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Saturday, November 23, 2024
Coaches such as Jim Valvano, Rollie Massimino and Tom Izzo are among those to make the month of March their personal playground over the years, regularly leading teams on extended runs, regardless of the strength of their teams in the regular season. Few would include Ray Harper on that list, but it has become time that they should.
UAB won the regular season in Conference USA, but still has another hurdle to climb for the NCAA Tournament. If they pass that, they could be a sleeper once in the field.
We’re on the doorstep of March now, so there isn’t much that has been left uncovered in a season, but the question must be asked: is there a better secret in college basketball this year than Fresno State?
In a college basketball year that has been defined by unpredictability, we dare say that the host of downright thrilling conference races is a story developing late that is also becoming a signature mark of this season.
North and south, east and west, there were high-level games and fantastic finishes last night. We’ve still got more than a month yet until we get to March-including a Leap Year day-but it felt like a snapshot from the greatest basketball month of the year.
As much as almost any teams in the country, Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s are programs both known for offense, but their latest meeting was one marked with defense.
Thursday night provided a flurry of activity, good games and most notable results, but few games this year have drawn us in more at the end like the Conference USA tilt between UAB and Old Dominion did.
Sometimes in college basketball, comebacks happen so fast and so suddenly that it’s literally as if a storm blew through, and a game seemingly in hand suddenly has slipped away. SMU was the victim in such a scenario in its NCAA Tournament loss to UCLA in March; last night, the Mustangs returned the favor.
Arizona showed resilience, the ability to adapt and the toughness and moxie needed to win a big road game on Saturday, even in a contest when it didn’t play its best.
Reflecting on the first (half) month of the college basketball season, we look back at some of the bests, worsts, achievements and trends from November:
