March 31, 2010 | AP Press

NEW YORK – North Carolina wrapped up last season by cutting down the nets during a championship celebration, and the goal all along has been to do it again this year.

The Tar Heels will have their chance Thursday night, under much different circumstances.

Deon Thompson had 16 points and 13 rebounds, helping North Carolina survive a frantic final few seconds and defeat Rhode Island 68-67 in overtime Thursday night in the NIT semifinals.

Will Graves added 14 points and Tyler Zeller had 13 for the Tar Heels (20-16), who will try to make bittersweet history against Dayton by becoming the first school to follow a national title with an NIT championship at Madison Square Garden.

“We enjoyed playing the last Monday night last year, and you know, we play the last Thursday night this year,” coach Roy Williams said. “Playing the last Monday night is better, there’s no question about that. But I do believe that if you’re playing — if they keep playing until there’s only one team standing — it’s very important to be that one team.”

The Tar Heels have played with a sense of desperation during the NIT, almost as if they have a chip on their shoulder, and that was borne out when they scored the final five points of regulation to force overtime.

In the extra session, North Carolina had possession with about 5 seconds left and the shot clock about to expire when Larry Drew II forced up a shot. The rebound eventually wound up in the hands of Rhode Island’s Lamonte Ulmer, who lost control of the ball as he rushed up court moments before the buzzer sounded, never coming close to getting off a shot.

Rhode Island coach Jim Baron thought he had been tripped and a foul should have been called, an opinion that North Carolina coach Roy Williams readily supported.

“We got the rebound and we were aiming to push it down the other end,” Baron said. “I thought there was some contact and he tripped.”

Ulmer finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for Rhode Island (26-10), which was trying to reach the NIT championship game for the first time since the 1945-46 season. Keith Cothran scored 23 points and Delroy James finished with 13.

“Those guys played with a tremendous amount of heart,” Baron said. “That’s why I told them how proud I was, they put it all out there.”

The final seconds of overtime mirrored a frenetic end to regulation.

The game was tied 59-all when James missed two free throws with 28.6 seconds left. North Carolina tracked down the rebound and, after a timeout, Drew allowed the shot clock to run down to 6 seconds before taking a closely guarded 3-pointer that never had a chance.

“One of the players said in the locker room, ‘Sometimes it helps to win ugly,’” Williams said, “and we did win ugly today.”

Defense played a big part in it.

The Tar Heels ended up with 27 offensive rebounds and 60 total, compared to 45 for the Rams. Rhode Island also turned the ball over 18 times, including that critical miscue with the seconds ticking down in overtime.

“We didn’t execute very well and you hate to end the game like that in such an ugly way,” Drew said, “but sometimes that’s how it is in the game of basketball.”

It sure was a strange sight to see North Carolina, the bluest of the bluebloods, playing on a Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden — especially when the most important games are being played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Injuries and inexperience combined to send the Tar Heels’ season spiraling out of control, and they didn’t recover until their chances of making the NCAA tournament — and defending the title they earned by beating Michigan State last March — had disappeared entirely.

Relegated to playing in a tournament for also-rans, the Tar Heels went on the road to defeat Mississippi State and Alabama-Birmingham before knocking off a Rhode Island team that had the best RPI of any program that failed to make the NCAA tournament.

The season still ended up being a success for Rhode Island, which could have matched the school record for wins in a season had it won the NIT championship.

The Rams’ faithful certainly turned out in droves for the semifinals, easily outnumbering the Tar Heels fans clad in baby blue. They kept cheering until the final turnover in overtime, imploring a veteran team for one more night in the spotlight.

Instead, it will be North Carolina playing for yet another championship.

Even if it’s not what anybody expected.

“You know, I have a great appreciation of this tournament, I have a great appreciation of the tradition, the history of the NIT,” Williams said. “If you win this tournament, you have to feel good about it.”

March 30, 2010 | AP Press

NEW YORK — Chris Johnson scored 22 points, including five key free throws down the stretch, and Dayton held off Mississippi 68-63 in the NIT semifinals Tuesday night.

Marcus Johnson added 12 points for the Flyers (24-12), who slowed Mississippi’s high-scoring offense and advanced to the championship game for the first time since winning their second NIT title in 1968.

Next up, Dayton has a chance to end a disappointing year on a high note.

