No. 1 Utah State left nothing to chance, beating No. 2 Nevada 72-62 to win the WAC automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

In a back-and-forth game, Akron had enough to hold off a great second half by Nate Miller and Bowling Green to advance to the MAC title game.

Sometimes what’s predictable happens exactly as predicted. For much of the evening the Buffalo Bulls doubled the Ball State Cardinals on the boards, with the rebounds evenly distributed up and down the roster. The end result would mirror that, as the Bulls move on to the MAC championship.

When UMBC takes the floor tomorrow for their eleven AM tip-off against top-seeded Binghamton University, more than simply an NCAA birth is at stake for the Retrievers. The careers of seniors Darryl Proctor, and Jay Greene, the two best players in school history, hang in the balance. No two players have meant more to UMBC, or any school in the America East over a two-year span, than the Retrievers senior captains.

No. 9 Baylor is closing in on a remarkable run through the Big 12 Conference Tournament after beating No. 5 Texas 76-70 in the semifinals. No. 3 Missouri is making a claim for a high seed in the NCAA Tournament by beating teams away from home, taking out No. 7 Oklahoma State 67-59 in the latest win.

Trailing by eight at halftime, No. 1 Louisville dominated the second half to win 69-55 against No. 4 Villanova. No. 6 Syracuse played its seventh overtime in the past 24 hours in a 74-69 win against No. 7 West Virginia.

No. 1 Michigan State overcame a poor performance from its starters, getting 34 points from its bench in a 64-56 win against No. 8 Minnesota. Junior guard Jeremie Simmons made two free throws with seven seconds to go to give No. 5 Ohio State a 61-57 lead and preserve a tight win against No. 4 Wisconsin. After leading by only a point at halftime, No. 2 Illinois opened the second half with a 25-7 run to build a 19-point lead and cruise to a 60-50 win against No. 7 Michigan. No. 3 Purdue led by as much as 24 in the second half before putting the game on cruise control and letting Penn State cut the final margin to 14 in a 79-65 romp.

Trailing by ten early and without a true point guard on the floor, it didn’t look good for Akron. But a couple of unexpected players picked up the slack, got the Zips back to life and sparked a quarterfinal victory.

No. 1 Memphis continued to roll through Conference USA with a 74-49 win against No. 5 Houston. No. 2 Tulsa used a 12-0 run in the first half to erase a slow start, the Golden Hurricane never relinquished the lead in a 70-67 win against No. 3 UAB.