FRIDAY ROUNDUP
Keeping up with NCAA tournament hopefuls this week and next will be a full-time job. Some league tournaments are already underway, while the major conferences continue beating up each other before postseason play. Most of the action yesterday took place in conference tournaments. Below are thumbnail results for games of importance.
[A future post will address the brutal conference tournament
grind that drains teams going into the NCAA Tournament.]
KEY GAMES: (Home teams listed first)
Dartmouth, 55 - Princeton, 77: If the Tigers beat Harvard tonight, they take a 1-game lead in the Ivy.
Penn, 64 – Harvard, 79: The Crimson must beat Princeton tonight for a shot at the automatic bid.
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT RESULTS (Favored seeds listed last)
MISSOURI VALLEY
SIU, 56 – Missouri State, 58: Arch Madness, indeed!
Kyle Weems, the Missouri Valley player of the year, may have saved Missouri State's season, scoring a 1-handed runner off the glass with 1.4 seconds to give the Bears a 58-56 win over Southern Illinois in St. Louis Friday afternoon.
The final score was the only lead of the game for the top-seeded Bears, which rallied from a 9-point deficit in the final 3-½ minutes. Mamadou Seck led the 8th-seeded Salukis with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
Bradley, 56 – Wichita St., 70: The Shockers, which finished a game behind Missouri State in the conference season, need to win the tournament to guarantee a date for the Big Dance.
OHIO VALLEY
Tennessee Tech, 64 – Murray State, 59: Murray State (23-8, 14-4), winners of the regular season title, became the first major casualty of conference tournament play. Despite their record, the Racers won't be dancing this year.
Austin Peay, 49 – Morehead State, 68: After finishing the regular season at 22-9 and a game behind Murray State, the Eagles can RSVP the selection committee with a win in today's final. Morehead State features Kenneth Faried who has 26 double-doubles this year. In last night's win, he grabbed 21 rebounds, scored 12 and blocked eight shots. Faried is tied for 3rd all-time in D-I double-doubles, racking up 83 in his career.
ATLANTIC SUN
Mercer, 72 – Belmont, 80: Top-seeded Belmont (29-4, 19-1) became the first team in the nation to reach 29 wins. A 30th tonight in the finals means a trip to the NCAA tournament for the Bruins.
North Florida, 59 – East Tennessee, 55: With the upset of ETSU, the Ospreys have a chance to dance with another upset tonight. That would give them the invitation with a 16-18 record.
HORIZON
Wright State, 59 – Cleveland State, 73: The Vikings (26-7, 13-5) face tri-conference champion Butler
(21-9, 13-5) in the semifinals tonight.
Detroit, 78 – Valparaiso, 88: The Crusaders (23-10, 12-6) face tri-champ Milwaukee (18-12, 13-5) in tonight's semis in Milwaukee.
SOUTHERN (Winners all play quarterfinal games against teams with first round byes.)
Georgia Southern, 57 – Appalachian State, 65: Mountaineers play Wofford.
UNC- Greensboro, 71 – Davidson, 64: Spartans advance against Western Carolina.
Citadel, 74 – Elon, 85: The Phoenix now face league champion Charleston in the quarterfinals.
Samford, 40 – Furman, 61: Paladins (21-9) play Chattanooga (16-15) tonight.
COLONIAL (Winners all play quarterfinal games against teams with first round byes.)
UNC-Wilmington, 52 – Georgia State, 58: v. George Mason
Drexel, 75 – Towson, 69: v. VCU
Delaware, 60 – Northeastern 58: v. Virginia Commonwealth
James Madison, 68 – William & Mary, 72: v. Hofstra
WEST COAST (Seeds 1 and 2 have double byes. Seeds 3 & 4 have 1st round byes)
Loyola Marymount, 72 – Portland, 68: next v. Santa Clara.
San Diego, 81 – Pepperdine, 84: play third seed San Francisco next.
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