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Post by Commissioner on Mar 20, 2019 0:21:27 GMT -5
Tuesday, March 19 Some of the big boys who were passed over the NCAA took a while to quit pouting, as NC State, Clemson, and Indiana all trailed or were tied at the half, but eventually all three pulled it together to win. Meanwhile, two great mid-major players and one great coach ended their collegiate careers on Tuesday. And fittingly, the Horizon was skunked.
Horizon Clemson 75, Wright State 69. It looked like blowout city early as Clemson (20-13) led by 14 just 6 minutes in. But WSU didn't embarrass the Horizon. They battled back to take a 4 point lead late in the 1st half. From there on, it was a dogfight, with 10 lead changes and several ties. WSU played very well and could easily have won this game if a couple of rolls and bounces had gone their way. The Raiders finish 21-14.
Marshall 78, IUPUI 73. In the CIT, IUPUI also gave it go, but came up a big short. Marshall (20-14) opened a 15 point lead midway through the second half, and held off a late rally that cut the lead to 2 with 80 seconds to play. Cameron Justice had 22 points and 10 rebounds for IUPUI, which finishes 16-17.
Titan Non-Conference Foes Belmont 81, Temple 70. Belmont (27-5) was the one gutsy selection call by the Committee, and the Bruins made 'em look good by taking out the Owls. Belmont star Dylan Windler had a tough night on offense, shooting just 2 of 7 for 5 points, but he pulled in 14 rebounds, and senior Kevin McClain stepped up with 29 points. Shizz Alston led Temple (23-10) with 21. It was the last game for Temple coach Fran Dunphy, a class act who retires with 580 wins and 17 NCAA appearances after 30 years as head coach at Penn and Temple.
Colorado 78, Dayton 73. Dayton shot 55% and committed just 11 turnovers, and still couldn't win. Colorado (22-12) outscored the Flyers 16-8 from the foul line, hit a few more threes, and only committed 7 turnovers themselves. Dayton's season ends at 21-12.
Other Games Farleigh Dickinson 82, Prairie View A&M 76. In the first NCAA play-in game, Prairie View couldn't hold a 13 point second-half lead. FDU (21-13) was led by senior Darnell Edge with 33 points. The Knights earn a trip west to Salt Lake City to face Gonzaga.
Creighton 70, Loyola 61. Wish we were in a league with these two. North Carolina State 84, Hofstra 78. NC State (23-11) trailed at the half but pulled themselves together to beat Hofstra (27-8). Justin Wright-Foreman, the nation's #2 scorer, finished his career with 29 points for Hofstra.
Lipscomb 89, Davidson 81. In a matchup of two of the best mid-majors not to make the NCAA, Lipscomb (26-7) rallied late to win.
UNC-Greensboro 84, Campbell 69. UNC-Greensboro (29-6), irritated over not getting an NCAA bid, pulled away in the second half. Campbell's Chris Clemons, the nation's leading scorer, finished his college career with 32 points, and is the #3 all-time scorer in NCAA history, trailing only Pete Maravich and Freeman Williams.
Indiana 89, St. Francis 72. Indiana (18-15) was a another P5 team that seemed to have trouble getting into the game, and the Hoosiers trailed by 6 at the break. Apparently they decided at halftime they did want to win. St. Francis (18-15) entered with a 265 NET ranking (about 30 spots behind Detroit), but got an NIT autobid on the basis of their regular season co-championship in the Northeast Conference.
Memphis 74, San Diego 60. Memphis could probably have reached the NIT even if Tubby Smith were still coach. Arkansas 84, Providence 72.
Texas 79, South Dakota State 73. SD State's Mike Daum closed his career with a 25 point, 11 rebound effort, but it wasn't enough. The Jackrabbits fell behind 19-0, but clawed their way back to take the lead at 65-64 with about 8:30 to play. But they couldn't hold it, as Texas held the Rabbits scoreless for 5 minutes and went on to win. Daum finished his career with 3092 points, one of two players to top 3000 career points this year. Realize that only 10 players ever have done this. Daum is 7th all time. This year he averaged 25.3 points and 11.7 rebounds.
Utah Valley 92, Cal State Northridge 84. Cal-State Northridge swaggered, or perhaps staggered, into the CBI with a 13-20 record and a 273 NET ranking. Utah Valley, which finished second behind New Mexico State in the WAC, entered at 24-9 with a #90 NET--#54 under the old RPI formula. The Wolverines are becoming a CBI fixture--this is their third straight appearance in this venerated tournament.
