Game 755: Back-to-back

(2) UT Arlington vs. (1) Georgia State

Sun Belt championship

March 17 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, LA

ESPN2

Georgia State made program history on Sunday.

The top seed used a stifling defense once again to win convincingly, 73-64 and capture the Sun Belt title for the second consecutive season.

The Panthers, who held UT Arlington to 35% shooting a day after limiting fourth-seeded Texas State to 21% in the semifinals, have reached the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time. All five starters scored in double figures, led by tournament MVP Malik Benlevi, who was fantastic in two games.

Benlevi, one of four seniors who will play in the tournament for the second time later this week, finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds in the final and averaged 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in the two games in New Orleans. Benlevi clearly wants nothing to do with his collegiate career coming to an end, and neither do his teammates:

- Damon Wilson continued his late-season surge as the redshirt-junior scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting and was the catalyst at the top of GSU's zone defense, harassing Arlington's guards all afternoon. Guard Brian Warren, who scored 21 points in the Mavericks' semifinal win over No. 2 seed Georgia Southern, was just 4-of-18 from the field on Sunday. Wilson was a huge reason why.

- Sophomore point guard Kane Williams, one of the most pleasant surprises of the season, added 12 points and five assists. Williams has gone from an up-and-down freshman to an integral part of an NCAA Tournament team in just 12 months.

- Another senior, Jeff Thomas added 11 points and was 6-of-7 from the free-throw line.

- GSU would've been much better than its 25-for-34 performance from the line if it wasn't for D'Marcus Simonds' struggles. The Panthers' top player, and absurdly their only all-Sun Belt recipient, was 2-of-9 from the charity stripe to finish with just 10 points. It's good news for GSU when the junior Simonds can have a tough night (he was also only 4-of-12 from the field) and still have a fairly-comfortable win in the conference championship game.

GSU, which as a 15-seed lost in the opening round to second-seeded Cincinnati in last year's tournament, received a No. 14 seed and will head to Tulsa, Oklahoma for Friday's opening round against another American Athletic Conference team, third-seeded Houston.

Games 753-754: Saturday doubleheader

754 - (2) Hawaii women vs. (1) UC-Davis
Big West championship
March 16 at Honda Center in Anaheim, CA
espn3

753 - (4) Texas State vs. (1) Georgia State
Sun Belt semifinals
March 16 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, LA
ESPN +

Games 751-752: Semifinal Friday, part 2

752 - (3) Grand Canyon vs. (2) Utah Valley
WAC semifinals
March 15 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, NV
ESPN +

"wills the team to victory"
"that championship DNA"
"he's such a downhill player"
"instant offense"
"fell in love with the jump shot"
"strong with the basketball"

751 - (3) SE Louisiana vs. (2) Abilene Christian
Southland semifinals
March 15 at Merrell Center in Katy, TX
ESPN +

Games 749-750: Semifinal Friday

750 - (3) Duke vs. (2) North Carolina
ACC semifinals
March 15 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC
ESPN

749 - (3) Cal State Bakersfield women vs. (2) UT Rio Grande Valley
WAC semifinals
March 15 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, NV
ESPN +


Other games watched:

Louisiana-Monroe vs. Georgia Southern (Sun Belt quarterfinals)
Charleston Southern women vs. Campbell (Big South semifinals)

"she just ran out of basketball court"

Oregon vs. Arizona State (Pac 12 semifinals)

Games 746-748: Wednesday/Thursday tripleheader

748 - Virginia Tech vs. Florida State
ACC quarterfinals
March 14 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC
ESPN

747 - UC Irvine women vs. Cal State Northridge
Big West quarterfinals
March 13 at Bren Events Center in Irvine, CA
ESPN

Lauren Saiki's beautiful feed to Tahlia Garza for a lay-up with two seconds left was the difference in Irvine's 59-57 and the Anteaters' first 20-win season since 1984-85 (!).

But what's important is color commentator Dave Miller said this about Northridge's Channon Fluker (20 points, 14 rebounds):

"Fluker's like LL Cool J, she's doin' it and doin' it well"

Dave!

and this about Irvine's offensive strategy:

"make shots this end, get stops at the other"

thanks, Dave!


