Tired with a capital T

Opening Thoughts: I apologize for slacking off last night, let's just say I was unable to post hehe. Last night was A LOT of fun, but it didn't help the fact I've had trouble sleeping all week, so I'm now tired to about the 25th power, so let's hope I can get a good night's sleep. Today was a day of work. Not sleeping well allowed me to get up early and be fairly productive.

Well, we've got a lot to talk about hoops-wise, let's get to it:

• George Washington 62, Dayton 59. GW may have won the A-10 West and clinched an NCAA berth on what may be the shot of the year so far in college hoops. Tied at 59, Dayton held the ball for the last shot. With about 3 sec left, Monty Scott's pass was knocked away by Carl Elliott. Elliott ran it down and with .7 sec left flipped the ball toward the basket like you would on the playground from about 30 feet, a trick shot that has no chance of going on. I've never seen one made, until today. The shot goes in, Elliott runs off the floor, and the Colonials steal a big one on the road despite 22 turnovers. Make sure you look at the highlight of the shot, it's truly unreal.
  
• Kentucky 78, Alabama 71. The Wildcats played a great 2nd half, becoming the first team to win in Tuscaloosa all year. Patrick Sparks was in the zone, draining 7 3s, the last couple from Birmingham as UK won their 43rd SEC regular-season title. Sparks led the way with 26 as UK shot 56% from the field, 68% from 3. UK's defense also was much better in the 2nd half, forcing the Tide into some bad shots after Bama got any shot they wanted in the 1st half. Maybe we'll get to see a rematch in the SEC tournament.
• Southern Illinois 65, Wichita St. 55. The Salukis won the rematch and along with it the MVC regular-season title and an NCAA berth. The Shockers are now relegated to winning the MVC Tournament for a berth.
• Rider 113, Niagara 106, OT. The two leaders in the MAAC showed why by playing an overtime classic. With the win, Rider ties Niagara for the regular-season crown, but Niagara has the tiebreaker and will be the top seed in the conference tournament. In their first meeting, Niagara won 102-97. Both teams are very good offensively, Rider being very efficient, while Niagara can shoot the 3. Hopefully the teams will get to play a 3rd time in the MAAC finals during Championship Week
  
• Minnesota 59, Purdue 57. It looked like Gene Keady would win his last home game as the Boilers led 31-18 at the half. Vincent Grier led the 2nd half comeback for the Gophers, keeping their NCAA hopes alive, by scoring 12 of his 15 in the 2nd half. The Gophers are 9-6 in the Big 10 with a must win season finale at Penn St. left.
• UConn 73, Pittsburgh 64. The Huskies continue to play well, knocking off the Panthers in Pittsburgh. UConn put 4 in double figures and outrebounded Pitt 36-31. Marcus Williams continues to play well for the Huskies, scoring 13 and dishing out 6 assists. Suddenly, Pitt has lost 3 straight to fall to 8-6 in the Big East. They're in danger of not getting a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament. Pitt needs to do better than 39% shooting if they're going to bounce back.
• NC State 74, Virginia Tech 54. The ACC is really jumbled, as the Wolfpack stay alive with the win, while seriously damaging Tech's hopes of a bid. Both teams must win out to stay in it.
  
• Texas A&M 85, Texas Tech 63. Suddenly, the Aggies are 7-7 in the Big 12, and if they win out, which would include a win at Oklahoma St., they have a legitimate case for a bid. Antoine Wright led the way with 29 as the Aggies went on a 31-6 run in the 2nd half to pull away. I have to say the Aggies have the UGLIEST floor in college basketball. What color is that anyway?????
• Washington 93, Arizona 85. In a game that defined the word athleticism, the Huskies are in the drivers' seat for the Pac 10 title. The Huskies were hot in the 1st half, and continued into the early part of the 2nd, building a 12 point lead. But, Arizona got back into it, as Channing Frye was unstoppable down low and Salim Stoudamire finally hit a couple of shots. The lead was trimmed to 1 when Nate the Great Robinson took over at the end, making a big 3 in the last minute to seal it for UW. Both of these teams are very athletic and play great perimeter defense, but don't play great interior defense, which may be their doom come March.
• Georgia Tech 76, Miami 72. With the win, Tech stays alive and The U may be headed to the NIT. Jarret Jack had 21, BJ Elder bounced back with 15, but it was the usually unproductive Tech bench that made the difference, scoring 33 points.
  
• Penn 80, Columbia 72. Congratulations to the Quakers, they are the first team officially in the NCAA Tournament.
  
• Stanford 58, Oregon 56. Matt Haryasz's jumper with 14 sec left helped the Cardinal stay alive for the NCAAs while avoiding the Oregon sweep. The Cardinal are in good shape, now 10-6 in the Pac 10.
  
• Louisville 53, Memphis 44. In a defensive struggle, Louisville got the revenge that they were looking for after getting embarassed at home by Memphis 17 days ago. The Tigers only shot 20% from the field and only made 1/23 3s, losing a chance to solidify their late NCAA run. Louisville wasn't much better, shooting 30% better, but they competed better defensively and on the boards than in the first meeting.

Let's preview tomorrow's games because there are some good ones:

• Villanova at Georgetown. The Hoyas need a win to improve their NCAA status and stay in position for a 1st round bye in the Big East Tourney.
• Michigan St. at Indiana. Must win for the Hoosiers at home to make the NCAAs.
• Miami at Bowling Green. With Akron losing at Kent, a Redhawk win puts them 2 up in the MAC with 2 to play. They need to win to keep their at-large hopes alive.
• UCLA at Notre Dame. Both teams need this game, but the Bruins need it a little more.
• Oklahoma St. at Kansas. Both teams are coming off losses, but the Jayhawks need this to win the Big 12 regular season crown and get their confidence back after losing 3 straight.
• North Carolina at Maryland. The Tar Heels will be without Rashard McCants for a 2nd straight game. The Terps need to take advantage to get off the bubble and avenge the beating they took in Chapel Hill earlier. Since the game is on TV and at home, I'm fully confident Maryland will show up.

In other news, Da Bears signed Mushin Muhammad after the Panthers couldn't afford him. Chris DiMarco will battle David Toms for the Match Play title at La Costa. Maurice Clarett laid an egg at the Scouting Combine, running a 4.72 and 4.82 40, then decided not to participate in the remaining drills. And oh yeah, the Oscars are tomorrow night. We'll have our Best and Worst Dressed report just as we did for the Golden Globes.

Now, hopefully I can get some sleep.