On the Seventh Days of Conference Tourneys, the Buffet gave to me...

Upset on Horizon?

West Coast titans duel

In the Waiting Line...

Northeast back in action

End of Arch Madness

MAACachusetts sadness

And a Brand New Buffetology.

We've reached the midpoint of the XII Days. 3 plates have been handed out. Another (Harvard) has been provisionally handed out, with some Quakers trying to take it away.

A light tournament schedule finds just 1 tournament championship, no new tipoffs and a Waiting Line full of Creighton fans.

Today's Tournament Schedule

America East Semifinals

2 Vermont @ 6 Hartford, 715pm ET, ESPN3

1 Stony Brook vs. 4 Albany, 5pmET, ESPN3

Colonial Athletic Association Semifinals

1 Drexel v. 4 Old Dominion, 2:00pm ET, ESPN3

2 Virginia Commonwealth v. 3 George Mason, 4:30pm ET, ESPN3

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Semifinals

1 Iona v. 4 Fairfield, 2pm ET, ESPN3

It's later in the day than we usually like to get these out ... so we already know we've said goodbye to Scott Machado & Michael Glover. This team will get consideration, but ultimately, even though having only 1 top 50 win is vogue this year (We're looking at you Northwestern, and almost you Virginia)

2 Loyola (Maryland) v. 6 Siena, 4:30pm ET, ESPN3

Missouri Valley Championship

4 Illinois State v. 2 Creighton, 2:05pm ET, CBS

Northeast Conference Semifinals

2 Wagner v. 3 Robert Morris, 12:00pm ET, Audio: http://www.redzonemedia.com/viewschedule.asp?sportID=2&SchoolID=404

1 Long Island University - Brooklyn v. 5 Quinnipiac, 6:00pm ET, Audio: http://www.redzonemedia.com/viewschedule.asp?sportID=2&SchoolID=404

Southern Conference Semifinals

1N UNC-Greensboro v. 3N Western Carolina, 6:00pm ET, ESPN3

1S Davidson v. 2N Elon, 8:30pm ET, ESPN3

Summit League Quarterfinals

4 Western Illinois v. 5 North Dakota St, 700pm ET, Midco Sports Network // Fox College Sports

3 Oakland v. Southern Utah, 930pm ET, Midco Sports Network // Fox College Sports

Sun Belt Quarterfinals

4 Louisiana-Lafayette v. 5 North Texas, 715pm ET, ESPN3

1 Middle Tennessee State v. 9 Arkansas State, 700pm ET, ESPN3

2 Arkansas Little Rock v. Western Kentucky, 930pm ET, ESPN3

3 Denver v. South Alabama, 945pm ET, ESPN3

Last Night ...

...the America East

Stony Brook 78 - Binghamton 69

The magical run (of 1) is over for the Binghamton outfit that doubled their win output for the season. Tommy Brenton had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 5 steals, leading 4 Seawolves in double figures. Stony Brook had a 6 point halftime lead that the Bearcats turned around for a 40-38 lead with 16 minutes to play. A small 11-7 run reclaimed the lead for good. Dave Coley had 14 points of his own to go with 4 assists, and Dallis Joyner, Bryan Dougher and Anthony Johnson had 13 points for the top seed as they reach their third straight America East semifinal in pursuit of their first ever tournament bid. Ben Dickinson had 20 points and a pair blocks in a losing effort.

Albany 63 - New Hampshire 45

Gerard Suero put up 25 points as Albany pulled away 8 minutes into the game, led by 9 a halftime and never let UNH get closer than 8 the rest of the way. Suero added 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals to his total. Patrick Konan had 12 points and Brian Benson 13 boards for the Wildcats in the loss.

Hartford Hawks 53 - Boston University 49

Mark Nwakamma had 13 points and 16 boards and Jack Sikma's kid, Nate had 16, as Hartford pulled off a mini-upset, knocking out the 3rd seeded Terriers in the comforts of Hartford's Chase Family Arena. The Hawks trailed by 6 at halftime, but used a 32-22 second margin, which included limiting BU to 6 points over the last 6 minutes. Darryl Partin closed out a great college career with 17 points.

Vermont 50 - Maine 40

It took a half for them to wake up, but after making just 6 first half baskets, shooting less than 25%, Vermont came out in the second half, went on a 24-10 run that took Vermont to a 38-32 lead with 4:44 left, Maine tried to keep pace, trailing by just 3 with 1:28 left, but the Black Bears miserable day fromt he field, 32% and 0-17 (ANTI MAD BOMBER ALERT) from beyond the arc doomed them. Vermont was paced by Matt Glass' 16 points, Luke Apfeld's 12, and clutch free throw shooting from Apfeld and Four McGlynn. Alasdair Fraser led Maine with 10 points.

