Articles

Earlier today CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time with two of the key players for the CAA Tournament champion Old Dominion Monarchs, guard Kent Bazemore and forward Frank Hassell. Hassell was named Most Valuable Player of the conference tournament while Bazemore is the CAA Defensive Player of the Year, and they hope to surpass last year's second-round showing in the NCAA Tournament.

Jon Teitel: Your nickname is "Tank". Who gave you the nickname and how do you like it?

The NCAA Tournament field is now up to seven confirmed members thanks to Monday's results. The two games with the bigger impact on who fills out the field from an at-large standpoint were the CAA and West Coast title games. Out in Las Vegas, Gonzaga regained the crown by beating Saint Mary's behind a balanced effort that saw four players score in double figures. Steven Gray, who had to leave the game in the first half to receive stitches for a cut above his left eye, scored 15 and Robert Sacre added 12 points and eight rebounds (knocking down some crucial free throws late as well).

After Indiana State became the fourth team to punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament with a 60-56 win over Missouri State in the MVC final, the pace begins to pick up with four more bids on the line tonight. The two biggest games with regards to the field of 68 are likely the CAA and WCC finals, with the possibility of a bid "thief" lurking in the former and a little confusion in terms of whether or not the two finalists have done enough to merit at-large bids in the latter.

Many fans and pundits alike felt that Ohio State's trip to Madison would be the point where they'd suffer their first loss of the season. But after a first half that didn't do much to separate either team those prospects didn't look good as Thad Matta's group went on a 23-6 run to push their lead out to 15 points with 13:21 left in the game. Thankfully for the Badgers Jordan Taylor and company had other ideas, answering with a 30-8 run of their own and eventually going on to win 71-67 at the Kohl Center.

There's just one game on Saturday matching ranked teams and surprisingly it comes in the SEC, where #11 Kentucky (16-5, 4-3) heads south to take on #23 Florida (17-5, 6-2). And while the SEC East has shown itself to be somewhat wide-open, John Calipari's young Wildcats would be well-served to win this one and avoid falling behind the Gators by two games in the loss column. But Kentucky also has just one road win in conference play (South Carolina) and they'll have their hands full with a talented group of Gators.