Quinnipiac

Florida State's Ian Miller knocked down a three-pointer with eight tenths of a second remaining to give the Seminoles a 63-60 win at Virginia, who will finish the regular season without a win over any of the top three teams in the ACC.

 

 

Thursday was a big night for the Virginia Cavaliers as they were looking for their first win at Duke since 1995, and a victory over the sixth-ranked Blue Devils would raise their ceiling even higher.

 

Suspense was expected in the matchup between Georgetown and #12 Alabama, and that's exactly what the two teams provided as the Hoyas beat the Crimson Tide 57-55 on a Hollis Thompson three-pointer with 1.8 seconds remaining. Instead of simply giving Jason Clark (22 points) the ball and telling him to shoot, Georgetown used the senior guard to run a dribble hand-off with Thompson on the right wing and the junior rose up and knocked down the shot. Levi Randolph's shot from half court missed just left of the rim at the buzzer, ending the Tide's 24-game home win streak. 

Friday marks the first big day of the college basketball season with more than 100 games on the schedule. Sure most of the games look to be of the "opening sacrifice" variety, but a closer look reveals some intriguing matchups. It only makes sense to begin with the game that needs little introduction, the Carrier Classic game matching preseason national title favorite North Carolina and Michigan State. The game will be played on the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego, which will likely cue a few "I'm on a boat" jokes. 

In the latest installment in his "Coaching Great" interview series CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time with former Robert Morris head coach Jarrett Durham. Coach Durham led the Colonials to three NCAA Tournament appearances in Moon Township and remains the school's winningest coach. Durham now works at his alma mater, Duquesne, as a Special Assistant to the Athletic Director in addition to calling the men's basketball games on the radio (WPBG-FM 104.7 in Pittsburgh). 

Overall Rank: #143

Conference Rank: #1 Northeast Conference

In his most recent great player interview, CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time with Quinnipiac great Frank "Porky" Vieira, who was also an outstanding baseball player who went on to coach the sport at the University of New Haven for more than four decades. While head coach Tom Moore had the Bobcats one win away from an NCAA Tournament appearance this season thanks to the likes of James Feldeine and Justin Rutty (two players whose names will go down in QU lore), there's no mistaking the fact that Vieira remains one of the greatest players in school history.

 

Quinnipiac Bobcats

Northeast Conference (23-9, 15-3)

LIU

Mount St. Mary's

Quinnipiac

Robert Morris

Other (CCSU, Monmouth, Sacred Heart, etc)

With quarterfinal play now in the books, the 2009 NEC Men's Basketball Tournament resumes with semifinal action on Sunday, March 8. Top-seeded Robert Morris hosts #5 Quinnipiac in a game to air live at 2:00 pm on MSG and Fox College Sports. FSN-Pittsburgh will air the game on delay at 8:30 pm. The second game of the day features a rematch of the 2008 NEC title game as defending champion and #2 seed Mount St. Mary's hosts #3 Sacred Heart. Tipoff is at 7:00 pm.