Picked to win the Atlantic 10 Conference before the season, the third-seeded Flyers will play Thursday night against the winner of Tuesday night’s second semifinal between Rhode Island and 2009 national champion North Carolina. A victory by Rhode Island would make it an all-Atlantic 10 final.

Terrico White had 19 points for the second-seeded Rebels (24-11), eliminated in the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden for the second time in three years. Ole Miss was beaten by eventual champion Ohio State in 2008.

With New York Giants quarterback and former Ole Miss star Eli Manning sitting in the second row, near the Rebels’ bench, Mississippi’s Murphy Holloway had a chance to tie it at 64 with 35.8 seconds left. But he missed the second of two free throws, and the Rebels never scored again.

London Warren hit one of two free throws with 23.7 seconds remaining, extending Dayton’s lead to two. Trevor Gaskins drove through the lane for Ole Miss but came up short on a twisting layup, and the Flyers grabbed the rebound.

Chris Johnson’s two free throws made it 67-63 with 11.2 seconds to play. On the other end, London Warren knocked the ball out of Chris Warren’s hands and out of bounds. Chris Johnson then stole the inbounds pass, got fouled and hit one of two free throws for the final margin.

Chris Wright, Dayton’s leading scorer and rebounder, was held to nine points on 1-of-9 shooting. He pulled down 12 rebounds, though.

Chris Warren had 15 points and Holloway 12 for the Rebels, who averaged 88 points in their first three NIT games. They shot only 33.9 percent in this one, including 6 of 23 (26.1 percent) from 3-point range.

Ole Miss also was hurt by a technical foul on Reginald Buckner with 3:09 left. He and Chris Johnson got tied up going for a loose ball, and Buckner threw a right forearm to Chris Johnson’s throat as they finally untangled.

Wright separated the players before Chris Johnson hit both free throws, pushing Dayton’s lead to 64-58.

Holloway then scored on a jump hook, and Chris Warren hit a pair of free throws to get the Rebels within two with 1:04 to go.

March 29, 2010 | AP Press

RICHMOND, Va. – Joey Rodriguez scored 14 straight points during a decisive second-half surge to lead Virginia Commonwealth past Saint Louis 68-56 on Monday night in the first game of the championship series of the College Basketball Invitational.
“Joey can get it going,” said Ram coach Shaka Smart. “The thing that makes him dangerous — he led the CAA in assists. He’s a rhythm shooter and came off ball screens into the lane.”

Saint Louis rallied to cut the deficit to 3 points with 14:30 left, but Rodriguez took over during a 14-4 run that gave the Rams a 55-42 lead with 11:55 to go. Rodriguez hit three 3-pointers during the burst, including one that turned into a four-point play.

“They got the game to three (points),” said Rodriguez, “and I tried to make plays for my team.”

Rodriguez finished with a game-high 22 points and six assists, and Larry Sanders added 20 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for the Rams (26-9), who led by as many as 20.

“We didn’t match their intensity level,” Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus said. “We got stretched out (on defense). We’re not used to rotational changing.”

Willie Reed scored 11 points, and Kwamain Mitchell and Cody Ellis added 10 apiece for the Billikins (23-12).

The teams will play Game 2 of the best-of-three series in St. Louis on Wednesday.

Sanders and Brandon Rozzell each had four points during a 13-4 run over the final 4:02 of the first half to give the Rams a 36-25 lead at halftime.

“The coaches told me to go out and be aggressive,” said Sanders. “I think (my play) has a huge effect on the game and my teammates. I’ve never finished the season with a win.”

Smart was happy with his team’s play.

“Most of the game, we were able to get the tempo at our pace,” he said. “We got our hands on a lot of basketballs tonight.”

Sanders scored 14 points in the first half.

“Larry was really good tonight,” Smart said. “He set the tone for the game.”

The Billikins were ahead 13-12 with 7:55 left in the half before the Rams hit 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions for a 21-15 lead.

March 26, 2010 | AP Press

SALT LAKE CITY – Long after the jump shots stop falling and their ballyhooed beards go gray, Kansas State players will look back on this game as one of the best they ever played.

Same for the guys at Xavier, hard as it was to appreciate after a heartbreaker like that.

Jacob Pullen — the guard who brought the phrase “Fear the Beard” to the Little Apple — hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second overtime to help K-State outlast Xavier 101-96 on Thursday night in the West Regional semifinals.

An instant classic.

