Ness’s Notes (March 9)

Monmouth and Montana can make tournament reservations as the Hawks and Grizzlies earned automatic berths to the Big Dance last night. Monmouth captured its second NEC title in three years with a 49-48 victory over Farleigh Dickinson as Montana won in Northern Arizona (ending the regular season champions’ 11-game home winning streak) 73- 60, for his second straight Big Sky title (7th all-time NCAA bid).

No NEC school has won an NCAA tournament game in 23 tries, though Robert Morris did win a play-in game in 1983 to earn the No. 12 seed, in what was then a 48-team field.

My free game is in Buffalo over Kent State at 4:00 ET in college hoops. Early risers saw my 15* game at Clemson/Mia-Fla and my first Triple 10* tournament report of the postseason (first game was at noon ET). Still available are my 15* evening play (9-3 entering Thursday action from March 1), my 20* ACC Tourney GOY (I won ACC GOY on 3/1 when FSU beat Duke!) and another exclusive Ls Vegas Insider Play (1-0 in tournaments!).

Conference tournament action Wednesday opened the Big East’s four-game schedule with a game-winning triple by Syracuse’s Gerry McNamara with half a second remaining in the contest. McNamara’s game-winning goal came after a long-court drive and gave the Orange a 74-73 win over the Bearcats.

The night ended with No. 15 Pittsburgh nearly losing 25 points against Louisville. The Panthers led 47-22 with 13:40 remaining but failed to score an FG in the final 13 1/2 minutes of the game, but held on to win (and cover!), 61-56. In the middle, No. 23 Georgetown topped Notre Dame (67-63) and Rutgers beat Seton Hall 61-48, likely ending any hope the Pirates had for an overall pick.

Temple opened A-10 tournament play with an easy win over Rhode Island (74-45), but all the Owls get is a date with No. 6 George Washington today at 12:00 ET. Another highlight (or should we say low point) of the tournament was Fordham’s 45-37 win over Richmond. Marks the lowest scoring A-10 Tournament game (82 points) in history. There is little worth reporting from the four C-USA games.

Washington State’s Dick Bennett coached his last game Wednesday night in the Pac-10 tournament, a 66-55 loss to Oregon. While Bennett was just 36-49 in three years at Pullman, he won 490 games in his career over 27-plus seasons, leading Wisconsin to a Final Four appearance in 2000.

The ACC, Big-10, Big-12, SEC, SWAC and WAC become the last six conferences to begin their respective postseason tournaments on Thursday. It’s a busy 45-game college ‘board’ tonight and the cameras on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU are out in force, televising 13 games.

Coverage includes all four games in the Big East, all three in the Big-10 and all four in the Big-12. Also covered are Va Tech vs. Virginia at the ACC (7:00 am ET) and Utah vs. BYU at MWC (12:00 am ET). FSN broadcasts all four games of the Pac-10 tournament.

conference notes

The ACC has four tournament ‘locks’ with 19-8 Florida State and 18-11 Maryland (current streak of 12 consecutive bids) likely to go. Since the advent of the 64-team field in 1985, the ACC has the most tournament wins of any conference (215), has had the most teams advance to the Sweet 16 (56), had the most representatives Final 4 (20) and the most national fields (5).

The Big-10 has sent the most teams to the tournament since its inception in 1939 (172) and has placed two teams in the Final 4 four times in the past 14 years, after Illinois and Michigan State made it that season. pass.

The Big-12 is in its 10th year and has only three locks going into this year’s Big Dance (Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma). The conference sent six teams last year (tied with the Big East for the most) and has sent six teams to the tournament in five of the past six years. Looking to get in this year are Texas A&M (20-7) and Colorado (19-8). Kansas’ streak of 16 consecutive NCAA appearances is surpassed only by Arizona’s 21. The total of five teams sent to the last four Final Four by the Big 12 is the best of any conference.

The SEC sent six teams to the tournament from 1999 to 2004 and five teams last year. Florida, LSU and Tennessee are safe this year, but neither 17-11 Alabama, 21-8 Arkansas nor 19-11 Kentucky are absolute certainties this year.

Southern of the SWAC won its first regular-season title in 16 years and will try to win its first NCAA trip since 1993. WAC has sent two teams to the tournament in four of the last five years, but can only send Nevada (24- 5) this year. However, Utah State (21-7) and La Tech (19-11) are in the running.

LeBron James’ 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Cavs their second straight win over the Raptors (98-97) and their fourth straight win overall. The Pistons and Bulls played out a 65-point fourth quarter last night (Det 38-37), as Detroit held on to win 106-101. Detroit is now 27-2 at home and 49-11, the best mark in the league overall. The Heat have won a quiet 10 in a row, after Wade’s 40 points (who had missed the last two games) lifted them to a 118-112 win over the Wizards last night.

Kobe had another 40-point night in New Orleans, as the Lakers beat the Hornets 113-107. Even more important was the fact that this was the first professional sporting event played in the city (at the New Orleans Arena), since Katrina struck on August 29. The Hornets have played home games at four different sites this year, making the team’s 31-29 record pretty impressive (the Hornets were just 18-64 last season!).

It’s only a three-game schedule tonight, but both Dallas and San Antonio are in action. TNT has a doubleheader, starting with the Nuggets in Philadelphia to take on the 76ers (8:05 ET). Dallas and San Antonio must collectively shake their heads (both are 47-13) when they realize that Denver leads the Northwest Division by three games with a record of just 33-28, while the 30-30 mark of Philadelphia has them just two games out of first. – place Nets in the Atlantic Division. Denver is favored by 1 1/2 points (209 1/2).

The Mavs are in Portland to face the Blazers, a team they just beat in Dallas on Tuesday, 93-87. Thus begins a stretch in which Dallas will play 10 of its last 13 away games of the month. Portland has lost eight of nine since the break and 14 of its last 17. Dallas is favored by eight points (186 1/2).

The night cup on TNT (10:35 ET) has the potential to be a great game, but injuries and illness have clouded the picture. The Spurs are in Phoenix to host the Suns, but Nash is questionable with a sprained ankle and both Marion and Tim Thomas have had bouts with the flu. Phoenix has won 11 straight games (14 of 15) and has topped 100 points in 22 straight games (the longest streak in the NBA since San Antonio went 22 games with at least 100 points in 1994-95).

The Spurs are the best defensive team in the NBA, allowing 88.1 PPG and going 20-4 since losing to the Pistons on Jan. 12. The game is listed as ‘selection’ with a total of 200.

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