Ohio Valley Recap

Ohio Valley Recap

Racing past Tech
Entering Saturday’s OVC Championship game, Tennessee Tech was hoping that what did not kill it only made it stronger. The Golden Eagles were in a similar position as they were one year ago, sitting as the tournament’s top seed after winning the regular season championship. In 2001, Tech was not able to win the OVC tourney, as it lost to Austin Peay in the semifinals.

This year, Tech got revenge on Austin Peay by beating the Governors by nine points in the semifinals. Saturday’s final pitted Jeff Lebo’s Tech squad against the Murray State Racers. The Golden Eagles were seeking more revenge, as their only conference loss this season was a 75-56 drubbing at the hands of Murray State. In the finals, the back and forth game came down to the wire. Once again, Tech came up on the short end of the stick, as Murray State guard Justin Burdine (tourney MVP) hit a jumper with less than 10 seconds left to put the Racers ahead to stay.

In perhaps the most consistently competitive conference in America, the 70-69 final score marked the sixth time in the past nine years that the OVC championship game was decided by three points or less. Congratulations to the Racers and coach Tevester Anderson. Murray State advances to its first NCAA Tournament since 1999, and wins its 11th OVC tournament title. Look for the Racers to be seeded 15th or 16th in the Big Dance, as they are an abysmal 147th in the RPI rankings. For Jeff Lebo and his Golden Eagles, maybe three times will be a charm and next season will be the year that they finally make the tournament.

Player of the Year – Henry Domercant, Eastern Illinois
(Hoopville preseason prediction – Domercant)
Domercant becomes the first Panther to win this award. The 6-foot-4 guard led the OVC with more than 26 points per game, ranking him second in the nation, three points behind VMI freshman Jason Conley. The junior from Lisle, Ill. led his team in scoring in 29 games this season, including a career-high 40 points against Loyola on 12/15, the most points scored in a game in the conference this season. Domercant finished sixth in the OVC in rebounding (7.2 per game), was second in the conference with an 89 percent free-throw clip and led the league with 3.35 made 3-pointers per game. He was also chosen as the Player of the Week three times this season.

Freshman of the Year – Derek Winans, Sourtheast Missouri
(Hoopville preseason prediction – Roshaun Bowens, Tennessee State)
Winans had a great rookie year, as he ranked in the top 20 in nine different OVC categories. The 6-foot-2 guard led Southeast Missouri and was eighth in the league in scoring at 14.9 ppg, and tallied double figures in 21 of his 27 games this season. The freshman from East Cape Girardeau, Ill. becomes the first Indian to capture this award.

Coach of the Year – Jeff Lebo, Tennessee Tech
(Hoopville preseason prediction – Rick Samuels, Eastern Illinois)
Lebo, the former North Carolina guard, becomes the first coach in OVC history to win this award three years in a row. He was able to coach Tennessee Tech to the OVC regular season championship, but was not able to take his team to the field of 65, leaving a sour taste in his mouth that will last the next 12 months. The Golden Eagles were an offensive juggernaut, as they led the OVC in points per game (79.7), scoring margin (+11.5), field goal percentage (48%), 3-point percentage (38%), rebounding margin (+8.7), and assists (518 total, 17.3 apg). Lebo likely would trade this award for a trip to the NCAA Tournament, but maybe next year he can have both.

Final Regular Season Standings
Tennessee Tech – 24-6, 15-1 in the OVC
Morehead State – 18-11, 11-5 in the OVC
Murray State – 19-12, 10-6 in the OVC
Austin Peay – 14-18, 8-8 in the OVC
Tennessee-Martin – 15-14, 7-9 in the OVC
Eastern Illinois – 15-16, 7-9 in the OVC
Tennessee State – 11-16, 7-9 in the OVC
Southeast Missouri – 6-22, 4-12 in the OVC
Eastern Kentucky – 7-20, 3-13 in the OVC

First Team All-OVC
Henry Domercant, Eastern Illinois
Nick Stapleton, Austin Peay
Damien Kinloch, Tennessee Tech
Justin Burdine, Murray State
Ricky Minard, Morehead State

Four More In

The Morning Dish – Tuesday, March 5th, 2002

by Andrew Flynn

Four More Clients for the Travel Agency
There were four conference finals last night. In the early game, the Colonial final, UNC-Wilmington topped the Virginia Commonwealth Rams 66-51, jumping out early and maintaining the difference throughout. In their third consecutive conference final, the Seahawks had a stifling D that really limited VCU’s offense. In the Metro Atlantic final in Albany, the Siena Saints had their own marathon to run, as they became the first team in the MAAC to win from the play-in game. The Saints, the 7-seed, won a game each day of the tournament, resulting in a 92-77 win over 4-seed Niagara last night. Siena goes to the dance with a 16-18 record overall, and may end up playing in yet another play-in game.

The Missouri Valley Conference final featured the 1- and 2-seeds, for a change, but this time it was the 2nd-seeded Bluejays of Creighton overcoming the Salukis of Southern Illinois, 84-76 in an intra-conference grudge match. Southern Illinois remains on the bubble however, as they are sporting a 26-7 record overall. Lastly, in the marquee matchup last night, as No. 6 Gonzaga (interestingly a 2-seed) overcame a halftime deficit to defeat 1-seeded Pepperdine in a physical West Coast Final, 96-90. Bad News Bears extra Dan Dickau scored 29, most of which came in the second half rally that gave the Bulldogs the lead for good. Pepperdine will hold its breath with a 22-8 record. Three games against this season against 29-3 Gonzaga can’t hurt.

Side Dishes

This Story Won’t End Well: For the 5th straight day, there’s a new twist in the Nolan Richardson saga. Now it looks as though he’ll appeal the buyout that the University of Arkansas had decided to exercise. All I can tell you is that now that more lawyers are involved, it’ll get uglier. I bet this won’t be resolved before the NCAA Finals on April 1.

Good Night, Black Knight: Army announced that the contract of head coach Pat Harris won’t be extended (the contract is up in June). Harris had a 42-96 record over 5 seasons at West Point, and this year finished 12-16, having lost to Bucknell in the Patriot League tournament. He also played for Coach K on the Army squads of the late 70′s.

