Georgetown learned leading scorer Austin Freeman has diabetes... the Bonanza's thoughts are with the junior guard and his family-- hoping he'll be able to if not return to his previous level of play at least be able to live successfully with the disease. The Hoyas conclude their regular season against Cincinnati-a team squarely on the bubble-and pulling out a victory would end a late season slide. BET Seed--#8 with a quarterfinal game against the winner of #9 South Florida-#16 DePaul.
Alma Mater Update--still the #1...Syracuse celebrated senior night with an 85-66 win over St. John's... and now has to go to Louisville to wrap up the regular season as the Cardinals close historic Freedom Hall (the venue not only housed Denny Crum's great teams of the 70's and 80's but also hosted Final Fours regularly in the 50's and 60's)... I'll once again make my way to the DC gamewatching venue for an afternoon of wings and hoops.
Maryland tied for the ACC lead with a thrilling 79-72 victory over Duke... is there any doubt that Greivis Vasquez is the conference player of the year? The senior took over the final minutes against the Blue Devils-- and is averaging 25 points a game during hte Terps' six game winning streak. ACC Seed--#2 with a quarterfinal game against the #7 Georgia Tech-#10 North Carolina winner.
Nice way for the Terps to close conference play-- facing traditional rival Virginia. Why doesn't the Big East do that? I grew up on Syracuse-Georgetown wrapping up the regular season... and one reason North Carolina-Duke has replaced Orange-Hoyas in the conversation of best rivalry. SU-Louisville and Gtown-Cincinnati? Not the same buzz. Simply put, SU should play Gtown on the final day of the season... and although my dream of shaving four schools to make the league a workable dozen will never happen, this one can and should happen.
American avoided a second-half slide against Navy in the Patriot League Quarterfinals... nipping the Midshipmen 62-60. Defense and rebounding was the difference--AU held Navy to 37% shooting while winning the battle of the boards 41-28. Why was the score so close? The Eagles shot 5 of 15 from the line over the last three minutes of regulation. Next--at top seed Lehigh Sunday.
Lehigh's one of the many schools to change its nickname in the last decade or so...what's this deal with the Mountain Hawks? I miss the Engineers-- one thing I've always enjoyed about college athletics is the unusual nicknames... from the Kansas Jayhawks to the Southern New Hampshire Penmen... and Lehigh had one of the cooler monikers. Now they sound like just another school. At least the Patriot League doesn't have another Mountain Hawk: the SEC is a dual offender with the Auburn/LSU Tigers and Georgia/Mississippi State Bulldogs. Seriously, can't we call nicknames like shotgun?
Women's window-- Maryland beat North Carolina in the first round of the ACC Tournament 83-77 before losing a heartbreaker to top seeded Duke, 66-64. The Terps dropped all three games to the Blue Devils by a combined 15 points... and had opportunities to win each of those tilts. Now at 19-12 they wait for a week and a half squarely on the NCAA bubble.
George Washington lost to St. Josephs 80-71 on Senior Night at the Smith Center-- allowing the Hawks 64% shooting in the first half... GW concludes the regular season at #20 Temple. A-10 Seed--#10 against #7 Dayton in the first round.
Howard concluded its regular season with a 90-42 loss to Hampton; the Bison shot 31 percent from the field and 17 percent from three-point range. Next-- North Carolina A&T in the MEAC first round.
George Mason's waiting is over-- the Patriots play Virginia Commonweath in the CAA Quarterfinals. GMU won the regular season meeting 82-77 in overtime... the 1-2 punch of Cam Long outside (19 points) and Mike Morrison inside (18 points and 10 rebounds) guiding the Patriots past the Rams despite 25 points for Joey Rodriguez.
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