SixPackSpeak_Basketball

Mississippi State Team Report (Yahoo! Sports)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:10 GMT

Forget about Jarvis Varnado or Mississippi State's guard play. Don't mind the team's shallow bench. Don't think about analyzing Ravern Johnson's shooting stroke.

Mississippi State's success in the NIT will depend on things much more intangible than that.

Left out of the NCAA Tournament field after a valiant effort in an overtime loss to Kentucky in the SEC tournament final, Mississippi State faces a gut check. Does it really want to play and advance in the NIT? If so, it has the talent to win the whole thing. If not, it could mail things in—as it did the final week of the regular season—and have an even murkier ending to its season.

The early evidence appears to show Mississippi State was ready for NIT action.

Wake Forest outlasts Texas 81-80 in OT (AP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:02 GMT

From No. 1 to one and done: Ishmael Smith's last shot meant one final collapse for Texas. Smith's pull-up jumper from about 17 feet out with 1.3 seconds remaining in overtime gave ninth-seeded Wake Forest an 81-80 win over the eighth-seeded Longhorns in the first round of the NCAA tournament Thursday night.

Vols make Pearl winner on 50th birthday (AP)

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:47 GMT

The whole family came down from Massachusetts to join Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl on his 50th birthday. "He's from 20 minutes away from here, so it's really special to be here, playing in front of his old family," said his son Steven, a backup forward on the Volunteers. "All of our aunts and uncles live up here, so that's been special, and a lot of friends have come to...

Top seed Kansas gets past scrappy Lehigh (AP)

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:26 GMT

Kansas coach Bill Self had to burn an early timeout, and was thrilled when his team tied the game at 12. This wasn't the way the Jayhawks wanted to start the NCAA tournament. Little Lehigh nearly took down the biggest Goliath of them all. Struggling against another Patriot League team in Oklahoma City, top-seeded Kansas survived a scare by pulling away for a 90-74 win over scrappy Lehigh and...

Down 15, Washington rallies by Marquette (AP)

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:05 GMT

When Quincy Pondexter grabbed an offensive rebound with 34 seconds left in a tie game, Washington coach Lorenzo Romar twice considered calling a timeout to set up a final play. Romar decided to let his senior leader do it by himself -- and Pondexter wasn't about to miss a chance to add another game to his season.

No. 14 Ohio shocks No. 3 Hoyas 97-83 (AP)

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:02 GMT

Who knew that all this time Ohio used the regular season as a warm-up act? The Bobcats' time to shine is March. The MAC tournament champion Bobcats, who had a losing record in conference play, have found their way in the only month that matters and now boast an NCAA tournament win for the first time in 27 years.

Bledsoe hits 8 3s, No. 1 Kentucky romps (AP)

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:56 GMT

To call this one a yawner would be understating things. Kentucky's blowout of East Tennessee State in the first round of the NCAA tournament was so thorough that fans were sleeping in the stands -- and not even the collective laughs of conscious spectators could awaken some of those caught snoozing on large video boards.

Murray State stuns No. 4 Vandy at buzzer (AP)

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:20 GMT

Murray State coach Billy Kennedy went with his gut and drew up a play his team had never run before, with Isacc Miles the go-to guy at the end. Third option Danero Thomas became the hero instead. Thomas hit a 15-footer as the buzzer sounded and 13th-seeded Murray State stunned No. 4 seed Vanderbilt 66-65 on Thursday in an NCAA tournament opener in the West Regional.

Fredette's 37 lift BYU by Florida in 2OT (AP)

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:54 GMT

When Jimmer Fredette planted a seed with Florida's Chandler Parsons before their NCAA tournament game, he couldn't have known it would sound prophetic. The BYU star told Parsons, the only Gators player to ever hit two true buzzer-beaters to clinch victories, "no game winning shots tonight." Fredette went on to score 37 points and hit two 3-pointers in double overtime to seal the...

'Nova tops No. 15 Robert Morris in OT (AP)

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:51 GMT

Scottie Reynolds learned a lesson starting the game on the bench. Once in the game, he delivered a teachable moment of his own to 15th-seeded Robert Morris: Don't let a Final Four-tested team like Villanova off the hook. Reynolds was benched, his shot wasn't falling and his Wildcats were on the brink of having their NCAA tournament run end in the biggest of upsets.