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DAILY 03-09-10 MD SU D3 BLACK
TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2010
KLMNO S D3
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
For Big East, the madness starts early
standings. seedings, Big East coaches share
Conference’s The Huskies’ challenge could the same plaint: Winning the Big
tournament gives
hardly be more daunting in the East tournament, to borrow a
second year of the tournament’s phrase from the business world,
all 16 teams a chance all-inclusive, 16-team format. is “a big ask.”
To win the title, Connecticut “You get rewarded with a dou-
(17-14, 7-11) — along with South ble bye and you get to play Mar-
by Liz Clarke Florida, Seton Hall, Cincinnati, quette, Louisville or Connecti-
St. John’s, Rutgers, Providence cut,” Coach Bob Huggins mused
From the perspective of some and DePaul — must win five after his Mountaineers closed the
pundits, Big East teams with as- games in five days. Last season, regular season Saturday by de-
pirations of reaching the NCAA not one team that opened play in feating Villanova, in overtime, on
Final Four are best served by los- the first round won more than a the road. “This league is just so
ing early in the conference’s mar- single game. hard. I don’t like the double bye. I
athon tournament and girding The road is much easier, of don’t like sitting there for two
instead for a national-title run. course, for teams that finished games while people are playing.
Coaches and players don’t view near the top of the standings. But if you can get through the
it that way. Along with No. 1 seed Syracuse first one, it definitely gives you a
Otherwise, why would Syra- (28-3, 15-3), which clinched its better chance to get through the
cuse and Connecticut have first regular season Big East title whole tournament.”
slogged through six overtimes to since 1991, Villanova, West Vir- While Syracuse is projected as
settle last season’s soul-sapping ginia and Pittsburgh get double a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tourna-
Big East quarterfinal, which end- byes directly into Thursday’s ment, two-time national champi-
ed at 1:22 a.m., with sixth-seeded quarterfinals. on Connecticut is likely NIT-
Syracuse prevailing, 127-117? Seeds No. 5 through 8 (Mar- bound, having cost itself with its
The reason: Being crowned quette, Louisville, Notre Dame late-season collapse.
champion in college basketball’s and Georgetown) get a first- Jerry Palm, publisher of Colle-
biggest and perhaps toughest round bye and open Wednesday, geRPI.com, is among those who
conference tournament is its own with Georgetown (20-9, 10-8) fac- believes the Huskies must ad-
reward. ing the winner of No. 9 South vance to Saturday’s Big East
This season’s quest kicks off Florida (19-11, 9-9) and No. 16 De- championship, if not win the title
Tuesday at New York’s Madison Paul (8-22, 1-17). outright, to warrant an NCAA
Square Garden, where 12th-seed- Should the Hoyas advance, berth.
ed Connecticut, in a stunning fall Thursday would bring a quarter- “I don’t see much hope for Con-
from grace, finds itself among the final against Syracuse, which necticut,” Palm said.
eight teams relegated to first- beat Georgetown in both meet- It’s precisely these wild shifts
round play for finishing the sea- ings this season. of fortune that make the Big East
son in the bottom half of the Regardless of their teams’ so compelling.
The league’s coaches picked
Syracuse to finish sixth in the
conference in preseason voting.
Big East tournament schedule By March 1, the Orange weren’t
just No. 1 in the Big East; they
SCOTT K. BROWN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
At Madison Square Garden in New York
were No. 1 in the nation. Not too Ben Finney (35) scores two for Old Dominion, which won the CAA title by beating William & Mary.
shabby for a team that wasn’t na-
First round Second round Quarterfi nals Semifi nals Final
Tuesday
Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
tionally ranked at the season’s
NATIONAL MEN
outset.
[9] USF Like most prognosticators,
Coach Jim Boeheim’s peers
NOON (ESPN2)
NOON (ESPN)
underestimated the impact of
Old Dominion wins CAA
[16] DePaul
Wes Johnson, the stunningly ver-
[8] Georgetown
NOON (ESPN)
satile transfer from Iowa State,
[1] Syracuse
who leads the Orange with 15.7 fifth three-pointer and two free It was one of the few big shots
points and 8.5 rebounds per
[12] Connecticut
Monarchs earn spot throws by Quinn McDowell, but the Monarchs had to hit to stay
7 P.M.
game.
