Lafayette Grabs Patriot League Title; Anthony "Cat" Barber Pours in 34 as NC State Eliminates Pitt from ACC Tourney

Conference Champions and College Hoops Player of the Day for Wednesday, March 11, 2015

With the Patriot League tournament complete, there are now 12 teams which have qualified for automatic bids to the NCAA tournament, leaving 20 more to be determined by conference tournament championships, and then 32 at-large bids will be awarded on Sunday, March 15, along with four teams designated as "play-ins" for four games slated for Tuesday and Wednesday, March 17 and 18.

Those play-in teams are matched against seeded squads, making the total of 68 teams selected to take part in the annual March Madness ritual.

While many post-season tourneys are in early rounds, they will all be completed by Sunday aftenoon, the Big Ten and SEC among those closing out at the last minute. Tonight featured just one tournament final - the Patriot League - and there won't be another until Saturday, March 14, when a slew of 15 conferences will be decided. That includes the Ivy League, which normally is among the first of the conferences to announce a champion, but, because of a tie in the regular season standings between Yale and Harvard, and the fact that the Ivy doesn't hold a post-season tournament, a one-game playoff is scheduled on the 14th.

Saturday will be a huge day of college hoops action, including the finals of the Big 12, Big East, Big Sky, Conference USA, WAC and ACC.

Patriot League
Lafayette 65 American 63 - Two teams that weren't supposed to be in the Patriot League final decided which would represent the conference in the NCAA tournament. Lafayette finished 9-9 in league play, tied for fourth place, while American went 8-10 in conference play, finishing in a three-way tie for sixth place.

After a slow start, Lafayette took a first half lead and held a comfortable lead most of the way, until the Eagles began to surge midway through the second half, closing the gap and eventually grabbing a lead at 55-53 on Marko Vasic's three-point play with 5:14 remaining. That turned out to be the only second half lead for the Eagles as Seth Hinrichs and Zach Rufer hit back-to-back three-pointers for the Leopards.

American closed to within a point, at 61-60, but Nick Linder, who led all scorers with 25 points, scored four straight points on a layup and a pair of free throws. Pee Wee Gardner's three-pointer at the buzzer closed the gap back to two, but it was too late.

Lafayette heads to the tournament with a respectable record of 20-12.

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Player of the day honors go to Anthony "Cat" Barber who tallied a career-high 34 points to lead North Carolina State to an 81-70 victory over Pitt in their opening game of the ACC tournament.

Barber hit nine of 13 shots from the field, including four of five from three-point range, and nailed all 12 of his free throws. Barber also dished out five assists and gathered in three rebounds.

The win improved the Wolfpack's overall record to 20-12 and puts them in a good position to capture a at-large bid on selection Sunday. NC State went 10-8 through the ACC regular season, including a quality win over Duke, one of just three ACC teams to top the Blue Devils.

Conference Championship Scoreboard

Date/Conf. Champ.	Champion (record, defeated, final score)
March 7
Ohio Valley	Belmont (22-10, Murray State, 88-87)
March 8
Big South	Coastal Carolina (24-9, Winthop, 81-70)
Missouri Valley	Northern Iowa (29-3, Illinois, St., 69-60)
Atlantic Sun	North Florida (23-11, USC Upstate, 63-57)
March 9
Colonial	Northeastern (23-11, William & Mary, 73-61)
Metro Atlantic	Manhattan (19-13, Iona, 79-69)
Southern	Wofford (28-6, Furman, 67-64)
March 10
Horizon	Valparaiso (28-5, Green Bay, 54-44)
Northeast	Robert Morris (19-14, St. Francis BRK, 66-63)
Summit League	N. Dakota St. (23-9, S. Dakota St., 57-56)
West Coast	Gonzaga (33-2, BYU, 91-75)
March 11
Patriot League	Lafayette (20-12, American, 65-63)

NC State Advances on T.J. Warren's 25 Points

College Hoops Player of the Day for Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Day one of the NCAA tournament and already the cream is rising to the top.

T.J. Warren, who led the ACC in scoring this season, popped for 25 points and was nearly unstoppable during the second half, leading North Carolina State to a 74-59 victory over Xavier.

Warren was 10-for-18 from the field and added five rebounds, two assists and three steals as the Wolfpack led nearly all the way and pulled away late. NC State will play the #5 seed from the Midwest region, St. Louis, in the second round on Friday.

In the earlier game at Dayton, Albany topped Mount St. Mary's, 71-64, in a battle of 16 seeds. The Great Danes move on to play #1 Florida in a second round game in the South region, Saturday.

NC State Finishes at 9-9 in ACC after T.J. Warren Explodes for 42 Points vs. BC

College Hoops Player of the Day for Sunday, March 9, 2014

North Carolina State will rest its case before the NCAA tournament committee with a 9-9 mark in the ACC after T.J. Warren scored 42 points to lead the Wolfpack to a 78-68 victory over the Boston College Eagles.

