Big Sky

Recently CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time with two important pieces to the puzzle for the Big Sky champion Northern Colorado Bears, head coach B.J. Hill and guard Devon Beitzel. Beitzel was named Big Sky Player of the Year and also was MVP of the conference tournament, with the Bears beating Montana 65-50 in the title game. Northern Colorado will make their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance this week.

JT: Your scoring went up during each of your four years at Northern Colorado. How have you been able to improve from year to year?

While the regular season battle between Rutgers and St. John's was a tight affair that wasn't decided until the final seconds, it paled in comparison to what happened at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday afternoon. Rutgers came out on the short end of the stick in numerous situations late in the game with regards to the officiating. From Mike Coburn not getting a foul call despite having to deal with contact on a shot attempt to Jonathan Mitchell having a player go over his back on a missed free throw the breaks all seemed to go to the Red Storm.

More conference tournaments enter the fray on Wednesday with the Big 12 and Pac-10 being two of the seven conference tournaments that open. The Big 12 will be of particular interest as two teams playing today can ill-afford a first round loss. Baylor and Colorado are both in need of more wins; how many more is unknown but a loss to either Iowa State or Oklahoma could do irreparable harm to their at-large hopes. The task is simple for the Buffaloes: Alec Burks, Cory Higgins and Levin Knutson need to be on offensively while on the defensive end they have to slow down Diante Garrett.

It's a mixed bag today as three leagues determine their NCAA Tournament representatives and four others begin their sprint to the finish line. But the preview today will focus on the lone "regular season" game because there's an awful lot riding on it. Rivals Princeton and Pennsylvania meet at the Palestra, and the visiting Tigers need a win to force a playoff with Harvard for the Ivy League title (that game would be played at Yale).

In the most recent installment in his Coaching Greats interview series CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time with John Reese, the son of Eastern Washington coaching great W.B. "Red" Reese. Coach Reese coached the Eagles in track and football in addition to basketball, winning almost 70% of the events in which he was involved. Coach Reese won twelve conference titles at EWU and his 1946 team won a school-record 27 consecutive games against collegiate competition, and Eastern Washington's home court now bears his name.