March 2014 College Basketball Thread

[bandito0]

Villanova started the half cold but finished strong.  That should be an entertaining second half.

 
Entertaining as Villanova let X hang around until the bitter end (seriously, the last 2:00 took about 20 minutes real time), but the Wildcats came through with a 77-70 win to clinch their first regular season Big East title since the 1981-1982 season.
 
They close the regular season at home against Georgetown, and then it's off to MSG for the Big East tourney.  As a 'Nova fan, I want one more crack at Creighton.  I doubt they grab a 1 seed for March Madness with a BE tourney win, but man it would be nice to knock the Jays off for the title at the Garden.

 

[canderson]

SFA beat Oral Roberts to move to 28-2. Last regular season game against Central Arkansas Saturday, then the Southland Tournament in Katy.

 

[RedOctober3829]

SFA beat Oral Roberts to move to 28-2. Last regular season game against Central Arkansas Saturday, then the Southland Tournament in Katy.

This year's FGCU?

 

[canderson]

This year's FGCU?

Ill be somewhat shocked. If they don't choke in the conference tourney, but I don't see them as a 13 beating many 4s. They struggle against man defenses and that'll likely doom them.

 

[mabrowndog]

Not much airing tonight, but both Ohio Valley semifinals are on ESPNU. 
 
Right now it's #1 Belmont up 17-14 on #4 Morehead State with 8:45 left in the 1st half. At 10 pm, it's #2 Murray State vs #3 Eastern Kentucky.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Florida is straight killing Kentucky 39-20 at the half.  Kentucky is simply not a very good team and will not win a game in the NCAA Tournament.

 

[mabrowndog]

Florida is straight killing Kentucky 39-20 at the half.  Kentucky is simply not a very good team and will not win a game in the NCAA Tournament.

 
The Gators are literally wiping the darkest recesses of their ass cracks with UK right now.
 
The thing is the Wildcats are insanely young. Their only 2 seniors (Polson & Hood) are inconsequential, and their 3 juniors (Malone, Lanter & Long) are all inactive and wouldn't be in-game contributors regardless. That leaves 2 sophs and 9 freshmen including redshirts.

 

[mabrowndog]

Looks like the Jayhawks have got themselves a trap game, down 55-38 to WVU with the 2nd half just underway in Morgantown. A frustrated and disgusted Bill Self just called a time-out after an unguarded three from the left wing. It's on ESPN.
 
EDIT - Up to 20 now. 17:47 left.
 
EDIT - Make it 22. Kansas is now out of time-outs with 17:15 left. 

 

[mabrowndog]

Cinci might be finding itself in trouble, as Rutgers has cut a 10-pt 2nd-half deficit to 54-53 with under 10:00 to play in Jersey. It's on ESPN News.
 
EDIT - And the Knights take the lead, 55-54. It's a 15-4 run. Of course, they also started the game on a 13-5 run, only to be outscored 30-15 by the Bearcats the rest of the 1st half.
 
EDIT - Big three by Kilpatrick to stop the bleeding.

 

[mabrowndog]

Memphis pulling away from SMU on a 15-2 run with just under 10:00, up 53-41 after trailing by 4 at the half. It's on ESPN2.
 
EDIT - Now a 20-5 run and the Tigers are up 14 with 8:32 to play. 

 

[Greg29fan]

big 3 by Wilbekin to stop the bleeding in Gainesville.  UK had chopped the lead down to 6

 

[mabrowndog]

big 3 by Wilbekin to stop the bleeding in Gainesville.  UK had chopped the lead down to 6

 
Thanks, and holy shit that happened fast. The things we miss when channel surfing on a Saturday in March.

 

[mabrowndog]

Rutgers & Cinci going back & forth, Knights up 1 with just under 3:00. A huge block down low by Kadeem Jack for RU, but they get called for a foul after giving up the rebound. 

 

[mabrowndog]

Cinci prevails 70-66, closing on a 7-2 run. Sean Kilpatrick is the effing man, as he scores their final 5 points and finishes with 24.

 

[mabrowndog]

St. John's just went up 70-66 on Marquette with 42 secs left in Milwaukee. A must-win for both teams.
 
EDIT - Holy shit. SJU led 72-66 with :11 to play, but Marquette ends up forcing OT on a driving layup at the buzzer. All spawned by a missed front end of a 1-and-1, and a bad turnover following a pair of Warrior free throws. It's on FS1. Georgetown-Nova will follow this one.