Robert Morris 98, Cornell 89 (OT). Bob Morris (18-16) got 86 points from the trio of Josh Williams, little brother Jon Williams, and Matty McConnell, to beat Cornell (15-16) in the CIT. Cornell sophomore Jimmy Boeheim, who is the son of a coach, had 31 points for Cornell.
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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 20, 2019 14:51:11 GMT -5
Tuesday, March 19Belmont 81, Temple 70. Belmont (27-5) was the one gutsy selection call by the Committee, and the Bruins made 'em look good by taking out the Owls. Belmont star Dylan Windler had a tough night on offense, shooting just 2 of 7 for 5 points, but he pulled in 14 rebounds, and senior Kevin McClain stepped up with 29 points. Shizz Alston led Temple (23-10) with 21. It was the last game for Temple coach Fran Dunphy, a class act who retires with 580 wins and 17 NCAA appearances after 30 years as head coach at Penn and Temple. Memphis 74, San Diego 60. Memphis could probably have reached the NIT even if Tubby Smith were still coach. Fran Dunphy got the kind of sendoff that Martelli should have gotten. It will be interesting to see how Temple fares going forward, with Aaron McKie moving up from the Associate Head Coach position to take the reins. Obviously I am biased, but I think Tubby Smith would have gotten that Memphis team to a top three finish in the AAC and a NCAA bid. This year's Memphis Tigers finished 21-13 with a loss in the conference semis, the same record as Tubby's team in 2017-18. And Tubby's team had nine guys in their first year of D1 ball (only two guys with D1 experience) and lost their all conference guard for 7 games. He would have had all of those guys back, and just like at Texas Tech, I expected an NCAA bid in what would have been Smith's third year with the program. Coach Penny had the benefit of inheriting a 21 win team with five starting seniors who had been taught by a HOF coach, and he had no significant player losses to injury. Objectively, Memphis should have been better this season. Next year will be interesting, because five of their top six scorers are all out of eligibility. Those scheduled to return combined to score 25 points per game. Memphis has a great class coming in, so if they have a short learning curve/adjustment period, they could be very good.
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 20, 2019 23:48:13 GMT -5
Wednesday, March 20
Horizon Green Bay 102, East Tennessee State 94. ETSU had the highest NET rating (72) and was tied for the most wins (24) of any school with a winning record and not invited to the NCAA or NIT. Green Bay, however, rolled out to a big lead in the opening minutes and dumped 59 points on the Buccaneers in the first half. But ETSU kept fighting, took the lead with just under 9 minutes to play, and increased their margin to 9 with a little over 6:00 to play. Green Bay didn't fold, however, holding ETSU (24-10) scoreless for 3 minutes and outscoring them 21-4 the rest of the way. Sandy Cohen had a big game for Green Bay (18-16) with 29 points, including 9 in the game-winning run. So at least one HL team will be playing past Friday afternoon.
Titan Non-Conference Opponents Xavier 78, Toledo 64. This NIT game was tied at halftime, but Xavier scored 51 points after the break. Naji Marshall had 20 points and 21 rebounds for the Musketeers (19-15). Toledo (25-8) got 23 from Jalean Sanford, who finishes his career with 1799 points.
Nebraska 80, Butler 76. Butler (16-17) lost 5 of its last 6.
Non Titan Non-Conference Opponents DePaul 100, Central Michigan 86. Max Strus had 33 has DePaul (16-15) pulled away late in the CBI. CMU finishes 23-12.
Arizona State 74, St. John's 65. I'm not sure either of these two should be in the NCAA. St. John's finished 7-12 after a 14-1 start. Arizona State moves on at 23-10. And I still think 11 or 12 seed "play in" games are stupid.
North Dakota State 78, North Carolina Central 74. North Dakota State (19-15) earns the right to get shellacked by Duke on Friday.
Harvard 71, Georgetown 68. NIT battle of the eggheads. Wichita State 76, Furman 70. Furman (25-8) can quit bitching about being passed over the NCAA. TCU 82, Sam Houston State 69. Norfolk State 80, Alabama 79 (OT). Another P6 team was caught moping around in the NIT after just missing an NCAA bid.
West Virginia 77, Grand Canyon 63. West Virginia (15-20) and DePaul are the first P6 teams to accept CBI bids since 2015. WVU drew 5313 for this game, and they'll make money playing in the CBI.
