Friday, March 15, 2024

Conference Tournament Weekend

Purdue and Michigan State tip things off at 11 A.M. in the Central Time Zone.  They're out there banging away at each other as usual.  K-Pom has the Boilers winning 75 to 69.

Apparently there's an uproar in Indiana over the IU basketball program.  The Hoosiers are 19-13 on the year, 10-10 in the Big Ten, and they are currently on a five-game winning streak.  They'll play Nebraska in the Big Ten Quarter-Finals today, and they are ranked 84 on Ken Pom.  Now in all seriousness, that seems like a pretty typical year for IU, so I don't really know what the outrage is about.  Anyway, the IU fans can be proud that Purdue is doing so well, right?  I know that UK fans were always supposed to be happy when U of L was good, so I assume it works the same way in Hoosier-land.

125 comments:

  1. Here's an update on our Kentucky schools, by Ken Pom Ranking. Four Kentucky schools have been eliminated, but three are still playing:

    17. Kentucky: 23-8 (13-5) (Number 2 seed in the SEC tournament)
    109. Morehead St. 26-8 (14-4) (OVC TOURNAMENT CHAMPION)
    145. W. Kentucky: 20-11 (8-8) (in the semi-finals of the C-USA Tournament)
    162. Murray St. 12-20 (9-11) (eliminated in the opening round of the MVC)
    185. No. Kentucky: 18-15 (12-8) (eliminated in semi-finals of Horizon)
    198. Louisville: 8-24 (3-17) (eliminated in first round of ACC)
    212. E. Kentucky: 17-13 (12-4) (eliminated in QF's of the ASUN)

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  2. With 10:40 left in the first half, Purdue leads Michigan St. 15 to 9. FEEL THE DRAMA OF BIG TEN HOOPS!

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  3. Speaking of rock fights, Mississippi State leads Tennessee 26 to 16 with 6:41 left in the first half. The Vols are 2-14 from 3-point range, and Zielger just had a three-point attempt that hit the side of the backboard.

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  4. I think this is actually a big game for the Vols. They probably have to get to the SEC Final to have any shot at a Number One seed, and they should really want a Number One seed. For one thing, it would mean that you can get to the Final Four without playing Connecticut, Houston, or Purdue.

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  5. But it looks like UNC is going to win the ACC Tournament, which means that if UT goes down today, they will have no chance of beating out the Tar Heels for a Number One seed.

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  6. These SEC quarter-final games are always tough for the higher seed. MSU played in Nashville yesterday, so they're used to the background. UT is not. And MSU is no joke -- they already beat UT. And I'm sure the Bulldogs think they're in the NCAA's if they win this game.

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  7. UK will face the same problems tonight. The Cats have to play Texas A & M, who beat Ole Miss 80 to 71 las tonight. The Aggies love to make runs in the SEC Tournament -- they've been to the final two years in a row. And they will view tonight's game as a play-in for the NCAA's.

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  8. By the way, neither Duke nor Kansas made their Conference semi-finals -- the first time that has happened since 1982.

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  9. With 2:31 left, MSU leads UT 34 to 18. The Vols are 2-16 from three-point range.

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  10. Here are the quarter-finals for today's KHSAA Girls' Tournament:

    Bowling Green v. McCracken Co.
    Lou. Butler v. Franklin Co.
    Lou. Sacred Heart v. Bethlehem
    Cooper v. Henderson Co.

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  11. Lou. Sacred Heart has won this tournament three years in a row. Here are the last three finals:

    2021: Lou. Sacred Heart 49, Marshall Co. 47
    2022: Lou. Sacred Heart 64, Bullitt East 46
    2023: Lou. Sacred Heart 68, McCracken Co. 53

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  12. McCracken County's girls beat Bowling Green, 47 to 41, and the Lady Mustangs advance to the semi-finals.

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  13. Meanwhile, MSU still leads Tennessee 34 to 18 with 1:03 left in the first half. It looks to me as though MSU has decided that it will only guard Knecht. Everywhere he goes, he's chased by multiple guys. After last week's game against UK, where Knecht went for 40, Barnes worried that Knecht wasn't getting the other guys more involved. So far today, MSU has held Knecht to 1-4 from 3-point range, and 1-4 from 2-point range, with no FT's. So he has five points. The rest of the team has only 13 points.