...the Atlantic Sun

CHAMPIONSHIP

Belmont 83 - Florida Gulf Coast 69

The Coast was game, ignoring the fact that Belmont had won two hugely lopsided regular season games, and gave Belmont all it could handle. They led at halftime, but ultimately the wear and tear of 3 games in 3 days, Belmont's relentless style and talent advantage took over, and the Bruins defeated FGCU to capture the Atlantic Sun championship in their Conference farewell. Belmont overcame a 13 point deficit, with 25 minutes of blitz like defense, limiting the Eagles to just 32% from the field in the second half. A great story comes to a close as FGCU was eligible for the tournament for the first time following their transition to Division 1. Another one begins for Belmont, advancing to back to back tournaments and their 5th in 7 years, as the Bruins have now won 14 straight.

...the Big Sky

Eastern Washington 81 - Idaho State 75

A really good game, that turned into a shootout, saw the Eagles use a 10-0 run with 9:02 to play to get them out to 65-61 led, holding a last late charge by the Bengals, to advance to Montana to face the top-seeded Grizzlies. Cliff Colimon had 22, Laron Griffin had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Jeffrey Forbes sank 5 threes en route to 21 points to lead EWU. Kenny McGowen had 28 points for the Bengals, but largely couldn't find the range, shooting only 9 of 28 from the field and 5 of 19 on 3s. Melvin Morgan added 22 points in the losing cause

Portland State 75 - Montana State 53

Portland State never trailed, as Chehales Tapscott (All-Buffet name team?) had 20 points and 12 rebounds leading the Vikings to an easy win and a date with Weber State in the semifinals. Charles Odum added 16 points and Renado Parker came off the bench to add 13 points. Mohammed Fall had 14 and 7 for Bobcats and Christian Moon put up 12 points, 5 assists and 2 steals, but it largely game in a forgone conclusion - an 8 point halftime lead was quickly stretched to 20 with a 12-0 second half start for Portland State.

...the Big South

CHAMPIONSHIP

UNC-Asheville 80 - Virginia Military Institute 64

The Keydets weren't going away with a fight - but Matt Dickey shook off the effects of a hip pointer, getting the Bulldogs 15 points and 5 steals, sparking an 8-0 run in the second half that gave the Big South regular season champions the cushion they needed, as they coasted the rest of the way, leading by as many as 20. Jeremy Atkinson led Asheville with 18 points, and tournament MVP J.P. Primm had 16. Keith Gabriel had 12 points in a losing effort.

...the CAA

Drexel 59 - UNC-Wilmington 47

Chris Fouch led 4 Dragon double-digit scorers to a 12 point win in a game that stayed tight for much of the first half, but an 8-2 run got Drexel the lead that they never relinquished. Donte Morales had 13 points and 9 rebounds for UNC-Wilmington.

Old Dominion 88 - Delaware 74

Kent Bazemore had 24 points, 4 other Monarchs scored double-digits, as a 5point halftime lead because 14, as ODU punished the Blue Hens on the back boards and limited Delaware to just 29% from 3point range. Devon Saddler had 24 points and Jamelle Hagins added 12 and 18, but it wasn't nearly enough.

George Mason 61 - Georgia State 59

Byron Allen had a nifty reverse layup with 3.4 seconds left, as George Mason continued their penchant for last second heroics, finally ending a great overachieving story and excellent coaching work by Ron Hunter, of IUPUI fame. Mike Morrison had 12 points and 4 blocks, Sherrod Wright poured in all 10 of his minutes during a 4 minute stretch of the second half. The Panthers led most of the way, but a 12-3 run by Mason that gave them a 6 point lead with 7+ minutes to play proved too much to overcome. Georgia St did draw even before Allen's layup, but the mountain to their first ever CAA semifinal proved to large to ascend. James Fields had 15 points and Rashaad Richardson added 10 of his own.

Virginia Commonwealth 75 Northeastern 65

VCU slept walked a bit in the first half, but a 26-26 tie quickly became an 8 point lead, and then a later 11-0 run turned a 10 point game into 21 as VCU, easily playing the best ball in the conference, Drexel's crazy winning streak notwithstanding (18 games), sailed into the conference semis. Rob Brandenburg had 19 points, 16 in the second half, to pace the Rams. Treveon Graham had 16, and Bradford Burgess added 10, as VCU forced 25 turnovers to turn the tide in this one. Quincy Ford had a double-double 17/11, Joel Smith had 17 as well, and Jonathan Lee added 16 for the Huskies

...Horizon League

Valparaiso 65 - Butler 46

The clock has officially struck midnight. Butler, who hadn't lost a postseason tournament game without the word "Championship game" in it, was never really in this game, an early 17-1 by the Crusaders was pretty much the turning point, as the Bulldogs did cut it to 7 at halftime, and at one point had it down to 5, but couldn't get over that hump, losing for the 3rd time in 3 tries. Ryan Broekhoff had 19 points and 16 rebounds to led Valpo.

