Altes Beer Scoreboard

[Tacitus651]

I read the Flames message board. Obviously they're rather upset. I've also read Dixson's tweets and unless he's purposely tweeting with bad grammar, I highly doubt he's graduating after 3 years. Seems to me he is most likely trying to play overseas and make some money now. I like to see kids finish school, but Dixson leaving now to make some bucks in Europe isn't exactly a bad personal decision. He knows injury is a serious possibility. He probably realizes that even a great senior season at UIC would make him a long shot for the NBA. Why not just leave now and get paid to play in Europe?

[udballer]

Maybe he thinks he can play professionally overseas or something.

That's my guess. There's a league for everyone over there. Sometimes, in the midst of a bad day at work, I think about going.

[Commissioner]

I read the Flames message board. Obviously they're rather upset. I've also read Dixson's tweets and unless he's purposely tweeting with bad grammar, I highly doubt he's graduating after 3 years. Seems to me he is most likely trying to play overseas and make some money now. I like to see kids finish school, but Dixson leaving now to make some bucks in Europe isn't exactly a bad personal decision. He knows injury is a serious possibility. He probably realizes that even a great senior season at UIC would make him a long shot for the NBA. Why not just leave now and get paid to play in Europe?

Thinking of which, where is Paris Bass these days? He played in the D-League (now the G-League) last year for Erie, but didn't do much. Seems to have disappeared--can't find a hint of him playing overseas.

For you "what if" guys, what if Paris Bass, Jaleel Hogan, and Aaron Foster-Smith had been able to keep their academics (and in Paris's case, his head generally) together. That was our anticipated front line this year.

[TitanVoiceofReason]

as far as Dixson matter, don't you think the timing of his announcement was odd? He should have waited until the season was over.

as to Bass, AFS and Hogan that would have been a very good front line.

If McFolley had made that 3 I would have guaranteed a win

When he let it go I thought maybe it would go in....

[Commissioner]

Saturday, February 24:

Most of the Horizon League tournament seeds got straightened out today, which is good since there are only 2 games left in the regular season.

Green Bay 107, Detroit 97.Sandy Cohen had 31 for Green Bay, giving him 67 for the weekend in the Detroit. Really hard to understand why JJJ has more minutes played than Josh McFolley or Corey Allen this year.

Oakland 72, Milwaukee 70. Oakland (18-13) was in danger of dropping all the way to a #6 seed in the tournament, as they trailed Milwaukee (15-16) by 5 with under 3 minutes to play. But Kendrick Nunn scored 8 consecutive points and the Piogrizz rallied for the win and the #4 seed. Nunn finished with 37, after scoring 39 against Green Bay on Thursday. Should be between he and Cohen for the final Horizon Player of the Week in 2017-18.

Cleveland State 99, Youngstown State 94 (2 OT). CSU hit 11 of 17 three point attempts and got a double OT win in Youngstown.

Tournament seeding:
1: Northern Kentucky, unless they lose to IUPUI while Wright State beats UIC tomorrow.
2: Wright State, barring the scenario above.
3: UIC
4: Oakland
5: IUPUI
6: Milwaukee
7: Green Bay
8: Cleveland State
9: Youngstown State
10: Detroit

Non-Conference Opponents:
#17 Michigan 85, Maryland 61. Michigan (24-7) led by 30 at halftime.

Louisville 75, Virginia Tech 68. Tech (20-9) is probably in the NCAA, but didn't help themselves tonight.
St. Louis 62, George Washington 53. St. Louis is 16-13 overall, and 4th in the A10. That was a solid win for our Titans
South Dakota State 97, Fort Wayne 90. The Wayners drop to 18-13.
Bakersfield 64, Seattle 57. Seattle drops 19-11.
McNeese State 88, Houston Baptist 79.

UM-Dearborn 90, Cornerstone 89 (OT). UM-Dearborn (20-12) upset NAIA #1 Cornerstone (28-4) in the WHAC tournament. They entered the game with an all-time 1-31 record against Cornerstone. Jason Penn had 38 points and 9 rebounds for UM-D. Announced attendance was 784, vs. 1547 announced at the Titan game.

Murray State v. Austin Peay (Inc.). Murray State was leading 62-53 when the game was delayed with just under 6 minutes left to play. Weather forced the problem, as high winds blew part of the roof off Dunn Center in Clarksville. They were going to try to restart tonight but I'll be surprised if they do. A tornado hit in Clarksville. Meanwhile, Jonathan Stark had 25 before the delay for Murray State, becoming the school's #2 all-time scorer.

