Who's in the Big Dance?

**Willie Bee** · 03-12-06, 10:50 AM

Kent State (25-8)
Mid-American Conference

How’d they do it? The Golden Flashes built an 11-point lead at halftime then held on to beat Toledo by a 71-66 count. Kent State never trailed in the contest though the Rockets did get within three with under half a minute to play. Kevin Warzynski showed off his 6th-man skills by leading the Flashes with 21 points, picking up five rebounds to boot. Both teams hit equally well from the field, 42.9% for Kent State and 40.4% for Toledo. Each school also connected on more than 81% of their free throws, the difference being Kent State getting 11 additional charity chances than Toledo and scoring nine more points from the line.

Top Players: Jay Youngblood (6-5, Sr.) averaged 14.7 PPG and 3.6 rebounds. DeAndre Haynes (6-2, Sr.) scored more than 13 a contest with four assists. Warzynski (6-8, Sr.) added 10.3 per game with 5.1 boards.

Top Opponents: Lost 65-56 to Delaware St in season opener (Nov 21). Fell 58-51 at So. Illinois (Dec 10). Dropped a 78-66 decision at Syracuse (Dec 30). Won on the road against No. Illinois (72-61). Beat Miami (OH) twice in regular season. Beat Butler 80-76 (Feb 18). Split regular season games with both Akron and Toledo.

Streaking: Won last three, nine of last 10 and 19 of last 22. A perfect 23-0 when leading with five minutes left on the clock.

RPI: 0.5665 (#60)

**Willie Bee** · 03-12-06, 10:51 AM

Hampton (16-15)
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

How’d they do it? The Pirates kept their tournament surge going by beating Delaware St., 60-56, in the MEAC title game. Coming out of the 6th-seed slot of the tourney, Hampton came away with the upset by virtue of their free throw shooting, hitting 16-of-22 (73%) compared to the Hornets’ 12-of-20 (60%). Jaz Cowan led Hampton with 15 points and seven rebounds. Tracey Worley scored 15 for Delaware State.

Top Players: Cowan (6-9, Jr.) averaged 13.2 per game with seven rebounds. Jeff Granger (6-3, Sr.) scored nearly 12 per game with 3.9 rebounds. Bruce Brown (6-11, Sr.) added 10.5 points and 6.4 boards each contest.

Top Opponents: Lost 79-66 at George Mason (Dec 21). Dropped both regular season games to Delaware State.

Streaking: Won last four. Lost six of last seven regular season games.

RPI: 0.4044 (#304)

**Willie Bee** · 03-12-06, 10:52 AM

Southern (20-12)
Southwestern Athletic Conference

How’d they do it? The Jaguars beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff by a 57-44 tally, picking up the school’s first SWAC tournament title in the process. Peter Cipriano scored 21 for Southern with an 8-11 game from the field, grabbing nine rebounds in the process. Deforrest Riley-Smith scored seven and came away with 12 boards. Southern shot less than 40% from the field as a team but held a 42-29 edge on the boards with a 13-8 advantage in offensive rebounding.

Top Players: Chris Alexander (6-1, Sr.) scored 15.6 per contest with 3.4 rebounds. Riley-Smith (6-6, Jr.) averaged just under 11 per game with 4.1 rebounds. Cipriano (6-9, Sr.) added 10.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

Top Opponents: Lost 89-56 at Texas in season opener. Dropped 84-56 decision at LSU (Nov 18). Lost 88-44 at Texas A&M (Nov 20). Split home-&-home series with La. Tech early in season. Lost 68-54 at then #9 Oklahoma (Dec 17). Lost 73-56 at Xavier (Dec 29). Won both regular season matches against Ark-Pine Bluff.

Streaking: Won last six, 10 of last 11 and 13 of last 15.

