Don’t look now, but UCF is looking very much like the team they were predicted to be before the season. And while they won’t win the regular season title in the American Athletic Conference, they could finish just a game back and enter the conference as the hottest team.
Beating the two pacesetters in consecutive games can do that for a team. Last night, they held off Cincinnati 58-55 after beating Houston a few nights earlier.
Unlike Saturday, when the Knights used a big second half effort to grab the lead and hang on, they had to hold off Cincinnati after the Bearcats rallied from being down by eight at halftime to tie it at 42. The Knights scored the next eight points, then a 9-1 Bearcat run tied it again at 51. The Knights never trailed after that, but Cincinnati had two chances to tie it in the final seconds that missed.
Since dropping a five-point decision at Cincinnati last month, the Knights have won four in a row, and that loss was the only one in their last eight games. More importantly, with Temple looming in the regular season finale on Saturday, the Knights now have a couple of resume wins that they previously lacked. Before this, their best wins were against Alabama and Temple, both bubble teams. They also have wins over Western Kentucky and Georgia Southern, but neither will move the NCAA Tournament needle. They help cancel out an early loss to Florida Atlantic, the only head-scratching loss they have.
It seems like ages ago that UCF was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the American Athletic Conference. Perhaps that owes to the news being received with a yawn, and perhaps a thought that it was reflective of the conference being in for a down year since the favorite was not a familiar name like Cincinnati, UConn, Wichita State or even SMU. Perhaps it owes to the sensational season Houston has had, which few outside of the Cougar locker room saw coming. And perhaps it owes to the Knights playing well, but not scoring a big win until the two they have scored in their last two games.
But as we head into the final days of the regular season, UCF is looking like the team they were thought to be. A win at Temple on Saturday would be the icing on the cake, and while they should win a game or two next week to feel safe, it looks more and more like they will go dancing this year.
Side Dishes
In conference tournament action:
- The championship game matchup is set in the Atlantic Sun Tournament, and there isn’t a surprise. No. 2 Liberty beat No. 3 North Florida 71-63, then No. 1 Lipscomb pulled away from No. 5 NJIT 78-55.
- In the Big South Tournament, No. 2 Radford used a big second half to beat No. 7 Presbyterian 84-76, then No. 6 Charleston Southern knocked off No. 3 Winthrop 77-63 to close out the afternoon. In the evening, No. 1 Campbell beat No. 8 Hampton 86-77 behind 34 points from Chris Clemons, which moves him to fourth on the NCAA’s all-time career scoring list, and No. 4 Gardner-Webb held off No. 5 High Point 75-69.
- The MAAC is off and running with three first round dandies in the books. It started with a typical 8-9 dandy that saw No. 9 St. Peter’s take out No. 8 Marist 77-71 in overtime. After that, No. 7 Manhattan edged No. 10 Fairfield 57-53 and No. 6 Monmouth edged No. 11 Niagara 76-72.
- First round action in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament saw No. 9 Valparaiso look like the Crusaders of early on as they blew out No. 9 Indiana State 77-55, then 7 Illinois State took out No. 10 Evansville 65-60.
- The Ohio Valley Conference Tournament had no surprises in their two quarterfinal games on Thursday, with No. 4 Austin Peay taking care of No. 5 Morehead State 95-81 and No. 3 Jacksonville State rallying from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat No. 7 UT Martin 88-81.
- Home teams took three of four quarterfinals in the Patriot League Tournament on Thursday. No. 5 Navy was the only road team to win, edging No. 4 American 60-56 despite 29 points from Sa’eed Nelson. No. 3 Lehigh trailed No. 6 Army by 12 at the half, but took over in the second half for a 75-70 win, No. 2 Bucknell pulled away from No. 10 Holy Cross 77-65 and No. 1 Colgate trailed by nine at the half before coming alive to beat No. 8 Boston University 81-69.
- Out west, in first round action in the West Coast Conference Tournament, No. 8 Pepperdine took out No. 9 Pacific 61-53 and No. 7 San Diego took care of No. 10 Portland 67-47 as the Pilots go the entire season without winning a conference game.
