The Morning Dish – Sunday, March 6th
Four Teams Are In: Four more teams joined Penn as the winners of an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. Be sure to visit Thirteen Days: Championship Week for more complete information.
- UCF (24-8) repeated as Atlantic Sun champions in their final season there with a 63-54 win against Gardner Webb, getting 19 points by Gary Johnson and holding the Runnin’ Bulldogs (18-12) to just better than 35 percent shooting.
- Winthrop completed its quest to return to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big South championship with a 68-46 thrashing of Charleston Southern. It’s the first trip for the Eagles (27-5) since 2002, when they made their fourth straight appearance.
- Eastern Kentucky (22-8) will make its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1979 and set a school record for wins after a 52-46 win against Austin Peay in the Ohio Valley Conference championship game.
- After losing in the title game the past two years, Chattanooga (20-10) took the next step by winning the Southern Conference championship with a 66-62 win against UNC Greensboro.
Longhorns Win Key Road Game: Texas held on for a 74-73 win at Oklahoma State thanks to a missed free throw with less then a second left. Brad Buckman tied his career high with 27 points for the Longhorns (20-9, 9-7 Big 12), but he fouled Terrance Crawford with 0.3 seconds left. Crawford would miss the second free throw, ending the game. Joey Graham led the Cowboys (20-6, 11-5) with 17 points and JamesOn Curry added 16.
Cardinals Win Game, Conference: Larry O’Bannon followed up his career night a few nights ago with another stellar outing, scoring 24 points on 6-of-7 shooting to lead Louisville to a 66-62 win at DePaul. With the win, the Cardinals (26-4, 14-2 C-USA) take first place outright in Conference USA. DePaul (18-9, 10-6) got 21 points and seven assists from Sammy Mejia.
Top of the Big East Shakes Out: It was the last day of regular season games in the Big East, with the top seed still to be determined entering the day and two important games that would determine the outcome.
In the first game, Connecticut gained a share of the regular season title with an 88-70 win against visiting Syracuse in a match up featuring two coaches who recently reached the 700-career win mark. The Huskies shot bettre than 54 percent from the field and held the Orange below 31 percent to win despite 22 turnovers. Denham Brown had 21 points and Rudy Gay added 16 to lead four players in double figures for the Huskies (21-6, 13-3 Big East). Hakim Warrick led the Orange (24-6, 11-5) with 25 points, but was 5-of-19 from the field.
The Huskies wound up with just a share of the title because in the evening game of importance, Boston College opened up a double-digit lead in the second half, then withstood rallies by host Rutgers to come away with a 78-66 win in Piscataway, N.J. With the win, the Eagles (24-3, 13-3) finished tied with Connecticut in Big East play at 13-3, but the Eagles get the top seed in next week’s Big East Tournament by virtue of their 75-70 win against Connecticut Jan. 5. Jared Dudley led five Eagles who scored in double figures with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Ricky Shields had 21 points in his final home game to lead Rutgers (9-18, 2-14).
Wildcats Survive: Villanova broke open a close game early in the second half, then had to make some late plays and free throws in its 70-68 win at St. John’s. The Wildcats (21-6, 11-5 Big East) ran off 11 straight points to take a 49-35 lead and still led by 13 with just under six minutes left. But the Red Storm (9-18, 3-13) mounted a furious rally, running off eight straight points as part of a 14-1 run to tie the game at 65 with less than a minute to go on two free throws by Lamont Hamilton (20 points). With a two-point lead in the closing seconds, Randy Foye stole the ball and ran out the clock for the Wildcats’ seventh straight win. Allan Ray led Villanova with 22 points and Will Sheridan had 19 points and 12 rebounds, with several baskets coming at key junctures of the game. Daryll Hill led St. John’s with 31 points.
Panthers Keep Irish Reeling: Villanova’s first opponent in the upcoming Big East Tournament will be Pittsburgh, which got a career-high 26 points from Chris Taft and 22 points from Chevon Troutman in an 85-77 win at Notre Dame. The win gives Pittsburgh (20-7, 10-6) two straight wins entering the tournament and keeps the Fighting Irish (17-9, 9-7) reeling, as they have lost three of their last four games. Colin Falls led Notre Dame with a career-high 28 points with a school record eight three-pointers.