RPI: 0.5094 (#145)

**Willie Bee** · 03-12-06, 10:54 AM

Syracuse (23-11)
Big East Conference

How’d they do it? The Orange completed their amazing run to the Big East crown with a 65-61 win over Pittsburgh at Madison Square Garden Saturday evening. Syracuse built a 34-25 halftime lead, then needed some clutch free throws from Josh Wright in the final 17 seconds to seal the deal. Tourney MVP Gerry McNamara scored 14 and handed out six assists. Darryl Watkins added nine points and 11 rebounds. Syracuse shot 45% from the floor and held the Panthers to a 33% field goal shooting performance.

Top Players: McNamara (6-2, Sr.) averaged 16.4 PPG and 6.0 assists. Demetris Nichols (6-8, Jr.) averaged 13.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Terrence Roberts (6-9, Jr.) contributed 10.6 points and 7.6 boards per game.

Top Opponents: Lost 75-70 at Florida (Nov 18). Lost 74-69 at home to Bucknell (Nov 22). Beat Davidson 90-80 (Dec 18). Split regular season series with Cincinnati , each side winning on the road, before beating them 74-73 in the Big East Tournament opener. Lost both regular season games against UConn, then beat the Huskies 86-84 in Big East tourney. Lost 68-61 to Seton Hall at home (Jan 29). Dropped both regular season matches to Villanova. Fell 80-67 at home to Pitt in regular season game. Lost 68-53 at Georgetown (Feb 25) before beating them 58-57 in Big East semi’s. Suffered brutal 108-69 defeat at DePaul (Mar 2).

Streaking: Dropped final three regular season games, and nine of last 13, before going on 4-game run in the Big East Tournament.

RPI: 0.5880 (#43)

**Willie Bee** · 03-12-06, 10:55 AM

San Diego St (24-8)
Mountain West Conference

How’d they do it? The Aztecs needed a strong overtime to beat Wyoming 69-64 in the Mtn. West title tilt. Brandon Heath scored 22 and grabbed seven rebounds for SDSU while Marcus Slaughter and Kyle Spain combined for 27 points and 25 boards. The Aztecs shot just 29% overall in the game, but were 7-8 from the line in OT and held a solid 50-39 rebounding edge over the Cowboys. Brandon Ewing led Wyoming with 22 points.

Top Players: Heath (6-4, Jr.) averaged 18.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Slaughter (6-9, Jr.) added 16.6 PPG with 11 rebounds. Mohamed Abukar (6-10, Jr.) contributed almost 14 points and 4.5 boards each contest.

Top Opponents: Beat Albany 80-53 (Nov 26). Lost 82-64 at California (Dec 6). Split regular season series with both Air Force and BYU, winning both times at home and dropping both road decisions. Beat Wyoming and UNLV twice each in regular season plus one more time each in the Mountain West Tournament.

Streaking: Won last six and 16 of last 18.

RPI: 0.5663 (#61)

**Willie Bee** · 03-12-06, 10:56 AM

Pacific (24-7)
Big West Conference

How’d they do it? The Tigers earned their 3rd-straight NCAA Tourney with a 78-70 win over Long Beach State in the Big West finals on Saturday in Anaheim. Pacific pounced on the 49ers for a 42-36 lead at half, then shot over 62 in the second half to get the dubya. Christian Maraker’s 23 points and 11 rebounds led the Tigers. Johnny Gray added 21 and dished out five assists. Both players were 3-5 from long range. LB State’s Shawn Hawkins led all scorers with 27 while Mark Dawson grabbed 15 boards for the 49ers.

Top Players: Maraker (6-9, Sr.) scored 17.2 per game and grabbed nearly nine boards. Gray (6-1, Sr.) averaged almost 15 per contest with 3.1 assists. Mike Webb (6-1, Sr.) averaged 10.7 points and 2.4 assists each contest.

Top Opponents: Lost 77-70 at home to Nevada (Dec 3). Lost 72-66 at UTEP (Dec 20). Beat Texas A&M 63-56 (Jan 3). Won both regular season contests against Long Beach State. Split regular season games with UC-Irvine, each winning on their home court. Dropped a 79-68 decision at home to New Mexico State (Feb 18).