In non-tournament action of note, Wisconsin blew out slumping Iowa 65-45, as the Hawkeyes lost both games in which Fran McCaffery was suspended and have now lost three straight. Houston took care of SMU 90-79, Temple got past UConn 78-71, Howard went on the road to MEAC regular season champion Norfolk State and got 36 points from R.J. Cole to pull off a big 98-95 win for their fourth straight win and some momentum heading into next week’s tournament, and Prairie View A&M clinched the SWAC regular season title with a 73-55 win over Southern. Also, the Big Sky regular season title will come down to Saturday, as Montana (81-69 losers at Portland State) and Northern Colorado (70-53 winners at Southern Utah) are tied at 15-4 heading into the final regular season game for each.
And maybe Cal will shock the world and win the Pac-12 Tournament next week. Why not? The way this season has gone in the Pac-12, it would only be fitting, especially since the Golden Bears end the regular season with a three-game winning streak after going to arch rival Stanford and winning 64-59 last night.
There is potentially more trouble ahead for already-convicted Merl Code and Christian Dawkins, as the federal government filed a superseding indictment against both. The indictment does not contain new criminal charges, alleging that Dawkins attempted to get help from two assistant coaches in getting new clients for his agency, with ESPN reporting that the assistants are Creighton assistant Preston Murphy (who grew up with Dawkins in Saginaw, Michigan) and TCU assistant Corey Barker.
Related to that, Yahoo Sports reported more details on wiretapped phone calls involving LSU head coach Will Wade and Dawkins. Simply put, they raise some big questions, as at one point, Wade talks about details of an offer to people connected to a recruit, thought to be current freshman Javonte Smart. Wade is slated to be subpoenaed to testify at the April trial of Dawkins and Code. LSU is in the midst of a terrific season, but this will surely cast a pall over them as they head towards an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim was cleared of any wrongdoing in the Feb. 20 fatal accident he was involved in. The official report released by Onondaga County District Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick noted that there was no evidence that drugs or alcohol played a role in the accident, or the preceding accident whose scene Boeheim was driving by.
Tonight’s Menu
It’s a big day with a lot of tournament action and a few of the final regular season games.
- The Big South Tournament picks up with the semifinals, with No. 2 Radford taking on No. 6 Charleston Southern (6 p.m.) followed by No. 1 Campbell taking on No. 4 Gardner-Webb (8:30 p.m.)
- The Missouri Valley Tournament has quarterfinal action on tap, starting with No. 9 Valparaiso taking on No.1 Loyola-Chicago (1:05 p.m.), then No. 4 Missouri State battles No. 5 Bradley (3:35 p.m.) to close the afternoon session. The evening session begins with No. 2 Drake taking on No. 7 Illinois State (7 p.m.), and the day closes out with No. 3 Southern Illinois taking on No. 6 Northern Iowa (9:35 p.m.)
- The MAAC has its first two quarterfinals slated for this evening in Albany, with No. 9 St. Peter’s taking on No. 1 Iona (7 p.m.) followed by No. 2 Canisius taking on No. 7 Manhattan (9:30 p.m.)
- The Ohio Valley Conference Tournament is on to the semifinal round. First, No. 1 Belmont takes on No. 4 Austin Peay (8 p.m.), then No. 2 Murray State battles No. 3 Jacksonville State (10 p.m.)
- First round action is set for the Southern Conference Tournament in Asheville, N.C., with No. 8 VMI battling No. 9 Western Carolina (5 p.m.) followed by No. 7 Samford taking on No. 10 The Citadel (7:30 p.m.)
- The final Friday-Saturday of Ivy League play is in front of us, and there’s jockeying for position among the top three and then four other teams vying for the fourth and final spot in the league tournament. It gets going with Princeton hosting Brown (4 p.m.), then Penn hosts Yale, Cornell hosts Harvard and Columbia hosts Dartmouth, all tipping at 7 p.m.
- Buffalo closes out its regular season hosting Bowling Green (6 p.m.)
- One ACC game is on tap as Miami visits Virginia Tech (7 p.m.)
- Maryland hosts Minnesota in a Big Ten matchup (7 p.m.)
- In Atlantic 10 action later, VCU hosts Saint Joseph’s (9 p.m.)
- Out west is second round action in the West Coast Conference Tournament, where No. 5 Loyola Marymount takes on No. 8 Pepperdine (9 p.m.) and No. 6 Santa Clara battles No. 7 San Diego (11 p.m.)