Detroit 63 - Cleveland State 58

Ray McCallum had 26 points, as Cleveland State couldn't put Detroit away a third time this season. Detroit led by 12 with 12 minutes left, then Cleveland State went on a 14-2 run to tie it with 3 minutes left. Detroit raced back up 4, and then 80% free throw shooting in the final minute and some questionable decisions by senior Jeremy Montgomery, and the upset bid for the Titans continued

...Metro Atlantic

Fairfield 65 - Rider 63

Rakim Sanders had 15 points as Fairfield survived a big scare from Broncs in the quarters. The Stags never trailed in the second half, but did see their lead shrink to 1 with less than 4 minutes to go. Jeff Jones had 19 points and 7 rebounds and Jonathon Thompson had 19 of his own.

Iona 87 - Marist 63

Marist kept it to 35-33 at halftime, but Iona didn't keep it that way long, Mike Glover saw to it himself, with 19 second half points, en route to a 29 point effort. The Gaels shot 69% after halftime, and limited Devin Price, a 14 point scorer all season to just 3 points on 3 shots in 35 minuets. Scott machado had 18 pts and 8 assists.

Loyola (Md.) 86 - Niagara 73

Another tight halftime game turned into a full game blowout, as Dylon Comier poured in 15 of his 23 leading Loyola to outscoring Niagara by 13 points in the second half. The run was fueled by 69% shooting powered by a pummeling in the paint (22-8 margin). Erik Etherly added 21 points and Shane Walker had 13 and 12. Juan'ya Green led Niagara with 22 points.

Siena 84 - Manhattan 82

Stop us if you've heard this before, Siena knocks Manhattan out of the MAAC tournament, ending ended the best W-L turnaround in college hoops this season (the Jaspers improved by 14 wins over last season under first-year head coach Steve Masiello). Owen Wignot had 22 points including the decisive bucket in overtime.

...Missouri Valley

Illinois St 65 - Wichita State 64

Well, it wouldn't be Arch Madness if the top seed looked wholly disinterested before reaching the championship game. Despite shooting 34% and only hitting 7 3s, Illinois State made 20 of 22 free throws, took care of the basketball, and forced Garrett Stutz into foul trouble and limited him to 6 points - beating a ranked opponent for the first time in 24 tries dating to 1987.

Creighton 99 - Evansville 71

Creighton got the message from the first game, as the Bluejays were on Upset High Alert and made the Aces pay for it. Gregory Echenique reminded the country that Creighton has a strong man in the middle himself, with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots and Teach Me How to Dougie added 14 and 9 of his own.

...Ohio Valley

CHAMPIONSHIP

Murray State 54 - Tennessee State 52

A Jewuan Long baseline runner with 4.4 seconds left capped a late 7 point run for Murray State, sparing the collective anxiety of the Waiting Line. Isaiah Canaan had 14 points, but they were fourteen tough points as the Tigers smothered the Racers star and matched them move for move - the only team to beat Murray all season, knew their opponent inside and out and it showed. Robert Covington had 14 points, but picking up his fourth foul mid-2nd half was really the deciding point, as Donte Poole and Jewuan Long hit big buckets to pick up their struggling star and capture the Ohio Valley Championship.

...Patriot League

Lehigh 85 - American 66

On paper is was supposed to be a good semifinal, the teams split the regular season series and entered as the 2 and 3 seeds. But the Mountain Hawks dashed those hopes with a 13-2 second half run, putting Lehigh up 19. C.J. McCollum had 27 points and 10 rebounds, to lead a Mountain Hawk outfit that shot 62% in the last 20 minutes. Mackey McKnight and Holden Greiner had 14 points each. Troy Brewer and Charles Hinkle had 15 points a piece for American, who challenged, but were ultimately overwhelmed.

Bucknell 79 - Lafayette 52

This was never close, and the recap will demonstrate that. Mike Muscala and Joe Willman each had 18 points (Willman added 7 rebounds) as the Bison were in no mood to entertain any thoughts of upset. Ryan Willien had 11 and 5 for the Leopards.

