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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 15, 2022 19:19:39 GMT -5
Thanks to Buick, makers of the Grand National, for sponsoring the 2022 Postseason Scoreboard.
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 15, 2022 20:55:56 GMT -5
You're in charge, Sam!
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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 15, 2022 23:35:16 GMT -5
It's that time of year so allow me to take a moment to restate my opinion that having teams slotted as 12 seeds compete in "play in" games is just ridiculous.
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 16, 2022 7:10:15 GMT -5
Tuesday, The Ides of March
NCAA Indiana 66, Wyoming 58. It was close all night, but never too close. The Hoosiers (21-13), playing their first NCAA game in 6 years, scored a solid victory behind 29 points from Trayce Jackson-Davis. Wyoming finishes 25-9, and Hunter Maldonado finishes an excellent college career with 21 points. Or not--thanks to a medical redshirt year in which he played 8 games, and the 2021 Covid year, Maldonado can come back for a 6th season. He's currently the #7 scorer in Wyoming history.
Texas Southern 76, Texas A&M CC 67. Mike Davis's old team earns the long-shot against Kansas. TAMUCC finishes 23-12 in Steve Lutz's first year as head coach.
NIT Xavier 72, Cleveland State 68. A classic CSU game, close all night. The Vikings (20-11) had a chance to spring the upset--down two and taking possession with 19 seconds to play after getting a defensive stop--but Tre Gomillion slipped to the floor as he began a drive to the hoop, and Xavier's Paul Scruggs came up with the ball and was fouled with 1 second left.
Virginia Commonwealth 90, Princeton 79. One of those steady, grind 'em down game, where Princeton (23-7) was never too close but never quite out of it until the final minutes.
Vanderbilt 82, Belmont 71. Belmont got its shot at its bigger, high-major cross-town rival, and came up empty. The Bruins (25-8) led by double digits early, and were last tied with just under 4 minutes to play, but it was all Vandy (18-16) down the stretch. Belmont moves to a bigger pool--the MVC--next year, and we'll see if they can keep winning.
Oklahoma 89, Missouri State 72. The Sooners (19-15) are my choice to win the NIT.
North Texas 67, Texas State 63. The top mid-major passed over by the NCAA, North Texas (25-6) did its best to justify the selection committee's snub, but finally rallied late, tied it on free throws with 4 seconds left, and then won in overtime against the Bobcats (21-8). Texas State only made the NIT field as an automatic qualifier after winning the Sunbelt regular season.
Texas A&M 74, Alcorn State 62. A&M (24-12), the first team out of the NCAA field, won, but looked like a team not all that interested.
Oregon 83, Utah State 72. Washington State 63, Santa Clara 50 St. Bonaventure 76, Colorado 68. The only P6 loss in 8 post-season games pitting P6 teams against mid-majors last night.
The Basketball Classic South Carolina-Upstate 80, Appalachian State 74. Attendance was 2146 in Boone, NC. Only 20 teams left for the Titans to outlast and win the title!
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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 16, 2022 20:22:31 GMT -5
Cleveland State definitely was victimized by home cooking in Cincinnati. Seems like every questionable call went the Musketeers way, especially in the second half. It didn't help that the Vikings struggled from outside, but it did not seem as if the calls were going both ways.
My NIT pick is Oregon, but they have been underwhelming all season.
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 16, 2022 23:06:08 GMT -5
Wednesday, March 16
Basketball Classic Florida Gulf Coast 95, Detroit 79. This was a fun game to watch, at least until the final minutes as the game got away from the Titans. We really missed Willy and Waterman on defense and the boards, but the Titans did a lot of things well, especially in the first half. This was a tough draw--FGCU is 22-11, 16-3 at home. Despite the loss, I'm glad we played in this event.
So that wraps up another losing season, our 5th in 6 years and 8th in 10 since the 2012/2013 tournament teams. It's been a very discouraging decade, though there's been some progress the last couple years. We'll see what the off-season holds. Sounds like most of the squad will be back, and if that's so, it does feel like we're just 1 or maybe two players away.
P.S. No attendance numbers listed yet.
