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NCAA Tournament Review and Preview – Thursday, March 21

Posted on March 21, 2019 by John Stalica

For Jon Teitel’s interview with Yale G Miye Oni – CLICK HERE

For Jon Teitel’s interview with NC Central C Raasean Davis – CLICK HERE

For today’s UTR Postseason News, Notes and CIT Games – CLICK HERE

This year was a rare year in that both of the lower-level First Four games were very competitive in Dayton. North Carolina Central looked like they might be the lowest-rated KenPom team to ever win an NCAA Tournament game, but North Dakota State did mount a late comeback for a 78-74 victory and will advance to play Duke in the first round of the East Region on Friday in Columbia, South Carolina.

In the nightcap, Arizona State won in an ugly game with St. John’s that the Sun Devils were never seriously threatened despite a close score in the final four minutes of that game. They will advance to play Buffalo in Tulsa in the West Region on Friday.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES (all times Eastern)

(10) MINNESOTA VS (7) LOUISVILLE (12:10 PM, CBS, Des Moines) – This should be a fantastic opener for the Tournament today. Will Louisville finally pull of their post-Duke hangover with their first win against someone not named Notre Dame in a month, or will Minnesota continue their momentum from the Big 10 Tournament where they beat Purdue?

(14) YALE VS (3) LSU (12:40 PM, TruTV, Jacksonville) – This game has Upset Alert written all over it with Will Wade’s suspension (and possible termination to follow), but will a Yale team that was up and down in the Ivy League be able to pull this one off?

(12) NEW MEXICO STATE VS (5) AUBURN (1:30 PM, TNT, Salt Lake City) – New Mexico State has become a March staple in the tournament and will be looking for their first NCAA Tournament victory since 1993 – will they get it against a red-hot Auburn team that beat Tennessee twice within the span of 9 days?

(13) VERMONT VS (4) FLORIDA STATE (2:00 PM, TBS, Hartford) – The Catamounts and their fans will be making a roughly 3-4 hour trip from Burlington to the XL Center to take on a Florida State that is also on a roll with a win against Virginia and a relatively close loss against a Duke team with Zion Williamson in the lineup in the ACC Tournament.

(15) BRADLEY VS (2) MICHIGAN STATE (approx. 2:40 PM, CBS, Des Moines) – There were rumblings that Michigan State should have had a #1 seed after their Big 10 Championship, but they shouldn’t have too much trouble against a Bradley team that won the Missouri Valley Championship for the first time since 1988.

(11) BELMONT VS (6) MARYLAND (approx. 3:10 PM, TruTV, Jacksonville) – Fun fact in the NCAA Tournament – at least one First Four team has won a first round game since the field expanded to 68 in 2011. This game also features the potential for this to happen again – Maryland is also coming off of an early Big 10 Tournament exit against Nebraska last week. Belmont is coming off of their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory against Temple on Tuesday night.

(13) NORTHEASTERN VS (4) KANSAS (approx. 4:00 PM, TNT, Salt Lake City) – Kansas was able to get 2 wins in the Big 12 in a pseudo-neutral environment before losing to Iowa State in the championship game – they need to be weary of a Northeastern team that got hot late in the year and beat Hofstra in the CAA Championship.

(12) MURRAY STATE VS (5) MARQUETTE (approx. 4:30 PM, TBS, Hartford) – This will definitely have the most star power of the afternoon games with Ja Morant and Markus Howard. Marquette finished the year ice cold with home losses to Creighton and Georgetown and a loss in the Big East semis against Seton Hall. Murray State got the auto bid with an OVC Championship victory against Belmont.

(10) FLORIDA VS (7) NEVADA (6:50 PM, TNT, Des Moines) – Nevada is another team that stumbled down the stretch, and probably wasn’t surprising when they went down to San Diego State in the Mountain West semifinals. Florida ran hot and cold in the SEC, but did get a significant win in the SEC Tournament against a depleted LSU team.

