The Real March Madness: Day 11

Everyone loves the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Four straight days jam-packed with 12 hours of do-or-die college hoops is more than most people can handle.

But for junkies like us, the next 13 days are just as good, for it is when the true Madness takes place. Over the course of these two weeks, we whittle some 347 teams down to 30 conference champions (the Ivy doesn't have a tournament). Auto-bids will be won. Bubbles will be burst. Buzzers will be beaten. And most importantly, a 65 team bracket will be made.

Here's what happened on Friday:


Game of the Day: Ohio State 69, Michigan 68

Could it actually have been anything else? Michigan rallied from a 51-38 deficit with 10 minutes left to tie the game on a Zak Novak three at 64. After getting a stop, Manny Harris finished a short jumper off the glass to put the Wolverines up. David Lighty tied it up, but Harris made the exact same move with the exact same result with 2.2 seconds left on the clock, seemingly giving Michigan the win. But Evan Turner did this. I've heard a lot of criticism about the way Michigan played defense on the final possession, lets keep in mind one thing - Evan Turner his a 40 footer for the win.

They were good too

• Minnesota 72, Michigan State 67 OT: A physical and emotional game, Michigan State finished regulation on a 7-0 run. But in the extra frame, two Devoe Joseph threes carried the Gophers during a 10-0 run that decided the game.
• MWC semis: SDSU beat New Mexico in a thriller in Vegas. The Aztecs kept building a lead, and the Lobos kept coming back. Down four, Dairese Gary hit a three, but missed a runner on the ensung possession that would have given the Lobos the lead. UNLV was able to rally late after Michael Loyd gave the BYU a 61-59 lead in the final five minutes. The Rebels a 9-3 run, and never let BYU get closer than two the rest of the way.
  
• Arkansas-Pine Bluff 46, Alabama State 44: Allen Smith stole an inbounds pass and then Terrence Calvin hit a jumper with 1 second left to give Arkansas-Pine Bluff to a 46-44 victory over Alabama State in the semifs of the SWAC tournament.
• Xavier 78, Dayton 73: This was a microcosm of Dayton's season. The Flyers got up 14 points, but blew the lead late, allowing Xavier to take control. Down two, 30 seconds left, with the ball, the Flyers called a timeout. After the whistle had blown, Holloway slapped the ball out of Lowery's hands. Lowery reacted with a half elbow. He was tossed, nothing happened to Holloway, and the Muskies left with the win.
  

Team of the Day: San Diego State Aztecs

San Diego State may have just made the MWC a four-bid conference. New Mexico doesn't lose close games, but they lost 72-69 tonight in a hard fought game in the MWC semis. Billy White lead the way with 28 points for SDSU while Kawhi Leonard had 15 points and 12 boards. Every bracket pundit you would have read yesterday would have told you that the Aztecs would all but lock up a bid with a win over New Mexico, and they did just that. SDSU gets UNLV in the finals tomorrow.

They were good too

• Georgia Tech: Can you believe that the Yellow Jackets may actually have played their way into the tournament? Tech beat Maryland last night 69-64, a win they desperately needed if they wanted an at-large bid. With all the upsets in the ACC tourney, Tech now just has to beat NC State to make the finals.
• Minnesota: The Golden Gophers may be a bigger surprise than the Yellow Jackets. Minnesota beat Michigan State 72-67 in overtime to advance to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament against Purdue. Minnesota nearly beat Purdue when the Boilermakers lost Robbie Hummel. A win here seals a bid for Minnesota, although they may still be in with a loss.
• Illinois: The Illini are in after surviving to beat Wisconsin. They are going to get it because they have five very good wins this season. But keep this in mind, if Illinois has five very good wins and their RPI is hovering in the 60's and 70's, how bad must they have been during the rest of their season.
  
• Mississippi State: The Bulldogs knocked off the Gators in what was essentially a play out game. Florida still may have the slightest of chances to sneak in, but things look pretty bleak in Gainesville after suffering a 75-69 loss that wasn't actually that close. Mississippi State may still need to get another win to earn an at-large bid, but beating Florida is the start they needed.
  
• Rhode Island: Rhody needs to beat Temple to get into the dance, but a solid win over St. Louis does nothing but built confidence for this team. If URI loses tomorrow, the A-10 will only be getting three bids.
  

Player of the Day: Zahir Carrington, Lehigh

How often do you see a kid from Lehigh with poster dunks and Sportscenter top 10 worthy blocks all game long? Not often. Carrington had 18 points, 10 boards, 4 blocks, and 6 dunks as he led the Mountain Hawks to a 74-59 win over Lafayette in the Patriot League finals. Lehigh is going to be a 16 seed come tournament time, and they are likely going to be run out of the gym by whichever one seed they happen to draw. But make sure you watch. Carrington just may put someone on a poster.

They were good too

• Greg Monroe, Georgetown: Simply put, Monroe was a monster. He had 23 points, 13 boards, 7 assists, and 2 blocks as the Hoyas beat Marquette in the Big East semis.
• John Wall, Kentucky: Was looked awesome once again, finishing with 23 points and 5 assists, scoring seven of his points in a key Kentucky run second half run.
• E'Twuan Moore, Purdue: Moore scored a career-high 28 points as the Boilermakers hung on to bee Northwestern.
• John Jenkins, Vanderbilt: Jenkins broke 20 for just the second time in his career as he had 25 points in the Dores win over Georgia.
• Billy White and Kawhi Leonard, SDSU: White had 28 points and Leonard 15 points and 12 boards as the Aztecs advanced to the MWC finals.
• Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente, Kansas State: Pullen and Clemente combined for 50 points as the Wildcats knocked off Baylor.
  

