Santa Clara's Marc Trasolini tears acl

Santa Clara's Marc Trasolini, the team's second-leading scorer and top rebounder, suffered a season-ending acl tear on Tuesday.

Its a massive blow to the Broncs. Trasolini was due to team up with the high-scoring Kevin Foster and Evan Roquemore to form one of the best 1-2-3 punches in the WCC. The Broncs were thought by many to be a major sleeper in the league, capable of contending for the conference crown with Gonzaga, St. Mary's and BYU.

Without Trasolini, that's a much different story.


"Marc has done everything, and I mean everything right, to put himself into the position to have a great senior year and for this to happen, especially considering the circumstances, is disheartening and unfortunate," coach Kerry Keating said in a statement.

For Trasolini as an individual, the story gets even worse.

He's a senior, and to honor him, Keating had decided to take him team on a tour of Trasolini's native Vancouver. The injury occurred when he landed wrong two minutes into the first game of their trip. There were a couple hundred of his friends and family in the stands at the time. After receiving the news on Wednesday, the entire team had dinner at Trasolini's parent's house.

"Obviously I am really disappointed about what happened [Tuesday] night," Trasolini said in a statement. "But I am trying my best to stay positive, get back on track as soon as I can and do what it takes to help the team by being a leader and supporting them. All my teammates and coaches have been really supportive and I really appreciate that. I know they will be there for me and I will be there for them. It’s pretty bad it happened here on this trip, but it’s worse I can’t play this season. It hurts. It hurts a lot. But I will get better and be back next season."

That's a really tough way to have a season away.

The good news? Foster is a junior and Roquemore is a sophomore, so the Broncs will still have a shot to steal a league title next season.
Continue reading...

Sunday's Madness

Seeing as championship week has officially started, we are going to be doing a new daily madness segment. Here, you can find the daily scores and schedules for every conference tournament game that day as Trizzle will once again be taking over BIAH. For a full schedule of the conference tournaments and a listing of the automatic bids, click here.

GAME OF THE DAY: Morehead State 67, Austin Peay 65 2OT

The Ohio Valley Conference championship game certainly did not disappoint, as the Eagles beat the Governors in double-overtime to go to their first tournament since 1984. Describing the action at the end of the game would do it no justice, so here are the video highlights:



Kenneth Faried had 15 points and 10 boards for Morehead State, including the dunk that gave them the lead at the end of regulation. I love that play call. I was listening to an interview with Donnie Tyndall, the coach of the Eagles, after the game, and he was saying that they run that play (they call it fist up) a lot. They must, because a game-deciding possession where you throw an alley-oop means that you need to have a ton of confidence in your players.

Back to the game, Steve Peterson, a seldom-used freshman, was the guy that hit the game winning shot for the Eagles, his only points of the game. The Governors were led by 16 from Drake Reed and Wes Channels, but did not hit a field goal in the second OT.

PLAYER OF THE DAY: John Bryant, Santa Clara

There were a number of players that put up outstanding performances on Saturday, but I have to give it to the big fella. Bryant led the Broncos to a 80-69 win over San Diego in the quarterfinals of the WCC tournament by scoring 24 points and grabbing, get this, 27 rebounds, a WCC tourney record. He had 17 boards in the first half and outrebounded San Diego as a team, 27-24. Bryant also added four blocks, while going 12-12 from the charity stripe.

John Bryant was too big for Rob Jones and the Toreros on Saturday.
(photo credit: Jae C. Hung/AP)

They were good too: Gerald Lee, Old Dominion - 30 pts, 10 rbs; Charles Jenkins, Hofstra - 27 pts, 6 rbs; Artsiom Parakhouski, Radford - 26 pts, 18 rbs; Stephen Curry, Davidson - 43 pts, 4 rbs, 3 asts; Darryl Proctor, UMBC - 33 pts, 11 rbs, 3 asts, 2 stls, forced OT with basket; Austin Kenon, VMI - 34 pts, 8 3's; Garrett Callahan, South Dakota State - 30 pts; Brett Winkelman, North Dakota State - 30 pts, 8 rbs.

TEAM OF THE DAY: South Dakota State and Towson

Garrett Callahan of SDSU was close to being player of the day. He scored 30 for the Jackrabbits, including the last five of regulation and the last seven of overtime. With 16 seconds left on the clock, Callahan had a three-point play that tied the game to force OT. Then, with 1:05 left in the extra period, he had another three-point play that gave the Jacks a 70-69 lead that they never relinquished.

Garrett Callahan of SDSU had 30 to lead the Jackrabbits to an upset of #2 Oral Roberts.
(photo credit: GoJack.com)

Towson, the #11 seed in the CAA tournament, reached the semifinals by knocking off third-seeded Northeastern. Junior Hairston had 14 and Troy Franklin added 13 for the Tigers, who will play #2 George Mason today.


Saturday's Results:

CHAMPIONSHIPS

Atlantic Sun Finals (Nashville, TN):
- #2 East Tennessee State 85, #1 Jacksonville 68

Big South Finals (Radford, VA):
- #1 Radford 108, #2 VMI 94

Ohio Valley Finals (Nashville, TN):
- #4 Morehead State 67, #2 Austin Peay 65 2OT


America East Second Round (Albany, NY):
- #7 Albany 56, #2 Vermont 52 OT
- #6 UMBC 79, #3 Boston U 75
- #1 Binghamton 73, #9 Hartford 65
- #4 New Hampshire 76, #5 Stony Brook 73

Big Sky Quarters (campus sites):
- #6 Montana State 56, #3 Montana 54
- #4 Idaho State 67, #5 Northern Colorado 60

Colonial Athletic Second Round (Richmond):
- #1 VCU 61, #8 Georgia State 52
- #4 Old Dominion 52, #5 Hofstra 51
- #2 George Mason 61, #7 James Madison 53
- #11 Towson 58, #3 Northeastern 54