Streaking: Won last six and 13 of last 14, the only loss in that span coming to New Mexico St.

RPI: 0.5401 (#100)

**Willie Bee** · 03-12-06, 10:57 AM

Nevada (27-5)
Western Athletic Conference

How’d they do it? The Wolf Pack had to go to overtime at home before pulling away for a 70-63 win over Utah State on Saturday in Reno. Nevada was held to just 22 points in the second half by the Aggies before a 15-8 edge in OT put the WAC favorites over the top. The Wolf Pack shot 43% from the floor and hit 20-of-25 free throws compared to just 7-14 foul line shooting for Utah State. Nick Fazekas led the way for Nevada with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Mo Charlo came off the bench with 14 points for the Wolf Pack. Nate Harris was the man for Utah State with 22 points and nine boards.

Top Players: Fazekas (6-11, Jr.) scored 21.8 per game and averaged more than 10 rebounds. Marcelus Kemp (6-5, So.) averaged 14.4 PPG while Charlo (6-7, Sr.) added 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds each match.

Top Opponents: Won on the road at Vermont 77-62 (Nov 23). Won 72-70 at Kansas (Dec 1). Beat Pacific on the road 77-70 (Dec 3). Lost 67-56 at UCLA (Dec 10). Beat Akron 88-61 (Feb 17). Split regular season games with Utah State, each team winning on the road. Won both regular season games against Louisiana Tech. Split season series with Hawaii, each team winning at home.

Streaking: Won last 14 and 17 of last 19.

RPI: 0.6060 (#18)

**Willie Bee** · 03-12-06, 11:04 AM

Using RPI ratings from the first of the week before conference tournament play started, here's how the 29 teams guaranteed a spot in the NCAA's stack up:

RK . SCHOOL . . . . RPI
01 . Duke . . . . . 6843
02 . Memphis. . . . 6469
03 . Gonzaga. . . . 6286
04 . UCLA . . . . . 6218
05 . Iowa . . . . . 6216
06 . Nevada . . . . 6060
07 . Florida. . . . 6019
08 . So. Illinois . 5978
09 . Kansas . . . . 5938
10 . UNC-Wilmington 5926
11 . Syracuse . . . 5880
12 . Bucknell . . . 5816
13 . UW-Milwaukee . 5740
14 . Kent State . . 5665
15 . San Diego St . 5663
16 . Murray St. . . 5661
17 . NW State . . . 5641
18 . Iona . . . . . 5633
19 . Montana. . . . 5594
20 . Winthrop . . . 5594
21 . So. Alabama. . 5557
22 . Pennsylvania . 5448
23 . Xavier . . . . 5406
24 . Pacific. . . . 5401
25 . Davidson . . . 5392
26 . Belmont. . . . 5287
27 . Albany . . . . 5204
28 . Oral Roberts . 5151
29 . Southern . . . 5094
30 . Monmouth . . . 5016
31 . Hampton. . . . 4044

**Willie Bee** · 03-12-06, 03:43 PM

Florida (27-6)
Southeastern Conference

How’d they do it? The Gators came away with the SEC title with a tough 49-47 win over South Carolina. With the score even at 47 and about 10 seconds left, Joakim Noah scored to put Florida ahead then blocked the last shot by the Gamecocks to seal the win. Corey Brewer led Florida with 16 points, adding seven rebounds. Taureen Green shipped in 10 and handed out six assists. The Gators shot 50% from the field and 3-point land, making all four of their free throws on the game. There were on 12 free throws total between the two teams. South Carolina was paced by three players scoring 12 each, with Renaldo Balkman and Terence Kinsey combining for 18 rebounds and six steals.

Top Players: Noah (6-1, So.) scored 14.0 PPG with 6.7 rebounds. Green (6-0, So.) averaged 13.9 per game with nearly five assists. Brewer (6-8, So.) added 12.3 points to go with 4.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists.