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  14. UT falls apart in the last bit, and MSU leads 38 to 19. The Vols don't look like themselves at all. Consider this fact: MSU is 14-20 from two point range (70 percent). That never happens against UT.

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  15. I'm still enjoying "Texas Hold 'Em," by Beyonce. It's great!

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  16. When UK went to Starkville, the Bulldogs had won five games in a row. They were 19-8 overall, and 8-6 in the SEC. They then led UK 52-39 early in the second half. The Cats then came back -- behind 32 points from Reed Sheppard -- and beat MSU 91 to 89 in one of the best games played all year. That sent MSU into a tailspin. They lost at Auburn, lost at TAMU, and lost at home to South Carolina. So they finished 19-12 and 8-10. But yesterday they beat LSU, and now they're rolling against UT.

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  17. I'm very curious as to how the Vols will play the second half. UT is good enough to make up a 19-point lead on MSU, especially in front of a bunch of Vol fans in Nashville. But will the Vols try to do that, or will they just concentrate on keeping everyone healthy for the NCAA's? Personally, I think Barnes will try to win, so I expect some real fireworks in the second half.

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  18. Knecht starts off the second half with a 3-pointer to make the score 38-22. Here we go.

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  19. Tennessee 26 - 40 Mississippi St. (15:54 left)

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  20. Mississippi State drubs Tennessee, 73 to 56. The Vols were never in this game. Knecht went 2-8 from two-point range, 2-9 from three-point range, and had only 14 points and one rebound. Zakai Zeigler went 3-5 from two-point range, 4-12 from three point range, and had 20 points and only 2 assists. The whole rest of the team combined for only 22 points. As a team, the Vols were 11-29 from two-point range (37.9 percent) and 8-33 from three-point range (24.2 percent).

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  21. If Kentucky won the SEC in the regular season, lost on Senior Day at home to Tennessee, and then lost by 17 points in the quarter-final of the SEC Tournament, I would be very concerned about their chances going into the NCAA's. I haven't seen Tennessee look that flat all year.

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  22. Now maybe this will wake them up, and they'll play great in the NCAA's. And MSU is a terrible matchup for them. But there was something wrong with the Vols today.

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  23. Auburn is the one team that has the answer for South Carolina. In the regular season, Auburn beat the Gamecocks 101-61, and now they're up on Carolina 35 to 25 with 2:56 left.

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  24. McCracken Co.'s girls will play Lou. Butler tomorrow in the semi-finals of the Girls' State Tournament. Butler beat Franklin Co. 39 to 36.

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  25. Johni Broome, who is one of the best players in the country, appears to have some ankle pain after yet another collision with South Carolina, but he shakes it off. This is why I don't ever like for Kentucky to play South Carolina.

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  26. In 2017, Kentucky was clearly the best team in the country. They were 16-2 overall and 6-0 in the SEC. They were cruising at home against Carolina when De'Aaron Fox got hurt. The Cats lost three of their next four games. Fox game back, and UK won 14 straight -- but those three losses meant that instead of having a number one seed, they were number two to UNC -- and that game cost them a trip to the Final Four.

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    1. Meanwhile, South Carolina bounced back from that loss, reached the NCAA's as a Number 7 seed, and went to the Final Four.

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    2. The 2017 season is underrated as a bummer for Kentucky fans. Yes, 2015 was heartbreaking. But UK should have won it all in 2017, and we didn't even get to the Final Four.

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  27. At the half, Auburn leads 46 to 26. Good for them.

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  28. Since 1997, here are UK's teams that finished in the top 10 on KenPom but did not make the Final Four:

    1999: 5 (28-9, lost to Michigan State in the Elite Eight)
    2003: 1 (32-4, lost to Marquette in the Elite Eight)
    2004: 10 (27-5, lost to UAB in the Second Round)
    2005: 9 (28-6, lost to Michigan State in the Elite Eight)
    2010: 4 (35-3, lost to W. Virginia in the Elite Eight)
    2016: 6 (27-9, lost to Indiana in the Second Round)
    2017: 4 (32-6, lost to N. Carolina in the Elite Eight)
    2019: 8 (30-7, lost to Auburn in the Elite Eight)
    2022: 6 (26-8, lost to Saint Peter's in the First Round)

    The 2017 Team was the only one of these who had to play the future National Champion in the Elite Eight, and it was by far the best of all these teams, no matter what Ken Pom says.

