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HoopsHD continues its series leading up to Selection Sunday and March Madness, as we simulate what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t).  Up next is the Big East Conference.  Creighton, Villanova and Seton Hall each entered the conference tournament with an eye on 2 seeds in the NCAA Tournament and even an outside shot at thee #1 line.  Xavier was right on the bubble, and an opening round loss Wednesday night to DePaul did nothing to help the Musketeers cause.  As the conference enters the quarterfinals, the question is which team will win the tournament and make a claim, at least, at the 2 line, and whether a Cinderella story could arise.  It is time to see what would have happened.

BIG EAST QUARTERFINALS

St John’s, playing the Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden, clearly had the home court advantage over Creighton in the first quarterfinal of the day.  This advantage allowed the Johnnies to jump out to a 38-35 halftime lead, which was extended to 10 points early in the second half.  The Bluejays were not done, however, and made several runs over the next 10 minutes to try to cut into the lead.  An 11-1 run starting with just under 5 minutes left to play finally pushed Creighton over the top and gave them their first lead since the first half with under a minute left to play at 70-68.  Marcellus Earlington tipped in an offensive rebound with 30 seconds left to tie the game for the Red Storm, and neither team was able to score again before the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.  Ty-Shon Alexander scored 5 of the Bluejays’ last 7 points in OT to give his team a 4 point lead, and a couple of missed shots late ended the season for the Red Storm.  Creighton won 84-80 to advance to Friday’s semifinals.

The 4/5 game featured one of the hottest teams in all of college basketball, the Providence Friars, who had moved from a postseason afterthought to a near-lock for the Big Dance when play started this day.  Their opponent was a Butler team that had sputtered down the stretch but was looking to turn it on again in the conference tournament  Providence built a 7 point halftime lead, and was able to counter every run that Butler made at them in the second half.  When the final horn sounded, the Friars were in the semifinals by a final score of 75-70.  David Duke’s 16 points led the way for Providence, while Alpha Diallo added 13 points and 9 rebounds.

The third quarterfinal of the night, between 10-seed DePaul and 2-seed Villanova looked like a mismatch on paper.  However, the game was played on the court, not on paper, and the Blue Demons came out on fire, building a 45-32 halftime lead and causing televisions around the country to suddenly be tuned in to this potential upset.  The Wildcats were not done, however, and came storming back in the second half, taking an 82-80 lead with just over a minute left to play.  That is when things got fun.  DePaul’s Charlie Moore sunk a jumper with 19 seconds left to tie the game.  Villanova then came down the court, and got reserve Cole Swider open from 3 at the top of the key where he sunk what looked like a game-winner with just 2 seconds left, putting the Hoyas up 85-82.  However, Charlie Moore was not done, as his halfcourt prayer at the buzzer found the net, and the game was suddenly tied and heading to overtime!  DePaul may have had a miracle at the end of regulation, but with Villanova up 98-95 and 10 seconds left to play in overtime, Jaylen Butz’s potential game-tying 3 clanked off the rim, and Villanova was celebrating a hard-fought victory.

After an average margin of victory of only 4 points in the first three games at the Garden, one would have thought that we were finally in store for a blowout n the nightcap between 6-seed Marquette and 3-seed Seton Hall.  That most certainly did not happen.  The game was tight throughout, as Markus Howard scored 30 points to keep his Golden Eagles close all the way until the final minute.  Free throw shooting proved to be the key, as Romaro Gill and Jared Rhoden each hit clutch shots from the line to secure an 85-82 win for the Pirates.  Myles Powell and Quincy McKnight each had 19 points for the Hall, who advanced to a semifinal game on Friday against Villanova.

BIG EAST SEMIFINALS

Creighton had captured the top seed in the Big East Tournament, but had to face the conference’s hottest team in the semifinals, Providence.  The Bluejays were somehow able to find a way to cool the Friars down, pulling out to a 7 point halftime lead and winning by a final score of 92-82.  Ty-Shon Alexander was huge for his team again, scoring 22 points and pulling down 8 rebounds.  The win gave Creighton a spot in the conference title game, putting them in good position for a very high seed in the Big Dance.