Top Opponents: Beat Albany 83-64 (Nov 10). Won at Wake Forest 77-72 (Nov 17). Beat Syracuse 75-70 (Nov 18). Lost twice to Tennessee in regular season. Beat Vanderbilt both times in regular season. Beat Kentucky both times in regular season. Beat LSU in regular season 71-62 (Feb 11) and 81-65 in SEC Tournament (Mar 11). Lost 85-81 at Arkansas (Feb 18) and beat Arkansas 74-71 in the SEC tournament.

Streaking: Won last five and seven of last 10.

RPI: 0.6019 (#23)

**Willie Bee** · 03-12-06, 03:45 PM

Duke (30-3)
Atlantic Coast Conference

How’d they do it? The Blue Devils survived a last second desperation heave by Boston College to win their seventh ACC title in eight years, 78-76. A free throw in the waning seconds by freshman Greg Paulus gave Duke the final margin of victory in a hard-fought battle. Senior JJ Redick scored 26 points and handed out four assists while Sheldon Williams added 18 points and eight rebounds. The Blue Devils shot 50% from the floor, including 9-16 (56%) from long range, but missed 10 of the 29 free throws they were tendered. The Eagles were paced by Louis Hinnant and Craig Smith who scored 20 and 19 points respectively, with Smith also contributing 12 boards and six assists.

Top Players: Redick (6-4, Sr.) averaged 27.4 PPG. Williams (6-9, Sr.) scored 18.4 per game while averaging 10.3 rebounds. Paulus (6-1, Fr.) scored 6.7 per game with 5.2 assists.

Top Opponents: Crushed Seton Hall 93-40 (Nov 16). Beat Davidson 84-55 (Nov 19). Beat then #11 Memphis 70-67 (Nov 25). Won on the road at then #16 Indiana 75-67 (Nov 30). Beat Pennsylvania 72-59 (Dec 7). Won big at then #2 Texas 97-66 (Dec 10). Beat Bucknell 84-50 (Jan 2). Won at then #22 Wake Forest 82-64 (Jan 8). Won both games against Maryland. Split regular season series with North Carolina, each team winning on the other’s home court. Beat then #14 NC State 81-68 (Jan 18). Lost 87-84 at Georgetown (Jan 21). Split season series with Florida St., each team winning at home. Beat Wake Forest 93-70 in regular season and 78-66 in ACC tourney. Won regular season game at then #14 Boston College 83-81 before beating the Eagles in the ACC Finals today.

Streaking: Lost final two regular season games. Won last three ACC Tournament contests and 13 of last 15 overall. Opened season with 17-game win streak.

RPI: 0.6843 (#1)

**Willie Bee** · 03-12-06, 04:20 PM

Northwestern State (25-7)
Southland Conference

How’d they do it? The Demons won the right to go to their second NCAA Tournament with a 95-87 win over Sam Houston State in the Southland championship. NW State held a 9-point advantage at halftime but the scrappy Bearcats clawed their way back into it before late free throws won it for the Demons. Clifton Lee scored 22 and grabbed four rebounds to lead Northwestern State who hit 21 of 25 foul shots on the day, well above their season average of 66% that ranked 255th in the nation. Jejuan Plair led Sam Hosuton with 23 points while Ryan Bright grabbed 10 boards.

Top Players: Lee (6-7, Sr.) scored almost 14 a game with 6.5 rebounds. Jermaine Wallace (6-3, Sr.) averaged 9.6 per contest. Tyronn Mitchell added almost eight per game along with 5.0 assists.

Top Opponents: Dropped 81-77 decision to Iowa St (Dec 22). Lost 80-76 to Hawaii (Dec 23). Lost 73-61 at Texas A&M (Dec 31). Split regular season series with Sam Houston, each team winning at home. Fell 66-63 at Utah State (Feb 18)

Streaking: Won last seven and 15 of last 16.

