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Norfolk State Beats Missouri

March 28, 2012 by · Comments Off on Norfolk State Beats Missouri 

Norfolk State Beats Missouri, What a debut for Norfolk State in the NCAA Tournament. Kyle O’Quinn had 26 points and 14 rebounds Friday and the Spartans stunned the second-seeded Missouri Tigers, 86-84, for an historic upset.

Norfolk State (26-9), champion of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, became only the fifth No. 15 seed to knock off a No. 2 in tournament history and the first since Hampton topped Iowa State 11 years ago.

Three of the upsets have been authored by MEAC programs. In addition to Norfolk State and Hampton, Coppin State beat South Carolina in 1997.

“Being the underdog, everybody likes to see the underdog survive. Not only survive, but win,” O’Quinn said.

Later, Lehigh took down second-seeded Duke in the South Region to become the fraternity’s sixth member.

O’Quinn, a senior center, had a chance to seal the win at the foul line, but the MEAC overall and defensive player of the year missed both attempts with 3.8 seconds remaining.

Missouri (30-5) secured the rebound and quickly called timeout. Following the break, the Tigers went for the win.

Phil Pressey fired a three-pointer with a defender closely guarding him, but the shot was off the mark and Missouri’s remarkable season came to an all too familiar end with a loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.

In 2011, 11th-seeded Missouri was beaten by Cincinnati.

Tigers coach Frank Haith explained the reasons behind his team’s early exit.

“We’re not very big, but we’ve got to be so perfect at blocking out and rebounding the ball, and this team was not tonight, and that did us in,” he said. “Rebounding is what did us in, and our defense, guarding the ball, we didn’t guard the ball at all.”

Missouri was outrebounded 37-25, including 14-7 on the offensive glass.

The Spartans, winners of eight in a row, will now face seventh-seeded Florida in the West Region’s third round on Sunday.

Pendarvis Williams and Chris McEachin scored 20 points apiece for Norfolk State, which led by as many as eight in the first half.

Michael Dixon had 22 points to pace Missouri, while Pressey and Marcus Denmon both chipped in 20.

NCAA Tournament 2012

March 8, 2012 by · Comments Off on NCAA Tournament 2012 

NCAA Tournament 2012, C.J. Garner was right around halfcourt when he saw Julian Boyd open near the basket. Perfect time for an alley-oop, the little guard thought.

Boyd leaped high for Garner’s on-target pass and threw down a dunk that must have had Spike Lee feeling as if he was watching Jeremy Lin and Amare Stoudamire at Madison Garden instead of Long Island University in a 1,700-seat gym in Brooklyn.

Garner and Boyd provided the highlight of the night, and Jason Brickman directed the LIU’s fast-breaking Blackbirds flawlessly to a 90-73 victory against Robert Morris in the Northeast Conference championship game Wednesday night.

In a rematch of last season’s NEC title game thriller, the top-seeded Blackbirds (25-8) didn’t need overtime to fend off the No. 3 seed Colonials (24-10) this year and earn a second consecutive NCAA berth.

“We set a goal to try to accomplish something and become great team,” said coach Jim Ferry, in his 10th season at LIU. “To do it back-to-back … is pretty special.

“Heck, Spike Lee even showed up.”

Lee, who grew up in Brooklyn, strolled into the WRAC about 30 minutes before tip-off wearing a Knicks baseball cap, an orange hooded sweatshirt and black vest. The diminutive director took a seat behind the basket, right next to three young fans who spelled out LIU on their painted bare chests.

“He said we better win,” Ferry said Lee told him before the game. “He didn’t want to be the jinx.”

Garner scored 21 points, Boyd had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Brickman had 18 points and an NEC championship game-record 11 assists.

March Madness Predictions

March 16, 2011 by · Comments Off on March Madness Predictions 

March Madness Predictions, March Madness predictions are, at times, strangely totemic companies arcane. People make predictions based on the meaning and design of the NCAA bracket, they printed; (! Strong, solid, 12) they make teams based on names of animals or how it feels against a other number, they choose on the basis of a mass of tics subconscious, they only half understand. But insofar as prediction methods Arcane go, I do not think you can improve the prediction, via March Madness NBA Jam. The Kansas Jayhawks are the Charlotte Hornets, which would be bad news if you had hot spots, or if you do not want KU to move to New Orleans.

More facts can be drawn from this set of power rankings: Kemba Walker, as Reggie Miller, a rating of super-high clutch, Kentucky, as the Phoenix Suns, can shoot the three points, no matter who has accumulated the hardest-points in the third quarter, and nobody, I mean nobody, has played with the Cleveland Cavaliers in NBA Jam: TE, except for me. If you want even more to extrapolate from these, a prediction NCAA bracket begins to develop, Syracuse if you go deep, be careful when teams begin to bend Terry Porter early and often. He lost his shooting touch after it is in the red.

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