November 8, 2010 | AP Press

PITTSBURGH — All summer, his fellow coaches asked Pitt’s Jamie Dixon why he agreed to play an opponent like Rhode Island in the season opener. For most of Monday night’s game, Dixon was asking himself the same question.

Brad Wanamaker scored 24 points, Ashton Gibbs had 22 and Pittsburgh (No. 4 ESPN/USA Today, No. 5 AP) survived an upset scare in the nation’s first Division I game of the season, rallying from eight points down to beat the Rams 83-75.

Pitt ended a sluggish first half in the 2K Sports Classic opener by scoring nine consecutive points over the final 1:21 after Rhode Island went ahead 36-28. The Panthers then wore down Rhode Island with their size, defense and the experienced play of the backcourt of Gibbs and Wanamaker to offset the Rams’ 14 3-pointers.

Delroy James scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half for Rhode Island, which trailed 76-74 with 1:41 to play before Pitt finished it off by making seven of eight free throws.

“There’s a reason why teams don’t want to play them, especially on Nov. 8,” Dixon said. “You don’t want your first game to be against a team that presses and shoots 3s. They made some tough 3s and kept the game close, but we made free throws and got baskets when we needed to get them.”

Pitt won its 14th consecutive season opener, eight under Dixon, and its 48th straight at home against a non-conference opponent. Gilbert Brown added 10 points and redshirt freshman Talib Zanna, starting for the injured Nasir Robinson, had nine points and 11 rebounds in his first college game.

Akeem Richmond scored 16 points and Nikola Malesevic had 13 for Rhode Island, which lost despite making 14 of 31 from 3-point range to Pitt’s 3 of 16. The Rams, outrebounded 45-32, lost their 23rd straight to a ranked opponent and still haven’t beaten a Top 5 team in 12 years.

Pitt knew Rhode Island wouldn’t be the usual rollover opponent that many ranked teams play in their opener, and the Rams — 26-10 last season while reaching the NIT semifinals — weren’t as their uptempo style and pressure defense kept it close.

“This felt like a tournament game,” Wanamaker said. “It was intense, and usually you don’t play a team this good in the first game. But I think it will help us.”

The Rams’ biggest lead came on Will Martell’s basket 90 seconds before halftime but, right about then, Pitt began showing why it hasn’t won fewer than 25 games each of the last five seasons.

“We wanted to take it right at them but, sometimes, that comes with the territory,” Rhode Island coach Jim Baron said of the momentum-shifting run.

Gibbs converted a three-point play ahead of Wanamaker’s layup. Lamar Patterson’s first career basket, a dunk off Wanamaker’s feed, gave the Panthers a 37-36 halftime lead, their first since they led 13-11.

“We started making layups,” Dixon said. “We charted that we missed nine layups in the first half. From that point on, we made them.”

Still, Pitt — with four returning starters from its surprising 25-9 team of last season — never led by as many as three points until Gibbs’ steal and drive with 15:08 remaining made it 48-45. The teams traded leads nine times early in the second half, with Rhode Island’s final lead coming at 50-48 after James made two free throws and one of his five 3-pointers.

Travon Woodall’s free throw gave the Panthers the lead for good at 54-53, and they opened leads of as many as eight before two late 3-pointers by James made it close.

“You’ve got to take what they’re giving you, and they were giving us the 3,” said James, who was recruited to Rhode Island by new Pitt assistant Pat Skerry.

Dixon likes playing early season exempt tournaments because they give his team extra games during a time they normally would be practicing. But they can create matchups that the coaches of highly ranked teams generally prefer to avoid early in a season; in 2003, Pitt had to rally to avoid losing to Georgetown, Ky., of the NAIA in an exempt tournament.

Pitt was guaranteed of playing in the tournament’s semifinals Nov. 18 in New York even before playing Rhode Island. The Panthers play Illinois-Chicago in their second home game of the event Wednesday.

April 1, 2010 | AP Press

NEW YORK – Dayton players danced at midcourt and then lingered on ladders as they cut down the nets at Madison Square Garden.

Forgive these Flyers for taking a little extra time to soak it all in. They’re not as accustomed to trophy ceremonies as the North Carolina team they had just beaten.

