UNC-Wilmington (25-7)
Colonial Athletic Conference
How’d they do it?: The Seahawks captured the CAC title with a 78-67 win over a hot Hofstra squad Monday (Mar 6) evening. Tony Carter was the man down the stretch and ended with 23 points and 13 boards. Wilmington shot 45% to Hofstra’s 38%, with the Seahawks owning a 23-point lead in the early minutes of the second half. It’s UNCW’s fourth CAC crown in the last seven seasons.
Top Players: Carter (6-3, Jr.) averaged 13.3 PPG and 4.2 rebounds; John Goldsberry (6-3, Sr.) contributed 11.2 points and 5.1 assists per contests, and Todd Hendley (6-9, So.) added more than 10 per game with a little more than 4 boards.
Top Opponents: Lost 73-54 at Colorado (Nov 18); lost 54-51 at then-#24 Wisconsin (Dec 12); split regular season series with Hofstra, losing 92-87 on the road and winning 77-68 at home before winning the conference title tilt; split regular season match with George Mason, winning 69-63 at home and losing 69-62 on the road.
Streaking: Won last eight, 13 of last 14 and 16 of last 18.
RPI: 0.5912 (#29)
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Iona (23-7)
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
How’d they do it?: The Gaels made their way to their eighth NCAA Tournament with a convincing 80-61 win over St. Peter’s Monday to capture the MAAC title. Steve Burtt dropped 28 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists on Iona’s ledger. A big difference in the game was the Gaels’ 20-27 shooting from the stripe compared to an 8-15 showing for St. Peter’s. Keekee Clark, one of the nation’s top scorers, led SP with 25 points.
Top Players: Burtt (6-1, Sr.) averaged over 25 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Ricky Soliver (6-3, Sr.) added 16.2 points, 5.4 boards and 4.4 assists while Kiril Wachsman (6-7, Sr.) scored nearly 12 a game with 8.7 rebounds.
Top Opponents: Beat then-#23 Iowa St 89-72 on the road(Nov 26); lost 79-76 at then-#20 Kentucky (Dec 23); fell 73-59 at Seton Hall (Dec 31); split regular season series with both Marist and St. Peters, winning both road contests and dropping the two home tilts.
Streaking: Won last three and seven of last nine. Won 12 games on the road this season.
RPI: 0.5633 (#68)Leave a comment:
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Gonzaga (27-3)
West Coast Conference
How’d they do it?: Call ‘em the Bulldogs or the Zags if you like, but I’ll call ‘em the Cardiac Kids for now after Gonzaga survived their 3rd-straight tight game to win the WCC with a 68-67 triumph over Loyola-Marymount on Monday. Gonzaga came back from a 15-point deficit early in the second half led by JP Batista’s inside play, Jeremy Pargo’s hustle and shooting, and Adam Morrison’s ability to find the open man once Loyola double teams collapsed on him. A missed shot from under the basket by Chris Ayer at the end kept Loyola from pulling the upset off.
Top Players: Morrison (6-8, Jr.) averaged 28.4 points and 5.5 boards per game. Batista (6-9, Sr.) contributed 19.3 points and 9.5 boards.
Top Opponents: Won 88-76 at then-#20 Maryland (Nov 21); beat then-#12 Michigan State 109-106 on the road in a triple-OT thriller (Nov 22); lost 65-63 at home to then-#3 UConn (Nov 30); fell 99-95 at then-#19 Washington (Dec 4); lost 83-72 at then-#4 Memphis (Dec 27), the last time they lost a game this season.
Streaking: Won last 18 games and last 40 home games, both top streaks in the nation.
RPI: 0.6286 (#10)Leave a comment:
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Originally posted by Willie Bee
this Davidson could be trouble for anyone who faces them in the first round.Leave a comment:
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Ok, you guys just messed this great thread up by posting in it. So I had to post in it to let you guys know. I should delete this post and your guys post so it can stay going in flow.
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Southern Illinois (22-6)
Missouri Valley Conference
How’d they do it?: Losers of three of their final four regular season games, the Salukis rallied in the MVC Tournament, capping their first conference title in 11 years with a 59-46 win over Bradley on Saturday (Mar 4). Neither team shot well from the field (about 36% each), with Bradley stone cold from 3-point land. The Salukis were 18-25 from the foul line and out-rebounded Bradley by a 41-26 margin.
Top Players: Jamaal Tatum was the only player to average more than 30 minutes per game, tossing in 15.1 PPG and 3.3 assists. Randal Falker added 8 rebounds per game and Bryan Mullins contributed 3.2 assists each contest.