South Florida 82, Stony Brook 79 (OT). USF trailed by 18 at the half. Brown 83, UAB 78. Brown (20-11) wins 20 games in a season for the first time in its 119 years of basketball.
Loyola Marymount 56, Cal Baptist 55. Mattais Markusson made an old fashioned 3 point play with 30 seconds left to give Loyola Marymount (21-11) the lead, and the Lions made it hold up as Cal Baptist missed two shots on its final possession. Not a bad first season of DI play for Baptist (16-15), which beat New Mexico State during the season.
Longwood 90, Southern Mississippi 68. Southern Miss, a relatively high mid-major with 20 wins and a NET in the top 100, has some 'splainin' to do after getting blitzed in the CBI by Longwoood (16-17), which finished the regular season 9th in the Big South. Coastal Carolina 81, Howard 72. Coastal Carolina drew 779. I find the attendance numbers as interesting as some of these early CBI games.
Texas Southern 95, New Orleans 89 (OT). Announced attendance for this CIT game in New Orleans was 612. Presbyterian 73, Seattle 68. Erstwhile Titan commit Cory Hightower had 18 points and 10 rebounds as the Presbyterians (19-15) held off the Catholics (18-15). Presbyterian never trailed after 0-2, but never led by more than 10 and rare by more than 5 in a tight game.
UT Rio Grande Valley 74, Grambling 73. This CIT game was Grambling's first post-season game since the 1980 NIT, and the Tigers (17-17) were close to their first D-I post-season win ever with a 3 point lead in the waning minutes. But Rio Grande senior Terry Winn, with just 4 points until then, scored Rio Grande's final 6 points, and the game's final 4 points, and the Vaqueros (20-16) pulled out a CIT win. They drew over 2000 for this game in Edinburg, Texas.
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 22, 2019 7:54:34 GMT -5
Best day of the year
Titan Non-Conference Opponents: Louisiana-Monroe 87, Kent State 77. Yup, they were playing more 1st round CIT games on Thursday. Kent's season ends at 22-11. Inkster's Jalen Walker finished with 15 points, giving him 1804 for his career.
NCAA The Big 10 goes 5-0, the SEC 4-0.
#2 Michigan State 76, #15 Bradley 65. Why does MSU seem to have so much trouble in the first round every year? They turned it up at the end today, anyway. 26 points for Cassius. Former Green Bay coach Brian Wardle is turning Bradley around. He's had 2 straight 20-win seasons, and this year to the NCAA for the first time since 2006.
#2 Michigan 75, Montana 55. Michigan looked good.
#1 Gonzaga 87, #16 Farleigh Dickinson 49. The Zags led by 36 at halftime, and didn't really try after that. #2 Kentucky 79, #15 Abilene Christian 44. Abilene Christian scored 13 points in the first half. #4 Kansas 87, #13 Northeastern 53. #10 Minnesota 86, #7 Louisville 76. #4 Florida State 76, Vermont 69. Took a while, but the Seminoles ground down the Catamounts. #3 LSU 79, #14 Yale 74. LSU never trailed, but couldn't put Yale away until the final seconds. At one point Yale missed 20 of 21 three point attempts. By the time they started making a few, it was a bit too late.
#3 Purdue 61, #14 Old Dominion 48. #7 Wofford 84, #10 Seton Hall 68. No upset here. Wofford is for real, baby! #6 Villanova 61, #11 St. Mary's 57. Best of a lackluster set of late games? #10 Florida 70, #7 Nevada 61. Nevada disappointed a lot of people. They looked Final Four ready back in December. #9 Baylor 78, #8 Syracuse 69.
#5 Auburn 78, New Mexico State 77. A wild finish that would take too much effort to describe here. Auburn should have won this game easily before the final minute, but couldn't finish the Aggies, who should have won the game in the final seconds. The loss ends the Aggies' season and their 19-game winning streak.
#6 Maryland 79, #11 Belmont 77. The mid-majors were just missing today. Belmont led much of the second half, but their final shot, by star Dylan Windler (35 points, 11 rebounds) with 2 seconds left, was off the mark. Belmont finishes 27-6, and did the Selection Committee proud with a play-in win over Temple and then today's game.