...Southern

UNC-Greensboro 65 - Appalachian State 55

The Buffet was down on UNC-G in its preview, and the Spartans played like it for the first 27 minutes, trailing 49-48, before a game ending 27-6 run that began with a 13-2 stretch to tie the game. Trevis Simpson had 17 points and 9 reounds, and David Williams added 12 points, 3 assists and 4 steals. App State was ice cold in the second half, making only 6 buckets the entire time.

Western Carolina 82 - Wofford 69

When a game is this lopsided, it's difficult to call it an upset. A 13-4 second half run made a 6 point competitive matchup in a snoozer. Keaton Cole led 5 Catamounts in double-figures with 16. Tawaski King had 15 and 10, Trey Sumler had 12, and Brandon Boggs and Preston Ross each had 11.

Davidson 73 - Furman 54

3 Wildcats had 17 points, as Davidson rolled 73-54. De'Mon Brooks, Chris Czerapowicz and Tyler Kalinoski were the trio, Kalinski doing his damage with 5 3-pointers. Davidson opened up a 21-8 lead and never trailed.

Elon 65 - Georgia Southern 58

Jack Isenbarger had 18 points, the Phoenix avenged a January loss, hitting 53% of their shots, leading by as many as 11 and never once in the 2nd half.

...Summit

Oral Roberts 71 - IPFW 67

Every game between these two teams, regardless of record, roster, etc., has been a grinder, yesterday's was no different. The Golden Eagles had a 13 point led, blew it and then needed Rod Pearson's big buckets and controversy to survive. Dominique Morrison, ORU's leading scorer, fouled out with 2:34 left and his team trailing 61-59, but Pearson stepped up, his jumper tied the game, and then hit a 3 on the next possession to put ORU up 64-61, in a deja vu moment, from 23 days again when Pearson runner gave ORU a 2 point win overtime win over IUPUI. The lead was pushed to 6, but the Mastedons capitalized on shaky foul shooting and cut the deficit to 68-66 with 9.5 seconds left. After Warren Niles, ORU's leading scorer with 17 points, only could make 1 of 2 foul shots, IPFW had the ball with 4.6 seconds left and a chance to tie. ORU wasn't letting it happen easily, fouling IPFW's Justin Jordan at midcourt. Jordan made the first, and missed the second intentionally. and Frank Gaines who had 26 points (with 4 threes), outmaneuvered his way to the basket, but had his shot "blocked" from by Michael Craion, who came over the top in tomahawk fashion, which many in the crowd (mostly 2nd seeded SDSU fans) and the replays, themselves, thought was a foul.

South Dakota St 77 - IUPUI 56

South Dakota St did not have the struggle that ORU had, getting a stat filling masterpiece from Nate Wolters - 22 pts, 7 rebs, 6 assists and 5 steals, as SDSU never trailed in this one, and shot 57% from the field.

...Sun Belt

South Alabama 87 - Troy 81

Freddie Goldstein had 25 points, on 40% 3pt shooting, as the Jaguars withstood an 39-21 point Trojan run over the last 13 minutes, to hold on for the win. Augustine Rubit had 18 points and 14 rebounds and Antoine Lundy had 12 points and 11 rebounds for USA. Troy put up a heck of a fight, cutting a 20 point lead to 2, but Will Weathers (17) and Alan Jones (13) couldn't quit pull off the miracle.

Arkansas State 70 - Florida Atlantic 55

Marcus Hooten's 23 points, Malcolm Kirkland had 15 and 9 as Arkansas State wouldn't let the Owls get any closer than 3 points with 1:20 left int he first half en route to a pretty easy win. Dennis Mavin has 12 points and Shavar Richardson 11, as FAU finished the season on a 5 game losing streak.

Western Kentucky 67 - Florida International 63

Is the Isiah Thomas watch on yet? FIU finished a lackluster year with a spirited, but losing performance. WKU led 63-61 with 1 minute left, before a furious finish that saw traded turnovers, Derrick Gordon block a 3point attempt and a missed layup by FIU star DeJuan Layup, before Hilltopper FTs sealed it. Kahlil McDonald had a career 19 points off the bench, draining three after three, and Derrick Gordon had 10 rebounds. DeJuan Wright should keep his head up, despite the miss layup, because his 24 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

...West Coast

St. Mary's 83 San Francisco 78

St. Mary's isn't the same team without Stephen Holt and San Francisco had a chip on their shoulder, and the game played itself out that way. The Gaels trailed all first half and didn't take a lead until 12:12 remaining in the game. The game was spirited, USF committed 21 fouls, but the emerging Clint Steindl, who hit 6 3pters, had 19 points and the Gaels withstood the Dons' onslaught.