More Knight: Coach K’s predecessor at Army is tossing chairs again. Bobby Knight had another chair incident yesterday, this time it was legit, however. The back of the bench chair broke free, and Knight tossed it aside during the game. “That’s the furthest I’ve thrown a chair in a long time,” Knight said jokingly.

At the Buzzer: Western Kentucky stayed alive in the Sun Belt Tournament semifinals by sinking a game-winning shot as time expired to defeat New Mexico State 73-72. After closing the gap late, the Aggies sank a trey to go up by one with only 3 seconds left. The Hilltoppers inbounded from half-court (after a TO), and Patrick Sparks sank a 14-footer to seal it.

Tonight’s Menu:

• The Horizon Finals, Cleveland, Ohio. 5-seed Loyola-Chicago faces off against 6-seed Illinois-Chicago. 7:00pm EST

• The Sun Belt Finals, New Orleans, Louisiana. It’s No. 1 vs. No. 1. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns against the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky. Does anyone know how a conference can have both Denver and Florida International, (and not be the WAC, of course). 9:00pm EST

• The Mid-Continent Finals, Ft. Wayne, Indiana. 1-seed Valparaiso matches up with 6-seed IUPUI. Valpo has cruised thus far, and IUPUI has had to defeat 3-seed Oakland and 2-seed Oral Roberts on consecutive nights. 9:30pm EST

• The Ivy League. Princeton is in the drivers seat tonight – they win, they’re in. But, if they lose to Penn, it will force the first three-way playoff since the formation of the Ivy League in 1956. Penn would have a bye, and play the winner of the Princeton-Yale matchup at the Palestra in Philly on Thursday. The “final” would be on the campus of Lafayette Saturday night. And they say the Ivy doesn’t have a playoff.

Mid-American Tournament Preview

Mid-American Tournament Preview

So, the final two weeks of the season took care of most nagging questions heading into the Mid-American Conference tournament. It more or less breaks down like this:

• Kent is in the 65-team NCAA Tournament field no matter what happens in the MAC Tournament. No matter what, regardless of what the stuffed shirts on ESPN will tell you if the Golden Flashes are upset this week.

• Ball State and Bowling Green have no chance for an at-large bid, but both will be reckoned with in the conference tournament. Again…Ball State has NO shot for an at-large bid, those wins over UCLA and Kansas were more or less for naught.

The Cardinals were in a great position heading into the conference season. A 14-4 conference record would have almost certainly clinched an at-large bid, but they lost too many league games, including some real head-scratchers at the end of the year. (Northern Illinois? At home?).

Here’s how the conference tournament shapes up:

The Favorite

Kent (24-5, 17-1)

The Flashes put together one of the most impressive MAC campaigns in the history of the conference. It’s unheard of to make it through an entire conference season with only one loss. Even some of the best teams in MAC history like the Ball State and Eastern Michigan Sweet 16 teams didn’t dominate as impressively as Kent.

That said, there’s still danger afoot for Kent. Losing in the conference tournament would take some of the shine off its successful run and force the Flashes to sweat the tournament selection process a little. There’s also the matter of their seeding in the 65-team field. Winning the MAC title would mean a 19-game winning streak heading into the Big Dance and could get the Flashes as high as a No. 7 seed.

The Challengers

Ball State (19-10, 12-6)

Ball State will be hungry since the Cardinals know they need to win the MAC title to get a chance to return to the national stage they occupied during the Maui Classic. Theron Smith can dominate games, especially in a knockout tournament. No one will be overlooking Ball State.

Bowling Green (22-7, 12-6)

Bowling Green has won some big games and surprised a lot of people, but the Falcons are starting to slip a little bit. Making the NIT is an excellent result for this team, which will possibly be the conference favorite next year. Still, it’s well within their grasp to knock off Ball State and/or Kent. Earning the No. 3 seed for the conference tournament and the first-round bye that goes with it will be a big help.

Upset Minded

Ohio (17-10, 11-7)

Ohio tends to play well when Brandon Hunter’s game is on, so the junior guard will have to carry the load and score more than 20 points a game for the Bobcats to take the title. That’s not impossible. Hunter has made several teams look stupid this year, as he did in a 27-point, 22-rebound performance against Marshall.

Marshall (14-14, 8-10)

Speaking of the Herd, their 8-10 conference record is somewhat inexplicable considering they have probably the most talented 1-2 punch in the MAC in Tamar Slay and JR VanHoose. Both players have struggled at times this year, but if they can get hot in a hurry, Marshall will make some teams sweat.

Miami (Ohio) (12-17, 9-9)

Miami is another big question mark with lots of talent and big game potential. Previous seasons have shown time and time again that it’s unwise to count the RedHawks out before the games are played.

Little Chance, but . . .

Western Michigan (17-12, 10-8)

The job Robert McCullum has done in turning around the Broncos is nothing short of amazing and he should win the conference’s Coach of the Year honors. Ben Reed is a lock for Freshman of the Year as well, though his season-ending injury two weeks ago means Western’s hill to climb in the MAC tourney is that much higher. This is another team to beware of next season.

Toledo (14-13, 11-7)

The Rockets had a very impressive conference season, but a lot of their wins were against the more inferior Western Division. That doesn’t mean the Rockets don’t have a shot, just don’t be too fooled by their record.

Cannon Fodder

Buffalo (12-17, 7-11)

There’s a lot of excitement in Buffalo and for good reason – this year’s Bulls team posted their most successful season since joining the MAC four years ago. This year’s team posted more conference wins than the previous three seasons combined (6-48). Still, you’ll probably see buffaloes fly before seeing the Bulls accepting the MAC championship trophy this season.

Northern Illinois (12-15, 8-10)

The Huskies are another team which has made big strides this year. They played very well at home and got a huge upset win against Ball State on the road, so they’re only one degree of separation from beating the No. 1 team in the land. Leon Rodgers scored 21.1 points per game, but it’s too bad he’s a senior because NIU is still a year or two away from contending.

Central Michigan (8-18, 5-13)

Preseason picks to win the MAC West, the Chippewas appear to have thrown in the towel on this season. An upset win in the first round of the MAC tournament could get them rolling, but I wouldn’t count on it.