Olson Reaches Milestone in Big Way: Salim Stoudamire’s double-pump jumper with less than a second remaining gave Arizona a 70-68 win against host Arizona State. The shot capped a 22-point effort for Stoudamire as coach Lute Olson got his 305th career Pac-10 victory, breaking John Wooden’s record of 304. Hassan Adams scored all 15 of his points in the second half for Arizona (25-5, 15-3 Pac-10). Ike Diogu led the Sun Devils (18-12, 7-11) with 25 points.
The win, when combined with Washington’s 77-67 loss at surging Stanford, gives Arizona the Pac-10 regular season title outright. Matt Haryasz had a career-high 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Cardinal (17-11, 11-7), which spoiled the Huskies’ title hopes. Brandon Roy led Washington (24-5, 14-4) with 16 points and eight rebounds.
SEC West Is Decided: Alabama wrapped up the SEC West title with a 68-63 win against host Mississippi State. The Crimson Tide did the work defensively, holding the Bulldogs to 30.3 percent shooting, their worst effort in about four years, and a month and a half after handing them a 49-point loss. Kennedy Winston led the Crimson Tide (23-6, 12-4 SEC) with 21 points, while Lawrence Roberts had 15 points and 11 rebounds in his final home game for Mississippi State (21-9, 9-7).
Charlotte Can’t Avoid Upset: South Florida led for most of the game, holding off some late attempts by Charlotte to rally in an 85-73 upset of the 49ers in Tampa. Terrence Leather scored 24 points and Brian Swift added 19 to lead the Bulls (12-15, 5-11 C-USA) as they handed the 49ers their second straight loss by double digits. Brendan Plavich led Charlotte (21-6, 12-4) with 20 points.
Bearcats Pull It Out: James White’s short jumper with 16.2 seconds left gave Cincinnati a 62-60 win at Memphis. Neither team shot the ball well in a game that was tight throughout, as neither team ever led by double digits. Armein Kirkland led Cincinnati (24-6, 12-6 C-USA) with 16 points, while Memphis (16-14, 9-7) got 19 points from Darius Washington.
Top Teams Roll: Also winning on Saturday were Michigan State (22-5, 13-3 Big Ten), which handed Penn State (7-22, 1-15) its 11th straight loss, 90-64 in State College; Utah (25-4, 13-1 Mountain West), which got 20 points and 15 rebounds from Andrew Bogut in a 72-60 win against San Diego State (10-17, 4-9); Pacific (25-2, 18-0 Big West), which finished off a perfect Big West slate with a 64-48 win at UC-Riverside (9-19, 4-14); Oklahoma (23-6, 12-4 Big 12), which blew out host Texas Tech (18-9, 10-6) 74-54 behind 15 points and nine rebounds from Kevin Bookout; and Wisconsin (20-7, 11-5 Big Ten), which made this the first 20-loss season in 107 years of basketball for Purdue (7-20, 3-13) with a 64-52 home win.
McCants Likely Out Again: North Carolina junior Rashad McCants will likely miss a fourth straight game with an intestinal disorder. The swingman has missed two weeks of practice thus far, and his status for Sunday’s rivalry showdown with Duke is doubtful.
Dockery May Not Return: Coach Mike Krzyzewski continues to be a little pessimistic about the possible return of junior point guard Sean Dockery. Dockery tore the medial collateral ligament in his right knee against Georgia Tech. Dockery is not having surgery, and the most optimistic projection is that he will return for the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Tonight’s Menu
• Illinois looks to finish off a perfect regular season as they travel to Columbus to play Ohio State.
• North Carolina hosts Duke in the biggest rivalry of them all. In other ACC action, North Carolina State hosts Wake Forests and Virginia visits Florida State.
• Kentucky visits Florida in a key SEC matchup.
• Missouri hosts Kansas.
• Conference tournament action continues, featuring seven semifinal rounds. Be sure to check Thirteen Days: Championship Week for the latest updates.