Gonzaga 77 BYU 58

Gonzaga never fliched, BYU went squarely to waiting line, and Kevin Pangos shot 10 of 17 en route to 30 points, as the Bulldogs led by as many as 21 and had an answer every time BYU seemed to want to make a run. Elias Harris added 10 and 15 for Zags.

In the Waiting Line... today

Virginia @ Maryland - Virginia isn't the tourney lock everyone thinks they are. Take another look at their body of work, how is it that much different from Northwestern? Some slight advantages, but UVA needs to start winning some more, and really can't afford a loss to the struggling Terps

Old Dominion @ Drexel - Drexel and VCU are the CAA's only (faint) hopes for an at-large berth, both need to reach the final to stay in Line.

Arizona @ Arizona State - the annual debate is on - how many Pac12 teams will get in? Some say 2, some say 3. If it's two, Arizona is in trouble, and probably needs to reach the P12 final at a minimum. In fact, if its 3, they were swept by Washington, so they probably need to reach the final anyway. Because short of that, UW and Cal are both ahead of them, and then if you open the door for Colorado or Oregon to swoop in on that championship game, you are opening that at-large invite to them as well.

Geroge Mason @ VCU - VCU already revenge the Patriots miracle home win. But an exclamation point would help build a resume seeking wins.

California @ Stanford. Cal shouldn't consider themselves locked into anything - and a loss here would underscore that.

NC State @ Virginia Tech - NC State isn't all that close to the Bubble, but Seth Greenberg is probably frothing at the mouth to repay all of the last minute losses put on them the last few years and keep them out/barely in/etc

Illinois @ Wisconsin - the fork may not be in Illinois, but it's starting to pierce the skin

Buffetology 3/4

1	Kentucky	1	Auto
	Syracuse	2	Auto
	Kansas	3	Auto
	North Carolina	4	Auto
2	Michigan State	5	Auto
	Duke	6	At-Large
	Missouri	7	At-Large
	Ohio State	8	At-Large
3	Marquette	9	At-large
	Michigan	10	At-large
	Georgetown	11	At-large
	Baylor	12	At-large
4	Wisconsin	13	At-large
	Indiana	14	At-large
	Florida	15	At-large
	Temple	16	Auto
5	Murray St	17	Auto
	Louisville	18	At-large
	Wichita St	19	At-large
	Florida St	20	At-large
6	UNLV	21	At-large
	Vanderbilt	22	At-large
	Creighton	23	At-large
	Notre Dame	24	At-large
7	New Mexico	25	At-large
	Gonzaga	26	Auto
	San Diego St	27	Auto
	Iowa St	28	At-large
8	St. Mary's	29	At-large
	Memphis	30	Auto
	Purdue	31	At-large
	Kansas St	32	At-large
9	Alabama	33	At-large
	Virginia	34	At-large
	Saint Louis	35	At-large
	Connecticut	36	At-large
10	Southern Miss	37	At-large
	California	38	At-large	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Cincinnati	39	At-large	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Harvard	40	Auto	Stuck in the Waiting Line
11	West Virginia	41	At-large	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	BYU	42	At-large	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Colorado State	43	At-large	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	South Florida	44	At-large	Stuck in the Waiting Line
12	Mississippi St	45	At-large	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Long Beach	49	Auto
	Washington	46	At-large	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Texas	47	At-large/Play-in	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Arizona	48	At-large/Play-in	Stuck in the Waiting Line
13	VCU	51	At-large/Play-in	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Northwestern	50	At-large/Play-in	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Davidson	62	Auto
	Nevada	63	Auto
	Middle Tenn St	64	Auto
14	Drexel	65	Auto
	Oral Roberts	66	Auto
	Belmont	74	Auto
	Akron	75	Auto
15	Montana	76	Auto
	Bucknell	77	Auto
	Valparaiso	78	Auto
	Fairfield	79	Auto
16	Long Island	80	Auto
	UT Alrington	81	Auto
	UNC Asheville	82	Auto/Play-in
	Stony Brook	83	Auto/Play-in
	Mississippi Valley St	84	Auto/Play-in
	Savannah St	85	Auto/Play-in
Last Four Out:	Xavier	52	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Seton Hall	53	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Miami FL	54	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Oregon	55	Stuck in the Waiting Line
Next Four Out:	Mississippi	56	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Saint Joseph's	57	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Tennessee	58	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Iona	59	Stuck in the Waiting Line
Last 9 consider	Colorado	60	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	UCF	61	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Dayton	67	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	New Mexico St	68	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	NC State	69	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	LSU	70	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Iowa	71	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Illinois	72	Stuck in the Waiting Line
	Ohio	73	Stuck in the Waiting Line