Welcome to the Tournament

Patriot League Tournament
Finals
#1 Lehigh 74, #3 Lafayette 59


Friday Tournament Results

Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals
#1 Duke 57, #9 Virginia 46
#12 Miami 70 , #4 Virginia Tech 65
#7 Georgia Tech 69, #2 Maryland 64
#11 North Carolina State 58, #3 Florida State 52

Atlantic-10 Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals
#1 Temple 69, #8 St. Bonaventure 51
#5 Rhode Island 63, #4 St. Louis 47
#2 Xavier 78, #7 Dayton 73
#3 Richmond 77, #11 Massachusetts 72

Big East Conference Tournament
Semifinals
#8 Georgetown 80, #5 Marquette 57
#3 West Virginia 53, #7 Notre Dame 51

Big Ten Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals
#1 Ohio State 69, #8 Michigan 68
#5 Illinois 58, #4 Wisconsin 54
#2 Purdue 69, #7 Northwestern 61
#6 Minnesota 72, #3 Michigan State 67 OT

Big-12 Conference Tournament
Semifinals
#1 Kansas 79, #4 Texas A&M 66
#2 Kansas State 82, #3 Baylor 75

Big West Conference Tournament
Semifinals
#1 UC-Santa Barbara 76, #4 UC-Davis 62
#2 Pacific 68 vs. #3 Long Beach State 61

Conference-USA Tournament
Semifinals
#7 Houston 74, #6 Southern Mississippi 66
#1 UTEP 75, #5 Tulsa 61

Mid-American Conference Tournament
Semifinals
#3 Akron 66, #7 Western Michigan 64
#9 Ohio 54, #4 Miami 42

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament
Semifinals
#1 Morgan State 74, #5 Hampton 57
#3 South Carolina State 70, #2 Delaware State 66 OT

Mountain West Conference Tournament
Semifinals
#4 San Diego State 72, #1 New Mexico 69
#2 BYU 70, #3 UNLV 66

Pac-10 Conference Tournament
Semifinals
#1 California 85, #5 UCLA 72
#2 Washington 79, #7 Stanford 64

Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament
Semifinals
#2 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 46, #3 Alabama State 44
#5 Texas Southern 60, #8 Grambling State 57

Southeastern Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals
#1E Kentucky 73, #4W Alabama 67
#1W Mississippi State 75, #4E Florida 69
#3E Tennessee 76, #2W Ole Miss 65
#2E Vanderbilt 78, #6E Georgia 66

Western Athletic Conference Tournament
Semifinals
#1 Utah State 85, #4 Louisiana Tech 55
#3 New Mexico State 80, #2 Nevada 79


Saturday's Slate of Tournament Games:

America East Conference Tournament
Finals (at higher seed)
12:00PM - ESPN2 - #2 Vermont at #4 Boston

Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament
Semifinals (Greensboro, NC)
1:30PM - #1 Duke vs. #12 Miami
3:30PM - #7 Georgia Tech vs. #11 North Carolina State

Atlantic-10 Conference Tournament
Semifinals (Atlantic City, NJ)
1:00PM - #1 Temple vs. #5 Rhode Island
3:30PM - #2 Xavier vs. #3 Richmond

Big East Conference Tournament
Finals (New York City, NY)
9:00PM - ESPN - #3 West Virginia vs. #8 Georgetown

Big Ten Conference Tournament
Semifinals (Indianapolis, IN)
2:40PM - #1 Ohio State vs. #5 Illinois
5:00PM - #2 Purdue vs. #6 Minnesota

Big-12 Conference Tournament
Finals (Kansas City, MO)
6:00PM - ESPN - #1 Kansas vs. #2 Kansas State

Big West Conference Tournament
Finals (Anahiem, CA)
8:00PM - ESPN2 - #1 UC-Santa Barbara vs.

Conference-USA Tournament
Finals (Tulsa, OK)
12:35PM - CBS - #1 UTEP vs. #7 Houston

Mid-American Conference Tournament
Finals (Cleveland, OH)
6:00PM - #3 Akron vs. #9 Ohio

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament
Finals (Winston-Salem, NC)
2:00PM - ESPN2 - #1 Morgan State vs. #3 South Carolina State

Mountain West Conference Tournament
Finals (Las Vegas, NV)
6:00PM - Versus - #4 San Diego State vs.

Pac-10 Conference Tournament
Finals (Los Angeles, CA)
6:00PM - CBS - #1 California vs.

Southeastern Conference Tournament
Semifinals (Nashville, TN)
12:00PM - ABC - #1E Kentucky vs. #3E Tennessee
2:15PM - ABC - #1W Mississippi State vs. #2E Vanderbilt

Southland Conference Tournament
Finals (Katy, TX)
3:05PM - ESPN2 - #1 Sam Houston State vs. #2 Stephen F. Austin

Southwestern Atletic Conference Tournament
Finals (Bossier City, LA)
7:30PM - ESPNU - #2 Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. #5 Texas Southern

Western Athletic Conference Tournament
Finals (Reno, NV)
10:00PM - ESPN2 - #1 Utah State vs.