#12 Murray State 83, #5 Marquette 64. Well, OK, Murray State figured out the upset thing--don't let it be close. I'll brag a bit for picking this upset in my bracket--the only 1 I picked in the 1st 2 rounds (I don't consider 8/9 and 7/10 games upsets). I tend to go all chalk in the early rounds, but Marquette just wasn't playing well the last 3 weeks of the regular season, and Ja Morant is a pretty good player. Speaking of which, he had a triple double with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 16 assists. I think the entire Titan squad went a couple weekends this year without 16 assists.
More CIT-The Games that Really Matter Cal State-Fullerton 66, Cal-State Bakersfield 58. Two of the most depressing places to live in California. Hampton 81, St. Francis (NY) 72. Charleston Southern 68, Florida Atlantic 66. Not decided until FAU missed a trey at the buzzer.
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 23, 2019 0:06:50 GMT -5
Friday, March 22
Horizon #3 Texas Tech 72, #14 Northern Kentucky 57. NKU stayed close for about three-quarters of the game. But HL POY Drew McDonald was a non-factor, and only Tyler Sharpe did much for the Norse. The Horizon hasn't won a game in the tournament since Butler left the conference.
Other NCAA Games #1 North Carolina 88, Iona 73. Iona led by 5 at halftime but that just got UNC mad. The Tarheels opened the second half with a 30-9 run and cruised home from there. #1 Duke 85, #16 North Dakota State 62. 51 points for Zion and Barrett. #1 Virginia 71, #16 Gardner-Webb 56. After last year's UMBC fiasco, Virginia had to be nervous to find themselves down 14 with 6:30 to play in the first half. But the Cavs finally got it in gear, fired up their defense, and smoked G-W the rest of the way. A 28-8 run straddling the half turned the game around, and from there UVa just pulled steadily away.
#4 Virginia Tech 66, #13 St. Louis 52. A good day for the ACC.
#2 Tennessee 77, #15 Colgate 70. The Raiders were dogged, and actually took the lead briefly in the second half, but in the end the Volunteers were just too good. Colgate sophomore Jordan Burns had 32 points in defeat.
Ohio State 62, Iowa State 59. Best of the late games. #10 Iowa 79, #7 Cincinnati 72. It wasn't exactly last year's meltdown against Nevada, but Cincinnati, playing in Columbus, was outscored 24-13 over the final 7:30.
Oregon 72, #5 Wisconsin 54. Oregon finished a tough game with a 20-7 run. The Big 10 won't go undefeated. #9 Washington 78, #8 Utah State 61. This score surprised me.
#6 Buffalo 91, #11 Arizona State 74. Buffalo is really good. That national semifinal between Buffalo and Wofford will be a great game.
#9 Central Florida 73, #8 VCU 58. 13 points, 18 rebounds, and 5 blocks for Tako Fall. #3 Houston 84, #14 Georgia State 55. Cory Allen should play in Georgia State's next game.
#9 Oklahoma 95, #8 Mississippi 72. I don't think OU expected it to be that easy. #13 Cal-Irvine 70, Kansas State 64. I almost always root for underdogs, but I've always been, for idiosynchratic reasons, a K State fan. Anyway, Irvine (31-5) is a really good team, and can certainly beat Wisconsin on Sunday.
#12 Liberty 80, #5 Mississippi State 76. The other big upset of the day. Junior Caleb Holmsley scored a career best 30 points, including 14 points during a 16-4 rally late in the second half that brought Liberty back from 10 down.
First Round Conference Results: Big 10: 7-1 SEC : 5-2 ACC : 5-2 Big 12: 4-2 *PAC 12: 3-1 American: 2-2 *Ohio Valley: 2-1 MAC : 1-0 Southern: 1-0 Big West: 1-0 Atlantic Sun: 1-0 WCC 1-1 Big East: 1-3 *Summit: 1-1 *Northeast: 1-1 Mountain West: 0-2 Atlantic 10: 0-2 Everybody Else (15 conferences): 0-1
*Includes win in play-in game
NIT/CIT Games Creighton 79, Memphis 64. Creighton (20-14) advances to the NIT quarterfinals. Southern Utah 80, Drake 73 (OT). In Cedar City, Utah, Southern Utah (17-16), one of the lowest rated teams in the CIT, beat Drake (24-10), which entered the tournament with the second highest NET and RPI rankings.
