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viernes, 21 de marzo de 2014

Comienza el March Madness de la NCAAM rumbo al Campeonato











Connecticut and Dayton, two of the eight schools participating in the 2014 Puerto Rico Tip-Off, captured a pair of victories in overtime Thursday in the NCAA Championships at Buffalo, N. Y.  After 11th-seeded Dayton posted the first upset of the 2014 Championships with a 60-59 win over sixth-seeded Ohio State, seventh-seeded UConn outlasted 10th-seeded Saint Joseph's 89-81.  With the victories, Dayton challenges third-seeded Syracuse before Connecticut meets second-seeded Villanova in a pair of Saturday games in Buffalo.
 
New Mexico, the third of three PRTO's schools in the NCAA Championships, opens play Friday against Stanford (1:40 p.m. ET on TBS) in St. Louis.  Texas A&M is also competing in the post-season and plays a College Basketball Insider game Monday at Illinois State (9 p.m., CBS Sports Network).
 
Other schools in the 2014 Puerto Rico Tip-Off are Boston College, College of Charleston, George Mason and West Virginia.  While the season for BC, Charleston and Mason ended  in the conference tournaments, West Virginia competed in the NIT.  The Mountaineers were eliminated earlier this week by 2013 Puerto Rico Tip-Off participant Georgetown.  The eighth annual Puerto Rico Tip-Off will be played November 20, 21 and 23.
Here are web clips from the Connecticut win.
 

 
UConn outlasts Saint Joseph's in 89-81 OT win
Boston.com - ‎1 hour ago‎
The Associated Press Connecticut's Shabazz Napier drives to the basket during the second half of a second-round game against Saint Joseph's in the NCAA college basketball tournament in Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday, March 20, 2014. (AP Photo/Nick LoVerde).
 
New York Times - ‎1 hour ago‎
BUFFALO — The Connecticut Huskies framed their postseason — actually, their entire season — around the fact that last year they watched the N.C.A.A. tournament from home, barred from the most significant party in college basketball. This was their ...
 
FOXSports.com - ‎1 hour ago‎
Shaking off a 23-foot miss at the second-half buzzer, Napier scored nine of his 24 points in overtime to lead seventh-seeded UConn (27-8) to an 89-81 win over 10th-seeded Saint Joseph's (24-10) in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday ...
 
With soccer in his past, Brimah gets a kick out of helping UConn advance
Buffalo News (blog) - ‎53 minutes ago‎
The 7-foot freshman center, who has been playing basketball for only four years, is a big reason why UConn survived a scare from Saint Joseph's and escaped with a 89-81 victory tonight in First Niagara Center. With his team down three points in the final ...
 
Game report: UConn defeats St. Joseph in OT
CT Post - ‎1 hour ago‎
BUFFALO, NY - MARCH 20: Shabazz Napier #13 of the Connecticut Huskies drives to the basket against the Saint Joseph's Hawks during the second round of the 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the First Niagara Center on March 20, 2014 in ...
 
Yahoo Sports (blog) - ‎2 minutes ago‎
Mar 20, 2014; Buffalo, NY, USA; Connecticut Huskies center Amida Brimah (35) works to the basket against Saint Joseph's Hawks in the second half of a men's college basketball game during the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament at First Niagara ...
 
Bradenton Herald - ‎33 minutes ago‎
Connecticut's Ryan Boatright (11) drives past Saint Joseph's Ronald Roberts Jr. (13) and Langston Galloway (10) during the first half of a second-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament in Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday, March 20, 2014. FRANK ...
 
NBC Connecticut (blog) - ‎27 minutes ago‎
BUFFALO, NY - MARCH 20: DeAndre Daniels #2 celebrates with Shabazz Napier #13 of the Connecticut Huskies after defeating the Saint Joseph's Hawks 89-81 in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the First Niagara Center ...
 
Fresno Bee - ‎Mar 19, 2014‎
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Connecticut is back in the NCAA tournament after a one-year absence, and Jim Calhoun will settle on being happy to be along for the ride. The three-time national champion and long-time coach of the Huskies won't be in his familiar place ...
 
Hartford Courant - ‎12 hours ago‎
"I went through that whole time last year about doing what I wanted to do," said Smith, who prepped at South Kent School in Connecticut. "I had almost done ... It's more than just being on the basketball court and making shots. It's about them becoming men.".
 
CBS Local - ‎1 hour ago‎
Halil Kanacevic #45 of the Saint Joseph's Hawks drives to the basket as Niels Giffey #5 of the Connecticut Huskies defends during the second round of the 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the First Niagara Center on March 20, 2014 in Buffalo, ...
 
Rhody Rampage - ‎17 minutes ago‎
Atlantic 10 Basketball: UConn Outlasts Saint Joseph's in NCAA Tournament ... The Saint Joseph's Hawks made a bid for the second-straight A-10 upset in the 2014 NCAA Tournament, but they came up just short against the Connecticut Huskies.
 
