SEASON 4

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 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

Tourney Central 3/10/2008 (Day 7)
March 10, 2008 9:28 am ET by Kyle Whelliston

Bullet Points



    All hail Drake, double-champions of the Missouri Valley Conference. Not only did the Bulldogs capture their first MVC tourney ever, it was the first time in 10 years the regular season champs survived Arch Madness.
    Four finals tonight: we'll have autobids delivered in the Colonial, Metro Atlantic, SoCon and WCC.
    On Semifinal Sunday, CAA No. 5 William & Mary won its third straight game with a basket in the final 10 seconds, upsetting top seed VCU. WCC No. 2 Saint Mary's lost on No. 3 San Diego's home court in double OT, so now the Rams and Gaels will sweat out the next week to see if either or both will receive at-large NCAA bids.
    After a tame quarterfinal round, the NEC saw its top two lose at home to Sacred Heart and Mount Saint Mary's.
    We learned final pairings for several other conferences: America East (UMBC-Hartford), Metro Atlantic (Siena-Rider), Patriot (American-Colgate), SoCon (Davidson-Elon).
    The Badlands/Summit and Sun Belt are down to final fours, and will contest semis tonight.



Brackets



Missouri Valley



VALLEY0310.jpg



Drake stepped on the gas late in the first half and never looked back, shooting 56 percent for the game. At least they could have let the Redbirds into the game so we could have a two-bid Valley. Not to be. Adam Emmenecker followed up a regular-season POY award with a tourney MVP. Like the guard said in Caligula: "He's a god now!"




[1] Drake 79, [2] Illinois State 49 | GameFlo



America East



A-EAST0310.jpg



UMBC staved off a late Vermont push to earn the right to host next Saturday's title game, and Hartford won a sloppy mess of a game in the undercard to advance.




[1] Maryland-Baltimore County 73, [4] Vermont 64 | GameFlo

[2] Hartford 59, [6] Boston University 52 | GameFlo





Colonial



CAA0310.jpg



Laimis Kisielius' layup with three ticks left lifted the Tribe to an improbable title game -- they were in second place for much of the year, but few who follow the league took W&M's chances seriously because of an easier schedule. VCU now waits for its inevitable heartbreak; we'd put their at-large chances at about 33 percent. Will Thomas is good at "rebounding the basketball" - his 14 helped Mason hold off UNCW for the Patriots' first win in the series since January 2007.




[5] William & Mary 56, [1] Virginia Commonwealth 54 | GameFlo

[3] George Mason 53, [2] North Carolina-Wilmington 41 | GameFlo





Metro Atlantic



MAAC0310.jpg



Siena trailed for 32 minutes but came back from a 17-point deficit to stun Loyola, the Saints' first win in three tries over the Greyhounds. Rider, playing without injured Ryan Thompson, got 32 points and 18 rebounds from brother Jason to edge the upstart Red Foxes.




at [1] Siena 65, [4] Loyola (Md.) 63 | GameFlo

[2] Rider 76, [6] Marist 71 | GameFlo



Northeast



NEC0310.jpg



The Mount shot 54 percent and outrebounded Robert Morris in an NEC shocker, snapping the Colonials' 14-game win streak. RMU will still get to play in the NIT, though. Sacred Heart stormed to an early lead and held off the No. 2 Seahawks in Staten Island, so the Pioneers will host the title game and could celebrate a first-ever NCAA berth at home.




[4] Mount Saint Mary's 83, at [1] Robert Morris 65 | GameFlo

[3] Sacred Heart 55, at [2] Wagner 49 | GameFlo





Patriot League



PATRIOT0310.jpg



After a wild quarterfinal round, a fairly tame semis. Both remaining top seeds rolled to double-digit wins, setting up a final at American later this week.




at [3] Colgate 54, [7] Bucknell 40 | GameFlo


at [1] American 72, [5] Army 60 | GameFlo



Southern



SOCON0310.jpg



Elon held C of C to 39 percent shooting and shot 49 percent themselves, and will face Davidson tonight. Stephen Curry had 26 points as the Wildcats brought the career of UNCG's Kyle Hines (10 points, 7 rebounds) to a close.





[1] Davidson 82, [4] North Carolina-Greensboro 52 | GameFlo

[7] Elon 75, [6] College of Charleston 61 | GameFlo




Summit League



SUMM0310.jpg



Oakland rolled WIU to set up a date with IUPUI, and new league member IPFW will play Oral Roberts tonight after forcing a minor upset on Southern Utah. SUU's Dax Crum, a/k/a the dude with one hand, finished his career with an eight-point night.




