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Wednesday, March 15,
2006
Oklahoma State-Miami Florida
Press Notes
The University
of Miami’s has been selected to compete
in the National Invitation Tournament and will host Oklahoma
State in the first round. This
marks the Hurricanes’ second consecutive post season appearance and its 13th
post season appearance overall (5 NCAA, 8 NIT). Miami
has now reached the post-season its nine of the last 12 seasons. Miami
is 4-12 all-time in post season competition. The Hurricanes will be hosting a
post-season game for the first time in school-history. Oklahoma
State enters its opening round game
of the NIT with a record of 17-15 and are the No. 6
seed. The Cowboys are coming off a 63-62 loss to Kansas
in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament. Oklahoma
State defeated Iowa State, 79-70,
in the opening round before falling to the eventual tournament champions. The
Cowboys, who went 6-10 in Big 12 Conference play.
Louisiana Tech-Clemson
Press Notes
This is the second consecutive year Clemson has been
invited to the NIT, the first time Clemson has made back to back postseason
appearances since 1997-98 and 1998-99. Last year Clemson traveled to Texas A&M for the NIT and was defeated, 82-74. This will be
Clemson’s first NIT home game since March
18, 1999 when Clemson defeated Butler
89-69 in the quarterfinals. Clemson lost in the finals that year to California
61-60, the furthest Clemson has advanced in the event. Overall, this is Clemson’s
13th appearance in the NIT and the Tigers have a 10-12 overall
record.
Old Dominion-Colorado
Press Notes
The Old Dominion University Monarchs (21-9) will take on
the Buffaloes of the University of Colorado
(20-9).
Vanderbilt-Notre Dame
Press Notes
Notre Dame (15-13) will play host to a first round game in
the 2006 National Invitation Tournament against Vanderbilt (16-11) on
Wednesday, March 15 at 7:00 p.m.
(EST). The Irish are the No. 5 seed in their bracket, while the Commodores
earned the No. 4 seed. The 40-team field was announced on Sunday evening, March
12 with both Notre Dame and Vanderbilt receiving opening round byes. This will
mark Notre Dame’s 10th appearance in the NIT. Through the years,
Irish teams have compiled a 22-9 mark (.710) overall in 31 games. The contest
will be the ninth meeting ever between the two schools with the series tied at
4-4. Notre Dame has been victorious each of the last two times the teams have
met. The last matchup between the two schools was during the 2002-03 campaign
when the Irish earned a 76-63 victory at the Joyce
Center on December 30, 2002. Wednesday’s contest will mark
the fourth visit by a Commodore team to the Joyce
Center. Vanderbilt teams are 2-1 in
the three previous games they have played at the Joyce
Center. Its last victory over Notre
Dame was an overtime decision (87-85) at the Joyce
Center on December 4, 1999.
Western Kentucky-South Carolina
The State
The Gamecocks are “down (mentally) and disappointed” after
the 49-47 loss to Florida that
ended their magic carpet ride through the SEC tourney. The Gamecocks had hoped
to use the 2005 NIT championship as a springboard to bigger and better things
this season, but those plans dissolved in a series of close losses. Odom knows
the numbers. The Gamecocks went 7-5 down the stretch, including the SEC
tourney, and four of those losses came by a total of seven points. Coming back
and playing well Wednesday night will be taxing, too. But resiliency in difficult
times has been a trademark for the 2006 Gamecocks, and Odom does not expect
that to change. “We have bounced back all year,” he said Monday, and he went to
work to get his team ready to play one more time. He and his staff went about
the task of obtaining information on Western Kentucky
the hard way. Alabama-Birmingham called with an offer to provide a scouting
report if Odom would reciprocate with details on Kentucky,
the Blazers’ first-round NCAA opponent. South Alabama
offered to exchange Western Kentucky reports for one on Florida.
“Anything goes, but I won’t share (reports) on a conference team,” he said. “By
the time we meet (Monday), we will be well versed on Western
Kentucky, and we will be will prepared.”
