19 Mar 4 - Vols Strike Back (ENDCONFERENCE/Minor)

Volume XXIII, No. 18 - 19 Mar 4: ENDCONFERENCE/Minor - [] Top 25 Ballot Vols Strike Back In the BIG 10, forgotten Indiana pulled off two big (home/squeak) wins: first, edging Wisconsin in double-overtime (@75-73[2OT] despite 23p11r4a from xEthan Happ); then, edging Michigan State (@63-62 on Juwan Morgan's game-winner despite 20p11a5r from xCassius Winston). Maryland had a bad week: first, tanking at forgotten Penn State (61-@78); then, falling at home to Michigan (@62-69). Likewise, Iowa dropped two: first, thumped at Ohio State (70-@90); then, falling at home to mediocre Rutgers (@72-86 on bRon Harper Jr.[27p5r]'s star turn). Meanwhile, Purdue dumped Ohio State (@86-51). With a week to go, Purd led both MichSt and Mich by a game.      For some reason, Virginia Tech always seems to catch Duke at the right moment: for the third-straight year, the Hokies knocked off the D-Blue Devils at home, this time edging them (@77-72). Florida State edged N.C. State (@78-73). Meanwhile, Louisville stumbled at forgotten Boston College (59-@66 as xKy Bowman[25p8a12r] starred). North Carolina was fine on the court but got a scare on the sidelines: first, the Tar Heels outran Syracuse (@93-85 dominating the boards 46-25 as GC pCoby White[34p] dueled 29p5a5r from pTyus Battle); but then, coach Roy Williams fainted on the sidelines against Clemson (and missed the second half) with a recurring bout of vertigo. In the ACC standings, Virginia and UNC both led Duke by a game.      In the SEC, Tennessee paid back its (road) rout loss at Kentucky with a (home) rout win of its own (@71-52). Earlier, the Vols edged Mississippi on the road (73-@71 on bGrant Williams' game-winner). Elsewhere, Auburn edged Mississippi State, (@80-75 despite 25p6a11r from xQuinndary Weatherspoon). Miss lost again, tripping at forgotten Arkansas (73-@74 on Jalen Harris' game-winner). Florida fell at home to lowly Georgia (@55-61). Overall, Tenn and LSU both led UK by a game.      In the BIG 12, Kansas kept its hopes alive of extending its title streak by clawing back first-place Kansas State (@64-49 as xDedric Lawson[18p14r5a] starred). Meanwhile, Iowa State tanked at forgotten Texas (69-@86 as the Longhorn sank 15 three-pointers). KansSt bounced back with a home win over Baylor (@66-60). Elsewhere, TCU fell out of contact with two losses: first, tripping in triple-overtime at forgotten West Virginia (96-@104[3OT] as pJordan McCabe[25p11a5r] starred and cDerek Culver[22p21r] dominated); then, getting thumped at home against Texas Tech (@66-81). TxT and KansSt both led Kans by a game.      In the AMERICAN, UCF pulled off its biggest win of the season, edging first-place Houston on the road (69-@64). Elsewhere, Temple fell at forgotten Memphis (73-@81 on pJeremiah Martin[30p5a]'s star turn). With one week to go, Hous and Cincinnati were tied for the lead.      Marquette gave up its gap lead in the BIG EAST in just one week. First, Villanova clawed back the M-Golden Eagles (@67-61 as tJermaine Samuels[29p9r] dueled 25p4a from gMarkus Howard); then, Marq fell at home against forgotten Creighton (@60-66). Elsewhere, St. John's also dropped two: falling at home against forgotten Xavier (@73-84 as bNaji Marshall[31p6r] starred); and falling at lowly DePaul (83-@92 on Max Strus[43p]'s star turn). Seton Hall tripped in double-overtime at Georgetown (71-@77[2OT] despite 35p5r from bMyles Powell). Nova and Marq head into the final week tied for the lead.      Surging Utah State tied up the MOUNTAIN WEST race, edging Nevada (@81-76 as bSam Merrill[29p5r] starred).      PACIFIC-12 FOUR-GAP title champ Washington tripped at lowly California (73-@76 despite 32p from gDavid Crisp). Meanwhile, Arizona State tanked at forgotten Oregon (51-@79 as the Ducks controlled the boards 44-26). In the IVY LEAGUE, Yale fell at home against lowly Columbia (@75-83). Meanwhile, Harvard swept both Penn (@59-53) and Princeton (@66-58) to tie for first place with a week to go.      SUNB/Texas State tanked at home against mediocre South Alabama (63-@77); Georgia State, Georgia Southern and TxSt all led Texas-Arlington.      SKY/Northern Colorado clawed back first-place Montana, edging the M-Grizzlies on the road (74-@72 on gJordan Davis' game-winning free throws) to keep the regular season race alive. A split on the week wasn't enough for Bowling Green to stay in the regular season race: the BGS-Falcons fell at home against mediocre Miami(Ohio) (@69-82 as the Redhawks shot 15-for-33 on threes); edging Kent State (@77-72 despite 26p5r from bJaylin Walker) wasn't enough. Buffalo repeated as MID-AMERICAN champ (with a gap).      New Mexico State cruised to the WAC title (its second-straight [and FOURTH IN FIVE YEARS]) with a three-gap margin.      Murray State outran Austin Peay (@94-83 as pJa Morant[27p13a6r] dueled 26p5r from Steve Harris) to clinch a share of the OHIO VALLEY title (along with Belmont) - - it's a repeat title for Murray; third in four years for Belmt. In the ATLANTIC SUN, both Lipscomb and Liberty took care of New Jersey Tech in the final week to claim a share of the regular season title: Lips edged NJIT (@81-77 sinking 16-for-30 threes as bGarrison Mathews[32p6r] starred) while Libty won on the road at NJIT (57-@51 despite 25p9r from fAbdul Lewis). After making the (parallel) jump from the BIG SOUTH this season, the L-Flames earn Carpetbagger status for winning the conference title in their first year of membership - - EXCELLENT!      