Marcus Johnson scored 20 points and Dayton denied last year’s national champs another title, topping the Tar Heels 79-68 Thursday night to win the NIT.

“This game kind of is a capsule of our season,” coach Brian Gregory said. “Started off great, had some tough times and then just kind of fight through, and ended up very successful at the end.”

NCAA vice president Greg Shaheen said Thursday no decision has been made about the future of the postseason NIT, which is operated independently by the NCAA.

“Might be a fitting way to end it, for us to win it,” Gregory said.

How down-and-out were these Tar Heels heading into the postseason? When the 32-team NIT draw was announced, they opened at 35-1 odds to win the title.

And while Dayton has been a regular in this event, it was strange to see North Carolina on the college basketball undercard this time of year. One of the sport’s true heavyweights, the Tar Heels own five NCAA national championships, including an 89-72 victory over Michigan State in last year’s title game.

Tom Izzo and the Spartans are back in the Final Four, set to play Butler in Indianapolis on Saturday. North Carolina was left to chase a consolation prize following a 16-16 regular season wrecked by injuries, leaky defense and a string of embarrassing losses.

The blue bloods from Tobacco Road still have one NIT title, which came in 1971.

Every time North Carolina got close in the second half, Dayton had a response.

Tar Heels guard Marcus Ginyard missed a contested layup that could have tied it at 59, and Paul Williams hit one of his four 3s on the other end with 7:46 left.

A 3-pointer by Graves cut UNC’s deficit to 67-63 with 3:37 remaining, but Chris Johnson countered with a 3 of his own and a follow-up dunk to put Dayton up by nine with 2:50 to go.

North Carolina, which committed 15 turnovers, never got closer than five the rest of the way.

“Our guys played with great toughness and desire,” Gregory said. “We answered everything they threw at us.”

This was Dayton’s 22nd appearance in the NIT, second only to St. John’s (27). The Flyers also won it in 1962.

March 31, 2010 | AP Press

ST. LOUIS – Virginia Commonwealth had pretty simple motivation to finish off the best-of-three CBI championship without a Game 3.

“Just trying to get home,” said Jamie Skeen, who hit a pair of crucial baskets in the final two minutes of the Rams’ 71-65 victory over Saint Louis on Wednesday night. “If we win, we get to go home.”

Top reserve Brandon Rozzell scored a career-high 27 points and was 4-for-7 from 3-point range, helping VCU beat Saint Louis for the second time in three nights.

“We wanted this to be our last game,” Rozzell said. “We kept that in mind.”

Saint Louis (23-13) led by nine at halftime and again early in the second half before fading with a roster of freshmen and sophomores. Game 3 would have been Friday night in St. Louis.

“It was a great experience for us,” coach Rick Majerus said. “It was an honor to play in it. We didn’t have a good year, we had a great year.”

Skeen added 16 points and six rebounds and Joey Rodriguez had 13 points for the Rams (27-9), who compensated for an off-game by leading scorer Larry Sanders. He was in foul trouble much of the game and held to three points and four rebounds. Sanders had 20 points and 12 rebounds in a 68-56 victory Monday in Richmond, Va.

First-year coach Shaka Smart said before the game he discussed finishing the year on a five-game winning streak. The Rams finished fifth in the Colonial Athletic Association and lost only twice in their final 12 games, both times to CAA champion Old Dominion.

“We talked about this as the knockout game,” Smart said. “For a while it didn’t look like there was going to be anybody knocking anybody out.

“It was won on the defensive end,” Smart said.

Willie Reed had 16 points, six rebounds and three blocks for Saint Louis. Freshman Corey Remekun added career-bests with 13 points and seven rebounds for the Billikens, who finished 18-4 at home.

Cody Ellis was held to three points, eight below his average, on 1-for-9 shooting. Saint Louis was 2-for-18 from 3-point range for a two-game total of 7-for-38.

“Cody’s had a great year; he hit that freshman wall,” Majerus said. “We get so many open shots and we can’t hit.

“I told these guys, ‘You’ve got to be able to make shots.”

Another guard, Kyle Cassity, had four assists and a steal in 33 minutes but didn’t attempt a shot because of an undisclosed injury.