[5] IUPU-Fort Wayne 66, [4] Southern Utah 62 | GameFlo

[3] Oakland 80, [6] Western Illinois 66 | GameFlo




Sun Belt



SBC0310.jpg



The Belt seems to keep moving towards its inevitable two-bid conclusion, as all top seeds won yesterday. But Team USA found a lot more than it thought it'd need to handle, as UNO's Bo McCalebb (25 points) refused to have his career end quietly.




at [1] South Alabama 81, [8] New Orleans 77 | GameFlo

[4] Middle Tennessee State 65, [12] Troy 59 | GameFlo

[2] Arkansas-Little Rock 66, [7] Florida Atlantic 60 | GameFlo

[3] Western Kentucky 84, [6] North Texas 70 | GameFlo




West Coast



WCC0310.jpg



Saint Mary's Like VCU, Saint Mary's gets a whole week to contemplate its future before Selection Sunday. We think they have a better chance of getting in, but losing three of five to close the season hurts.




[1] Gonzaga 52, [4] Santa Clara 48 | GameFlo

at [3] San Diego 75, [2] Saint Mary's 69 (2OT) | GameFlo




On Tap Tonight



Colonial



George Mason has won 10 of its last 11 meetings with William & Mary.




7:00 pm ET - [5] William & Mary 17-15 (10-8) vs. [3] George Mason 22-10 (12-6) | Preview


Recent: 02/27/2008 CWM 54 @GMU 60 01/16/2007 GMU 76 @CWM 63





Metro Atlantic



Both teams won on each other's floors this season. Tonight's game will be in Albany's house, but the location was pre-determined years ago..




7:00 pm ET - [2] Rider 23-9 (13-5) at [1] Siena 21-10 (13-5) | Preview


Recent: 02/10/2008 SIENA 80 @RIDER 77 02/02/2008 RIDER 89 @SIENA 75





Southern



If Davidson loses to the SoCon's No. 7 seed in the title game, that would give the committee all the reason it'd need to exclude the Wildcats. Not like that's going to happen, though.




9:00 pm ET - [1] Davidson 25-6 (20-0) vs. [7] Elon 14-18 (9-11) | Preview


Recent: 02/06/2008 ELON 64 @DAV 74 01/09/2008 DAV 59 @ELON 57





West Coast



USD upset Gonzaga 72-63 in the 2003 WCC championship game, the last time the event was held in San Diego. This might be mentioned on tonight's telecast. A few times.




9:00 pm ET - [1] Gonzaga 25-6 (13-1) at [3] San Diego 20-13 (11-3) | Preview

Recent: 02/18/2008 GONZ 59 @USD 55 01/19/2008 USD 70 @GONZ 80





Summit League




Oakland was the last team to beat IUPUI, which has won 12 of its last 13. ORU has only played IPFW twice (earlier this season), and cruised both times.




7:00 pm ET - [5] IUPU-Fort Wayne 13-17 (9-9) vs. [1] Oral Roberts 22-8 (16-2) | Preview

Recent: 02/09/2008 IPFW 56 @ORU 88 01/10/2008 ORU 68 @IPFW 56



9:30 pm ET - [3] Oakland 17-13 (11-7) vs. [2] IUPUI 25-6 (15-3) | Preview

Recent: 02/21/2008 IUPUI 69 @OAK 84 01/24/2008 OAK 69 @IUPUI 82






Sun Belt



Remember that MTSU was the team that beat Team USA on Valentine's Day, the last time the Jaguars lost (six games ago). Also remember that WKU is the three-seed because Arkansas-Little Rock won the Western Division. So the Trojans will have the immense psychological advantage of wearing the white togs. The Hilltoppers have not lost to a Sun Belt team not named South Alabama since last season, though.




7:30 pm ET - [4] Middle Tennessee State 16-14 (11-7) at [1] South Alabama 26-5 (16-2) | Preview

Recent: 02/14/2008 USA 70 @MTSU 76 12/22/2007 MTSU 61 @USA 75



10:30 am ET - [2] Arkansas-Little Rock 20-10 (11-7) vs. [3] Western Kentucky 25-6 (16-2) | Preview

Recent: 01/31/2008 UALR 47 @WKU 71 01/17/2007 WKU 69 @UALR 71