15 Mar24 - ACCentuate The Positive
Volume XIX, No. 20 - 15 Mar24
ACCentuate The Positive
After the preseason, the BIG 12 had a healthy lead in the ratings over all other conferences -- 8 of its 10 teams were ranked at some point (including 5 in the final Top 25 ballot) -- but seven NCAA teams only went 3-4 in the Round of 64, just two teams made it out of the first weekend and the two biggest upsets/worst losses both belonged to this league. Lowly [S14]UAB -- only in the NCAAs because the CONFERENCE USA tournament was held in its own gym -- just outhustled lauded [S3]Iowa State: 52-37 edge on the boards (including 19 offensive rebounds). bGeorges Niang(11p7r;4/16fg) was terrible all game long and his distressed attitude set the tone for the entire squad that played not to lose ... until it did, anyway, 59-60. With one star (pRyan Harrow) sidelined with injury and the other (tR.J. Hunter) held in check (2pts in the first half), [W14]Georgia State looked well down and out trailing [W3]Baylor 44-56 with under three minutes to go, but a miraculous 13-0 close (including 12 points by tHunter) ended with a deep game-winning three-pointer for a stunning 57-56 upset.) The league's bright spots came from [M5]West Virginia, which closed 6-0 to beat [M12]Buffalo (68-62) and used 23 turnovers on 15 steals to beat [M4]Maryland (69-59), and [E3]Oklahoma, whose toughest task was overcoming the crowd support in Columbus for upstart [E11b]@Dayton (72-@66).
The BIG EAST started the preseason like gang-busters -- 26-1 at the very beginning; 7 of its 10 teams were ranked at some point (including 3 teams in the final rankings) -- although six NCAA teams went 4-2 in the Round of 64, only one ([W6]Xavier) made it out of the first weekend (and that was in part due to a hole left by BIG 12/[W3]Baylor). [E6]Providence got a bad break having to face [E11b]@Dayton in front of a cushy "home" Pod crowd in Columbus, but the crowd didn't shut down pKris Dunn(11p0a7to), the Flyers' defense did in a @66-53 upset. After looking as good as anyone winning the BIG EAST tourney and dominating [E16]Lafayette @93-@52 in its first game, [E1]@Villanova struggled to shoot well (31 percent from the floor) and looked confused and panicked against [E8]N.C. State. gDarrun Hilliard II(27p;6/10 3s) didn't get much help while bTrevor Lacey(17p4a6r) led a balanced attack in a 71-@68 Wolfpack win in Pittsburgh.
Meanwhile, the top-heavy ACC figured to do well ... and it certainly did, going 11-1 in the NCAAs, sending 5 teams into the Sweet 16 (the most ever in its history). [S1]@Duke cruised through in Charlotte -- (don't get me started) -- (including @68-49 over [S8]San Diego State behind 26p6r from freshman fJahlil Okafor). [M3]Notre Dame won two squeakers (69-65 past [M14]Northeastern behind 25p5r from fZach Auguste, and 67-64[OT] past state-rival [M6]Butler). [W4]North Caroilna escaped past [W13]Harvard (67-65 despite 26p5a from pWesley Saunders) and forced 21 turnovers in outrunning [W5]Arkansas (87-78 as neither bMarcus Paige[22p6r5s] nor xMichael Qualls[27p10r;10/11ft] and cBobby Portis[18p14r5s] disappointed). [E4]Louisville had a tougher time against [E13]UC-Irvine (57-55) than it did against talented [E5]Northern Iowa (66-53 as pTerry Rozier[25p7a5r] stepped up). Only undermanned [E2]Virginia underperformed, losing 54-60 to [E10]Michigan State.
