NEW YORK – “Déjà vu all over again,” to quote a wise sage. The NIT semifinal doubleheader was similar to the semis of the recently completed Newark Regional in the NCAA. Washington State versus Wichita state was a one-sided rout devoid of ties or lead changes. Following that, Alabama and Colorado saw five ties, nine lead changes and an SEC team emerge victorious in a game not settled until the final shot.
A tempo-free look follows.
How big a deal is VCU reaching the Final Four? It varies, but in each case, it’s very big.
The obvious is that it’s the first time it’s happened in school history. In fact, the Rams had never even been to the Sweet 16 prior to this season. And for fans, well, all you need to know is that not long after the game was over, there was basically nowhere to walk on Broad Street in downtown Richmond. Joey Rodriguez said that by the time the press conference began after Sunday’s game, he already saw a picture illustrating this.
NEWARK, N.J. – Kentucky is Final Four bound. The Newark Regional started off slow but gave us two outstanding contests to cap off a wild weekend. A tempo free look at the games, beginning with the final.
Kentucky 76, North Carolina 69
Possessions:
Kentucky 69
North Carolina 71
DORCHESTER, Mass. – Our first look at travel team competition came at UMass-Boston at the Boston Spartans Tournament 300 Shootout. A trip there on Saturday allowed for a look largely at younger high school talent, and our attention was naturally focused on the high school age groups.
Here are some quick hitters on what we saw at the Clark Athletic Center.
Will Cinderella’s slipper fit on VCU? At this point, the better question might be: Why wouldn’t it?
Led by coach Shaka Smart and point guard Joey Rodriguez, the Rams have burned through USC, Georgetown, Purdue and Florida State to move within one game of going from the First Four to the Final Four. If they make it happen, the run will look awfully familiar.
Five years ago, George Mason captured the country’s attention by receiving a controversial at-large bid as a No. 11 seed, then tore through Michigan State, North Carolina and Wichita State to set up a meeting with tournament-favorite Connecticut. The Colonials shocked the world with an overtime upset of the Huskies. … Continue Reading
Let’s dive right into today’s Elite Eight match ups between Florida and Butler, followed by Connecticut and Arizona.
In each of the past two NCAA Tournaments that Florida played Butler, the Gators reached the national title game, winning it in 2007 and losing to Michigan State in 2000. These two teams are different from their recent counterparts, and the winner will be one step away from the championship game. … Continue Reading
Let’s take a look at each Sweet 16 game on the schedule and ask a couple of questions for which the answers could easily decide the outcome of the game. Much of the analysis for these teams comes from the wealth of statistics available at Ken Pomeroy’s website.
San Diego State might be playing within two hours of home and have the better seed, but Connecticut is playing better than any team that’s not a No. 1 seed in this tournament. Led by Kemba Walker, Connecticut has been on fire since losing back-to-back games to close the regular season. Will Walker’s quickness and ability to create his own shot carry the Huskies past one of the best defensive teams in the country? … Continue Reading
I have written extensively about the old arenas, the history and when watching a game the sense of being taken back to a different era. But how about the new venues?
Let’s take a look at the best newer arenas for fans to watch a college basketball. The new arenas have seating bowls with wide seats, cup holders, huge video score boards, stat boards, wide concourses, all kinds of good food and of course, passionate fans.
This is my top 10 college basketball arenas built in the last 15 years. The two main criteria are the facility and the atmosphere. Louisville, Auburn and Oregon opened new arenas this season. I am not including them in this ranking because they are too new to get an accurate reading of the atmosphere. I will evaluate those venues next year after the newness factor wears off a little. … Continue Reading
NEWTON, Mass. – Mt. Ida College was home on Sunday to the third annual Fitzy’s New England All-Star Challenge. The event is three all-star games with players from around New England, along with a three-point shootout and a slam dunk contest. It started with a group of Connecticut players taking on the most powerful travel team in the region, then had a game with public school players and concluded with a game played between two teams of prep school players.
In between the second and third games of the day, Andre King of Suffield Academy, who recently committed to St. Anselm, won the three-point shootout. The slam dunk contest came down to DeShawn Murphy (Choate Rosemary Hall) and Drew Crudup (Hillhouse HS), with Murphy coming out on top. … Continue Reading
Surprise! After the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, the two conferences performing the best are the ACC and CAA.
I don’t think many people saw that coming. But those two conferences account for a quarter of the Sweet 16 teams and have more teams advancing to the second weekend than the Big East and Big 12 combined. That’s even more impressive when you consider the latter two conferences fielded 16 teams to the seven from the ACC and CAA. In addition, 12 of the Big East/Big 12 teams had seeds of No. 6 or better, while only two of seven ACC/CAA teams could say that. … Continue Reading
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Everyone wants to be in the NCAA Tournament, and understandably so. You want to compete for a national championship, and with the nation watching closely as they always do in March. But when your program has a chance to make history and it comes in the NIT, that’s not a bad thing, and Northwestern is doing just that right now. They continued to do that with Saturday’s 85-67 win at Boston College.