The late semifinal was billed as one of the top games of the day, as Villanova and Seton Hall, a pair of teams that had each won at the other’s home court during the regular season, squared off on a neutral court to decide which team would truly have the bragging rights against the other this season.  The game easily lived up to its billing, with both teams trading shots back and forth the entire night.  Seton Hall finally started to pull away a bit with 3 minutes left, building a 5 point lead that the Pirates held until the final 10 seconds, when a pair of Villanova 3-pointers by Saddiq Bey and Collin Gillespie pulled the Wildcats to within one point.  Free throws by Myles Powell and Romaro Gill proved to be the difference, and the Pirates were on to the title game, winning 76-74.  Powell led the way with 26 points for the Hall.

BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP

With only one game having a final score differential in double digits so far in the entire Big East Tournament, there was little doubt that the championship game would bring more of the same as 3-seed Seton hall took on top seed Creighton.  The Hall came out strong in the first half, building a 7 point lead at the break and extended the lead to 12 with 10 minutes left to play.  However, Creighton ended up having just a little more juice left in their tanks than the Pirates did.  A 15-4 run over the next 5 minutes cut the lead to one, and Seton Hall seemed to have run out of gas, playing in their third close game in three days.  A Denzel Mahoney jumper gave Creighton the lead 2 minutes later, and the Bluejays made their free throws late to hold on for the title, winning by a final score of 86-81 and cutting down the nets as Big East champions.

HoopsHD continues its series leading up to Selection Sunday and March Madness, as we simulate what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t).  Up next is the Atlantic Ten Conference, where the Dayton Flyers were looking to extend an 18-0 regular season into a perfect 21-0 against conference opponents.  Richmond and Rhode Island entered with dreams of at-large bids, and Saint Louis was even still in the bubble talk.  Would the Flyers be perfect?  Would someone else lock up at least an at-large bid?  Could a bid thief like Davidson or St. Bonaventure steal it?  Let’s find out!

ATLANTIC TEN SECOND ROUND

The second round of the Atlantic Ten tournament began with a highly entertaining game between 8-seed UMass and 9-seed VCU, with the Rams holding on for a 69-66 win when Samba Diallo’s potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer just barely missed.  The other three games proved to be a lot less exciting.  Although George Mason held a halftime lead, 5-seed St. Bonaventure rolled in the second half and won going away, 78-60.  Davidson’s Kellan Grady scored 28 points to lead his Wildcats to a convincing 79-55 win over La Salle.  And in the nightcap, a double-double from Michael Hughes led the way as Duquesne took down Fordham, 66-58.

ATLANTIC TEN QUARTERFINALS

The Dayton Flyers had gone a perfect 18-0 against Atlantic Ten competition during the regular season, and that perfection continued in their quarterfinal matchup with VCU.  Obi Toppin was once again dominant in this game, scoring 25 points and pulling down 12 rebounds, while teammate Trey Landers had a double-double as well with 12 points and 13 boards.  The Flyers built a 14 point halftime lead and then turned on cruise control, coasting in for an 82-74 win.

The Saint Louis Billikens needed a win in their quarterfinal matchup with 5-seed St. Bonaventure in order to keep their remote at-large bid chances alive and, even more importantly, to set up an Arch-Baron Cup semifinal against Dayton.  Despite St. Louis building a 47-33 halftime advantage, the Bonnies came out on fire in the second period, and halfway through it took a 64-63 lead.  The game was close the rest of the way, and when Bobby Planutis missed a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left, the Billikens had the ball down 2 with a chance to tie or win.  Despite getting two offensive rebounds and three good looks at a tying or winning shot in their final possession, Saint Louis could not get the ball through the net, and the Bonnies pulled off the mild upset, winning 85-83 and advancing to the semifinals.

