Six days before Selection Sunday — don’t worry, things will get sorted out (even if they aren’t to everyone’s satisfaction).
Sunday’s action saw American University’s improbable Patriot League Tournament run end. The Eagles rallied from 21 points down to force overtime at Lafayette, but came up short 84-76 in double-overtime.
Matt Rogers tallied 24 points with 13 rebounds in defeat as AU has the consolation of knowing that the bulk of their nucleus is underclassmen and on track to return for 2023-24. (Small consolation for a season that ends the first weekend of March, but consolation nevertheless.)
The CAA quarterfinals at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in D.C. saw Towson defeat Delaware 86-60 after holding the Blue Hens to 39% shooting and 4-25 from 3-point range.
Nicolas Timberlake led the way with 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Blowouts were the rule and not the exception during the quadruple-header as regular season champ Hofstra and tournament favorite College of Charleston dominated their games against William & Mary and Stony Brook. Even UNC-Wilmington had stretches of dominance (a 16-0 second half run that gave them the lead for good) in their five-point victory over Drexel.
Where the other locals stand:
Maryland (20-11, 11-9 Big Ten) wasted a 15-point lead and allowed a tip-in as time wound down to fall at Penn State 65-64. The 1-9 conference road record (with the lone win coming at last-place Minnesota) is tough to stomach moving forward, but at the beginning year the College Park Faithful would have dived after a winning conference record. And despite the program’s issues in the Big Ten Tournament, they’ve yet to play in the Dreaded First Round since joining the conference. Coach Kevin Willard’s team is the No. 6 seed and plays the winner of Nebraska and Minnesota in Thursday’s Second Round (drawing the late tipoff).
Virginia (24-6, 15-5 ACC) takes the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament after their 75-60 win over last place Louisville. The Cavaliers tied with Miami for the best regular season record but a December loss to the Hurricanes gives Miami the tiebreaker. Still, this is the sixth time in ten years that UVA has posted the best regular season mark. In the previous fifty years of ACC play, the Cavaliers had done that five times. They’ll wait until Thursday at 7 p.m. to play their Quarterfinal matchup with whoever emerges from the North Carolina/Boston College/Louisville trio.
Virginia Tech (18-13, 8-12 ACC) takes the No. 11 seed and plays Notre Dame on Tuesday in the First Round at Greensboro. The Hokies grabbed the 11th seed by beating Florida State 82-60. Now, there are those who will discount their finish by saying they beat the sub-. 500 Seminoles and last-place Louisville to conclude their season, but Coach Mike Young’s team has also beaten double-bye teams Duke and Virginia plus a Pitt team that was in first place as recently as one week ago. Tech also won the Tournament last year — I’m not saying they’re on a mission to repeat, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they advanced a round further than their seeding would suggest.
George Mason (19-12, 11-7 Atlantic 10) takes the No. 5 seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament after their last-second win at Richmond. That must have been one intriguing bus ride up Interstate 95 after Mason let an 18-point lead dissolve in the second half and needed a late steal and score by Davonte Gaines to deliver their fifth straight victory. The 11 league wins are the most for the Patriots since they joined the A-10, as they’ll meet the winner of Richmond and UMass on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
George Washington (16-15, 10-8 Atlantic 10) rallied from 17 points down against regular season champ VCU, but came up short 74-68. And this was on a day where their high-powered backcourt duo of James Bishop and Brendan Adams shot 11-28 from the field and each took a while to get going (Bishop didn’t score until there was 11:20 left in the 1st half and Adams’ first basket came with 12:56 left in regulation). But, just like many would have taken a winning Maryland season, the Foggy Bottom Faithful can’t help but be impressed with Coach Chris Caputo delivering the school it first winning A-10 and overall regular season record in his first winter guiding the program. GW takes the No. 7 seed and plays the winner of St. Joe’s and Loyola Chicago at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Georgetown (7-24, 2-18 Big East) had the weekend off and their second straight last place finish delivers a First Round showdown with a Villanova team that heads to Madison Square Garden with six wins in its last eight games.
Five automatic bids were claimed over the weekend:
Northeast — as fate would have it Farleigh Dickinson (19-14) — became the first school to punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament, and it didn’t happen in the customary manner. Saturday, the Knights won their semifinal 70-50 against St. Francis (PA) while top seed Merrimack won its semifinal. Only the Warriors are ineligible for the NCAA (four-year transition from Division II), so FDU gets the automatic bid-the school’s first since 2019. They’ll “play” the championship game Tuesday.
Ohio Valley — Southeast Missouri State (19-16) topped Tennessee Tech 89-82 in overtime for the Redhawks first trip to the Big Dance since 2000.
Big South — UNC-Asheville defeated Campbell 77-73 to give the Bulldogs their first NCAA berth since 2016. For those curious, UNCA has been either a 15 or a 16 seed for each of its trips to the tournament.
Missouri Valley — Drake (27-7) drills Bradley 77-51 to send the Bulldogs back to the Big Dance after a year’s absence. You gotta love the Drake …
Atlantic Sun — Kennesaw State squeaked by Liberty 67-66 to send the 26-8 Owls to their first-ever NCAA Tournament since moving to Division I.
Monday night’s bids:
Sun Belt, 7 p.m., ESPN2
James Madison fell in the semifinals to South Alabama, and so it’s the Jaguars who face Louisiana (the Rajun’ Cajuns not only swept the regular season series but have a far superior nickname).
Southern, 7 p.m., ESPN
Regular season-winner Furman faces Cinderella (No. 7 seed) Chattanooga. The Paladins swept the Mocs during the regular season but the nickname contest is a draw.
Game to Watch:
CAA Semifinals, Towson (21-11) vs. College of Charleston (29-3), 8:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network
Both schools used strong starts to pull away from their quarterfinal foes: the Tigers jumped out to a 21-2 lead over Delaware while the Cougars led Stony Brook 22-2 before cruising. Charleston has been ranked at times this year and swept the regular season series but both were winnable games for the Tigers. And Coach Pat Skerry’s team is back in D.C. this March with unfinished business on their minds after coming up short a year ago as regular season champ. They’ve avenged 2022’s semifinal loss to Delaware and now have two 2022-23 regular season scores to settle.