“It was two teams that didn’t want their season to end,” said Pullen, who finished with 28 points.

It added yet another dramatic chapter to an NCAA tournament that has already been crazy. This was the fifth game to go to overtime — and the second that went to double OT.

It looked as though Kansas State had it wrapped up when Pullen made a 3-pointer and two clutch free throws late in regulation to help the Wildcats take a pair of three-point leads.

After knocking off one so called mid-major, the second-seeded Wildcats (29-7) will play another — fifth-seeded Butler — on Saturday to try to make their first Final Four since 1964.

This is the first time Kansas State has made it this far since 1988.

The sixth-seeded Musketeers (26-9) were seeking their third trip to the regional finals in seven years. They missed, just barely, but it was hard to call anyone a loser on this night.

“As good a game as I’ve ever coached or been a part of,” coach Chris Mack said.

Trailing by three at the end of regulation, Xavier’s Terrell Holloway got fouled while heaving up a 30-footer with 5 seconds left and calmly made all three free throws. Xavier was down by three again at the end of the first overtime, but Jordan Crawford jacked up a 35-footer that hit nothing but net.

“It was just one of those moments,” Pullen said.

One that certainly belongs on YouTube, right beside Crawford’s dunk on LeBron James, for sure.

“It was an emotional roller-coaster,” Pullen said. “I hit a shot at the end of the game, I’m thinking, `That’s game. That’s the nail in the coffin.’”

Xavier still had 9.7 seconds left, though, and needed to go the length of the court and make a 3-pointer. Martin called on the familiar strategy of trying to foul before a Xavier player could take the shot.

Clemente and Chris Merriewether were hacking away at Holloway (26 points), but no whistle came — until Holloway, feeling the slaps, heaved up a shot from 30 feet and got the whistle with 5 seconds left. Hit all three free throws — and the first overtime was on.

“Denis tried to foul beforehand, but the ref didn’t see it,” Pullen said. “And then Chris went to foul again, and Holloway made a smart play and put the ball up.”

K-State’s inside team of Curtis Kelly (21 points) and Jamar Samuels (14) did most of the damage in the first OT to make it 87-84 with 18.1 seconds left. But, proving that no three-point lead is safe against Xavier, Crawford spotted up from 35 and made it to force the decisive OT. The sophomore finished with a career-high 32 points.

“When you make a couple of them shots, you do kind of start to think that it’s meant to be,” Crawford said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t happen that way.”

Xavier led 93-91 with 1:23 left in the second overtime. Exhausted and in foul trouble, the Musketeers had no answer for Pullen at the end. He hit an open 3 from the top of the key for a 94-93 lead with 1:09 left. Jason Love made one of two free throws on the next possession, then Pullen hit the next 3 to make it 97-94.

Pullen and Clemente then combined for four straight free throws over the last 24 seconds to ice the game.

When it was finally over, K-State fans, who made the 1,000-mile trip from Manhattan, Kan., chanted “K-S-U! K-S-U!” Love stood near the foul line and drooped his head — dispirited and exhausted, certainly taking little consolation that he was part of an instant classic.

A game that nonetheless featured 53 fouls, as the refs tried to gain control of a meeting between opponents who were playing for the fourth time in four seasons. The first three were brutal contests that weren’t particularly close or fun to watch.

The fourth one — a masterpiece, especially for Pullen, who played 40 minutes, and Clemente, who played 48 and has less than 48 hours to get ready for Butler.

“I expected it to be a hard-fought game. I didn’t expect it to be like this,” Martin said. “But they were phenomenal. And our guys were pretty good, too.”

March 24, 2010 | AP Press

ST. LOUIS – Kwamain Mitchell scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half, leading Saint Louis to a 69-59 victory over Princeton on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational.

The Billikens (23-11) will play Virginia Commonwealth (25-9) in the best-of-3 championship series beginning Monday.

Mitchell triggered a 16-4 run over the final 7:25 of the first half to put Saint Louis ahead to stay, 38-29.

Willie Reed added 20 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for the Billikens, who won for the 11th time in 14 games. It was his ninth double-double this season.

Kareem Maddox paced Princeton (22-9) with 16 points and Douglas Davis added 14. The Tigers had their six-game winning streak snapped.

The 69 points were the second-most given up by the Tigers this season. Princeton entered allowing an NCAA-low 52.8 points per game.

