Early games update

We already told you about the Ohio State Evan Turners Buckeyes last second win over Michigan.

That was fun.

They weren't the only favorite to advance, either. Duke survived a rough shooting night as they were able to hang on to beat Virginia in the quarters of the ACC Tournament 57-46. John Wall scored seven of his 23 points during a key stretch in the second half as Kentucky overcame an early deficit to beat Alabama. Temple cruised to a win over St. Bonaventure.

But once again, the bubble got interesting:

• Rhode Island 63, St. Louis 47: Rhody picked up a big win against St. Louis as freshman Akeem Richmond knocked down four key threes in the first half to open up a big lead early. The problem is that beating St. Louis, even if it is in the conference tournament, is just another ho-hum win on the Rams resume. They are right in that group on the cut line for the field of 65, so they probably want to go ahead and beat Temple if they want to be sure.


• Illinois 58, Wisconsin 54: Illinois needed this win in order to lock up a bid, and they had this thing all but locked up before Trevon Hughes took over late. He hit four threes in a 90 second span, including three in 30 seconds, as the Badgers nearly overcame a 12 point lead in the last 1:51. Jason Bohannon missed a three with 15 seconds left that would have tied it.
  
  So Illinois is now dancing. They were right on the cut line before this afternoon, but after beating Wisconsin, the Illini will likely have to be a lock despite the 13 losses and the RPI in the 70's. Illinois is an enigma. They've put together some impressive wins, but they have also lost some games that leave you scratching you head. It will be interesting to see which team shows up the rest of the postseason -- the one that lost five of their last six, or the one that was up by 15 on Wisconsin for much of the second half.


• Miami FL 70, Virginia Tech 65: This lost may cost the Hokies a trip to the tournament. Tech has a good looking record, but their strength of schedule is about what you would expect to see out of a team in the Missouri Valley, not a team in the ACC. The Hokies are going to spend the next 48 hours nervously awaiting Selection Sunday, rooting for favorites, and hoping teams like Rhode Island and Dayton don't win anymore games.
  
  Its not a good sign that a bubble team playing a game that they almost have to win loses to the last place team in the ACC when they are missing their leading scorer and rebounder.