The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Colson, Notre Dame advance past Pitt
Irish forward plays 33 minutes in third game since return.
Bonzie Colson arrived at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament ready to play as much as Notre Dame needs him this week in Brooklyn, N.Y. The broken left foot that cost him 15 games this season is no longer an issue.
The Fighting Irish needed Colson more than expected Tuesday against a Pittsburgh team that finished 0-19 against ACC opponents.
Colson scored 19 points in 33 minutes, and Notre Dame held off Pitt 67-64 in its tournament opener.
“The foot is healed. It’s fine,” said Colson. “And today we knew it was going to be a grind. We knew it was going to come down to game situations, and we’ve been through a lot of those this year.”
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, who earned his 500th victory, said there are no restrictions on Colson.
“No, he’s ready to roll,” Brey said. “Hey, I’m going to get my money’s worth out of his eligibility.”
The 10th-seeded Irish (19-13) play seventh-seeded Virginia Tech today.
Colson broke his foot in practice one game into the ACC season, and the Irish went 6-9 without him. He returned last week to play the final two games of the regular season. Against Pitt, the preseason All-American finished 5 for 14 from the field and grabbed six rebounds.
Notre Dame never could put Pitt away, shooting 4 for 24 from the field in the second half.
The Irish improved to 13-4 with Colson in the lineup and are hoping a good showing here at the Barclays Center, where they are now 8-1, will convince the NCAA Tournament selection committee they deserve a spot in the field of 68.
Boston College 87, Georgia Tech 77: Ky Bowman had 26 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to lead the Golden Eagles past the Yellow Jackets in the ACC Tournament opener.
The 12th-seeded Eagles (1814) advance to play No. 5 seed North Carolina State today.
Tadric Jackson had 23 of his 29 points in the second half for the 13th-seeded Yellow Jackets (13-19). Ben Lammers added 18 points.
Syracuse 73, Wake Forest 64: Freshman forward Marek Dolezaj scored a career-high 20 points, and the Orange (20-12) won an ACC Tournament game for the first time.
Bryant Crawford scored 22 points for the Demon Deacons (11-20).
LIU Brooklyn 71, Wagner 61: Joel Hernandez had 32 points and seven rebounds, and the fourth-seeded Blackbirds (18-16) shocked the topseeded Seahawks (23-9) to win the Northeast Conference Tournament title and earn their first NCAA Tournament bid in five years.
College of Charleston 83, Northeastern 76 (OT): Joe Chealey had 32 points, and the Cougars (26-7) rallied from 17 points down in the second half to win the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament championship and earn their first NCAA Tournament berth in 19 years in North Charleston, S.C.
Vasa Pusica had 30 points to lead the Huskies (23-10).
Wright State 74, Cleveland State 57: Grant Benzinger had 19 points and nine rebounds to help the second-seeded Raiders (25-9) beat the eighth-seeded Vikings (12-23) to win the Horizon League Tournament title and earn an NCAA Tournament bid.
The Raiders (25-9) will play in college basketball’s showcase for the third time in school history and the first since 2007.
Selection Sunday: The 68 teams in the NCAA Tournament will be revealed in the first 10 minutes of the selection show Sunday, and then the brackets and pairings will be unveiled one region at a time.
CBS and Turner announced the tweak to the selection show format Tuesday. The show will be aired on TBS for the first time since CBS and Turner Sports began partnering on NCAA Tournament coverage in 2011.
CBS and Turner executives said Tuesday the entire bracket will be revealed within the first 45 minutes. The new twist comes in the first 10 minutes when first the automatic bids will be announced in alphabetical order by conference. Then at-large selections will be revealed in alphabetical order by team.