Davidson fell off the pace with a disappointing loss at lowly La Salle (69-@79), allowing VCU to clinch the ATLANTIC 10 title (with a gap) with a week to go.      2-0 weeks allowed both Drake and Loyola(Illinois) to share the MISSOURI VALLEY title - - it's the second-straight for the L-Ramblers - - (EXCELLENT! ... But don't expect this postseason to be anything like last year's Cinderella run to the Final Four).      HORIZON/Wright State tripped at Green Bay (67-@70) and had to settle for sharing the title with repeat-champ Northern Kentucky.      Old Dominion didn't need the full Re-Group schedule to clinch the CONFERENCE USA title (with a three-game gap to boot!)      PATRIOT/Bucknell fell at lowly Navy (53-@64) to lose the outright lead, but edged Army (@62-61 on Kimbal MacKenzie's game-winner) to claim a share of the title (along with Colgate) - - even with a revamped squad, it's the FIFTH-STRAIGHT (AND EIGHTH IN NINE YEARS) for the B-Bison; OUTSTANDING!!! BIG WEST/UC-Irvine cruised to its THIRD TITLE IN FOUR YEARS (this time with a FOUR-GAME GAP) - - OUTSTANDING!! SUMMIT/South Dakota State finished the job and clinched its second-straight title (and FOURTH IN FIVE YEARS) - - OUTSTANDING!! SOUTHLAND/Sam Houston State took care of New Orleans on the road (71-@60) to clinch the title (with a three-game gap and a week still to go). BIG SOUTH/Campbell edged Radford in the final game of the season (@64-62 on Jordan Whitfield's game-winner as gChris Clemons[30p] starred) to claim a share of the title. METRO ATLANTIC/In what turned out to be the showdown for the regular season title, Iona won on the road at Rider (86-@79 despite 16p10a6r from pStevie Jordan). AMERICA EAST/Vermont won the showdown with second-place Stony Brook (@56-50) to clinch its third-straight title (with a gap) - - OUTSTANDING!!! NORTHEAST/St. Francis(Pennsylvania) fell at Sacred Heart (84-@94 as six Pioneer players posted double-figures) and had to settle for sharing the title with Fairleigh Dickinson. MEAC/Norfolk State clinched the title (with a gap and a week to go). - - - - - - Ten conference races still remain undecided heading into the final week:      In the BIG 10, Purdue visits Minnesota (Tuesday) while Michigan State hosts Michigan (Saturday). In the ACC, Virginia visits Syracuse (Monday) and hosts Louisville (Saturday) while North Carolina hosts Duke (Saturday). In the SEC, Tennessee hosts Mississippi State (Tuesday) and visits Auburn (Saturday) while LSU visits Florida (Wednesday); meanwhile, Kentucky visits Mississippi (Tuesday) and hosts Florida (Saturday). In the BIG 12, Texas Tech visits Iowa State (Saturday) while Kansas State has it easy by comparison; meanwhile, Kansas host Baylor (Saturday). In the BIG EAST, both Villanova and Marquette close with games they should be able to handle.      In the AMERICAN, Cincinnati visits UCF (Thursday) before the big showdown when it hosts Houston (Sunday). In the IVY LEAGUE, both Yale (at Penn, at Princeton) and Harvard (at Cornell, at Columbia) close on the road (Friday, Saturday).      In the SUN BELT, double-showdowns on Saturday will determine the title as Texas State visits Texas-Arlington and Georgia State visits Georgia Southern. In the BIG SKY, Montana has three winnable games (including two on the road) to close out. In the SWAC, Prairie View A&M visits Alabama State (Monday) plus two more winnable home games to finish. The 1BC conference tourneys include some must-see Off-Broadway superstars - - be sure to catch them this week in case they don't make it through to the NCAAs.      WCC/Gonzaga has rarely had this little trouble inside the league (thru Tuesday week). SOCON/Wofford(gFletcher Magee) dominated a very good league (including sweeping solid UNC-Greensboro) (thru Monday week). COLON/Hofstra(bJustin Wright-Foreman) only split with Northeastern but swept host College of Charleston (thru Tuesday week). OVC/Both Belmont(xDylan Windler) and Murray State(pJa Morant) deserve NCAA bids, but neither team might get past tough Jacksonville State and Austin Peay (thru Saturday). MVC/Loyola(Illinois) swept Drake but neither team truly dominated the league (thru Sunday). ASUN/Lipscomb(gGarrison Mathews) likely needs to win the rubber match with Carpetbagger Liberty (thru Sunday).      HORIZ/Northern Kentucky and Wright State didn't settle much splitting two squeak home wins; but the rubber game will be on neutral turf (thru Tuesday week).      PAT/Colgate gets to host the likely rubber game with Bucknell (thru Wednesday week). SUMMIT/South Dakota State(xMike Daum) looks to make it four-for-four trips to the NCAAs (but only split with Omaha) (thru Tuesday week). BIGS/Campbell(gChris Clemons) barely swept Radford in the regular season but gets to host Round Three (thru Sunday). MAAC/Iona didn't particularly dominate the regular season, so it's up for grabs (thru Monday week). AMERE/Vermont(fAnthony Lamb) swept Stony Brook on the season (thru Saturday week). NEC/St. Francis(Pennsylvania) and Fairleigh Dickinson traded road-routs, so hosting the rubber game may not help SfPa much (thru Tuesday week). -- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

