10 Mar15 - Spectacular Turn(er)

Volume XIV, No. 19 - 10 Mar 15

Spectacular Turn(er)

The thrill of the announcement of the NCAA tournament draw is so great, it's hard to remember back to the beginning of the week that got us here. On the hole, the bubble teams performed poorly with everything on the line. On top of that, we had three stolen bids as Anti-Spoilers failed to do their duty, and another couple of upset tournament winners that I would have taken, anyway (but who knows about the NCAA Selection Committee?)

7th-seed Houston features the nation's leading scorer, bAubrey Coleman(26ppg), but it was gKevin Lewis(28p) who led the way in the Conference USA final upset of [1]UTEP, 81-73, as tColeman was held to 13p9r6a on 4-for-20 shooting. No matter, they got it done and [Virginia Tech] stayed home.
     3rd-seed New Mexico State even finished tied for second place in the WAC standings, but their overall rating wouldn't have gotten them an at-large bid (in my book). They needed a game-winning drive from gJahmar Young(15p5a) to beat host [2a]Nevada, 80-@79, in the semis (overcoming tLuke Babbitt's career-high 33p8r); and then went on to defeat [1]Utah State in the final, 69-63 (ending USU's 17-game win streak). Hello NMSU; goodbye [Illinois].
     It's a close call, but I had 3rd-seed Washington on the outside looking in as well before the Huskies outplayed [1]California in the Pac-10 final, 79-75. As much piling on as everyone has done to the Pac-10 this season, both teams looked pretty good in the final and it wouldn't be a shock for either to win a round in the NCAAs. Enter UW; exit [Mississippi State].
     Taking the worry out of their Sunday was 4th-seed San Diego State, which made sure it was safely in by winning the Mountain West tournament, beating [1]New Mexico, 72-69, in the semis behind gBilly White(28p), and then host [3a]UNLV in the final, 55-@45, as cKawhi Leonard had 16p21r. Despite no signature wins, St. Mary's had turned in a solid season, but they made sure about getting a bid this year by making the third time the charm against [1]Gonzaga, winning impressively, 81-62, in the WCC final as pMickey McConnell had 26p6a.

1BC land was very formful overall. Jackson State won the SWAC regular season by three games, yet bowed out in the first round, 57-@60 to 8th-seed Grambling State; [2]Arkansas-Pine Bluff (featuring the son of one VB) is as fine a substitute as there could have been (and JSU would have been in the Play-In game, regardless). [1b]Robert Morris paid back its home loss to host [1a]Quinnipiac with everything on the line, 52-@50 to win the NEC crown. [2]Vermont(America East), thanks to 24p18p5a from cMarqus Blakely, is a fine replacement for Stony Brook. 42p;GWFG from gAnthony Johnson says [3b]Montana will represent the Big Sky in place of Weber State just fine. Most stunning (besides [3]Winthrop(Big South) over Coastal Carolina last week) was [9]Ohio University's run through the Mid-American tournament: four wins, including an @81-@64 rout of [1]Kent State in the quarters behind 38p7a from pArmon Bassett, and @81-@75(OT) over [3]Akron in the final thanks to 25p6r from bBassett.
     Taking care of business were these top-seed 1BC TiTo champs: [1a]UC-Santa Barbara(Big West), [1S]Wofford(Southern), [1b/W1]North Texas(Sun Belt) over (1a/E1a)Troy 66-63, [1]Oakland(Summit) behind 36p9r;15/23fg from fDerick Nelson and 8p17r6b from cKeith Benson in the final, [1/W1]Sam Houston State(Southland), [1]Lehigh(Patriot) and [1]Morgan State(MEAC). ([1]{South Dakota won the Great West tournament as well to earn an automatic bid into the CIT.)