(15) ABILENE CHRISTIAN VS (2) KENTUCKY (7:10 PM, CBS, Jacksonville) – Abilene Christian is one of two teams making their NCAA Tournament debut this year, but their stay figures to be a short one against Kentucky.

(11) SAINT MARY’S VS (6) VILLANOVA (7:20 PM, TBS, Hartford) – While Saint Mary’s fans figure to be outnumbered by Nova fans tonight, it didn’t faze them in the WCC Tournament where they upset Gonzaga to snag an automatic bid into the field. Villanova didn’t dominate the Big East like they had in recent years, but nonetheless remain a threat to make a significant postseason run.

(16) FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON VS (1) GONZAGA (7:27 PM, TruTV, Salt Lake City) – FDU came back from an 11-point deficit to beat Prairie View in their First Four matchup on Tuesday, but appear to be way overmatched against a Gonzaga team that will be in a bad mood after their loss to Saint Mary’s in the WCC Championship 9 days ago.

(15) MONTANA VS (2) MICHIGAN (approx. 9:20 PM, TNT, Des Moines) – This was a curious decision by the Selection Committee to put a rematch from last season’s NCAA Tournament into the bracket this season. Outside of 3 losses to Michigan State, the Wolverines have looked superb and could make another deep postseason run this year.

(10) SETON HALL VS (7) WOFFORD (approx. 9:40 PM, CBS, Jacksonville) – Seton Hall’s return to the NCAA Tournament was a surprise given last year’s senior class that departed, but they will have their hands full against a Wofford team that ran the table against a strong SoCon this year.

(14) OLD DOMINION VS (3) PURDUE (approx. 9:50 PM, TBS, Hartford) – It took a few tries, but Jeff Jones and Old Dominion are back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011. Getting their first NCAA tournament win since 2010 (a 1st-round win against Notre Dame) might be a tall order against Purdue, though.

(9) BAYLOR VS (8) SYRACUSE (approx. 9:57 PM, TruTV, Salt Lake City) – Syracuse will be without the services of Frank Howard in this game, but this still looks to be an evenly matched game between both teams.

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UTR Postseason News, Notes and Highlighted Games – Thursday, March 21

Posted on March 21, 2019 by John Stalica

Tuesday night was a relatively chalky night by NIT standards, but more upsets did emerge last night. Despite falling behind by 10 points at Alabama at halftime, Norfolk State started the second half on a furious run and eventually extended their game into overtime where they beat Alabama by a single point. Wichita State and Harvard also pulled off road wins against Furman and Georgetown, respectively – those are results that aren’t necessarily upsets based on what we saw during the regular season. The other three home teams (TCU, Xavier and Nebraska) got off to slow starts in the first half before eventually pulling away in the 2nd half to advance to Round 2 this weekend. (Stat line of the night – Xavier’s Naji Marshall going off for 20 points and 21 rebounds. It was the first time since David West in 2001 that a Xavier played pulled off a 20-20 game.)

The game of the day was Stony Brook-South Florida; the Seawolves jumped out to a 25-point lead in the first half before South Florida mounted a furious comeback in the 2nd half. They tied the game at the 6-minute mark of the 2nd half and eventually won in overtime to advance to the 2nd round of the CBI. Loyola Marymount was the only road team that won; they got a game-winning 3-point play from Mattias Markusson with 31 seconds left to give them a win against Cal Baptist. All the other home teams (West Virginia, Coastal Carolina, Longwood, Brown and DePaul) won their opening games.

There was also a mild surprise in the Hugh Durham Classic in the CIT – Green Bay went on the road to East Tennessee State and beat the Bucs thanks to a 29-point performance from Sandy Cohen III. UTRGV beat Grambling at home for their first ever postseason victory of any kind, and the other road teams (Texas Southern and Presbyterian) picked up wins against New Orleans and Seattle, respectively.

