The Real March Madness: Day 9

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 is what happened on Wednesday:


Game of the Day: Oregon 82, Washington State 80

Crazy ending to this one in regulation. With less than ten seconds remaining and the Ducks trailing by two points, TaJuan Porter went the length of the court but missed a runner off the glass. But EJ Singler was johnny-on-the-spot with a tip-in at the buzzer to send the game to overtime. In the extra frame, Porter scored eight of the Ducks ten points, and Reggie Moore missed a 17 footer at the buzzer as the Ducks kept Ernie Kent's career alive for at least one more game.

They were good too

• Montana 66, Weber State 65: See player of the day below.
• Delaware State 57, Bethune-Cookman 55: Del State nearly blew a 43-24 lead, allowing BC to creep back into the game late, but a missed layup at the buzzer saved the game for the Hornets.
• Marquette 57, St. John's 55: David Cubillan hit a three with 1:08 left to give Marquette a 55-53 lead, and on the following possession Lazar Hayward tied up DJ Kennedy to force a turnover and send the Golden Eagles into the quarters of the Big East.
• SE Louisiana 79, Texas State 78 OT: SE Louisiana overcame a 16 points second half deficit to eventually force overtime on a Trent Hutchin three with 46 seconds left. In the extra frame with the score tied at 78, Patrick Sullivan made 1-2 from the line with 2.3 seconds left to seal the win.
  

Player of the Day: Anthony Johnson, Montana

Montana should have lost. They were down 20 at halftime to the Big Sky champion on te road. You don't win those games. But Johnson, playing in what would have been his final collegiate game, clearly had other plans. Johnson redefined the term unconscious. He scored 34 second half points, including 21 straight down the stretch. He hit a pull-up 17 footer with 10 seconds left to give the Grizzlies a 66-65 lead that would hold up. He finished with 42 points.

There really isn't much else to say about this performance. It was incredible. It was one of the moments that makes March Madness March Madness. It was ironic that he did it against Weber State, who 14 years ago had their own Herculean performance from an unknown when Harold Arceneaux officially put Weber State on the college basketball map. I guarantee that any college basketball fan worth his salt knows who Harold Arceneaux is. Hopefully, 10 years down the road, the came will be true about Anthony Johnson.

They were good too

• Damion James, Texas: James had 28 points and 16 rebounds, and played a key role in a late-game run that turned a two point lead into an eleven-point lead which put the game out of reach.
  
• Anatoly Bose, Nicholls State: His team might have lost to the top-seeded Bearkats of Sam Houston State, but Bose had himself a ball-game to remember. He had 40 points on 15-for-23 shooting including 5-for-11 from behind the arc. Bose was the only Colonial to score in double-digits. This game would have been ugly if it were not for the outstanding play of the sharpshooting Aussie.
• Kevin Thompson, Morgan State: Thompson had 20 points, 16 boards, and 6 assists to lead the Bears to a win in the opening round of the MEAC tournament over North Carolina A&T.
• TaJuan Porter, Oregon: Porter had 32 points to lead Oregon as he Ducks won in OT against Washington State in the opening round of the Pac-10 tournament, effectively extending Ernie Kent's stay of execution.
• Kevin Palmer, Texas A&M-CC: Palmer had 26 points, 5 boards, and 7 assists to lead the Islanders to a win over UT-San Antonio.
• Lorenzo Keeler, Cal Poly: Keeler's 27 points, 5 boards, and 6 assists sparked the Mustangs to a win over UC-Irvine.
  

Team of the Day: Grambling State Tigers

The 7-20 tigers became the first #8-seed since 2004 to win a quarterfinal game in the SWAC tournament. Behind 20 points from Donald Qualls, the Tigers ended Jackson State's 13-game winning streak, winning only their second game in eight tries.


Welcome to the Tournament

Big Sky Conference Tournament
Finals (Ogden, UT)
#4 Montana 66, #1 Weber State 65

Northeast Conference Tournament
Finals (at higher seed)
#2 Robert Morris 52, #1 Quinnipiac 50


Wednesday Tournament Results

Big East Conference Tournament
First Round (New York City, NY)
#5 Marquette 57, #13 St. Johns 56
#7 Notre Dame 68, #10 Seton Hall 56
#8 Georgetown 69, #9 South Florida 49
#11 Cincinnati 69, #6 Louisville 66

Big-12 Conference Tournament
First Round (Kansas City,MO)
#6 Texas 82, #11 Iowa State 75
#7 Oklahoma State 81, #10 Oklahoma 67
#9 Texas Tech 82, #8 Colorado 67
#12 Nebraska 75, #5 Missouri 60

Big West Conference Tournament
First Round (Anahiem, CA)
#5 CS-Fullerton 84, #8 CS-Northridge 76
#6 Cal-Poly 73, #7 UC-Irvine 69

Conference-USA Tournament
First Round (Tulsa, OK)
#5 Tulsa 73, #12 Rice 62
#6 Southern Mississippi 57, #11 Tulane 47
#7 Houston 93, #10 East Carolina 80
#9 Central Florida 69, #8 Southern Methodist 53