NCAA
Wright State 93, Bryant 82. Wright won a very entertaining game in front of a home crowd in Dayton. It's the first Horizon tournament win since Butler's 2011 Final Four run. Yes, it's only the "play in" game, and it's sad that in a touch over a decade the HL has sunk that far. But it's a win, and it guarantees the league a second share of the loot for 7 years. So thank you WSU. Tanner Holden was terrific, with 37 points on 11-15 from the floor and 14-16 from the line. He had 11 rebounds for good measure. Bryant's Peter "you can" Kiss ... finished with 28 points to wrap up the national scoring title. WSU's next game, in San Diego against Arizona, will be tougher.
Notre Dame 89, Rutgers 87 (2OT). Wow! Quite the game. You don't beat Notre Dame on St. Pat's.
NIT Dayton 74, Toledo 55. The NIT did a cool job of scheduling regional opponents this year. Northern Iowa 80, St. Louis 68. BYU 93, Long Beach 72. I thought these were the two most interesting match-ups of the night.
SMU 68, Nicholls, 58. Wake Forest 74, Towson 64. Florida 79, Iona 74. By the way, if you didn't notice, the night was another blood bath for mid-majors when matched up with P6 squads or other higher major teams.
Virginia 60, Mississippi State 57.
More Exciting Action from the Basketball Classic Youngstown State 70, Morgan State 65. We woulda beaten Morgan State. Dwayne Cohill had 28 point for the Penguins (19-14). No attendance numbers yet from Beaghly.
Southern Utah 83, Kent State 79. This was probably the best 1st round match-up for the Basketball Classic, featuring a pair of 20-win team. The game was tight all the way, with numerous lead changes, before Southern Utah pulled it out in the last minute. Our old friend Marquis Moore played 5 minutes for Southern Utah, scoring 2 points. The Golden Flash finish 23-11, their 19th twenty-win season in the last 23 years, all at .500 or better. Announced attendance in Cedar City was 1316.
Coastal Carolina 66, Maryland-Eastern Shore 42. Official attendance in Conway, South Carolina was 923. South Alabama 70, Southeastern Louisiana 68. South Alabama got to 20 wins on the season before an announced "crowd" of 885. SELA (19-15) came back from a 20-point second half deficit to tie it with 1:45 to play, but missed their next 4 shots from the floor.
Merrimack over UMBC, forfeit. UMBC forfeits due to Covid, which apparently is still a thing.
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Post by ptctitan on Mar 17, 2022 6:13:44 GMT -5
Cleveland State definitely was victimized by home cooking in Cincinnati. Seems like every questionable call went the Musketeers way, especially in the second half. It didn't help that the Vikings struggled from outside, but it did not seem as if the calls were going both ways. There was an HL official on that crew, John Floyd. He was the same HL official involved in the non-calls with Noah at NKU. And he was the same official who T'd up Davis at NKU for calling him out on his lack of calls against NKU. Just pointing out these facts.
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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 17, 2022 17:30:17 GMT -5
The 5/12 upset strikes again! 🕷
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 17, 2022 23:46:46 GMT -5
Thursday, March 17, St. Peter's Day
Wow! A big day for the tournament.
Michigan 75, Colorado State 63. Michigan (18-14) saved the Big 10's day, coming back from an early 15 point deficit to win. Perry Watson used to emphasize winning the last 10 minutes surrounding halftime, and UM did that, turning that 15 point deficit into a 1 point lead. Hunter Dickinson led UM with 21 points.
St. Peter's 85, Kentucky 79 (OT). St. Peter's players played the game of a lifetime and defeated one of the bluest of bluebloods. I appreciated Coach Cal's post-game presser, in which he immediately took the blame. For all non-Kentucky fans, what a fun game to watch! St. Peter's first NCAA win ever. The Peacocks (20-11) started the year 3-6, and qualified by winning the MAAC tournament after finishing second in the conference race.
New Mexico State 70, UConn 63. Every now and then you see a player take over a game, but rarely so explicitly and single-handedly as Teddy Allen did for New Mexico State (27-6) on Thursday. With 4 minutes left and the Aggies leading 55-54, Allen: 1. was fouled on a 3 point attempt, and made all three free throws for a 58-54 lead. 2. after UConn tied it at 58, Allen nailed a long three to put the Aggies back in front, 61-58, with 1:38 to play. 3. on the next possession, made an aggressive move to the basket to draw a non-shooting foul, and made both free throws for a 63-60 lead with 53 seconds to play. 4. on UConn's ensuing possession, made probably the best defensive play I've seen all year, stealing the ball from UConn's senior point guard RJ Cole; 5. after the steal, drove the length of the court and split three defenders for a layup, drawing the foul, and making the free throw for a 66-60 lead. with 28 seconds left 6. after the Huskies responded with a trey, Allen took the in bounds pass and was fouled. He made both free throws for a 68-63 lead with 18 seconds to play; 7. After a UConn miss, was fouled and made both free throws to seal the win with 7 seconds left, 70-63.
