The College Hoops Conference Tournament Roundup: Day 1
We’re at the best time of the year. The part where everyone gets involved and cares about college hoops. So with that in mind I understand that there are a million different games going on and you can’t keep up with them all. So we’ll update you every morning with what happened the night before through the NCAA Tournament. Forget all other sites, we got you here.
SoCon (Finals)
No. 1 Wofford 70, No. 2 UNC Greensboro 58
Thoughts: This is a hell of a year for Wofford. It’s impressive that it was able to sweep the SoCon regular season (a real good top 4) and then win the SoCon Tournament. Obviously they are led by Fletcher Magee, who is the best shooter in the country this year. But, they also have 3 other guys who are shooting over 40% from three. We saw UNC Greensboro really control this game for the first 30 minutes or so. The 2-3 zone that Wes Miller put in made Wofford stagnant and then Nathan Hoover and Magee got going. They’ll be a trendy pick as a 7/8 seed.
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MAAC (Finals)
No. 1 Iona 81, No. 6 Monmouth 60
Thoughts: Iona just wins this tournament. This is the 4th year in a row that Iona has won it and that’s impressive in its own right. Throw in the fact the game is at Siena (a team they beat) it’s even more impressive. Iona blitzed Monmouth pretty quick in the second half to open this lead up despite Rickey McGill being in foul trouble.
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Horizon (Semifinals)
Thoughts: Well, this feels like the first year we don’t have crazy upsets in the Horizon. BUT, we had some craziness last night. NKU hit the first game-winner/buzzer-beater of conference tournaments with Drew McDonald on the veer screen. It was an absolutely beautiful set play to get the leading scorer in school history an open look for the win. This is after NKU let Oakland go on a 11-0 run to take the lead. Oh, and McDonald was on the bench for the offensive possession prior in a tie game. It didn’t matter though. Just watch that play and listen to Bill Raftery say onions in your head. We get a rivalry game now with Wright State and NKU.
No. 1 Wright State 66, No. 4 Green Bay 54
No. 2 NKU 64, No. 3 Oakland 63
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WCC (Semifinals)
Thoughts: Gonzaga did what it had to. It beat the living shit out of Pepperdine and stay rested for the title game. I do think no matter what happens Gonzaga has the No. 1 seed locked up out West, but a win just keeps all doubt out of the equation. More importantly it got Killian Tillie back. Tillie missed time to start the year and then came back before getting hurt again. He’s huge for this team. He’s a 6’10” guy that can really shoot the ball. Adding depth to that offense is scary. Somehow this team got better in March. Not sure how many times we see that.
No. 1 Gonzaga 100, No. 8 Pepperdine 74
No. 2 St. Mary’s 67, No. 7 San Diego 62
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CAA (Semifinals)
Thoughts: Justin Wright-Foreman is absolutely unreal and that’s why Hofstra is here. Yes, he has help, but he dropped 42 tonight. He’s someone that Hofstra can just give the ball to and let him go win a game. We saw him perhaps be a little too passive late in the game when he gave up the ball with about 40 seconds to go which led to a charge and then Delaware doubling at the end of regulation. That said, JWF is going to be a ton of fun in the title game. The second game was wild and probably the best game of the night. The ending summed up March pretty well. A few bad charge calls. An incorrect call when Northeastern was trying to foul up 3 (Charleston was in the shot at this time). Then they fouled again with about 4 seconds to go and they actually sent Charleston to the line. Kid missed the 2nd shot and here we are.
No. 1 Hofstra 78, No. 5 Delaware 74 (OT)
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No. 2 Northeastern 70, No. 3 Charleston 67
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MAC (1st Round)
Thoughts: No real surprises here. Even that No. 11/6 upset wasn’t huge. This is still Buffalo’s tournament to lose and the first round just sort of weeding some teams out. This picks up here going forward.
No. 5 Central Michigan 81, No. 12 Western Michigan 67
No. 11 Ball State 61, Eastern Michigan 43
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No. 8 Akron 80, Miami (OH) 51
No. 7 Northern Illinois 80, No. 10 Ohio 61
Summit (Semifinals)
Thoughts: I’m still mad that we won’t see Mike Daum. I’m selfish. Great for these other teams. But, I wanted Daum to go for a 4th straight tournament MVP and see him in the NCAA Tournament. That said, North Dakota State got the win after nearly blowing a huge lead against No. 8 Western Illinois.
No. 4 North Dakota State 76, No. 8 Western Illinois 73
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No. 2 Omaha 61, No. 3 IPFW 60
MEAC (1st Round)
No. 11 Delaware State 71, No. 6 Savannah State 67
