The Real March Madness: Day 8

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 Tuesday:


Game of the Day: North Texas 66, Troy 63

It was only fitting that the Sun Belt title game was a dog fight. North Texas and Troy (no, not that Troy) went back and forth in a tightly contested first half that ended with the Trojans taking a 40-38 lead into the intermission. Troy came out of the half ice cold, missing 12 of their first 13 shots while allowing North Texas to open up a 59-51 lead with just 6:30 left. Troy had a run in them, however. Brandon Hazzard hit a three to cut the lead to two before Yamene Coleman tied it at 61 with 2:32 left in the game. After the teams traded baskets, the Mean Green had the ball in the final minute. Josh White drove middle, pulled up from 12 feet, hung in the air, and knocked down the go ahead basket with 22 seconds left. Hazzard had a shot blocked off of his side and out of bounds, and North Texas went on to win and move on to the NCAA Tournament.

They were good too:

• Seton Hall 109, Providence 106: The Friars scored 59 points in the last 13 minutes as they capitalized on Seton Hall's inability to play defense, protect the ball, and make free throws to come within a missed three at the buzzer of overcoming a 29 point deficit.
• Cincinnati 69, Rutgers 68: An ugly game, Cinci used a 10-0 run sparked by Lance Stephenson's back-to-back and-one's to turn a five point deficit into a five point lead. But Rutgers wouldn't go away, as Mike Rosario hit a tough, leaning three pointer to tie the game with 13 seconds left. At the other end, Lance Stephenson went 1-on-1 against Dane Miller, drawing a foul and hitting a free throw to win the game with 1.8 seconds left.
  

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Derick Nelson, Oakland

Oakland has two stars - Keith Benson and Johnathon Jones. But when a team's defensive is geared towards slowing those two down, you need someone else to step up. Enter Derick Nelson. Nelson went bananas in the Summit League title game last night. He scored 11 straight points as the Grizzlies erased an early five points deficit and finished with 20 in the first half and 36 points on the game. Nelson also added 9 boards.

They were good too

• Jamine Peterson, Providence, and Herb Pope, Seton Hall: Peterson sparked the Friar comeback against Seton Hall, going for 38 points and 16 boards. But it was Pope's performance yesterday that was the cause of the Friar's 29 point deficit, as he finished with 27 points, 11 boards, and 5 dimes.
• Dominique Jones, South Florida: Jones had 20 points, 9 boards, and 4 assists to lead USF to a win over DePaul and into a matchup with Georgetown, who they have beaten already this season.
  

TEAM OF THE DAY: UMass Minutemen

UMass has taken over the role of spoiler in the Atlantic 10 from St. Louis. After putting a huge dent into Rhode Island's tourney hopes by knocking off the Rams on Saturday, UMass beat the 49ers last night 59-56 ending any chance Charlotte had to get into the tournament. Ricky Harris led the way for UMass with 24 points, including four huge free throws down the stretch.

They were good too

• St. John's: The Johnnies did more than just know off UConn and more than just advance to the second round of the Big East Tournament yesterday. The win very well may have saved head coach Norm Robert's job.
  

Welcome to the Tournament

Summit League Tournament
Finals (Sioux Falls, SD)
#1 Oakland 76, #2 IUPUI 64

Sun Belt Conference Tournament
Finals (Hot Springs, AR)
#2 North Texas 66, #1 Troy 63

Horizon League Tournament
Finals (Indianapolis, IN)
#1 Butler 70, #2 Wright State 45


Tuesday's Tournament Results

Atlantic Ten Conference Tournament
First Round (at higher seed)
#5 Rhode Island 87, #12 St. Josephs 76
#7 Dayton 70, #10 George Washington 60
#8 St. Bonaventure 83, #9 Duquesne 71
#11 Massachusetts 59, #6 Charlotte 56

Big East Conference Tournament
Opening Round (New York City, NY)
#9 South Florida 58, #16 DePaul 49
#13 St. Johns 73, #12 Connecticut 51
#10 Seton Hall 109, #15 Providence 106
#11 Cinncinati vs. #14 Rutgers

Big Sky Conference Tournament
Semifinals (Ogden, UT)
#4 Montana 68, #2 Northern Colorado 63
#1 Weber State 69, #6 Portland State 60

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament
Opening Round (Winston-Salem, NC)
#7 Bethune-Cookman 64, #10 Florida A&M 53
#9 North Carolina A&T 65, #8 Howard 55


Wednesday's Slate of Tournament Games

Big East Conference Tournament
First Round (New York City, NY)
12:00PM - ESPN - #8 Georgetown vs. #9 South Florida
2:00PM - ESPN - #5 Marquette vs. #13 St. Johns
7:00PM - ESPN - #7 Notre Dame vs. #10 Seton Hall
9:00PM - ESPN - #6 Louisville vs.

Big Sky Conference Tournament
Finals (Ogden, UT)
10:05PM - ESPN2 - #1 Weber State vs. #4 Montana

Big-12 Conference Tournament
First Round (Kansas City,MO)
11:30AM - #8 Colorado vs. #9 Texas Tech
2:00PM - #5 Missouri vs. #12 Nebraska
6:00PM - #7 Oklahoma State vs. #10 Oklahoma
8:30PM - #6 Texas vs. #11 Iowa State

Big West Conference Tournament
First Round (Anahiem, CA)
6:00PM - #5 CS-Fullerton vs. #8 CS-Northridge
8:30PM - #6 Cal-Poly vs. #7 UC-Irvine

Conference-USA Tournament
First Round (Tulsa, OK)
12:00PM - #7 Houston vs. #10 East Carolina
2:30PM - #6 Southern Mississippi vs. #11 Tulane
6:00PM - #5 Tulsa vs. #12 Rice
8:30PM - #8 Southern Methodist vs. #9 Central Florida

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament
Opening Round/Quarterfinals (Winstom-Salem, NC)
3:00PM - #6 Maryland Eastern Shore vs. #11 Coppin State
7:00PM - #1 Morgan State vs. #9 North Carolina A&T
9:30PM - #2 Delaware State vs. #7 Bethune-Cookman

Moutain West Conference Tournament
First Round (Las Vegas, NV)
5:00PM - #8 Wyoming vs. #9 Air Force

Northeast Conference Tournament
Finals (at higher seed)
7:00PM - #2 Robert Morris at #1 Quinnipiac

Pac-10 Conference Tournament
First Round (Los Angeles, CA)
8:00PM - #8 Oregon vs. #9 Washington State

Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Bossier City, LA)
2:30PM - #2 Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. #7 Mississippi Valley State
9:00PM - #1 Jackson State vs. #9 Grambling State

Southland Conference Tournament
First Round (Katy, TX)
12:00PM - #2 Stephen F. Austin vs. #7 UT-Arlington
2:30PM - #3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. #6 UT-San Antonio
6:00PM - #1 Sam Houston State vs. #8 Nicholls
8:30PM - #4 Southeast Louisiana vs. # 5Texas State