UConn 89, Saint Joseph's 81: Huskies hold off Hawks in overtime
Philahoops - ‎1 hour ago‎
After St. Joe's had stretched their lead to seven early in the second stanza, UConn made its first run, taking its first lead of the second half on a Napier three-point play. Minutes later ... James Hill covers Saint Joseph's basketball for Philahoops. Reach him at ...
 
Bleacher Report - ‎16 hours ago‎
If the squad is going to make a run now upon its triumphant return to the Big Dance, Napier will have to play his best basketball yet. The senior guard has certainly not been playing poorly, as he put the team on his ... While the 6'1”, 180-pound guard did his best to impact the game in other ways, notably grabbing nine boards, it's clear that UConn has little chance of beating quality opponents when Napier can't get his shot to fall. Regardless, Napier has been great much more often than he has been anything else this ...
 
The UConn Blog (blog) - ‎25 minutes ago‎
For a while it also looked like UConn was going to once again fall to a less talented team because they just simply knew how to play basketball. In a lot of ways St. Joe's reminded me of SMU - smart offensive sets, good, tough defensive, and a patience that ...
 
Buffalo News - ‎Mar 19, 2014‎
UConn will face Saint Joseph's today after sitting out last year's tournament because of academic sanctions. “I'm happy to have us ... “We were just talking in the back about how big Division III basketball is up here in upstate New York. I think it's bigger than ...


Visit this link for video of Vee Sanford's game-winning layup with 3.8 seconds remaining - http://www.daytonflyers.com/news/2014/3/20/MBB_0320145415.aspx?path=mbball .  Also, the University of Dayton has ties with Colegio San Jose in Puerto Rico (Established 1938, Apartado 21300,  San Juan, PR 00928-1300, www.csjpr.org, The Society of Mary was founded in France in 1817 by Blessed William Joseph Chaminade. Almost 500 Marianist brothers and priests comprise the Province of the United States. They serve in communities and ministries from Honolulu to Puerto Rico and in Eastern Africa, India, Ireland and Mexico. http://www.marianist.com/about)
2014 Puerto Rico Tip-Off participant Dayton posted the first upset of the 2014 NCAA Championships Thursday in Buffalo as the 11th-seeded Flyers scored a 60-59 win over the sixth-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes.  Here are web clips from the contest.  With the victory, Dayton challenges third-seeded Syracuse Saturday.
 
Other schools entered in the 2014 Puerto Rico Tip-Off (November 20, 21 and 23) competing in the NCAA Championships are Connecticut and New Mexico.  .  Connecticut opens play tonight versus. Saint Joseph's (6:55 p.m. ET on TBS) in Buffalo.  New Mexico begins NCAA play Friday against Stanford (1:40 p.m. ET on TBS) in St. Louis.
 
Texas A&M is also competing in the post-season and plays a College Basketball Insider game Monday at Illinois State.  Other schools in the 2014 Puerto Rico Tip-Off are Boston College, College of Charleston, George Mason and West Virginia.  The season's for BC, Charleston and Mason ended in the conference tournaments.  West Virginia competed in the NIT, but was eliminated earlier this week by 2013 Puerto Rico Tip-Off participant Georgetown.
 
Sanford lifts Dayton to 60-59 win over Ohio State
Boston.com - ‎1 hour ago‎
The Associated Press Ohio State's Aaron Craft (4) and Dayton's Jordan Sibert (24) fight for control of the ball during the first half of a second-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament in Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday, March 20, 2014. (AP Photo/Bill ...
 
FOXSports.com - ‎3 hours ago‎
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Dayton is re-configuring the college basketball map in Ohio. It no longer runs through Columbus after Vee Sanford's layup with 3.8 seconds left secured 11th-seeded Dayton's 60-59 victory over sixth-seeded Ohio State in the second round of ...
 
The Star-Ledger - ‎2 hours ago‎
So Dayton's assistant director of basketball operations sorted through the mess of bodies until he found Vee Sanford. He embraced the kid who had hit the game-winning shot. "He's a guy who's overcome a lot of adversity," Farrell said in a quiet moment in the ...
 
Bradenton Herald - ‎1 hour ago‎
Vee Sanford's runner in the closing seconds gave Dayton the lead and Aaron Craft's driving shot at the buzzer rolled off the rim, as the Flyers pulled off a 60-59 victory over Ohio State in the opening game of the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Dayton ...
 
CBS News - ‎2 hours ago‎
The Dayton Flyers celebrate after defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes 60-59 in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the First Niagara Center on March 20, 2014 in Buffalo, New York. Elsa, Getty Images. Shares. Tweets; Stumble.
 
Chicago Sun-Times - ‎2 hours ago‎
Dayton fans cheer during of a second-round game of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Ohio State in Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday, March 20, 2014. (AP Photo/The Buffalo News, John Hickey) TV OUT; MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT; BATAVIA ...
 
Businessweek - ‎1 hour ago‎
Harvard University won its men's college basketball national tournament opener for the second straight year, beating the University of Cincinnati 61-57. Elsewhere, No. 11 seed Dayton upset No. 6 seed Ohio State 60-59 as Vee Sanford made a running shot ...
 