Other Games:
Eastern Michigan 82, Northern Illinois 53. EMU is 18-11, and loses only 1 player to graduation.

#1 Virginia 66, Pitt 37. The score was 30-7 at the half. Seven.
Creighton 89, #3 Villanova 83 (OT). Big win for Creighton (20-9), looking to punch an NCAA ticket.
#5 Duke 60, Syracuse 44.
#6 Gonzaga 79, BYU 65. Gonzaga clinches yet another WCC title, its 17th in 18 years.
#8 Kansas 74, #6 Texas Tech 72. Kansas clinches yet another Big 12 title, its 14th in a row.
Florida 72, #12 Auburn 66.
#13 Wichita State 84, SMU 78.
Oregon 98, #14 Arizona 93 (OT). Arizona played their second straight overtime game in Oregon, splitting the two.
#15 Clemson 75, Georgia Tech 67.
#19 Ole Tenn 73, Ole Miss 65.
#21 West Virginia 85, Iowa State 70.
#22 St. Mary's 67, Santa Clara 40.
#24 Middle Tennessee State 79, UAB 54. Jaleel Hogan ain't walkin' through that door.

Loyola 68, Illinois State 61. Don't look for Loyola (25-5) to crack the top 25 this week, though they probably deserve to.
DePaul 70, Marquette 62.
Notre Dame 76, Wake Forest 71.
Davidson 71, Duquesne 60.
Penn 74, Harvard 71. Penn (21-7) won a battle for first place in the Ivy.
Western Kentucky 88, Old Dominion 66. Both of these teams have 22 wins.

[Commissioner]

Northern Kentucky claims the regular season title in its third year in the Horizon with a 75-56 win over IUPUI.

There is a lot of chatter about NKU going to the MVC after this year, along with Murray State. They've got a great facility, they're willing to spend money, they've got a good young coach, they're a good bet to go to their second straight NCAA.

[Commissioner]

February 25:

Horizon:
Northern Kentucky 75, IUPUI 56. Northern (22-8) methodically took IUPUI apart to claim their first Horizon regular season title.
Wright State 88, UIC 81. These will be the #2 and #3 seeds at Motor City Madness. Today the Raiders showed their future. Loudon Love, who will certainly be named Horizon Freshman of the Year this week, had 23 points and 15 rebounds, and freshman Everett Winchester added 19 points and 8 rebounds, including 2 key buckets in the final minute as WSU pulled away after trailing most of the game.

Non-Conference Opponents:
Colorado 80, UCLA 76. I assume UCLA (19-10) is good for the NCAAs, but with an RPI of 48, and 3 losses in their last 5 games, they need to take care of business in the season finale against USC, and then win a game or more in the conference tournament. Colorado is 16-13. Imagine where they'd be if they'd signed Triple J.

Furman 79, East Tennessee 76. ETSU's season is coming apart at exactly the wrong time. With a 4th loss in 5 games, ETSU's once seemingly insurmountable lead in the Southern Conference race is gone. Hopes the Buccaneers (23-8) might have had of an at-large bid are gone, and they'll have to get their groove back to get to the Big Dance.

Other Games that caught my eye:
#2 Michigan State 68, Wisconsin 63. State wrapped up the Big 10 title. In his first game since his name surfaced in connection with the NCAA bribery scandals, Miles Bridges shot just 3 of 15 and finished with 10 points.

#9 Purdue 84, Minnesota 60.
#11 Cincinnati 82, Tulsa 74.
#20 Nevada 92, Colorado State 83.
#23 Houston 109, East Carolina 58. The halftime score was 62-13.
North Carolina State 92, #25 Florida State 72.

Canisius 98, Marist 74. The Golden Griffiths (21-10) tie for their first MAAC title since 1994, when the coach was a youngster named John Beilein.
Oh, and Memphis beat UConn, 83-79.

[Commissioner]

Monday, Feb. 26:

Non-Conference Opponents:
Virginia Tech 64, #5 Duke 63. Tech (21-9) led for 23 seconds in the first 3 minutes, then trailed the rest of the game, by as much as 15, until Chris Clarke tipped in a missed jumper with 4 seconds left for the win.

UM-Dearborn 86, Rochester 78. UM-D (21-12) wins the WHAC Tournament and a spot in the NAIA tournament in Sioux Falls.

