Tuesday, March 19, 2013

News On The Horizon 3/19/2013

The 26 Best Buzzer Beaters Of This College Basketball Season--BuzzFeed Sports
Postseason Tournament Central--Horizon League Hoops

Heat slip past Celtics 105-103, win streak now at 23--South Florida Sun Sentinel
And then the Heat began to show a hop in their stop, particularly when James took a Norris Cole alley-oop pass in the second quarter and effectively obliterated longtime Heat nemesis Jason Terry with a dunk as powerful as the one Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan unloaded on Detroit Pistons guard Brandon Knight a week ago.

No. 6-Seeded Detroit (20-12) and No. 3-Seeded Arizona State (21-12) Face Off in First Round--Titans Update
Titans Visit No. 3 Seed Arizona State in First-Round of NIT--detroittitans.com

Titans To Play In Postseason For Second-Straight Year, Top Seed In East Region Of WBI--detroittitans.com

Flames draw Chicago State--UIC News

Playoff Party: 75 Greatest Games and Players in NCAA Tournament History--Playoff Party: 75 Greatest Games and Players in NCAA Tournament History--College Hoopedia

Loyola Women's Basketball Coach Eric Simpson Resigns--LoyolaRamblers.com

Men's basketball: Buzzer-beater loss motivates UWGB going into CIT--Green Bay Press Gazette

Green Bay Women's Basketball 2013 NCAA Tournament Capsule--College Sports Madness
Women's basketball: UWGB is bayou bound again--Green Bay Press Gazette
Green Bay to Play at LSU in NCAA Tournament--GreenBayPhoenix.com

NCAA Tournament players to watch – Part 1--Hoopville
Ryan Broekhoff, Valparaiso
The Horizon League Player of the Year last season led the Crusaders to a league title, and they got the chance on his buzzer-beater in the semifinals.
Bracket Prep: Midwest Region Analysis--Rush The Court
Valparaiso deserves mention here as well; the Crusaders were also underseeded a bit as a #14 seed and don’t have an ideal match-up with Michigan State, but the Horizon League champions are a dangerous team. The good news for Bryce Drew? It only gets easier if they can find a way to knock off the Spartans.
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Home Cooking: #3 Michigan State, 80 miles to Auburn Hills. Louisville also has but an 80-mile ride to its first pod in Lexington and will also have a short bus ride (115 miles) should the Cardinals advance to the regional in Indianapolis. But the Cardinals would be favored to advance to the Sweet Sixteen if they were playing Missouri in Columbia, so Michigan State’s short jaunt east to Auburn Hills is the more important development. Valpo should give the Spartans all they can handle in the opener and Memphis’ athleticism could pose a problem two days later, but with a Palace filled to the brim with green and white in full support, Sparty will be heavy favorites to advance to Indianapolis as well.
68 Reasons to be Excited for the 2013 NCAA Tournament--Aaron Torres Sports
32. Valparaiso Head Coach Bryce Drew: One of the defining moments of my childhood was seeing Drew’s catch, shoot and slide against Ole Miss in the 1998 NCAA Tournament (hey, whatever happened to Ansu Sesay, by the way?). Regardless, there’s no joke to make here: It’s just damn cool to see Drew back involved in the tournament and the fact that it’s at Valparaiso makes it even better.
Region of Death--Sports On Earth
3 Michigan State (25-8) vs. 14 Valparaiso (26-7)
Thursday, Auburn Hills

For all Tom Izzo's NCAA success, he has lost in the first round of the tournament twice in the last seven years. Of the top four seeds in this region, Michigan State is the most likely to fall in the first round; Valpo is tough, and this MSU team has some of the same inconsistency that has plagued the last few Izzo teams. I don't have the guts to pick Valpo here, but it's still tempting.

Pick: Michigan State.
The shot heard 'round March--SB Nation
NCAA tourney stats and facts to know before the games begin--Eye On College Basketball
-- Fifteen years after he did this, Bryce Drew returns to the NCAA tournament, this time coaching his alma mater.
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-- Miami is not the oldest team in this tournament. Valparaiso is, with 2.72 years of experience according to KenPom.com. But like Miami, Valpo has 0.0 years of NCAA tournament experience with this group.
NCAA Tournament 2013 Bracket Breakdown: Midwest--The Big Lead
Double-digit Darkhorses: In a loaded region, we still shouldn’t overlook a very competitive 14 seed in Valparaiso, which has a tough draw against Michigan State, but has the ability to knock in shots. Everyone will talk about 12 seed Oregon, but the winner of the St. Mary’s and Middle Tennessee game will have a real chance to add a top 50 victory for all those concerned about that stuff, when it meets Memphis.
Michigan State's Tom Izzo sees Valparaiso as 'formidable foe' with Cinderella past--MLive.com
Efficient offense why Valparaiso can be potent vs. Michigan State (with videos)--The Detroit Free Press
2013 NCAA Tournament Preview: Valparaiso vs. Michigan State--Mid-Major Madness
Men’s basketball: Valparaiso is ‘coming to win’--The Post-Tribune
Men’s basketball: Branden Dawson happy to be playing in postseason this year--The Post-Tribune
Drew family makes some NCAA history--The NWI Times
Janet Drew was deemed cancer-free last month by doctors in Chicago--The NWI Times
Michigan State Scouting Report: Guard Keith Appling #11--Beyond the ARC
Michigan State Scouting Report: Guard Gary Harris #14--Beyond the ARC
Michigan State Scouting Report: Guard Denzel Valentine #45--Beyond the ARC
Michigan State Scouting Report: Guard Travis Trice #20--Beyond the ARC
Time to Shock the World!--Beyond the ARC
Crusaders to Depart for NCAA Tournament at 11:45 Tuesday Morning--valpoathletics.com

Wright State’s game against Tulsa will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday--Dayton Daily News
Raiders excited to be still playing--Dayton Daily News
Donlon, addressing coaching rumor, says he loves Wright State--Wright State University Sports

"Grizz Vision" with Greg Kampe 3/17/13--OUGrizzlies.com
Scalzo: CIT is no joke for YSU--Youngstown Vindicator
Penguins take to the court tonight in CIT--Mahoning Valley Tribune Chronicle
Postseason play … finally--The Jambar

YSU women to host WNIT--Mahoning Valley Tribune Chronicle
YSU Will Host Indiana State on Thursday in the WNIT--ysusports.com

Men's Basketball Notebook (March 18): Tournament Edition--Horizon League Network

2013 Women's Basketball Championship Recap--Horizon League Network
Green Bay Receives 11-seed in NCAA Tournament; Opens with LSU--Horizon League Network

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