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 23, 2019 23:02:43 GMT -5
Saturday, March 23
NCAA Another pretty good day for the Big 10, despite MSU and Minnesota being paired, and a tough loss for Maryland. Big 10 goes 3-2 (2-1 against other conferences). SEC goes 3-1, splitting a pair with the Big 10. Big East is out of the tournament--wonder when that last happened so quickly. Big 12 had a rough night, losing a pair of blow-outs.
#2 Michigan 64, #10 Florida 49. UM played stifling defense. #2 Michigan State 70, Minnesota 50. Michigan State played sloppy, but the rebounded, defended, and shot well, and Cassius Winston made the big plays when Minnesota made a brief second half run.
#3 Purdue 87, #6 Villanova 61. Purdue rivals Auburn as the most impressive of today's victors, and Carsen Edwards was its most impressive player. Edwards had 42 as the Boilermakers knocked out the defending champs, and the last Big East team in the tournament. No Big East team will make the Sweet 16.
#3 LSU 69, #6 Maryland 67. Maryland came back from 15 down and took its first lead of the game with 5:09 to play. From there it was neck and neck, with LSU getting the winner from Tremont Waters with 2 seconds to go.
#2 Kentucky 62, #7 Wofford 56. Wofford gave Kentucky all they could handle, but a poor shooting day for Fletcher Magee (4-17, 0-12 from three) made it awfully hard to get the upset. Magee, who last game broke the NCAA record for career threes, in this one set an NCAA tournament record for most missed threes in a game.
#5 Auburn 89, #4 Kansas 75. Not nearly as close as even the lopsided final score. If you predicted this shellacking, take a bow. I mean, picking Auburn to win, OK, good pick. Predicting this start-to-finish blowout? Did anyone do that? Auburn looked very strong, completing a very good night for the SEC. The evening games were all pretty much dogs.
#1 Gonzaga 83, #9 Baylor 71. Brandon Clarke had 36 points for Gonzaga (32-3).
#4 Florida State 90, #12 Murray State 62. Murray State led early and Ja Morant had 28 points, but ultimately Florida State steamrolled the Racers. This FSU team is Final Four capable.
NIT Indiana 63, Arkansas 60. Indiana (19-15) and Arkansas (18-16) combined made just 1 field goal in the final 6:58 of play.
Lipscomb 86, UNC-Greensboro 69. Rob Marberry made 12 of 13 shots for 24 points, and Garrison Matthews had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Lipscomb (27-7). Greensboro finishes 29-7.
CIT Florida International 87, Texas State 81. Brian Beard and Devon Andrews combined for 58 points for FIU (20-13).
NJCAA (Juco) Vincennes JC 87, Ranger College 77. NJCAA D-I national title goes to Vincennes. Kirkwood 64, Johnson City 58. The top two seeds in the tournament met in the NJCAA D-II final, with #1 Kirkwood (Ia.) beating #2 Johnson City (Ks). St. Clair, Michigan's entry, was seeded #6 overall in the tournament but lost in the first round.
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 24, 2019 22:46:42 GMT -5
Sunday, March 24
Titan Opponents Texas 78, Xavier 76 (OT). Xavier's Quentin Goodwin missed a free throw for the lead with 2 seconds left in regulation; Zach Hankins got the rebound but his hurried put back also missed. In the OT, Xavier (19-16) missed three shots in the final seconds to tie or win. Texas advances to NIT quarters.
NCAA #2 Tennessee 83, #10 Iowa 77 (OT). Tennessee blowout in the first half, big Hawkeye comeback in the second, Tennessee dominated the OT. That'll be 4 SEC teams to the Sweet 16.
#3 Houston 74, #11 Ohio State 59. This is the first time I've watched more than a few snippets of Houston all season. They're really good.
#1 UNC 81, #9 Washington 56. #1 Duke 77, #9 Central Florida 76. As a confirmed hater of ACC basketball and especially Duke, I was bummed when Aubrey Dawkins' last second put back effort was off the mark. #1 Virginia 63, #9 Oklahoma 51. OK, I kinda like UVa. DEE-FENSE! #4 Virginia Tech 67, #12 Liberty 58. Liberty led by 3 at halftime, but ultimately couldn't keep up.
#3 Texas Tech 78, #6 Buffalo 58. Milan's Nick Perkins, a kid the Titans offered, finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the defeat. Perkins had 38 points and 20 rebounds in two NCAA games, and finishes his career at Buffalo with 1736 points and 830 rebounds. #12 Oregon 73, #13 UC-Irvine 54. Irvine started the second half with a 14-0 run to go up by two. But that effort seemed to take everything out of them. Oregon responded with a 15-3 run of its own, then slowly added to the margin. Good season for Irvine, with 31 wins.