Last week's 8 at-large bids were down to 5 after three were stolen. Of the five teams that wound up getting the bids, only two of them even played their way in; the other three received bids despite failing to live up to their seeding in their conference tournaments. Another five also tanked and only have NIT bids to show for it.
     6th-seed Minnesota knocked off [1c]Michigan State 72-67(OT) in the quarters, and routed depleted [1b]Purdue 69-@42 in the semis before falling in the final to [1a]Ohio State 61-90. 7th-seed Georgia Tech upset [1b]Maryland 69-64 on the way to a respectable showing in the ACC final, losing 61-@65 to [1a]Duke while getting 22p11r from cDerrick Favors. Great job. IN.
     Meanwhile, Memphis (65-66 to [7a]Houston), UAB (44-58 to [6]Southern Mississippi) and Marshall (64-@80 to host [5]Tulsa) all failed to live up to their seeds in Conference USA. Thanks. Bye.
     Mississippi was whipped 65-@76 by [E3]Tennessee in the SEC quarters. Sorry Rebs. Florida (probably safely in already, granted) fell to [W1a]Mississippi State 69-75. Gators, somebody's looking out for you.
     The mediocrity of the ACC was on full display in the conference tournament as the 7th, 11th and 12th seeds made the semis along side top seed Duke. Ugh. Maryland -- safely in, but a disappointing loss to GaTech. Florida State -- a weak 52-@58 loss to [9c]N.C. State -- how they get in I don't get. Virginia Tech -- a 65-70 loss to [12]Miami(Florida). See ya.

I don't see how, but Mississippi State's run to the brink of the SEC title wasn't good enough to get them an at-large bid. They lived up to their [W1a] seeding in a multi-bid league -- by the way, taking out two teams "ahead" of them who did receive at-large bids -- and took [1]Kentucky to overtime for the second time this year, only to fail to win in regulation by a fraction of a second. 75-69 over [E4]Florida, 62-@52 over [E2]Vanderbilt, and 74-75(OT) to [E1]Kentucky wasn't deemed good enough for a bid. Yet a 62-83 first-round ACC loss vs [12]Miami-FL got Wake Forest in. I know that the Selection Committee has eliminated the "Last 10 games" as a criteria in favor of teams' overall performance all season long (but my overall rating of MSU was also better than Wake). By taking that criteria out of the decision, the BCS tournaments are almost meaningless. You either have to win the whole thing or those results seemingly count for nothing. Somebody gets the worst end of the stick every year, I suppose. This year, it's absolutely MSU.

Both Syracuse and Purdue had legitimate title hopes before key injuries have put those in doubt. Purdue looked absolutely horrid in its @42-69 loss to [6]Minnesota in the Big 10 semifinals. They didn't have a lot of depth to begin with and the loss of tRobbie Hummel has made a bad situation worse. Playing back-to-back nights took a major toll on cJuJuan Johnson and gE'Twaun Moore. Syracuse does have better depth, but losing cArinze Onuaku was a factor in their @84-91 loss to [7b]Georgetown in the Big East quarters. (cOnuaku is doubtful for this first weekend's pair of games for SU.)

Kansas did what it was supposed to do, winning the Big 12 tournament, beating [2c]Texas A&M @79-66 in the semis behind 26p6a from pSherron Collins, and [2a]Kansas State @72-@64 in the final. The Jayhawks are mature, deep and solid defensively, but they're not glamorous.
     Ohio State's tEvan Turner erased all doubt about the Player of the Year award with one of the gaudiest performances ever. His 40ft running jump shot outdid the heroics of [7b]Michigan's gManny Harris(26p4a) in a dramatic 69-68 win over the Wolverines in the quarters of the Big 10 tourney. How about 31p10r6a10to in OhSt's 89-81(2OT) win in the semis over [5]Illinois as a follow-up. Then, top it off with another 31p11r6a in the runaway 90-61 win over [6]Minnesota in the final. Spectacular!
     Kentucky paid back its loss to [E3]Tennessee with interest, throttling the Volunteers 74-@45 in the SEC semifinals behind 19p15r from cDeMarcus Cousins (who was named Freshman of the Year in the SEC over pJohn Wall). Only a tip-in by cCousins with a fraction of a second to spare allowed the Wildcats to go into overtime with [W1a]Mississippi State in the final, as they won 75-74(OT). They're the most talented team in the land without question, but even at this point in the season, teams can hang with them (especially when cCousins sits with foul trouble).
     West Virginia had its own set of heroics from bDa'Sean Butler, who beat [11a]Cincinnati 54-51 in the Big East quarters on his banked-in three-pointer, survived 53-51 against [7a]Notre Dame behind his 24p3a, and edged [7b]Georgetown in the final 60-58 on his drive through the lane. (In my book, WVU just missed out on a #1-seed, just ahead of OhioSt. In reality, they were somehow seeded behind both Kansas State and Villanova at the #7 team in the S-curve. Kansas State had to slide up to avoid doubling up with Kansas in the Midwest and to keep both WVU and Nova from doubling up with Syracuse. I get that, but I don't get putting Nova ahead of WVU when they're side-by-side.) Georgetown looked good again in beating [1]Syracuse 91-84 in the quarters behind 27p6a6r from cChris Wright, and [5a]Marquette 80-57 behind 23p13r7a from cGreg Monroe, and took West Virginia to the wire in the final.

