Yesterday’s focus returned for the most part to the NCAA Tournament, but there was some more news on the head coaching front yesterday. Philadelphia 76ers assistant Billy Lange was named the new head coach at Saint Joseph’s yesterday. He does have some Big 5 ties as a former assistant coach at Villanova under Jay Wright. Niagara also made an interesting hire yesterday; Patrick Beilein (son of Michigan head coach John Beilein) was announced as head coach for the Purple Eagles yesterday.
Despite scoring a season-low 22 points in the first half, South Florida was able to manage a tie at halftime and eventually powered their way to a 56-47 win at home against Loyola Marymount in the CBI semifinals yesterday. Both Alexis Yetna and David Collins led the Bulls in scoring with 11 points apiece. They will host Game 1 of the CBI Best-of-3 Championship Series on Monday against DePaul; Games 2 and 3 (if needed) will be played at DePaul.
In the CIT, Hampton jumped out to a 31-12 lead against NJIT in the first 14 minutes of the game and ended up coasting to an 82-70 victory on the road. Jermaine Marrow led the Pirates with 22 points. Texas Southern managed to outlast Louisiana-Monroe 108-102 in a triple-overtime thriller on the road. Tyrik Armstrong played a full 55 minutes and led the Tigers with 32 points in their victory.
CAL STATE-BAKERSFIELD AT GREEN BAY (7:00 PM, WatchCIT.com) – The lone UTR game today features Green Bay (who will be playing their third consecutive home game) hosting a Bakersfield team that has won their two previous games in the CIT on the road. Sandy Cohen II is emerging as a potential MVP candidate for the tournament should Green Bay end up victorious.