So the Sweet 15 will have 5 from the ACC, 4 from the SEC, 3 from Big 10, and one each from the WCC, Big 12, AAC, and PAC 12.
NIT TCU 88, Nebraska 72. Wichita State 63, Clemson 55. The Shockers (21-14) have won 8 of 9 and advance to the NIT quarterfinals. NC State 78, Harvard 77.
CIT Presbyterian 77, Robert Morris 70. Former Titan commit Cory Hightower had 9 points and 9 rebounds for the victorious Blue Hose (20-15).
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Post by titantarheel on Mar 25, 2019 12:56:51 GMT -5
Sunday, March 24#1 Duke 77, #9 Central Florida 76. As a confirmed hater of ACC basketball and especially Duke, I was bummed when Aubrey Dawkins' last second put back effort was off the mark. What an incredible game this one was. With my tin foil conspiracy hat on here's a few things that went Duke's favor in the last 20 seconds... - Zion probably charged his intiial defender on his drive to the hoop. That's a charge in the first 30 minutes of a game. - Takko should've buried Zion when he got near the hoop and not let him even get a shot off. A light foul and a hard foul is the same 2 free throws, except the light foul turned the whole thing into a 'and 1' - On missed FT, Barrett shoved his guy from behind to grab the rebound; on the other side of the lane, the UCF guy had his left arm hooked by the Duke player which meant he couldn't get his arm up as he came across the lane - UCF guy was probably fouled on the initial driving shot And yeah, the terrible luck that Dawkins JUST missed the tip in from going in. Ugh. Duke survives, but everyone hates them. And...it was a fun game because there's nothing quite like March Madness!
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Post by ptctitan on Mar 25, 2019 13:27:24 GMT -5
What an incredible game this one was. With my tin foil conspiracy hat on here's a few things that went Duke's favor in the last 20 seconds... - Zion probably charged his intiial defender on his drive to the hoop. That's a charge in the first 30 minutes of a game. - Takko should've buried Zion when he got near the hoop and not let him even get a shot off. A light foul and a hard foul is the same 2 free throws, except the light foul turned the whole thing into a 'and 1' - On missed FT, Barrett shoved his guy from behind to grab the rebound; on the other side of the lane, the UCF guy had his left arm hooked by the Duke player which meant he couldn't get his arm up as he came across the lane - UCF guy was probably fouled on the initial driving shot And yeah, the terrible luck that Dawkins JUST missed the tip in from going in. Ugh. Duke survives, but everyone hates them. And...it was a fun game because there's nothing quite like March Madness! Agreed. If you don't call Zion for the charge, then you should not have called Tacko for the block. And you can see clearly how hard Barrett pushed the UCF guy in the back to get that rebound. Not to mention the hook and hold. Of all the contact permitted in the final 20 seconds, Tacko's was the least physical and it did not keep Zion from scoring. Yet, that led to Tacko's DQ and the tainted offensive rebound against Tacko's replacement on the FT block. Bad call spoiled a good game and left a bad taste in my mouth. They let everything else go.
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 26, 2019 5:04:19 GMT -5
Monday, March 25
NIT Colorado 76, Norfolk State 60.
CBI Coastal Carolina 109, West Virginia 91. Maybe this explains why West Virginia is the first P5 school to accept a CBI invitation since 2015. Coastal Carolina just drilled the Mountaineers tonight, spotting the WVU the game's first 5 points, and then crushing the P5 school behind 32 points from freshman Devante Jones. The Chanticleers (17-16) led by as many as 25 in the second half an coasted through the final 15 minutes or so. It's the most points given up by WVU in a game since December of 1990.
DePaul 97, Longwood 89. Little Longwood gave DePaul a battle but the Demons finally prevailed behind Max Strus's 38 point performance. Strus has 71 points in two CBI games, and four games of 30 or more points in March.
Loyola Marymount 81, Brown 63. South Florida 66, Utah Valley 57.
CIT Texas Southern 94, UT-Rio Grande Valley 85. Bakersfield 70, Southern Utah 67.
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 26, 2019 22:17:21 GMT -5
Tuesday, March 26
Horizon Green Bay 98, Florida International 68. The Horizon lives on! Green Bay smashed up FIU behind 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists from Sandy Cohen. They'll play Bakersfield in a CIT quarterfinal this weekend. The Phoenix drew just 1341 for the game at Kress Center.