Honorable mention

"changing the culture at UC Irvine"
"she's blue collar"
"keeps her chin on the rim"
"she's got killer instinct in her DNA"
"great motor"
"it starts with the rim run"

746 - Miami vs. Virginia Tech
ACC second round
March 13 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC
ESPN


Other games watched:

Fordham vs. Richmond (Atlantic 10 first round)
West Virginia vs. Oklahoma (Big 12 first round)

Games 744-745: Saturday pair

745 - Georgia State at Georgia Southern
March 9 at Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, GA
ESPN +

744 - (8) VMI vs. (1) Wofford
Southern quarterfinals
March 9 at US Cellular Center in Asheville, NC
ESPN +

Games 742-743: Two on a Friday

743 - (3) Jacksonville State vs. (2) Murray State
Ohio Valley semifinals
March 8 at Ford Center in Evansville, IN
ESPN

742 - (7) Manhattan vs. (2) Canisius
MAAC quarterfinals
March 8 at Times Union Center in Albany, NY
ESPN

Games 740-741: Thursday doubleheader

741 - (8) Hampton at (1) Campbell
Big South quarterfinals
March 7 at Gore Arena in Buies Creek, NC
espn3

Two of the top six scorers in the country were on display in this one, an 86-77 Campbell victory.

Chris Clemons, who is one of the top scorers in NCAA HISTORY (over 3,000 points), scored four above his average with 34 points. The senior was just 7-of-21 from the field, but using his unorthodox method of free-throw shooting - he doesn't stand directly in the center of the line, but almost completely to right - hit 17-of-19 - to help  the top seed erase a second-half deficit and advance.

Jermaine Marrow, sixth nationally in scoring coming into the night, led the Pirates with 22 (3 1/2 below his average), but like Clemons struggled with his shot (7-of-20).

Just an insane Clemons' statistic was revealed late in the game. Including Thursday's game, the lightning-quick guard has scored in double figures in 127 of a career 128 games!

740 - (12) Virginia women vs. (5) Syracuse
ACC second round
March 7 at Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC
ACC Network

Games 737-739: Mid-week tripleheader

739 - (8) SIU-Edwardsville vs. (5) Morehead State
Ohio Valley first round
March 6 at Ford Center in Evansville, IN
espn3

738 - (6) Vermont women at (3) Stony Brook
America East quarterfinals
March 6 at Island Federal Arena in Stony Brook, NY
ESPN +

Shania Johnson continued her incredible senior season in leading the third-seeded Seawolves into the semifinals.

Johnson broke her own school record with 16 assists (she's fourth in the country in the category) and added 14 points and India Pagan scored a career-high 21 points (on 10-of-13 shooting) in Stony Brook's 69-58 win.

Johnson's back court mate Jerell Matthews' night became sort of an afterthought, but it shouldn't have been. The 5-9 senior drained six 3-pointers (on 10 attempts) and scored 20 points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds.

The Seawolves erased a six-point halftime deficit thanks to a dominant third quarter (28-15).

Vermont got a game-high 28 points from Hanna Crymble.

737 - (13) Florida women vs. (12) Mississippi
SEC first round
March 6 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, SC
SEC Network



Other games watched:

(7) UT Martin vs. (6) Eastern Illinois, Ohio Valley first round

Games 735-736: Tuesday doubleheader

736 - (10) NC Asheville at (7) Presbyterian
Big South first round
March 5 at Templeton Center in Clinton, SC
ESPN +

The host Blue Hose hit 21 (!) 3-pointers and cruised to a 106-59 victory to set up a quarterfinal match up with No. 2 seed and defending league champion Radford.

JC Younger was an incredible 8-of-14 from behind the arc for all of his 24 points to lead Presbyterian, while Romeo Crouch added 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

Radford and Presbyterian played just once during the regular season and the Highlanders escaped with a 79-77 win on January 12.

