NCAA MADNESS UNFOLDING First four in are all surprises
Bradley players celebrate after beating Northern Iowa 57-54 Sunday in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship game in St. Louis. Also earning bids Sunday were Gardner-Webb from the Big South Conference and Liberty from the Atlantic Sun Conference. A night earlier, Murray State claimed the first NCAA bid by upsetting Belmont in the Ohio Valley Conference final.
ST. LOUIS – An imperfect bunch arrived in St. Louis with dreams of saving a flawed season, clinging to visions of March mayhem. Injuries, a rugged nonconference slate and the typical Missouri Valley Conference grind had put Northern Iowa through the wringer this season.
The Panthers came up just short of a magical finish.
Despite an on-brand defensive performance for nearly 30 minutes, UNI couldn’t keep Bradley from storming back. The No. 6 seed Panthers coughed up an 18-point second-half lead and were left wondering what could have been. The Braves escaped Arch Madness with an NCAA tournament berth 57-54 at Enterprise Center.
Bradley’s win marks the largest comeback in MVC tournament title game history. Bradley hadn’t cracked 20 with 17 minutes to go, as UNI constructed a 35-17 advantage. But the Panthers’ defense started to crack as the tension mounted. A game that looked like a rout was suddenly tight in the final minutes.
Down 55-54 with less than 30 seconds to go, the Panthers turned to AJ Green with the game on the line. The stellar freshman poured in a game-high 23 points, but his potential game-winner went long.
Bradley kept the ball after a lengthy review. Two Braves free throws followed. Wyatt Lohaus’ halfcourt heave ricocheted off the backboard.
Bradley ousted co-MVC champion Loyola of Chicago, which lost in the semifinals of last year’s NCAA tournament with Sister Jean, in the semifinals Saturday 53-51.
Atlantic Sun: Liberty didn’t talk about missing the NCAA tournament a year ago on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Instead, junior guard Caleb Homesley wouldn’t let the Flames forget. Scottie James’ layup with 55.8 seconds left put Liberty ahead to stay and the No. 2 seed Flames capped their first season in a new conference by topping top-seeded Lipscomb 74-68 Sunday for the Atlantic Sun Tournament championship and their first NCAA tournament trip since 2013. The win was sweet redemption a year after losing the Big South Conference tournament final at the last second.
Big South: DJ Laster’s best game ensured it wouldn’t be his last. Laster scored a career-high 32 points and Gardner-Webb took command with a first-half run and beat Radford 76-65 Sunday to win the Big South Tournament championship and earn its first trip to the NCAA tournament. “I just knew I had to play hard, needed to play hard,” he said. “I just wanted to leave my legacy on the court, leave it all out there, so I just came with that mind-set from the jump ball.”
Ohio Valley: Murray State earned the first NCAA tournament bid this season, defeating co-regular-season champion Belmont 77-65 Saturday to win the Ohio Valley Conference tournament. AllAmerican point guard Ja Morant carried Murray State (27-4, 16-2 OVC) to the upset. A projected top-three pick in this summer’s NBA draft, Morant finished with 36 points on 13-for-25 shooting from the field. He also went 9-for-9 from the free throw line and scored eight of the Racers’ last 15 points to help put the game away. Belmont (26-5, 16-2) will do a little bit of sweating as a bubble team in the coming week but is expected to get in as an at-large bid given its strong NCAA tournament profile that includes a score of 41 in the NET, the NCAA’s new metric in place of the RPI.