March 24, 2010 | AP Press

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Chris Johnson scored 18 points and Dayton used a strong start to beat Illinois 77-71 in an NIT quarterfinal Wednesday night.

The third-seeded Flyers (23-12) advanced to play Mississippi on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. They also joined Rhode Island in the semifinals, giving the Atlantic 10 Conference two of the four teams remaining in the tournament.

Dayton jumped out to a 23-9 lead behind excellent shooting and never let up. The Flyers shot 48.1 percent from the field, including 8 of 18 from 3-point range.

The Illini’s struggles to get back on defense led to quick, easy baskets for Dayton. Illinois trailed by as many as 16 points before cutting it to four with 18 seconds left.

Johnson was 4 for 11 from the field but 9 of 10 at the foul line.

Demetri McCamey had 13 points and 10 assists for No. 1 seed Illinois (21-15).

March 24, 2010 | AP Press

Hofstra coach Tom Pecora has agreed to become the new basketball coach at Fordham. He will be introduced at a news conference Thursday.

Pecora was on Fordham’s campus in the Bronx, N.Y. on Wednesday, a source told ESPN.

Pecora coached Hofstra the last nine seasons, compiling a 155-126 record that included four 20-win seasons and three NIT appearances. He’s a former assistant to Jay Wright.

Hofstra finished 19-15 after a first-round loss in the CBI. However, the Pride won nine of their final 10 regular-season games to give itself a boost into the postseason.

Fordham finished 2-26 last season, 0-16 in the Atlantic 10. Former coach Dereck Whittenburg was fired five games into the season, his seventh at Fordham. Interim coach Jared Grasso finished the season.

Since 1991-92 Fordham has had one season with a record over .500. It joined the Atlantic 10 in 1995, and since then Fordham has an overall record of 134-292.

March 24, 2010 | AP Press

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Delroy James and the Rhode Island Rams are ready to hit Manhattan.

James scored 18 points and Lamonte Ulmer added 13, including a big basket in the final seconds, to lead Rhode Island past Virginia Tech 79-72 in an NIT quarterfinal Wednesday night.

The second-seeded Rams (26-9) advanced to the NIT semifinals for the first time since 1946. They’ll play 2009 national champion North Carolina on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

“I’m just so excited for our players and everyone involved,” Rhode Island coach Jim Baron said. “You know, you’re right there on the bubble of the NCAA tournament and you beat a Big Ten team and a Western Athletic Conference and then an ACC team. Our kids showed a tremendous amount of will power to sustain and I’m really happy for them. This is a great win for us and our program.”

The Rams beat Northwestern in the first round and Nevada in the second round.

No. 1 seed Virginia Tech (25-9) led 60-48 following Malcolm Delaney’s two free throws with 14:43 left that capped an 18-8 run to start the second half. But the Rams answered with a 13-0 spurt and took a 61-60 lead with 11:05 remaining on a basket by Ulmer.

“We’ve had different guys step up on different nights and help us win,” Hokies coach Seth Greenberg said. “But we just didn’t do those things that we normally do. I don’t know if it was the stage or if it was pressure. There are so many factors that go into it. I’m just real disappointed.”

Rhode Island took the lead for good at 73-71 on a jumper by Keith Cothran with 2 minutes left. Virginia Tech had a chance to tie, but James got a piece of J.T. Thompson’s layup attempt with 46 seconds to go and grabbed the rebound.

The Rams then spread the court, and with the shot clock running down, Ulmer rebounded his own miss and laid it in with 10.6 seconds remaining.

“We were isolating and he was just real aggressive,” Baron said. “He attacked the bucket, and the funny part about it was I told the guys in practice that they were going to have to use the rim as a protector by going up and under. Sure enough, Lamonte made a great play by going up and under.”

Delaney hit one of two free throws with 6.9 seconds left to cut it to 75-72. But the Rams made all four of their free throws the rest of the way to seal it.

James, who scored a career-high 34 points in Rhode Island’s second-round win over Nevada, shot 7 of 18 from the floor. He also blocked four shots and grabbed six rebounds.

Delaney had 24 points for the Hokies, who lost in the NIT quarterfinals for the third straight year. Dorenzo Hudson added 19.

The Hokies, who fell one victory short of setting the school’s single-season record, shot better from the floor than the Rams, hitting 48.1 percent (26 of 54) compared to 46.7 percent (28 of 60). But Tech made only two of its final 17 shots.