Thanks in large part to The Team That Shouldn't Be Here, the PAC-12 was a strong 7-1 in the NCAAs, pushing three teams through to the Sweet 16. [S11]UCLA played with a chip on its shoulder and seemed well in control before a 19-0 run by [S6]SMU seemed to give the Mustangs the lead in the Round of 64; but the Bruins were credited with a game-winning three-pointer on a dubious-at-best goaltending call in the closing seconds to claim the upset, 60-59. Then, with its path cleared for it, [S11]UCLA routed fellow upsetter [S14]UAB (92-75 as cTony Parker[28p12r] dominated in the paint). [W2]Arizona cruised twice (including 73-58 over [W10]Ohio State as pT.J. McConnell[19p6a6r5s] starred). [S5]Utah didn't have the trouble many expected with [S12]Stephen F. Austin (57-50) and pulled away comfortably in "upsetting" [S4]Georgetown (75-64). gJoseph Young(29p4a average) was one of the biggest stars of the first weekend as [W8]Oregon beat [W9]Oklahoma State (79-73) but fell to balanced [W1]Wisconsin (65-72).
gFred Van Vleet(27p4a) led the way for [M7]Wichita State past [M10]Indiana (81-76) to set up a long-awaited grudge match with [M2]Kansas. Much like used to be the case with Kentucky-Louisville (and still is for Ohio State-Cincinnati, Missouri-St. Louis, Alabama-UAB and I'd even include Maryland-Georgetown), there's a "'Big Brother' State School refuses to play 'Little Brother' City School" vibe going on between Kans-WichSt as these two haven't met in over 20 years. KU coach Bill Self has openly admitted there's nothing in it for him to schedule the game -- he'd likely lose in-state recruits by elevating the status of WichSt as an equal rival. (With some of the other cases, there has historically been a racial angle behind the refusal to play what should be natural rivalries.) When it came to fruition, it was great to see the Governor of Kansas show up for this game (and put on a gold-and-black "Kings Of Kansas" shirt in the WichSt locker room afterwards) as "Little Brother" prevailed 78-65.
The BIG 10 (7-5 in the NCAAs) did get two Sweet 16 teams: one expected in [W1]Wisconsin and one not in [E7]Michigan State. [W10]Ohio State did have a solid moment in its first game as freshman pD'Angelo Russell(28p6r;10/20fg)'s One-Man-Show was (barely) enough to survive past [W7]VCU, 75-72(OT). [S7]Iowa (and fAaron White[26p6r;11/14fg) looked good blowing out [S10]Davidson 83-52 with surprising ease (before being clocked by [S2]@Gonzaga).
As expected, top-seeded [M1]@Kentucky had little trouble getting through to the Sweet 16 even while putting up with the "Jordan Rules" tactics of [M8]Cincinnati (especially by fOctavius Ellis) in its second game -- a @64-51 win in Louisville. tKyle Wiltjer(24p8r average) led the way for [S2]@Gonzaga in a nervous win over [S15]North Dakota State (@86-76) in its first game and a free-flowing rout of [S7]Iowa (@87-68) in its second.
B-Major teams claimed 15 of the Sweet 16 spots (and you could argue that underseeded [M7]Wichita State should have made it 16-for-16). Only two 1BCs were able to pull off even Round of 64 wins -- [S14]Georgia State's miracle close over [S3]Baylor and [S14]UAB's shocker over too-nervous [S3]Iowa State (and the strong showing of both Louisiana Tech and Old Dominion -- both still alive in the NIT -- calls C-USA's 1BC status into question, anyway). But it was a strong year for the 1BCs in terms of TiTo champs making the tourney (13 out of 22). It's just that it was a very solid year at the top of college basketball. Five of the Hard Eight made the Sweet 16 and only two unranked teams made it through ([E8]N.C. State and [[S11]UCLA).
Many of the best individual outputs came in losing efforts. [W11b]BYU pTyler Haws put up 33p5a5r in a 90-94 loss to [W11a]Mississippi; [S16a]North Florida's gBeau Beech had 28p7r5to;6/10 3s in a 77-81 loss to [S16b]Robert Morris -- both in FIRST FOUR games. [S12]Eastern Washington's gTyler Harvey(27p0a;6/12 3s) in a 74-84 loss was matched by [S5]Georgetown's tD'Vauntes Smith-Rivera's 25p8. [E15]Belmont's tCraig Bradshaw's 25p9r;10/19fg,5/9 3s effort wasn't enough in a 67-79 loss to [E2]Virginia.
