The Real March Madness: Day 2

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 68 team bracket will be made.

For a comprehensive listing off all the conference tournaments, follow this link or click the "Complete Conference Tournament Schedules" page at the top of the screen.

Here is what happened on Wednesday:

Game of the Day: No. 2 East Tennessee State 54, No. 7 Campbell 53

In what was Campbell's last game as a member of the Atlantic Sun, ETSU staved off a late comeback to send the Camels packing. Campbell trailed 41-26 with 14:23 to play but pulled within one with 35 seconds left. They got the ball back and held for the final shot, hoping for a game-winning buzzer-beater. But Mike Smith, whole scored 24 points, stole the ball from Junard Hartley with three seconds left to end the game. With the win, the Buccaneers make their fifth consecutive appearance in the Atlantic Sun semifinals, which is the longest active conference streak.


Team of the Day: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks

The No. 8 seed Skyhawks trailed for nearly the entire state, but thanks to seven straight points from Terence Smith with under four minutes remaining, UT-Martin knocked off No. 5 Tennessee State 68-64 in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The statistics were virtually identical, but the Skyhawks played better when it mattered. The Tigers had won both meetings during the regular season, and looked poised to complete the hat-trick, but poor shooting down the stretch and a huge second half from Smith gave UT-Martin the win, and a spot in the OVC quarterfinals.


Player of the Day: Vlad Moldoveanu, American

"Vlad the Destroyer" scored 31 points on 11-19 shooting in No. 2 American's quarterfinal victory over No. 7 Colgate 69-53. The 6-foot-9 forward hit on four of his six attempts from behind the arc and was able to score at will against the undersized Red Raider squad.


They were good too

- Terence Smith, UT-Martin: Smith scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half to lead the Skyhawks to victory. He also chipped in with eight rebounds and four assists. But Smith's best stat was his minutes-played. The freshman guard played all 40 minutes of his first collegiate post-season game.

- C.J. McCollum, Lehigh: The pre-season Patriot League Player of the Year scored a game high 25 points on 7-15 shooting, including 10-12 from the charity stripe as the No. 4 Skyhawks beat No. 5 Navy 87-75. The guard also finished the game without committing a single turnover, the first time he had done that since the season-opener against Penn State.


Wednesday Results

Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament First Round

#1 Belmont 72, #8 Kennesaw State 57
#2 East Tennessee State 54, #7 Campbell 53


Ohio Valley Conference Tournament First Round

#8 Tennessee-Martin 68, #5 Tennessee State 64
#7 Southeast Missouri State 65, #6 Eastern Kentucky 49


Patriot League Tournament Quarterfinals

#1 Bucknell 78, #8 Army 51
#2 American 69, #7 Colgate 53
#6 Lafayette 77, #3 Holy Cross 70
#4 Lehigh 87, #5 Navy 75


Thursday Slate of Games

America East Conference Tournament
First Round (Hartford, CT)

8:15PM - #9 Binghamton vs. #8 UMBC


Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Macon, GA)

2:30PM - #6 North Florida vs. #3 Jacksonville
9:00PM - #5 Mercer vs. #4 Lipscomb


Big South Conference Tournament
Semifinals (Conway, SC)

6:00PM - #3 UNC-Asheville vs. #7 High Point
8:00PM - #1 Coastal Carolina vs. #4 VMI


Missouri Valley Conference Tournament
First Round (St. Louis, MO)

7:00PM - #9 Illinois State vs. #8 Southern Illinois
9:30PM - #10 Bradley vs. #7 Drake


Northeast Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (at higher seed)

7:00PM - #8 St. Francis (PA) at #1 Long Island
7:00PM - #7 Mt. St. Mary's at #2 Quinnipiac
7:00PM - #6 Wagner at #3 Robert Morris
7:00PM - #5 St. Francis (NY) at #4 Central Connecticut State


Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Nashville, TN)

6:00PM - #8 Tennessee-Martin vs. #4 Tennessee Tech
8:00PM - #7 Southeast Missouri State vs. #3 Austin Peay