Horizon League Semis (Indianapolis, IN):
- #1 Butler 62, #4 Wright State 57
- #3 Cleveland State 73, #2 UW-Green Bay 67

MAAC Quarters (Albany, NY):
- #5 Fairfield 68, #4 Manhattan 61
- #1 Siena 77, #9 Canisius 52
- #2 Niagara 79, #10 Marist 50
- #3 Rider 67, #6 St. Peter's 58

Missouri Valley Semis (St. Louis, MO):
- #1 Northern Iowa 76, #4 Bradley 62
- #3 Illinois State 73, #2 Creighton 49

Southern Conference Second Round (Chattanooga, TN):
- #1S Davidson 84, #4N Appalachian State 68
- #3S College of Charleston 67, #2N Western Carolina 48
- #1N Chattanooga 79, #5N Elon 78
- #3N Samford 76, #2S The Citadel 67

Summit League First Round (in Sioux Falls, South Dakota):
- #1 North Dakota State 83, #8 Centenary 77
- #7 South Dakota State 72, #2 Oral Roberts 69 OT

West Coast Second Round (Las Vegas, NV):
- #4 Santa Clara 80, #5 San Diego 69
- #3 Portland 69, #6 Pepperdine 45


Sunday's Games

CHAMPIONSHIPS

Missouri Valley Finals (St. Louis, MO):
- 2:05 PM: #3 Illinois State vs. #1 Northern Iowa


America East Semis (Albany, NY):
- 2:00 PM: #6 UMBC vs. #7 Albany
- 5:00 PM: #1 Binghamton vs. #4 New Hampshire

Colonial Athletic Semis (Richmond, VA):
- 3:00 PM: #1 VCU vs. #4 Old Dominion
- 5:30 PM: #2 George Mason, #11 Towson

MAAC Semis (Albany, NY):
- 6:00 PM: #1 Siena vs. #5 Fairfield
- 8:30 PM: #2 Niagara vs. #3 Rider

Northeast Semis (Campus sites):
- 2:00 PM: #5 Quinnipiac @ #1 Robert Morris
- 7:00 PM: #3 Sacred Heart @ #2 Mt. St. Mary's

Patriot Semis (Campus sites):
- 12:00 PM: #4 Army @ #1 American
- 4:00 PM: #6 Colgate @ #2 Holy Cross

Southern Semis (Chattanooga, TN):
- 6:00 PM: #1S Davidson vs. #3S Charleston
- 8:30 PM: #1N Chattanooga vs. #3N Samford

Summit Semis (Sioux Falls, SD):
- 7:00 PM: #5 Southern Utah vs. #4 IUPUI
- 9:30 PM: #6 IPFW vs. #3 Oakland

Sun Belt Quarters (Hot Springs, AR):
- 1:30 PM: #8 Florida International vs. #1 Western Kentucky
- 4:00 PM: #5 Middle Tennessee State vs. #4 North Texas
- 7:30 PM: #7 Denver vs. #2 Arkansas-Little Rock
- 10:00 PM: #6 South Alabama vs. #3 Troy

West Coast Semis (Vegas):
- 9:30 PM: #4 Santa Clara vs. #1 Gonzaga
- 11:30 PM: #3 Portland vs. #2 St. Mary's

Continue reading...

West Coast Conference Tournament Preview

Schedule (all games played in Las Vegas):

Friday, March 6th / First Round
Game 1 - #5 San Diego vs. #8 Loyola Marymount
Game 2 - #6 Pepperdine vs. #7 San Francisco

Saturday, March 7th / Second Round
Game 3 - Game 1 winner vs. #4 Santa Clara
Game 4 - Game 2 winner vs. #3 Portland

Sunday, March 8th / Semifinals
Game 5 - Game 3 winner vs. #1 Gonzaga
Game 6 - Game 4 winner vs. #2 St. Mary's

Monday, March 9th / Finals
Game 7 - Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner

Favorite: The favorite has to be considered Gonzaga, who ran through the WCC's regular season undefeated. You know about the 'Zags at this point - they have a roster loaded with talent and a number of NBA prospects. But the 'Zags are a bit of a conundrum. They ran through the Old Spice Classic in November, but a swoon in December where they lost four of five knocked than off the radar as a possible Final Four contender. They responded by beating Tennessee in OT for the second time, and then winning their first eight WCC games before being embarrassed on ESPN's gameday feature by Memphis.

The Gaels hope to get another shot against the 'Zags ... this time with a healthy Patty Mills.
(photo credit: Mid Majority)

Contender: Before Patty Mills broke his hand, St. Mary's was arguably the best team in the WCC. Well, it looks like he may be back for the WCC tournament (although, there are conflicting reports about his status for the tourney - some say he has been cleared for the tournament, while others are reporting he has only been cleared for shooting drills). If he is back, it will be huge for the Gael's chances of reaching the tourney. If he is as good as he was before the injury, and St Mary's steamrolls to the Finals, then they may end up getting an at-large bid (and that is if they don't win the tournament).

Sleeper: Portland finished third in the conference and owns a win over Washignton, San Diego reached the second round of the dance last year after winning the WCC tourney (although due to injuries, they are far form the same team), but the sleeper in this year's WCC tournament is Santa Clara. They lost at St. Mary's by one (when they had Mills) and beat them at home by 18 (when they didn't), and just last week they took Gonzaga to the wire at home. The Broncos have the best big man in the conference in 7-footer John Bryant (he averaged 18 ppg and 14 rpg), and if their shooters can get hot, this team can make a run to the title.


BIAH Prediction: St. Mary's (if Mills is back) or Gonzaga (if he isn't). Continue reading...