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    1. I've seen Kentucky fans complain about officiating all my life, but I've never seen them go nuts like they did after that UNC game in 2017.

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    2. Yes, they were even better than the John Wall team.

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  29. Michigan finished 8-24 (3-17 in the Big 10), and they have fired Juwan Howard. In 2022, Tennessee went 27-8 and 14-4 in the SEC. The Vols won the SEC Tournament for the first time since 1979, beating UK in the semi-finals. They were a number-3 seed in the tournament and crushed Longwood 88-56 in the first round. At that point, they had won 13 of their last 14 games. They then led Michigan 60-54 with 8 minutes left in the second round. Michigan came back to win 76 to 68. That was Juwan Howard's last tournament win as the Michigan coach.

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  30. Auburn crushes South Carolina 86 to 55. The Gamecocks have looked great against everyone else, but they can't play Auburn.

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  31. Meanwhile, things are getting exciting in the C-USA. First, UTEP upset Sam Houston State -- the number one seed -- 65 to 63. Then, in the other semi-final, Western crushed MTSU by 85 to 54. So now tomorrow, Western will play UTEP for a trip to the NCAA's.

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  32. Rick Pitino, who is still the best college basketball coach I ever saw, has his 20-12 St. John's team up against the best college basketball team in many years, the UConn Huskies, in the Big East Semi-Final. The Huskies lead 32 to 24 with 8 minutes left in the first half.

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  33. UConn 37 - 32 St. John's (5:32 left in 1st half). Both coaches already have a technical foul.

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  34. Cats get Doug Shows for tonight's game. We've had Shows three times this year:

    01/17/24: Kentucky 90 - 77 Mississippi St.
    02/03/24: Kentucky 92 - 103 Tennessee
    03/02/24: Kentucky 111 - 102 Arkansas

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  35. UConn 52 - 47 St. John's (Halftime). One of the best games I've seen all year. UConn is awesome. Unless they run into a barrage of three-pointers, they are going to win the National Championship.

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  36. Tonight's starters for Kentucky:

    D.J. Wagner, G
    Antonio Reeves, G
    Justin Edwards, G
    Adou Thiero, F
    Ugonna Onyenso, F

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  37. Today is only the second time that Kentucky and Texas A & M have met in the SEC Tournament. The only other such meeting was on March 13, 2016, when the Cats beat TAMU 82 to 77 (in overtime) in the Final.

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  38. Joe Lunardi has Texas A & M as one of the "last four in."

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  39. UConn 95 - 90 St. John's (Final). That's how good Pitino is.

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  40. Like Tennessee earlier today, the Cats are playing one of their worst games of the year. Now down 78 to 64 with 7:07 left. A & M has outrebounded UK 35 to 28. A & M has forced 11 turnovers and made only 4. Reeves has been in foul trouble the whole game and has only 9 points.

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  41. But also remember this. Texas A & M went 19-13 this year, despite being the 360th best three-point shooting team in the country. They normally make only 27.7 percent of their three-point shots. And they win anyway. Tonight they've made 11 of 24, which is 45.8 percent. If they made 40 percent of their three-point shots, they'd be a top-10 team. And that's what they are tonight.

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  42. The reality is that if you draw a team like A & M or Mississippi State -- a really good team that's playing for it's life -- you have to come out and play an amazing game yourself. Otherwise you are going home. Tonight, UK needed to play the type of game it played to beat Arkansas or Mississippi State, and it could not do so.

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  43. The Cats will now go into the NCAA's as a 4 or 5 seed in the East Region. That way, if they make it to the Sweet 16, they'll have to play Connecticut.

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  44. But it won't be easy for them to get there. The team that they play in the first round will look a lot like A & M or UNC-Wilmington, and it will be extremely difficult for them to beat that team. Basically, they'll have to score at least 90 points for two games in a row to reach the Sweet 16.

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  45. Anyway, they've packed it in now -- down 80-66 with 6 minutes left. The only other time they did this all year was against South Carolina. I just hope no one's hurt.