Wake Forest-Minnesota
Duluth News Tribune
Not including vacated games, the Gophers are 17-9 in the
NIT, including a championship run in 1993. They are 5-4 under Monson, and made
it to the semifinals in 2003 before losing to Georgetown,
then Texas Tech in the third-place game at Madison
Square Garden
in New York.”I think the guys were really excited after they found
out,” Monson said. “They’ve played well in the Barn. They wanted to keep
playing, and there’s no better place.” Minnesota
finished 12-5 at home during the regular season, including 8-1 in nonconference games. The Gophers won four home games in a
row—against Indiana, Michigan
State, Iowa and Purdue—in the
second half of the Big Ten season. Wake
Forest lost Saturday to Duke in the
semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
BYU-Houston
Desert News
The No. 6-seed Cougars (20-8) will test No. 3 Houston
(20-9). in the 8,500-seat Hofeinz
Pavilion. The Cougars will try and avoid losing back-to-back
games for the first time this season when they take on the Cougars from Texas.
“I’d say this was the hardest practice we’ve had in two
months,” freshman Lee Cummard said. “On a
scale of one to 10, this was an eight,” junior Austin Ainge
said. “It was like one of our normal Monday practices; it was a tough one, and
I think we came out and worked hard.” BYU
likes the Wednesday post-season game since it required little change in BYU’s script for Mountain West Conference road trips.
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Thursday, March 16,
2006
Pacific-Boston College
Press Notes
Pacific has won 13 of the last 14 games and have claimed a third straight Big West Conference title.
Washington-Utah State
Press Notes
Utah State
will be participating in its seventh straight postseason (5 NCAA, 2 NIT) and
the Aggies have gone to the NCAA Tournament (1998,
2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006) or NIT (2002, 2004)
eight times in the last nine years. USU is 6-18
(.250) in its previous 16 NCAA Tournament appearances. Utah
State is 4-12 all-time in the first
round of the NCAA Tournament. In its last NCAA Tournament in 2005, USU (14th seed) lost to Arizona
(3rd seed) 66-53 in Boise, Idaho
(Chicago Region). Utah State’s
last win in the NCAA Tournament was in 2001 when USU
(12th seed) defeated Ohio State
(5th seed) 77-68 in overtime in the first round of the East Region
in Greensboro, N.C.
That win by the Aggies was the school’s first in 31
years as USU had lost nine straight NCAA games dating
back to 1970. Utah State
(23-8) is one of five teams across the country to win at least 23 games in each
of the last seven years. Utah State is 23-8 on the season after defeating San
Jose State (76-69) and Louisiana Tech (68-64), and losing to 21st-ranked
Nevada (70-63 ot) last weekend in the 2006 WAC Tournament in Reno, Nev. Utah State, which finished in
a tie for second-place in the Western Athletic Conference with an 11-5 league
record, is 2-0 on neutral courts this year. Despite losing in the championship
game of the WAC Tournament, Utah
State has won seven of its last
nine games heading into the NCAA Tournament.
Winthrop-Tennessee
Sports Illustrated/CNN
The Vols deserved a No. 2 seed—if
the season had ended in mid-February, when they were 19-3. What was the NCAA
selection committee thinking, handing a two to a team that lost four of its
last six games to finish 21-7? Coach Bruce
Pearl has worked miracles to get this squad where it is—from nowhere to
the top of the SEC East—but Tennessee
looks like it may have peaked too soon.
Gonzaga-Xavier
Press Notes
Xavier, 21-10 overall, defeated Saint Joseph’s 62-61 in
the Atlantic 10 Championship Game on March 11, earning Xavier its fourth
Atlantic 10 Championship all-time and its third in the last five years. Xavier,
21-10 overall, defeated Saint Joseph’s 62-61 in the Atlantic 10 Championship
Game on March 11, earning Xavier its fourth Atlantic 10 Championship all-time
and its third in the last five years. Xavier head coach Sean Miller is the
first Xavier head coach to win an Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship without a
senior starter.