Akron (9-20, 5-13)

I won’t make the too-easy crack that Akron has a “zip” chance of winning the tournament. Their chances are fractionally larger than that.

Eastern Michigan (6-23, 2-16)

Pity the Eagles and their fans. Only a half-decade ago, major programs trembled at the thought of playing Eastern, who dispatched Duke from one Big Dance. This year’s team doubled last year’s total and they’re still a ways away from respectability. Kudos to sophomore guard Ricky Cottrill and his 20 points a game, which give the Eagles some star power.

America East Tournament II

America East Semifinals Roundup

by Philip Kasiecki

The America East semifinals on Sunday were well worth the price of admission, as both games came down to the final seconds.

In the first game, Boston University advanced to the finals with a victory over Hartford on a buzzer-beating three-point shot by Stijn Dhondt. Kevin Fitzgerald threw a long pass to Dhondt, who caught it at the three-point line and made the shot. The officials reviewed it while the Terriers headed for the locker room, but upheld the shot. The Hawks led for the balance of the game behind a solid game from Junior Amos and balanced complements. The Hawks clearly suffered at the offensive end in the second half, as Ryan Stys was injured at the end of the first half and did not play in the second half.

The Terriers will get to host the America East championship game, as Maine knocked off top seed Vermont in overtime in the second game. The game was an offensive struggle in the first half, as the teams combined to shoot nearly 35 percent from the field. Errick Greene, the conference’s second-leading scorer in the regular season, struggled for Maine, but scoring champ and Player of the Year T.J. Sorrentine did not have his best game, either. Greene had 6 points and 10 rebounds on 2-11 shooting, while Sorrentine had 12 points on 4-21 shooting. In the extra session, Maine made several early shots before holding on at the end. One thing Vermont did not do very well is establish its post players. Trevor Gaines had 20 points and 12 rebounds, but the Catamounts at times went for jump shots early in the possession instead of trying to get it inside. Vermont had a 30-26 edge on points in the paint and 13 second-chance points.

Next Saturday’s championship game appears to be a mismatch. Maine will come in as the road team and with a sub-.500 record, and have not looked impressive all season long including the first two tournament games. Maine is sixth in the conference in scoring and Boston University leads in scoring and field goal percentage defense. The two teams are also very different in terms of ball control: the Terriers are third in the conference in turnover margin, the Black Bears are last in that category with nearly five more turnovers than assists per game. The Terriers won both regular season meetings between the teams as well.

The Terriers will need to neutralize Maine big man Justin Rowe, who struggled against Vermont with several missed shots in close. The Terriers are a deeper team, though not by enough to make a big difference. For the Black Bears to win, they must shoot the ball better than they have thus far in the tournament, and taking care of the ball is a must. They are better equipped to run than the Terriers, but neither team is capable of running anyone off the court, so the tempo is not likely to make a difference. Errick Greene can’t have the kind of games he’s had thus far in the tournament, and Darrick Jackson needs to play well for the Black Bears to have a chance. He made some big shots against Vermont in the semifinal game.

Prediction: Look for the Terriers to take this one. They’re at home and have played Maine better all season long, and especially in the conference tournament thus far. The Terriers are playing like the better team and have won when they have needed to, making them the favorites for their first NCAA Tournament bid since 1997.

Now It’s Interesting

The Morning Dish – Monday, March 4th, 2002

by Andrew Flynn

Now it gets interesting
Lots of action yesterday, a day in which a few more things were decided. Like the fact that no one really wants the fourth Number One seed in the Tournament. Just when Alabama was in a position to secure the slot after Cincinnati’s loss on Wednesday, the Tide got rolled, letting Ole Miss win by 28, 84-56. The Bearcats helped themselves with a frenetic finish in OT, topping Memphis 80-75, and thus grabbing their 7th consecutive regular-season championship in C-USA.

Kansas got a scare at Mizzou, offing the Tigers 95-92, and Maryland capped the Cavs in a Cole Fieldhouse sendoff, 112-92. Illinois beat Minnesota by 1 to clinch the fourth share of the Big Ten title, though they’ll be a 3-seed for the conference tournament. Boston College kept their bubble intact by downing the Orangemen 69-65, and Wyoming ended the championship streak held by Utah with two free throws in the last 10 seconds to defeat the Utes 57-56. Oh, and Duke beat North Carolina. It wasn’t that long ago when this would have been the top matchup of the day – I’m sure that’s what the schedule makers had in mind.

Side Dishes

One More into the Breach: Congrats to Davidson, who defeated Furman 62-57 in North Charleston, SC for the Southern Conference Championship. The Wildcats, who were the North 1-seed (Georgia Southern was the South 1-seed), had to defeat The Citadel and NC Greensboro on the road to the finals matchup with the Paladins. You’ll recall that Davidson gained notoriety by downing the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill prior to Thanksgiving. This is back when UNC was slated to have a good season. Davidson also beat Penn on the road just prior to Christmas. The Final Four is right before Easter. Hmmm . . .

Old El Paso: UTEP has announced that it is cancelling a four-game series with the Arkansas Razorbacks. This is all about Nolan Richardson, who played for the Miners, and is a native of the Texas town.

Event Horizon: What is up with the Horizon? First, national Horizon noisemaker 1-seed Butler folds to lightly-regarded Wisconsin-Green Bay. Now, seemingly “peaking at the right time” 2-seed Detroit also is caught with cold feet, losing to 6-seed Illinois-Chicago 79-68. It’ll be a Windy City final in Cleveland, as the UIC Flames face the 5-seed Loyola-Chicago on Tuesday for the right to dance. At least both have respectable records. Butler and Detroit are now extremely nervous.

Semi-Tough: The Patriot Semifinals featured 1-seed American topping 5-seed Lafayette, and 2-seed Holy Cross defeating 3-seed Bucknell. The Patriot, seeminly a conference light on the upsets, will have the Final game Friday evening.

The Truth about ‘Cats and Dogs: In the America East Conference, 2-seed Boston University tripped 3-seed Hartford, 63-60. But the real shocker came in the other semi, when previously lethargic Maine topped cake-walking Vermont 61-59 in OT. The Championship is Saturday.