Some other games:
#6 Kansas 73, Texas 64.
#20 West Virginia 66, #12 Texas Tech 48. The Techsters (22-7) lost their 4th straight since attaining a school all-time best ranking of #6 a week ago.

Marquette 90, Georgetown 86 (OT).
Lipscomb 89, Stetson 73. Lipscomb (21-9) is sometimes mentioned as a possible Horizon League candidate.

[Commissioner]

Games for February 27:

Non-Conference Opponents:
Eastern Michigan 74, Western Michigan 58. Eastern is playing good ball at the right time. The Eagles won their 5th straight and 7th in 8 games with a blowout of the Broncos. The win clinches EMU (19-11) a bye in the first round of the MAC tournament. Western is 17-13.

Toledo 97, Northern Illinois 67. Toledo is 21-9 and wins the MAC West.

Some other games:
Central Michigan 75, Ball State 51. Kevin McKay led CMU with 23. He was one of several good mid-major guards the Titans offered in Michigan's Class of '16, along with Brailen Neely, Kamari Newman, Spencer Littleson, and the guy we got, Corey Allen. Corey's been the best, but McKay has really come on for CMU, averaging 18 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists over his last 8 games.

Miami 91, #9 North Carolina 88. Miami's Ja'Quan Newton scored 9 points in the final minute, including a game winning trey with 1 second left. Newton scored just 6 points in the first 39 minutes.

Arkansas 91, #14 Auburn 82. Auburn (24-6) has lost 3 of 4, while Arkansas (21-9) strengthens its at-large resume.
#16 Tennessee 76, Mississippi State 54. Mississippi State (21-9) is a bubble team, and losing by 22, even to a good team, won't help.
St. Joe's 78, #17 Rhode Island 48. Rhody (23-5) is presumably set for the NCAA even if they don't win the A10 Tournament, but losing by 30 at home to a sub-.500 team in the season's final week can't impress the seeding committee.

Baylor 87, Oklahoma 64. Here's two bubble teams in action. Or maybe just one, now.
TCU 66, Kansas State 59. Two more bubble teams--or just one.
Florida 73, Alabama 52. The thumpin' should get 'Bama (17-13) off the bubble, in a bad way.
Missouri 74, Vanderbilt 66. Mizzou (19-11) is another bubble team.
Oklahoma State 80, Iowa State 71. As is Oklahoma State (17-13).
Creighton 82, DePaul 57.

St. Bonaventure 117, Davidson 113 (3OT). The Bonnies (23-6) are close to an NCAA bid, but not quite there yet, and couldn't afford a loss to Davidson. They played a wild one tonight in Oleans. The Bonnies rallied in the final minute of regulation to tie it with 5 seconds left, and then the teams played two neck-and-neck overtimes. For Davidson, Peyton Aldridge had 45 points, including 8 of 11 three point attempts, and scored 11 in the first OT, before fouling out in the third OT. Kellan Grady hit two foul shots with three seconds left in the first OT to tie for Davidson, and forced a third OT with two more foul shots late in the second. He finished with 39 points, including 16-16 from the line. The Bonnies got 34 points from Jaylen Adams and 31 from Courtney Stockard before each fouled out. That left Matt Mobley to take up the slack in the third OT, and Mobley responded with 11 of his 33 points as St. Bonaventure finally put the Wildcats away. All told, 8 players fouled out.

[Commissioner]

Wednesday, February 28:

Non-Conference Opponents:
Duquesne 76, St. Louis 69. Both clubs are 16-14.

Incarnate Word 83, Houston Baptist 71. Houston Baptist (6-24) is really pulling our RPI down!

Other Exciting College Action!

#3 Xavier 84, Providence 74.
#4 Villanova 69, Seton Hall 68 (OT). I don't think this much damages Seton Hall's at-large chances.
#18 Clemson 76, Florida State 63.
#23 Kentucky 96, Mississippi 78.
#24 Houston 69, SMU 56.

Notre Dame 73, Pittsburgh 56.
St. John's 75, Butler 68 (2OT).
Rutgers 65, Minnesota 54. The Gophers (15-17), who opened the season in the Top 25, make an ignominious exit in the first round of the Big 10 Tournament.
Stephen F. Austin 76, Abilene Christian 56. You see SFAustin at 24-6 and figure they're rolling to their usual Southland Conference Title, but at 13-4 in conference, they're actually in third place behind Nicholls and Southeast Louisiana.