The excitement continued in the third quarterfinal between 7-seed Davidson and 2-seed Richmond.  The Spiders, a team squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble, absolutely needed this win to keep their at-large bid dreams alive.  The Davidson Wildcats, however, had other plans.  Jon Axel Gudmundsson scored 24 points and Kellan Grady added 17 to lead Davidson to an 88-84 upset victory that would likely send Richmond to the NIT.

The Rhode Island Rams also had at-large bid dreams entering the Atlantic Ten tournament, though they knew that in all likelihood winning the automatic bid may be their only real path to a dance ticket.  The 3-seed got a tough battle from 6-seed Duquesne in a game that was close throughout.  Rhode Island led by 3 at the half and was able to hold on for a 63-56 victory.  The Rams were led by 21 points from Fatts Russell and a double-double by Cyril Langevine.

ATLANTIC TEN SEMIFINALS

The Dayton Flyers had every bubble team in the nation rooting for them to capture the A-10 automatic bid as they entered their semifinal matchup with St. Bonaventure.  Alarm bells started ringing across the nation when the Bonnies played one of their best halves of the season and took a 43-36 lead into the halftime break.  However, Obi Toppin and company proved to be too much for the upstart Bonnies, as they came out on fire in the second half and cruised to a 93-84 victory.  Toppin had another double-double to lead the way, scoring 26 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.

In the second semifinal, the Davidson Wildcats had dreams of making up for a disappointing regular season by capturing a conference tournament title.  Rhode Island was just as hungry, however, trying to make up for a late-season slump that may have cost them an at-large bid.  The game was back and forth most of the way, until the Rams opened up a 10-point lead with 3:30 left to play.  Davidson had one last run left, however, and had a chance to tie the game on a Gundmundsson three with 5 seconds left – but the ball did not go through the net and a free throw by Fatts Russell made the final score 75-71 in favor of Rhode Island.

ATLANTIC TEN CHAMPIONSHIP

The Dayton Flyers entered the Atlantic Ten title game looking to secure a shot at a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.  The Rhode Island Rams knew that they were a longshot at best for an at-large bid if they could not win today.  The first half of the game proved to be as entertaining as possible, and Rhode Island took a 2-point lead into the break, 43-41.  However, just like in their semifinal matchup with the Bonnies, the Flyers proved that they were the better team in the second half.  A 15-5 run midway through the period proved to be the final punch, and the Flyers cruised in for a 95-79 win to finish Atlantic Ten play at a perfect 21-0.  Obi Toppin was his usual dominant self, taking home conference Most Outstanding Player honors after scoring 25 points and pulling down 10 rebounds in the finals.  Rhode Island was left to wait to see if their name was called during the Selection Show.

HoopsHD continues its series leading up to Selection Sunday and March Madness, as we simulate what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t).  Up next is the entirety of the American Athletic Conference Tournament.  Houston entered this event as the favorite, while Wichita State was bordering towards the good side of the Bubble and Cincinnati desperately needed a deep run to get into the at-large field.  What would the bubble picture look like after the conference tournament was over?  It is time to find out!

AAC FIRST ROUND

The first round of the American Tournament saw UCF start the day off sneaking by South Florida 73-69.  The UConn Huskies then took the floor for their final tournament as a member of the AAC, and promptly played their final game in the league as a K.J. Lawson 3 with 13 seconds left put Tulane up 73-72, and Akok Akok’s attempt to win the game with a jumper at the buzzer came up short.  Temple cruised past SMU 68-51 in a game that was not even that close, and 22 points from Lester Quinones led Memphis to an easy 74-57 win over East Carolina.

AAC QUARTERFINALS

The top four teams in the American joined the action on Quarterfinal day for a series of games with massive bubble ramifications.  Tre Scott led the way for the Cincinnati Bearcats in the day’s opener, scoring 14 points and pulling down 17 boards as they defeated UCF easily, 84-65.  A loss in this game would have pretty much guaranteed the Bearcats a trip to the NIT, but for now their dreams of a ticket to the Big Dance stayed alive.

