For the Puppet’s editorial on the NCAA Selection Committee – CLICK HERE
For a preview of other postseason games – CLICK HERE
For Jon Teitel’s tips/advice on picking your 2018 bracket – CLICK HERE
For Jon Teitel’s interviews:
– Elon Academic All-American Tyler Seibring – CLICK HERE
– Tennessee assistant women’s coach Bridgette Gordon – CLICK HERE
– NC Central F Pablo Rivas – CLICK HERE
– Penn PG Darnell Foreman – CLICK HERE
– Georgia State F Jordan Session – CLICK HERE
– For previous interviews – CLICK HERE
Finally, for FREE chili (spaghetti extra) – CLICK HERE!
There were a couple of games that were played last night to kick off the NCAA Tournament festivities in Dayton. Carlik Jones (a native of nearby Cincinnati, Ohio) was one of two Radford starters that led the Highlanders to their first ever NCAA Tournament victory with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Ed Polite, Jr. also had 13 points and 12 rebounds for Radford. Their reward will be a trip to Pittsburgh to play Villanova in the first round on Thursday.
In the nightcap, the game between UCLA and St. Bonaventure saw the Bruins climb their way to a 5-point 2nd half lead, but a 9-0 run by the Bonnies gave them the lead for good and they ended up with their first NCAA Tournament victory since they went to the Final Four in 1970 during Bob Lanier’s tenure with the then-Brown Indians. St. Bonaventure will travel to Dallas to take on Florida in the first round on Thursday.
TONIGHT’S GAMES
-TEXAS SOUTHERN VS. NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL (6:40 PM, TruTV). While Mike Davis’s team failed to win a single nonconference game, it wasn’t for lack of talent, but rather a very tough schedule that included teams like Gonzaga, Ohio State, Syracuse, Kansas and Clemson all on the road. While they defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the SWAC Championship game (avenging 2 earlier losses to Pine Bluff in the regular season), NC Central picked up tough wins (by MEAC standards) against Savannah State, Morgan State and Hampton to win the MEAC title. The Eagles have finished as high as a 14 seed a few years ago, but are a likely underdog to Texas Southern for tonight. The winner advances to Nashville to play top-seeded Xavier Friday night.
-ARIZONA STATE VS. SYRACUSE (9:10 PM, TruTV). The best has been saved for last in Dayton – both the Sun Devils and the Orange were the last two teams selected into the NCAA Tournament field. When ASU was beating teams like Xavier, Kansas and Kansas State in the noncon, they were getting monster play from their backcourt. They’ll literally have a tall order in front of them in the form of Syracuse’s 2-3 zone. The Orange were able to get notable wins like Clemson, at Miami, and at Louisville to get an at-large bid despite a sub-.500 ACC finish. The winner of this game goes up I-75 to Detroit to play TCU in the first round on Friday night.