There weren’t too many surprises last night, but the game of the night came from an odd place – it was in the Atlantic Sun where conference leader Austin Peay paid a visit to North Florida. The game was tied 75-75 in the closing seconds of regulation when Austin Peay called a timeout. One small problem – they did not have a timeout and were assessed a technical foul as a result. UNF hit one of two technical free throws to take a 1-point lead, but the Govs were able to inbound the ball and hit a buzzer-beating shot to escape with a 77-76 win. They maintain a 1-game lead over Central Arkansas in the A-Sun standings.
The other result of note was Hawai’i losing at home to Cal Poly; as a result the Warriors drop into 2nd place by a full game. It also meant that Cal State-Bakersfield was eliminated from qualifying for the Big West Tournament.
-In the Ohio Valley, UT Martin has now lost four of their last five, and perhaps none more spectacularly than they did last night against Little Rock. They had the ball with the shot clock off and the game tied with a shot to win it, but dribbled into traffic, turned it over, and Little Rock got a game winning transition layup as time expired to win 67-65. UT Martin, who at one point appeared to be running away from the rest of the OVC, has now dropped down to 4th place.
As mentioned, Cal State-Bakersfield was eliminated last night, dropping us to 354 teams remaining. Niagara can be eliminated tonight with a loss at Mount St Mary’s combined with an Iona win at home over St. Peter’s.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
Akron at Ball State (6:30 PM, CBS Sports Network) The MAC takes center stage tonight on CBS Sports Network as the Zips maintain pressure on the Miami Redhawks for the top seed in the conference tournament. Akron shouldn’t have much trouble in this one.
VCU at Saint Louis (7:00 PM, ESPN2) The Billikens are coming off of their first loss in conference play and will be hosting a VCU team that is desperate to beat a tournament quality team. Getting a road win against said team would be a bigger feather in the cap for the Rams.
Green Bay at Oakland (7:00 PM, ESPN+) Good luck trying to pick a winner in the Horizon League this year. Doug Gottlieb will be in the penalty box for one game as a result of his postgame comments following Green Bay’s loss at Milwaukee on Sunday.
Indiana at Purdue (8:00, FOX) The Hoosiers have already won the first contest between these in-state rivals and will be looking for an elusive series sweep against the Boilers. Purdue will come into tonight in a bad mood after getting pummeled at home against Michigan earlier in the week.
Siena at Merrimack (8:00 PM, ESPNU) Merrimack has a chance to widen the gap between themselves and the rest of the Metro Atlantic as they host the 3rd place Siena Saints tonight.
Bowling Green at Mother Miami (8:30 PM, CBS Sports Network) With each passing game the spotlight grows brighter on the Miami Redhawks as they look to remain unbeaten with their second matchup against the Falcons. This is Miami’s penultimate game at Millett Hall this year.