[Commissioner]

Thursday, March 1:

Non-Conference Opponents:
Michigan 77, Iowa 71 (OT).

Other games:
#1 Virginia 67, Louisville 66. After trailing for more than 35 minutes, and by 10 with 4:30 to play, Virginia won it on D'Andre Hunter's trey at the buzzer.
#10 Cincinnati 78, Tulane 49.
#11 Wichita State 75, Central Florida 71 (OT). The Shockers (24-5) host Cincy (25-4) for the AAC regular season title on Sunday.
#19 Arizona 75, Stanford 67.
#24 Middle Tennessee State 82, Western Kentucky 64. The Blue Raiders 24-5 clinched the CUSA regular season title by knocking off second place Western (22-8).

Penn State 65, Northwestern 57. Northwestern entered the year with high hopes and a national ranking, but ends up 15-17.
Missouri State 83, Valparaiso 79. Valpo finished last in the MVC, and now loses in the first round of the MVC tournament. But at least they're in Arch Madness.
Northern Iowa 60, Evansville 50. First round MVC action.
Montana 75, Weber State 57. In another 1st/2nd place matchup, Montana (22-7) beat Weber State (19-10) to win the Big Sky.

[Commissioner]

Friday, March 2:

Horizon:
Green Bay 93, Detroit 81. What is there new to say? As usual, the Titans were unprepared at the opening tip, falling way behind early. They played good ball for a while but used up all their energy coming back. We finish with a worse record than last year, both overall and in conference.

Cleveland State 72, Youngstown State 71. Looks like this was an exciting game down the stretch. Senior Kenny Carpenter, a Detroit native, led the Vikings with 22.

Non-Conference Opponents:
#15 Michigan 77, Nebraska 58. That was easy. Michigan romps in the Big 10 quarters.

Eastern Michigan 71, Toledo 69. Eastern, 20-11 overall and winners of six straight, is playing its best ball of the year as the regular season ends. Toledo finishes the regular season 21-10.

Murray State 70, Jacksonville State 63. Murray State (25-5) advances to the OVC tournament final.

Other Games:
#2 Michigan State 63, Wisconsin 60. State struggled but held on against Wisconsin, setting up a Saturday showdown semifinal with UM.
#8 Purdue 82, Rutgers 75.
Penn State 69, #13 Ohio State 68. Leading scorer Tony Carr passed up the shot to pass to Josh Reeves for a dunk with 3 seconds left to give Penn State (21-12) the win. The Nittany Lions are hoping they can still snatch an NCAA bid. OSU (24-8) is in, but looks like a team that peaked a month too early.Or maybe it's just that Penn State has the Buckeyes' number--they've beaten the Nuts three times this season. Carr finished with 25. Reeves, who scored that game winner, was 2-12 from the floor.

Davidson 63, #17 Rhode Island 61. Rhody is another team that may have peaked early. The Rams (23-6) have lost three of their last five.

Loyola 54, Northern Iowa 50.

[Commissioner]

Saturday, March 3. Lots of on-the-fence teams in action.

Horizon
Wright State 87, Green Bay 72. Wright State didn't mess around with Green Bay, scoring the games first 11 points and waltzing to a quarterfinal win. A little 8-2 Green Bay run closed the gap to 13-8, and then WSU took total control, leading by 16 at halftime. Green Bay never got closer than 12 in the second half, and that was with just 90 seconds to play. Freshmen Loudon Love and Everett Winchester combined for 32 points for the Raiders (23-9). Green Bay senior Khalil Small went out big with 34 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists. For his final 4 games, he averaged 25 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.

Cleveland State 89, Northern Kentucky 80. Norse vs. Vikings. Gotta like it. Like Wright State, NKU scored the game's first 11 points, and led by as many as 15 in the first half. But in this one, CSU rallied and took its first lead of the game with 3:49 to play. Then the Norse came unglued. Missed jumper. Missed layup. 2 free throws (to briefly retake the lead by a point), then a bad defensive foul to give CSU an old-fashioned three point play. Back on offense, the Norse's next three possessions were Turnover. Turnover. Turnover, with the last turnover followed by another bad foul. The Vikings win going away, and for the third straight year the Horizon regular season champ loses its first game at Motor City Madness. NKU will get an NIT bid as a consolation prize.

