February 5, 2009 by Ryan Pohle | A10CollegeHoops

Updated Weekly Every Thursday

Based on Games Played Through Wednesday, February 4th.

1 Seeds

UConn, UNC, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma

2 Seeds

Duke, Memphis, Marquette, Xavier

3 Seeds

Louisville, Wake Forest, UCLA, Clemson

4 Seeds

Purdue, Gonzaga, Michigan St., Villanova

5 Seeds

Butler, Arizona St., Washington, Illinois

6 Seeds

Texas, Kansas, Syracuse, Florida

7 Seeds

Missouri, Davidson, Georgetown, BYU

8 Seeds

West Virginia, Minnesota, Kentucky, Utah St.

9 Seeds

California, Utah, Tennessee, LSU

10 Seeds

UNLV, USC, Baylor, South Carolina

11 Seeds

San Diego St., Dayton, Ohio St., Florida St.

12 Seeds

Oklahoma St., Wisconsin, Temple, VCU

13 Seeds

North Dakota St., Siena, Miami Oh., Creighton

14 Seeds

Vermont, Cornell, Stephen F. Austin, Portland St.

15 Seeds

Pacific, Jacksonville, Mount St. Mary’s, Middle Tennessee St.

16 Seeds

American, Murray St., Morgan St., Play in Game: Radford vs. Jackson St.

Last Four In:

Florida St., Oklahoma St., Wisconsin, Temple

First Four Out:

Arizona, Miami Fl., Northwestern, UAB

Multiple Conference Bids

Big East – 8,  Big 12 – 6, Big Ten – 6, ACC – 5, Pac 10 – 5, SEC – 5, Mountain West – 4, A10 – 3.

Thoughts

Xavier – X stays at the two spot despite just barely sneaking by UMass on Saturday.  Losses by teams like Louisville and Wake Forest recently also help to keep them here.

Dayton – As long as Dayton keeps winning, they’re going to stay in the bracket, no matter how slim of a margin they continue to win by.

Temple – It’s reasonable to think that the A10 is good enough to get three bids this year, especially with some mid major conferences like the MVC and WCC not having their greatest seasons.  Temple needs to at least beat URI on Sunday to stay in.

Wisconsin – They don’t deserve to be in right now, but I have a feeling that they will play themselves in when all is said and done.  They’ve got an easier part of the Big Ten slate coming up to finish the season.

Oklahoma St. – They were able to come back from a 12 point halftime deficit at home to Texas Tech last night to keep them in the bracket.  Their current and projected RPI numbers are too good to be left out.

San Diego St. – A huge win for SDSU on Tuesday who got a win @ UNLV.  The Mountain West looks like the best non BCS conference this year, and San Diego St. is sitting at 6-2 and still gets plenty of chances to get more impressive wins in the coming weeks.

February 4, 2009 | AP Press

ST. LOUIS, MO — Kevin Lisch scored 21 points to lead Saint Louis over Duquesne 78-74 in overtime Wednesday night.

Tommie Liddell III added 13 points and Willie Reed scored 12 for the Billikens (13-9, 4-4 Atlantic 10), who hit only 7-of-15 free throws in the second half but made 7-of-8 in the extra period.

Duquesne’s Aaron Jackson scored 29 points, including a long jumper at the first buzzer that tied the game at 63. Officials looked at a replay and ruled Jackson was just inside the 3-point arc.

Damien Saunders added 14 points and Bill Clark contributed 13 for the Dukes (14-7, 5-3) before fouling out.

Saint Louis led 62-54 with 2:35 remaining in regulation but couldn’t hold the lead.

February 4, 2009 | AP Press

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Marcus Johnson jammed in a missed shot with 1.8 seconds left to give Dayton a 63-61 victory over La Salle on Wednesday night.

Johnson had 16 points and Chris Wright 14 for Dayton (21-2, 7-1 Atlantic 10), which won its seventh straight.

Rodney Green had 25 points and Ruben Guillandeaux 12 for the Explorers (12-9, 3-4).

The Flyers, who led by as many as 17 points in the first half, held a 60-54 lead with 3:35 left. Green then scored five straight points, cutting the lead to 60-59.

After a free throw by Wright, Green’s 6-foot turnaround jumper tied the score at 61-all with 46 seconds remaining.

But La Salle never got another shot, and Johnson’s follow-up basket off a Wright runner was the winner.

Leading 16-12 early in the first half, Dayton went on a 17-4 run to lead 33-16 with 4:55 left in the half. Dayton held a 39-28 advantage at the break, hitting on 13 of 23 shots, while La Salle shot 8-for-20 and committed 11 turnovers.

The Flyers lead 21-13 in the series and have won 13 of 15.

February 4, 2009 | AP Press

AMHERST, MA — Ricky Harris scored a game-high 24 points as Massachusetts came on strong in the second half Wednesday for an 80-71 win over Richmond.

Harris was 7-for-13 from the field, including 5-for-8 on 3-pointers, as UMass (8-12, 3-4 Atlantic 10) snapped a three-game losing streak.

Richmond (11-11, 3-4 Atlantic 10) was led by David Gonzalvez and Kevin Anderson, both with 18 points.

The Minutemen led the entire second half. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Anthony Gurley and Harris got UMass ahead 71-59 with a little more than four minutes to play.