Tonight’s Menu:

• The Colonial Finals, Richmond, Virginia. 1-seed UNC-Wilmington faces off against 3-seed Virginia Commonwealth. 7:30pm EST

• The Metro Atlantic Finals, Albany, New York. 4-seed Niagara matches up with 7-seed Siena. Niagara was the highest seed to escape out of the Quarterfinals (where Rider, Marist, and Manhattan were sent packing).9:00pm EST

• The Missouri Valley Finals, St. Louis, Missouri. Fairly ho-hum on the upset scale, as every higher-seeded team has won – so far. 1-seed Southern Illinois faces off against 2-seed Creighton. 9:30pm EST

• The West Coast Finals, San Diego, California. 2-seed Gonzaga faces off against 1-seed Pepperdine. 12:00am EST

Conference Tournaments

Start the Madness

by Tracy Granzyk

Start the Madness
Tournament time always triggers two things in my mind. The first is that spring is around the corner, with summer soon to follow. You would think that living in the mountains of Colorado, I would be holding out for one more good dump of the fluffy white stuff. However, having grown up in the Chicagoland area, I am wired to pray for the return of the sun, and its warmth, as soon as it goes under-cloud sometime in October. Having spent my formative years in the Midwest, there is still always the doubt the sun will ever return.

The second, and maybe more important fact, is that the start of tournament time means we have an entire month of basketball ahead. And not just any old basketball – great basketball. Loose-ball-diving, score-table-crashing, three-point-shooting, hard-rebounding fights-to-the-finish, played with every ounce of post-season passion. It’s a time where champions are called to the carpet, and either back up their season long rankings, or fall to a team that musters more heart on some given night. With my love for the underdog, I take pleasure in a good upset and March Madness affords almost any solid team a shot for glory. This is true democracy in my mind. Work hard, and succeed. No politics, just performance. Wins speak louder than hype.

So here we go, returning to the familiar, early spring ritual of March Madness. Where the tournament remains the same, but the day-to-day games are sure to supply more than one surprise.

Conference Tournament Roundup

Big 12
While No. 3 Oklahoma has had the Big 12 No. 1 seed sewn up for awhile, the Nos. 2-7 seeds for the conference tournament were up for grabs down to the wire, as those seven teams also remain in the Top 25 AP rankings. No. 9 Baylor’s 95-91, come from behind victory versus No. 11 Iowa State last week put them in sole position of the No. 2 seed. No. 11 Colorado moved closer to their ultimate No. 3 seed when they triumphed over No. 12 Kansas State 79-58 in Boulder last weekend. KState earned a bye as the No. 4 seed, and will play the winner of the Kansas/Texas game on March 5th. No. 11 Iowa State ended up as the No. 6 seed, which just hammers home once again how competitive a conference the Big 12 remains. The Cyclones face Nebraska on March 5th as well, and barring natural disaster or multiple injuries, will most likely square off against Colorado for the third time this season in the quarterfinals. The series has both teams with a win versus one another, and their third meeting should make for an exciting tie break. My pick: No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Colorado.

SEC
The SEC conference tournament is well underway, and No. 4 Tennessee is still the team to beat. With the season series versus No. 6 Vanderbilt split, and a determined No. 7 LSU team still in their future, the Lady Vols will not roll through without being challenged.

In one of the early upset of 2002 post season play, No. 10 South Carolina was handled by unranked Arkansas, the No. 7 conference seed, 79-61. The Razorbacks will have to take the same ardor into their semifinal match versus a tough No. 6 Vanderbilt team, intent on going all the way. My pick: No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Vanderbilt.

Big East
No. 1 UConn, still undefeated on the season, will have to keep their focus sharp and refuse to fall back on their record, as they go into the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed. No. 21 Boston College, No. 22 Notre Dame or No. 24 Virginia Tech have upset abilities and will provide some competition for the Huskies before it’s all over. My pick: No. 1 UConn, No. 2 Notre Dame.

Big 10
Currently unranked Wisconsin, who has gone up and down in the Top 25 this season, defeated a strong No. 14 Minnesota team, 74-64 in the conference quarterfinal contest. They will face Penn State, the No. 2 seed in the semifinals.

No. 8 Purdue, came close to becoming a second Big 10 upset victim, as they escaped in overtime, 74-67 versus No. 9 seed Michigan. With Wisconsin showing they can put it together at crunch time, my pick pits the Badgers vs. the Boilermakers in the March 4th Championship in Indianapolis. Victor: Boilermakers.

From the America East Tournament

America East – Round 1

by Philip Kasiecki

The 2002 America East Conference Tournament tipped off on Saturday at historic Matthews Arena at Northeastern University. The crowd was sparse and disappointing despite a good deal of promotion during the past week, including on a local sports talk show. Those who did come saw basketball that was worth watching.

The day opened with Boston University beating Northeastern in a game that was never really in doubt. The Terriers came with a balanced attack and beat up on the Huskies inside with many second-chance points and a 53-32 rebounding edge, while also breaking their press consistently and methodically for easy baskets. After staying close for most of the first half, the Huskies’ offense went into a tailspin as they started settling for jump shots very early in the possession. They would make mini-runs in the second half, but the Terriers had an answer each time. Freshman Aaron Davis played very well, giving Husky fans something to look forward to.

The Terriers’ semifinal opponent will be Hartford, the winner over Albany in the second game of the afternoon. Albany stayed close in an ugly first half in part from some bad officiating that was to their benefit. Hartford led 24-23 at the half, but scored the first 10 points of the second half and never looked back in holding the Great Danes to just 35.1 percent shooting from the field. The Hawks had a balanced attack.

The evening session featured two games that each would appeal only to a certain type of fan. Vermont’s easy win over Stony Brook behind a balanced attack and an early barrage of threes appealed to Vermont fans. This game was never in doubt, though D.J. Munir did all he could to keep the Seawolves within striking distance for a while with some nice plays. Keep an eye on Munir, who is just a sophomore and finished the regular season among the conference leaders in several statistical categories.

Maine’s victory over New Hampshire would appeal to anyone who likes watching a clinic for how not to play the game. This game was ugly from the get-go – the halftime score was 18-16 in favor of Maine, and neither team was scorching hot in the second half, as turnovers, easy misses, and other errors dominated the game. Maine put the contest away with free throws in the final minute, something neither team did much of the game since they combined to make less than half of their free throw attempts while also shooting a combined 35.3 percent from the field.

Looking ahead to the semifinal matchups, we first have Boston University taking on Hartford. In the regular season, the road team won both games in the series between the Terriers and Hawks. The Hawks will be at an advantage if they can make this into a running game, as they are better equipped for an up-tempo game than the Terriers. The Hawks’ forwards can match up well with the Terriers’ front line, and is a little more athletic.

The other semifinal pits Maine against Vermont. After the final game of the night, it’s hard to imagine Maine knocking off anyone, much less regular season champion Vermont. The teams split the regular season meetings, but Maine did not attack the zone New Hampshire threw at them very well, and Vermont has inside players who can match up with Justin Rowe despite his height advantage.

Prediction: I look for a Terriers-Catamounts final, but a Hawks-Catamounts final would not be surprising at all.

Only 62 to Go

The Morning Dish – Sunday, March 3rd, 2002

by Andrew Flynn

Only 62 Left
Three teams have officially won NCAA Tournament berths, after winning their respective conference finals. The Florida Atlantic Owls (3-seed) defeated defending champs and 1-seed Georgia State 76-75 yesterday when a last second attempt didn’t fall for the Panthers, thus winning the inaugural Atlantic Sun title (formerly the TAAC). This marks the first trip to the dance for the Owls.

Similarly, the Ohio Valley Championship came down to a 1-vs.-3 game. The Murray State Racers scored a go-ahead bucket with under 10 seconds remaining to oust No. 1 seed Tennessee Tech 70-69. Murray State, who is no stranger to the dance, having gone 9 times in the last decade and a half, had been a thorn in the side of the 24-6 Golden Eagles, who should get an NIT bid.

We said it here first. If upstart High Point (which had defeated the 2 and 3 seeds in consecutive games) had scored 72 points, they would have defeated Big South mainstay Winthrop and gone to the dance with a 12-18 record. As it happens, High Point only scored 48, as they lost by 22 to the four-time defending champ. We’ll see if the selection committee is kind, as last season Winthrop had to play in the special Tuesday play-in game.

Side Dishes

Brian Seymour, we need to adjust your Horizon predictions: Top 25 harlot and mid-major inspiration (not to mention No. 1 seed) Butler stopped, dropped, and rolled over to lightly-regarded Wisconsin-Green Bay 49-48 in Horizon Quarterfinal action yesterday. WGB had to win the play-in game Friday night, having defeated Horizon newcomer Youngstown State 86-65. At 25-6, Butler could still see an at-large berth, but they are really stretching their bubble.

Tiny Bubbles: No. 25 Cal, who had gone down to the desert to try and claim a piece of the Pac-10 crown, got stomped like a narc at a biker rally, suffering their second-worst loss ever by playing dead to the 14th-ranked Arizona Wildcats, 99-53. Oregon, with their 65-62 road win over UCLA, thus grabs it’s first Pac-10/Pac-8 title outright. No. 11 Kentucky edged No. 10 Florida 70-67 to secure a bye in the first round of the SEC playoffs. No. 15 Georgia also has a bye, even though they lost to Tennessee 71-63.

Interesting Seeding: Now No. 21 Indiana has a share of the Big Ten title, by defeating Northwestern 79-67. No. 17 Ohio State has a share of the Big Ten title, by defeating Michigan 84-75. The other day, we told you that Wisconsin has a share of the Big Ten title, their first since 1947. And No. 16 Illinois could still get in on the action, with their finale against Minnesota today.

Farewell to an Old Friend II: Maryland’s William P. Cole Jr. Student Activities Building closes its doors after today’s season finale agaist Virginia, where the Terrapins attempt to go undefeated on the season at home. The 47-year old Cole hosted one of the most important games in NCAA history – the 1966 Championship where Texas Western, starting five African-American players, defeated the top-ranked (and all-white) Kentucky, coached by Adolph Rupp. Cole, which also hosted wrestling and indoor track and field (featuring Steve Prefontaine and Renaldo (Skeets) Nehemiah), became the home to the powerhouse Terps teams of the 70′s coached by legend Lefty Driesell. One of the ultimate home-crowd venues, Cole will certainly be missed as the team moves into the spacious Comcast Center next season.

Farewell to an Old Friend III: Nolan Richardson presence was felt yesterday in Fayetteville, as the Arkansas Razorbacks beat Vandy 81-67. Richardson, whose contract was bought out Friday, had his empty chair draped with a towel that said “Richardson”. One player pantomimed speaking to the towel during the game, and the players had “NR” written on their shoes. New interim head coach Mike Anderson indicated a preference to be announced as “assistant coach” Mike Anderson for the remainder of the season.

Tonight’s Menu:

• More season finale-type matchups. We’ve got Memphis at No. 4 Cincinati, an interesting Syracuse-Boston College matchup, No. 1 Kansas at Mizzou, plus NC-Duke and No. 6 Alabama at Mississippi.

• Semifinal action galore, with the Butler-less Horizon, the Colonial, the Metro Atlantic, Missouri Valley (a stodgy 1-4, 2-3 affair), the Patriot, and the West all determining who will be one step closer to the dance floor.

• We’ve got the second-round of the America East Tournament. Look for Philip Kasiecki’s update from the floor tomorrow morning.

Nolan’s Out

The Morning Dish – Saturday, March 2nd, 2002

by Andrew Flynn

Nolan Richardson’s Out
The University of Arkansas has decided to buy out head coach Nolan Richardson’s contract effective immediately, due to racially-based comments made by Richardson after last weekend’s Kentucky game. The buyout, half of Richardson’s six-year contract, tallies a cool $500,000 per year, terminating if Richardson takes a position at another NCAA institution. Assistant Mike Anderson will be interim head coach, and will coach the Razorbacks against Vandy today, and through the SEC Tournament, and the NIT, which is still a possibility. Remember when Steve Fisher, with the “Interim” tag, replaced Michigan legend Bill Frieder right before the Tournament? Hmmm.