Kansas and Kansas State playing in Oklahoma City and Syracuse playing in Buffalo are the worst of the home Pod advantages this time. Gonzaga wasn't seeded high enough to warrant consideration for staying in Spokane (for which they were eligible); Marquette didn't get Milwaukee; California didn't get San Jose; and neither Florida State or Florida got Jacksonville.
     Grossly overseed: Pittsburgh, Maryland, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, California, [Wake Forest]. Grossly underseeded: Utah State, UTEP, St. Mary's, Missouri.

The NIT looks decent enough -- nice to see Jacksonville get the nod from the Atlantic Sun (although they weren't the top seed -- Lipscomb was). I'll take Mississippi State over Memphis in the final.
     Glad to see Princeton get a bid (and a home game) in CBI. VCU might be the strongest team, but they'll have to win a couple of times on the road to prove it; St. Louis is probably best among the teams seeded to play twice at home at the start.
     Nice that {South Dakota} gets a postseason reward as well for winning the inaugural Great West title and tournament. Louisiana Tech, Marshall and Missouri State figure to be in it til the end.

-- Ron

P.S. If you're interested, the 27th Annual Hoops Contest ( www.ronmcbay.us/HLS/hoops.contest-frame.html ) is now open for entry (through THIS THURSDAY 18, MARCH 12Net).

Key games this week:

NCAA

Tuesday:

OpenRd/128s PRELIMINARY PLAY-IN @ Dayton OH

• [S17a]AR-Pine Bluff v [S17b]Winthrop

Thursday, Saturday:

1stRd/64s POD @ Oklahoma City OK

• [M1]@Kansas v [M16]Lehigh
• [M8]UNLV v [M9]No Iowa
• [W2]@Kansas St v [W15]N Texas
• [W7]BYU v [W10]Florida

1stRd/64s POD @ New Orleans LA

• [E1]Kentucky v [E16]E Tennessee St
• [E8]Texas v [E9]Wake Forest
• [S3]Baylor v [S14]Sam Houston St (TX)
• [S6]Notre Dame v [S11]Old Dominion

1stRd/64s POD @ Providence RI

• [S2]Villanova v [S15]Robert Morris
• [S7]Richmond v [S10]St Mary's
• [W3]Georgetown v [W14]Ohio U
• [W6]Tennessee v [W11]San Diego St

1stRd/64s POD @ San Jose CA

• [E3]New Mexico v [E14]Montana
• [W4]Vanderbilt v [W13]Murray St
• [W5]Butler v [W12]UTEP
• [E6]Marquette v [E11]Washington

Friday, Sunday:

1stRd/64s POD @ Jacksonville FL

• [S1]Duke v [S17a]ARPineBluff/[S17b]Winthrop
• [S8]California v [S9]Louisville
• [E4]Wisconsin v [E13]Wofford
• [E5]Temple v [E12]Cornell

1stRd/64s POD @ Buffalo NY

• [W1]@Syracuse v [W16]Vermont
• [W8]Gonzaga v [W9]Florida St
• [E2]W Virginia v [E15]Morgan St
• [E7]Clemson v [E10]Missouri

1stRd/64s POD @ Milwaukee WI

• [M2]Ohio St v [M15]UC-Santa Barbara
• [M7]Oklahoma St v [M10]Georgia Tech
• [W3]Pittsburgh v [W14]Oakland
• [W6]Xavier v [W11]Minnesota

1stRd/64s POD @ Spokane WA

• [S4]Purdue v [S13]Siena
• [S5]Texas A&M v [S12]Utah St
• [M4]Maryland v [M13]Houston
• [M5]Michigan St v [M12]New Mexico St

