Over the next 13 days, the brackets will start to take shape. Teams with no at-large aspirations will make one final push at the post-season. Teams on the bubble will look to assert themselves as worthy members of “The Big Dance”, and contenders will start priming their engines for a national Championship run. While “March Madness” officially begins following Selection Sunday, the real madness starts now.
Until Sunday, March 11, this will be your home for Championship Week recaps and previews. The players and teams are starting to prepare for March Madness, so you should too.
Game of the Night: Marshall 105, Tulsa 100 3OT
DeAndre Kane played 54 minutes and scored a career-high 40 points in the first triple-overtime game in the history of Conference-USA. Neither team led by more than seven points, nine players fouled out, and the two teams combined to go 68-of-101 from the charity stripe. Kane scored seven points in the final 31 seconds of the second overtime after Tulsa had taken a four point lead. The game featured 21 ties and 19 lead changes. Eric McClellan led the way for the Golden Hurricanes with 25 points and Steven Idlet chipped in with 20 as well.
– They were good too: Cincinnati 72, Georgetown 70 2OT
The Bearcats trailed by double-digits with less than ten minutes left in the game, but rallied back on the broad shoulders of Yancy Gates, who finished with a game high 23 points. The battle down low between Gates and Henry Sims was terrific, as the big-man traded baskets on several possessions. Hoya freshman Otto Porter sent the game into overtime thanks to a tough jumper with 3.6 seconds left. Gates continued to dominate in overtime, and Sims responded by sending the game into a second overtime with a nice running floater that beat the buzzer. Cashmere Wright won the game in the second session thanks to a nice drive from the top of the key. The Hoyas had a chance to win the game, but a Sims 3-point attempt caromed off the rim.
Player of the Night: Perry Jones III, Baylor
Jones’ toughness and willingness to take over a game has been questioned for the past few months. But the sophomore sensation showed his toughness and determination, scoring a career-high 31 points to lead the Bears over Kansas State 82-74 in the Big-XII quarterfinals. Jones scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the first half alone, and was the main reason the Bears were able to enact some revenge on the Wildcats, who beat Baylor 57-56 three weeks ago. in that meeting, Jones fouled out with just four points and four rebounds.
– He was good too: Jamal Franklin, San Diego State
Jamal Franklin finished with 19 points, including the game-winning buzzer-beating 3-pointer to beat Boise State in the MWC quarterfinals. Nearly everybody in the arena knew Franklin would be the guy to take the final shot, yet the Broncos could do very little to stop him, as the sophomore hit a high-arching 3-pointer over a double team. This was the second buzzer-beater Franklin has made this year, has he drained a 3-pointer to defeat UNLV back in January
Team of the Night: Alcorn State Braves
The No.6-seed in the SWAC Tournament defeated No.3-seed Prairie View A&M 103-79 despite committing a season-high 26 turnovers. Four Alcorn State players scored 15 points or more, and the Braves led 50-17 at the end of the first half. The Braves only took eight 3-point attempts and connected on five of them. Ken McDonald led the way with 26 points on 11-of-12 shooting and Matrevious Sanders added 12 points, seven assists and six steals.
Thursday Results
Atlantic Coast Conference First Round
#10 Virginia Tech 68, #7 Clemson 63
#8 Maryland 82, #9 Wake Forest 60
#6 Miami 54, #11 Georgia Tech 36
#5 North Carolina State 78, #12 Boston College 57
Big East Conference Quarterfinals
#7 Louisville 84 #2 Marquette 71
#4 Cincinnati 72, #5 Georgetown 70 2OT
#3 Notre Dame 57, #6 South Florida 53 OT
#1 Syracuse 58, #9 Connecticut 55
Big-Ten Conference First Round
#10 Minnesota 75, #7 Northwestern 68 OT
#8 Iowa 64, #9 Illinois 61
#6 Purdue 79, #11 Nebraska 61
#5 Indiana 75, #12 Penn State 58
Big-XII Conference Quarterfinals
#6 Texas 71, #3 Iowa State 65
#4 Baylor 82, #5 Kansas State 74
#2 Missouri 88, #7 Oklahoma State 70
#1 Kansas 83, #9 Texas A&M 66
Big West Conference Quarterfinals
#7 UC-Irvine 65, #2 Cal State-Fullerton 59
#4 Cal Poly 66, #5 UC-Riverside 54
#3 UC-Santa Barbara 72, #6 Pacific 52
#1 Long Beach State 80, #8 UC-Davis 46
Conference-USA Quarterfinals
#6 Marshall 105, #3 Tulsa 100 3OT
#2 Southern Mississippi 81, #10 East Carolina 78 OT
#4 Central Florida 64, #5 UAB 54
#1 Memphis 65, #8 UTEP 47
Mid-Athletic Conference Quarterfinals
#4 Kent State 76, #8 Western Michigan 72
#3 Ohio 65, #7 Toledo 57
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Quarterfinals
#11 Florida A&M 65, #3 Delaware State 55 OT
#4 Bethune-Cookman 60, #5 North Carolina Central 59
Mountain West Conference Quarterfinals
#4 Colorado State 81, #5 Texas Christian 60
#3 UNLV 56, #6 Wyoming 48
#2 New Mexico 79, #7 Air Force 64
#1 San Diego State 65, #8 Boise State 62
Pac-12 Conference Quarterfinals
#9 Oregon State 86, #1 Washington 84
#6 Colorado 63, #3 Oregon 62
#4 Arizona 66, #5 UCLA 58
#2 California 77, #7 Stanford 71
Southeastern Athletic Conference First Round
#11 Georgia 71, #6 Mississippi State 61
#8 Louisiana State 70, #9 Arkansas 54
#7 Ole Miss 68, #10 Auburn 54
#5 Alabama 63, #12 South Carolina 57
Southland Conference Semifinals
#4 McNeese State 92, #1 UT-Arlington 72
#3 Lamar 55, #2 Stephen F. Austin 44
Southwestern Athletic Conference Quarterfinals
#6 Alcorn State 103, #3 Prairie View A&M 79
#5 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 60, #4 Alabama State 56 OT
Western Athletic Conference Quarterfinals
#6 Hawaii 72 #3 Idaho 70
#5 Louisiana Tech 72, #4 Utah State 70
#2 New Mexico State 65, #7 Fresno State 49
#1 Nevada 54, #8 San Jose State 44
Troy Machir is the managing editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @TroyMachir.
