In the day that starts the craziness that is the second week, Ina wins her second straight. The top four going into the day were top four on the day, as they extend their lead over the field.
DAY 8 SCORES (days won):
167 – Ina (2)
148 – Doogan
146 – Lil Lohse (2)
140 – Bry (3)
122 – KA
99 – Stri (1)
97 – Alexi (1)
91 – Lohse (2)
81 – J
80 – Teddy
70 – Waters
53 – Lynch (1)
OVERALL STANDINGS (conference titles; *perfect):
922 – Bry (4 – A-Sun, CAA, MAAC*, Summit)
871 – Ina (1 – Summit)
846 – Doogan (1 – Horizon*)
812 – Lil Lohse (2 – Big South*, Summit)
743 – Stri (3 – MVC, SoCon, Sun Belt)
715 – Alexi (2 – Big South*, Summit)
701 – J (1 – OVC)
685 – Lohse
648 – Teddy (1 – Horizon*)
643 – Lynch (1 – WCC)
614 – KA (1 – Big South*)
580 – Waters
HORIZON LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP (32 points):
The HL finished up just as expected all year long–with Butler dominating. The Butler win completed an amazing perfect bracket by Teddy and Doogan. To complete a 10-team tournament with several upsets perfectly is certainly impressive, so hats off.
#1 Butler 70 – #2 Wright St. 45. The Butler Bulldogs take care of their “bubble duties,” as they hammer #2 Wright St. to take the Horizon League title. No one had Wright St., but KA and Lynch both lost with other teams. The other 10 entries all had Butler.
FINAL HORIZON LEAGUE STANDINGS (prior HL titles; *perfect bracket):
*116 – Doogan
*116 – Teddy
108 – Alexi
100 – Lohse
84 – J
80 – Bry
80 – Ina
72 – Lil Lohse
64 – Waters
56 – Stri
28 – Lynch
24 – KA
SUN BELT CHAMPIONSHIP (16 points):
The end of the Sun Belt. Yes, part of me is pretty sad. It’s a good thing that there are some great “other” tournaments still going on. The N. Texas win gave Stri his 3rd conference title of the 2010 season.
#2 N. Texas 66 – #1 Troy 63. In a great game to finish out the Sun Belt tournament, the Mean Green of N. Texas beat Troy to win their third ever invite to the NCAA tournament. Doogan and Stri got this one right. Waters missed on Troy.
FINAL SUN BELT STANDINGS (prior SB titles):
48 – Stri
46 – J
44 – Doogan
44 – Waters
36 – KA
20 – Lohse
20 – Lynch
16 – Ina (’09)
16 – Lil Lohse
14 – Alexi (’08)
14 – Bry
10 – Teddy
SUMMIT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP (16 points):
Top-seeded Oakland defended their regular season championship with a tournament championship. Their win created a four-way tie for the CTC Summit League championship. Ina wins her third consecutive Summit League title. She is joined by Bry, Alexi, and Lil Lohse in a four-way tie for the conference crown.
#1 Oakland 76 – #2 IUPUI 64. The Jaguars of IUPUI jumped out to a big lead, but they just could not stop Derick Nelson, who dropped 36 points with a broken nose. What a time for a career game for a guy whose season scoring average was less than 12 points per game. But, the 6’5″ senior would not be denied in his last chance to go to The Dance, as he was 15-23 from the floor, 3-8 from three, and 3-5 from the line for a career-high 36 points. Wow. Bry, Ina, J, Alexi, and Lil Lohse all nailed this champion. Teddy, Stri, Waters, and Doogan missed on IUPUI.
FINAL SUMMIT LEAGUE STANDINGS (prior SL titles; *perfect):
42 – Alexi
42 – Bry
42 – Ina (’08t*, ’09t)
42 – Lil Lohse
36 – J
34 – Doogan (’09t)
28 – Waters (’08t*)
26 – Lohse
26 – Lynch
26 – Teddy
12 – KA
12 – Stri (’09t)
ATLANTIC TEN OPENING ROUND (10 points each):
The first A-10 tournament games played on campus sites took place on Tuesday night (though no one could watch it because the conference completely screwed their TV deal). Ina and KA both went 4-for-4 on the night. J was the only one to go 1-for-4, but he still has all his semifinalists. Lynch and Waters both lost semifinalists on Tuesday night.
#8 St. Bonaventure 83 – #9 Duquesne 71. The Bonnies showed how tough of a place Olean, NY, is, as they handled Duquesne behind 28 from Chris Matthews (not that Chris Matthews) and 25 from Andrew Nicholson. The Bonnies are hot and will now move on to play the top-seeded Temple Owls on Friday in AC. Alexi, Doogan, and J missed on the Dukes.
#5 Rhode Island 87 – #12 St. Joseph’s 76. URI kept their dimming tournament hopes alive on Tuesday, as they held off a feisty St. Joe’s team at the Ryan Center. It was close down the stretch as St. Joe’s was within four with less than four to play, but they never got any closer, and URI will move on to AC to face #4 St. Louis in the quarters on Friday. Bry, Stri, and Waters went for the upset here and missed. Waters lost a semifinalist in St. Joe’s. KA has URI in the finals. Teddy and Alexi have the in the semis.
#11 UMass 59 – #6 Charlotte 56. In the big shocker of the night in the A-10 (and probably the biggest shocker of the night), the Minutemen slammed the door on Charlotte’s season, with a 59-56 win on the road. Ricky Harris just did not want his career to end so soon, scoring 24 points, including 11-12 from the line–many of them down the stretch. UMass now advances to the quarters on Friday, where they will open with #3 Richmond. The big upset of the day was the Minutemen on the road. Bry, Ina, Doogan, Lil Lohse, and KA all hit this nice upset pick. Lynch lost the most, as he had Charlotte in the semis.
