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 65 team bracket will be made.

Here is what happened on Friday:


Game of the Day: Hofstra 68, Georgia State 67

Hofstra used a 10-2 run to push a three point lead out to 50-39 with just over 10 minutes to go in the second half, but the Panthers had a run in them. They would outscore the Pride 16-5 over the next six minutes. That's when Charles Jenkins and Ousmane Krubally took over. Jenkins would score nine straight points for the Pride, but Krubally outdid him, scoring 10 in a row to give the Panthers a 65-64 lead. After the two teams traded baskets, Hofstra's Greg Washington knocked down a 15 footer to give the Pride the lead with 16.6 seconds left. Georgia State turned the ball over as Hofstra advanced to play Northeastern today.

They were good too

• UNC-Greensboro 66, Furman 65: Furman was down six with 13 seconds left, but a free throw and a three pointer cut the lead to two. After a UNCG free throw pushed it back to three, Furman had the ball with a chance to tie, but instead of shooting a three, Amu Saaka drove for a dunk with 0.8 seconds left.
  

Player of the Day: Denzel Bowles, James Madison

The 11th seeded Dukes of JMU knocked off sixth-seeded Drexel on Friday night, and Bowles was the biggest reason why. He had 22 points, 10 boards, and 6 assists, going for 15 in the second half, as JMU advanced to play William & Mary today.

They were good too

• Vernon Teel, Loyola Marymount: Teel had 27 points and 6 boards and the Lions moved on to the second round of the WCC tournament to play fourth seeded San Francisco.
• Rico Pickett, Manhattan: Pickett went for a season-high 33 points as my favorite drink the Jaspers knocked off Loyola MD in the first round of the MAAC tournament. What makes this even more interesting is that Pickett had a season low two points the last time out - also against Loyola MD.
  

Team of the Day: Mercer Bears

Mercer needs to get some credit. This is a good basketball team playing in a very balanced conference. They proved themselves somewhat today, as the sixth-seeded Bears knocked off second-seeded Jacksonville 66-63 en route to the A-Sun finals, to be played today against East Tennessee State. What makes the win all the more impressive is that James Florence, who has scored 2,300 points in his career for Mercer, finished with just seven points. Danny Emerson picked up the slack, going for 21 points and 15 boards.

They were good too

• Elon Phoenix: Chris Long scored 15 points, including four clutch, late free throws, as Elon, the sixth-seed from the SoCon's north division, upset third seeded Davidson in the first round.
  

Tournament Results

Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament
Semifinals (Macon, GA)
#5 East Tennessee State 69, #8 Kennesaw State 64
#6 Mercer 66, #2 Jacksonville 63

Colonial Athletic Association Tournament
Frist Round (Richmond, VA)
#8 Towson 91, #9 UNC Wilmington 74
#5 VCU 66, #12 Delaware 49
#7 Hofstra 68, #10 Georgia State 67
#11 James Madison 77, #6 Drexel 65

Horizon League Tournament
First Round (Indianapolis, IN)
#7 Detroit 62, #3 UW-Green Bay 53
#4 UW-Milwaukee 85, #5 Cleveland State 72

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament
First Round (Albany, NY)
#9 Manhattan 94, #8 Loyola 79
#7 Canasius 72, #10 Marist 54

Missouri Valley Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (St. Louis, MO)
#1 Northern Iowa 55, #8 Drake 40
#2 Wichita State 73, #7 Missouri State 63
#3 Illinois State 69, #6 Indiana State 65
#5 Bradley 81, #4 Creighton 62

Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Nashville, TN)
#1 Murray State 55, #4 Eastern Illinois 51
#2 Morehead State 76, #6 Tennessee Tech 47

Southern Conference Tournament
First Round (Chattanooga, TN)
#6N Elon 66, #3S Davidson 59
#4N UNC-Greensboro 66, #5S Furman 65
#4S The Citadel 55, #5N Samford 43
#3N Chattanooga 82, #6S Georgia Southern 62

West Coast Conference Tournament
First Round (Las Vegas, NV)
#5 Loyola Marymount 87, #8 Pepperdine 84
#6 San Diego 61, #7 Santa Clara 59


Saturday's Slate of Games


America East Conference Tournament
First Round (West Hartford, CT)
12:00PM - #1 Stony Brook vs. #8 Albany
2:15PM - #4 Boston vs. #5 Hartford
6:00PM - #2 Vermont vs. #7 UMBC
8:15PM - #3 Maine vs. #6 New Hampshire

Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament
Finals (Macon, GA)
6:00PM - ESPN2 - #5 East Tennessee State vs. #6 Mercer

Big South Conference Tournament
Finals (Conway, SC)
4:00PM - ESPN2 - #1 Coastal Carolina vs. #3 Winthrop

Big Sky Conference Tournament
First Round (at higher seed)
9:05PM - #6 Portland State at #3 Montana State
9:05PM - #5 Northern Arizona at #4 Montana

Colonial Athletic Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Richmond, VA)
12:00PM - #1 Old Dominion vs. #8 Towson
2:30PM - #4 George Mason vs. #5 VCU
6:00PM - #2 Northeastern vs. #7 Hofstra
8:30PM - #3 William & Mary vs. #11 James Madison

Horizon League Conference Tournament
Semifinals (Indianapolis, IN)
5:15PM - ESPNU - #2 Wright State vs. #7 Detroit
8:00PM - ESPNU - #1 Butler vs. #4 UW- Milwaukee

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Albany, NY)
2:30PM - MSG - #4 St. Peters vs. #5 Rider
4:30PM - MSG - #1 Siena vs. #9 Manhattan
7:30PM - MSG - #2 Fairfield vs. #7 Canasius
9:30PM - MSG - #3 Iona vs. #6 Niagra