CBSSports.com - ‎2 hours ago‎
By Matt Norlander | College Basketball Writer. March 20, 2014 2:33 PM ET. Dayton's win over Ohio State in the first game of the Round of 64 ended the dream of a perfect bracket pretty quickly for a majority of CBSSports.com users. We had 81 percent of ...
 
New York Times - ‎2 hours ago‎
Craft has had one of the more captivating careers in college basketball — on-court charisma fused with a regional celebrity status broaching territory reserved for the likes of Tim Tebow and Johnny Manziel. His four-year run had one more magic moment left in ...
 
TIME - ‎2 hours ago‎
NCAA Dayton Ohio State Basketball Ohio State's Aaron Craft (4) defends as Dayton's Scoochie Smith (11) tries to inbound the ball during the second half of a second-round game of the NCAA college basketball tournament in Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday, March ...
 
Rhody Rampage - ‎2 hours ago‎
Mar 20, 2014; Buffalo, NY, USA; Dayton Flyers forward Devin Oliver (5) shoots against Ohio State Buckeyes in the second half of a men's college basketball game during the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament at First Niagara Center. Mandatory ...
 
The Globe and Mail - ‎3 hours ago‎
Sam Thompson led Ohio State with 18 points, and Craft scored 16. Craft had no time for questions about whether Dayton can stake claim to being the state's better basketball school for one year at least. “Sorry, I have zero thoughts on that right now,” he said.
 
ESPN - ‎1 hour ago‎
Craft had no time for questions about whether Dayton can stake claim to being the state's better basketball school for one year at least. [+] Enlarge. Dayton Celebration. Kevin Hoffman/USA TODAY Sports. No. 11 Dayton pulled off the first upset of the NCAA ...
 
The Times-Picayune - ‎2 hours ago‎
Dayton's Dyshawn Pierre (21) knocks the ball away from Ohio State's Lenzelle Smith Jr. (32) during the first half of a second-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament in Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday, March 20, 2014. (AP Photo/Bill Wippert). Print.
Los Angeles Daily News - ‎2 hours ago‎
Dayton teammates embrace Vee Sanford, center, after defeating Ohio State in a second-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament Thursday in Buffalo, N.Y. Sanford scored on a layup with 3.8 seconds left to lift 11th-seeded Dayton to a 60-59 ...
ESPN (blog) - ‎1 hour ago‎
Elsa/Getty Images Dayton's Vee Sanford scored 10 points, including the game winner, in the Flyers' upset of Ohio State. And this is also March -- a good hour later, interviews done, locker room closed, teammates ... For four years, Craft has been the personification of what people want this college game to be about (excluding, that is, the folks who find fault with a no-curse, no-drink, straight-A, heart-on-his-sleeve basketball player). Nearly impeccable in every other part of his life, Craft certainly hasn't been without flaw ...
 
Bleacher Report - ‎44 minutes ago‎
To hear members of the Dayton basketball team tell it, the Flyers are no one's little brother. So forgive us the analogy that nonetheless is such a perfect fit in the wake of Dayton's 60-59 upset of Ohio State in the NCAA tournament on Thursday. Dayton is ...
 
newtoncitizen - ‎1 hour ago‎
Dayton Flyers celebrate after beating Ohio State Buckeyes in the men's college basketball game during the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament at First Niagara Center. (USA TODAY Sports: Kevin Hoffman). BUFFALO, N.Y. — Senior guard Vee ...
 
Dayton Daily News - ‎1 hour ago‎
Amedeo Della Valle #33 of the Ohio State Buckeyes and Dyshawn Pierre #21 of the Dayton Flyers battle for a loose ball during the second round of the 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the First Niagara Center on March 20, 2014 in Buffalo, New ...
 
Las Vegas Sun - ‎5 minutes ago‎
Syracuse's Trevor Cooney (10) puts up a 3-pointer over Western Michigan's David Brown (5) in a second-round game of the NCAA college basketball tournament in Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday, March 20, 2014. ... Dayton beat Ohio State 60-59 on Thursday.
 
WDTN - ‎43 minutes ago‎
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) University of Dayton students cheered loudly as the men's basketball team tipped off against OSU in the NCAA tournament Thursday. Red Scare hosted a watch party at the Hangar, a popular hang out on campus. “We're upsetting ...
Bleacher Report - ‎3 hours ago‎
The lead switched hands multiple times inside the final five minutes before Dayton finally held on. College basketball fans hope it's a sign of plenty more excitement to come over the next few weeks. Let's check out the scoring summary from the First Niagara ...
 
MLive.com - ‎1 hour ago‎
Jon Peters, of Ohio, gets in the spirit of March Madness before a second-round game of the NCAA college basketball tournament between Ohio State and Dayton in Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday. (Associated Press). Print · John Allen, National Desk By John Allen, ...
 