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament
Opening Round/Quarterfinals (Winstom-Salem, NC)
#1 Morgan State 84, #9 North Carolina A&T 57
#2 Delaware State 57, #7 Bethune-Cookman 55
#6 Maryland Eastern Shore 64, #11 Coppin State 58

Moutain West Conference Tournament
First Round (Las Vegas, NV)
#9 Air Force 59, #8 Wyoming 40

Pac-10 Conference Tournament
First Round (Los Angeles, CA)
#8 Oregon 82, #9 Washington State 80 OT

Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Bossier City, LA)
#2 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 69, #7 Mississippi Valley State 66
#9 Grambling State 65, #1 Jackson State 57

Southland Conference Tournament
First Round (Katy, TX)
#1 Sam Houston State 62 #8 Nicholls 57
#2 Stephen F. Austin 77, #7 UT-Arlington 54
#3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 78, #6 UT-San Antonio 66
#4 Southeast Louisiana 79 # 5 Texas State 78 OT


Thursday's Slate of Tournament Games
Think of today as your official "warm-up" day as we await the madness to begin week from today. There are 45 conference tournament games taking place today, meaning every conference will have started post-season play. (Except the Great West, which doesn't feature a post-season tournament, I know all you N.J.I.T and Houston Baptist fans must be livid)


Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament
First Round (Greensboro, NC)
12:00PM - #8 Boston College vs. #9 Virginia
2:00PM - #5 Wake Forest vs. #12 Miami
7:00PM - #7 Georgia Tech vs. #10 North Carolina
9:00PM - #6 Clemson vs. #11 North Carolina State

Big East Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (New York City, NY)
12:00PM - ESPN - #1 Syracuse vs. #8 Georgetown
2:00PM - ESPN - #4 Villanova vs. #5 Marquette
7:00PM - ESPN - #2 Pittsburgh vs.#7 Notre Dame
9:00PM - ESPN - #3 West Virginia vs. #11 Cincinnati

Big Ten Conference Tournament
First Round (Indianapolis, IN)
2:30PM - ESPN2 - #8 Michigan vs. #9 Iowa
5:25PM - ESPN2 - #7 Northwestern vs. #10 Indiana
8:30PM - BTN - #6 Minnesota vs. #11 Penn State

Big-12 Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Kansas City, MO)
11:30AM - #1 Kansas vs. #9 Texas Tech
2:00PM - #4 Texas A&M vs. #12 Nebraska
6:00PM - #2 Kansas State vs. #7 Oklahoma State
8:30PM - #3 Baylor vs. #6 Texas

Big West Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Anaheim, CA)
6:00PM - #3 Long Beach State vs. #6 Cal-Poly
8:30PM - #4 UC-Davis vs. #5 CS-Fullerton

Conference-USA Tournament
Quarterfinals (Tulsa, OK)
12:00PM - #2 Memphis vs. #7 Houston
2:30PM - #3 UAB vs. #6 Southern Mississippi
6:00PM - #4 Marshall vs. #5 Tulsa
8:30PM - #1 UTEP vs. #6 Central Florida

Mid-American Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Cleveland, OH)
12:00PM - #2 Central Michigan vs. #7 Western Michigan
2:00PM - #3 Akron vs. #6 Eastern Michigan
7:00PM - #1 Kent State vs. #9 Ohio
9:00PM - #4 Miami vs. #5 Buffalo

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (WInston-Salem, NC)
6:00PM - #3 South Carolina State vs. #6 MD-Eastern Shore
8:00PM - #4 Norfolk State vs. #5 Hampton

Mountain West Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Las Vegas, NV)
12:00PM - #1 New Mexico State vs. #9 Air Force
2:30PM - #4 San Diego State vs. #5 Colorado State
6:00PM - #2 BYU vs. #7 TCU
8:30PM - #3 UNLV vs. #6 Utah

Pac-10 Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Los Angeles, CA)
12:00PM - #4 Arizona vs. #5 UCLA
2:30PM - #1 Cal vs. #8 Oregon
6:00PM - #3 Washington vs. #6 Oregon State
8:30PM - #2 Arizona State vs. #7 Stanford

Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Bossier City, LA)
2:30PM - #3 Alabama State vs. #6 Alabama A&M
9:00PM - #4 Prarie View A&M vs. #5 Texas Southern

Southeastern Conference Tournament
First Round (Nashville, TN)
12:00PM - #4W Alabama vs. #5E South Carolina
2:15PM - #3E Tennessee vs. #6W LSU
6:30PM - #4E Florida vs. #5W Auburn
8:45PM - #3W Arkansas vs. #6E Georgia

Southland Conference Tournament
Semifinals (Katy, TX)
6:00PM - #2 Stephen F. Austin vs. #3 Texas A&M- Corpus Christi
8:30PM - #1 Sam Houston State vs. #4 Southeast Louisiana

Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament
3:30PM - #3 Alabama State vs. #6 Alabama A&M
9:00PM - #4 Praire View A&M vs. #5 Texas Southern

Western Athletic Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Reno, NV)
12:00PM - #1 Utah State vs. #8 Boise State
2:30PM - #4 Louisiana Tech vs. #5 Fresno State
6:00PM - #2 Nevada vs. #7 Idaho
8:30PM - #3 New Mexivco State vs. #6 San Jose State