SATURDAY RECAP
(1) Utah St traded blows with (2) San Diego St for 33 minutes in their Mountain West final before a 12-2 run provided some distance and an impressive 73-62 win. The Aggies had lost 3 of 5 going into the conference tournament, then beat all three of those foes and captured the title.
(1) Utah Valley lost in stunning fashion in the WAC final, as Dominique Daniels Jr of (2) Cal Baptist hit two huge threes in the final minutes, then the Wolverines executed a perfect pick-and-roll and with three seconds left, the roll man bricked the lob dunk that would have tied it. Daniels is a terrific lefty point guard who dominated the second half of WAC play and is the current WAC KenPom Player of the Year.
With ten minutes remaining in the Big West final, (1) UC Irvine were deadlocked 50-50 with (2) Hawaii then went suddenly ice cold from the field and the Rainbows prevailed 71-64.
(1) South Florida continues to roll, dominating (5) Charlotte 86-64 for their tenth straight win and a spot in the American final.
(1) Yale had little trouble with (4) Cornell in the Ivy semifinal, winning 88-76 and heading to Sunday’s final.
(1) Saint Louis were upset 70-69 by (4) Dayton in the A-10 semifinal, done in by the Flyers Jordan Derkack’s 28 points and Amael L’Etang’s tip-in in the final second.
SUNDAY
- (1) Yale (74% chance of winning per KenPom) vs (3) Penn – Ivy FINAL
- (1) South Florida (64%) vs (2) Wichita St – American FINAL
Joey Brackets is saying on Sunday morning that the only bid thief scenario for today is in the A-10, where a win by (4) Dayton over (2) VCU would elevate the A-10 from a two- to a three-bid league and knock someone else out. That someone else currently is Texas. SMU is second-last above the cut line, so just for safety’s sake they should root hard for both VCU & South Florida today.