Other Games You Didn't Know Were Being Played
NIT Wichita State 73, Indiana 63. Wichita State (22-14) is playing really well, and salvaging something from what was a dismal season well into February. They've won 9 of 10. Attendance of 10,312 in Indiana. And they say no one cares.
TCU 71, Creighton 58. So your first NIT semi-final will be TCU-Wichita State. That should be a good game.
CIT Marshall 83, Presbyterian 66. Marshall (21-14) drew 3383 for CIT quarterfinal game. Hampton 73, Charleston Southern 67. Hampton drew 3523.
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 27, 2019 22:27:08 GMT -5
Wednesday, March 27
NIT Texas 68, Colorado 55. UT (19-16) led by 25 at the half and while Colorado (23-13) rallied late, they never really threatened.
Lipscomb 94, North Carolina State 93. Down 9 at halftime, Lipscomb started the second half with a little 9-2 spurt, and for the last 18 minutes these two were neck and neck. NC State had the ball and a 4 point lead with 2 minutes left. Lipscomb took the lead after stealing an inbounds pass and knocking down a three with 24 seconds left; NC State (24-12) scored with 8 seconds to play to move back ahead, and Lipscomb (28-7) scored the winner with 4 seconds left. Lipscomb senior Garrison Matthews--one of those guys you've never heard of who has averaged over 20 points a game for three straight years--knocked down 44 points, including 8-13 from three, and added 8 rebounds. NC State got 34 points and 9 rebounds from Torin Dorn, but Dorn, unfortunately, made the last crucial turnover. NC State hosted this one in the smaller, on-campus Valvano Arena rather than their usual downtown location, a good move. The Arena (capacity 5500) was packed with a lively student crowd creating a great atmosphere.
The NIT has had a lot of good games this year. The semi-finals in Madison Square Garden will be Wichita State/Lipscomb and TCU/Texas. I'm sure the organizers would have preferred to see NC State go to the Garden, but Lipscomb is a very good team. Likewise, Colorado had several more wins than Texas, and the all-Big 12 semi may not interest fans elsewhere in the country, but there's a lot of people in and from Texas, and that may be enough.
CBI DePaul 92, Coastal Carolina 87. Coastal Carolina was in this one until the final seconds. Max Strus lead DePaul with 24, giving him 95 points in three CBI games, and DePaul advances to the tournament's final two-out-of-three final, where they'll face the winner of Thursday's Loyola Marymount/South Florida game. DePaul drew just 939 for this game--I think they're gonna lose money.
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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 28, 2019 19:37:39 GMT -5
Wednesday, March 27NITTexas 68, Colorado 55. UT (19-16) led by 25 at the half and while Colorado (23-13) rallied late, they never really threatened. Lipscomb 94, North Carolina State 93. Down 9 at halftime, Lipscomb started the second half with a little 9-2 spurt, and for the last 18 minutes these two were neck and neck. NC State had the ball and a 4 point lead with 2 minutes left. Lipscomb took the lead after stealing an inbounds pass and knocking down a three with 24 seconds left; NC State (24-12) scored with 8 seconds to play to move back ahead, and Lipscomb (28-7) scored the winner with 4 seconds left. Lipscomb senior Garrison Matthews--one of those guys you've never heard of who has averaged over 20 points a game for three straight years--knocked down 44 points, including 8-13 from three, and added 8 rebounds. NC State got 34 points and 9 rebounds from Torin Dorn, but Dorn, unfortunately, made the last crucial turnover. NC State hosted this one in the smaller, on-campus Valvano Arena rather than their usual downtown location, a good move. The Arena (capacity 5500) was packed with a lively student crowd creating a great atmosphere. The NIT has had a lot of good games this year. The semi-finals in Madison Square Garden will be Wichita State/Lipscomb and TCU/Texas. I'm sure the organizers would have preferred to see NC State go to the Garden, but Lipscomb is a very good team. Likewise, Colorado had several more wins than Texas, and the all-Big 12 semi may not interest fans elsewhere in the country, but there's a lot of people in and from Texas, and that may be enough. CBIDePaul 92, Coastal Carolina 87. Coastal Carolina was in this one until the final seconds. Max Strus lead DePaul with 24, giving him 95 points in three CBI games, and DePaul advances to the tournament's final two-out-of-three final, where they'll face the winner of Thursday's Loyola Marymount/South Florida game. DePaul drew just 939 for this game--I think they're gonna lose money. The Texas vs Colorado game was a good example of the relative strength of those conferences this year. Colorado finished 10-8 in conference, and finished the season with 23 wins overall. UT was 8-10 in the Big 12 and sits at 19 wins after their NIT success. Given those records between two power five conferences, you would think the game would be competitive, but the Longhorns dominated from the beginning. The funny thing is, this was actually a down year for the Big 12. The PAC 12 is in trouble. DePaul fans (like myself) should be glad to see the team winning post season games, but should also recognize that the Blue Demons have had a relatively easy path to the CBI finals, beating Central Michigan, Longwood, and Coastal Carolina. As the Commissioner says, they might have lost money by buying into the tournament, but they have enough money to not miss it. And it's good to have something to cheer about at the end of the year for a change. Wichita State hit their stride late and their game with Lipscomb should be a good one. TCU beat Texas twice this season, so we'll see if the Longhorns can avoid the sweep. Both teams are disappointed to be playing in the NIT.