In the NIT, experimental rules (30-second shot clock and 4-foot no-charge circle) are aimed at increasing scoring -- with a slightly "improved" result. Both [e3]Louisiana Tech (including an 84-@72 road win at [e2]Texas A&M) and [m1]Old Dominion (behind two home wins) made the quarterfinals, making the case (along with [S14]UAB's NCAA upset) that CONFERENCE USA shouldn't have been just a 1BC league. [m3]Murray State made its own case that it should have received an at-large NCAA bid by winning twice (including an 83-@62 road rout at [m2]Tulsa). [w8]South Dakota State's road win at [w1]Colorado State (86-@76) validated the NCAA's snub of the Rams.
In the CBI, WAC/[wA1]Seattle knocked off both slumming B-Majors at home -- @62-45 over [wA2]WCC/Pepperdine and @72-65 over [wB1]PAC12/Colorado.
In the CIT, slumming B-Major WCC/Portland lost at home to SKY/Sacramento State (@66-73). Four teams won twice on the road: MAC/Kent State (68-@56 at CUSA/Middle Tennessee and 69-@65 at SLAND/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi), SUNB/Louisiana (83-@68 at SLAND/{Incarnate Word} and 71-@70 at SLAND/Sam Houston State), OVC/Tennessee-Martin (104-@79 at SLAND/Northwestern State and 60-@49 at ASUN/S.C. Upstate) and SKY/Northern Arizona (75-@70 at WAC/{Grand Canyon} and 78-@73 at conferencemate SKY/Sacramento State).
The MISSOURI VALLEY was 8-2 overall thanks to NCAA/[M7]Wichita State, CBI/[mA1]Loyola(Illinois) and CIT/Evansville -- all still alive. NCAA/[W14]Georgia State's upset headlined the 5-1 SUN BELT (with CBI/[sB1]Louisiana-Monroe and CIT/Louisiana both still alive). NIT/[m3]Murray State as well as CIT/Tennessee-Martin and CIT/Eastern Kentucky are all still alive for the 7-2 OHIO VALLEY.
On the flip side, the COLONIAL (which rated well among 1BCs in the preseason), went 0-5 in the postseason as all four quad-title champs plus Hofstra came up empty.
- -
Nobody has looked better than [S2]Gonzaga through the first weekend (but [S1]Duke is a close second). [W1]Wisconsin and [W2]Arizona appear headed for a rematch of last year's Regional Final -- expect another down-to-the-wire game (with the same result -- a Badger win). [M1]@Kentucky shouldn't be bothered by Bluegrass rival [m3]Notre Dame in the Midwest final. Tournament-ready [E7]Michigan State is as good a pick as anyone in the busted bracket of the East Regional.
[M3]Murray State and [s2]Miami(Florida) look strong enough advance on the road as home-standing @[e1]Temple and @[w2]Stanford figure to join them in New York for the NIT semfinals. MM[mA1]Loyola(Illinois) and [sB1]Louisiana-Monroe should advance at home to the CBI final series. MMEvansville has a tough road game at Louisiana, but is otherwise the class of the CIT quarterfinalists.
-- Ron
ACCentuate The Positive
After the preseason, the BIG 12 had a healthy lead in the ratings over all other conferences -- 8 of its 10 teams were ranked at some point (including 5 in the final Top 25 ballot) -- but seven NCAA teams only went 3-4 in the Round of 64, just two teams made it out of the first weekend and the two biggest upsets/worst losses both belonged to this league. Lowly [S14]UAB -- only in the NCAAs because the CONFERENCE USA tournament was held in its own gym -- just outhustled lauded [S3]Iowa State: 52-37 edge on the boards (including 19 offensive rebounds). bGeorges Niang(11p7r;4/16fg) was terrible all game long and his distressed attitude set the tone for the entire squad that played not to lose ... until it did, anyway, 59-60. With one star (pRyan Harrow) sidelined with injury and the other (tR.J. Hunter) held in check (2pts in the first half), [W14]Georgia State looked well down and out trailing [W3]Baylor 44-56 with under three minutes to go, but a miraculous 13-0 close (including 12 points by tHunter) ended with a deep game-winning three-pointer for a stunning 57-56 upset.) The league's bright spots came from [M5]West Virginia, which closed 6-0 to beat [M12]Buffalo (68-62) and used 23 turnovers on 15 steals to beat [M4]Maryland (69-59), and [E3]Oklahoma, whose toughest task was overcoming the crowd support in Columbus for upstart [E11b]@Dayton (72-@66).