NIT

Tuesday:

1stRd/32s on-campus

• @ (s1)Mississippi St v (s8)Jackson St (MS)
• @ (w1)Arizona St v (w8)Jacksonville
• @ (s2)UAB v (s7)Co Carolina
• @ (s3)S Florida v (s6)NC State
• @ (s4)N Carolina v (s5)William & Mary
• @ (w4)Seton Hall v (w5)Texas Tech
• @ (e4)Connecticut v (e5)Northeastern

Wednesday:

1stRd/32s on-campus

• @ (e1)Virginia Tech v (e8)Quinnipiac
• (m1)Illinois @ (m8)Stony Brook
• @ (m2)Cincinnati v (m7)Weber St
• @ (w2)Mississippi v (w7)Troy
• @ (e2)Rhode Island v (e7)Northwestern
• @ (m3)Dayton v (m6)Illinois St
• @ (w3)Memphis v (w6)St John's
• @ (e3)Wichita St v (e6)Nevada
• @ (m4)Kent St v (m5)Tulsa

Thursday-Saturday, Monday week:

16s on-campus

• @(s1)MississippiSt/(s8)JacksonSt v (s4)NCarolina/(s5)William&Mary
• @(s2)UAB/(s7)CoCarolina v (s3)SFlorida/(s6)NCState
• @(e1)VirginiaTech/(e8)Quinnipiac v (e4)Connecticut/(e5)Northeastern
• @(e2)RhodeIsland/(e7)Northwestern v (e3)WichitaSt/(e6)Nevada
• @(w1)ArizonaSt/(w8)Jacksonville v (w4)SetonHall/(w5)TexasTech
• @(w2)Mississippi/(w7)Troy v (w3)Memphis/(w6)StJohns
• @(m1)Illinois/(m8)StonyBrook v (m4)Kent St/(m5)Tulsa
• @(m2)Cincinnati/(m7)WeberSt v (m3)Dayton/(m6)IllinoisSt

Tuesday-Wednesday week:

Qtrs on-campus

Tue 30 Mar, Thu 1 Apr:

Semis,Final @ New York NY /MSG/

• (m/Illinois) v (w/Arizona St)
• (e/Virginia Tech) v (s/Mississippi St)

CBI

Tuesday:

1stRd/16s on-campus

• @ (1m)St Louis v (4m)Indiana St
• @ (1s)Geo Washington v (4s)VCU

Wednesday:

1stRd/16s on-campus

• @ (1w)Oregon St v (4w)Boston U
• @ (1e)Hofstra v (4e)IUPUI
• @ (2e)Princeton v (3e)Duquesne
• @ (2m)Akron v (3m)WI-Green Bay
• @ (2w)Morehead St v (3w)Colorado St
• @ (2s)Ea Kentucky v (3s)Col of Charleston

Monday week:

Qtrs on-campus (by region)

• @(1m)StLouis/(4m)IndianaSt v (2m)Akron/(3m)WIGreenBay
• @(1s)GeoWashington/(4s)VCU v (2s)Ea Kentucky/(3s)ColofCharleston
• @(1w)OregonSt/(4w)BostonU v (2w)Morehead St/(3w)ColoradoSt
• @(1e)Hofstra/(4e)IUPUI v (2e)Princeton/(3e)Duquesne

Wednesday week:

Semis on-campus (re-seeded)

Mon 29 Mar, Wed 31 Mar, (if necessary: Fri 2 Apr):

Finals on-campus (Best of 3)

CIT

Tuesday:

1stRd/16s on-campus

• @ Creighton v {S Dakota}
• @ Geo Mason v Fairfield

Wednesday:

1stRd/16s on-campus

• @ Marshall v We Carolina
• @ Missouri St v Mid Tennessee
• @ Loyola Marymount v Pacific (CA)
• @ Appalachian St v Harvard
• @ No Colorado v Portland

Thursday:

1stRd/16s on-campus

• @ Louisiana Tech v So Mississippi

Monday week:

Qtrs on-campus [re-seeded]

Wednesday week:

Semis on-campus [re-seeded]

Tue 30 Mar:

Final on-campus