MAAC Tournament Recap
Game 1: Broncos buck Saint Peter’s with strong defense
St. Peter’s rode a stingy defense to Albany in hopes of making a run at the MAAC crown.
But its offensive inefficiency early in Saturday’s MAAC quarterfinal game prevented that defense from ever making the No. 5 seed Rider Broncos uncomfortable.
Rider, led by 1st Team All–MAAC selection Ryan [...]
The Heroes and Villains of Championship Week
As the calendar turns to March, America tingles with the anticipation of the Cinderella stories sure to emerge over the course of the next four weeks. Blissfully ignorant of these “inferior leagues” these last four months, all eyes now turn to conferences like the Colonial, Horizon, and WAC.
Especially if you’re a fan of a bubble [...]
California’s Unique Resume
California won its first Pac-10 title in 50 years over the weekend by sweeping the Arizona schools at Haas Pavilion. Congratulations to Mike Montgomery and all of the players. Ordinarily that feat would mean a top-four seed, and with this year’s host sites, a first-round placement in San Jose.
Not this year, however. The Pac-10 is [...]
Colonial Athletic Association Report
The Colonial Athletic Association has been one of college basketball’s biggest surprises this season. The CAA Tournament could be the best of the mid-major tourneys, as a number of teams could take the automatic bid. There is also a strong possibility the CAA could have multiple teams in the Big Dance.
In his most [...]
Big Ten Midseason Report
Depending on the week, time of day or whether the sky is filled with cirrus or cumulonimbus clouds, the Big Ten is either having a great year, a good year, or a down year. The same can be said about nearly all of the teams in the conference.
At one point, many prognosticators had seven or [...]
Atlantic 10 Notebook
Three full months are nearly over. The Atlantic 10 Conference has sent three teams to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two years. Half of the 14 conference teams are led by a coach with less than five years of A-10 experience. Most of these coaches are just now escorting their programs into [...]
Veteran Backcourt Quietly Leading Duke
It’s hard to believe that Duke could be both overlooked and underrated. But that might be the case this year as the Blue Devils aren’t seriously being talked about as a Final Four contender.
Take note, however, of their underrated backcourt which features Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith, who are the key [...]
A-Mason Returns
Anthony Mason Jr. returned to action on January 9 in Louisville, nearly 14 months after his college career seemingly ended.
His first shot back clanged off the rim, just long. But in truth there were days his return appeared a longshot.
The return has not been completed. His lateral movement appears cautious and the forward posted just [...]
Big East Player Development: Part One
The Big East Conference expected to suffer a dramatic drop-off in national success this year. The conference sent nine players to the NBA draft, and nearly every program lost multiple three-year starters.
Surprisingly, the power conference lost little of its nationwide dominance. In this edition of the Beast Report, we take a look at the seniors [...]
Purdue 69, Wake Forest 58
Two teams filled with gold/black bedecked players tussled last Tuesday night in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. The Purdue Boilermakers outlasted the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 69-58 in a battle between two programs that crossed paths while seemingly headed in different directions.
Despite recently sending two players to the NBA, Wake has not won an NCAA game [...]