Next up, Wichita State, the 4 seed, took on surprising 12-seed Tulane.  The Green Wave played just well enough to stay within one run of making it a game, but not well enough to actually make that run  The Shockers were able to avoid a potential resume-crushing loss, winning 84-74.  Erik Stevenson’s 24 points were tops for his team.

Houston may have been the only AAC team that felt confident about their chances to make the NCAA Tournament heading into the day, and that over-confidence may have played a part in allowing Temple to stay in the game the entire way.  In fact, an Alani Moore 3 pointer with 23 seconds left pulled the Owls even at 69.  But the Cougars had just enough to win this one, as Quentin Grimes nailed a jump shot with less than a second left to lift his team to the two point win and a berth in the semifinals.

The day ended with another thriller, as Memphis’ chance for a spot in the Big Dance got snuffed out by Tulsa.  The Golden Hurricane won 67-63, thanks in part to a huge steal late in the game by Jeriah Horne.  The win gave Tulsa a spot in the semifinals against 2 seed Houston, and saw that, despite a couple of challenges, all four top seeds did advance to Saturday’s games.

AAC SEMIFINALS

The word heading into the first semifinal was that the winner would have a great shot at an at-large berth, while the loser would certainly be sweating things out on Selection Sunday, especially if that loser ended up being the Cincinnati Bearcats.  Although UC was playing for its tournament life, it was the Shockers that were the better team the entire day, building a 10 point lead at the half and holding it most of the second to win 80-71.

With Wichita State now looking like they had sealed up a bid to the Big Dance, Bracketologists everywhere were glued to the Tulsa-Houston game.  A win by Tulsa would likely mean contingency brackets late Sunday afternoon with the AAC title game not set to tip until just 3 hours before the field would be revealed.  The game itself was a thriller, and bubble teams everywhere were sweating hard when Tulsa took a 56-55 lead with 1:30 left to play,  However, a Quentin Grimes 3 on the Cougars’ next possession gave them the lead, and they were able to just barely hold on, with a Tulsa 3-pointer with under 5 seconds left cutting it to 60-59, the final score in the win for Houston that gave them a date with Wichita State in Sunday’s championship.

AAC CHAMPIONSHIP

With both teams looking like they were set to represent the AAC in the NCAA Tournament, there was not much at stake (other than a championship banner) in Sunday’s late title game between Wichita State and Houston.  The Shockers, who had entered the conference tournament as a team that was possibly on the bubble, ended up winning this one fairly convincingly, taking the title by an 85-70 score and locking themselves into the Big Dance with the final automatic bid of Championship Week.  Erik Stevenson scored 23 points for the victorious Shockers en route to winning the tournament Most Outstanding Player Award.

HoopsHD continues its series leading up to Selection Sunday and March Madness, as we simulate what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t).  Today is Saturday, March 14, a day when 14 conference tournament championship would have been decided, starting with the America East title game between Hartford and Vermont.  Do the Hawks have it in them to pull off the upset?  Let’s find out!!!

AMERICA EAST CHAMPIONSHIP

The Vermont Catamounts had entered the America East tournament as the top seed, having locked up home court advantage throughout the playoffs.  Despite this advantage, both 8-seed Maine and 4-seed UMBC had given them tough tests at home in the first two rounds.  But the Catamounts had survived and advanced, only to find the Hartford Hawks waiting, a team that had a chance to make the Field of 68 for the first time in school history.  Unfortunately for the Hawks, history was not being made today, as Vermont came out on fire early with a 15-0 run turning a 12-10 lead into 27-10 just ten minutes into the game.  Hartford was never able to mount any serious charge the rest of the way.  Anthony Lamb’s 15 points led the way, and the home crowd stormed the court at the final buzzer of the 82-57 win to celebrate another conference title and another dance ticket.

