol be your sixth man tonight.
19:47 Important Disclaimer: drinking copious amounts of BLAPP will improve your viewing experience of this game.
19:53 We are back for a second half, and our challenge will be figuring out things to say about it. 48-21 UTSA, Jeromie Hill going to the line.
19:53 #OHHHHHHHH RT @bubbaprog: It's @midmajority! It's @ballybasketball! It's Gus Johnson! http://30fram.es/1nc
19:56 Al St's outscored UTSA 10-3 in 2H so far, which is the only nice thing you can say about them at this point. Jeff Middlebrooks heating up.
19:58 6-0 Hornet soph starter Middlebrooks: 6 in 2H after nothing in 1H. Worth noting: only ALST player wearing a bowtie in his official mugshot.
20:01 Like UAB last night, Alabama State appears to adopt the chuck-and-duck. 2/3 from #superhoopland this half. 22-pt deficit now, down from 27.
20:04 As Melvin Johnson rests his scorching hand, Jeromie Hill with 10 for UTSA. The 6-8 Aussie soph had one of the best plays of #champfortnight.
20:04 Hill had a game-winning #DUNX in the final seconds of UTSA's 7-over-2 win over Northwestern State. A game-winning #DUNX! How cool is that?
20:06 Gus has probably covered this, but check out how many times UTSA came close to ending with a loss so far this March.
20:07 UTSA faced a win-or-die to make the Southland's 8-team playoffs. Came back from 10 down at HT. In the 2/7 game, was down 14 in 2H. Won that.
20:09 No. 7 seed UTSA beat the top three in the league to advance to Dayton: Northwestern St. (last-second #DUNX), Sam State, RSC McNeese State.
20:10 We say it a lot, but the test of the NCAAT is how good you are in one-and-dones. UTSA lost 13 games this year, but lost 0 eliminators. Zero.
20:13 UTSA won 5 must-wins to close the reg ssn, then 3 in the tourney. Will win here. So: the Roadrunners are 9-0 with backs up against the wall.
20:15 RT @theswac: The Hornet is easily the most popular mascot in Dayton right now.
20:21 If this turns out to be Alabama State's only highlight today, they made it count. #thehornet #poison http://twitvid.com/BNFTS
20:26 UTSA leads 62-44 at 6:17 2H. Melvin Johnson with 28, Jeromie Hill 28. Alabama State's shooting 36%. The prize, of course: Ohio State.
20:27 UTSA's Roadrunner mascot has googly eyes. You don't see too many mascots with googly eyes anymore.
20:29 U! T! S! A! http://plixi.com/p/84528909
20:33 Melvin Johnson has 29 now for UTSA. The 6-5 sophhh is past his career high of 24, which he had against Lamar on Feb. 5.
20:34 Meanwhile, Alabama State is chipping away at the lead with Johnson out of the game. 63-51 now, 7-1 short-term run. But only 4:26 remains.
20:37 Game-lengthening sequence there: looked like an offensive goaltend review; ALST's Ivory White limped to the locker room. He's back on bench.
20:43 Hornets pushing hard. Two o-boards on an empty possession, then a tie-up gets the ball back. Down by 11. Have cut 16 pts off lead since HT.
20:44 Now it's in single digits. Tremayne Moorer with a turnaround, and it's 64-55 w/ 2:47 to go. ALST press forces another turnover. It's a game!
20:44 RT @theswac: UD Arena is starting to BUZZZZZZ
20:46 Gus is going nuts in front of me! UTSA's Melvin Johnson, who has no business not being in this game (2 PF) back in the game. 2:14, 64-55.
20:48 But at under two minutes, reality sets in. UTSA by 11. Kenderek Washington with a missed 3. ALST fans standing silently.
20:49 South Park! RT @emsrower: @midmajority the next best place to watch http://img.ly/3dEa
20:50 Larry Wilkins of UTSA goes to the bench under duress. Some blood there. 1:30 to go, 66-55. Alabama State didn't roll over after that bad 1H.
20:52 Kenderek Washington with a three. Still a lot of pride in the beaten Hornets. 1:18 left, #TheDiff is -10. Gus eating lunch during the TO.
20:53 Len Elmore's left arm must be covered in bruises. Gus has been hitting him for the past two hours, anytime anything is halfway exciting.
20:56 Hornets, as far as the SWAC goes, are champions. They beat the reg ssn champs Texas So late in the season, then again in the semis.
20:57 Texas So. was 16-2 in the SWAC, and HC Tony Harvey announced that he bought a new suit for the NCAA Tournament. That fired the Hornets up.
20:59 The No. 4 seed Hornets beat No. 1 Texas So. 73-66 in the semi, then avenged their only loss in the last 12 games vs. Grambling in the final.
20:59 So Alabama State gets to hang a banner, they can say they fought hard in the NCAA Tournament, and Tony Harvey's suit is still in his closet.
21:00 It's a final from Dayton. UTSA 70, Alabama State 61. We are down to 23 teams left standing.

Boxscore

TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO 70, ALABAMA STATE 61
03/16/2011

TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO 20-13 (9-7) -- D. Gibson 3-9 4-6 10; J. Hill 5-14 4-6 14; L. Wilkins 2-4 0-0 4; M. Johnson III 9-17 9-13 29; S. Franklin 1-4 2-3 4; S. Paye 2-3 1-2 6; A. Vouyoukas 0-1 0-0 0; K. Bakare 0-1 0-0 0; J. Sims 0-0 0-0 0; T. Wood 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 23-54 20-30 70.
ALABAMA STATE 17-18 (11-7) -- C. Duncan 1-6 2-2 4; T. Butler 2-8 1-2 5; K. Washington 3-12 3-4 11; J. Middlebrooks 4-9 0-0 12; I. White 4-11 0-0 9; T. Moorer 4-8 4-4 12; S. Adamu 4-5 0-0 8; D. Harvey 0-1 0-0 0; R. Sanders 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-62 10-12 61.

Three-point goals: UTSA 4-16 (S. Paye 1-1; D. Gibson 0-2; M. Johnson III 2-8; S. Franklin 0-2; J. Hill 0-2; T. Wood 1-1), ALST 7-26 (T. Butler 0-5; I. White 1-4; J. Middlebrooks 4-9; C. Duncan 0-1; K. Washington 2-7); Rebounds: UTSA 38 (J. Hill 11), ALST 36 (C. Duncan 11); Assists: UTSA 14 (S. Franklin 5), ALST 13 (T. Butler 4); Total Fouls -- UTSA 14, ALST 22; Fouled Out: UTSA-None; ALST-None.