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  46. Cats put on a bit of a show for the fans. Rob makes two three-pointers. They got to within 84-78 with three minutes left, but Reeves missed the front end of a one-and-one. Now down 88-80 with two minutes left.

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    1. Until Reeves missed that free throw, I still believed UK was going to win.

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  47. Honestly, when the Cats were down 48-42 at the half, I thought they were in a pretty good position. But A & M's guards are just too good for Kentucky. They're like a better version of Arkansas. The last time we played them, Wade Taylor went for 31 points and Tyrece Radford went for 28. Tonight, Taylor has 30 and Radford has 23. I think they could do this against Kentucky every time they play -- the Cats just have no answer for either of them. Tonight A & M has 14 assists and 6 turnovers. UK has 19 assists and 13 turnovers.

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  48. The Cats could beat A & M if they caught the Aggies on a cold shooting night. But that didn't happen this year.

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  49. Calipari hates the SEC Tournament, and at some point he just quit trying to win it. Here's how the Cats have done in recent years:

    2019: Lost in the semi-finals
    2020: No tournament
    2021: Lost in first round
    2022: Lost in the semi-finals
    2023: Lost in the quarter-finals
    2024: Lost in the quarter-finals

    But only a part of that is Calipari. Another part is that UK just hasn't been very good. You have to be really good to win the SEC Tournament. Everybody is playing their best basketball of the year, and if you able to match that, you're going down.

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    1. Since COVID hit, UK is 1-4 in the SEC Tournament. They've lost to Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vandy, and Texas A & M.

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  50. Anyway, it's a very disappointing result, and I'm afraid it sets up UK for a very short stint in the NCAA's.

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  51. But Ken Pom has been right about this team for months: They are not a Sweet 16 team. They are a First or Second Round exit team. That's what all the numbers show, and that's what we should expect.

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  52. Believe me: when Kentucky has a serious contender for the National Title, we will know it. They won't be ranked 17 on Ken Pom.

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  53. This has been a fun team, and in many ways a beloved team. They have played some of my favorite games in years, and I will remember them fondly. But they have never been a serious contender.

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  54. Kentucky 87 - 97 Texas A & M (Final)

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  55. Taylor went for 32, Radford went for 23. They could have scored more if they'd needed to. Also, they drew five fouls on Reeves and held him to only 13 points.

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  56. Cats fall to 23-9, which means they will lose ten games this year. Last year they went 22-12.

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  57. Florida pounds Alabama 102 to 88, so three of the top four seeds lost in the quarter-finals.

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  58. Nebraska takes out Indiana 93 to 66, and the Hoosiers say they will not play in the N.I.T.

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  59. In the KHSAA Girls' State semi-finals, McCracken County beats Lou. Butler 74 to 57, and the Mustangs are in the final for the second year in a row. They will play the winner of Lou. Sacred Heart v. Cooper.

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  60. Huge game for Western tonight. The Hilltoppers can win the C-USA Tournament, and go back to the tournament for the first time since 2013, if they can beat Tex-El Paso in Huntsville, Alabama tonight.

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  61. If the NCAA was 16 regions, and each regional winner was the highest-ranked team on KenPom, and those 16 winners were drawn into the same bracket as this year's NCAA Tournament, the tournament would look like this (KenPom rankings in parentheses):

    UPPER BRACKET
    (15) Gonzaga v. (5) Arizona
    (6) Tennessee v. (9) Iowa St.
    (18)San Diego St. v. (26) St. John's
    (7) N. Carolina v. (2) Connecticut

    LOWER BRACKET:
    (1) Houston v. (57) Virginia Tech
    (33) Dayton v. (3) Purdue
    (11) Creighton v. (30) Mississippi St.
    (34) Villanova v. (4) Auburn

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  62. Of course, there would be some really good Regional Tournaments. Consider these regions:

    Fifth Region: (7) N. Carolina, (8) Duke
    Sixth Region: (4) Auburn, (13) Alabama
    Eighth Region: (6) Tennessee, (19) Kentucky
    Tenth Region: (3) Purdue, (20) Michigan St.
    Eleventh Region: (9) Iowa St., (10) Illinois, (12) Marquette, (17) Wisconsin
    Thirteenth Region: (1) Houston, (14) Baylor
    Fifteenth Region: (15) Gonzaga, (16) Brigham Young

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  63. UK is now number 19 in the country:
    5th in Offensive Efficiency (122.8)
    108th in Defensive Efficiency (102.7)
    258th in Luck

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  64. I'm watching Auburn and Mississippi State in the SEC Semi-Finals. No one is at the game, of course, but they're having all sorts of issues -- right now the referees have stopped the game to meet with the coaches. Auburn leads 36 to 33 with 17 minutes to go, and we probably have some fights and technicals to get through before it's over.

