–No. 16 Drake 71, No. 8 Butler 64. Butler fans got classy and threw some water bottles on the floor after the outcome of this one had been decided. Drake deserved to win, but this was a true treat to watch. The win should make Drake a lock, but they should win two more to just close the case. If The Tournament started tomorrow, I think both of these teams should be 5s. Josh Young’s alley-oop put-back was one of the fine highlights of the day.
–Kent State 65, No. 23 Saint Mary’s 57. Kent State should be teetering on lock status after this win. Saint Mary’s now has to be concerned given the fact that they’ll be playing at Gonzaga in six days. I still think that the WCC could/will send two, but it just makes the bubble that much more precocious.
–Davidson 60, Winthrop 47. Davidson is now 21-6 and certainly would love to win the SoCon tournament to eliminate any doubt about their Tournament fate. I still don’t know which way I’d lean if this team ended 26-7.
–Utah State 72, UC-Santa Barbara 59. Utah State can’t make the WAC a two-bid league this year, I’m afraid.
–Ohio 69, George Mason 57. A tale of two halves for sure. The Patriots were on pace to push the Bobcats out of the picture, then ceompletely folded and allowed Ohio to storm back and steal this one. Goodbye, at-large hopes, for GMU. Ohio impresses with the win, but it might lose its effect given how badly GMU looked down the stretch AND Ohio allowed themselves to be pushed around in their own building.
–Virginia Commonwealth 57, Akron 52. The Rams’ reputation could be hurt by George Mason’s pitiful second half performance. Still, you get the win on Bracket Busters Saturday, it’s only going to improve your profile.
–Cleveland State 59, Marist 44. Vikings (yeah, a team from Ohio) take down the Red Foxes!
–Valparaiso 99, Miami (OH) 94 (2OT). Best game of the day (in all of hoops) came from these two schools, which had March aspirations in early January, but don’t have the schedules or wins to back it up. It’s a shame, because they are both capable of stealing one from a Big Boy.
–Rider 73, Cal-State Northridge 72. Another close one from two NIT-bound teams.
–Creighton 65, Oral Roberts 64. Bracket Busters continues to be a success. Creighton would need to win out and lose in the MVC title game to even sniff consideration.
–UW-Milwaukee 84, Bradley 72. Bruce Pearl’s former team does good. Still, U-Dub would have to really catch a fire in order to win out in the Horizon tournament in two weeks.
–Siena 93, Boise State 70. If Siena can steal away the MAAC title from Niagara, you might have a few people in your pool taking them to upset (likely a 14 seed). They did defeat Stanford at the beginning of the season.
–Southern Illinois 74, Nevada 49. Southern Illinois (16-12), what could have been this year?
Coming today:
Wright State vs. Illinois State.