Up first among the 20 conference tournaments that weren’t: the ACC.  Simulating it out, we almost saw a surprising bid thief, as a team not projected to make a bid heading into the event made an amazing run through the event and have put themselves on the Bubble come TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t) Selection Sunday.

ACC QUARTERFINALS

In the first quarterfinal matchup of the day, Clemson looked to upset top seed Florida State.  Although the Tigers kept it close for a half, trailing by only 5 at the break, the Seminoles blew things open in the second half to cruise to a 69-52 win.  Trent Forrest led the way for FSU, picking up a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists.

Up next was the 4/5 matchup between Duke and NC State.  The Wolfpack entered this game knowing that a win would almost guarantee them a bid to the Big Dance.  Duke had other things in mind, however, jumping out to a 17-point lead at halftime before cruising in for and 82-64 victory.  Vernon Carey scored 23 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Blue Devil, while Tre Jones added 18 points of his own.  NC State was left to sweat out Selection Sunday.

The upset of the night came in the third quarterfinal, when Mike Brey’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish shocked the Virginia Cavaliers, scoring 70 points on one of the nation’s best defensive teams en route to a 70-50 blowout win.  A 10-0 run midway through the first half, which turned a 12-8 lead into 22-8, proved to be something the Hoos could never recover from.  John Mooney had a monster game for the Irish, scoring 21 points and pulling down 18 rebounds!

The night ended with Louisville defeating Syracuse 92-80 despite a 24 point effort from Elijah Hughes.   Six different Cardinals players all scored in double digits, led by 17 points and 9 rebounds from Jordan Nwora.  Louisville advanced to Friday’s semifinals and a matchup against #7 seed Notre Dame.

ACC SEMIFINALS

ESPN spent most of Thursday night and Friday hyping up the huge semifinal matchup between Florida State and Duke, and the game certainly did not disappoint.  The Blue Devils look good early, building an 8 point lead at the break that was extended to 10 early in the second half.  However, the ‘Noles responded, and tied the game at 76 with just over 4 minutes left.  The game was still tied with 23 seconds left when Cassius Stanley hit what appeared to be a 3 pointer for Duke, but upon replay review, his foot was on the line.  M.J. Walker then played hero for FSU, draining a 3 pointer from the left wing with only 4 seconds left to put his team up 86-85.  Vernon Carey got off a solid shot at the buzzer, but it was long and the Seminoles advanced to Saturday night’s championship game.

The second semifinal sent shockwaves through the college basketball world, most notably the locker rooms of teams on the bubble, when Notre Dame did it again – following up their win over Virginia with a 79-73 victory over Louisville.  The game was back and forth all night, with neither team leading by more than 7 at any time.  Louisville held a 73-69 lead after a Steven Enoch slam off a great feed from Lamarr Kimble with just over 2 minutes left to play.  However, the Irish came right back with back-to-back 3s from John Mooney and Dan Goodwin (who came off the bench to lead his team with 18 points), then proceeded to hit their free throws and close out the upset victory.  Jordan Nwora did have a double-double for the Cardinals, but it was not enough tonight.

ACC CHAMPIONSHIP

The talk heading into the ACC Championship game was whether or not their two huge wins was enough to put Notre Dame back on the bubble and give the Irish a shot at an at-large bid.  The Irish, however, wanted to simply take care of business on the court and play their way into the field.  When Notre Dame took a 39-37 lead into the halftime break, it really looked possible.  However, the second half belonged to Florida State, as the ‘Noles, led by 19 points from M.J. Walker and 18 points and 10 boards from Trent Forrest, took control of the game and cruised in for a 98-87 win.  Florida State was the ACC champion and on their way to the Big Dance.  For Notre Dame, it was time to wait and see if wins over Boston College, Virginia and Louisville was enough to convince the Selection Committee that they deserved a dance ticket as well.