2 P.M. (ESPN2)
(ESPN)
(In Monday’s final rankings,
in NCAAs after beating
Gerald Lee hit a 10-foot baby comfortably ahead.
hook from the right baseline Old Dominion led by seven at
[13] St. John’s
2 P.M. (ESPN)
Syracuse slid to No. 3. George- William & Mary with 4 minutes 46 seconds to go halftime, mostly on the
[5] Marquette
2 P.M. (ESPN) town dropped to No. 22.) to end the run and William & strength of a 14-3 run midway
[4] Villanova
Pittsburgh was projected to Darius James scored 12 Mary never got closer. through the half that extended
9 P.M.
finish ninth in the Big East, given points and Kent Basemore had The Tribe’s problem all night a 13-11 lead to 27-14. Basemore
[10] Seton Hall
(ESPN)
the high-profile departures from 10 as top-seeded Old Dominion was playing catchup. They and James each scored five in
7 P.M. (ESPNU)
its roster from last year, but end- beat William & Mary, 60-53, in trailed, 31-24, at halftime and the burst, while the Tribe were 1
7 P.M. (ESPN)
ed up in a three-way tie for sec- the Colonial Athletic Associa- the margin grew to 15 when the for 6 from the field and turned
[15] Providence
7 P.M. (ESPN)
ond in the standings, finishing tion tournament championship Monarchs opened the second the ball over four times.
[7] Notre Dame
13-5, along with Villanova and on Monday night in Richmond half on a 10-2 spurt. It started But the Monarchs scored just
[2] Pittsburgh
West Virginia. to earn the league’s automatic with a three-pointer by James four more points in the half,
[11] Cincinnati
9 P.M. It’s not the first time the Big berth in the NCAA tournament. and finished with one by Ben while three-pointers by David
(ESPN)
East’s preseason pecking order Old Dominion (26-8) won the Finney, giving them their larg- Schneider, JohnMark Ludwick
9 P.M. (ESPNU) has borne little resemblance to league’s guaranteed bid for the est lead. and Sumner closed the Tribe
[14] Rutgers
9 P.M. (ESPN) the final standings. It’s a measure first time since 2005, and may The Tribe responded with within seven at the break.
[6] Louisville
9 P.M. (ESPN) of the league’s competitiveness, have ended William & Mary’s seven points in a row, the last a71 SIENA 72, FAIRFIELD 65: Ed-
[3] West Virginia
as well as a window on the capri- hopes of qualifying for the tour- five on a dunk and three-point- win Ubiles scored 27 points and
ciousness of college basketball. nament for the first time. er by Sumner, and pulled to 47- Alex Franklin added 22 points
clarkel@washpost.com William & Mary (22-10) is one 40 when Finney made his sec- and 12 rebounds as the Saints
of five original Division I ond three to stop the burst. rallied from a double-digit half-
schools, along with Army, The time deficit and beat the Stags
NATIONAL WOMEN
Citadel, Northwestern and St. in overtime to win the Metro At-
Francis, N.Y., never to have been
They’re in
lantic Athletic Conference tour-
U-Conn. wins record 71st straight
included in an NCAA field. nament for the third straight
Danny Sumner led William &
The following teams have clinched
season.
Mary with 19 points, but the
automatic berths in the NCAA
Siena (27-6) has won 38
Monarchs extended their de-
tournament.
straight home games, the sec-
fense to hamper the Tribe’s ond-longest such streak in the
from news services three-point shooting. The Tribe, MEN nation behind top-ranked Kan-
and staff reports making their second champi- Cornell (Ivy) sas, which has won 59 in a row
onship appearance — both in East Tennessee St. (Atlantic Sun) at home. The second-seeded
The top-ranked Connecticut the past three years — was just 9 Murray State (Ohio Valley) Stags (22-10) put up a game
Huskies made women’s college for 31 on three-pointers. Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley) fight before losing to the Saints
basketball history Monday night The loss left William & Mary Old Dominion (Colonial Athletic) for the third time this season.
— not that you would have hoping a résumé that includes Siena (Metro Atlantic) Franklin’s runner in the lane
known it by watching them. road victories at Wake Forest Winthrop (Big South) snapped a 60-60 tie just 16 sec-
Tina Charles scored 16 points and Maryland of the Atlantic onds into the extra period and
and Maya Moore added 11 to help Coast Conference and Rich-
WOMEN
the Saints never trailed again in
U-Conn. win an NCAA-record mond of the Atlantic 10 will im-
Austin Peay (Ohio Valley)
winning the MAAC tournament
71st straight game, a 59-44 victo- press the selection committee.