While TVs across America would surely be enhanced having the Wolfpack and Warren flashing in the tourney, it may be a stretch to get them there as they finish the regular season tied with Maryland and Florida State, meaning that nine teams would have to go from the ACC if all teams with at least a .500 record are included. A couple of wins in this week's ACC tourney might do the trick to separate out the deserving from the simply pretending.

Warren, a superb athlete who may be deserving of ACC player of the year honors, was 14-for-23 from the floor and 14-for-17 from the stripe to go with 13 boards, three assists, three steals and a blocked shot.

NC State finished with a 19-12 record overall, which shows better than Maryland's 17-14 or Florida State's 18-12 marks, both of which lost to the Wolfpack earlier in the season.

T.J. Warren Pours in 41 as Wolfpack Devours Panthers, 74-67

College Hoops Player of the Day for Monday, March 2, 2014

The middle of the ACC is still wide open, with as many as four teams vying down the stretch for wins, seeking to qualify for the NCAA tourney.

One such team is NC State, which needed a win over a quality team to make a statement, and the message was delivered as T.J. Warren scored a career-high 41 points to lead his Wolfpack to a 74-67 triumph at the Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh, a very tough place to win.

Warren was sensational, knocking down 16 of 22 shots from the floor, three of five from three-point range and six of seven at the foul line. The 6'8" sophomore, fourth-leading scorer in the nation, added five rebounds, four steals, three assists and a blocked shot to his game resume.

The Wolfpack (18-12, 8-9) closes out the regular season at home, against Boston College.

NC State Tops Wake Forest on T.J. Warren's Career-High 34 Points

College Hoops Player of the Day for Tuesday, February 11, 2014

NC State's T.J. Warren took 26 of his team's 59 shots Tuesday night, but he made 15 of them, propelling the Wolfpack to an 82-67 victory over visiting Wake Forest.

When he wasn't knocking down shots for a career-high 34 points, Warren was swiping the glass clean, snaring 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. His big night included 2-for-3 from three-point range and five offensive boards.

Warren, a 6'8" home-grown sophomore from Durham, NC, leads the Wolfpack in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 23.1 points and 7.4 rebounds. In addition to being the seventh-leading scorer in the country, Warren is the top scorer in the ACC.

The Wolfack improved to 16-8 overall and 6-5 in the conference, though they have no wins against the top ACC teams, already having lost to Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia and Wake Forest. Their win over the Demon Deacons was a step in the right direction, but their next game is at #1 Syracuse on Saturday.

NC State reached the NCAA tourney last season, but they were one-and-done, ousted by Temple, 76-72. A winning record in the conference may not be enough to earn a trip to the big dance this season, especially if the Wolfpack can't produce a win over any of the teams above them in the standings.

Top 25 Watch: #5 San Diego State was upset Tuesday night by Wyoming, 68-62; Wichita State trailed by a point at half time, but shook loose from Southern Illinois for their 26th straight win, 76-67, and a perfect, 12-0 mark in the Missouri Valley conference.

Six games involving ranked teams are on the slate for Wednesday, the most attractive in the ACC. At 7:00 pm ET, top-ranked Syracuse invades Pitt, hoping the #25 Panthers won't upset their undefeated season. At 9:00 pm, North Carolina hosts #8 Duke.

Richard Howell Leads #20 NC State over #1 Duke, 84-76

College Hoops Player of the Day for Saturday, January 12, 2013

And Then there was one.

With Duke's loss to North Carolina State on Saturday, there remains only one team in the country without a loss, the 2nd-ranked Michigan Wolverines, but they must survive a trip to Columbus Ohio on Sunday, where they will play the #15 Ohio State Buckeyes - in order to last through the weekend and into Monday's poll as the presumptive #1 team in the country. Tip time for the Buckeyes and Wolverines is 1:30 pm ET.

Duke's demise came a short bus ride from their home court, at PNC Arena, home to the #20 Wolfpack, sure to rise in the rankings after their 84-76 victory over the previously-unbeaten Blue Devils.

Richard Howell, one of the nation's most accurate shooters, striking the iron at 62.3%, was a beast in the paint, scoring 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting, in addition to hauling down a game high 18 rebounds, six of them on the offensive end.

Besides denying the Blue Devils second opportunities with his board work, Howell also kept Wolfpack possessions alive by battling Mason Plumlee and other Duke rebounders.

Howell, who averages a double-double (12.4 points, 10.6 rebounds), turned in his ninth such performance of the season, helping NC State improve to 14-2, but, more importantly, push the Wolfpack to the top of the ACC standings, at 3-1.

Howell had plenty of help in upending Duke. The team's leading scorer, CJ Leslie, pumped in a game-high 25 points, and NC State's assist leader, Lorenzo Brown, dished 13 times and scored 12 points.

NOTABLE: 19 of the nation's top 25 teams were in action on Saturday, with all of them winning except for the Blue Devils, #8 Minnesota (dumped at #5 Indiana, 88-81), #17 Notre Dame, a 65-58 loser at home to unranked UConn, and 10th-ranked Missouri, finding early trouble in the SEC, falling at Mississippi, 64-49.