Chris Lowe added 13 points for UMass, bringing his career total to 1,012, and 10 assists. Tony Gaffney had 12 points.

UMass used a 10-0 run to take a 25-19 lead in the first half. The lead changed hands seven times, but a 3-pointer by Luke Bonner and a free throw by Lowe brought UMass to a 32-32 tie at intermisson.

February 4, 2009 | AP Press

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Ahmad Nivins had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Darrin Govens scored 14 and Saint Joseph’s dealt George Washington its 11th consecutive loss, 66-58 on Wednesday night.

Tasheed Carr added 14 points and seven assists, and Idris Hilliard had 12 points for the Hawks (13-8, 6-1 Atlantic-10), who have won eight of nine.

Rob Diggs scored 18 points and Damian Hollis 14 for the Colonials (6-13, 0-7), who have dropped 11 straight for the first time since the 1988-89 season, when they started 0-14.

George Washington, the only winless team in the conference, hasn’t won since Dec. 23, a 59-47 victory at Sacramento State.

Saint Joseph’s led 33-29 at halftime and extended its advantage to 53-38 on a dunk by Carr with 9:52 remaining.

Hollis made a layup with 2:58 left that got the Colonials within seven at 59-52.

Govens responded with a 15-foot fadeaway jumper and Nivins hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 11 with 1:53 remaining.

The Hawks shot 24-for-31 from the line, with Nivins leading the way, shooting 10-for-11.

February 1, 2009 | AP Press

DAYTON, OH — Chris Wright scored 14 points as Dayton took control early in the second half on their way to a 69-58 win over Saint Joseph’s Sunday afternoon.

Marcus Johnson hit two 3-pointers and Kurt Huelsman made a jumper just after halftime to expand Dayton’s lead to 47-34 with 16:35 to play. Saint Joseph’s (12-8, 5-1 Atlantic 10) got to within nine points when Tasheed Carr made two free throws with 10:11 left, but the Hawks couldn’t get any closer.

Johnson and Charles Little each scored 13 points for Dayton (20-2, 6-1), which has matched its best start ever and hasn’t lost at home this season.

Carr led Saint Joseph’s with 14 points, while Ahmad Nivins grabbed 13 rebounds but scored just 12 points, his season-low. Darrin Govens added 11 points.

Documentary Coming Soon…

Word of God Christian Academy Holy Rams – Summerfield Ministries

Word of God Christian Academy - Levi Beckwith (Head Coach)

Tournament of Champions – Springfield, MO

Word of God Christian Academy – C.J. Leslie (Forward)

Word of God Christian Academy – John Wall (Point Guard)

January 31, 2009 | AP Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ian Andersen scored 19 and LaMont Mack added 18 to lead Charlotte to a 70-53 victory against Winthrop on Saturday night.

DiJuan Harris added 14 points and 10 assists for Charlotte (7-13), which had lost seven of eight coming into the game.

Charlotte took control with a 30-10 first-half run, and shot 65 percent in the second half to seal the win.

The 49ers had lost two straight Atlantic 10 road games by 20 points or more before tonight’s home contest.

Andre Jones and Charles Corbin scored 13 apiece for Winthrop, which connected on its first five 3-point attempts, then closed the first half by missing seven of eight from long range.

The Eagles (6-14), who opened the season 1-11, had won four of five before the loss. Reggie Middleton added 10 for Winthrop.

January 31, 2009 | AP Press

NEW YORK, NY– Barry Eberhardt scored 26 points and Saint Louis shot 63 percent from the field in routing Fordham 88-58 on Saturday night.

Willie Reed added 17 points for the Billikens (12-9, 3-4 Atlantic 10), who led 44-27 at the half.

Jacob Green led the Rams (3-16, 1-6) with 16 points and Mike Moore had 14 points. Fordham has lost nine of 10.

Jio Fontan made a jumper for the Rams to cut the lead to 23-21 with 9:08 left in the first half.

The Billikens then went on a 14-0 run, and led 37-21 with 3:59 left in the first half when Tom Liddell made a 3-pointer.

Saint Louis was 31-for-49 from the field and snapped a three-game losing streak.

January 31, 2009 | AP Press

PITTSBURGH, PA – Aaron Jackson scored 19 points and Duquesne capitalized on 31 turnovers to rally past St. Bonaventure 74-68 Saturday.

Bill Clark scored 17 points, Eric Evans added 14 and Damian Saunders 11 for Duquesne (14-6, 5-2 Atlantic 10), which is off to its best overall and conference start since the 1980-81 season.

The 1981 Dukes opened 14-6 and 5-2 on the way to a 20-10 record and 10-3 finish, which was good enough for a tie for the Eastern 8 title.

Andrew Nicholson shot 13-for-18 and finished with 29 points and 12 rebounds for St. Bonaventure (12-9, 2-6), which committed three crucial turnovers in the final 2:30. Chris Matthews added 12 points, and Jonathan Hall had 12 rebounds and 11 points.

The Bonnies led by a point, 40-39, at the break and held a five-point lead, 63-58, with 5:29 remaining.

Duquesne went on a 8-3 run to tie the score at 66 with 3:15 left, and the teams tied again at 68 with 2:07 remaining before the Dukes broke loose.

Evans dropped in a layup, Saunders added two free throws, and Evans added another pair in Duquesne’s decisive 6-0 run in the final minutes.