Full Court Sprints

Big Questions Still Remain Unanswered

by Michael Protos

FULL COURT SPRINTS

BASELINE TO BASELINE

LAST SHOT
Go coast to coast with our roundup of the nation’s top stories.

  1. You know your job might be in trouble when your own fans are willing to pay money for an ad that encourages people to ask for your ouster. That’s life for Arkansas’ John Pelphrey, according to a post on the “Lost Lettermen” blog.
  2. SI.com’s Luke Winn outlines why you should seriously consider picking Belmont to win in the first – and maybe second – round of the NCAA Tournament after the Bruins dominated pretty much everyone en route to an Atlantic Sun championship Saturday.
  3. UCLA coach Ben Howland was so happy that the Bruins rallied to beat Washington State in overtime Saturday that he could kiss someone – literally. He gave Los Angeles Daily News reporter Jon Gold a peck, according to a post on the “Lost Lettermen” blog.
  4. Howland’s joy came at the expense of Washington State, which lost 58-54 without the services of leading-scorer Klay Thompson. According to ESPN.com’s Andy Katz, Thompson missed the game because he was suspended after police arrested him Thursday and charged him with marijuana possession.
  5. Loyola Marymount kicked Vernon Teel off the team before losing to Santa Clara 76-68 in the West Coast Conference tournament. Teel averaged nearly 13 points and six rebounds per game. Coach Max Good emphasized that the dismissal was because of ongoing internal problems and was not related to anything going on specifically at the tournament, which is in Las Vegas.
  6. ESPN’s Sport Science takes a look at whether audio or visual distractions, like all those gigantic cutout heads, make any difference in breaking a free throw shooter’s concentration.
 We’ve got four teams in the NCAA Tournament after the first weekend of March. Belmont, Indiana State, Morehead State and UNC-Asheville captured their conference championships and an automatic invitation to the Big Dance. Of those, Belmont is the only top seed.

    3/4

  • Cleveland State 73, Wright State 59
  • Tennessee Tech 64, Murray State 59

    • 3/5

  • UNC-Asheville 60, Coastal Carolina 47
  • Belmont 87, North Florida 46
  • Morehead State 80, Tennessee Tech 73
  • Harvard 79, Princeton 67
  • North Carolina 81, Duke 67
  • Notre Dame 70, Connecticut 67
  • West Virginia 70, Louisville 67
  • Kansas 70, Missouri 66
  • Pittsburgh 60, Villanova 50
  • Florida 86, Vanderbilt 76
  • Cincinnati 69, Georgetown 47
  • Seton Hall 85, Marquette 72
  • Clemson 69, Virginia Tech 60
  • Colorado 67, Nebraska 57
  • UCLA 58, Washington State 54 OT
  • USC 62, Washington 60
  • Michigan 70, Michigan State 63
  • Richmond 68, Duquesne 56
  • Alabama 65, Georgia 57
  • VCU 62, Drexel 60
  • Indiana State 61, Wichita State 54
  • Wisconsin-Milwaukee 70, Valparaiso 63

    • 3/6

  • Ohio State 93, Wisconsin 65
  • Indiana State 60, Missouri State 56
  • VCU 79, George Mason 63
  • Old Dominion 77, Hofstra 69
  • Saint Peter’s 62, Fairfield 48
  • Kentucky 64, Tennessee 58
  • Penn State 66, Minnesota 63

STUDY SESSION

OPENING TIP
Michael Protos unveils the latest Bracket Breakdown Projected Field, with North Carolina on the rise and Missouri on the decline. He also gives readers a chance to pick their own fourth No. 1 seed by looking at some blind résumés.

Michael also takes a look at Wisconsin – before the beatdown at Ohio State – and finds that the Badgers bear a striking resemblance to 2005 Wake Forest. And that might not be a good thing.

Ray Floriani analyzes the player efficiency of the Rutgers and Seton Hall women’s teams using the Manley formula. It’s one of several methods for taking a look at performance beyond the box score.

In Richmond, Phil Kasiecki provides some recaps of the intense CAA action. As VCU prepares to face Old Dominion in the conference title game, Jamie Skeen will look to wrap up his redemption story, Phil writes, after Skeen started his collegiate career at Wake Forest before transferring to the Rams. Game-day tweets and retweets from Phil Kasiecki’s season-long tour:

Phil tweeted a couple hundred notes from the 10 CAA games this weekend, and he’ll wrap up with the conference championship game Monday night.

UNC-Wilmington vs. Georgia State:

Game time in Richmond, CAA Tournament is underway.

You always see this at this time of year: Milson gets it blocked, regains it, throws it up from deep as shot clock runs down and makes it.

Northeastern vs. Delaware:

NU is the tougher team thus far, winning the battle of the boards including a stickback a couple of possessions ago.

NU gets the stop they needed, but a Delaware foul will put Vinny Lima on the line for two with 18.1 left and Delaware up 59.56.

Final score: No. 7 Delaware 60, No. 10 Northeastern 58. Delaware will take on No. 2 Old Dominion tomorrow night in the quarterfinals.

James Madison vs. William & Mary:

James Madison and William & Mary are set to tip it off. Don’t look at the seeds; this could go either way.