George Washington-NC Wilmington
Associated Press
The Colonials (26-2), ranked No. 6 in last week’s AP poll
and the only Division I team with fewer than three losses, received only a No.
8 seed in the NCAA tournament. They beat only one school – A10 tournament
champion Xavier – in the NCAA’s field of 65. Their
non-conference schedule was one of the weakest in the country. They were
thumped 68-53 by Temple in the
first round of their conference tournament. Center Pops Mensah-Bonsu,
the team’s emotional leader and anchor in the middle, has a knee injury and
might not play Thursday. North Carolina-Wilmington is a patient team that poses
a tough matchup for the Colonials, who like to run the floor and pile up the
points. GW’s only two losses – to N.C.
State and Temple
– were against teams that kept the pace slow. The Seahawks often win with
scores in the 60s, although they play more man-to-man instead of zone, which Temple
used to great success.
Nebraska-Hofstra
NY Times
Hofstra was another N.I.T. pick hoping for an N.C.A.A.
bid. It lost to North Carolina Wilmington in the Colonial Athletic final and
received a No. 3 seeding in the N.I.T. It will open
against Nebraska.Hofstra won 14 of its last 16 games
and beat George Mason, which made the N.C.A.A.
tournament, twice.
Friday, March 17, 2006
UAB-Kentucky
Sports Illustrated/CNN
The No. 9-seeded Blazers, with just one win over a team in
the top 50 of the RPI (Memphis), don’t have the
resume to justify a higher seed, but that’s irrelevant; they still scare the bejesus out of everyone in this region. Coach Mike Anderson’s helter-skelter, “40
minutes of hell” attack ranks No. 2 nationally in steals (11.1 per game), and a
stunning 29.1 percent of UAB’s defensive possessions
result in turnovers. The Blazers also have plenty of tourney-upset experience:
Slotted in the same position in 2004, they upset Washington
and No. 1-seeded Kentucky to
reach the Sweet 16; and as an 11-seed in 2005, they knocked off No. 6 LSU. Kentucky
and UConn, beware.
Chicago Sun Times
In 2004, when the top-seeded Wildcats were a strong threat
to win the tournament, they were upset 76-75 in the second round by the
Blazers. Is it payback time?
George Mason-Michigan
State
Press Notes
The Spartans (22-11) will be about 250 miles from campus
Friday in Dayton, Ohio, where they will be a No. 6 seed playing No. 11 George
Mason (23-7). After starting the season ranked fourth in the country and as
favorites to win the Big Ten, Michigan
State crumbled toward the end of
the regular season with five losses in seven games.
The Spartans can make their late-season slide a distant
memory with another long run in the NCAA tournament. Last year, they followed
up an uneven season with their fourth trip to the Final Four in seven years. Izzo, leading Michigan
State to a school-record ninth
straight NCAA tournament, is 23-7 in the Big Dance and his 76.7 winning
percentage trails only Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (78.6
percent). The Spartans will face George Mason without one of its standouts.
Guard Tony Skinn was suspended by his team for one
game for punching a Hofstra player in the groin with
55 seconds left in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament semifinals.
Indiana-San Diego
State
Press Notes
SDSU (24-8, 13-3 MWC) is making its fifth trip to the NCAA Division I
tournament and second under head coach Steve Fisher, after claiming an
automatic bid at the Mountain West Conference Championship last Saturday in
Denver, Colo. The Aztecs’ last NCAA appearance came in 2002, when they won
their first MWC tournament title in Las
Vegas, Nev. Indiana (18-11, 9-7
Big 10) earned an at-large bid to the 2006 NCAAs and
will face SDSU for the first time in the two schools’
history. The Hoosiers are the second straight Big Ten opponent for the Aztecs
in the NCAAs after falling to Illinois
back in 2002. SDSU is 6-6 all-time against Big Ten
schools with the most recent meeting being a victory over Ohio
State in November 2003.
Albany-Connecticut
WFSB.com
The Huskies also have something to prove after their quick
exit from the Big East tournament last week when ninth-seeded Syracuse,
the eventual tournament champion, beat them 86-84 in overtime.
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