It’s been a long haul for Joe Jones. Like his brother, long-time Yale head coach James Jones, he’s simply one of the best people you could meet in the world of college coaching. But he hasn’t had quite the success his brother has, though not for lack of trying.
This isn’t about comparing siblings, though; it’s about one reason why Boston University’s 64-61 win at Colgate in the Patriot League championship game should make you feel good.
Jones began his head coaching career at Columbia, and while there were some successes, postseason play never came. Penn and Princeton still ruled the Ivy League back then, although Cornell had its big run during his tenure, so it was an uphill battle just to be a .500 team. After a year as an assistant at Boston College under former competitor Steve Donahue, he moved down the road to Boston University, and was in a better program relative to its conference peers than Columbia. BU could contend just about every year in America East.
Then the program moved to the Patriot League. At first glance, it was an open question if they could contend just about every year like in America East, but over time it’s been shown that they can.
In their first year in the Patriot League, the Terriers won the regular season title with a 15-3 record in league play. They got to the championship game and hosted, but it was a forgettable night as they seemed to have no life in being handled by American, especially in the second half. Since then, they have been consistent winners save for last season’s 7-11 mark in league play.
With all that winning, though, came no league championships to get to the NCAA Tournament. The Terriers have been to the CIT twice and the NIT in their inaugural Patriot League season, but that has been it. In a time when many athletic directors don’t seem to show much patience when an NCAA bid is lacking, Jones has remained in charge at Boston University, and on Wednesday night, that patience was rewarded.
Boston University tied for second this season in the Patriot League, but lost out on the tiebreaker. They took care of Navy and then Bucknell at home before the challenge of going on the road to take on a Colgate team that was consistently the best team in the league this season. Matt Langel has built the Raiders into a winner and had them poised to repeat, but the Terriers slowed them with their defense and then came out early in the second half to regain the lead. Colgate would get the lead back, but Jonas Harper hit a three-pointer to break a 53-53 tie with over seven minutes left, and BU led from that point on to take home their first Patriot League title.
The forgettable championship game loss in their inaugural season in the Patriot League is but a distant memory. Joe Jones is now bringing a team into the NCAA Tournament.
Side Dishes
Conference tournament roundup:
- ACC second round: No. 8 Clemson took out No. 9 Miami 69-64, No. 5 NC State pulled away from No. 13 Pittsburgh 73-58 for their tenth straight win over the Panthers, No. 7 Notre Dame manhandled Boston College 80-58 despite 20 points and 13 rebounds from Steffon Mitchell, and No. 6 Syracuse hammered No. 14 North Carolina 81-53, the most lopsided loss ever for the Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament.
- Atlantic 10 first round: No. 12 George Mason held off No. 13 Saint Joseph’s 77-70 behind 24 points and nine rebounds from A.J. Wilson, then No. 14 Fordham blew out No. 11 George Washington 72-52.
- Big 12 first round: No. 8 Oklahoma State rallied from a ten-point deficit to edge No. 9 Iowa State 72-71 in a photo finish, then No. 10 Kansas State sent No. 7 TCU home 53-49 in a game where each team had 14 turnovers and no Wildcat scored in double figures.
- Big East first round: No. 9 St. John’s wore down No. 8 Georgetown 75-62, outscoring the Hoyas 42-20 in the second half, then No. 10 DePaul got 23 points and 12 rebounds from Paul Reed to edge No. 7 Xavier 71-67, likely putting to rest any NCAA Tournament hopes for Xavier in what has to be seen as a disappointing season.
- Big Sky first round: No. 9 Sacramento State beat No. 8 Weber State 62-54 despite 33 points from Jerrick Harding, then No. 7 Southern Utah beat No. 10 Idaho 75-69 and No. 11 Idaho State held off No. 6 Northern Arizona 64-62 for their first Big Sky Tournament win in 11 years.
- Big Ten first round: No. 12 Minnesota used a big second half to knock off No. 13 Northwestern 74-57 and No. 11 Indiana hammered No. 14 Nebraska.
- Conference USA first round: No. 9 Florida Atlantic got past No. 8 Old Dominion 66-56, then No. 5 Florida International took care of Rice 85-76, No. 7 UAB held off No. 10 UTSA 74-69 despite 28 points from Keaton Wallace, and No. 6 Marshall beat No. 11 UTEP 86-78.