“We weren’t as poised as well as we had been down the stretch,” Greenberg said. “As well as we executed the other night against Connecticut, we didn’t down the stretch tonight.”

March 22, 2010 | AP Press

ST. LOUIS - On Monday night, Saint Louis University hosted UW-Green Bay in the 2nd round of the CBI. Willie Reed tied his career scoring high and registered game highs of 21 points and 10 rebounds Monday night as Saint Louis advanced to the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational with a 68-62 double-overtime victory over Green Bay at Chaifetz Arena.

The Billikens (22-11), who improved to 3-2 in overtime games this season – with all three victories coming in two extra sessions (Duquesne, Dayton) – will host Princeton in a semifinal matchup Wednesday at 8 p.m. The Tigers also were a double-overtime winner Monday, defeating IUPUI 74-68 in Indianapolis. The other semifinal will match Virginia Commonwealth and Boston University

Reed, who was 8-of-11 from the field and chalked up his eighth double-double of the season, also tallied two blocks to break Kelvin Henderson’s 30-year-old single-season school record. Reed has 69 rejections, one more than Henderson registered in the 1979-80 campaign. Kwamain Mitchell and Cody Ellis scored 14 points apiece, with Ellis collecting eight rebounds and Mitchell adding four assists. All of Ellis’ points came in the second half and overtime. Kyle Cassity distributed a game-high six assists, tying his career high, while Brian Conklin chipped in six rebounds as Saint Louis earned a 43-36 advantage on the glass.

Green Bay (22-13) was led by Troy Cotton, who hit five 3-pointers on the way to a 17-point total. Rahmon Fletcher scored 16 points and Rian Pearson contributed 14. Randy Berry (seven rebounds), Matt Smith (six) and Pearson (six) led the Green Bay rebounding effort, and Cotton picked up a game-high four steals.

March 22, 2010 | AP Press

CINCINNATI – Rob Lowery led an early 3-point barrage that built a 17-point lead, and Dayton held on for a rough-and-tumble 81-66 victory over Cincinnati in the second round of the NIT on Monday night.

The Flyers (22-12) made eight of their first 12 shots from behind the arc to get the big lead, and survived a second-half Cincinnati comeback before pulling away to their most lopsided win over the Bearcats in 25 years.

It was only their third win over Cincinnati in their last 17 games in the southwest Ohio rivalry.

“I had fun out there,” said Chris Wright, who scored 11 points. “When you’re playing against guys you know, you know they’re going to play a lot harder. It’s for bragging rights. It felt like high school all over again.”

Dayton will play at Illinois in the quarterfinals Wednesday, extending a season that held a lot of disappointment. The Flyers were picked to win the Atlantic 10, but blew a lot of leads and suffered a lot of close losses, finishing seventh.

“They’ve been knocked down so many times and they keep getting back up,” coach Brian Gregory said. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of these guys. We told them this would be a test of character and pride and how much the program meant to them. They’ve answered that and today they might have put an exclamation on it.”

Cincinnati (19-16) was prone to long shooting slumps all season, and managed only two field goals during a 10-minute span in the second half. After cutting the 17-point deficit to 44-43, the Bearcats could never make that final push.

“Same story again,” coach Mick Cronin said. “Once we got close, we couldn’t make a shot. We kept missing open shot after open shot.”

The Bearcats set the NCAA tournament as their goal — a place they haven’t been since 2005 — but faded down the stretch and finished 11th in the Big East.

Dayton brought its pep band, cheerleaders and a lot of fans, turning it into a high-energy game in front of 6,479 fans. The Flyers got the best of it early, pulling ahead 34-17 by hitting open 3s. Senior guard Deonta Vaughn scored Cincinnati’s last 11 points in the half, cutting it to 41-36.

Vaughn finished with a season-high 28 points and passed Danny Fortson for third on the school’s career scoring list. He got a standing ovation when he left the floor in the final minute.

“My four years have been great,” said Vaughn, who finished with 1,885 points. “I learned a lot about basketball. I matured a lot since I came here and did a lot of great things to try to help this program get back to where it needs to be.”

The Bearcats were caught flat-footed at the start, outplayed by a Dayton team that had a lot more enthusiasm.

“We definitely underestimated them,” said freshman Lance Stephenson, who said he would return for another season. “We knew they played hard, but we didn’t know they played with that much intensity.”