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The Secondary Break: Tuesday’s Links

MVC Missouri St Wichita St Basketball

Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall applauds his team’s defensive efforts during an NCAA college basketball game against Missouri State in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference men’s tournament Saturday, March 8, 2014, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Chris Lee) EDWARDSVILLE INTELLIGENCER OUT; THE ALTON TELEGRAPH OUT

AP

Scouting the Shockers: How Wichita State went 34-0 (Shot Analytics)
No. 2 Wichita State won’t be in action this week, with the Missouri Valley Conference tournament coming to an end on Sunday. Now 34-0 on the season, the Shockers are six wins away from a national title and history, and the linked story provides a detailed look at how Gregg Marshall’s team has reached this point.

Star-crossed William & Mary’s bid to escape ignominy ends in heartache (Yahoo! Sports)
Monday’s action featured three highly entertaining conference championship games, one of which being Delaware’s 75-74 win over William & Mary in the CAA final. That defeat was the latest heartbreaking result for Tony Shaver’s program, one that has never reached the NCAA tournament. The Tribe should be one of the favorites to win the CAA next season, but that won’t help ease the pain.

Regular season title should decide automatic NCAA tournament bids (Sports on Earth)
With Davidson, Green Bay and Vermont all being upset in their respective conference tournaments this weekend, it’s likely that all will end up in the Postseason NIT (although Green Bay holds out hope for an at-large bid). And more than a few have argued that this isn’t fair, with the team that showed itself to be the best in its conference finding itself on the outside looking in.

GSU’s Scott uses basketball to overcome hardship (The News Star)
Grambling State hasn’t received much national attention this season outside of its football team calling attention to shockingly poor facilities and equipment and the basketball team continuing to struggle. But there are positive stories, most notably that of guard Antwan Scott. Scott was named first team All-SWAC on Monday, and he’s gone through some challenging moments to reach this point.

Florida’s Patric Young captains All-Glue Team (Sports Illustrated)
The “glue guy.” It’s a term that gets thrown around quite often in college basketball, sometimes accurately and others not. But there’s no arguing that such players are critical, especially when it comes to teams with hopes of winning a national title. Every successful team has a guy who does the little things that keep the group together, and this list honors some of the best.

Rebuilt Big East faces test (NorthJersey.com)
This will be an interesting week in New York, with the Big East tournament tipping off on Wednesday but with a much different look. Gone are powers such as Syracuse and UConn, with college football necessitating their move to new leagues. Butler, Creighton and Xavier are making their first appearances in the event, and the test for the conference is to make sure it remains in the conversation with the other top conferences across the country.

Miles making basketball relevant in football-mad Nebraska (Rochester Post-Bulletin)
Nebraska picked up a quality win for its resume on Sunday, beating No. 9 Wisconsin to grab the four-seed in this week’s Big Ten tournament. Having a new building in his second season has helped, but Tim Miles’ hard work (and that of his staff) has led to a fan base that would normally be focused on spring football at this point in the year catching basketball fever.

Delaware’s win reverses long CAA title trend (City of Basketball Love)
Delaware win over William & Mary to earn the CAA’s automatic bid on Monday night reversed a trend that the conference’s northernmost members have fought to end for years. The Fightin’ Blue Hens became the first team north of Maryland to win the CAA tournament, with their talented guards and forward Carl Baptiste being huge factors in the outcome.

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