Richardson defeated Fisher (and 4/5ths of the Fab Five) in 1994′s Great Eight game, en route to Arkansas’ only National Championship and a Coach of the Year award. Richardson leaves the program as the only coach in history to have won an NCAA (with 3 Final Fours), NIT, and junior college national championship. He still is a class act, and should be recognized as one of the best coaches in College Hoops, regardless of ethnicity.

Side Dishes

Record Crowd: No. 9 Marquette set Wisconsin college hoops attendance records last night as they halted an early DePaul run 72-53, and thus finished the season undefeated at home. In all fairness, only 35 fewer fans were at the Louisville game two weeks ago, and the difference was probably the additional ESPN crew.

DePaul, by the way, is horrid. Their fans staged a walk-out in protest over the Blue Demons’ 2-14 C-USA record. It’s been a long time since Ray Meyer had Mark Aguirre running around. Even more since George Mikan patrolled the lane. Was there even a lane then, or just a peach basket?

Farewell Shark? Reports have come out of Fresno that Bulldog coach Jerry Tarkanian is going to call it quits after this season. After 31 years (7 at Fresno State), Tark indicated that he’s planning on chilling with friends and family. No word on a possible “Honeymoon in Vegas” sequel, however.

High Point? The Big South Championship has an outbreak of Cindarella fever, as 7-seed High Point continues their march in Roanoke, downing 3-seed Radford 72-70 in OT, the day after squeaking past 2-seed NC Asheville 72-71. Clearly, as long as High Point scores 72, they’re aces. Today it’s against defending champ Winthrop. All this for the opportunity to lose to Kansas in the NCAA’s. For the record, High Point is 5-9 in conference, 11-18 overall. You can bet the selection committee is chanting “Croatoan” over and over, hoping the Panthers disappear this weekend.

Farewell to an Old Friend: The old fieldhouse has seen better days, but it holds quite the home court advantage over some of its newer and fancier bretheren. But this season, surprisingly, a conference title may just be hung from the rafters one last time. No, we’re not talking about Maryland’s Cole Field House. Try 5 hours west. Pitt’s Fitzgerald Field House will host its last game tonight, when West Virginia comes calling. This is the arena where Bill Raftery shouted “Send it in Jerome!” as Jerome Lane shattered the backboard. The Mountaineers opened the $1 illion field house in 1951, which gets replaced by the $65 million Petersen Events Center next season.

Tonight’s Menu:

• Some good season finale-type matchups. We’ve got No. 10 Florida at No. 11 Kentucky, a solid NC State at No. 24 Wake Forest, and No. 25 Cal in the desert against No.14 Arizona.

• Also, for conference bragging rights, we’ve got Hawaii at Fresno State (perhaps a Shark Farewell?), along with Utah at Wyoming, plus the classic gridiron matchup on the court as Ohio State tries to get their quarter-slice of the Big Ten title against Michigan.

• The Atlantic Sun Conference Finals pits the 3-seed Florida Atlantic Owls against Lefty and the 1-seed Georgia State Panthers.

• As previously mentioned, High Point tries to knock off Number 1 (after beating 2 and 3) against Winthrop in the Big South Conference Finals.

• 1-seed Tennessee Tech goes to the post against 3-seed Murray State in the Ohio Valley Conference Final.

Virginia Tops Duke

The Morning Dish – Friday, March 1st, 2002

by Andrew Flynn

Welcome to the first of many Morning Dishes! This column will keep you informed of what happened last night, what’s happening today, and maybe even a heads-up on tomorrow as well. We’ll be here all through Championship Week, as well as throughout the Tournaments. That’s right. Hoopville is providing coverage for not only the Men’s NCAA Tournament, but the Women’s NCAA’s plus the NIT with our talented (and travel weary) staff. Throughout, we’ll be posting dispatches from the games and keep you updated on the big picture. So without further ado, let’s get to it!

Talk about surface tension. This characteristic of fluids is especially relevant when it comes to the NCAA Tournament bubble, and last night Virginia fortified their position. After several late runs, including the decisive 17-0 momentum swinger, Virginia topped No. 3 Duke 87-84. Caution, theme approaching: This gave Maryland the outright ACC Championship for the first time in 22 years.

Coach K praised the Cavs, who had fallen out of the Top 25 by dropping 7 of 9, saying, “Don’t try to lump them with some other teams. They aren’t lumpable.” Yes, but are they bracket-worthy?

Side Dishes:
Qwack-pot: No. 13 Oregon clinches at least a tie for their first-ever Pac-10 title (in 57 years of Pac-8/10 play in a 67-65 win over No. 19 USC. This, of course, is on the heels of their football Pac-10 title this past season. The clincher comes at Pauly Pavillion against UCLA Saturday.

Badgers of Honor: Wisconsin concluded its unlikely road to glory by strapping Michigan by 20 last night, to clinch a tie for the Big Ten title. Full props to first-year coach Bo Ryan, who brought the trophy to Madison for the first time in 55 years. Interestingly, Wisconsin and Oregon hooked up on the gridiron back on September 1st, and now they’ve toppled a combined 112-year drought. Nice.

Trees in the Desert: No. 19 Stanford toppled No. 14 Arizona in Tucson last night, 76-71, to help shore up the Cardinal’s position for the Pac-10 Tournament. Stanford is now tied with UCLA for fifth in the conference. Speaking of deserts, the Arizona D-Backs were in attendance, flashing World Series hardware to the Spring Training locals.

Ease his Pain: Near-legendary and stand-up guy Nolan Richardson met with University of Arkansas officials yesterday over the week-long flap regarding racially-sensitive remarks uttered by Richardson in an interview last weekend. The University is considering buying out the last six years of the coach’s contract (at $1 mil per). Richardson has been at Arkansas for 17 years, and has led the team to three Final Fours, cutting down the nets in 1994.

Tonight’s Menu:
• We’ve got Harvard-Yale, which would be interesting in football, but Yale needs a win (and a Princeton loss) to keep their travel plans open in March.

• There’s the Atlantic Sun Tournament Semifinals,

• The Big South Tournament Semifinals,

• The Metro Atlantic Championship First Round,

• The Ohio Valley Semifinals,

• The Southern Conference Quarterfinals,

• The Sun Belt First Round,

• And the Horizon gets things going with a play-in game.