- MAAC quarterfinals: No. 1 Siena downed No. 9 Manhattan 63-49 and No. 2 St. Peter’s got a jumper with less than a second left to edge No. 7 Iona 56-54.
- MEAC quarterfinals: The first two quarterfinals went to the top seeds, as No. 1 NC Central handled No. 8 Delaware State 92-75 and No. 2 North Carolina A&T got 24 points and 14 rebounds from Ronald Jackson to hold off No. 10 Howard 86-77.
- Pac-12 first round: Alphonso Plummer’s 35 points on 11-16 shooting from long range were not enough for No. 9 Utah, as Jarod Lucas hit a three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left to lift No. 8 Oregon State past them 71-69 in the opener. No. 5 Arizona beat No. 12 Washington 77-70 despite 29 points and 12 rebounds from Isaiah Stewart, then No. 10 Cal dealt the NCAA at-large hopes of No. 7 Stanford a serious blow with a 63-51 win and No. 11 Washington State handed No. 6 Colorado their fifth straight loss 82-68, which means the Buffaloes may very well have to sweat out Selection Sunday.
- SEC first round: No. 13 Georgia got 22 points and 11 rebounds from Rayshaun Hammonds to take care of No. 12 Ole Miss 81-63, then No. 11 Arkansas beat No. 14 Vanderbilt 75-63.
- Southland first round: No. 5 Northwestern State beat No. 8 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 79-62 and No. 6 Lamar handled No. 7 McNeese 80-59.
- Sun Belt quarterfinals: No. 5 Georgia Southern used a big second half for an 81-62 win at No. 4 Georgia State, then No. 3 Texas State made a big halftime lead stand up in an 85-68 win over No. 6 Appalachian State.
Perhaps lost amidst the news of conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament proceeding without fans the rest of the way was the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) calling off the tournament for this year. The Gazelle Group plans to return with it next year.
The season-ending loss for Nebraska was overshadowed by health concerns for head coach Fred Hoiberg, who did not look well on the bench. He left in the final minutes and was hospitalized later in the evening, where he was diagnosed with influenza and later returned to the team hotel.
Also in the coaching world, Steve Hawkins was fired after 17 seasons leading Western Michigan. He won nearly 300 games and led them to two NCAA Tournaments during his tenure. Hawkins had a seizure in his office in 2007, and that story was perhaps a cautionary tale about the business back then, though it feels as though little has changed.
Another casualty of the coronavirus is the NABC Convention, which is normally held during the Final Four. The NABC announced that this year’s event is canceled.
Tonight’s Menu
No conference championship games are on tap, but it’s the busiest day of the week with a number of early round or quarterfinal games.
- The quarterfinals in the ACC Tournament start with No. 1 Florida State taking on No. 8 Clemson (12:30 p.m.), then No. 4 Duke takes on No. 5 NC State (2:30 p.m.), No. 2 Virginia takes on No. 7 Notre Dame (7 p.m.) and No. 3 Louisville takes on No. 6 Syracuse (9 p.m.)
- The American Athletic Conference Tournament gets underway in Fort Worth, and the first round matchups are No. 8 UCF battling No. 9 USF (1 p.m.), No. 5 UConn taking on No. 12 Tulane (3 p.m.), No. 7 SMU taking on No. 10 Temple (8 p.m.) and No. 6 Memphis taking on No. 11 East Carolina (10 p.m.)
- Quarterfinal action in the Atlantic 10 starts with No. 8 UMass taking on No. 9 VCU (noon), then No. 5 St. Bonaventure takes on No. 12 George Mason (2:30 p.m.), (6 p.m.) and No. 6 Duquesne takes on No. 14 Fordham (8:30 p.m.)
- In Kansas City, the Big 12 Tournament has quarterfinal action with No. 4 Texas battling No. 5 Texas Tech in a key game (12:30 p.m.), then No. 1 Kansas takes on No. 8 Oklahoma State (2:30 p.m.), No. 2 Baylor takes on No. 10 Kansas State (7 p.m.) and No. 3 Oklahoma takes on No. 6 West Virginia (9 p.m.)