CIT

SAINT FRANCIS-BROOKLYN AT HAMPTON (7:00 PM, WatchCIT.com) – This is the John McLendon Classic – this features a Hampton team that had a winning season in their first season in the Big South. While they lost in the Big South quarterfinals to Campbell, St. Francis-Brooklyn is coming off of a tough OT loss to Robert Morris in the NEC quarterfinals.

FLORIDA ATLANTIC AT CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (7:00 PM, WatchCIT.com) – FAU looked much improved at the beginning of the year with wins at Central Florida, at Illinois and at home against Old Dominion before faltering off into the middle of the C-USA pack. Some notable home wins by CSU included Radford and Gardner-Webb.

KENT STATE AT LOUISIANA-MONROE (8:00 PM, WatchCIT.com) – Kent State does have a flair when it comes to close games – they are 6-0 in games decided by 3 points or less this year. UL-Monroe had wins against both Georgia State and Texas State in Sun Belt play, but they were a very inconsistent team this season.

CAL STATE-BAKERSFIELD AT CAL STATE-FULLERTON (10:00 PM, WatchCIT.com) – This will become a future rivalry in the Big West when Bakersfield moves from the WAC to the Big West in a couple of seasons. While Bakersfield had an early exit in the WAC Tournament, Fullerton advanced to the championship game of the Big West Tournament before getting shellacked by UC-Irvine.

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Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Yale JR SG Miye Oni

Posted on March 20, 2019 by Jon Teitel

Yale University: 3rd-oldest institution of higher education in the US, alma mater of 5 of our country’s former Presidents, and now 1 of the 68 best basketball teams in the nation. On Sunday the Bulldogs beat Harvard 97-85 in the Ivy tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The basketball team only made 3 NCAA tourneys in its 1st 120 years of existence from 1896-2015 but just claimed its 2nd NCAA tourney bid in the past 4 years. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with JR SG Miye Oni about the Harvard-Yale rivalry and what it feels like to make the NCAA tourney for the very 1st time.

You grew up in California and originally committed to D-3 Williams College: what made you eventually choose Yale? Just the balance of academics/athletics: it was not an opportunity that I could pass up.

You play for Coach James Jones: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He does a great job of making sure that everyone is focused on the task at hand.

In the summer of 2017 you were 1 of only 21 college players invited to attend the Nike Skills Academy: what did you think of 2 of your fellow invitees who are expected to play in the NCAA tourney despite recent injuries (Marques Bolden from Duke/Nick Ward from Michigan State)? I thought they were pretty good but I have not seen them play in awhile.

You played several fellow NCAA tourney teams this year in non-conference play (Duke/Iona/Vermont): which of them impressed you the most, and why? Probably Duke just because they are so talented.

Earlier this month you were named Ivy POY: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It meant a lot to me. It is a testament to the hard work of myself and all of my teammates.

In the Ivy tourney title game on Sunday you scored 17 PTS/10-10 FT in a win over Harvard: how much of a home-court advantage did you have at the John Lee Amphitheater, and what did it mean to you to win a title? I thought that we had good fan support…but I think that we would have beaten them anywhere because we just outplayed them.

How do you explain the Harvard-Yale rivalry to someone who has never seen it in person? It is really gritty: we do not like each other at all!

SR G Alex Copeland was named conference tourney MVP: how was he able to play his best when it mattered the most? He stepped up big-time and took the game into his hands: he did a great job for us.

You are majoring in political science but last December Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski predicted that you would be a 1st-round NBA draft pick: what is the post-college plan? I have not made any plans yet: I am just focused on the NCAA tourney.

What do you think about getting a #14 seed, and what do you know about LSU? We probably should have got a #13 seed based on all of the metrics I saw but we are happy to be playing LSU.