Full coverage
Bleacher Report - ‎1 hour ago‎
So what should college basketball fans make of the early action from the round of 64? Here's a recap of ... The one-and-done format of the tournament naturally heightens drama, and Dayton ensured that the tourney began with a thriller. After a seesaw final ...
Land-Grant Holy Land - ‎3 hours ago‎
Mostly it was ugly basketball with quick explosions of points. Craft was his typically in-control-yet-entirely-out-of-control self on offense with nine points on three shots but four turnovers in the first half. The problems for the Buckeyes arose more with their ...
Yahoo Eurosport UK - ‎3 hours ago‎
The Ohio State Buckeyes bench looks on during the second round of the 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament against the Dayton Flyers at the First Niagara Center on March 20, 2014 in Buffalo, New York. The Dayton Flyers defeated the Ohio State ...
Bleacher Report - ‎3 hours ago‎
With every fan carrying a printout of their bracket to work and looking on while hoping it all doesn't crumble, Dayton opened this year's Dance by eliminating anyone who took Ohio State on a deep run, ousting the sixth-seeded Buckeyes in a thriller. That game was picked by some as a potential upset, and it may set ... Similar stories are told by the likes of Ken Pomeroy, whose advanced metrics system has helped revolutionize the way we look at college basketball. To put it in the most cliche way possible: Expect the ...
 
NewsOK.com - ‎38 minutes ago‎
Dayton teammates embrace Vee Sanford, center, after defeating Ohio State in a second-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament against Ohio State in Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday, March 20, 2014. Sanford scored on a layup with 3.8 seconds left to ...
 
Big Ten Network - ‎4 hours ago‎
In the first game of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, No. 11 seed Dayton upset No. 6 seed Ohio State, 60-59, at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo. The Buckeyes' Aaron Craft had one last attempt at a game-winning shot, but it bounced off the rim.
Rant Sports - ‎3 hours ago‎
While he probably is Ohio State's best player, you wouldn't have known he even had many teammates in the final tumultuous minutes of the Buckeyes' 60-59 loss to the Dayton Flyers on Thursday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In the final 3 minutes, 32 seconds, Craft hit a layup, missed a free throw, committed a foul, converted a ... any kind of success next season. Ed Morgans is an ACC Basketball Writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @writered21 and add him to your network on Google.
FanSided - ‎3 hours ago‎
It was a back and forth game that came down to the wire and with just under 11 seconds left on the clock, Dayton had possession on an inbounds pass. Ohio State's Aaron Craft had just made a layup to give the Buckeyes the lead and Dayton was down one ...
 
Sporting Alert - ‎3 hours ago‎
Buffalo, New York (Sporting Alert, Box Score) — The 2014 NCAA March Madness men's basketball national tournament opened up with a major upset, as 11th seeded Dayton upsets sixth-seeded Ohio State, 60-59 on Thursday.
 
MarketWatch (blog) - ‎3 hours ago‎
The University of Dayton, the No. 11 seed in the South regional of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, knocked off an in-state rival, No. 6–seeded Ohio State, to give the tournament its first round-of-32 entrant and its first upset. Dayton scored on a runner ...
 
FanSided - ‎3 hours ago‎
11 Dayton upending the No. 6 seed Ohio State Buckeyes. Dayton was able to hit the game-winning shot in the final seconds, to end nearly everyone's chance at a billion dollar perfect bracket. After the Dayton upset, only 19 percent of brackets in ESPN's ...
 
Mlive Kalamazoo - ‎52 minutes ago‎
Thursday afternoon in Buffalo, N.Y., Oliver helped the Dayton Flyers knock off the Ohio State Buckeyes in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Oliver recorded 11 points and four ... He also finished fifth in the Mr. Basketball voting. Email Justin Dacey at ...
 
The Elkhart Truth - ‎3 hours ago‎
Dayton has recorded the first upset of the NCAA men's basketball tournament with a 60-59 victory over in-state powerhouse Ohio State on Vee Sanford's jumper with 4 seconds left. Aaron Craft's last-second layup for the win rimmed out. The brackets many ...
 
Sports Interaction - ‎6 hours ago‎
It's the emotion and team spirit of college basketball that really gets me. Then, of course, you have the brackets and the office pools and ... Thought a bit about taking Dayton to upset Ohio State, but couldn`t pull the trigger. Buckeyes have that nasty defence.
 
Boxscore - ‎2 minutes ago‎
Sanford's the hero as Dayton Flyers stuns Ohio State Buckeyes at NCAA Basketball Championship. Photo by Jill Vumdeshaer. University of Dayton: BUFFALO (March 20, 2014) – Vee Sanford hit a layup with 3.8 seconds remaining to help the Dayton Flyers ...
 
Alabama's News Leader - ‎3 hours ago‎
The 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament officially got underway Thursday, and the first game ended with the first upset in the round of 64 as 11th-seeded Dayton knocked off 6th-seeded Ohio State. The Flyers downed the in-state foe Buckeyes 60-59 ...
 
Larry Brown Sports - ‎2 hours ago‎
Dyshawn-Prince-celebration The Dayton Flyers were understandably ecstatic on Thursday when they knocked off No. 6 seed Ohio State to advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. The victory took 40 minutes of hard-nosed basketball and hustle, ...
 
durhamregion.com - ‎2 hours ago‎
BUFFALO -- Whitby's Dyshawn Pierre hit three consecutive free throws in the final minute and sank a team-high 12 points as the 11th-seeded Dayton Flyers upset sixth-seeded Ohio State 60-59 in the second round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament ...
 
