Happy Saturday! Welcome to The Next’s Daily Briefing, featuring the W Roundup, daily Watch List and Yesterday’s Recap! Day 122 of college basketball is here, following a couple of two-seeds winning their conference tournament titles in Albany and Montana State. Norfolk State added a crazy buzzer-beater to advance to the MEAC championship, while Middle Tennessee State blew a big lead late in the C-USA semifinals.
W Roundup
Free agency
- Anneli Maley: Signed a training-camp deal with Chicago.
Visit our offseason trackers page to see all the other free agent moves and how they affect team’s caps, other front-office changes, and more — in neat, colorful fashion!
Watch List, Saturday, March 12
(All times in Eastern)
Must-watch
None
Good games
#4 Baylor v. #21 Oklahoma, 1 p.m., ESPN+ — Big 12 semifinal
#7 Texas v. #10 Iowa State, 3:30 p.m., ESPN+ — Big 12 semifinal
#24 Princeton v. Columbia, 5 p.m., ESPNEWS/ESPN+
Also watchable
Jackson State v. Alabama State, 2 p.m., ESPN+ — SWAC championship
Howard v. Norfolk State, 4 p.m., ESPN+ — MEAC championship
SFA v. Grand Canyon, 5 p.m., ESPN+ — WAC championship
Charlotte v. Louisiana Tech, 5:30 p.m., CBSSN — C-USA championship
#23 FGCU v. Jacksonville State, 7 p.m., ESPN+ — ASUN championship
Hawai’i v. UC Irvine, 8 p.m., ESPN+ — Big West championship
Friday, March 11 recap
(All rankings below reflect tournament seeding)
Big 12 tournament, quarterfinals
#1 Baylor beat #9 Oklahoma State, 76-36. The Bears won the first quarter 23-0. Big NaLyssa Smith led with 15 points on 5-for-15 from the field (0-1 3pt.) and 5-for-6 from the line and 10 rebounds for a double-double, plus two steals and two blocks and no turnovers in 28 minutes; center Queen Egbo had a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double on 6-for-12 FG with two steals and five blocks.
The Cowgirls’ season is over.
#2 Iowa State beat #7 West Virginia, 66-60. Point guard Emily Ryan led with 14 points on 5-for-11 shooting (1-3 3pt.), five rebounds, six assists, and four steals against five turnovers while playing all 40; wing Ashley Joens and combo guard Lexi Donarski combined for 27 points on 8-for-32 from the field and 6-for-16 from three, 21 rebounds, five assists, four steals, and six turnovers without either sitting.
The Mountaineers’ season is over.
#3 Texas beat #6 Kansas State, 72-65. The Wildcats outshot the Longhorns by 12.0%, but had 10 fewer attempts from the field and six fewer from the line. Center Lauren Ebo led Texas with a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double on 5-for-7 from the field and 7-for-8 from the line with four offensive boards; point guard Rori Harmon and backup off-ball guard Aaliyah Matharu combined for 31 points (Harmon 5-14 FG, Matharu 5-6 3pt.), eight rebounds, and six assists, with Harmon adding two steals and four turnovers.
The Wildcats should get an at-large bid on Sunday.
#4 Oklahoma beat #5 Kansas, 80-68. Wing Madi Williams came close to a triple-double in only 30 minutes, finishing with 19 points (6-19 FG, 3-9 3pt., 4-8 FT), 11 rebounds, and seven assists, against three turnovers; combo guard Taylor Robertson had 19 points on 6-for-11 from the field and 3-for-7 from three, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals against two turnovers.
The Jayhawks will still go dancing.
Ivy League tournament, semifinals
#1 Princeton beat #4 Harvard, 72-67. The Crimson drew within one point with about 30 seconds remaining. Ivy League Player of the Year wing Abby Meyers led the Tigers with 22 points on 9-for-18 from the field and 4-for-10 from three, seven rebounds, and two steals without a turnover; big Ellie Mitchell notched a double-double with 11 points (5-6 FG) and 16 rebounds (five offensive), plus three steals against two turnovers.
#2 Columbia beat #3 Yale, 67-38.
MAC tournament, semifinals
#2 Buffalo beat #3 Akron, 82-43.
#5 Ball State beat #1 Toledo, 71-66.
MVC tournament, quarterfinals
#1 Southern Illinois best #8 Indiana State, 77-61.
#2 Missouri State beat #7 Drake, 63-49.
#3 Northern Iowa beat #6 Valparaiso, 63-39.
#4 Illinois State beat #5 Loyola-Chicago, 68-52.
Big Sky tournament, championship
#2 Montana State beat #4 Northern Arizona, 75-64, redeeming the 2020 tournament the then-No. 1 Bobcats never got to play. Montana State led by 15 with 12.5 minutes left, but the Lumberjacks then scored 17-straight points to force a Bobcat timeout. Montana State led within a couple minutes after that break.
16 automatic qualifiers down!
America East tournament, championship
#2 Albany beat #1 Maine, 56-47, leading wire-to-wire for the Great Danes’ first conference-tournament title since winning seven-straight between 2012 and 2017. Combo guard Morgan Haney led with 20 points on 6-for-14 shooting (4-5 3pt., 4-6 FT) and three rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench.
17 automatic qualifiers down!
MEAC tournament, semifinals
#2 Norfolk State beat #3 Morgan State, 53-51. The game was tied with 0.9 seconds left, when this happened:
C-USA tournament, semifinals
#1-West* Louisiana Tech beat #1-East* Middle Tennessee State, 80-72. The Raiders had a 96.2% win expectancy with an 11-point lead and less than nine minutes to go, allowed nine-straight Bulldog points, and a few minutes later allowed a 12-0 run to end MTSU’s season.
