The Morning Dish – Thursday, March 24th
NIT Puts Two in Final Four: The calm before the storm of the NCAA Tournament produced three NIT games last night. Maryland opened the night with a 78-63 win at home against Davidson to advance to the quarterfinals, setting up a date with TCU. Junior forward Nik Caner-Medley the Terrapins with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Maryland played without junior point guard, who is out for the tournament with a sprained ankle. Junior forward Brendan Winters led the Wildcats with 16 points.
Last season, St. Joseph’s came within a John Lucas clutch basket of going to the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four. This season, nobody could keep the Hawks out of the Final Four – of the NIT. St. Joseph’s advanced to play at Madison Square Garden by winning on the road at Texas A&M 58-51. Senior sharpshooter Pat Carroll led St. Joseph’s with 22 points, and guard Dwayne Lee hit a clutch three-pointer to help seal the win. Texas A&M was led by junior forward Antoine Wright’s 21 points.
St. Joseph’s will play Memphis in the NIT’s Final Four after the Tigers dispatched cross-state foe Vanderbilt 81-68. Overcoming a fast start by the Commodores, Memphis rallied to take a seven-point halftime lead and extend it throughout the second half. Junior forward Rodney Carney led the Tigers with 26 points, and freshman forward Shan Foster led Vanderbilt with 25.
Minuteman Coach Search Nearing Completion: Massachusetts officials are close to hiring a new coach, and the leading candidate is Eastern Kentucky coach Travis Ford, who led the Colonels to an NCAA Tournament appearance this season. The Minutemen fired coach Steve Lappas, who produced a pedestrian 50-65 in four seasons and failed to reach the post-season any year. Ford’s record is not much better at 61-80 in five seasons at Eastern Kentucky, but the Colonels were 22-9 last season. He has a solid pedigree as a former player at Kentucky while Rick Pitino was the Wildcats’ coach. Massachusetts officials will hold a press conference later today, presumably to announce Ford as the next coach. The Minutemen fill one of several positions opening in college basketball’s season for Coaching Changes .
Delayed Sportsmanship: Clearly disappointed and shocked, several members of the Kansas Jayhawks did not wait around to shake hands with Bucknell players after the No. 14-seed Bison knocked off No. 3-seed Kansas last week in the NCAA Tournament. Coach Bill Self called Bucknell coach Pat Flannery to apologize on behalf of his team. Flannery acknowledged the apology but said Self did not need to worry about his players’ actions because they were understandable. He said the Bison were celebrating as if they had won a championship, so Kansas players had good reason to not want to hang around to shake hands.
Haith Rewarded for Success: Nobody expected Miami to compete for a spot near the top of the ACC standings or vie for an NCAA Tournament bid in the team’s first year in the conference and first year under coach Frank Haith. But the Hurricanes achieved both, and Miami officials rewarded Haith with a five-year contract worth an undisclosed amount. Miami finished 16-13 and earned a spot in the NIT, in which the Hurricanes lost at South Carolina in the first round. Haith has already built a strong foundation and, with a young team, could do even more damage in the ACC next year.
Gray Will Stay: Oklahoma junior forward Taj Gray will pass on an opportunity to enter the NBA Draft to return for his senior season. Gray likely has the talent to be drafted this year, but he’s unsure how high he would be selected. The Big 12’s newcomer of the year said he has some elements of his game that he’d like to improve in addition to completing his studies to graduate. Gray transferred from Redlands Community College to play for coach Kelvin Sampson and Oklahoma. The No. 3-seed Sooners lost to No. 6-seed Utah in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Tonight’s Menu
• March Madness resumes tonight as the Sweet 16 features four games in the Chicago and Albuquerque regions. In the early games, top-seeded Washington plays Louisville in what may be the round’s premier match up. Fellow top seed Illinois will play No. 12 Wisconsin – Milwaukee, the official Cinderella team of the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
• In the later games of the evening, No. 2 Oklahoma State plays No. 3 Arizona in a pair of legitimate Final Four contenders. Meanwhile in Albuquerque, No. 6 Texas Tech takes on No. 7 West Virginia in a battle of unlikely Elite Eight candidates.
• Not to be forgotten, the NIT continues as South Carolina hosts Georgetown for the rights to join St. Joseph’s and Memphis in the Final Four.