Needless to say, you shouldn’t be hurting for College Hoops action until April 2nd.

C-USA Notebook

C-USA Championship Preview

Looks like March Madness began a little early for Conference USA.

Less than one week after Marquette and Cincinnati faced off in one of the most exciting games of the season (a game and result which was predicted here on Hoopville, by the way, but more on that later), the Golden Eagles and Bearcats both suffered letdowns against second-division conference opponents.

Marquette lost a 51-46 decision to East Carolina on Feb. 26 and Cincinnati dropped a 74-71 game to Louisville the very next night.

The loss was especially costly to Cincinnati, which saw a potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament disappear. Still, with Marquette’s loss, the Bearcats clinched a share of their seventh straight regular-season title. That’s 7-for-7 during C-USA’s history.

Louisville’s Reece Gaines scored 26 points to help Louisville salvage what has been a very disappointing season and give the Cardinals momentum into the C-USA tournament and an almost certain NIT bid.

Meanwhile, East Carolina’s season was made with an upset on its home floor over then-No. 9 Marquette. The win put East Carolina in the conference tournament, which is about as much as coach Bill Herrion could have hoped for in the Pirates initial season in the league.

The losses won’t hurt the tournament standing of either Marquette or Cincinnati too much as long as neither team has a particularly bad C-USA tournament. The Bearcats are a solid No. 2 seed and could sneak back up to No. 1 if they win the conference tournament and some breaks fall their way. Marquette is at least a No. 4 seed and would get a No. 3 seed if they win the title.

Crime and punishment
As much as it pains me to say this, Conference USA is probably going to win the mythical national championship for strife and turmoil amongst its players and coaches.

The worst of recent events includes Houston guard Kevin Gaines being dismissed for the rest of the season after allegedly assaulting a woman in a Greenville, NC nightclub. Three other Cougars were suspended indefinitely for curfew violations related to the incident. Gaines’ career at Houston is almost definitely over even if he manages to avoid jail time.

The dismissals derailed Houston’s momentum as coach Ray McCallum was starting to rebuild after a few dismal recent seasons.

Meanwhile, at DePaul, a group of fans recently staged a walkout during a home game to protest the team’s poor performance under coach Pat Kennedy. The Blue Demons are 9-18 overall and only 2-13 in the conference and will miss the conference tournament and postseason play yet again.

The only way Kennedy won’t be fired is if DePaul’s athletic department doesn’t want to pay off the remainder of Kennedy’s contract.

Logan watch
Some national publications are hyping Cincinnati’s Steve Logan as a player of the year candidate, though it would be hard to imagine Duke’s Jason Williams not winning the Wooden Award. Logan, who is averaging about 22 points and 5 assists a game, has won C-USA’s Player Of The Week award five times, matching Kenyon Martin as the only person to ever achieve that honor.

Patting ourselves on the back dept.
Three weeks ago after Marquette pounded Cincinnati, we predicted that the Bearcats and Golden Eagles next contest on Feb. 22 would be a “64-63 type affair with bodies flying all over the court and at least a dozen lead changes”.

Well, the score was actually 63-62 and there were only 11 lead changes. Hey, no one’s perfect!

Other national awards:
Cincinnati’s Bob Huggins and Marquette’s Tom Crean are both among the 20 nominees for the Naismith Award for National Coach of the Year. If I had a vote, I would cast it for Huggins, whose motivational job with a modestly talented, but hardworking Bearcat team has been nothing short of amazing. Huggins is not one of the, shall we say, most beloved coaches in the country however, so he probably won’t win the award.

In or out:
Marquette and Cincinnati are in the NCAA Tournament and Memphis and Charlotte are on the bubble. The Tigers (22-7, 12-3) lost most of their games without Kelly Wise, so since he’s back and healthy I’d say Memphis needs only one more win to be considered a lock. Charlotte (17-9, 11-4) is a little trickier, but the 49ers are hot and have a great RPI (32 as of Feb. 28). I’d say 19 wins would put them in.

Any of the other eight teams would need to win the conference tournament to get a berth.

Horizon Notebook

Horizon Championship Preview

Butler and Detroit.

As expected, that’s what was left after the smoke cleared on the Horizon League’s regular season. Granted, it took awhile for things to shake out like that, but with the conference tournament set to begin on Friday, March 1, all bets are off and gloves come off. (Insert your own cliche here).

In seriousness, the conference tournament should be quite interesting. Butler is a decided favorite, but the Bulldogs could see their NCAA Tournament hopes go up in flames with an upset, especially in the opening two rounds. As if winning a title isn’t motivation enough, you’re not likely to see a lack of effort from Butler.

Detroit is peaking at the right time, coming off a 94-61 demolishing of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the regular season finale to clinch the No. 2 seed. Several other teams will also be heard from before the tournament is over.

Note: All games at the Cleveland State Convocation Center, all times Eastern

Opening Round Game – Friday, March 1st, 7:00pm
No. 8 Wisconsin-Green Bay (7-20 overall, 4-12 Horizon) vs. No. 9 Youngstown State (5-22, 2-14)

Youngstown State was expected to struggle this season – its first in the Horizon – and struggle the Penguins have. An early season win over Kent, a likely NCAA Tournament team, will be the highlight of the season for YSU, but a win here and a chance to upset Butler in the quarterfinals would be a close second.

Prediction: Wisconsin-Green Bay 74, Youngstown State 63

Quarterfinals – All games Saturday, March 2nd

No. 4 Wright State (17-10, 9-7) vs. No. 5 Loyola Chicago (15-12, 9-7), Noon

You’d better believe that Butler does not want to face Wright State in a potential semifinal game. The Ramblers have the players and the patience to knock off the Bulldogs and make it to the Big Dance. Loyola started the season off hot, but has cooled off considerably. Wright State’s Doliboa brothers (Cain and Seth) are averaging 33 points a game combined. I think they’ll take care of Loyola rather easily.

Prediction: Wright State 82, Loyola Chicago 63

No. 1 Butler (25-4, 12-4) vs. No. 8-No. 9 game winner, 2:30 p.m.

The Bulldogs aren’t going to run roughshod through the tournament, but they will run through whomever gets put up against them in this game.