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Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews NC Central SR C Raasean Davis

Posted on March 20, 2019 by Jon Teitel

Most smaller schools need some undersized guards to lead them into the postseason but there are some schools like NC Central who can turn to a 6’9″ center to take them to the promised land. On Saturday the Eagles beat Norfolk State 50-47 in the MEAC tourney title game in Norfolk to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. They did so thanks in large part to SR C Raasean Davis, who had 14 REB in the title game and was named conference tourney MVP. Earlier this week HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Raasean about what it feels like to make the NCAA tourney yet again.

You grew up in Chicago and began your career at Kent State: why did you decide to transfer, and what made you choose NC Central? I chose Kent State because it was close to my home and they were the most consistent school in recruiting me. I felt that I had a chance to play right away coming out of high school. I transferred to NC Central due to Coach Bobby Steinburg: he knew Coach LeVelle Moton and sent him some tape of me, and that is how it went down.

What makes Coach Moton such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He is great at strategizing and having us prepared: there is never a day where we are not working, which is why we win so much of the time. It is part of the legacy here: the way he pushes us.

In the 2018 NCAA tourney you scored 19 PTS/9-11 FG in a loss to Texas Southern: what did you learn from that game that will help you this year? We just have to stick together: 1 man cannot do it alone. If we all stay focused then we can compete with anybody. You cannot take anything for granted: this might be our last 1 so we have to go out there ready to fight as a unit.

You began this season with back-to-back games against a pair of NCAA tourney-caliber teams in Clemson/Cincinnati: which of them impressed you the most, and why? I would say Cincinnati: they were really physical and well-coached and ready to go. They had a good game plan against me and carried it out really well.

In the MEAC tourney title game on Saturday you had 14 REB in a 3-PT win over Norfolk State: how was your team able to overcome a 12-PT deficit in the 2nd half? I have to give credit to Coach Moton. We were down 10 PTS going into halftime. I cannot really share what he said but he came into the locker room and told us what we needed to hear, which helped us go out there in the 2nd half and do what we needed to do.

You were also named conference tourney MVP: what did it mean to you to win a title, and what has the reaction been like since returning to campus? It means everything to me and my teammates to win a title: this is why we work hard during the summertime when nobody is watching, through the preseason and practices. We are all just blessed/honored to return to the NCAA tourney for the 3rd time in a row. It has been a great feeling of joy.

You have led the conference in FG% during each of the past 2 years: what is the key to being a great shooter? I have to give credit to my guards for setting me up pretty well and getting me the ball in places where I need it. I just try to stay prepared as best I can for my team: working out during the summertime/preseason has led up to this day.

You increased your FT% from 58.7% last year to 68% this year: has your improvement been due to something mental or physical or other? Maybe a little bit of both. I worked really hard on my FT shooting during the offseason because I knew that it was something I really needed to improve on. Assistant coach Eric Wilson always works with me on my FTs and stresses how important it is for me to be able to make them.

You turned 23 last Wednesday: what did you do for the big day? Nothing really. Lord willing it will not be my last: I was just trying to stay locked in and focus on the game/winning. I am pretty sure that after everything is over I will sit down and have a day where I celebrate my birthday the right way!

Posted in Interviews | Tagged NC Central, Raasean Davis | Comments Off

NCAA Tournament Review and Preview – Wednesday, March 20

Posted on March 20, 2019 by John Stalica

For Jon Teitel’s interview with Northern Kentucky F Dantez Walton – CLICK HERE

For Jon Teitel’s interview with Georgia State G Devin Mitchell – CLICK HERE

For today’s other postseason News, Notes and Highlighted Games – CLICK HERE

Last night, we were treated to two good games in Dayton. In the opening game, Prairie View jumped out to a 9-point lead at halftime before Fairleigh Dickinson mounted a comeback in the 2nd half. The Knights outscored Prairie View 10-0 in a critical run with 2 minutes remaining in the game – Darnell Edge led FDU with 33 points en route to an 82-76 victory. They will travel to Salt Lake City to play Gonzaga in the first round on Thursday.