CAA Associate Commish Ron Bertovich pointed out a great stat: average halftime margin of the four games today is one point (incl. 2 ties).

James Madison has the momentum and the ball, although momentum hasn’t meant much in this one. 67-66 W&M, 1:30 left.

Final score: No. 11 William & Mary 72, No. 6 James Madison 68. William & Mary will play No. 3 Hofstra tomorrow night.

Drexel vs. VCU

There’s been basically no flow to this game, with 21 fouls called in over 16 minutes of play.

At the last media timeout, VCU leads 53-50 with 3:48 left. Foul trouble has mounted for Drexel, but they’re staying right there.

Missed free throws are giving Drexel a chance, and Fouch’s trey brings them within 58-57 with 28.8 seconds left.

Fouch swishes a deep three off the catch to tie at 60, timeout VCU after they get it across mid-court with 13.2 seconds left.

Jamie Skeen wins it on a post basket at the buzzer. Final score: No. 4 VCU 62, No. 5 Drexel 60. VCU will play No. 1 George Mason tomorrow.

Hofstra vs William & Mary

You get the sense that Charles Jenkins is ready to take over this game. Hofstra is now up 41-34, Jenkins with 11 for the game.

Hofstra is in control, as they have the lead up to 60-41 with 6:21 left.

VCU vs. George Mason

VCU is looking like the team many thought they would be before the season and early on, leading 32-23 with under 6 to go in the half.

VCU needs to win to get in, they aren’t getting an at-large even if they get to the final and lose. Mason should be in regardless.

A dagger stickback for VCU makes it 70-56 with 3:07 left. That might seal this one.

Hofstra vs. Old Dominion

Old Dominion is now up 49-39, and Hofstra is getting very little against ODU’s zone.

It’s not looking good for Hofstra, down 70-61 with 2:19 left. They haven’t been able to get within one possession all half.

Cassara takes Jenkins out, with the students chanting his name. ODU has it in the bag in the last minute.

Michael Protos shares his thoughts and observations from around the hoops nation.

Scary-good #Badgers offense must overcome defensive weaknesses. Or else Wisconsin’s #NCAAtournament could be #upsetting

24-9 for tigers now. Looks like a home win against Virginia Tech won’t count much as a quality win

Is there any doubt #MissouriValley tourney will get crazy? 42% of all #MVC games decided by 2 possessions (6 points or fewer). #ArchMadness

With his eye swollen shut after a shot to the face, #JeraiGrant just made 1-of-2 free throws for Clemson at the end of win against Hokies

Woulda loved to see the #ClevelandState Norris Coles in #NCAAtournament, but it doesn’t look to be in the cards. Butler up 66-58, 4 to go

Loser of #PennState at #Minnesota is pretty much toast as a #BubbleTeam. And winner still isn’t in the field.

 Here’s a rundown of the conference tournament action ahead this week.

    3/7

  • CAA championship: VCU vs. Old Dominion
  • Metro Atlantic championship: Iona vs. Saint Peter’s
  • Southern championship
  • Summit semifinals
  • Sun Belt semifinals
  • West Coast championship

    • 3/8

  • Atlantic 10 opening round
  • Big East first round
  • Big Sky semifinals
  • Horizon championship: Butler at Wisconsin-Milwaukee
  • MEAC opening round
  • Mid-American opening round
  • Summit championship
  • Sun Belt championship

    • 3/9

  • Big 12 opening round
  • Big East second round
  • Big Sky championship
  • Conference USA opening round
  • MEAC opening round
  • Mountain West opening round
  • Northeast championship: Robert Morris at Long Island
  • Pac-10 opening round
  • Southland quarterfinals
  • SWAC opening round
  • WAC opening round

    • 3/10

  • ACC opening round
  • Big 12 quarterfinals
  • Big East quarterfinals
  • Big Ten opening round
  • Big West quarterfinals
  • Conference USA quarterfinals
  • MEAC quarterfinals
  • Mid-American quarterfinals
  • Mountain West quarterfinals
  • Pac-10 quarterfinals
  • SEC opening round
  • Southland semifinals
  • SWAC quarterfinals
  • WAC quarterfinals

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
It’s Championship Week(s), the prelude to official March Madness in the NCAA Tournament. As we enter the final days before Selection Sunday, here are several questions for which we’re anxiously awaiting some answers.

  • Will VCU claim what likely will be the CAA’s third bid by beating Old Dominion, thus squeezing out a bubble team?
  • Who will win win the Gonzaga/Saint Mary’s rubber match, and will the loser miss the NCAA Tournament?
  • What will be the worst-seeded team to pull off a March miracle and make a run to its conference’s championship and the NCAA Tournament?
  • How many of the top seeds will take care of business in their conference tournaments to parlay a regular-season title into an NCAA Tournament bid.
  • Which bubble teams will fall apart in early round conference tournament games? I’m looking at you Virginia Tech, Boston College, Colorado, Michigan State and Washington.
  • Which bubble teams will make a surprising run to secure an NCAA Tournament bid? Maybe Penn State, Michigan, Colorado State or Nebraska?

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