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Late Night Snacks: Four autobids decided; should BYU be concerned?

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AP photo

GAME OF THE DAY: North Dakota State 60, IPFW 57

In a tremendous back-and-forth contest for the Summit League Conference Tournament title, Taylor Braun and the Bison pulled off a win in the final minutes after falling in the Summit League title game to South Dakota State last season. The Bison will be a trendy upset pick in the NCAA Tournament because they are a senior-laden team that shoots a nation-leading 51 percent from the field.

Check out the NCAA Tournament Primer for North Dakota State here.

IMPORTANT OUTCOMES

1) Gonzaga 75, BYU 64

The Zags are heading to the Big Dance for the 16th consecutive time after knocking off the Cougars in Las Vegas for the WCC Conference Tournament title. Gonzaga is dancing, again, but the bigger question is how this will affect BYU’s NCAA Tournament at-large hopes? The Cougars now sit at 23-11 (13-5 WCC) with an RPI of 30 and a strength of schedule that was at 39 entering the Gonzaga game. With a couple of sub-150 RPI losses, BYU shouldn’t feel too safe, but the Cougars did make it to the championship game in the WCC. It’s worth noting that BYU beat Mount St. Mary’s -- the NEC conference champs -- earlier in the season and their RPI should improve just a tiny bit with that win. BYU will take any help it can get right now as they sit right on the bubble.

Check out the NCAA Tournament Primer for Gonzaga here.

2) Milwaukee 69, Wright State 63

Picked to finish dead-last in the Horizon League in the preseason, the Panthers pulled off another road win on Tuesday after winning at Green Bay in the semifinals. Since senior guard Jordan Aaron returned from suspension, the Panthers haven’t lost and with two consecutive road wins against solid opponents, this team will be a scary 15 or 16 seed in the field of 68.

Check out the NCAA Tournament Primer for Milwaukee here.

3) Mount St. Mary’s 88, Robert Morris 71

At 16-16, Mount St. Mary’s was an unlikely NCAA Tournament team, but after winning the NEC Conference title game over Robert Morris, they’re going dancing. Robert Morris never led and Mount St. Mary’s led by double-digits the entire second half as five players finished in double-figures for the Mountaineers.

Check out the NCAA Tournament Primer for Mount St. Mary’s here.

STARRED

1) North Texas junior guard Chris Jones made two free throws to push the game into overtime and won it with two more as No. 10 seed Mean Green beat No. 15 seed Rice in the first round of the Conference-USA tournament. Marshall was also a winner over Florida Atlantic in day-one action at the C-USA tournament.

2) Summit League Player of the Year Taylor Braun struggled to find his offense in the first half, but had a key three-point play on a driving layup with 12 seconds left to give North Dakota State a four-point lead it would never relinquish. Braun finished with 15 for the Bison.

3) Sam Dower paced Gonzaga with 20 points and 13 rebounds on 10-of-16 shooting in the Bulldogs’ win over BYU. Dower was the only member of Gonzaga’s team to have more than seven field goal attempts in the win.

STRUGGLED

1) Matt Carlino struggled to only 8 points -- way below his season-average of 13.9 points -- on 3-for-12 shooting as the BYU junior guard fouled out in the loss to Gonzaga.

2) IPFW struggled to only 22 points in the second half and blew a five-point halftime lead in the Summit League title game loss to North Dakota State. The Mastodons just couldn’t find a go-to player down the stretch as three players tied for the team lead with nine points.

3) The Robert Morris defense picked a bad night to play poorly. Mount St. Mary’s shot 60 percent from the field -- 44 percent from three-point range -- as Robert Morris never recovered from a 20-point, first-half deficit.

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