In the nightcap, Temple and Belmont traded runs with each other throughout the night, but Belmont was led by Kevin McClain (29 points) and Nick Muszynski (16 points) en route to an 81-70 victory. It was Belmont’s first ever NCAA Tournament victory, and Fran Dunphy will officially retire and hand over the head coaching reins for Temple to Aaron McKie.

(16) NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL VS. (16) NORTH DAKOTA STATE (6:40 PM, TruTV). For the third year in a row, NC Central earned an auto bid via the MEAC Championship and will be looking to improve upon last season where they lost to Texas Southern in the First Four. North Dakota State finds themselves in Dayton after defeating Omaha to win the Summit League championship.

(11) ARIZONA STATE VS. (11) ST. JOHN’S (9:10 PM, TruTV). Despite a late-season slide in the Big East, St. John’s found itself as the very last team in the field. One of the reasons they got here was going 3-2 against Marquette and Villanova, but they were smashed by Marquette in the Big East quarterfinal round at Madison Square Garden. Arizona State had a mix of quality wins and terrible losses, but it wasn’t a complete shock when they lost in the conference tournament semifinals to eventual Pac-12 champion Oregon, either.

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UTR Postseason News, Notes and Highlighted Games – Wednesday, March 20

Posted on March 20, 2019 by John Stalica

Last night, ten of the sixteen first-round NIT games were played on the ESPN family of networks. The night started out like it might be chaotic with St. Francis-PA leading Indiana by 4 at halftime as well as Hofstra and Wright State being withing striking distance of road upsets. At the end of the night, the only road teams that won were Lipscomb against Davidson and Arkansas against Providence. Only the Arkansas win was surprising to the extent that they controlled that game from tip to buzzer. The storied careers of Chris Clemons and Mike Daum came to an end last night as well when Campbell and South Dakota State lost their games.

In the CBI, one game was played – Utah Valley held off Cal State-Northridge 92-84 thanks to 21 points from Jake Toolson. In the CIT, Robert Morris made a late comeback and beat Cornell 98-89 in overtime. Marshall also beat IUPUI 78-73 in the Jim Phelan Classic (CIT); Jon Elmore was the MVP of the game with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

(all times Eastern Daylight Time)

NIT

(8) NORFOLK STATE AT (1) ALABAMA (7:00 PM, ESPNU). If not for the bid thievery in the conference tournaments, Alabama would have been the last team selected in the NCAA Tournament. As it is, they will host a Norfolk State team that got an NIT auto-bid by winning the MEAC regular season crown.

(6) HARVARD AT (3) GEORGETOWN (7:00 PM, ESPN2). Georgetown is making their first postseason appearance since the 2015 NCAA Tournament when they were a #4 seed; they will be hosting a Harvard team that lost at archrival Yale in the Ivy League championship.

(6) TOLEDO AT (3) XAVIER (7:00 PM, ESPN3). Toledo was the last at-large team selected in the NIT; they will make a 3-hour trip to take on a Xavier team that got hot late in the year. As long as the Musketeers don’t mail it in for the NIT, they could be a potential favorite to win the NIT.

(6) WICHITA STATE AT (3) FURMAN (7:00 PM, ESPN3). Furman was another sentimental pick by bracketologists most of the year to get a 2nd bid out of the SoCon, but a loss to UNC-Greensboro ended those hopes and put them behind UNC-G in the pecking order. The Shockers also improved as the year went on, but they will be facing a fired-up crowd in Greenville that doesn’t normally see power teams visit their home arena.

(8) SAM HOUSTON STATE AT (1) TCU (9:00 PM, ESPNU). TCU’s exclusion from the NCAA Tournament field was probably the biggest surprise from Selection Sunday, although not necessarily an unfair one. They’ll host a Sam Houston State team that won the Southland Conference regular season title but failed to win any game in their conference tournament.

