Good Wins: vs. Northern Iowa, two wins against Niagara Bad Losses: vs. Wichita State, at Rider Strengths:   1. Guard Play. Kenny Hasbrouck and Edwin Ubiles make up one of the best one-two punches in the country, averaging  29.4 points per game.  At 6-foot-3 and 6-6 respectively, they cause matchup problems for smaller defenders. Hasbrouck had 30 points in [...]

For Creighton and St. Mary’s, let the waiting game begin. Three mid-major schools with at least 20 wins and RPI rankings in the Top 65 are without automatic bids after experiencing embarrassing loses in their conference tournaments. With Selection Sunday only three days away, the next 72 hours for these schools are going to determine [...]

ST. LOUIS – Paraphrasing the old NCAA Tournament mantra, Northern Iowa simply knows how to survive and advance. “I think a major factor for us have been the experience this team has in close game all season,” UNI head coach Ben Jacobson said. The Panthers survived three games in three days of Arch Madness, including [...]

Good Wins: N-Auburn, Creighton, Illinois State, @Illinois State, N-Illinois State Bad Losses: at Illinois-Chicago, Iowa State, Iowa, Indiana State, Wyoming, at Wichita State and Drake Strengths: 1. Balance. On the offensive end, Northern Iowa’s five starters (Adam Koch, Jordan Egleseder, Ali Farokhmanesh, Kwadzo Ahelegbe and Johnny Moran) are all averaging between 8.6 and 12 points per game. If [...]

ST. LOUIS – Both Illinois State and Creighton’s head coaches needed only one word to describe their play Saturday evening. “Wonderful, how about that,” Redbirds head coach Tim Jankovich said. Shift to Creighton head coach Dana Altman for the equal and opposite reaction. “Disappointed.” Illinois State crushed the second-seeded Bluejays 73-49 in the semi-finals of [...]

ST. LOUIS – Northern Iowa has its swagger back. The top-seeded Panthers exuded that confidence on both ends of the floor in their 76-62 defeat of Bradley in the first semi-final of the Missouri Valley Conference. “I think that speaks to a lot of guys and different guys are making big plays down the stretch,” UNI [...]

ST. LOUIS – Less than four minutes into the game, Evansville head coach Marty Simmons turned and yelled to his assistants in very plain, simple language exactly what the problem was. “We just can’t stop them,” Simmons said. Illinois State showed consistent flashes of superior offensive firepower by eliminating Evansville with a 78-68 victory in the last quarterfinal game [...]

ST. LOUIS – Even in a packed Scottrade Center, everyone on press row heard the yell. “Start the clock!” The scream was heard from every member of the Wichita State bench. Shortly afterwards, the ball went through the hoop, the horn blared, and the Shockers’  season was over. Creighton’s Booker Woodfox had good reason to celebrate [...]

ST. LOUIS – The blue and white faithful from Omaha can file the date of March 6, 2009 in their long basketball history as another day Booker Woodfox won the game. “Book has made a career of doing that, and so for that moment I was elated,” Creighton head coach Dana Altman said. After blowing [...]

ST. LOUIS – Bradley was just too quick, too athletic and much more careful with the basketball than Southern Illinois in its dominating 67-55 win.  The Braves got 30 points in the paint mostly off dribble penetration and received 22 points courtesy of turnovers by the Salukis’ ineffective offense. “We needed to control the paint [...]