Terrapin Station - ‎5 hours ago‎
They're probably starting a little earlier now that Dayton is beating Ohio State at halftime 33-30 after a very strong first half of some great transition basketball. Aaron Craft has yet to make his mark on the game yet, but Ohio State is giving up a lot of points (they ...
Mstarz - ‎2 hours ago‎
The Buckeyes last six tournament games have seen them lose by a combined 14 points, showing that they've suffered as much heartbreak as any NCAA basketball team. The 2014 NBA draft is loaded with top quality NBA-ready prospects, and Aaron Craft ...
 
Awful Announcing - ‎3 hours ago‎
The last minute of the game personifies Craft's place in college basketball fandom and the history books. After making a go-ahead basket on one end, Dayton's Vee Sanford scored over Craft with just over 3 seconds left to give Dayton a 1 point lead. Craft then ...
 
BuckeyeSports.com (subscription) - ‎2 hours ago‎
Thompson led the Buckeyes with 18 points while forward Craft added 16 in his college basketball finale. Sibert, an Ohio State transfer, scored nine points for the Flyers while facing his former team and Pierre led Dayton with 12 points on the day. The first half ...
 

viernes, 22 de noviembre de 2013

Resumen de lo sucedido en el NCAAM Puerto Rico Tip-Off

Puerto Rico Tip-Off
November 21, 22, and 24, 2013
Coliseo Roberto Clemente, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2013 Results & Schedule

November 21, 22 & 24 Tournament Results & Schedule (all tip-off times Atlantic)

Thursday, November 21 Results
·         Charlotte 68, Kansas State 61
·         Northeastern 63, Georgetown 56
·         Michigan 85, Long Beach State 61
·         Florida State 85, VCU 67
Friday, November 22 Schedule                                                        Atlantic Time Tip-Off.......... Network
·         Game No. 5 - Kansas State vs. Georgetown                                  1 p.m.......................................... ESPNU
·         Semi-finals, Game No. 6 - Charlotte vs. Northeastern               3:30 p.m.................................. ESPNU
·         Semi-finals, Game No. 7 - Michigan vs. Florida State                6 p.m..................... ESPN2 or ESPNU
·         Game No. 8 - Long Beach State vs. VCU                                       8:30 p.m..................................... ESPNU
Sunday, November 24 Schedule                                                      Atlantic Time Tip-Off.......... Network
·         Game No. 9 - Game 5 & 8 losers                                                    12:30 p.m.................................... ESPN3
·         Game No. 10 - Game 5 & 8 winners                                               3:00 p.m..................................... ESPNU
·         Game No. 11 - Game 6 & 7 losers                                                  5:30 p.m...................................... ESPN2
·         Championship, Game No. 12 - Game 6 & 7 winners                 7:30 p.m................................... ESPN2


PUERTO RICO TIP-OFF
GAME 1: CHARLOTTE VS. KANSAS STATE 68-61

Charlotte Coach – Alan Major
“It was really a hard-fought win. When we talked about, before the game, how physical it was going to be. Our mantra we’ve been chanting over-and-over is toughness. You’ve got to be mentally tough to deal with the ebbs and flows of the game and physically tough to deal with the intensity and the banging. And you’ve got to be team tough, dealing with calls and all that stuff. I thought the guys showed great toughness from beginning to end. That was a game of runs, both teams going at each other. Everybody that played chipped in; it was a great team effort.”
“We want to get Willie (Clayton) and Mike (Thorne Jr.) involved every game the best we can. I’m proud of those two, they put two halves together between them. We try to be an inside-out team, that’s part of our character.”
“We kind of got forced into a small lineup. It actually may have helped our flow a little bit, trying to get out and cover some three-point shots. Terrence (Williams) was playing a small forward/power forward, we had three guards in there. I just thought the guys did a nice job finishing. To go 14 of 18 from the foul line in the second half, that’s just a great sign of keeping your composure.”
“Kansas State is a great defensive team. I’ve known Bruce for a long time and knew that was part of their DNA to really get after it on defense.”

Charlotte Guard – Denzel Ingram
“We were going through a drought at one point, and I know that we needed a spark. Those loose balls, I was just trying to do whatever I could to get them. I knocked down that three and it really gave us a boost. We really got after them after that.”
“It gives us confidence. Kansas State is a really good team. It’s going to look good later on down the road and we are glad we beat this team.”