735 - (13) LaSalle women at (4) Dayton
Atlantic 10 first round
March 5 at University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, OH
ESPN +

Phenomenal defensive effort by Dayton, which held the visitors to under 40 points (the final was 65-38) and just 27% (13-of-47) shooting to set up a quarterfinal match up with No. 5 seed Davidson.

Eleven different players scored for the host Flyers, led by Lauren Cannatelli's 13 points. The Flyers (16-12), top-65 nationally in scoring defense, held their 12th opponent to 55 points or less.

Also, let's welcome the newest member of the Scoochie Smith All Stars, and our second member of the LaSalle womens team, coach Mountain Macgillivray.

We'll take/need the offseason to decide whether to rename the team The Mountain Macgillivray All Stars.

Games 733-734: Postseason

Atlantic Sun quarterfinals

734 - (5) NJIT at (4) Florida Gulf Coast
March 4 at Alico Arena in Fort Myers, FL
ESPN +

Big night for NJIT, which won for the first time in the Atlantic Sun tournament (in its fourth season in the league) and for the first time at FGCU, 83-78.

The Highlanders shot the ball extremely well - 58% on threes, 54% overall - and got excellent performances from both Diandre Wilson (26 points, including 12-of-13 from the line) and Zach Cooks (25 points). Each player hit four of NJIT's 10 three-pointers.

NJIT is two wins away from its first trip to the NCAA Tournament and will play top seed Lipscomb in Thursday's semifinals.

733 - (6) North Alabama at (3) North Florida
March 4 at UNF Arena in Jacksonville, FL
ESPN +

Game 572 - (2) Robert Morris women - (1) St. Francis (PA)

Northeast championship
March 11 at Degol Arena in Loretto, PA
ESPNU

St. Francis leaned heavily on its best player, and Jessica Kovatch sent the Red Flash to the NCAA Tournament.

Kovatch, the nation's second-leading scorer (average of 24.9, first is Iowa's Megan Gustafson at 25.6), poured in 29 points on 8-of-17 shooting in a 66-56 victory.

It's the 12th Northeast title for St. Francis, which prevented Robert Morris from winning three consecutive championships. The junior Kovatch broke the tournament record, scoring 103 points over the three games, and picked up MVP honors.

Senior forward Jocelynne Jones shook off two early fouls to lead the visitors with 21 points, including 5-of-7 from three-point range.

Games 569-571: Championship

Sun Belt Tournament
March 9-11 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, LA

571 - championship
(4) UT-Arlington vs. (2) Georgia State
ESPN2

570 - semifinals
(3) Georgia Southern vs. (2) Georgia State
espn3.com

569 - quarterfinals
(7) Troy vs. (2) Georgia State
espn3.com

That was an extremely satisfying championship run.

GSU got 27 points from D'Marcus Simonds and never trailed in defeating UT Arlington 74-61 in the Sun Belt final.

Simonds picked up Most Outstanding Player honors for the tournament despite struggling in the semifinal win. The sophomore was 8-of-19 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line (the team finished 16-of-20) a day after scoring only six points and fouling out in a 73-67 victory. When Simonds is driving to the rim and making lay-ups and/or getting fouled like he was Sunday, GSU is a tough team to beat.

Here's a great statistic: GSU trailed for a total of 18 seconds during this tournament. Georgia Southern took a 7-6 lead with 15:43 left in the first half of Saturday's game, and at the 15:25 mark, Coye Simmons of Georgia Southern picked up a foul and a technical foul, GSU went up 9-7 thanks to a 3-of-4 stay at the line and didn't trail for the rest of the weekend.

So, thank you Coye Simmons?

The defense was outstanding Sunday, holding Arlington's top two players - Erick Neal and Kevin Hervey - to a combined shooting performance of 4-of-29 and the team to just 29% from the field (17-of-57).

GSU is in the tournament for the first time since 2015, was given a No. 15 seed and will play No. 2 seed and American Conference champion Cincinnati in the first round on Friday.