Non-Conference Opponents
#15 Michigan 75, #2 Michigan State 64. My theory has long been that it doesn't hurt a team like MSU to lose in the conference tournament. You don't need the emotional and mental drain of a big conference tournament final one week before the NCAAs, and working on the theory that you're bound to have a down game or some bad luck sometime, I'd rather get that loss out of the way than enter the NCAAs on a long winning streak. We'll see. Despite shooting poorly, Michigan looked real good today, with balanced scoring and tough defense.

Central Michigan 84, Western Michigan 71. Central finishes the regular season 18-13, Western 17-14.

UCLA 83, USC 72. Before this game, most experts seemed to agree that USC was one of the last teams in the NCAA tournament, and UCLA one of the last teams out.
Miami 69, Virginia Tech 68. Tech (21-10) would feel a lot more comfortable about its at-large chances if it had won this game. Miami (22-8) won it on a free throw with 3 seconds left.

Murray State 68, Belmont 51. The Racers (26-5) become the first team to punch its NCAA ticket. After trailing for most of the first 35 minutes, Murray State closed it out with a 31-10 finish to take the Ohio Valley Tournament title. This will be the Racers first NCAA appearance since 2012. Many people think they'll be moving soon to the MVC.

St. Bonaventure 64, St. Louis 56. St. Bonaventure (24-6) keeps driving toward an at-large bid if they don't win the A10 tournament. St. Louis falls to 16-15.

East Tennessee State 77, Chattanooga 59.
Utah Valley 73, Seattle 47. Seattle (19-11) has lost three straight.
Texas A&M-CC 92, Houston Baptist 87. Baptist keeps dragging down our RPI!

Other Games:
#1 Virginia 62, Notre Dame 57. The Irish (18-13) probably could have wrapped up a bid with a win, but now they're still on the outside looking in.
#3 Xavier 65, DePaul 62. Xavier wins the Big East regular season. DePaul has averaged 2.6 conference wins per year over the past decade.
#4 Villanova 97, Georgetown 73. Despite the win, Nova's string of 4 straight Big East titles is snapped.
#5 Duke 74, #9 North Carolina 64. Duke rallied from a 10 point halftime deficit to win n the greatest rivalry in college hoops, at least after Hope/Calvin. With MSU and Kansas losing, Duke is well-positioned to grab a #1 seed in the NCAAs.

Oklahoma State 82, #6 Kansas 64. Kansas stunned.
#7 Gonzaga 83, Loyola Marymount 69.
#8 Purdue 78, Penn State 70. A win might have clinched a berth for Penn State (21-13). Now they have a long (and likely fruitless) wait.

#12 Texas Tech 79, TCU 75. Both teams should be in.
#14 Auburn 79, South Carolina 70. Auburn (25-6) wins the SEC for the first time since 1999.
#16 Tennessee 66, Georgia 61.
Syracuse 55, #18 Clemson 52. Syracuse is not dead yet.
#19 Arizona 66, California 54.
Texas 87, #20 West Virginia 79 (OT). Texas (18-13) may be in.
San Diego State 79, #21 Nevada 74.
#22 St. Mary's 69, Pepperdine 66.
Florida 80, #23 Kentucky 67. Big win for bubbler Florida.
Marshall 76, #24 Middle Tennessee State 67. Middle Tennesse (24-6) still wins CUSA. Marshall is 21-10.

Loyola 62, Bradley 54. Loyola held Bradley scoreless for the final 4:45 to win. The Ramblers (27-5) play Illinois State tomorrow in the MVC final. If Loyola loses, they'll be an interesting bubble team, with an RPI currently at 27, and a regular season title, but a weak schedule.

Marquette 85, Creighton 81. Both are clinging to the bubble.
NC State 76, Louisville 69. Two more bubblers.
Stanford 84, Arizona State 83. ASU is 8-10 since opening the season with 12 straight wins (including Xavier, Kansas, and Kansas State), and now sits on the NCAA bubble. In this game, Stanford opened a 19 point lead with a 22-1 run to close the first half. Dorian Pickens then scored 20 points in the second half as the Cardinal held off a Sun Devil surge. Kodi Justice hit a layup to cap off a 24-10 run that tied it with just over a minute. Then began a comedy of errors of turnovers in the final 70 seconds, in which the heroes both missed chances to ice the game--Pickens missed two free throws for Stanford, and Justice missed 3 of 4 for ASU. Stanford, with the ball and a 1 point lead, turned it over with 4 seconds left. ASU got off a pretty good shot but it was off the mark.