Kansas State Coach – Bruce Weber
“Charlotte played a good, well-rounded game; mixed their defenses, pounded the boards, got to the free throw line. For us, we didn’t start very well at the start of the second game or the start of the second half. Both times we came back, fought back; got a tie, took the lead in the first half, but never could get over the hump. They made the plays when it counted and we didn’t. They didn’t make many threes, but when they made them, they were big ones – kind of daggers. Obviously the boards were the big difference-makers. And the points in the paint, you’ve got both big guys with double-doubles, we knew that would be a factor. We can’t get little ticky-tack fouls because we need our big guys on the court. We had a lot of foul trouble and somehow we’ve got to see if we can change that.”
“I thought Nigel (Johnson) did a great job of giving us a boost both halves. He played with a lot of confidence, which was positive and allows us to put (Will) Spradling at the two and allows him to get some things done also.”
“We’ve got to fight on the boards, we’ve got to have five guys in there. We know we are a little under-sized, so it’s got to be team rebounding, it’s got to be important for us. The threes – I blame myself, the same as that Northern Colorado game. Start the second half, the first five possessions are threes. For the most part I thought four of them were good open shots, but we’ve got to get some inside touches.”
“There’s some calls I thought maybe we could’ve got, some things that didn’t go our way. We’ve got to play stronger, go to the basket stronger and box out stronger. Hopefully we’ll get the calls the next time.”
“Somehow, mentally and emotionally, they have to be ready to start the game. It can’t be fake emotion, it’s got to be real. We can’t let offense dictate it, we’ve got to have a defensive mindset from the get-go. That will keep us hanging around in games.”

Kansas State Guard – Nigel Johnson
“Their switches on defense, we prepared for it the last couple of days so we we’re ready for it. In a game is of course a little more difficult than in practice, but we were ready.”
“It’s good preparation for the rest of the year. We will be playing good teams like that all throughout the rest of the year, especially when we get to Big 12 play. You’ve got to come out ready, you can’t wait and try to warm up. You’ve got to come out ready to play or you can get down early like we did.”
PUERTO RICO TIP-OFF
GAME 2: NORTHEASTERN VS. GEORGETOWN 63-56

Northeastern Coach - Bill Coen: “I want to tell you how grateful we are to be invited to this tournament. We get the chance to compete against some of the very best competition in the country. I know our kids were extremely excited to play against a program such as Georgetown, which has such tremendous tradition and is an outstanding ball club.”

“In the first half we were a little bit awe struck. We had some turnovers that we don’t normally have and committed some fouls that put us in some rotation problems. Scott Eatherton and Reggie Spencer really battled back the second half, did a tremendous job on the boards and were able to carve out some space down low and get us some baskets when we really, really needed it.”

“They just have to have confidence in themselves and confidence in their teammates. Our (the coaches) work is done in practice, and when they get to the games they’ve got to communicate themselves and compete out there. We did a great job of playing together and making the adjustments on the fly.”

“Georgetown had 26 points at halftime on second-chance shots and turnovers. As soon as we started to eliminate the turnovers and get it into a half-court game it was good. We can’t match them athlete for athlete, we have to take care of the basketball and take those easy baskets off the table.”

Northeastern Forward Scott Eatherton: “We knew how big they were, we knew we had to use our quickness to get around them that was probably the biggest player I’ve ever played against. I got in foul trouble in the beginning of the game, so it was more of a team effort. Our guards helped us rebound and were right there pinching on their big guys in the bottom too.”

Northeastern Forward Reggie Spencer: “We never had doubt. In the beginning, we might have played a little timid, but after we got the nerves out we were good to go.”

Georgetown Coach John Thompson III: “This group quickly, quickly needs to figure out how to compete. We can sit and talk offensive systems, defensive systems, rotations, slides, everything – we have to compete. I thought we did a poor job of rolling up your sleeves and competing.”

“I know what Bruce Weber’s teams have traditionally done. We’ll start to hone in on Kansas State now.”

“The attempted zero threes in the second half. They decided to put their heads down and drive by us or throw it inside. When they drove by us, they got to the rim, and when they threw it inside, they scored.”

“Losing the rebounding battle is something I’m very disappointed about, it’s something that needs to change. That’s part of competing – rebounding. We have to get better at that.”

Georgetown Guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera: “I give them credit for the defense they played, but at the same time I feel like we in our offense we didn’t attack in our offense like we needed to. We were taking unnecessary shots early in the shot clock. It was all about execution and obviously the rebounds were not in our favor today.”

Georgetown Forward – Nate Lubick: “Give Northeastern all the credit in the world. We executed relatively well in the first half and then didn’t do what we need to do to win games in the second half. That really hurt us.”


PUERTO RICO TIP-OFF
GAME 3: MICHIGAN VS. LONG BEACH STATE 85-61

Michigan Coach John Beilein: “Long Beach State just wouldn’t go away. Dan (Monson) has been waiting for his guys to shoot the ball a little bit better and they shot it well in the first half. They hit six threes and were right there. Thank goodness we shot it even better than that.”

“You know at this time of the year, given the inexperience on both teams, there’s going to be runs. They made a great run, but then we picked up on the clock mistake and Nik (Stauskas) made a big, big shot. That’s probably one of our first big shots of the season, because it was going the other way quick. He made a huge one. That wasn’t part of a play; that was Nik doing what he does.”

“A couple of things we saw during their run – we thought our spacing was bad, it had crept back so we shrunk the court for them. We didn’t think we ran very well. And then our defense at times, it was just really bad. We just showed a lot of inexperience.”

“I wouldn’t say Nik (Stauskas) has taken over, but when we feel he’s got it going…in the last couple games he did a good job. We’ve got a set of plays we run through him, and what I like is he’s finding open people. I don’t think he forced a shot today.”