Games 566-568: Quarterfinal Thursday

568 - ACC quarterfinals
(6) North Carolina vs. (3) Miami
March 8 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY
ESPN

567 - ACC quarterfinals
(10) Notre Dame vs. (2) Duke
March 8 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY
ESPN

Marvin Bagley is good.

The freshman put together a 33-point 17-rebound night (his fourth 30-15 of the season) and the second-seeded Blue Devils rolled into the semifinals with an 88-70 win.

Senior Grayson Allen was also great - 23 points on 5-of-6 from three-point range - and freshman Trevon Duval handed out 11 assists.

Matt Farrell did Duval one better with a career-high game of 12 assists, but hit just 3-of-11 from three (the Irish were 5-of-23 as a team).

566 - (5) Kent State vs. (4) Ball State
MAC quarterfinals
March 8 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH
espn3.com

Basketball phrases/nonsense

"attack the tin with ferocity"
"three point marksmanship"
"that looked to me like a basketball play"
"Zach Gunn, and he has that holster always ready to trigger"
"took him to the woodshed"
"international flavor"
"MACtion"
"a great kick ahead"
"the show and go"

Games 563-565: Wednesday tripleheader

565 - (6) UC Riverside women vs. (3) UC Irvine
Big West quarterfinals
March 7 at Titan Gym in Fullerton, CA
espn3.com

It had been almost a year since we watched Michelle Curry try her best to get Riverside into the Big West semis. Curry's 22 points weren't enough that day, but Wednesday, she dropped a career-high 40 in the Highlanders' 86-74 win.

Curry was 11-of-23 from the field and hit 18 of her 21 free throw attempts (there were a silly 59 fouls called, the teams went a combined 53-of-74 from the stripe and six (!) players fouled out of a regulation game). The senior Curry is averaging 30 points, 11.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in two tournament games.

Riverside, just 9-21 during the regular season, is two wins from the tournament & will play top seed UC Davis in Friday's semifinals.

564 - (9) Florida A&M vs. (1) Hampton
MEAC quarterfinals
March 7 at Scope Arena in Norfolk, VA
espn3.com

It got much tighter than I thought it would towards the end as A&M cut an 18-point deficit to one with 36 seconds left, but the top seed hung on, 75-71.

Jermaine Marrow was outstanding for Hampton (18-14), just missing a triple-double - he had 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Marrow is top-50 nationally in both scoring and assists and though he really struggled with his shot (4-of-18) he did everything else to help the Pirates reach the semifinals. Hampton is looking to reach the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the last four seasons.

Malique Trent Scott led Hampton with 22 points on an efficient 8-of-13 from the field.

Desmond Williams, A&M's leading scorer, poured in a game-high 27 points, 24 of which came in the second half.

563 - (9) Louisville vs. (8) Florida State
ACC second round
March 7 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY
ESPN

Excellent shooting afternoon for Louisville, which made 62% of its threes & 51% of its shots overall in an 82-74 win.

The Florida State bench (40 points) out-scored the starters (34), which is never a good thing.

It would be some story if Louisville, under interim coach David Padgett and with all the controversy surrounding the program this season, made a run in the ACC Tournament as a No. 9 seed. The Cardinals have top seed and projected No. 1 overall in the NCAAs, Virginia next in Thursday's quarterfinals.

Game 562 - (10) Georgia State women vs. (7) Coastal Carolina

Sun Belt first round
March 6 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, LA
espn3.com

An extremely frustrating season came to an end for GSU as Coastal Carolina used a dominant second quarter to get some distance and cruised to a 74-55 win.

The seventh-seeded Chanticleers trailed by a point after one, but used a 12-0 run to out-score GSU 22-6 in the second (Kaylin West had 10 points and Jas Adams had eight in the period) and it was a double-digit lead for the rest of the night.

Adams, the top scorer in the Sun Belt, finished with 16 points, while West had 15 off the bench.

The Panthers had high hopes coming into the season, but two games in lost to injury Jada Lewis, last year's Sun Belt freshman of the year, then dropped five league games by seven points or less.

GSU has no seniors, so every major contributor, including Lewis, Kierra Henry (game-high 18 points) and Madison Newby (team's assist leader, averaged 11 points in 29 games) returns next season.