(5) BUTLER AT (4) NEBRASKA (9:00 PM, ESPN2). Nebraska finally showed some life at the end of the year with a win against Iowa and wins against Rutgers and Maryland in the Big 10 Conference Tournament, but all signs say that it will be too late to save Tim Miles’ job as Nebraska head coach. They will be hosting a Butler team that, interestingly enough, will be the only Big East team to play on the road in the 1st round of the NIT.

CBI

GRAND CANYON AT WEST VIRGINIA (7:00 PM). They may have been inspired to do so by virtue of two wins in the Big 12 Tournament that included a win against Texas Tech, but West Virginia will be in the postseason despite a 14-20 record. Interesting question here is whether or not there will be more GCU or WVU fans in attendance for this game.

HOWARD AT COASTAL CAROLINA (7:00 PM, ESPN+). Howard actually has a 9-7 record away from home, so Coastal Carolina should not treat this game like your normal buy game in November/December.

STONY BROOK AT SOUTH FLORIDA (7:00 PM). For the first time since 2012, the South Florida Bulls will be appearing in the postseason after a much-improved second season under head coach Brian Gregory. Geno Ford will serve as interim head coach for Stony Brook since Jeff Boals moved on to Ohio University to replace Saul Phillips.

SOUTHERN MISS AT LONGWOOD (7:00 PM, ESPN+). Longwood started out the year much improved before falling back towards the bottom half of the Big South. They will be taking on a Southern Miss team that finished third in Conference USA.

UAB AT BROWN (7:00 PM, ESPN+). Brown was another team that, despite finishing in the bottom half of the Ivy League, was in the hunt for finishing in the top half of the league until the final week of the season. They will be hosting a UAB team that lost in the C-USA semifinals to eventual champion Old Dominion.

CENTRAL MICHIGAN AT DEPAUL (8:00 PM). With DePaul’s appearance in the postseason for the first time since the 2007 NIT, every single team in the Big East will be making a postseason appearance. They will be hosting a Central Michigan team that has at least one familiar face for the Blue Demons – that would be their leading scorer Larry Austin Jr. (who transferred from Xavier and Vanderbilt).

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT AT CAL BAPTIST (10:30 PM). Cal Baptist had a great first season in Division I with a 16-14 record that included New Mexico State’s only loss in the WAC this season. The Lancers will host an LMU team that showed signs of promise in November and December (including a win against Georgetown in the Bahamas) before falling to the middle of the pack in the WCC this season.

CIT

GREEN BAY AT EAST TENNESSEE STATE (7:00 PM, WatchCIT.com). This will be the Hugh Durham Classic – the Bucs were one of four power teams in the SoCon this season. They are a potential favorite to win the tournament, but must also find an answer for a Green Bay team that also beat Belmont and Wright State during the season.

TEXAS SOUTHERN AT NEW ORLEANS (8:00 PM, WatchCIT.com). We’ve gotten so used to seeing Texas Southern in the NCAA Tournament that it seems strange to see them down here in the CIT, but their 2nd-place finish in the SWAC regular season also meant that they could not get the NIT auto bid, either. They go on the road to a New Orleans team that lost the Southland championship game to Abilene Christian.

GRAMBLING AT TEXAS-RIO GRANDE VALLEY (8:00 PM, WatchCIT.com). The Vaqueros are assured of their first winning season in eleven years and are making their 2nd straight postseason appearance after breaking a 37-year postseason drought last season with their appearance in the CBI last season. They will host a Grambling team that lost in the semifinals of the SWAC Tournament against eventual champion Prairie View.

PRESBYTERIAN AT SEATTLE (10:00 PM, WatchCIT.com). Seattle had a decent nonconference portion of their schedule that included wins against Washington State and Omaha, but they struggled mightily with injuries in conference play and ended up finishing 6th in the WAC. They will host Presbyterian – the Blue Hose tied for 5th in the Big South this season.