Virginia-@Syracuse, @AlabamaSt-PrairieViewA&M,

Monday, Thursday, Sunday:

ATLANTIC SUN TOURNAMENT on-campus -(@[1a]Lipscomb-[8a]KennesawSt, @[1b]Liberty-[7]Jacksonville, @[3a]NFlorida-[6]{NAlabama}, @[3b]FLGulfCoast-[5]NJIT),

Tuesday:

@Tennessee-MississippiSt, Purdue-@Minnesota, Kentucky-@Mississippi, VirginiaTech-@FloridaSt,

Tuesday, Thursday-Friday, Sunday:

BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT on-campus, @ #1-seed[Campbell], on-campus -(@[1a]Campbell, [1b]Radford, [3a]Winthrop, [3b]@GardnerWebb),

Tuesday-Wednesday, Monday week-Tuesday week:

HORIZON TOURNAMENT on-campus, @DetroitMI/Detroit/ -([1a]WrightSt, [1b]NoKentucky, [3]@Oakland),

Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday week:

PATRIOT TOURNAMENT on-campus -(@[1a]Colgate, [1b]Bucknell, [3]Lehigh),

Wednesday:

LSU-@Florida, @[1]OldDominion-[3]SoMississippi,

Wednesday-Saturday:

OHIO VALLEY TOURNAMENT @EvansvilleIN -([1a]Belmont, [1b]MurraySt, [3]JacksonvilleSt, [4]AustinPeay),

Wednesday, Saturday, Tuesday week:

NORTHEAST TOURNAMENT on-campus -(@[1a]StFrancisPA, [1b]FairleighDickinson, [3a]SacredHeart, [3b]RobertMorris),

Thursday:

Cincinnati-@UCF, @Wisconsin-Iowa, @MorganSt-CoppinSt(BaltimoreMD),

Thursday-Sunday:

MISSOURI VALLEY TOURNAMENT @StLouisMO -([1a]LoyolaIL, [1b]Drake),

Thursday-Monday week:

METRO ATLANTIC TOURNAMENT @AlbanyNY/Siena/ -([1]@Iona, [2a]@Canisius, [2b]Quinnipiac, @[2d]Siena-[2c]Rider, [6]Monmouth),

Thursday-Saturday, Monday week-Tuesday week:

WEST COAST TOURNAMENT @LasVegasNV/ORLEANS/ -([1]Gonzaga, [2a]StMarys, [2b]BYU),

Friday:

@Penn-Yale(/PALESTRA/), @KentSt-Akron(OH)(NEO), @Cornell-Harvard,

Friday-Monday week:

SOUTHERN TOURNAMENT @AshevilleNC -([1]Wofford, [2]UNCGreensboro, [3a]Furman, [3b]ETennesseeSt),

Saturday:

@Virginia-Louisville, @NCarolina-Duke(NC), Tennessee-@Auburn, @MichiganSt-Michigan(MI), @Kentucky-Florida, TexasTech-@IowaSt, @Kansas-Baylor, @Nevada-SanDiegoSt, UCF-@Temple, @Princeton-Yale, @TXArlington-TexasSt(TX), @GeorgiaSo-GeorgiaSt(GA),

Saturday-Tuesday week:

COLONIAL TOURNAMENT @CharlestonSC/ColofCharleston/ -([1]Hofstra, [2]Northeastern, @[3]ColofCharleston), SUMMIT TOURNAMENT @SiouxFallSD/PENTAGON/ -([1]@SDState, [2]Omaha),

Saturday, Tuesday week, Saturday week:

AMERICA EAST TOURNAMENT on-campus -(@[1]Vermont, StonyBrook, MDBaltimoreCo, Hartford),

Sunday:

Houston-@Cincinnati, @OhioSt-Wisconsin,

- - - - - -

Monday week, Thursday week-Saturday week:

MID-AMERICAN TOURNAMENT on-campus, @ClevelandOH -([1/E1]Buffalo, @BowlingGreen, @Toledo, CMichigan, @KentSt),

Monday week-Saturday week:

MEAC TOURNAMENT @NorfolkVA/NorfolkSt/ -(@[1]NorfolkSt, NCA&T, NCCentral, Howard, BethuneCookman).

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Top 25 - 19 Mar 4 - [] Column bSMerrill) edged vNEV to tie.

1. Gonzaga (28-2) 7-PEAT;18TH/19 WCCu+5
2. Virginia (26-2)
3. North Carolina (24-5)
4. Tennessee (25-3)
5. Louisiana State (24-5)
6. Duke (25-4)
7. Purdue (22-7)
8. Michigan State (23-6)
9. Michigan (26-4)
10. Kentucky (24-5)
11. Texas Tech (24-5)
12. Kansas (22-7)
13. Kansas State (22-7)
14. Houston (27-2)
15. Cincinnati (25-4)
16. Virginia Tech (22-6)
17. Villanova (22-8)
18. Washington (23-6) PAC12+4
19. Buffalo (25-3) repeat MAC+2
20. Wofford (23-4) SOCONu+3
21. Marquette (23-6)
22. Utah State (23-6)
23. Nevada (25-3)
24. UCF (22-6)
25. Hofstra (25-5) COLON+2

Honorable Mention:

Indiana (15-14), Penn State (12-17), Creighton (16-13), California (7-22), Ohio State (18-11)/Rutgers (14-14), New Mexico State (24-4) repeat;4TH/5 WAC+3, Belmont (24-4) (3RD/4)/Murray State (23-4) (repeat) OVC, Lipscomb (19-6)/Liberty (20-6) (Carpetbagger) A-SUN+5, VCU (23-6) A-10+2, Drake (21-8)/Loyola(Illinois) (18-12) (repeat) MVC+2, - - - - - - Northern Kentucky (21-8) (repeat)/Wright State (17-11) HORIZ+2, Old Dominion (23-6) C-USA+3, - - - - - - Colgate (20-10)/Bucknell (19-11) (5-PEAT;8TH/9) PAT, UC-Irvine (23-5) 3RD/4 BIG.W+4, South Dakota State (23-7) repeat;4TH/5 SUMMIT, Sam Houston State (17-9) SLAND+3, Radford (17-10)/Campbell (16-11) BIG.S+2, Iona (14-15) MAAC, Vermont (22-6) 3-PEAT AMER.E+2, St. Francis(Pennsylvania) (14-13)/Fairleigh Dickinson (15-13) NEC, Norfolk State (15-11) MEAC+2.