RPI: 0.5641 (#67)

**Willie Bee** · 03-12-06, 04:49 PM

My picks for the 34 at large bids...ok, I cheated a little with four teams on the Bee Bubble

1. Georgetown
2. Villanova
3. Tennessee
4. Ohio St
5. Texas
6. Illinois
7. LSU
8. Oklahoma
9. Pittsburgh
10 Michigan St.
11 Wisconsin
12 Marquette
13 Washington
14 George Washington
15 Hofstra
16 Arizona
17 West Virginia
18 Boston College
19 Cincinnati
20 Indiana
21 Bradley
22 Kentucky
23 NC State
24 Georgetown
25 Creighton
26 UAB
27 Arkansas
28 Alabama
29 Seton Hall
30 St. Joseph’s
31 Maryland
32 Louisville
33 Michigan
34 Texas A&M/Air Force/Wichita St/George Mason

**Willie Bee** · 03-12-06, 05:32 PM

Kansas (25-7)
Big 12 Conference

How’d they do it? Trailing by one at the half in the Big 12 title tilt, the Jayhawks came on strong in the second half to pop Texas by an 80-68 count. All five KU starters scored in double figures and hit 12 of 26 (46%) as a team from long range. Jayhawk defenders also picked the Longhorns’ collective pockets with 11 steals on the afternoon. Mario Chalmers led Kansas with 15 points while grabbing three rebounds, handing out four assists and coming away with three steals. Kenton Paulino led Texas with 19 points.

Top Players: Brandon Rush (6-6, Fr.) averaged 13.6 PPG with 5.8 rebounds. Mario Chalmers (6-2, Fr.) scored 11.3 per game with 3.9 assists. Russell Robinson (6-1, So.) averaged 8.8 per game with three boards and 4.5 assists. Top seven scorers were either freshmen or sophomores.

Top Opponents: Lost 61-49 to then #8 Arizona (Nov 21). Lost 65-64 to Arkansas (Nov 22). Fell 72-70 to Nevada (Dec 1). Dropped a 70-67 decision to St. Joseph’s (Dec 6). Beat California 69-56 (Dec 10). Beat then #21 Kentucky 73-46 (Jan 7). Won on the road at Texas A&M 83-73 (Jan 25). Beat Nebraska twice in regular season and again in Big 12 semifinals. Beat then #18 Oklahoma (Feb 5). Lost 80-55 at then #7 Texas (Feb 25) before beating Texas in Big 12 Championship.

Streaking: Won last five and 15 of last 16.

RPI: 0.5938 (#35)

**Willie Bee** · 03-12-06, 05:48 PM

Iowa (25-8
Big Ten Conference

How’d they do it? Done by three at the half to favored Ohio State, the Hawkeyes rallied for a 67-60 win in the Big Ten Championship. Jeff Horner led Iowa with 16 points while passing out nine assists. Adam Haluska added 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds as did Greg Brunner. The Hawkeyes shot 48% from the field and 62% from the line while the Buckeyes hit less than 40% of their field goals and 59% from the charity stripe. Jamar Butler led Ohio State with 19 points.

Top Players: Brunner (6-7, Sr.) scored 14.2 per game with 9.3 rebounds. Haluska (6-5, Jr.) averaged 13.7 per contest with 4.6 rebounds. Horner (6-3, Sr.) scored 13.6 per game with 4.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists.

Top Opponents: Won at then #7 Kentucky 67-63 (Nov 21). Lost 68-59 at then #2 Texas (Nov 22). Beat then #21 NC State 45-42 (Nov 30). Split regular season series with Wisconsin . Split regular season series with Illinois. Split regular season series with Minnesota, then beat them 67-57 in Big Ten tourney. Split with Michigan State in regular season before beting them 53-48 in tournament. Beat Indiana twice in regular season. Beat Ohio St 67-62 in regular season before the 67-60 win in the Big Ten Finals.

Streaking: Won last five and 11 of last 14.

RPI: 0.6216 (#14)

**Willie Bee** · 03-12-06, 06:58 PM

I brain cramped on a few, listing Georgetown twice on my list of at-large's when UConn should've been my top at large. And I just overlooked a pair of obvious picks in UNC and California.

Probably most surprised at not seeing Cincinnati, Michigan, Hofstra and Bradley left out.