— I like to look things up; here’s a good one.
Since 1998, EVERY team that won the college basketball national championship won their first conference tournament game. The last two teams who didn’t win in their conference tourney but won the national title were Arizona in 1997, UCLA in 1995, because, well……the Pac-12 didn’t have a conference tournament back then.
That doesn’t mean it can’t happen, it means it hasn’t happened in the last 30 years. Bad news for teams like Alabama, Illinois, Texas Tech, Villanova.
— Big 18 tournament
Wisconsin 91, Illinois 88, OT
Illinois is 4-5 in its last nine games; four of the five losses were in OT
Illini led this game by 15 with 10:45 left to play.
Badgers were 25-30 on foul line, Illinois 9-15.
UCLA 88, Michigan State 84
UCLA shot 13-27 on the arc, scored 1.32 ppp.
Donovan Dent had 23 points, 12 assists, six rebounds.
Last six years, Spartans are only 4-6 in the conference tournament.
— Big XII tournament
Arizona 82, Iowa State 80
Cyclones led 14-2 early on, by 8 with 17:52 left to play.
Arizona shot 57.1% inside the arc, scored 1.24 ppp.
Anthony Dell’Orso scored 26 points in 30:00; he didn’t start.
— Atlantic 14 tournament
Saint Louis 88, George Washington 81
George Washington was winning by 21 with 6:59 left in first half.
Saint Louis shot 58.6% inside arc, was 24-26 on foul line.
Billikens re-signed coach Schertz to a contract extension, so big day for them.
— SEC tournament
Ole Miss 80, Alabama 79
Rebels won for third day in row; they were 1-12 in last 13 regular season games.
Alabama never led, was only 9-29 on the arc.
Just second loss in last eleven games for the Crimson Tide.
Arkansas 82, Oklahoma 79
Darius Acuff scored 37 points, had five assists.
Oklahoma led by 4 with 9:37 left in the game.
Razorbacks won 11 of their last 14 games.
— Big East tournament
St John’s 78, Seton Hall 68
Red Storm never trailed, shot 58.3% inside arc.
St John’s was 24-30 on foul line, Pirates were 9-12.
St John’s won 18 of its last 19 games; the loss was 72-40 at UConn.
— ACC tournament
Virginia 84, Miami 62
Virginia shot 11-26 on arc, scored 1.35 ppp.
Cavaliers have won 13 of their last 14 games.
Miami is 25-8; they’re in NCAA’s for first time in three years.
— Famous birthdays, March 14th:
Michael Caine, 93
Clyde Lee, 82
Billy Crystal, 78
Dave McKay, 76
Butch Wynegar, 70
Corey Stoll, 50
Steph Curry, 38
Brandon Aubrey, 31
World Baseball Classic
— Dominican Republic 10, Korea 0
Dominican Republic led 7-0 in the third inning.
Cristopher Sanchez allowed three baserunners in five IP.
— United States 5, Canada 3
Logan Webb got 14 outs, didn’t allow a run.
Team USA plays Dominican Republic in the semi-finals Sunday night.
— Great Britain’s baseball team had a pitcher with an unfortunate name, Owen Wild.
Kind of like Bob Walk or Honer Bailey, Wild is a bad name for a pitcher.
— American tournament
Tulsa 90, North Texas 84 3OTs
North Texas led 14-0 out of the game, 36-19 later in first half.
Tulsa was 32-39 on foul line, Mean Green 20-27.
Tulsa won its 6th straight game, despite shooting 34.8% from floor.
— Mountain West tournament
Utah State 79, Nevada 66
Aggies were 27-35 on foul line, Nevada 13-20.
Utah State is shooting 59.5% inside arc, #11 in country.
Utah State is headed to NCAA’s for 4th year in row, under three different coaches.
— Big West tournament
Cal-Irvine 93, Cal-Northridge 78
Anteaters shot 59% inside arc, scored 1.32 ppp
Irvine had a 44-26 advantage on the boards.
#1-seed Irvine plays #2-seed Hawai’i for the Big West title Saturday.
— MAC tournament
Akron 75, Kent State 68
Zips have quietly won nine in a row, 18 of last 19 games.
Akron starts four seniors; they’re #19 in country in continuity.
Akron-Toledo play for the MAC championship Saturday.
— One metric that matters, but in reverse; what teams get the highest %age of their points on foul shots. Fewer foul shots are taken in March.
I am totally convinced that referees call way fewer fouls in tournament games than in the regular season, so players have to play through contact to be successful.