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 29, 2019 7:27:19 GMT -5
Thursday, March 28
NCAA Texas Tech 63, Michigan 44. Michigan came up flat. They looked awful on offense, although playing Texas Tech seems to do that to teams.
Purdue 99, Tennessee 94 (OT). Your bad if you missed this game. March Madness at its best.
Gonzaga 72, Florida State 58.
Virginia 53, Oregon 49. April 8, 2019, NCAA Championship. Final Score: Virginia 32, Texas Tech 29.
CBI South Florida 56, Loyola Marymount 47. So the CBI final--a best two of three--will be South Florida (22-13) vs. DePaul (18-15).
CIT Hampton 82, NJIT 70. Texas Southern 108, Louisiana-Monroe 102 (3 OT). These two played their hearts out in this CIT game. Texas Southern (23-13) trailed all of the second half until tying the game with 23 seconds left. In the first OT, TSU went up 7 with under a minute to play, but Monroe tied it on a three at the buzzer by Michael Ertel. TSU also led all of the second OT, only to have Monroe tie it with 12 seconds to play. The third OT was more of the same, but this time TSU quashed the comeback with a pair of Tyrik Armstrong free throws, followed by a steal by Armstrong leading to a game ending dunk for the final margin. Armstrong led all scorers with 32 points. Ertel led La-Monroe (19-15) with 24. Mike Davis's former school isn't back at the NCAA, but they've done OK.
Thus Hampton and TSU join Marshall in the CIT's semifinals. Green Bay will try to become the 4th when they face Bakersfield on Friday.
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 29, 2019 23:17:48 GMT -5
Friday, March 29
Horizon Green Bay 80, Cal-Bakersfield 65. The Horizon lives! Green Bay (20-16) took the lead midway through the first half and held it the rest of the way. Sandy Cohen had 15 points, leading 5 Phoenix in double figures. Attendance at the Kress center was 1822. Green Bay next takes on Mike Davis's old school, Texas Southern, in a semi-final on Tuesday. Bakersfield finishes 18-16.
NCAA Michigan State 80, LSU 63. I was really looking forward to this game, but MSU was dominant enough that it was pretty boring except for a brief LSU run to open the second half. That 13-0 sprint straddling the break cut a 17 point lead to 4, but after trading a couple of buckets the Spartans ripped off straight 11 points in about 90 seconds, and that was game. LSU finishes 28-7.
Kentucky 62, Houston 58. Kentucky escaped with a huge block by PJ Washington with the Cats down 1 and 36 seconds to go, followed a big, and very long three from Tyler Herro at the other end. Good game.
Auburn 97, North Carolina 80. After escaping the first round with a 1 point win over New Mexico State--that they probably should have lost--Auburn last two wins have been as impressive as anybody's in the tournament, and they were pretty awesome in demolishing Tennessee in the SEC tournament final as well. The Tigers (29-9) are a team to be reckoned with.
Duke 75, Virginia Tech 73. Duke is so frickin' lucky. My usual belief is that when a really good team survives a couple games with lucky breaks, that means its challengers have missed their chance. But Duke/MSU Sunday should be a good game.
So the Elite 8 is 2 ACC, 2 Big 10, 2 SEC, 1 Big 12, and 1 WCC.
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