Bonnies' Andrew Nicholson Leads St. Bonaventure to A-10 Championship, NCAA Tourney

College Hoops Player of the Day for Sunday, March 10, 2012

Atlantic-10 Player of the Year Andrew Nicholson's performance in St. Bonaventure's, 67-56 victory over Xavier in the conference championship capped a remarkable season for the 6'9" senior forward from Canada.

Nicholson averaged 18.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, scored 30 or more points five times and recorded eight double-doubles. To go with his game high 26 points in Sunday's win, Nicholson dominated the glass with 14 rebounds, blocked eight shots and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line.

The Bonnies earned an NCAA bid and will face SEC tourney champion Florida State in their opening round game, Friday.

Upsets Rule Selection Sunday: UNC, Kentucky, Xavier Defeated

ACC Final: Florida State 85 North Carolina 82 - Luke Loucks wasn't supposed to outplay Kendall Marshall, UNC's record-breaking point guard, but he did, scoring 10 points with nine assists and six rebounds, en route to Florida State's first ACC tournament championship since joining the conference in 1991. Under coach Leonard Hamilton - who was named ACC coach of the year - the Seminoles split two games with perennial powerhouse Duke and pummeled North Carolina, 90-57, during the regular season, then went out and beat them both in the conference tourney.

The Seminoles beat Duke, 62-59 in the semi-final Saturday, setting up their conquest of the Tar Heels and a potentially high seed (2 or 3) in the upcoming NCAA tourney.

SEC Final: Vanderbilt 71 Kentucky 64 - After losing twice to Kentucky during the regular season, the Commodores of Vanderbilt turned the tables on the Wildcats, winning the SEC tournament for the first time since 1951. Jeffery Taylor led all scorers with 17 points. Festus Ezile and John Jenkins each chipped in with 16 points.

Vandy's and Florida State's wins completed a weekend in which the improbable became reality, as the the four teams most likely to earn number one seeds in the NCAA tournament were defeated in their conference tourneys. On Friday, Kansas was taken to task by Baylor in the Big 12 semis and Syracuse was dumped by Cncinnati in the Big East semi-fianls.

Atlantic-10: St. Bonaventure 67 Xavier 56 - perhaps the most improbable victors of the day were the Bonnies, who knocked off an undisciplined Xavier squad to capture the A-10 championship. The Bonnies won four of their last five regular season games to finish 10-6 in the conference, then beat St. Joseph's, UMass and Xavier to grab its first Atlantic-10 title and the automatic seeding in the NCAA tourney, their first trip to the big dance since 2000. Conference Player of the Year Andrew Nicholson had 26 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocked shots as he dominated the interior.

Conference Tournaments UPDATE afternoon games, 3/9/12

Big Ten: Wisconsin 79 Indiana 71 - The 14th-ranked Badgers took an early lead and were never headed, advancing to a Big Ten semi-final meeting with Michigan State on Saturday. Wisconsin got a career high 30 points from senior Rob Wilson, who was on fire from beyond the arc, making seven of 10 three-pointers. Indiana's Verdell Jones, who left Thursday's game with a knee injury originally described as a sprain by the Hoosier staff, has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL.

ACC: North Carolina State 67 Virginia 64 - Taking a 36-33 lead into the half, NC State played Virginia even in the second stanza to advance in the ACC tourney. The Wolf Pack will face #1 seed North Carolina on Saturday. CJ Leslie led the way with 19 points and 13 boards. The win may be just enough to get NC State into the big dance. Virginia is virtually assured of a spot in the tournament.

Atlantic-10: St. Bonaventure 71 St. Joseph's 68 - Upsets seem to be the order of the day in the A-10, as the Bonnies advance to a semi-final match-up with Massachusetts, Saturday afternoon. 20-13 St. Joseph's may be on the outside looking in, in terms of an NCAA bid.

SEC: Kentucky 60 LSU 51 - The Wildcats were hardly impressive, beating LSU in their first tournament action of the month, though Kentucky did manage to hold the Tigers to 29% shooting. The top-ranked Wildcats were just 1 of 9 from 3-point range and committed 18 turnovers.