Prediction: Butler 68, UWGB or YSU 47

No. 2 Detroit (17-11, 11-5) vs. No. 7 Cleveland State (12-15, 6-10), 5 p.m.

An intriguing matchup since Detroit hasn’t played well at all on the road this season and this is technically a home game for the Vikings. If there’s a chance for a first-round upset, this is probably the game. Still, the Titans are a big game team and they have postseason hopes as well, since making it to the conference championship ought to put them in an expanded NIT.

Prediction: Detroit 64, Cleveland State 62 (OT)

No. 3 Wisconsin-Milwaukee (16-12, 11-5) vs. No. 6 Illinois Chicago (17-13, 8-8), 7:30 p.m.

Another interesting game. How will UWM react after getting drubbed by Detroit in its last game? Which UIC team will show up – the one that looked so impressive in an early season tournament in Las Vegas or the one that more or less sleepwalked through the regular season? I don’t know either, but I’m guessing that this will be the most entertaining of all the first-round games.

Prediction: Wisconsin-Milwaukee 84, Illinois Chicago 79

Tournament Predictions

If the rest of my predictions hold up, I think Butler will narrowly beat Wright State and Wisconsin-Milwaukee will upset Detroit in the semifinals.

Butler is too good and has too much talent to depend on the selection committee for their ticket to the Big Dance, so look for the Bulldogs to take care of business in the final and allow themselves to breathe easier for the five-day wait between the Horizon final and the tournament selection announcement.

Mountain West Notebook

Mountain West Championship Preview

Here we sit, a little more than a week before the Mountain West
Tournament and it looks like a two-team race. Wyoming and Utah are
by far the class of the conference. Utah sits atop the league with a 9-2 record following a 66-65 victory over New Mexico. Wyoming, at 8-2, was in the driver’s seat until Steve Fisher’s upstart San Diego State squad knocked of the Cowboys 68-64 in Laramie in a game that wasn’t even that close.

As of Feb. 18th Utah sat in 39th place in the AP polls, while Wyoming was behind in the 40th spot. This week’s loss means Wyoming will probably need to win the conference tourney in order to go dancing. Utah sits on a precarious bubble should they not win the conference tourney. The Runnin’ Utes could make the NCAA tourney, but a loss prior to the conference final, or a couple of upsets among the other Mid-Majors will leave them looking at the NIT.

Jeckyl and Hyde
BYU knows the value of homecourt advantage. The Cougars are 13-0 at home this season, including 8-0 in the conference. In fact, the Cougars are 25-0 at home in conference play since joining the MWC. Their 33 game home win streak is tops in the country. Unfortunately, the Cougars are winless on the road in conference. You have to go all the way back to opening night against San Diego to find BYU’s last road victory. BYU’s home finale against Utah on the 23rd could prove disastrous to the Utes chances for a spot in the field of 64.

Working Overtime
This season has seen a record 6 overtime games in conference play for the Mountain West. In their league’s first season, there were only 2 games that couldn’t be decided after 40 minutes. Last season there were 4. BYU has been slacking off, as they are the only team to not play extra minutes this year. Wyoming hasn’t wanted to leave the floor. The Cowboys have played 3 overtime games, including 4 overtimes against Air Force Jan 28. A few more seasons at this rate, and the league may as well start playing NBA length games to save teams the trouble of playing the extra session.

Showdown at the Double A
Mark March 2nd on your calendar. Utah travels to Laramie for a battle with Wyoming in the season finale. The winner will probably take the number one seed into the conference tourney and one more quality win in their RPI totals for a possible at-large bid. Wyoming’s 11 game home win streak came to an end against San Diego State this week, but the Cowboys have to be the favorite in this one.

Sun Belt Notebook

Sun Belt Championship Preview

Hilltoppers, Hilltoppers, Hilltoppers. Western Kentucky has already locked up the number one seed in the SBC East Division. WKU is on a 15-game winning streak and has climbed back into the Top 25 after spending the first few weeks of the season in the polls before falling out during Chris Marcus’ absence. The Hilltoppers will face the winner of Florida International- North Texas. FIU could pose an interesting challenge for WKU as both games between these teams were close until the very end.

In the West Division, Louisiana-Lafayette has secured the top spot following wins against Denver and their 2-point win in the finale against New Mexico State. ULL will face off against the Denver-Arkansas State winner on Saturday March 2. NMSU falls to the second seed and will face either South Alabama or Middle Tennessee. A second round matchup between UALR and tournament host UNO fills out the bracket.

Who is the potential spoiler in this tournament? Look out for North Texas. Despite an up and down season and falling to the fourth seed in the West Division, the Eagles have wins against NMSU and ULL – the top teams in the West. Unfortunately for NTU, they would face Western Kentucky in the second round, a team that put up 100 points against them just two weeks ago. Look for Middle Tennessee to make some noise as they draw a virtual bye against South Alabama in the first round and a favorable draw against NMSU, a Jeckyl-and-Hyde team they beat earlier this season, in the second round. New Mexico State has to win that second round game to have any chance of making the NCAAs. A win over the Hilltoppers on Monday night, is probably also a necessity.

Players to watch: Obviously Chris Markus has returned to his early season form that made him an All-America candidate. He will lead the Hilltoppers in this tournament as well as the NCAAs. Derek Robinson will also need to step up. He became just the second player in WKU history to reach the 400 assist plateau last week and needs just 4 points and 17 boards to reach 1000 points – 400 assists – 400 rebounds for his career.

SBC Freshman of the Year candidate Michael Southall. Southall scored 11 second-half points to led ULL to an upset win over NMSU and the Sun Belt West Title. His 86 blocks are a school record at ULL. Senior Darryl Robins also had a big game Saturday with his second career double-double.

For New Mexico State, watch Junior Chris Jackson. Jackson amassed 11 points and 10 boards in each of the Aggies two games this week, despite only playing 20 minutes a game.

Will the Aggies get in? NMSU sits at 19-11 heading into tournament play. Four of their losses were by four points or less. Their RPI is a lowly 102 prior to their 2-1 week. A quality win over Western Kentucky (AP #20, USA Today/ESPN #23, RPI #38) would greatly help their chances, but it looks like an automatic bid will be their only ticket to the NCAAs.