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  65. And this brings me to the one good thing about going out early in the SEC Tournament. The Cats played 19 games against SEC Competition this year, and that's a lot. If you asked our team, with its array of thin guys, to play three games and three days against the bruisers in the SEC, there's an excellent chance that someone would be injured when the NCAA tips off next week. This way, at least they can go home and practice and stay healthy.

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    1. This was the consolation that my father-in-law settled upon, as well.

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  66. Last year, Alabama was the number-one seed in the whole tournament. They went 16-2 in the SEC regular season, and then crushed everyone to win the SEC Tournament, and when they got to the second half of their Sweet 16 game against San Diego State, they just hit a wall.

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  67. Between 1992 and 2012, the SEC played only 16 conference games a year. In those 21 seasons, the SEC won the NCAA Tournament six times: 1994 (Arkansas), 1996 (Kentucky), 1998 (Kentucky), 2006 (Florida), 2007 (Florida), and 2012 (Kentucky). After the 2012 season, the SEC went to an 18-game schedule, and since then no team from the SEC has won it all. In fact, 2014 (Kentucky) is the only year an SEC team made the finals.

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  68. In fact, there's only one SEC Team that ever won the NCAA Tournament after playing 18 conference games in the regular season: Joe Hall's 1978 team. But they didn't have to play in the SEC Tournament, because it didn't exist that year.

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  69. Now I'm not saying that the extra time off will be good for Kentucky. I just don't know, and besides, Ken Pom has been saying for months that it would be an upset if UK makes the Sweet 16. Plus, they're going to make us play UConn if we get to the Sweet 16, so there's not that much to look forward to in any event. But the sheer physicality of the SEC, combined with the number of games everyone has to play, is a terrible way to prepare teams to make a run in the NCAA's.

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  70. Here's what I would do after Oklahoma and Texas join the SEC. Divide the league into East and West Divisions. Put eight teams in each divisions. Have everyone play home-and-home against the seven teams in its division. Have teams play two games against teams from the other divisions. Sixteen regular season games. Only the top six seeds in each division make the SEC Tournament. And that's it.

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  71. Here would be the two divisions:

    EAST: Kentucky, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vandy, Auburn, Alabama
    WEST: Texas, Texas A & M, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State

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  72. Also, I would do the cross divisional games like an East vs. West challenge weekend. There'd be one weekend in January where the East teams hosted the West, and then another weekend in February where the West teams hosted the East. The next year, they'd switch.

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  73. A while ago, they showed an Auburn player with a busted nose. Now they're showing a MSU player on the sidelines getting his leg looked at. They've been playing for almost two hours, and there are still 9 1/2 minutes to go. They've called 15 fouls on MSU and 17 on Auburn. That's life in the SEC, and you can see why the players from UT, UK, and Alabama didn't show a lot of enthusiasm yesterday.

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  74. In the Big 10 semi-finals, Purdue and Wisconsin are heading to overtime, tied at 66.

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  75. Down 66-62 with 29 seconds left, MSU throws the ball out of bounds. They never did anything like that in the last minute against us -- they scored 14 points in the last minute.

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  76. With 10 seconds left, MSU tries one of those last-second three-pointers that they buried against us. Air ball.

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    1. Wait, they said Auburn tipped the ball. If MSU was playing UK, that would be a foul and three free throws.

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  77. Howard beats Delaware State 70 to 67, and wins the MEAC for the second year in a row. They will be the only team from the DC area in the NCAA Tournament, as the other local teams have all collapsed in recent years.

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  78. After 2 1/2 hours, and almost 50 free throws, Auburn beats Mississippi State 73 to 66 and advances to the SEC Final tomorrow. That will be the Tigers' 21st SEC game of the year.