#7 Dayton 70 – #10 George Washington 60. In a game that was a lot tougher than it should have been for the Flyers, they did hang on and wil move on to face arch-rival Xavier in the quarterfinals. GW even battled to a tie with less than 5 minutes left, but Dayton, who is so tough on their home floor, managed to do what they needed to down the stretch to get the W. They are still going to be a very tough out in this tournament, but the Flyers are not exactly playing their best ball at the right time. J and Lil Lohse both had GW in the upset here. Waters, Lohse, and Teddy keep a semifinalist alive. Lynch keeps a finalist alive.
ATLANTIC 10 STANDINGS (prior A-10 titles; *perfect):
*90 – Ina
*90 – KA
80 – Bry (’09)
80 – Doogan
80 – Lil Lohse
30 – Lohse
30 – Lynch
30 – Teddy
20 – Alexi
20 – Stri
20 – Waters (’08)
10 – J
BIG SKY SEMIFINALS (8 points each):
The semis in the Big Sky are complete, and Wednesday’s final is set. No one got both finalists right, but everyone except KA got at least one.
#4 Montana 68 – #2 N. Colorado 63. In another nice upset, the Grizzlies take down N. Colorado and are one win away from an unlikely NCAA tournament appearance. Lohse was the only one to nail the Montana pick. He will be rooting hard for them Wednesday night, as he has them winning it all.
#1 Weber St. 69 – #6 Portland St. 60. On the road, the Pilots of Portland St. put together a nice game, but fell just short, as the top-seeded Weber St. moves on to the finals to take on Montana. Only Lohse and KA did not have Weber St. in the finals. Add Doogan and Lynch to the mix that do not have Weber St. winning the title.
BIG SKY STANDINGS (prior Big Sky titles):
28 – Lohse
22 – Bry (’08t)
22 – Doogan
22 – Ina (’08t)
22 – Lil Lohse
22 – Lynch
22 – Teddy
12 – Alexi
12 – J (’09)
12 – Stri
12 – Waters
0 – KA
BIG EAST FIRST ROUND (5 points each):
The only conference that has five rounds of a tournament started their marathon on Tuesday, as the bottom half of the 16-team Big East took the floor in New York for a great quadruple-header. KA and Bry had the exact opposite picks on the day. KA got all four right; Bry got all four wrong. J was the only one who lost a semifinalist. Waters lost two quarterfinalists. Bry and Alexi each lost one.
#9 S. Florida 58 – #16 DePaul 49. In the opening game of the 15-game Big East tournament, S. Florida took care of business against DePaul–though it wasn’t pretty. USF now moves on by holding DePaul to under 30% from the floor. Only Bry had DePaul in this one. Lynch, KA, and Doogan all keep USF alive, whom they have going to the quarters.
#13 St. John’s 73 – #12 UConn 51. In the most surprising result of the day, the Johnnies absolutely smoked UConn, ending any hope of their at-large bid. This was a big result in the CTC, as UConn was a popular pick. Only KA had St. John’s winning this game. Bry, Alexi, and Waters had UConn going to the quarters. J had them going all the way to the semis.
#10 Seton Hall 109 – #15 Providence 106. In an absolutely ridiculous display of basketball, Seton Hall nearly blew a 30-point lead, but held on at the end, as Duke Mondy missed a three that would have sent it to an unlikely overtime. Jamine Peterson went for 38 points and 16 rebounds in a stupidly offensive game. Bry and Teddy missed on this upset pick. Waters, Lil Lohse, and KA all have Seton Hall going to the quarters.
#11 Cincinnati 69 – #14 Rutgers 68. And the fourth game of the first of three straight quadruple-headers at MSG was a real thriller, but like the game right before it, it shouldn’t have been. All Seton Hall had to do was play any defense and they would have walked home to a 20-point victory. Well, all Cincinnati had to do was hit a free throw at some point and they would have advanced much easier than they did. They finally did hit a free throw, as freshman star Lance Stevenson capped off his homecoming with the game-winning free throw to beat RU and advance to the second round against Louisville. It was the first Big East tournament win in the history of the Bearcats. Bry, Doogan, Waters, and Lil Lohse all missed on the upset pick. Waters had Rutgers in the quarters.
BIG EAST STANDINGS (prior Big East titles; *perfect):
*30 – KA
15 – Alexi
15 – Ina
15 – J
15 – Lohse
15 – Lynch
15 – Stri
10 – Doogan (’08, ’09)
10 – Lil Lohse
10 – Teddy
10 – Waters
0 – Bry
MEAC OPENING ROUND (2 points each):
The MEAC started with 2/3 of their opening round in Winston-Salem on Wednesday. Alexi, Stri, and Ina all nailed both games. More than half of the field missed them both.
#7 Bethune-Cookman 63 – #10 Florida A&M 54. The Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman had never had a D-I winning season until last year and they have now clinched their second straight, as they knock off FAMU by nine on Wednesday night. They advance to the quarterfinals to take on #2 Delaware St. Only Ina, Stri, Alexi, and KA had Bethune-Cookman in this one. Teddy and J both lost a semifinalist in FAMU.
#9 N.C. A&T 65 – #8 Howard 55. The Aggies of N.C. A&T take out Howard, ending the Bison’s season in the opening round of the MEAC tournament. Bry, Ina, Stri, and Alexi hit this mild upset. No one had either of these teams going any further.
MEAC STANDINGS (prior MEAC titles; *perfect):
*6 – Alexi
*6 – Ina
*6 – Stri
4 – Bry
2 – KA
0 – Doogan
0 – J
0 – Lil Lohse
0 – Lohse
0 – Lynch
0 – Teddy
0 – Waters