The BIG EAST started the preseason like gang-busters -- 26-1 at the very beginning; 7 of its 10 teams were ranked at some point (including 3 teams in the final rankings) -- although six NCAA teams went 4-2 in the Round of 64, only one ([W6]Xavier) made it out of the first weekend (and that was in part due to a hole left by BIG 12/[W3]Baylor). [E6]Providence got a bad break having to face [E11b]@Dayton in front of a cushy "home" Pod crowd in Columbus, but the crowd didn't shut down pKris Dunn(11p0a7to), the Flyers' defense did in a @66-53 upset. After looking as good as anyone winning the BIG EAST tourney and dominating [E16]Lafayette @93-@52 in its first game, [E1]@Villanova struggled to shoot well (31 percent from the floor) and looked confused and panicked against [E8]N.C. State. gDarrun Hilliard II(27p;6/10 3s) didn't get much help while bTrevor Lacey(17p4a6r) led a balanced attack in a 71-@68 Wolfpack win in Pittsburgh.
Meanwhile, the top-heavy ACC figured to do well ... and it certainly did, going 11-1 in the NCAAs, sending 5 teams into the Sweet 16 (the most ever in its history). [S1]@Duke cruised through in Charlotte -- (don't get me started) -- (including @68-49 over [S8]San Diego State behind 26p6r from freshman fJahlil Okafor). [M3]Notre Dame won two squeakers (69-65 past [M14]Northeastern behind 25p5r from fZach Auguste, and 67-64[OT] past state-rival [M6]Butler). [W4]North Caroilna escaped past [W13]Harvard (67-65 despite 26p5a from pWesley Saunders) and forced 21 turnovers in outrunning [W5]Arkansas (87-78 as neither bMarcus Paige[22p6r5s] nor xMichael Qualls[27p10r;10/11ft] and cBobby Portis[18p14r5s] disappointed). [E4]Louisville had a tougher time against [E13]UC-Irvine (57-55) than it did against talented [E5]Northern Iowa (66-53 as pTerry Rozier[25p7a5r] stepped up). Only undermanned [E2]Virginia underperformed, losing 54-60 to [E10]Michigan State.
Thanks in large part to The Team That Shouldn't Be Here, the PAC-12 was a strong 7-1 in the NCAAs, pushing three teams through to the Sweet 16. [S11]UCLA played with a chip on its shoulder and seemed well in control before a 19-0 run by [S6]SMU seemed to give the Mustangs the lead in the Round of 64; but the Bruins were credited with a game-winning three-pointer on a dubious-at-best goaltending call in the closing seconds to claim the upset, 60-59. Then, with its path cleared for it, [S11]UCLA routed fellow upsetter [S14]UAB (92-75 as cTony Parker[28p12r] dominated in the paint). [W2]Arizona cruised twice (including 73-58 over [W10]Ohio State as pT.J. McConnell[19p6a6r5s] starred). [S5]Utah didn't have the trouble many expected with [S12]Stephen F. Austin (57-50) and pulled away comfortably in "upsetting" [S4]Georgetown (75-64). gJoseph Young(29p4a average) was one of the biggest stars of the first weekend as [W8]Oregon beat [W9]Oklahoma State (79-73) but fell to balanced [W1]Wisconsin (65-72).
gFred Van Vleet(27p4a) led the way for [M7]Wichita State past [M10]Indiana (81-76) to set up a long-awaited grudge match with [M2]Kansas. Much like used to be the case with Kentucky-Louisville (and still is for Ohio State-Cincinnati, Missouri-St. Louis, Alabama-UAB and I'd even include Maryland-Georgetown), there's a "'Big Brother' State School refuses to play 'Little Brother' City School" vibe going on between Kans-WichSt as these two haven't met in over 20 years. KU coach Bill Self has openly admitted there's nothing in it for him to schedule the game -- he'd likely lose in-state recruits by elevating the status of WichSt as an equal rival. (With some of the other cases, there has historically been a racial angle behind the refusal to play what should be natural rivalries.) When it came to fruition, it was great to see the Governor of Kansas show up for this game (and put on a gold-and-black "Kings Of Kansas" shirt in the WichSt locker room afterwards) as "Little Brother" prevailed 78-65.