 

[Dgilpin]

Kansas gets within 5 with about a minute late , Wiggins really putting on a clinic

 

[shawnrbu]

Mayo with a buzzer beater to send Marquette into overtime against the Red Storm. 

 

[mabrowndog]

Kansas gets within 5 with about a minute late , Wiggins really putting on a clinic

 
Yup. A three-possession game now, with WVU heading to the line.

 

[mabrowndog]

Refs swallowing their whistles in Milwaukee, as Jordan gets hacked twice down low before finally heading to the line. He hits one to tie it 81-81, but Marquette has a chance to win it with 8.3 secs left in OT. Time-out Warriors.
 
EDIT - Marquette flubs their possession, but SJU appears to travel following the turnover. No whistle, and it would have been MU ball with about 1.5 left. Buzz is irate on the sideline. On to a 2nd OT.
 
Meanwhile, Nova got out to a 9-2 lead, but it's down to an 18-15 margin over Gtown.

 

[Dgilpin]

West Virginia with a big win over Kansas , at 17-14 they would probably have to get to the championship game of the Big 12 tournament to have a shot at the tournament

 

[mabrowndog]

Marquette goes up 3, only to have Harrison bury a step-up three from a mile away to tie it. MU then screwed up their possession with a couple too many passes, and in the ensuing scrum Mayo gets called for his 5th foul. 
 
The Red Storm hit one of their FTs and it's a 1-pt edge with 15 secs left. MU ball.
 
EDIT - And Buzz uses his final timeout.
 
EDIT - They get a wide-open look on a 15-foot jumper by Wilson from the left baseline, but it clangs off the rim. Ball game. St. John's wins, getting to 20-11 & 10-8 Big East. Marquette is NIT-bound unless they win the auto-bid.

 

[mabrowndog]

Louisville & Nova having easy first halves so far. Cards up 11 on UConn with 2:00 left. Nova leading by 11 with 3:23 left.

 

[tims4wins]

Simply awful call there in OSU-ISU

 

[WayBackVazquez]

West Virginia with a big win over Kansas , at 17-14 they would probably have to get to the championship game of the Big 12 tournament to have a shot at the tournament

I don't think a team has ever gotten an at-large bid with 15 losses.

 

[tims4wins]

Cyclone magic!

 

[shawnrbu]

That was like the Mario Chalmers shot.
 
Why all coaches do not foul up by 3 with under 5 seconds to go is completely asinine. 

 

[mabrowndog]

Awesome finish coming up in this one. 11.7 left, Cyclones up 3, OSU ball. 

 

[mabrowndog]

Absolute dead silence in Ames on that 2nd ISU free throw. One of the coolest things in sports.
 
Then they go apeshit for OSU's FT, and he clangs it.
 
Ball game.

 

[tims4wins]

I have a hard time seeing anyone beat Arizona. They are awesome.

 

[mabrowndog]

West Virginia with a big win over Kansas , at 17-14 they would probably have to get to the championship game of the Big 12 tournament to have a shot at the tournament

 

I don't think a team has ever gotten an at-large bid with 15 losses.

 
Plus their RPI is atrocious (88), and before we even get to all the other bubble teams they're clearly behind both Baylor (39) & OSU (42) in their own conference. They split a pair with the Bears, but the Cowboys swept them. Coming into today Sagarin has OSU 14, Baylor 30 and WV 53. Today was an impressive win, but the Mountaineers' only chance is to run the table for an autobid.

 

[mabrowndog]

Tennessee is pretty much eliminating Missouri from the NCAA field, destroying them on national television 37-19 at the half. The Tigers are just 7-for-22 from the floor, 1-of-8 on threes, and they're being out-rebounded 23-11.
 
2nd half just got underway in Knoxville. There's no way the SEC gets more than 4 teams in the brackets.
 
EDIT - It ends up a 72-45 beatdown. Enjoy the NIT, Missouri.

 

[tims4wins]

I have a hard time seeing anyone beat Arizona. They are awesome.

Good call dude

 

[mabrowndog]

Good call dude

 
:lol:

 

[mabrowndog]

Providence is really making it easy for the NCAA selection committee, down 32-12 at Creighton midway through the first half. 
 
A performance like this will almost certainly prompt the Cheez-It lab technician to emphatically check off the "NOT READY" box.
 
EDIT - While PC is shooting 6 of 18, the Blue Jays have hit 13 of 17 from the floor (76.5%). Holy shit. And they're out-rebounding PC 13-5.

 

[shawnrbu]

Doug McDermott has 35 tonight pushing his career total to 3,001.  Passed Oscar Robertson for 8th place on the All Time Scoring List.  Has a chance for 50 if he stays in the game the last 10 minutes. 