With the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament in the books, we’re moving into the third round. By the end of Sunday, we’ll know which teams will form this year’s Sweet 16, and there promises to be a few surprises. Let’s take a look at 16 questions for the third round of action. … Continue Reading
SOUTH KINGSTON, R.I – On the surface, you wouldn’t think much would happen. There wasn’t much energy in the arena, especially at the outset, and the game was one of a few in a tournament dwarfed in prestige by the NCAA Tournament, which had two of its First Four games being played on the evening. But Delroy James made it memorable for those who came out, recording the first triple-double in program history to lead the Rams to a convincing 76-59 win over Miami (Ohio).
Did he know about it?
Let’s take a quick run through every first-round match up to highlight the top question in each game.
(5) West Virginia 84 (12) Clemson 76
How will the Mountaineers handle Clemson’s pressure defense, which forces turnovers on 23.2 percent of defensive possessions?
ANSWER: After an ugly start, West Virginia recovered to beat Clemson 84-76 in the first game of the day. The Mountaineers succeeded in limiting turnovers to about 16 percent of their possessions, better than their season average 19.0 percent and even more impressive against the Tigers. … Continue Reading
LYNDHURST, NJ – For years the video games have provided a pleasant diversion. Yes, I religiously purchase Madden every August. The basketball simulations as NBA Live and NBA 2K as well as the college games (I always seem to do great with Xavier) are also favorites. Unfortunately no one released a college video game this season but that’s another story.
For a convenient, easy to play and enjoyable game, GoHoops is highly recommended. In addition, it’s ideal for travel. … Continue Reading
LYNDHURST, NJ – Have netbook will travel. Seriously, a time to assess the Big East Championship game. UCONN made it five wins in five days and one satisfying Big East championship at Madison Square Garden. The Huskies prevailed 69-66 in a game that literally came down to the final shot.
Possessions: UCONN 65 Louisville 65
Offensive Efficiency: UCONN 106 Louisville 102 … Continue Reading
Most Division I basketball players never get a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament. It’s what most players dream of when they choose a school at this level. Among those who don’t make it are some of the best players in the country; three of the nation’s top five scorers this season won’t be playing in it, and only one of the top five rebounders will be in it.
John Holland is one player who will be in the NCAA Tournament that college basketball fans can be happy about getting the experience.
Editor’s Note: Kenny Smith, an analyst for TNT and CBS and a former North Carolina point guard, is partnering with Coke Zero to help promote a new, interactive site called the Coke Zero Social Arena, where college hoops fans can follow all the March Madness action this year. Smith chatted with Hoopville’s Michael Protos for a few minutes to talk about his outlook for the NCAA Tournament, critics of TNT’s analysts, and a few details about the Coke Zero campaign. TNT’s NBA coverage team, including Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Smith, will be covering their first tournament since the NCAA signed a new TV deal with the combined forces of CBS and TNT. … Continue Reading
We’ve got just about 90 minutes until the selection committee releases the field for this year’s NCAA Tournament. After the action of yesterday and today, we’ve got a decent amount of movement in seeding. Here’s what’s been going on. … Continue Reading
BOSTON – You could tease Boston University players and coaches that they had this one all the way, and in a sense, they really believed they did. There was never a doubt in their minds that they would come out on top in Saturday’s America East championship game, even if their 56-54 win seemed in doubt for most of the game.
“Even though they were up 15, we knew we were going to try to get stops, we knew eventually we were going to make some shots, and we got ourselves to the foul line,” said head coach Pat Chambers. “To only take the lead with two seconds to go is not how I drew it up, but we’ll take it.”
Although it wasn’t quite as bad as last season, this was hardly one for the books for Wake Forest. After an 82-60 blowout loss against Maryland on Thursday, the Demon Deacons finished 13-18 overall. That doesn’t seem so bad, and a few teams had worse records, but look deeper and you see a team that, quite simply, was not good.
Ron Hunter is a terrific addition to the Colonial Athletic Association coaching ranks. That could have been said before the season given his track record and the impression he made on Media Day in October, but after the CAA Tournament it bears repeating because it was so obvious.
In theory, the next six days should be quite stressful for Drexel and head coach Bruiser Flint. As the regular season champions of the CAA, they are guaranteed a bid to the NIT, but naturally hope the NCAA Tournament comes calling. Flint doesn’t seem stressed at all about it, however, and his experience is a key factor in that.
Northeastern fought turnovers often this season, and had relatively mixed results with some streaks along the way. The Huskies should be better next season, but there is clear room for improvement and that was evident on Saturday night in the season-ending loss.