The BIG 10 (7-5 in the NCAAs) did get two Sweet 16 teams: one expected in [W1]Wisconsin and one not in [E7]Michigan State. [W10]Ohio State did have a solid moment in its first game as freshman pD'Angelo Russell(28p6r;10/20fg)'s One-Man-Show was (barely) enough to survive past [W7]VCU, 75-72(OT). [S7]Iowa (and fAaron White[26p6r;11/14fg) looked good blowing out [S10]Davidson 83-52 with surprising ease (before being clocked by [S2]@Gonzaga).
As expected, top-seeded [M1]@Kentucky had little trouble getting through to the Sweet 16 even while putting up with the "Jordan Rules" tactics of [M8]Cincinnati (especially by fOctavius Ellis) in its second game -- a @64-51 win in Louisville. tKyle Wiltjer(24p8r average) led the way for [S2]@Gonzaga in a nervous win over [S15]North Dakota State (@86-76) in its first game and a free-flowing rout of [S7]Iowa (@87-68) in its second.
B-Major teams claimed 15 of the Sweet 16 spots (and you could argue that underseeded [M7]Wichita State should have made it 16-for-16). Only two 1BCs were able to pull off even Round of 64 wins -- [S14]Georgia State's miracle close over [S3]Baylor and [S14]UAB's shocker over too-nervous [S3]Iowa State (and the strong showing of both Louisiana Tech and Old Dominion -- both still alive in the NIT -- calls C-USA's 1BC status into question, anyway). But it was a strong year for the 1BCs in terms of TiTo champs making the tourney (13 out of 22). It's just that it was a very solid year at the top of college basketball. Five of the Hard Eight made the Sweet 16 and only two unranked teams made it through ([E8]N.C. State and [[S11]UCLA).
Many of the best individual outputs came in losing efforts. [W11b]BYU pTyler Haws put up 33p5a5r in a 90-94 loss to [W11a]Mississippi; [S16a]North Florida's gBeau Beech had 28p7r5to;6/10 3s in a 77-81 loss to [S16b]Robert Morris -- both in FIRST FOUR games. [S12]Eastern Washington's gTyler Harvey(27p0a;6/12 3s) in a 74-84 loss was matched by [S5]Georgetown's tD'Vauntes Smith-Rivera's 25p8. [E15]Belmont's tCraig Bradshaw's 25p9r;10/19fg,5/9 3s effort wasn't enough in a 67-79 loss to [E2]Virginia.
In the NIT, experimental rules (30-second shot clock and 4-foot no-charge circle) are aimed at increasing scoring -- with a slightly "improved" result. Both [e3]Louisiana Tech (including an 84-@72 road win at [e2]Texas A&M) and [m1]Old Dominion (behind two home wins) made the quarterfinals, making the case (along with [S14]UAB's NCAA upset) that CONFERENCE USA shouldn't have been just a 1BC league. [m3]Murray State made its own case that it should have received an at-large NCAA bid by winning twice (including an 83-@62 road rout at [m2]Tulsa). [w8]South Dakota State's road win at [w1]Colorado State (86-@76) validated the NCAA's snub of the Rams.
In the CBI, WAC/[wA1]Seattle knocked off both slumming B-Majors at home -- @62-45 over [wA2]WCC/Pepperdine and @72-65 over [wB1]PAC12/Colorado.
In the CIT, slumming B-Major WCC/Portland lost at home to SKY/Sacramento State (@66-73). Four teams won twice on the road: MAC/Kent State (68-@56 at CUSA/Middle Tennessee and 69-@65 at SLAND/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi), SUNB/Louisiana (83-@68 at SLAND/{Incarnate Word} and 71-@70 at SLAND/Sam Houston State), OVC/Tennessee-Martin (104-@79 at SLAND/Northwestern State and 60-@49 at ASUN/S.C. Upstate) and SKY/Northern Arizona (75-@70 at WAC/{Grand Canyon} and 78-@73 at conferencemate SKY/Sacramento State).