Utah 64, Colorado 54. Utah (19-10) needs a big PAC12 tournament run.
Boise State 95, Wyoming 87. Boise State (23-7, RPI 45) would like to be in the at-large pool, but probably won't be.

[Commissioner]

Sunday, March 4:

Horizon:
Oakland 62, IUPUI 55. Oakland (19-13) finally gets on the board in Horizon tournament play. The Grizzlies opened up a 13 point lead in the first 9 minutes, but IUPUI rallied to tie it at the half. The second half was a nailbiter all the way. Kendrick Nunn, who had a poor shooting night (2-10 from three) made 4 free throws in the final 30 seconds for the win. They'll face Cleveland State tomorrow.

Milwaukee 80, UIC 75. Milwaukee is doing it again, upsetting #3 seed UIC in Motor City Madness. Brock Stull led Milwaukee (16-16) with 25 points. UIC finishes 17-15 and will have to decide if it wants to play in the CIT or CBI again. The Flames lost their last three after winning 9 of 10. Milwaukee has alternated wins and losses for their last 9 games, which doesn't bode well for tomorrow's semi-final with Wright State.

Non-Conference Opponents:
#15 Michigan 75, #8 Purdue 66. Purdue loses any hopes of a #1 seed, while Michigan will move up in the seeding--all the way to #2?-- with a very impressive B10 tournament.

East Tennessee State 63, Furman 52. ETSU (25-8) blew the Southern Conference regular season title by losing 4 of their last 5 (the last of those to Furman a week ago), but the Buccaneers seem to have righted the ship for the conference tournament. There's an old obscene joke, the punchline to which is "My Buckin' Ears are right here!" Furman is 23-9. It's not inconceivable that they snag an NIT bid, but if not they'll hope to keep their season going in one of the little tournaments, where one more win will set a new school record for victories in a season.

North Dakota State 86, Fort Wayne 82. North Dakota State scored the game's first 10 points, and the lead kept growing, to 19 at the half and to 23 several times after the break, the last time with about 14 minutes left. Fort Wayne (18-14) then launched a furious rally that closed the gap to a point with 30 seconds left to play, but NDSU (15-16) hit free throws for the win.

Other Games of Note:
#10 Cincinnati 62, #11 Wichita State 61. In an interesting, see-saw battle for the American Conference title, Cincinnati (27-4) scored its last field goal with just over 4 minutes remaining, and its last points with 3:28 to play, but held on. Wichita (24-6) missed three shots for the win in the final 9 seconds.

#25 Houston 81, Connecticut 71. Houston (24-6) rallied late. UConn finishes the regular season 14-17.

Loyola 65, Illinois State 49. Loyola (28-5) rolls into the NCAA tournament on a 10 game winning streak. Five years after leaving the Horizon for the Valley, the Ramblers are dancing for the first time since Alfredrick Hughes led them to a #14 ranking in 1985.

Lipscomb 108, Florida Gulf Coast 96. Lipsomb (23-9) will make its first NCAA appearance after beating regular season champion Florida Gulf Coast in the Atlantic Sun tournament. I mentioned their coach the other day as an up-and-comer.

Radford 55, Liberty 52. It's Radford! To the NCAAs to represent the Big South. The Highlanders (22-12), who were picked to finish 7th in the Big South this year, last made it to the dance in 2009. If you're looking for coaching prospects, 52 year old Mike Jones took over a 5-win team at Radford in 2012. They've averaged 19.2 wins over the last 5 years. Before that, he was a Shaka Smart assistant at VCU during that school's 2011 Final Four run. Radford won this one on a three pointer at the buzzer by freshman Carlik Jones (no relation to Mike).

Memphis 90, East Carolina 70.
Tulsa 76, Temple 58. Tulsa (19-11) scored the game's first 24 points before Temple (16-14) got on the board with less than 10 minutes left in the first half.

Who's In:
Michigan (Big 10): 28-7, RPI #13
Loyola (MIssouri Valley): 28-5, RPI #26
Murray State (Ohio Valley): 26-5; RPI #49
Lipscomb (Atlantic Sun): 23-9: RPI #103
Radford (Big South): 22-12; RPI #127

No big tournament final upsets yet. Lipscomb and Radford were 2nd place teams in their conferences, but each actually has their conference's best RPI.

[Commissioner]

Monday, March 5:

Horizon:
Well. It is Motor City Madness. Oakland and Detroit are a combined 1-6 (and people were worried we've have a home court advantage), top seeds are 0-3, and there's been some crazy games. Unfortunately, Horizon fans don't travel to see them. I was, like Tom, hoping OU would make the final before losing, to assure better attendance and help keep the tournament in Detroit. We'll have to see what happens.