Michigan Guard Caris LeVert: “We did a great job the second half of really pulling away, they played well the whole game though. I think our defense really helped us get the win.”
“I think I rushed some shots against Iowa State. I watched a lot of film and got a lot better from that. We played a lot better today.”

“I think we’re getting better at closing out games, each game we get more experience.”

Michigan Guard Nik Stauskas: “You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Long Beach State. They gave us a really good game today, they were really competitive with us. Like Caris (LeVert) said, I think we did a really good job in the second half. That last 10 minute stretch we really just pulled away and took the game away.”

“Guys were just doing a really good job of getting into the lane and finding me when I was open. Caris (LeVert) and Glenn (Robinson III) had a couple of really good passes to me today. Anytime I can get open shots, I hope I can knock them down.”

“Trey (Burke) was National Player of the Year so, and Tim (Hardaway, Jr.) was a first round pick so it’s kind of tough to replace that. Me and Caris (LeVert) put in a lot of time this off-season working out. We’re just trying to do our best and we’re just happy we have this opportunity right now.”

Long Beach State Coach Dan Monson: “This is our third BCS game – Kansas State, Arizona and Michigan – we’ve just got to be able to take scouting reports and be able to disrupt somebody and not get people comfortable right out of the gate so easy. Part of it today was my fault, I tried to start in a triangle and two on Stauskas and LeVert and then Robinson III and Walton Jr. hit threes. Right out of the gate, they’ve got two guys who had been struggling a bit in a rhythm.

“We’ve been playing from behind so much in these games, you’ve got to hang in for your opportunities. We fought back and got it to seven I think in the first half and then once again in the second half, but then we made a lot of mistakes and beat ourselves. You can’t do that against a great team like this. They have so many weapons offensively and we just didn’t have an answer to slow them down on the offensive end of the floor.”

“These tournaments have always produced improvement for us, and that’s really important. You know, I’m not in Vegas, but I don’t think the odds of us winning this tournament were quite what they were a couple years ago when we were in there with some other teams. This is about us getting better for March.”

“We haven’t had a winning season in seven years, since I’ve been at Long Beach State, in the pre-season. We have had the No. 1 RPI January 1st the last three or four seasons, just playing tough teams. Every year the last three we’ve been able to win our league by getting better at this time. So it truly is a preseason for us right now. We’ve got to get better tomorrow and if we play even better than that on Sunday, then we’ll have an opportunity.”
GAME 4: FLORIDA STATE VS. VCU 85-67
Florida State Coach – Leonard Hamilton: “I thought our effort tonight was a result of the healthy respect that we have for the VCU program. They’ve done a tremendous job over the last four or five years – how they have branded themselves and how well they have played in tough situations. Evaluating them and trying to come up with a game plan, we knew we had to be at our very best in a lot of areas. We’ve been averaging close to 20 turnovers a game, and that’s one of those fundamental basketball daemons we’re still trying to overcome. But I thought we made up for it with our effort, playing through each other with unselfish spirit and fighting on the boards.”
“We came in here averaging 86 points a game, so I think we were both kind of playing at the same pace. We’ve got a reputation of being a defensive team, but what we’ve done is try to play to the talent that we’ve had. No we have a little different team and we’re trying to utilize the strengths of our basketball team.”
“Anytime you press as aggressive as they are, you live up some opportunities. I thought our guys took advantage of the opportunities that we had.”
“Most of the teams that are rated high this early in the season, they are rated for what they did last year. And so, quite naturally, we have been playing very good basketball for four years, we had to start over and regroup last year and weren’t quite as successful, so we get recognized for what we did last year. VCU went to the Sweet 16 and had a great season last year, so they’re getting their recognition. That’s one thing good about college basketball; you have the chance to earn your rightful place. That’s what our goals are right now. It’s too early to think about rankings, we try to keep it in perspective. We want to be in the power place at the end of the season. This is one victory, one game, and we’ve got a whole lot more to go.”
“Michigan is a very good basketball team, there’s no question about that. They have all the ingredients of being able to get back to the Final Four again. For us, it’s just part of the kind of teams we face night-in and night-out anyway, so it can’t do anything but help us prepare for the ACC race playing against competition like Michigan.”
Florida State Guard – Ian Miller: “Since I’ve been here, we’ve been averaging about 20 turnovers a game. It something we’ve got to keep working on, but we just keep finding ways to get it back on defense or come down the next possession and fix the problem.”
“I think we can average a lot more points if we don’t have those turnovers in games. We need to slow it down a bit, take our time and think things through sometimes. We get a bit sped up, but we’ll learn. We’re young and we’re still finding ourselves.”
VCU Coach – Shaka Smart: “Congratulations to Florida State, I thought they played a great game. There players were very aggressive and overall they were obviously a much better team, tonight. I thought for us this was definitely a wakeup call or realization that we can’t just take the floor and be who we want to be, we’ve got to make it happen. We’ve got to get back to being more aggressive, but also playing with better discipline. We turned them over 25 times, which is great, but we did a very poor job of defending on all the other possessions. That’s something that we’re going to work hard to address and get better at.”
“It’s a classic case of allowing our offense to affect our defense. We had some really good looks early in the game that just didn’t go in – wide open threes, some shots around the basket. There’s going to be nights like that, but the good teams keep playing, the good teams stick to the process that brings them success. Part of that process is all the things that go into getting them stops on the defensive end. We did not do that tonight.”
“Florida State was the more aggressive team, they were really highly motivated, they were talking more, they were more connected as a team – all the thing that we pride ourselves on they had the edge in tonight. That obviously showed on the scoreboard.”
VCU Guard – Rob Brandenberg: “We’ve just got to get ready for tomorrow for the next game. That was probably one of the toughest of my college career, but like coach said we’ve just got to move on and learn from it. The best teams respond. It isn’t going to be perfect, but we’ve just got to come back tomorrow and fight.”
“At the beginning of the game things weren’t going our way offensively and we weren’t playing with that cohesiveness. We weren’t connected out there, we weren’t playing as a unit. Some guys started focusing on themselves.