To sum up, Allen scored all of New Mexico State's points in the final four minutes, outscoring UConn 15-9. He was 10-10 on free throws and 2-2 from the floor, including 1-1 from three, a trey that gave them the lead for good. He also had a (truly amazing) steal that crushed UConn's hopes. He finished the night with 37 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.
Having said this much, the Teddy Allen story: as a freshman, averaged 7 ppg for a West Virginia team that made the Sweet 16; then transferred to Wichita State. During his transfer sit year (remember those), he was arrested and charged with a pair of misdeameanors, and eventually dismissed from the team; he then spent a year at Western Nebraska CC, leading the nation's jucos in scoring; he enrolled at Nebraska for the 2021 season, averaging 16.5 points, but was injured late in the year and then just left the team; he transferred to New Mexico State, and averaged 19.3 points entering this game. Thanks to Covid, he still has a year of eligibility, so he could transfer to school #6 for next year.
Gonzaga 93, Georgia State 72. Georgia State (18-11) fought Gonzaga (27-3) to a standstill for 28 minutes, but fouls, injuries, size disadvantage, and talent differential finally overtook the Panthers. Former Titan Cory Allen ended his collegiate career with a team-high 16 points, and UD Jesuit product Jalen Thomas added 12 points and 9 rebounds. Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren combined for 51 points and 30 rebounds as Gonzaga ended State's 10-game winning streak.
Richmond 67, Iowa 63. Oopsie. I think winning a major conference tournament is always risky. It takes a lot out of a team. St. Mary's 82, Indiana 53. The result is not a surprise, but the score is. St. Mary's (26-7) looked very good.
Arkansas 75, Vermont 71. Vermont was within 2 in the final 15 seconds, but couldn't pull it out. UCLA 57, Akron 53. UCLA closed on a 15-4 run to avoid the upset.
Tennessee 88, Longwood 56. Longwood's NCAA debut was, as expected, short. Baylor 85, Norfolk State 49. Kansas 83, Texas Southern 56. Typical 1-16 blowout, not as close as it looks.
Memphis 64, Boise State 53. Emoni Bates was not in attendance. Murray State 92, San Francisco 87 (OT). Jamari Bouyea (37 points) and USF (24-10) are really good. So is Murray State (31-2).
North Carolina 95, Marquette 63. A total rout. This game looked like a #1 vs. #16 game. It was that bad for Marquette (19-13), which did not win 2 straight after January 26.
Creighton 72, San Diego State 69 (OT). The Mountain West was fired up to qualify 4 teams for the tournament, but it's the first day of the full tournament and all 4 are already out.
Providence 66, South Dakota State 57. A real impressive defensive performance by Providence. The Jackrabbits entered the game first in the nation in 3 point shooting and 2nd in scoring, and it wasn't all tempo--KenPom rated the Jackrabbits as the 11th most efficient offense in the country. But Providence just shut them down, and helped by a couple of back-to-back officials calls in the final minute, held off a late SD State rally. Providence (26-5) continues with its magical season. South Dakota State loses its national best 21-game winning streak and heads for home.
Basketball Classic: Fresno State 83, Eastern Washington 74. Fresno State (20-13), the top rated team in the Classic according to NET (#73), had little difficulty with the Eagles (18-16).
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Post by titansforever on Mar 18, 2022 9:41:34 GMT -5
Richmond 67, Iowa 63. Oopsie. I think winning a major conference tournament is always risky. It takes a lot out of a team.
Iowa was safely in the field before the Big 10 tournament, and was playing with house money. Richmond wasn't even on the bubble. Richmond won four games in four nights to punch its NCAA ticket. If anything, the Spiders should have been the team that had the most taken out of them. But they weren't. One pretty proud UR alum here this morning!
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Post by upbasketballfan on Mar 18, 2022 10:20:00 GMT -5
Richmond 67, Iowa 63. Oopsie. I think winning a major conference tournament is always risky. It takes a lot out of a team.