Top Opponents: Beat Bradley two out of three. Lost 71-63 at Missouri St. (Jan 19) and beat them 66-64 (Feb 7). Won 57-53 at Murray St. (Dec 28). Lost 54-51 at La Tech (Feb 18).
Streaking: Won last four after a 3-game skid near end of regular season.
RPI: 0.5969 (#30)Leave a comment:
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Davidson (20-10)
Southern Conference
How’d they do it?: The Wildcats trounced Chattanooga 80-55 in the conference finale when they shot about 51% from the field, 73% from the stripe and knocked down 10 of 28 three’s. Chattanooga fell flat with a 34% field goal percentage and just 8 of 20 from the foul line.
Top Players: Brandon Winters (6-5, Sr.) averaged over 17 per game with 4.7 rebounds, and scored a career-best 33 in the clincher over Chattanooga. Ian Johnson (6-9, Sr.) averaged 15.7 PPG and 6.2 rebounds while Kenny Grant (6-2, Sr.) contributed 6.6 assists per game.
Top Opponents: Lost 84-55 at Duke in season opener on Nov. 19; fell 82-58 at North Carolina (Jan. 3). Lost 90-80 at Syracuse (Dec 18).
Streaking: Won last four and six of last seven.
RPI: 0.5341 (#106)Leave a comment:
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Murray State (24-6)
Ohio Valley Conference
How’d they do it?: The Racers earned their lucky 13th NCAA bid Saturday with a 74-57 win over Samford after winning the regular season OVC with a 17-3 mark. Murray State shot 53% from the field and 50% (9-18) from long range. The final 17-point margin in the game was their largest lead of the contest.
Top Players: Shawn Witherspoon (6-5, Jr.) averaged 10.8 per game with almost 8 boards and 3.2 assists. Trey Pearson (6.2, Jr.) added 10 PP, Pearson Griffith (6-10. Sr.) almost 6 rebounds and Keith Jenifer (6-2, Sr.) 3.4 assists.
Top Opponents: Lost 79-75 at Cincinnati in season opener (Nov 19). Lost 64-53 at Tennessee (Nov 30). Fell 57-53 at home on Dec 28 to Southern Illinois.
Streaking: Won last four and 14 of last 15.
RPI: 0.5661 (#62)Leave a comment:
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Winthrop (23-7)
Big South Conference
How’d they do it?: The Eagles won their 2nd-straight Big South title Saturday by a 51-50 count over Coastal Carolina thanks for a Craig Bradshaw hook shot with about nine seconds left in the game. Winthrop was ahead by a dozen at one point and shot a lackluster 37% from the floor and even worse from the line (7-19, .368).
Top Players: Torrell Martin (6-5, Jr.) averaged 13.9 PPG and 5.4 rebounds. James Shuler (6-6, Sr.) posted 13.4 PPG, 4.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists).
Top Opponents: Lost at then #18 Alabama 60-57 in December and at then #4 Memphis 73-63 in January. Beat then-unranked Marquette 71-64 at Marquette in November.
Streaking: Won last five and 11 of last 13.
RPI: 0.5594 (#71)Leave a comment:
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Belmont (20-10)
Atlantic Sun Conference
How’d they do it?: Belmont won their first NCAA tourney with a 74-69 win over Lipscomb on Saturday. The two tied for the regular season ASC lead with 15-5 conference records. The Bruins shot 50% in the conference sealer, and were 20-25 from the line.
Top Players: Justin Hare (6-3, So.) averaged 15.9 PPG, 4.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and Boomer Herndon (6-11, Jr.) with 14.9 PPG and 7.5 rebounds.
Top Opponents: Lost 81-59 at then-#5 Oklahoma in late November and fell 85-75 at then-#25 Ohio State in mid-December.
Streaking: Won 12 of last 13, including last six scoring average of 87 per game.
RPI: 0.5264 (#118)Leave a comment:
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Who's in the Big Dance?
Pennsylvania (19-7)
Ivy League
How’d they do it?: The Quakers were down by 8 at halftime Saturday to Brown but forced overtime and eventually came away with a 74-68 win when Ibrahim Jaaber sank five free throws in the last 18 seconds. Eric Osmundson hit five 3-pointers in the game to account for all 15 of his points.
Top Players: Jaaber (6-2, Jr.) pumped in 18.1 PPG with 3.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists. Mark Zoller (6-7, Jr.) finished with a 12.7 scoring averave and 7.5 rebounds per contest.
Top Opponents: Lost 78-60 at home to Colorado (Nov 29), 50-46 at home to Temple (Dec 3), 72-59 to then-#1 Duke (Dec 7) and 62-55 to then #3 Villanova (Dec 13).
Streaking: Won last five and 10 of last 11.
RPI: 0.5448 (#93)
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