Game 561 - (6) San Diego women vs. (1) Gonzaga

West Coast championship
March 6 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, NV
ESPN2

The best player in the West Coast Conference stepped up at the perfect time for Gonzaga.

League player of the year Jill Barta scored 32 points - 28 of which came after the opening quarter - on 10-of-19 shooting and Zykera Rice added 17 points on a perfect 7-of-7 performance from the field in a 79-71 win.

San Diego, which did a phenomenal job getting to the final as a No. 6 seed, hit seven of its 11 field goal attempts in the first quarter to grab a 25-20 lead. Gonzaga used a 13-0 run midway through the second quarter to take the lead for good and ending up shooting 51% from the field.

It doesn't matter now, but I wonder if the Bulldogs, now 27-5, would've received an at-large bid with a loss. ESPN's Charlie Creme has Gonzaga as a No. 12 seed in the Lexington region coming into the day. Not sure that changes much after this one.

San Diego (17-15) got 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting and 11 rebounds from Maya Hood (she's the school's all-time leading rebounder) and 20 points out of Sydney Williams.

Games 559-560: Two champions

560 - Southern championship
(2) East Tennessee State vs. (1) UNC-Greensboro
March 5 at US Cellular Center in Asheville, NC
ESPN2

559 - MAAC championship
(6) Fairfield vs. (4) Iona
March 5 at Times Union Center in Albany, NY
ESPN

Game 558 - (3) Western Illinois women vs. (2) South Dakota State

Summit League semifinals
March 5 at Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, SD

(photo by Bobby Feathers)

Midco Sports Network

Western Illinois has had a fine season, just not against South Dakota State.

For the third time in as many meetings, SDSU picked up a lopsided victory, 80-51 to advance to Tuesday's league final against top seed and rival South Dakota.

Western Illinois is 22-9 and has a good shot at a WNIT bid, but against SDSU, the Leathernecks were just out-classed, beaten by an average margin of 31 points. Monday, the second-seeded Jackrabbits held Western Illinois, a top-10 scoring team nationally, to nearly 32 points below its season average & first-team all-Summit performer Emily Clemens to just three points.

The SDSU offense had a lot to do with the victory as well:

* There was balanced scoring. Four reached double figures, led by Madison Guebert's game-high 20 points. Gaubert, along with teammate and league player of the year Macy Miller (16 points, 10 rebounds) were also first-team selections.

* They shared the ball. The Jackrabbits handed out 16 assists (all-newcomer team selection Myah Selland and Rylie Cascio Jensen, both reserves, had five each) on 27 made baskets.

* SDSU knocked down 11 threes, including a 7-of-11 performance in the opening quarter that helped them take control.

Game 557 - (6) Saint Joseph's women vs. (5) George Washington

Atlantic 10 championship
March 4 at Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, VA
ESPNU

Great day for George Washington, which broke open a close game late in the third quarter and cruised to a 65-49 victory.

It's the third Atlantic 10 title in four years for the Colonials. Four were in double figures, led by Brianna Cummings' 17 points and five assists and Kelli Prange's 14 points off the bench.

It was my first time seeing GW and its impressive point guard, Mei-Lyn Bautista. The junior guard was in complete control of the offense and she handed out seven assists and didn't have a single turnover. Bautista, a Queens, NY native, also added eight points and picked up a couple steals.

Heading into the NCAA Tournament (ESPN's Charlie Creme currently has the Colonials as a No. 14 seed in the Lexington region), Bautista's assist-to-turnover ratio is 3-to-1 (139 assists, 46 turnovers), which is a top-11 mark nationally.

This game featured an excellent point guard match up as Saint Joseph's Alyssa Monaghan is seventh in assist ratio, though she had just two assists and no turnovers Saturday.

* Solid afternoon of saying the word "basketball" from Melissa Lee & Andraya Carter

Lee: said 18 times
First quarter (7), 2nd (5), 3rd (5), 4th (1)

Carter: 14 times
First (2), 2nd (1), 3rd (8), 4th (3)

Total: 32