With UNCW’s season over, there’s a look toward a brighter future that was helped by this weekend in Richmond. The young Seahawks had some bright spots during the season in trying to rebuild, and capped it off with something else they can take with them.
James Madison came into the season as an interesting team to project. There was not a lack of talent, and it wasn’t a young team, but there were intangibles questions. In the end, injuries were the biggest problem, but the Dukes kept fighting right to the end no matter how demoralizing the injuries were.
Notes on the first round of the CAA Tournament, where the seeds held to form, the first 20-20 game in tournament history occurred and a team that went bowling to help get ready for the opening game of the day came out on top.
We check in with some quick hitters on a couple of America East teams, a contrast of freshmen from an earlier game, Georgia Tech’s defense against Boston College and the Missouri Valley.
The last decisive play in Harvard’s 55-54 loss to Penn on Saturday night will stay in many people’s minds. For the Crimson player who was involved in it, one hopes the college basketball gods have a better ending in store later on.
The stage is set. Saturday night at Lavietes Pavilion will be a potentially epic battle with first place on the line after Friday night’s results. Old rivals Yale and Harvard will battle for the top, with Harvard hoping for a repeat of the result the last time these two teams met.
Last Thursday, Idaho State finally made it’s choice, hiring Montana assistant Bill Evans as it’s head coach. So far, reaction has been mixed by at least one of the couple of forum posts dedicated to the decision as well as the local scribe’s feelings. Here’s the traditional “welcome to town” …
This is what the head honchos wrote on Monday: Big Sky (March 3) Top seed: Montana. The Big Sky regular-season championship came down to the final game, in which the Grizzlies avenged their only loss in Big Sky play by beating Weber State in Missoula. Tournament stakes: Although Weber State …
We take a look at the award winners, from the two-time conference Player of the Year to the Newcomer of the Year, as well as a couple of early tournament games.
Why did the Cleveland State Vikings recently have a five game losing streak? It’s simple–whenever a team loses their most valuable player, they’re going to suffer. The Cleveland State Vikings have had their fair share of above-average talent on the roster over the past few years. Cedric Jackson played briefly …
The Cleveland State Vikings and Detroit Titans squared off on Thursday evening at the Wolstein Center in a matchup with major ramifications for seeding in the Horizon League Tournament. Both the Vikings and the Titans headed into Thursday’s matchup riding drastically different five-game streaks. Picked by many preseason analysts to …
The last week of conference play has arrived in the Horizon League. Over the past few years, the battle for the top seeds in the Horizon League has not been decided until the final game of conference play. This year is no exception, with multiple teams having a legitimate chance …
The Cleveland State Vikings and Drexel Dragons squared off on Saturday morning at the Wolstein Center as part of ESPN’s BracketBusters series. Saturday’s contest marks the second straight year in which the Vikings have participated in the BracketBusters series. Last season, the Vikings dropped a hard-fought contest to Old Dominion …
Although the rivalry between the Cleveland State Vikings and Butler Bulldogs may not be as nationally known as the rivalry between Duke and North Carolina, the intensity that is in the air whenever these two Horizon League rivals square off is just as strong. In fact, the animosity between these …
The Cleveland State Vikings and Valparaiso Crusaders squared off on Thursday night at the Wolstein Center in one of the most important games of the season for both teams. While the Vikings’ season-opening victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores may have been extremely important with regards to quality wins that are …
JUST IN TIME FOR TONIGHT’S GAMES… All the news you ever wanted to know about the Big Sky, the weekly edition. YOUR WEEKLY DAMIAN LILLARD IS A STUD LINK-FEST: A Salt Lake Tribune story on his success. USA Today also jumped in sometime in the last week to talk about …
In a game with major implications for the regular season Horizon League championship and seeding for the Horizon League Tournament, the Cleveland State Vikings dominated the Milwaukee Panthers by a score of 83-57 in a game in which the Panthers never led. The Vikings and Panthers began the day in …
One team stands alone atop the standings for now, with another a little behind them and a logjam near the middle of the pack.
The Cleveland State Vikings started 2012 off on a winning note with a 69-48 victory at home on Saturday afternoon over the visiting Loyola Ramblers. In his pregame radio comments, Vikings coach Gary Waters stated that the Ramblers’ 5-10 record heading into Saturday’s matchup was deceiving and that the Ramblers were …
Opening weekend in the Big Sky Eastern Washington Record: 7-7, 1-1 Weekend: 1-1 Major superlatives: Won by 16, lost by 8; 76.5 ppg for, 72.5 against; plus-4 scoring margin; 52-112 FG; 20-53 3pt; 29-43 FT. Summary: One night, the lead stuck. The other, it didn’t. The Eagles made an early …
The Big Sky is about to dive in to conference play, and so far, the season has unfolded pretty much as expected, with Sacramento State looking like the one surprise.
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