“Cassity was just like a dying dog,” Majerus said. “I applaud the kid, he kept wanting to play.”

VCU outscored Saint Louis 9-2 to pull away from a 61-all tie with 3:04 remaining, with Remekun finally scoring for the Billikens with seven seconds left. Rozzell’s previous best was 20 points against College of Charleston on March 22.

Saint Louis had appeared to seize control with 7:18 to go in the half on a five-point play — Sanders’ second foul plus a technical that put the Billikens ahead 23-20. Saint Louis led 33-24 at the break.

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 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 19, 2010 | AP Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Confident, relaxed and definitely on their game.

Cornell lived up to its billing as the best team to come out of the Ivy League in more than a decade, and now the senior-heavy Big Red have a chance for a nice run in the East Regional of the NCAA tournament.

“Everyone was saying we were Cinderella or it’s an upset. Not us,” sophomore Chris Wroblewski said Friday after the 12th-seeded Big Red dominated No. 5 seed Temple 78-65 in a game that wasn’t even that close.

Down to their last chance to experience success on college basketball’s biggest stage, seniors Ryan Wittman, Louis Dale and Jeff Foote paced the school to its first win in five NCAA appearances.

Dale scored 21 points and Wittman, the Ivy League player of the year, had 20 for the Big Red, who led the nation in 3-point shooting this season and have three other elements — strong guard play, experienced leadership and a 7-foot center in Foote — that make them a threat to play beyond the first weekend of the tournament.

Cornell (28-4) made eight of its first 10 shots and never looked back, shooting 68 percent in the opening half and 56 percent for the game.

Temple (29-6) lost in the first round for the third straight year under coach Fran Dunphy, whose former assistant, Steve Donahue, has led Cornell to three straight Ivy League titles and the winningest season in school history.

Juan Fernandez and Ryan Brooks each had 14 points for Temple. Lavoy Allen added 11.

Having gone through a non-conference schedule that included games against Kansas, Syracuse, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Alabama, Donahue felt the Big Red was better equipped this year to face a tough, physical opening-round opponent such as Temple, one of the nation’s stingiest defensive teams.

Cornell lost by 24 to Stanford in 2008 and 19 to Missouri a year ago, and entered this year’s tournament determined to make the most of the last opportunity Wittman, Foote, Dale and fellow senior Jon Jaques have to enjoy the NCAA’s.

Dunphy, who’s been at Temple since 2006, fell to 1-12 in the NCAA tournament and has lost 11 straight.

The Owls coach appeared in the tournament nine times in 17 seasons at Penn, where Donahue was an assistant under him for 10 years. They remain close, and the mentor freely admitted he did not relish the idea of facing the pupil on Friday.

“I’m torn right now with the feeling in my stomach,” Donahue said after his first win over his former boss.

Temple trailed 37-29 at the half and was fortunate to be that close. The Owls uncharacteristically turned the ball over nine times, with Cornell coming up with seven steals while playing tight man-to-man defense and occasionally switching to a 1-3-1 zone that made it difficult to get the ball inside.

Cornell’s lead would have bigger if its 3-point shooters hadn’t struggled from beyond the arc. The Big Red were 13 of 19 from the field at the break, and five of those six misses were 3-pointers that could have left Temple in a deeper hole.

After misfiring on its first two 3-point attempts of the second half, Cornell’s shooters caught fire. Jon Jacques hit a long 3, then Wittman made three straight during a stretch in which the Big Red weathered another Temple surge to lead 51-42.

The closest Temple would get the rest of the way was seven.

“Wittman just went crazy with those 3s. We’re trying to get back in the game and he’s not allowing it,” Dunphy said.

Dunphy’s lone victory in the NCAA’s came in 1994, when Penn beat Nebraska. He lost his next eight tournament games with the Quakers and now his first three with Temple, including losses to Michigan State and Arizona State the past two years.

Cornell, which has won 16 of 17 games since a 5-point road loss at Kansas on Jan. 6, became the first Ivy League team to win an NCAA tournament game since fifth-seeded Princeton took down No. 12 seed UNLV in 1998.

“This is our last chance to do this,” said Foote, who had 16 points and seven rebounds. “It’s nice to see all our hard work for four years pay off.”