The MISSOURI VALLEY was 8-2 overall thanks to NCAA/[M7]Wichita State, CBI/[mA1]Loyola(Illinois) and CIT/Evansville -- all still alive. NCAA/[W14]Georgia State's upset headlined the 5-1 SUN BELT (with CBI/[sB1]Louisiana-Monroe and CIT/Louisiana both still alive). NIT/[m3]Murray State as well as CIT/Tennessee-Martin and CIT/Eastern Kentucky are all still alive for the 7-2 OHIO VALLEY.
On the flip side, the COLONIAL (which rated well among 1BCs in the preseason), went 0-5 in the postseason as all four quad-title champs plus Hofstra came up empty.
- -
Nobody has looked better than [S2]Gonzaga through the first weekend (but [S1]Duke is a close second). [W1]Wisconsin and [W2]Arizona appear headed for a rematch of last year's Regional Final -- expect another down-to-the-wire game (with the same result -- a Badger win). [M1]@Kentucky shouldn't be bothered by Bluegrass rival [m3]Notre Dame in the Midwest final. Tournament-ready [E7]Michigan State is as good a pick as anyone in the busted bracket of the East Regional.
[M3]Murray State and [s2]Miami(Florida) look strong enough advance on the road as home-standing @[e1]Temple and @[w2]Stanford figure to join them in New York for the NIT semfinals. MM[mA1]Loyola(Illinois) and [sB1]Louisiana-Monroe should advance at home to the CBI final series. MMEvansville has a tough road game at Louisiana, but is otherwise the class of the CIT quarterfinalists.
-- Ron
- Key games this week:
- NCAA
- Thursday, Saturday:
- MIDWEST REGIONAL Semis @ClevelandOH/QUICKEN/
- [M1]@Kentucky v [M5]W Virginia
- [M3]Notre Dame v [M7]Wichita St
- WEST REGIONAL Semis @LosAngelesCA/STAPLES/
- [W1]Wisconsin v [W4]N Carolina
- [W2]Arizona v [W6]Xavier
- Friday, Sunday:
- EAST REGIONAL Semis @SyracuseNY/CARRIER/
- [E3]Oklahoma v [E7]Michigan St
- [E4]Louisville v [E8]NC State
- SOUTH REGIONAL Semis @HoustonTX/RELIANT/
- [S1]Duke v [S5]Utah
- [S2]Gonzaga v [S11]UCLA
- Sat 4 Apr, Mon 6 Apr:
- FINAL FOUR,NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP @IndianapolisIN/LUCAS/
- {[1/MIDWEST]} v {[4/WEST]}
- {[2/EAST]} v {[3/SOUTH]}
- NIT
- [M1]@Kentucky v [M5]W Virginia
- Tuesday:
- Qtrs on-campus
- @ [s1]Richmond v [s2]Miami-FL
- @ [w2]Stanford v [w5]Vanderbilt
- Wednesday:
- Qtrs on-campus
- @ [m1]Old Dominion v [m3]
Murray St
- @ [e1]Temple v [e3]Louisiana Tech
- Tuesday week, Thursday week:
- Semis, Finals @NewYorkNY/MSG/
- {[m]/Old Dominion} v {[w]/Stanford}
- {[e]/Temple} v {[s]/Richmond}
- CBI
- @ [s1]Richmond v [s2]Miami-FL
- Wednesday:
- Semis on-campus (re-seeded)
- @ [mA1]Loyola-IL v [wA1]Seattle
- @ [sB1]
LA-Monroev [eA2]Vermont
- Monday week, Wednesday week, (if necessary: Friday week):
- Finals on-campus (Best of 3)
- CIT
- @ [mA1]Loyola-IL v [wA1]Seattle
- Wednesday:
- Qtrs on-campus (re-seeded)
- @ Ea Kentucky v TN-Martin
- Thursday:
- Qtrs on-campus (re-seeded)
- @ Louisiana v Evansville
- Friday:
- Qtrs on-campus (re-seeded
- @
No ArizonavKent St
- Saturday:
- Qtrs on-campus (re-seeded)
- @
NJITv Canisius
- Tuesday week:
- Semis on-campus (re-seeded)
- Thursday week:
- Final on-campus
- @ Ea Kentucky v TN-Martin
posted by Ron @ Tuesday, April 14, 2015
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