Thursday, March 6, 2014

Thursday Night Didn't Have Bracket Movement But It Had Conference Tournament Drama

Thursday night was pretty quiet in terms of bracket movement. There were no real upsets, though several teams, like Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss, kept their bracket hopes alive. A couple of games involved safe tourney squads, and those games were won expectedly by the home teams. But there was great drama in the conference tournaments, with Mercer needing double overtime at home just to advance to the Atlantic Sun final. The MAAC has an #11 seed alive, and the Missouri Valley and WCC have #10 seeds still going.

@Cincinnati 97, Memphis 84 - expected home win for Cinci
Villanova 77, @Xavier 70 - tough home loss for XU, would have been major resume booster
Louisiana Tech 70, @Rice 48 - important road win for Louisiana Tech
Southern Miss 68, @Tulane 51 - and important road win for Southern Miss
North Carolina Central 76, @Norfolk State 70
Texas Southern 77, @Alcorn State 69
@Michigan State 84, Iowa 76 - tough stretch for Iowa, MSU back on track
@Stephen F. Austin 85, Oral Roberts 70
VCU 56, @Richmond 50
UCLA 91, @Washington 82
UC Irvine 62, @Cal State Northridge 44
@Portland State 66, Weber State 59

MAAC Tournament

#8 Rider 71, #9 Monmouth 60
#7 Saint Peter's 65, #10 Fairfield 62
#11 Niagara 78, #6 Marist 76

Notes: Rider plays #1 Iona, Saint Peter's plays #2 Manhattan, and Niagara plays #3 Quinnipiac on March 8. All games at Springfield, MA.

Atlantic Sun Tournament

#1 @Florida Gulf Coast 69, #4 East Tennessee State 64
#2 @Mercer 78, #3 USC Upstate 75 (2OT)

Notes: Mercer plays at Florida Gulf Coast on March 9. Winner gets the Atlantic Sun automatic bid.

Ohio Valley Tournament

#4 Morehead State 76, #5 Tennessee Tech 61
#3 Eastern Kentucky 84, #6 Southeast Missouri State 76

Notes: Morehead State plays #1 Belmont and Eastern Kentucky plays #2 Murray State on March 7. All games at Nashville, TN.

Missouri Valley Tournament

#9 Evansville 69, #8 Drake 61
#10 Loyola (IL) 74, #7 Bradley 72

Notes: Evansville plays #1 Wichita State and Loyola (IL) plays #2 Indiana State on March 7. All games at Saint Louis, MO.

West Coast Tournament

#10 Loyola Marymount 67, #7 Portland 64 - BYU and Gonzaga can breathe sigh of relief
#9 Santa Clara 81, #8 Pacific 64

Notes: Loyola Marymount plays #2 BYU and Santa Clara/Pacific plays #1 Gonzaga on March 7. All games at Las Vegas, NV.



Tomorrow could be the night when the first automatic bid gets handed out when Harvard plays Yale. If Harvard wins, it will win the Ivy League's automatic bid, making it the first official entrant into the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Oh, March Madness, I'm tellin' ya.... We'll also look tomorrow at one of the last Locked/Mixable/Prayer/Gone feature (renamed to help some of the confusing terminology).

#10 Harvard at @Yale

Southern Tournament

#9 Appalachian State vs. #8 Samford
#10 Furman vs. #7 Georgia Southern
#11 The Citadel vs. #6 UNC Greensboro

Notes: Appalachian State/Samford plays #1 Davidson, Furman/Georgia Southern plays #2 Chattanooga, and The Citadel/UNC Greensboro plays #3 Wofford on March 8. All games at Asheville, NC.

Big South Tournament

#4S Winthrop vs. #1N High Point
#3N Radford vs. #2S UNC Asheville
#5S Charleston Southern vs. #1S Coastal Carolina
#3S Gardner-Webb vs. #2N VMI

Notes: Winthrop/High Point plays Radford/UNC Asheville and Charleston Southern/Coastal Carolina plays Gardner-Webb/VMI on March 8. All games at Conway, SC.

Missouri Valley Tournament

#9 Evansville vs. #1 Wichita State
#5 Illinois State vs. #4 Missouri State
#6 Southern Illinois vs. #3 Northern Iowa
#10 Loyola (IL) vs. #2 Indiana State

Notes: Evansville/Wichita State plays Illinois State/Missouri State and Southern Illinois/Northern Iowa plays Loyola (IL)/Indiana State on March 8. All games at Saint Louis, MO.

Colonial Tournament

#9 UNC-Wilmington vs. #8 Hofstra

Notes: UNC-Wilmington/Hofstra winner plays #1 Delaware on March 8. All games at Baltimore, MD.

Horizon Tournament

#6 Oakland vs. #3 Wright State
#5 Milwaukee vs. #4 Valparaiso

Notes: Oakland/Wright State plays #2 Cleveland State and Milwaukee/Valparaiso plays #1 Green Bay on March 8. All games at Green Bay.

Ohio Valley Tournament

#4 Morehead State vs. #1 Belmont
#3 Eastern Kentucky vs. #2 Murray State

Notes: Winners play on March 8 for Ohio Valley championship. All games at Nashville, TN.

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