Creighton Wins MVC Tourney on Doug McDermott's 33 Points; William Buford Leads Buckeyes to Win, Three-way Tie in Big Ten

College Hoops Player of the Day for Sunday, March 4, 2012

There were two really big games on Sunday that mattered in terms of upcoming seeds n the NCAA tournament. The first was a barn-burner of a Missouri Valley tournament final and the other resulted in a three-way tie for the Big Ten regular season championship.

In St. Louis, #25 Creighton was pushed to overtime by a stubborn Illinois State squad intent on winning their way into the NCAAs. In the end, however, it was the Bluejays chasing off the Redbirds, 83-79 in OT behind likely MVC player of the year, Doug McDermott who paced all scorers with 33 points on 12 of 18 shooting, including three 3-pointers and a perfect 6-for-6 from the line. Creighton's leading scorer also grabbed six rebounds in his 41 minutes of floor time.

Illinois State had knocked off Wichita State on Saturday to get to the final, but fell just short. Creighton takes the automatic bid, while #15 Wichita State will have to be patient for a week to find out where they are seeded.

With a win at home against #10 Ohio State in their final regular season game, the 5th-ranked Michigan State Spartans could have claimed the Big Ten title outright, and the Spartans built a 15-point lead midway through the first half as the Buckeyes struggled to find their marks.

Despite the struggles of their star, Jared Sullinger, who was just 5-for-17 from the field and spent much of the last eight minutes on the bench with four fouls but still finished with a double-double (14 points and 10 rebounds, the Buckeyes never quit and eventually got the go-ahead bucket on a long jumper by William Buford with one second remaining in regulation.

Buford finished with one of his best games of the season, fitting for the only senior on the Ohio State squad, scoring a game-high 25 points on 8 of 14 shooting with three boards, three steals and an assist.

The Spartans had one last fling at the basket as time expired, but the ball never went near the hoop, as Ohio State took the 72-70 decision.

The result tied the Buckeyes with Michigan State and Michigan - who had topped Penn State earlier in the day - for the conference regular season lead, all three teams finishing with identical 13-5 records.

Michigan State will be the top seed in the Big Ten tournament which opens Thursday, with Ohio State #2 and Michigan the #3 seed.

Le'Bryon Nash's Career High 27 Sends Cowboys to 79-72 Win Over #2 Missouri; Tom Izzo Gets 400th Win with Spartans

College Hoops Player of the Day for Wednesday, January 25, 2012

On Monday, the Missouri Tigers learned they were ranked #2 in the nation after topping Baylor on the road, 89-88, and improving to 18-1.

Wednesday night in Stillwater, Oklahoma was another road game, but not a good one for for Missouri as they dropped a 79-72 decision to the motivated Cowboys of Oklahoma State.

Ricardo Ratliffe scored 25 points and had 12 rebounds for Missouri, but it was no match for freshman forward Le'Bryon Nash's career high 27 point outburst.

Nash and his Cowboy teammates survived 16 turnovers by shooting a sizzling 60% (31-52) from the field and nailing 12 of 14 free throws, 10 of those by fellow frosh, Brian Williams, who finished with 22. Nash was 12 of 18 from the floor, including 3-for-4 from 3-point range. He also contributed four rebounds and four assists.

The 10-10 Cowboys were unlikely upsetters, having lost their last three straight, to Baylor, Iowa State and Kansas State. Missouri's loss dropped them into a tie for second place in the Big 12 at 5-2 with Baylor. Everybody in the conference is chasing #5 Kansas, which is 7-0 in the conference and 17-3 overall.

NOTABLE: Mason Plumlee had 23 points and 12 boards as the #8 Duke Blue Devils stomped Maryland, 74-61, in College Park, MD.

IN SEC play, Arnett Moultrie's 28 points and 12 rebounds led #18 Mississippi State to a 76-71 home win over LSU. The Bulldogs are 17-5 on the season.

#12 UNLV needed overtime to slip past Boise State, 77-72, as Mike Moser scored 18 points and dominated the boards, hauling down 21 rebounds. The Runnin' Rebels improved to 19-3 and are second in the Mountain West conference at 3-1, behind 4-0 San Diego State. The Aztecs, ranked 13 nationally, topped the Rebels, 69-67, on January 14.

Michigan State's Tom Izzo recorded his 400th career win as the Spartans' head coach with a 68-52 pasting of Minnesota. Izzo's 10th-ranked Spartans are 17-4 overall and 6-2 in the Big Ten, tied for first place with #4 Ohio State and #20 Michigan.

The national scoring race heated up a bit as the nation's 4th-leading scorer, Doug McDermott led #15 Creighton to a 77-69 win over Drake with a 30-point outburst. McDermott is averaging 23.5 points per game. Albany's Gerardo Suero, 5th, at 21.5 ppg, popped for 25 in Albany's 74-68 win over Binghamton.

The top two scorers in the country, Weber State's Damian Lillard (25.1 ppg) and Grambling State's Quincy Roberts (24.0) were not in action on Wednesday. Grambling State is just 2-15, and Roberts has played in just 10 games this season.

Doug McDermott Leads #23 Creighton to Fifth Straight Win and 15-2 Record

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, January 13, 2012

In limited action, there were just two games involving Top 25 teams Friday night. #24 Seton Hall was stopped at South Florida, 56-55, while #23 Creighton won their fifth in a row, topping Missouri Valley rival, Illinois State, 87-78, behind their sensational sophomore, Doug McDermott.

The 6'7" forward hit 9 of 14 shots from the field to score 20 points, below his average of 24.2, which is second in the country behind Weber State's Damian Lillard (25.8). McDermott, who's been in double figures every game this season, also grabbed nine boards and hit the only 3-point shot he took.

McDermott currently has the high single-game scoring total in Division I this season, pouring in 44 points in a 92-83 win over Bradley on January 9.

The Bluejays are tied for the lead in the Missouri Valley conference standings with Wichita State at 5-1 and are 15-2 overall. The unranked Shockers have run their record to 14-3, pasting Bradley on Friday by a 78-41 score.