NCAAB Friday, March 10 Big 14 tournament, Washington DC Michigan flew in from Detroit yesterday morning, went right to the arena and beat Illinois by 20, wearing practice uniforms. Wolverines won seven of their last nine games overall; they beat Purdue 82-70 at home Feb 25, in their only meeting this season, shooting 11-26 on arc- they used four guys 32:00+ yesterday. Purdue won eight of its last nine games, with loss in Ann Arbor the only setback; Boilermakers beat Michigan 76-59 in LY’s tourney. Boilers won their first tourney game last two years by 5-31 points- they’re 6-9 in first tourney game the last 15 years. Michigan State beat Minnesota twice this season, 75-74 in OT on road Dec 27 (trailed by 14 in 2nd half), then 65-47 at home two weeks later. Spartans won nine of last 11 games against the Gophers, but Minnesota is on an 8-1 run, with only loss on Senior Day at Wisconsin Sunday. Gophers played five OT games in conference this season (3-2); they’re 6-3 in first tournament game the last nine years. Michigan State lost three of last five games; they’re #320 experience team in country- they lost last four road games, with last road win Feb 2 at Nebraska. Atlantic 14 tournament, Pittsburgh Davidson played four starters 32:00+ last nite, made 11-27 on arc in 82-73 win over LaSalle. Wildcats are 4-6 in their last ten games; their last two losses came in OT. Dayton won 89-82 in OT at Davidson 13 days ago, after trailing by 11 with 6:18 left in game; they’re 2-1 vs Wildcats in A-14 play. Flyers won nine of last ten games, losing on Senior Day at GW six days ago. Since ’05, Dayton is 9-1 in its first conference tourney game. Aldridge played all 40:00 and scored 33 for Davidson yesterday but Dayton had the day off, a big advantage. St Bonaventure lost 71-59 at Rhode Island in January; Bonnies were 12-41 inside arc, but did have 19 offensive rebounds. URI won three of last four series games- Rams lost by a hoop in Olean last year. Bonnies had easy time with UMass yesterday but Mobley/Adams still played all 40:00; they’ve won four of last five games- since 2012, they’re 7-3 in A-14 tourney games, with a title in 2012. Rhode Island is 1-3 in this tourney last five years, but they’re better this season, coming in with five wins in row and 9-2 mark in their last eleven games. Conference USA tournament, Birmingham Middle Tennessee State won 18 of its last 19 games; lone loss was 57-54 in El Paso five weeks ago, a game Blue Raiders led by 17 with 14:08 left in game- that was teams’ only meeting this season. MTSU had fairly easy time beating UTSA yesterday; none of their guys played more than 30:00; they’re 2-3 in C-USA games vs UTEP, losing by 13 to Miners in this event two years ago. UTEP used three starters 36:00+ in impressive rout of a good Rice team; Miners won seven of last eight games, with only loss by a point at home to Old Dominion. SEC tournament, Nashville Vanderbilt beat Florida twice this year, both by two points; Commodores won six of last seven games, with only loss by 6 at Kentucky- they led 25-6 early in that game. Vandy was 11-29 on arc in easy win over Texas Aggies yesterday; they had two starters play 30:00+, but it was a stress-free game. Gators won their first SEC tourney game the last eight years, with seven wins by 7+ points. Florida won 10 of its last 12 games, losing at Kentucky/Vandy; they had yesterday off, which helps. Gators shot 33% or less from arc in all four of their SEC losses. Kentucky beat Georgia twice this year, but had to fight like hell both times, winning 90-81 in OT at home in first meeting (trailed 19-5 early, by hoop in last 1:00), then 82-77 in Athens Feb 18 (outscored Dawgs 9-2 in last 0:55 of game). Wildcats are 8-1 in SEC tourney last three years, winning first game each year, by 18-15-26 points- they won eight games in row since 88-66 loss at Florida Feb 4. Georgia played nine guys 10+ minutes in 59-57 win yesterday; Dawgs got 26:00 out of injured star Maten, so that helps. 10 of their last 12 games were decided by 7 or less points or in OT. Alabama won 90-86 in FOUR OVERTIMES at South Carolina in only meeting this season Feb 7; SC’s Thornwell was 25-33 on foul line by himself that night- Carolina was 35-50 on line in a game they trailed by 17 in first half. Crimson Tide lost three of last five games overall- they had an easy win over Miss State yesterday- none of their guys played more than 28:00. Gamecocks are 4-3 in this tournament the last three years- they had yesterday off. Carolina lost its last three road tilts, by 9-15-5 points- they’re 3-5 in last eight games. Win here and they sleep lot better. ACC tournament, Brooklyn Home side won both Duke-North Carolina games this season; Duke was 20-46 on arc in the two games. Blue Devils are 12-5 in last 17 games against UNC. Tar Heels won six of last seven games overall; they used one guy more than 29:00 yesterday in easy win over Miami. Duke is playing third day in row, after competitive wins over Clemson/Louisville; their subs played 69 minutes total in two games- they were down 12 in second half yesterday. Duke split its last six games overall; they won last series meeting vs UNC in ACC tourney, in 2011 Final. Florida State won four of its last five games; they used three starters 30:00+ in 74-68 win over Va Tech yesterday. Seminoles have gone W-L in ACC tourney last four years; since ’03, they’re 2-7 in second game of conference tourney. FSU beat Notre Dame 83-80 at home in first meeting Jan 18, then lost 84-72 in South Bend in rematch Feb 11- they’re 3-2 in ACC matchups with ND. Irish played three starters 37:00 each in fairly easy 71-58 win over Virginia last night. Notre Dame is 5-1 in ACC tourney last three years- they won tourney two years ago. Big X tournament, Kansas City Iowa State starts four seniors, is #6 experience team in country; they made 12-24 on arc in 92-83 win over Okla State yesterday, their third win over OSU this season. Morris/Long both played 36:00 yesterday. Cyclones won seven of last eight games, with loss at WV. TCU had huge upset win over Kansas yesterday; they won last two days after coming into tourney on 7-game losing streak. Robinson/Williams played 38/36 minutes yesterday. Horned Frogs beat Iowa State 84-77 at home Jan 14, then lost rematch 84-71 in Ames three weeks ago. Pac-12 tournament, T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas Road team won both Arizona-UCLA games this season; Wildcats are 5-3 in last eight series games- they’re 2-4 vs Bruins in this tournament. Arizona made 10-19 on arc in 92-78 win over Colorado last nite; Trier was only Wildcat to play more than 30:00. Overall, Arizona won six of its last seven games, is 28-4 despite being #323 experience team in country. UCLA won its last ten games, holding off crosstown rival USC by a hoop last night; Bruins used three starters 33:00+; their bench played total of 44:00. UCLA hasn’t lost since January 25 at USC. Mountain West tournament, Las Vegas Nevada won regular season title, but got swept by Fresno this season, losing 77-76 in Fresno (led by 10 in second half), then losing rematch 81-76 at home three weeks later. Bulldogs got Nevada inside players in foul trouble- Wolf Pack isn’t very deep- their bench played only 37:00 yesterday in fairly easy win over Utah St. FSU won six of its last seven games against Nevada. Bulldogs won last six games overall; they used three starters 37:00+ yesterday in 65-60 win over New Mexico. Nevada won its last seven games overall, with four of those on road.