 PUERTO RICO TIP-OFF
GAME 8: VCU VS. LONG BEACH STATE 73-67

VCU Coach Shaka Smart: “I thought it was a hard fought win, these guys next to me did a great job providing senior leadership and making big plays down the stretch. We did not shoot the ball particularly well, so that really kept us from extending our lead as much as we wanted to, but we got some stops down the stretch. They threw some tough shots in that made it tougher, but these guys did a nice job.”
“Defense is 90 percent want to and 10 percent technique and scouting report and all that stuff. I think our want to got better down the stretch in that game and we did a nice job following the plan.”
“Juvonte (Reddic) is a really good player. I think the foul trouble in some of our earlier games frustrated him along with some of our other guys. This new foul dynamic is very, very challenging for a player and a coach because it’s so different from game-to-game. We had a foul to give at the end of that. There’s been a lot of halves earlier this year where the other team’s been into the bonus five minutes, eight minutes into the game or the second half. Juvonte stayed out of trouble for the most part, which really helped. It was a big point of emphasis for us to get him the ball. He led us in shot attempts which is a great thing. If you add up the shot attempts from Juvonte and Rob (Brandenburg) plus Melvin (Johnson) and Treveon (Graham), who are our four best scorers, those guys shot 51 out of 63 attempts which is really good. Those are the guys we want shooting the ball.”
“He (Briante Weber) did a nice job running the team, a good job getting these guys the ball, that’s his job as point guard. We don’t need him to score a lot of points, tonight he scored 15. He hit some nice pull-ups, he’s good at that. Three for four from the line, rebounded the ball well. I thought he really lead the way defensively for us. He’s just an energy guy that basically is a spark behind our defense. He was huge tonight and played big minutes.”
“It’s a challenge guarding those guys. Georgetown’s offense is very exact, very precise and they cut hard. This is going to be our third game in four days so we’re going to have to really be disciplined and on our stuff to defend them. But hopefully some of the things that we do will be challenging for them.”
VCU Forward Juvonte Reddic: “Coach Smart talked to me before the game. He’s been doing a good job telling me to look past the play that just happened, you know if I make a bad shot or have a foul called on me, I just need to move on, forget about it and worry about the next thing. He’s been telling me since the first game of the season. I’m starting to understand it and it’s really helping me out.”
VCU Guard Rob Brandenberg: “I was just trying to stay aggressive and help my team anyway I can. Briante (Weber) was finding me all game, so I just wanted to make sure I was shot-ready and attacking, putting pressure on their zone. I wasn’t really thinking this is what we need to do, but I realized we had to play with some urgency at that time. It worked out.”
Long Beach State Coach Dan Monson: “I thought we controlled tempo and were able to dictate the game for about 35 minutes, but we got up eight, then missed a three and they went on an 8-0 run. That’s all it took, two or three minutes against a team that dangerous, that explosive. Our margin for error was very small and we used it in three minutes and just couldn’t get the rebound or the next play to get back in it. We had to play with the lead at the end there. That little spurt, we had to play from behind and all the sudden we couldn’t get a rebound. It was unfortunate because I thought our guys battled, I thought they did everything we asked them to do game plan wise. I played guys more minutes, you know Mike Caffey never came out and I think became a factor also.”
“What an opportunity, we’re going to get pressed all year and we came here to get better. What an opportunity to play against the best press in America. It is. Our guys, we can’t simulate it in practice so we need to take advantage of these two hours, so when we get to league we’re better against a press.”
“The problem with the press, if you don’t attack it, it gets suffocating. I thought our guys made good decision on when to attack. We took a couple threes in the first half and I said we’ve got to have a paint touch if we’re going to attack the press, but I thought they did a good job of attacking but not getting sped up into mistakes. The biggest misnomer is you think break the press when you’re over half court and you think you’ve got it done. Then you make a ball handling mistake trying to convert it. I thought they did a really good job keeping it simple at the end of the press. We missed a couple bunnies in that 8-0 run that really hurt us. We came here to get better, we came here to trust each other and it was a good step today.”