WASHINGTON — Nobody goes unbeaten in college basketball anymore, unless you’re the UConn women or 2015 Kentucky, and even then, not so much. Nobody goes unblemished in conference play anymore (unless you’re the 2015 Maryland women; I should really stay away from absolutes). There are always bumps and bruises en route to Selection Sunday and how a team navigates through the disappointments determines their seeding (or inclusion) in the field of 68.
First things first — thank you, NCAA, for returning to calling the Round of 64 the “First Round.” The tip-toeing over calling Thursday-Friday the “Second Round” for five years resembled a reality that few enjoyed. I hope you retroactively rename the First Fours as well as First and Second Rounds from 2011…if you can vacate wins, you can certainly “modify” what was a ham-fisted decision by the NCAA. While we are at it, could you also substitute “East/South/Midwest/West” for the respective cities when referring to regionals from 2004-06?
No matter how rough things may be for our Beltway and Commonwealth schools, at least none is winless in conference play. Five Division I teams remain chasing that initial league victory…and four are schools we’re somewhat familiar with. Boston College (0-12 in the ACC) has a three-point loss to North Carolina, St. John’s (0-13 Big East) has the hope that is Hall of Famer Chris Mullin as head coach, Rutgers (0-12 Big Ten) has the consolation that nobody knows they are actually in the Big Ten, and Minnesota (0-13 Big Ten) has coach Richard Pitino’s hair. Chicago State (0-10 in the Western Athletic) rounds out the fateful five.
#6 Maryland (22-4, 10-3 Big Ten) stumbled at home to red-hot Wisconsin 70-57 (the Badgers have won 7 straight to move from the NIT bubble to NCAA contention). After taking a 14-7 lead in the first half, the Terps shot 0-5 with 7 turnovers during a stretch where Wisconsin was heating up. A 28-5 run later found the home team down double digits, and even though they fought back to a 7-point deficit on multiple occasions, the Terps would never get within two possessions again. Melo Trimble’s midseason slide now has the sophomore shooting 4-17 over his last three games and 1-8 from 3-point range. The faithful are hoping this is just a hiccup as opposed to the start of a season-ending slide. Diamond Stone will not play Thursday against Minnesota after pushing Vitto Brown’s head to the floor Saturday, but what’s just as disturbing was Stone’s one rebound in 29 minutes on the floor against the Badgers. ESPN.COM’s Joe Lunardi has the Terps seeded 2nd in the East with a first-round matchup against UNC-Asheville in Brooklyn…while CBSsports.com’s Jerry Palm has Maryland a #3 in the South, facing Stony Brook in Providence.
Georgetown (14-12, 7-6 Big East) lost another tough test against Providence (this time at Dunkin’ Donuts Center) that further strands the Hoyas on the wrong side of the NCAA threshold. They’re now just 3-8 against the RPI top 50. This means that they’re playing a tough schedule, just not winning against said slate. Twenty wins is no longer a magic ticket on Selection Sunday, but in order to even get there the Hoyas would need to win their last five league games, plus a Big East Quarterfinal game (or go 4-1 and reach the Finals). Further complicating the tricky math, the Hoyas caught a tough break when Bradley Hayes broke his hand in practice last Thursday. While the senior hasn’t been devouring the league, Hayes has been the team’s prime post presence (9 points and 7 rebounds per game) this winter. Am I confident that Coach John Thompson III’s team will fight down to the last possession as is their custom? Certainly. Am I convinced that senior D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera will go down swinging? Of course. I’m just thinking that a finishing stretch that includes Seton Hall, Xavier, Butler and #1 Villanova is less than forgiving.
#7 Virginia (21-5, 10-4 ACC) emerged from Saturday’s disappointing defeat at Duke (seriously, what do Tony Bennett and company need to do to win at Cameron Indoor?) to blast NC State 73-53. Tied at 31 coming out of halftime, the Cavaliers jumped out front with a 13-2 run and polished off the Wolfpack with a 21-5 spurt later in the second half. Malcolm Brogdon (22 points) shined on both ends of the floor, holding the league’s leading scorer Anthony “Cat” Barber to 4-11 shooting and 5 turnovers. Coach Tony Bennett’s team has a week off before beginning a closing gauntlet against #11 Miami, #5 North Carolina, #18 Louisville and a Clemson team fighting to stay on the NCAA bubble. Speaking of bubbles — UVa is a #2 seed playing in Raleigh by both models: ESPN has them in the West Regional facing Belmont while CBS has them in the South playing Winthrop.
Virginia Tech (13-12, 5-7 ACC) hasn’t played since last Tuesday’s loss at Virginia and clings to its winning overall record (they haven’t had one since 2011). While the final third of their conference slate begins and ends with the #11 Hurricanes, there are victories to be had for the Hokies. As it stands, they might just avoid playing in the opening round of the ACC Tournament (the 11 vs. 14 and 12 vs. 13 games). That would represent a major step for Buzz Williams’ program.
George Washington (18-7, 7-5 Atlantic 10) dropped a pair of games to St. Joe’s and St. Bonaventure, stumbling out of both projected brackets — they remain a First Four out on CBS, but aren’t even one of the first eight excluded on ESPN. Lack of defense destroyed GW against the Hawks as they allowed 64 percent shooting in the second half of an 84-66 defeat. The hangover continued a few days later in a 64-57 loss against the Bonnies, as the Colonials managed just 19 first half points and shot 36 percent for the game. Coach Mike Lonergan felt they took too many jumpers against St. Joe’s…and they shot 5-21 from 3-point range a few days later. The good news is GW plays just one team with a winning conference record between now and the A-10 Tournament when they get VCU at home. The bad news is the way they played the last two games, they can be beaten even by the likes of LaSalle and Duquesne.
George Mason (9-16, 3-9) gave fans Reason #422 never to head home early. The Patriots led Davidson 49-37 with 12 minutes to play. Time to mosey on over to Brion’s Grille? Hardly, because Jack Gibbs and the Wildcats mounted a furious 20-2 rally to put the home team two possessions down with under 2 minutes remaining. Time to go home with your heads down? Not quite, as the Patriots ended the game on a 9-2 spurt that finished with a Jalen Jenkins tip-in with :01 left in a 60-59 victory. Jenkins notched 17 points off the bench (something about the Wildcats brings out his best — he scored 20 at Davidson in January) as coach Dave Paulsen’s team has picked up a little late-season steam (2-2 this month). Can they feast on fellow sub-500 teams St. Louis & UMass?
American (7-18, 5-9 Patriot League) just had a five-game winning streak that made the Eagles “the hottest team inside the beltway,” remember? Remember that moment when one thought AU would be spared the opening round of the Patriot League tournament? Saturday’s 65-59 loss to Army West Point saw the Eagles score just 15 first half points…and get outrebounded by 14. One positive — Delante Jones is more than just a freshman blip. The 6-foot-5 forward tallied 18 points for the third time in four games. Up next for the 9th place Eagles: games with 10th place Lafayette and 8th place Holy Cross.
Howard (10-15, 4-6 MEAC) may not be done quite yet, but a 24-point loss at home to Coppin State? Five straight losses have this team looking like the ones that had an annual reservation in the 20-loss club, as opposed to last winter’s James Gang. Sadly, James Daniel III can’t do it all (the junior continues to lead Division I in scoring at 27.4 points per game). Ball movement might be helpful — the team ranks 348th of 351 DI teams with 9 assists per contest. The team’s game with Maryland-Eastern Shore was postponed due to Monday’s weather, which may be a good thing — the Hawks have gotten hot as of late with four wins in six games, including an 85-67 win over Howard.