Missouri Valley Conference Tournament
Semifinals (St. Louis, MO)
1:35PM - #1 Northern Iowa vs. #5 Bradley
4:05PM - #2 Wichita State vs. #3 Illinois State

Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
Finals (Macon, GA)
7:00PM - ESPN2 - #1 Murray State vs. #2 Morehead State

Southern Conference Tournament
2:00PM - #2N Western Carolina vs. #6N Elon
4:30PM - #1S Wofford vs. #4N UNC-Greensboro
7:00PM - #1N Appalachian State vs.#4S The Citadel
9:30PM - #2S Charleston vs. #3N Chattanooga

Summit League Tournament
First Round (Sioux Falls, SD)
6:05PM - #1 Oakland vs. #8 UMKC
8:35PM - #2 IUPUI vs. #7 Western Illinois

Sun Belt Conference Tournament
First Round (Hot Springs, AR)
2:15PM - #8 Florida Atlantic vs. #9 South Alabama
6:45PM - #4 Western Kentucky vs. #13 New Orleans
6:30PM - #5 Arkansas State vs. #12 Alabama-Little Rock
8:45PM - #6 Denver vs. #11 Florida International
9:00PM - #7 Louisiana-Lafayette vs. #10 Louisiana-Monroe

West Coast Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals (Las Vegas, NV)
7:00PM - #4 San Francisco vs. #5 Loyola Marymount
9:30PM - #3 Portland vs. #6 San Diego



Continue reading...

College Basketball Week in Review: The SEC Could Be Really Bad

GAME OF THE WEEK:
Duke 82, Rhode Island 79
The Rhody Rams were up for most of the game, and Jimmy Baron did his best Stephen Curry imitation in the second half, but the Blue Devils were too much down the stretch. It took a while for Duke to wake up at the start of the game as Rhode Island built up a 12 point lead in the first half, but the Devils used suffocating defensive pressure to force URI out of its offense rhythm and make an 11-0 run to end the half. The Rams were able to keep a slim lead for most of the second half, mainly due to Baron. As Duke started to get it going offensively, it seemed like Baron would respond to every Duke basket with a three (he hit seven of them in the second half). It was an incredible performance by the coaches son, who hit some ridiculously tough shots during that stretch. Duke was down 79-78 with 19.4 seconds left when Kyle Singler knocked down two free throws for the lead. Baron air balled a tough, fade away jumper, and Jon Scheyer hit two free throws for the final margin. Baron finished with 24 points, while Delroy Jones added 21 for the Rams. Singler had 21, 5 boards, and 5 assists, while Scheyer poured in a team-high 23.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Manny Harris, Michigan
Harris, who despite averaging 16.1 ppg last season as a freshman, flew under the radar nationally. Harris was phenomenal in his first two games of the Coaches vs. Cancer pre-season tourney. Against Michigan Tech, he went for a career high 30 points, while also grabbing 7 rebounds. Harris was even better the next night against Northeastern, coming up two assists shy of his first triple-double. All told, Harris finished the night was 26 points, 10 boards, and 8 dimes. For the week, Harris posted averages of 28.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg, and 5.0 apg while shooting 67% from the floor, 57% from deep, and 87% from the line.

TEAMS OF THE WEEK:
VMI and Mercer
For the second straight year, Kentucky lost to an unranked, low-major conference opponent on their home floor. Last year it was Gardner-Webb. This season it was VMI. The Keydets used terrific three point shooting and forced Kentucky into 13 turnovers in the first 11 minutes as they built a lead that at one time grew to 26 points. The Wildcats would come all the way back and take a lead late, but the Keydets would make a run at the end to win it 111-103. VMI finished the week 1-1 after losing to Virginia on Sunday, 107-97. Mercer went 2-0 on the week, with their big win coming Sunday against Alabama, the second straight season that they have beaten a major conference opponent (USC). The Bears got a lay-up from Calvin Henry with 13 seconds left to take the lead, and James Florence stole the ball on the next Tide possession, sealing the win. Florence finished with 23 points. Mercer beat Piedmont 89-63 in their first game.

MATCH-UPS OF THE WEEK:
11/17 - Miami OH @ Pitt: Miami OH gave UCLA all they could handle in a defensive battle in Pauley Pavilion. This one should be another slugfest, as Pitt plays slower and more physically than UCLA.

11/17 - UMass @ Memphis: Not only is this game the first game of the college basketball tip-off extravaganza, but it is the homecoming of former Memphis assistant Derek Kellogg, who left Memphis this off-season for the head coaching job at UMass. Both teams play the same style, so expect a fast pace and a lot of scoring.

11/18 - Kentucky @ UNC: Kentucky is coming off of a loss to VMI where Patrick Patterson failed to show up. But UNC is depleted by injuries (Hansbrough, Ginyard, Frasor's coming off a sore ankle). It would have been great to see Patterson and Hansbrough mix it up.

11/18 - Tennessee-Martin @ Tennessee: Definitely worth it to watch stat-stuffer Lester Hudson from the UT-Martin Skyhawks play.

11/20 - UCLA vs. Michigan; Duke vs. Southern Illinois: A couple intriguing match-ups in the CvC semi's. It will be interesting to see Manny Harris go up against a vaunted Bruin defense. And coming off a near-upset from Rhode Island, Duke will face Southern Illinois and their stingy defense. The finals the following night will pit the winner's against each other.

11/21 - Winthrop @ Davidson: Two mid-major powerhouse programs do battle. Winthrop has dominated the Big South this decade, while Davidson ran through the Southern Conference the last two years. Continue reading...