 

[mabrowndog]

He's still in there with 7:04 left, and has 41. The kid's a ton of fun to watch.

 

[mabrowndog]

Classy move there as Creighton dribbles down the shot clock and then passes the ball out of bounds to the coach just to stop the game with 1:17 left, allowing a quintet of reserves to check in, turnover be damned. 
 
A career-high 45 for McDermott, and he gets an enormous ovation.

 

[mabrowndog]

SFA beat Oral Roberts to move to 28-2. Last regular season game against Central Arkansas Saturday, then the Southland Tournament in Katy.

 
Well, they waxed the Bears 85-61 to clinch a perfect 18-0 conference mark, and improve to 29-2. A great story, and I just hope they can carry it all the way through for the autobid.
 
The tournament bracket will be set as soon as the McNeese-Houston Baptist game ends.

 

[mabrowndog]

#21 New Mexico at #10 San Diego State just tipped off on CBSSN. Should be a classic.

 

[canderson]

Well, they waxed the Bears 85-61 to clinch a perfect 18-0 conference mark, and improve to 29-2. A great story, and I just hope they can carry it all the way through for the autobid.
 
The tournament bracket will be set as soon as the McNeese-Houston Baptist game ends.

First time anyone's gone defeated in Southland play, too. It really is incredible with a first-year coach who inherited a team graduating its three best players.

 

[mabrowndog]

#21 New Mexico at #10 San Diego State just tipped off on CBSSN. Should be a classic.

 
Holy crap. The Lobos were leading by as many as 16, and SDSU has tied it up 42-42 on a 17-1 run with 5:33 left. It took just over 5 minutes for that margin to evaporate, and it came with Bairstow on the bench for UNM.
 
Incredible atmosphere.
 
Oh, and neither team has made a single three-point field goal yet.
 
EDIT - Make that a 19-1 run. The Aztecs lead.
 
EDIT - And Delaney nails the game's first trey. Lobos up 45-44, 4:04 left.
 
EDIT - Alex Kirk gets hammered down low, but misses both FTs with :59 left. Then Bairstow gets called for a phantom reach-in foul that I and the announcers are still trying to figure out. I have no idea what the officials saw there. A huge call. SDSU hits one shot, and they're up 2 with under :15 left.
 
EDIT- Kendall Wiliams with an ill-advised three for the Lobos. Xavier Thames grabs the long board and breaks out but gets fouled with 9 secs left. Two FTs coming.

 

[mabrowndog]

Just an insane win. Court storming ensues. SDSU wins the Mountain West outright, 51-48 (UNM added a worthless trey at the buzzer). 

 

[mabrowndog]

Dear Virginia,
 
If you lose to Maryland, your only shot at a #1 seed is to win the ACC Tournament. Yeah, it sucks, but them's the breaks.
 
Sincerely,
 
Everybody Else.

 

[mabrowndog]

Here we go. UVA ball, down 62-61, inbounding underneath their basket, 5.4 secs left...
 
...after yet another time-out.
 
EDIT - And they call an offensive foul on UVA's Harris for an illegal screen before the clock even starts. Great acting job by Wells to sell it, and a really shitty call in that situation.
 
EDIT - Terps hit a pair, up 3, 4.1 secs left, and MD fouls UVA at mid-court to prevent the trey.
 
EDIT - First FT good, UVA down 2 with 2.8 to play, time out with another FT coming.
 
EDIT - Intentional miss, rebound goes out off MD, UVA ball with 1.7 left. Wow. Alive.
 
EDIT - HOLY SHIT! An alley-oop jumper in the key off the inbound pass ties it up!! Superb play.

 

[Greg29fan]

can't believe they didn't review that out of bounds on the free throw, sure looked like UVA slapped it out

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

That was one of the best intentionally missed FTs I've ever seen.
 
edit: ...whether or not Maryland actually knocked it out.

 

[Soxy]

That inbounds play was a thing of beauty.

 

[mabrowndog]

can't believe they didn't review that out of bounds on the free throw, sure looked like UVA slapped it out

 
Perhaps, but Turgeon wasn't exactly pulling a Boeheim in objection.

 

[mabrowndog]

Cavs in yet another hole. Down 4, and they get stuffed on the lane drive.

 

[Greg29fan]

 
Perhaps, but Turgeon wasn't exactly pulling a Boeheim in objection.

 
I just saw Jamie Luckie is one of the officials, that explains it