Iowa was safely in the field before the Big 10 tournament, and was playing with house money. Richmond wasn't even on the bubble. Richmond won four games in four nights to punch its NCAA ticket. If anything, the Spiders should have been the team that had the most taken out of them. But they weren't. One pretty proud UR alum here this morning! Richmond has some exceptional Athletes and sure looked capable of doing some more damage. It is starting to look like the Big Ten received more bids than they deserved and are overrated again. Today might tell the story. I’m pulling for the Spiders to keep advancing.
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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 18, 2022 11:42:51 GMT -5
Richmond 67, Iowa 63. Oopsie. I think winning a major conference tournament is always risky. It takes a lot out of a team.
Iowa was safely in the field before the Big 10 tournament, and was playing with house money. Richmond wasn't even on the bubble. Richmond won four games in four nights to punch its NCAA ticket. If anything, the Spiders should have been the team that had the most taken out of them. But they weren't. One pretty proud UR alum here this morning! Congratulations.
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Post by Rogobob77 on Mar 18, 2022 12:21:22 GMT -5
A late score from yesterday was Murray St. Versus San Francisco, the Racers coming out on top in overtime 92-87. The game was a classic battle between two solid mid-majors and featured 18 lead changes and 14 ties.
Almost as good was the UCLA-Akron game. The Zips led most of the second half but in the end the Bruins prevailed, 57-53.
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 18, 2022 13:01:49 GMT -5
Richmond 67, Iowa 63. Oopsie. I think winning a major conference tournament is always risky. It takes a lot out of a team.
Iowa was safely in the field before the Big 10 tournament, and was playing with house money. Richmond wasn't even on the bubble. Richmond won four games in four nights to punch its NCAA ticket. If anything, the Spiders should have been the team that had the most taken out of them. But they weren't. I think playing Rutgers, Indiana, and Purdue on consecutive nights (not to mention that 4th game against Northwestern) is extremely draining in a way that the A10 tournament simply is not. That's not dissing Richmond's difficult run of Rhode Island, VCU, Dayton and Davidson, but the physicality of four straight nights of play in the Big 10, ACC, SEC, Big East, or Big 12 (in which no one ever acts like they're playing with "house money") is uniquely demanding.
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 18, 2022 23:42:10 GMT -5
Friday, March 18 Arizona 87, Wright State 70. The Raiders (22-14) acquitted themselves well but were just outmanned. After trailing by 16, they cut Arizona's lead to 7 early in the second half, but just didn't have the horses to take down a #1 seed.
It was a perfect day for the Big 10, though they needed a couple of last minute, one-point wins over A10 and Southern Conference teams and a narrow win over Colgate to do it. Michigan State 74, Davidson 73. A very exciting finish. Joey Hauser was terrific, shooting 9-12 from the floor for 27 points. Wisconsin 67, Colgate 60. The Badgers (25-7) were fortunate to win in Milwaukee. Ohio State 54, Loyola 51. Purdue 78, Yale 56. Illinois 54, Chattanooga 53. Illinois trailed until the final minute, and escaped only when Coleman Hawkins got a big block with 3 seconds left. Even then, Chattanooga's Malachi Smith tracked down the ball and got a decent look, but his shot at the buzzer was just off. More intense Horizon fans will remember, btw, that Smith was a member of the Horizon all-freshman team in 2018-19, at Wright State. He transferred after that season, and led Chattanooga (27-8) in scoring this year with 20.1 ppg. Thanks to a transfer sit year and an extra year due to Covid, he's still got two more years of eligility.
Also a good day for the ACC. Notre Dame 78, Alabama 64. Cormac Ryan had 29 for Notre Dame (24-10). Duke 78, Cal-State Fullerton 61. Duke vs. Michigan State will be the marquee second round matchup. Miami 68, Southern Cal 66. Miami's Charles Moore sank a couple free throws with 3 seconds left for the win.
But not quite a perfect day for the ACC. A perfect day for the Big 12. Texas 81, Virginia Tech 73. Texas (22-11) led by 17 with under 4 minutes to play, and a furious Tech (23-13) rally just ran out of time. Texas Tech 97, Montana State 62. Iowa State 59, LSU 54. TCU 69, Seton Hall 42. The Toads (21-12) blow 'em out in the second half.
Villanova 80, Delaware 60. A 16-0 Villanova run surrounding the halftime break broke this game open for 'Nova (27-7). Auburn 80, Jacksonville State 61.
Houston 82, UAB 68.
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