The Morning Dish – Thursday, March 17th
Bryant Returns to Help St. Joe’s Win: Nearly a month after breaking his arm in the goon incident against Temple, senior forward John Bryant returned to St. Joseph’s lineup. The Hawks beat Hofstra 53-44 in the first round of the NIT, overcoming a dismal 36.6 percent shooting game from the field. Bryant played 23 minutes and scored no points but grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists. Senior guard Pat Carroll led the Hawks with 16 points as St. Joe’s outscored the Pride by 10 in the second half.
Bryant’s return ends an ugly month of analysis and speculation about Temple coach John Chaney, who ordered Nehemiah Ingram to rough up the Hawks because Chaney believed they were setting illegal screens. A combination of school- and self-imposed suspensions kept Chaney out of the end of the regular season and the Atlantic 10 conference tournament. Chaney returned to the sidelines in Temple’s loss to Virginia Tech two nights ago.
NIT Redux: The NIT completed its opening round of play with 14 games, including the St. Joseph’s win against Hofstra. TCU advanced to play Western Michigan in the NIT’s Sweet 16 after beating Miami, Ohio, 60-58. Maryland also advanced to the Sweet 16, in which the Terrapins will meet the winner of Davidson and Southwest Missouri State. Davidson won 77-62 at VCU last night, and Southwest Missouri State blasted Rice 105-82. Georgetown moves on to the NIT’s Sweet 16 to play the winner of San Francisco and Cal State – Fullerton. The Hoyas embarrassed Boston University, 64-34, while San Francisco beat Denver 69-67, and Cal State – Fullerton beat Oregon State 85-83.
On the other side of the NIT bracket, Memphis slaughtered Northeastern 90-65, as Northeastern played without its leading scorer, Jose Juan Barea. Barea was suspended for one game for roughing up Vermont players in the America East championship game. The Tigers advance to play Virginia Tech in the Sweet 16. Vanderbilt went on the road to beat Indiana 67-60, setting up a Sweet 16 match up with the winner of Western Kentucky and Wichita State. Wichita State dispatched Houston 85-69, and Western Kentucky slipped past Kent State 88-80 in overtime. Buffalo also needed overtime, beating Drexel 81-76 to advance to play St. Joseph’s. The winner of that game will play Holy Cross in the Sweet 16. In the last game, Texas A&M rallied to beat Clemson 82-74 and move on to play DePaul.
Keep It on the Down Low: ACC officials chastised Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt for publicly criticizing officials following Georgia Tech’s loss to Duke in the ACC championship game. Hewitt openly bashed officials during his radio show because he felt they made a bad call late in the game, allowing Duke’s J.J. Redick to extend a one-point lead to three. The replay showed that Hewitt probably had a reason to complain, but conference rules don’t allow coaches or players to criticize the officials in public. Hewitt issued a statement apologizing for personal comments, agreeing that he should have gone through the conference’s forums for filing complaints.
Stoked for a Second Chance: East Carolina officials hired Ricky Stokes as the Pirates’ next coach after they fired Bill Herrion about a month ago. Stokes was an assistant coach at South Carolina under Dave Odom. He had coached Virginia Tech to a 45-70 record in four seasons, failing to reach the NCAA or NIT tournaments in any year. The Pirates hope that Stokes’ second coaching run will be more successful in the new, less powerful Conference USA. Stokes joins a growing list of coaches with new jobs. Find out who else is part of this year’s Coaching Changes .
Cuts May Limit Watson: Boston College may start its run through the NCAA Tournament without senior guard and top reserve Jermaine Watson. Watson was injured when several attackers broke into his home Saturday, forcing Watson and a friend to flee through a second-story window. During the incident, Watson was cut several times on the left hand, and he has several bandages to cover the injuries. The bandages limited Watson’s ability to pass, dribble and make layups with his left hand but did not alter his ability to shoot with his right hand. The No. 4 Eagles play No. 13 Pennsylvania in the first round.
More from the Infirmary: Boston College is not the only team that may open the NCAA Tournament slightly short-handed. Kansas senior guard Keith Langford is battling the flu and may not be at full strength for the No. 3 Jayhawks’ opener against No. 14 Bucknell Friday. Langford averages 14.6 points per game and is team’s most reliable long-range threat.
Hartzell a No-Go: Northern Iowa athletic director and part-time referee Rick Hartzell will not officiate any NCAA Tournaments. Hartzell’s Panthers are in the Tournament, and he could be wishing to avoid a potential conflict of interest. ESPN commentators questioned the ability of Hartzell to remain objective when he refereed an Indiana / Wisconsin game late in the season. By volunteering to sit out the NCAA Tournament, Hartzell pre-empts any appearance of impropriety.
Graduation Rates Need Improvement: According to a study by Central Florida researchers, barely one-third of the schools in the NCAA Tournament graduate more than 50 percent of their player. LSU and Minnesota failed to graduate a single player during the study’s range. The best schools for graduating players were Utah State and Bucknell, which graduated 100 percent.
Tonight’s Menu
• The madness begins with a full slate of 16 NCAA Tournament games. Top seeds Illinois and Washington begin their quest for a Final Four appearance against Fairleigh Dickinson and Montana, respectively. Illinois would play the winner of No. 8 Texas vs. No. 9 Nevada, and the Huskies would get the winner of No. 8 Pacific vs. No. 9 Pittsburgh.
• Joining Washington, Montana, et al. in Boise, No. 3 Arizona will play No. 14 Utah State, and No. 6 LSU will play No. 11 Alabama – Birmingham.
• In Indianapolis, No. 2 Kentucky will share a building with the Illini as the Wildcats play No. 15 Eastern Kentucky. As will No. 7 Cincinnati when the Bearcats play No. 10 Iowa.
• The Cleveland pod includes No. 4 Boston College vs. No. 13 Pennsylvania, No. 5 Alabama vs. No. 12 Wisconsin – Milwaukee, No. 2 Wake Forest vs. No. 15 Chattanooga and No. 7 West Virginia vs. No. 10 Creighton.
• The Tucson pod features a set of No. 3 vs. 14 seeds and No. 6 vs. 11 seeds. From the Albuquerque region, No. 3 Gonzaga plays No. 14 Winthrop, and No. 6 Texas Tech plays No. 11 UCLA. From the Austin region, No. 3 Oklahoma plays No. 14 Niagara, and No. 6 Utah players No. 11 UTEP.