Duke (ACC)
for the fifth time. Ryan Rossi-
ry over No. 6 Notre Dame (27-5) Otherwise, they seem assured
East Tennessee State (Atlantic
ter’s tip follow and Franklin’s
in the semifinals of the Big East of a berth in the NIT, which
Sun)
layin boosted the lead to 68-64
tournament in Hartford, Conn. would also be somewhat histor-
Marist (Metro Atlantic)
with 1:50 left.
The Huskies didn’t gloat, ic for the program; only in 1982
Ohio State (Big Ten)
Freshman guard Derek Need-
though. They didn’t even cel- has the Tribe played in a post-
Princeton (Ivy)
ham, who had 16 points to lead
ebrate. Just another night’s work season tournament.
Tennessee (Southeastern)
the Stags, missed twice in the fi-
for Coach Geno Auriemma’s lat- Trailing throughout, William
Gonzaga (West Coast)
nal minute and Ubiles sank four
est dynasty. & Mary pulled within five with
Xavier (Atlantic 10)
free throws to secure the victo-
At the final horn they just five minutes left on Sumner’s
Chattanooga (Southern)
ry.
shook hands with the Irish — the
way they have with opponents af-
ter nearly every other game dur-
ing their incredible streak.
BOB CHILD/ASSOCIATED PRESS
“I can’t think anything is more Connecticut’s Maya Moore passes away from Ashley Barlow. The
important than winning and Huskies surpassed their previous record streak set in 2001-03.
playing in the Big East champi-
onship for these kids,” Auriemma years at Show Place Arena in Up- 17 and Jasmine Stone pulled
said. per Marlboro, but Temple made down 17 rebounds. The Owls,
U-Conn. surpassed its own them earn it every step of the way. who outscored Xavier 13-1 to start
mark set from Nov. 9, 2001, to Temple overcame a 14-0 deficit the second half, were seeking
March 11, 2003. Unlike that at the start of the game, and their first Atlantic 10 title since
amazing run, which ended in a erased Xavier’s 12-point halftime winning three straight from 2004
loss in the Big East conference lead to force overtime, but Spe- to 2006 .
tournament semifinals to Villa- cial Jennings’s three-pointer in — Dave Yanovitz
nova, this Huskies team has thor- the extra session proved to be the a71 GONZAGA 76, PEPPERDINE
oughly dominated its opponents winner in a 57-55 triumph. 48: In Las Vegas, Courtney Van-
in every game, winning all of Xavier (27-3) earned the Atlan- dersloot scored 19 points, Heath-
them by double digits. tic 10’s automatic bid to the er Bowman added 14 and the No.
“After the season, the last game NCAA tournament. Temple 18 Bulldogs rolled to their 17th
we play we can look back and see (24-8) is expected to earn an at- straight victory and the West
what we’ve done,” said Kalana large bid when the brackets are Coast Conference tournament ti-
Greene, who scored 15 points. revealed next week. tle.
“You don’t want to celebrate Temple took its only lead, 55- Kayla Standish had 10 points
about wins. We don’t plan on our 53, on Marli Bennett’s jumper and 14 rebounds for Gonzaga
season being over any time soon.” with 3 minutes 50 seconds left in (27-4), which dominated the con-
The Huskies are focused on overtime, but Jennings (12 ference with a 14-0 regular sea-
bigger goals — not just winning a points, five assists) responded son run followed by tournament
16th Big East conference champi- seconds later from beyond the blowouts of Santa Clara and Pep-
onship but also a seventh nation- arc. Temple had a chance to tie in perdine at Orleans Arena.
al title. On Tuesday, Connecticut the final seconds, but Qwedia Lauren Bell scored 16 points
(32-0) will face No. 9 West Vir- Wallace’s jumper in the lane was for the Waves (20-11).
ginia (28-4), a 56-49 winner over short at the buzzer. a71 CHATTANOOGA 72, SAMFORD
Rutgers (19-14) in the second Junior Amber Harris had a 67: In Charlotte, Shanara Hollin-
semifinal. game-high 23 points for Xavier, quest scored 22 points, Michelle
a71 XAVIER 57, TEMPLE 55: The and 6-foot-6 teammate Ta’Shia Davis added 16 and hit two key
fifth-ranked Musketeers won Phillips grabbed 21 rebounds, 13 three-pointers late, and the Lady
their 18th consecutive game and on the defensive boards. Mocs (24-8) rallied to win their
captured their third Atlantic 10 Wallace led Temple with 18 eighth Southern Conference title
women’s tournament title in four points, Kristen McCarthy added in 10 years.
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