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  79. Lou. Sacred Heart beats Cooper 58 to 50, and the Valkyries will face McCracken County tonight for the second straight year. If Sacred Heart wins, it will be their fourth title in a row.

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  80. Purdue shot 32 free throws, and Wisconsin shot only 9, but the Badgers beat the Boilermakers 76 to 75 in overtime in the Big 10 semi-finals.

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  81. A & M is still hitting three-pointers. The Aggies, who led UK 48 to 42 at the half last night, now lead Florida 50 to 42 at the half. Wade Taylor already has 20 points. Florida trails despite shooting 17 free throws in the first half.

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  82. Doug Shows is calling this game as well. Last night, A & M (30) and UK (22) combined for 52 free throws. So far in this game, A & M (12) and UF (17) had 29 free throws in the first half.

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  83. With Shows doing his thing, A & M will be difficult to catch -- their guards are really good at getting fouled.

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  84. So far this year, A & M has scored 90 points only twice -- in the two games they played against UK.

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  85. But that's misleading, because they normally play at a very slow pace. They killed UK in transition last night, and they'll do the same to the Gators if Florida lets them.

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  86. Both UK and UF like to play fast, so their instinct is to try to speed up A & M. But that's a huge mistake, because A & M's guards (Taylor and Radford) are devastating in the open floor. Their biggest problem, normally, is that they can't shoot very well. So the best strategy is to pack in your defense, wait for them to miss, and then battle them for the rebound (they lead the nation in offensive rebounding). If you get into a transition game with them, they can kill you.

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  87. Florida 49 - 54 Texas A & M (16:21 left).

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  88. For a UK fan, this is a really interesting game -- we played these teams four times, and went 1-3 against them. In all four games, they scored at least 85 points against the Cats.

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  89. Florida 52 - 54 Texas A & M (15:45 left)

    In the regular season, A & M slowed it down and beat Florida 67 to 66 in Gainesville.

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  90. Florida 63 - 62 Texas A & M (11:45 left)

    Florida was down by 18 at one point, but the Gators are on fire -- they are 10-17 from three-point range in this game. We're up to 37 free throws combined for the two teams. Otherwise it's a really good game.

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  91. Florida 68 - 65 Texas A & M (9:32 left)

    Gators now 11-19 from three-point range. Aggies cooling off -- they are 6-16 from three-point range in the game, and I don't think they've made one in the second half. Teams have now combined for 39 free throws.

    Wade Taylor has no points in the second half -- still on 20 for the game.

    I'm really impressed by the coach for Florida. I think he's done a great job with this team. And I've always thought Buzz Williams was a good coach. I really wish he had stayed at Virginia Tech.

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  92. Florida 70 - 70 Texas A & M (7:37 left)

    Taylor hits a three-pointer to tie the game. We're up to 41 free throws.

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  93. Florida 77 - 72 Texas A & M (6:46 left)

    Aggies have only 22 points in the second half. The Gators have played much better defense than UK did last night, and the Aggies have gone cold from the outside.

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  94. Florida is very similar to UK in terms of how their team is set up. They are 16th in the nation in offense and 78th in defense. So it's been interesting to watch how they have dealt with the Aggies. With 5:42 left in the first half, A & M led 40 to 22. Since then, Florida has outscored them 58-32. On defense, Florida is not letting the Aggies get the easy baskets at the rim they got against the Cats. Last night, A & M was 21-43 (48.8 percent) on two-point shots. Tonight, they are 16-39 (41.0 percent). Florida has also stopped Taylor. He had 20 points in the first half, and only 3 in the second half. On offense, Florida is 13-24 from three-point range (54.2 percent), which is extraordinary. The Cats went 11-27 (40.7 percent), which was good but not good enough.

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  95. Florida 85 - 75 Texas A & M (3:24 left)

    Gators are now 14-25 from three-point range (56.0 percent). Their guards have done a much better job of containing Taylor and Radford here in the second half. In fact, they've outscored the Aggies by EIGHTEEN POINTS (43-25) in the second half. Some of that may be Taylor and Radford finally wearing down. But a lot of it is just good defense by the Gators. Also, going 14-25 from three-point range is much better than going 11-27.