Cleveland State 44, Oakland 43. Ken Pomeroy ranks CSU's defense #273 in the country, but it throttled OU tonight. The Grizz shot 25% from the floor, 20.8% from three, and made 14 turnovers. CSU wasn't a lot better--35.3% overall, 25% from three--but if they'd done better than 3-11 from the foul line they could have won this one pretty easy. Despite the awful shooting all around--here's a clip from the game-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHwglIJaBBg --OU managed to grind out a 12 point lead with just over 6 minutes left in the first half, but scored just 20 points the rest of the way. Freshman Tyree Appleby hit the game winner with 31 seconds left, then blocked Nick Daniels shot for Oakland with 12 seconds left. Appleby, though, missed the front end of a 1+1, giving Oakland one last chance, but Kendrick Nunn's jumper was off the mark. When the injury-riddled Grizz needed him most, Nunn was 13-44 from the floor and 6-23 from three in two conference tournament games.

Wright State 59, Milwaukee 53. Did they put lids over the baskets at Little Ceasar's tonight? Milwaukee and Wright State combined to shoot 32% from the floor. Freshman Loudon Love had 18 points and 12 rebounds for WSU.

CSU, despite a 12-22 overall mark, has won 8 of 15, 7 of 11, 6 of 8, and 4 in a row. They've already beaten Wright State this year and are perfectly capable of another upset. And that wouldn't be bad for the league. They'd be in the play-in game, and winning the play-in game count for just as much as winning a Sweet 16 or Elite 8 game in terms of the monetary formula--the league gets full credit for the win, so more money all around. Better to have CSU win the play-in and get crushed by a #1 seed in the first round, then have 15th seeded Wright State lose by 14 in the first round.

Non-Conference Opponents:
Akron 79, Western Michigan 78. Western led this game 18-0 after 8 minutes and 27-4 after 12 minutes, but couldn't hold on. Akron scored 27 points in the last 7 minutes of the first half and just kept going, opening a 12 point lead with 6:29 left to play. Western finally pulled itself together and retook the lead with 17 seconds to play. On Akron's last possession, Western star Thomas Wilder fouled Virshon Cotton, who made both free throws with 1 second left for the win. Western finishes 17-15, unless they go to the CIT or CBI. A disappointing finish for Wilder, who scored over 2000 points in his career at WMU.

UNC-Greensboro 62, East Tennessee State 47. Greensboro tops ETSU for the Southern tournament title and an NCAA bid. ETSU, after a 22-4 start, finished 3-5 in their last 8. They should still get an NIT bid, though it's not a sure thing.

Other Games:
Central Michigan 81, Bowling Green 77 (OT). First round MAC tournament action.

#6 Gonzaga 88, San Francisco 60.

Iona 83, Fairfield 71. Iona (20-13) was down a bit this year, finishing 4th in the MAAC, but they win the conference tournament and go to the NCAA for the 3rd straight year and the 5th time in 7 years.

Who's In:
Michigan (Big 10): 28-7, RPI #13
Loyola (MIssouri Valley): 28-5, RPI #26
Murray State (Ohio Valley): 26-5, RPI #49
UNC-Greensboro (Southern): 27-7, RPI #66
Lipscomb (Atlantic Sun): 23-9, RPI #103
Iona (MAAC: 20-13, RPI #107
Radford (Big South): 22-12, RPI #127

[Commissioner]

Tuesday, March 6:

Horizon:
Wright State 74, Cleveland State 57. Cleveland State (12-23) came with a plan, but just didn't have enough talent. Wright State (25-9) will represent the Horizon in the NCAAs. Our conference hasn't won a game in a record 6 years, since Butler's 2011 Final Four run. Detroit's Kenny Carpenter closed out his career with 18 points and a valiant effort for CSU.

Other Games You Don't Care About:
#6 Gonzaga 74, BYU 54. The Zags romp in the WCC title game. Looks like NIT for BYU.

