The Real March Madness: Day 4

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 Friday:


Game of the Day: Missouri State 58, Southern Illinois 56

The MVC regular season champions trailed for the first 39 minutes of the game, and were down by as many as ten points. Trailing 47-56 with under three minutes remaining, the Bears went on a 11-0 run, led by MVC Player of the Year Kyle Weems, who had 8 of the 11 points, including a game-tying three-pointer with 15 seconds left and a game-winning lay-up with just under two seconds left. Weems scored all but one of his 14 points in the second half after missing all seven shots in the first half. The Salukis shot 23-44 (%53) from the field, but missed two front-ends with under a minute, which gave the Bears a chance to come from behind and steal the victory. Missouri State led for all of 1.6 seconds of the game, but chose the perfect time to do so.

They were good too

- Siena 68, Manhattan 66 OT

In the first overtime game of Championship week, Owen Wignot hit a go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime and Siena held on to defeat Manhattan 68-66 in the first round of the MAAC tournament. Clarence Jackson led all scorers with 24 points and Ryan Rossiter provided a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds. All five starters for Manhattan scored in double-figures, and three starters played all 45 minutes.


Team of the Day: North Florida Ospreys

For the second time in two days, the Ospreys have upset the higher seed. Tonight they defeated the East Tennessee State the reigning tournament champions. This was the first time in the school's history that they had defeated ETSU. The Osprey were led by David Jeune, who recorded his second career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

They were good too

- William & Mary Tribe

The No. 11-seed Tribe of W&M got a career-high 35 points from Quinn McDowell en route to a 72-68 upset win over No. 6 James Madison. The Tribe went 10-21 during the regular season, and had three losing streaks of four games or more. But last night, the Tribe shot 20-44 (45%) from the field and 7-13 (54%) from behind the arc and held CAA first-teamer Denzel Bowles to just five points.


Player of the Day: Quinn McDowell, William & Mary
The junior forward was nearly unconscious last night, as he dropped a career-high 35 points on 10-12 shooting, including 5-6 from behind the arc and 10-11 from the charity stripe.

They were good too

- Kenny Faried, Morehead State

Faried logged his 26th double-double of the season by grabbing 21 rebounds and scoring 13 points. He also turned back eight shots. For the sixth time this season, Faried grabbed 20 or more rebounds in a game.


Friday Results


Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament Semifinals

#6 North Florida 59, #2 East Tennessee State 55
#1 Belmont 80, #5 Mercer 72


Colonial Atheltic Association Tournament First Round

#9 Georgia State 58, #8 UNC-Wilmington 52
#5 Drexel 79, #12 Towson 65
#7 Delaware 60, #10 Northeastern 58
#11 William & Mary 72, #6 James Madison 68


Horizon League Tournament Second Round
#3 Cleveland State 73, #6 Wright State 59
#4 Valparaiso 88, #5 Detroit 78


Metro Atlatic Athletic Conference Tournament First Round

#9 Marist 73, #8 Niagara 61
#7 Siena 68, #10 Manhattan 66 OT


Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Quarterfinals

#1 Missouri State 58, #8 Southern Illinois 56
#5 Creighton 60, #4 Northern Iowa 57
#2 Wichita State 70, #10 Bradley 56
#3 Indiana State 52, #6 Evansville 50


Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Semifinals

#4 Tennessee Tech 64, #1 Murray State 59
#2 Morehead State 68, #3 Austin Peay 49


Southern Conference Tournament first Round

#5N UNC-Greensboro 71, #4S Davidson 64
#3N Appalachian State 65, #6S Georgia Southern 57
#3S Furman 61, #6N Samford 48
#4N Elon 85, #5S The Citadel 74


West Coast Conference Tournament First Round

#8 Loyola Marymount 72, #5 Portland 68
#6 Pepperdine 84, #7 San Diego 81



Saturday Slate of Games


Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament
Final (Macon, GA)

6:00PM - ESPN2 - #1 Belmont vs. #6 North Florida


Big South Conference Tournament
Final (At higher seed)

4:00PM - ESPN2 - #1 Coastal Carolina vs. #3 UNC-Asheville


Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
Final (Nashville, TN)

7:00PM - ESPN2 - #2 Morehead State vs #4 Tennessee Tech


America East Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Hartford, CT)

12:05PM -#4 Albany vs. #5 Stony Brook
2:15PM - #1 Vermont vs. #9 Binghamton
6:05PM - #2 Boston vs. #7 New Hampshire
8:15PM - #3 Maine vs. #6 Hartford


Big Sky Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (At higher seed)
8:00PM - #6 Eastern Washington at #3 Weber State
10:30PM - #5 Montana State at #4 Northern Arizona



Colonial Atheltic Association Tournament
Quarterfinals (Richmond, VA)

12:00PM - #1 George Mason vs. #9 Georgia State
2:30PM - #4 VCU vs. #5 Drexel
6:00PM - #2 Old Dominion vs. #7 Delaware
8:30PM - #3 Hofstra vs. #11 William & Mary


Horizon League Tournament
Semifinals (Milwaukee, WI)

6:00PM - #2 Butler vs. #3 Cleveland State
8:30PM - #1 UW-Milwaukee vs. #4 Valparaiso


Metro Atlatic Athletic Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Bridgeport, CT)

2:30PM - #4 St. Peter's vs. #5 Loyola
4:30PM - #1 Fairfield vs. #9 Marist
7:30PM - #2 Iona vs. #7 Siena
10:00PM - #3 Rider vs. #6 Canisius


Missouri Valley Conference Tournament
Semifinals (St. Louis, MO)

2:35PM - #1 Missouri State vs. #5 Creighton
5:05PM - #2 Wichita State vs. #3 Indiana State


Southern Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Chattanooga, TN)

2:00PM - #1N Western Carolina vs. #5N UNC-Greensboro
4:30PM - #2S Wofford vs. #3N Appalachian State
7:00PM - #2N Chattanooga vs. #3S Furman
9:30PM - #1S Charleston vs. #4N Elon


Summit League Tournament
Quarterfinals (Sioux Falls, SD)

8:00PM - #1 Oakland vs. #8 Southern Utah
10:30PM - #2 Oral Roberts vs. #7 North Dakota State


Sun Belt Conference Tournament
First Round (Hot Springs, AR)

7:30PM - #3E Western Kentucky vs. #6W Louisiana-Monroe
7:45PM - #4W North Texas vs. #5E Troy
9:45PM - #3W Denver vs. #6E Florida International
10:00PM - #4E South Alabama vs. #5W Arkansas-Little Rock


West Coast Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Las Vegas, NV)

9:00PM - #4 Santa Clara vs. #8 Loyola Marymount
11:30PM - #3 San Francisco vs. #6 Pepperdine