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  96. Anyway, Florida shows that UK could have beaten A & M, but they would have had to play much better than they did.

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  97. Live by Doug Shows, die by Doug Shows. The Aggies claw to within 88-84 with 1:34 left. They're trying to lock in on defense, and then Shows calls his typical bumping foul with only 13 seconds left on the shot clock. That's two easy points for the Gators, and 59 FT's for the game.

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  98. This is nothing for Shows. In UK's 111-102 win over Arkansas, the teams combined for 70 free throws.

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  99. Down 92 to 88 with 34 seconds left, Taylor (who has 30 points) gets the ball, dribbles the length of the floor, and shoots a three. He misses, and for once the Aggies don't get the offensive rebound. That should be the game.

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  100. Florida wins 95 to 90. Very entertaining game despite 67 FT's. To be fair to Shows, he may be calling all these fouls to stop the type of rock fight we saw earlier between MSU and Auburn.

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  101. Out of deference to Eric I will not live-blog the Western game, but it is a big one. Western joined the C-USA for the 2014-15 season, and has been there ever since. They have never won the C-USA Tournament, but they've come close:

    In 2018, they reached the final and lost to Marshall 67 to 66.
    In 2019, they reached the final and lost to Old Dominion 62 to 56.
    In 2020, they were the number-2 seed but the tourney was canceled.
    In 2021, they reached the final and lost to North Texas 61-57 in OT.

    Let's hope this year they win it all.

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  102. Interesting coaching matchup here. Western's coach came from Texas A & M-Corpus Christi, where he took that school to the NCAA in 2022 and 2023. UTEP's coach moved up from Abilene Christian, where he took those guys to the tournament in 2019 and 2021. Games like this are how coaches move up to jobs in the SEC.

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  103. For reasons I don't understand, this tournament is being played in Huntsville, Alabama. The game is at the Probst Arena, which is part of the Von Braun Center. I'm glad to see Huntsville leaning into its history.

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    1. The Sun Belt had several years where its tournament was in Biloxi, "The Playground of the South."

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  104. Iowa State pounds Houston 69 to 41, while UConn beats Marquette for the third time this year, 73 to 57. (I will be surprised if anyone gets closer to UConn than Pitino did in that 95-90 loss yesterday). So UConn should finally move ahead of Houston and get to Number 1 in the KenPom rankings, where it belongs.

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  105. WESTERN KENTUCKY BEATS TEX-EL PASO 78 TO 71! The Hilltoppers are going to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013! The Classic OVC is a two-bid league!

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  106. NORTH CAROLINA STATE WINS THE ACC TOURNAMENT FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1987! NCSU beats the Tar Heels 84 to 76.

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  107. NCSU went 17-14 in the regular season, and 9-11 in the ACC. They lost their last four games of the season. They entered in the ACC Tournament as the Number 10 seed. Here's what they did:

    3/12: N. Carolina St. 94, Louisville 85
    3/13: N. Carolina St. 83, Syracuse 65
    3/14: N. Carolina St. 74, Duke 65
    3/15: N. Carolina St. 73, Virginia 65 (OT)
    3/16: N. Carolina St. 84, N. Carolina 76

    Unbelievable.

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  108. Meanwhile, Western went 19-11 in the regular season, and 8-8 in the C-USA. Like NCSU, Western lost its last four games of the regular season. They entered the C-USA Tournament as the Number 3 seed. Here's what they did:

    3/14: W. Kentucky 89, New Mexico St. 69
    3/15: W. Kentucky 85, Mid. Tenn. St. 54
    3/16: W. Kentucky 78, Tex-El Paso 71

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    1. Jason Frakes and others are trying to get "Lutz Go!" as a saying going around this team and the name of our first-year coach, Steve Lutz. I hope they have better success than I ultimately did with "Harpermania" and "Forever and Ever, Bremen."

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  109. So Morehead State and Western Kentucky -- two teams from the Classic OVC -- will both be in the draw tomorrow.

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  110. And, for the record, Sacred Heart beat McCracken County, 60-49. The same matchup yielded a 68-53 result last year, so congratulations to our Lady Mustangs on a second-straight state runnerup finish and reducing the gap to the champions by four points.

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