Charleston 83, Northeastern 76 (OT). Northeastern (23-10) and Charleston (26-7) tied for the Colonial title this year, but Charleston won both regular season matchups, and three was a charm in the finals of the conference tournament. Northeastern ran out to a 17 point lead early in the second half, thanks to some sizzling three-point shooting (15-27 for the game), but Charleston kept chipping and finally tied it--for the first time--with 12 seconds left in regulation. Senior Joe Chealey scored the last 5 points in regulation, then hit six straight free throws in the OT to seal the win. Chealey finished with 32 points, including a perfect 16-16 from the line. This will be Charleston's first NCAA appearance since 1999, even though they have had twelve 20-win seasons since then. By the way, if you're looking for head coaching candidates, Charleston's Earl Grant would merit a look if a bigger school doesn't snatch him up. He's a Gregg Marshall protege, then was at Clemson for a few years before getting his first top job at Charleston 4 years ago. He's won 50 games the last two years, and is 42 years old. He earned $309,000 last year, but got a new contract last spring.

Long Island 71, Wagner 61. The Blackbirds (18-16), who finished 4th in the Northeast Conference, are going to the dance. Anybody else read Chip Hilton books growing up? From 1934 to 1942, Clair Bee's Long Island teams went 219-20.

South Dakota State 97, South Dakota 87. Two of my favorite nicknames, the Jackrabbits over the Coyotes in that hotbed of college hoops, South Dakota. South Dakota State win the Summit for its third straight NCAA appearance. With Mike Daum, they're a team that could make some noise. South Dakota has a good shot at an NIT bid. Their coach, Craig Smith, is another guy you might look at for a head coaching position. 42 years old, took over a team with 3 straight losing seasons and has won 22 and 26 games the last two years.

Notre Dame 67, Pittsburgh 64.
Syracuse 73, Wake Forest 64.
Boston College 87, Georgia Tech 77. First round ACC play.

Who's In:
Michigan (Big 10): 28-7, RPI #13
Gonzaga (WCC): 30-4, RPI #25
Loyola (MIssouri Valley): 28-5, RPI #27
South Dakota State (Summit): 28-6, RPI #42
Murray State (Ohio Valley): 26-5, RPI #50
College of Charleston (CAA): 25-7, RPI #65
UNC-Greensboro (Southern): 27-7, RPI #66
Wright State (Horizon): 25-9, RPI #100
Lipscomb (Atlantic Sun): 23-9, RPI #103
Iona (MAAC: 20-13, RPI #105
Radford (Big South): 22-12, RPI #126
Long Island (Northeast): 18-16, RPI #232

[TitanTarHeel]

Lunardi projecting Wright State as a 15 seed. That would pit them against one of these #2 seeds -- Duke, UNC, Purdue, Cincinatti.

Incidentally, CBSSports has Wright State also as a 15 matched up against Cinci. Intra-Ohio battle would be intriguing but the streak of HL non-NCAA wins carries to another year.

[Commissioner]

Lunardi projecting Wright State as a 15 seed. That would pit them against one of these #2 seeds -- Duke, UNC, Purdue, Cincinatti.

Incidentally, CBSSports has Wright State also as a 15 matched up against Cinci. Intra-Ohio battle would be intriguing but the streak of HL non-NCAA wins carries to another year.

At this point, it's not even absolutely clear that WSU escapes a #16 seed, though they probably do. To get up to a 14, they need upsets in conferences such as the Big Sky, Big West, Southland, Sunbelt, America East, and Patriot (which is tonight, Colgate v. Bucknell; Bucknell will be seeded above WSU, but Colgate, if they win, below). They probably need at least three of those 6 to be won by someone other than the regular season champion to move up to a 14 seed.

The difference between a 14 and a 15 is not trivial. Since the tournament went to the 64/68 team format in 1985, #15 seeds are 8-124 in the first round, while #14 seeds are 21-111, or more than 2.5 times as likely to win as #15 seeds, and almost as likely to win as #13 seeds. When you're facing a #1 or #2 seed, you're typically facing a legit final four contender. That drop to a #3 seed gives you teams that are obviously really good, but teams that can be beaten, that have typically been upset a couple times--maybe a team like Auburn. So it would be nice if WSU could scrape up a line.

[udballer]

This was a very poor year in the Horizon. The only chance Wright State gets a win in this tournament is if they are stuck in a play-in game. Any team that was 4-4 against Cleveland State, IUPUI and Milwaukee isn't going to win a game against a #2, #3 or #4 seed. Their 14 conference wins shouldn't account for much after seeing the competition this season.

[Tacitus651]

Wright State's biggest resume blemish is probably that they only beat us by 7 points in one of their games. That equates to losing to a D2 school by 13 points, or beating a D3 school by 7 points.