- The Big East Tournament has its quarterfinals, starting with No. 1 Creighton taking on No. 9 St. John’s (noon), then No. 4 Providence takes on No. 5 Butler (2:30 p.m.), No. 2 Villanova takes on No. 10 DePaul (7 p.m.) and No. 3 Seton Hall takes on No. 6 Marquette (9:30 p.m.)
- In Boise, the Big Sky Tournament has quarterfinal action with No. 1 Eastern Washington taking on No. 9 Sacramento State (2 p.m.), No. 4 Portland State battling No. 5 Montana State (4:30 p.m.), No. 2 Northern Colorado taking on No. 7 Southern Utah (7:30 p.m.) and No. 3 Montana taking on No. 11 Idaho State (10 p.m.)
- The second round of the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis starts with No. 8 Rutgers battling No. 9 Michigan (noon), then No. 5 Iowa takes on No. 12 Minnesota (2:30 p.m.), No. 7 Ohio State battles No. 10 Purdue (6:30 p.m.) and No. 6 Penn State takes on No. 11 Indiana (9 p.m.)
- The Big West Tournament gets going in Anaheim with quarterfinal action as No. 2 Cal State Northridge takes on No. 7 Cal State Fullerton (3 p.m.), then No. 3 UC Santa Barbara takes on No. 6 UC Riverside (5:30 p.m.), No. 1 UC Irvine takes on No. 8 Long Beach State (9 p.m.) and No. 4 Hawai’i takes on No. 5 UC Davis (11:30 p.m.)
- In the Conference USA Tournament, quarterfinal action starts with No. 1 North Texas taking on No. 9 Florida Atlantic (7 p.m.) and No. 4 Charlotte battling No. 5 Florida International (7:30 p.m.), then No. 2 Western Kentucky takes on No. 7 UAB (9:30 p.m.) and No. 3 Louisiana Tech takes on No. 6 Marshall (10 p.m.)
- The MAAC Tournament has its second set of quarterfinals, with No. 3 Rider taking on No. 6 Niagara (7 p.m.) and No. 4 Monmouth battling No. 5 Quinnipiac (9:30 p.m.)
- The MAC Tournament shifts to Cleveland for quarterfinal action, with No. 1 Akron taking on No. 8 Ohio (noon), then No. 4 Northern Illinois takes on No. 12 Miami (Ohio) (2:30 p.m.), No. 2 Bowling Green takes on No. 7 Toledo (6:30 p.m.) and No. 3 Ball State takes on No 6 Kent State (9 p.m.)
- The MEAC Tournament has its second set of quarterfinals, with No. 4 Bethune-Cookman battling No. 5 Morgan State (6 p.m.) and No. 3 Norfolk State taking on No. 6 Coppin State (8 p.m.)
- In Las Vegas, the quarterfinals in the Pac-12 Tournament start with a rivalry game as No. 1 Oregon taking on No. 8 Oregon State (3 p.m.), then No. 4 USC battles No. 5 Arizona (5:30 p.m.), No. 2 UCLA takes on No. 10 Cal (9 p.m.) and No. 3 Arizona State takes on No. 11 Washington State (11:30 p.m.)
- The SEC Tournament has second round action in Nashville, with No. 8 Tennessee battling No. 9 Alabama (noon), then No. 5 Florida taking on No. 13 Georgia (2:30 p.m.), No. 7 Texas A&M taking on No. 10 Missouri (7 p.m.) and No. 6 South Carolina taking on No. 11 Arkansas (9:30 p.m.)
- In Katy, Texas, the Southland Conference Tournament has its quarterfinals with No. 4 Sam Houston State taking on No. 5 Northwestern State (6 p.m.) and No. 3 Nicholls taking on No. 6 Lamar (8:30 p.m.)
- The WAC Tournament gets going with its quarterfinals in Las Vegas, starting with No. 1 New Mexico State taking on No. 8 Chicago State (3 p.m.), then No. 4 Grand Canyon battles No. 5 UMKC (5:30 p.m.), No. 2 UT Rio Grande Valley takes on No. 7 CSU Bakersfield (9 p.m.) and No. 3 Seattle U takes on No. 6 Utah Valley (11:30 p.m.)
