Mon, 04/08/2013 - 11:59pm — Anonymous

The Louisville men’s basketball team claimed its third national championship, beating Michigan, 82-76, Monday night in the NCAA title game in Atlanta.

Rick Pitino’s team came back from a one-point deficit at the half to out-score the Wolverines, 45-38, in the final 20 minutes. It was the second national title for Pitino, who was inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame earlier in the day, and the first championship for Louisville since 1986.

Luke Hancock led the way for the Cardinals, netting 22 points, going 5-for-5 on three-pointers. Louisville guard Peyton Siva (18 points) and Chane Behanan (15) also contributed for the tournament’s No. 1 seed. The performances helped Pitino’s club overcome a poor outing from guard Russ Smith, who made just three of his 16 shots from the floor.

Michigan got an outstanding performance from its All-American Trey Burke, who scored 24 points while going 7-for-11 from the field. Spike Albrecht help key the early momentum for the Wolverines, making four three-pointers before intermission.

Louisville trailed by as much as 12 points late in the first half.

For a complete recap, click here.

Blog Author: 
WEEI
Tue, 03/26/2013 - 6:34am — Anonymous

According to multiple reports, Boston University will introduce NHL assistant coach David Quinn, a former BU player and assistant coach, on Tuesday as successor to Jack Parker.

Quinn, an Avalanche assistant, is a native of Cranston, R.I., who played at BU from 1984-87 and was a first-round draft pick of the Minnesota North Stars. He had to retire from the game in 1987 after being diagnosed with a rare blood disorder, but he returned four years later and played minor league hockey for two seasons.

Quinn, 46, went on to serve as an assistant coach at Northeastern and Nebraska-Omaha before joining USA Hockey and eventually serving as head coach of the U.S. National Under-17 team.

He was an assistant under Parker from 2004-09, ending his run at BU with a national title. Quinn left the Terriers to become a head coach with AHL Lake Erie. He joined the Avalanche staff last year.

Blog Author: 
Jerry Spar
Mon, 03/25/2013 - 10:28am — Anonymous

Boston College received a 2 seed in the East Regional and will open NCAA tournament play against third-seeded Union on Saturday at 9 p.m. at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence.

The Eagles (22-11-4), coming off an upset loss to Boston University in the Hockey East tournament semifinals, are making their 14th postseason appearance in the last 16 years and 32nd overall. BC has won three NCAA titles in the last five years, including last year.

Quinnipiac, the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed, will play fourth-seeded Canisius in the first East Regional semifinal, scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m.

In the Northeast Regional at Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H., top-seeded UMass-Lowell plays Wisconsin on Friday at 4:30 p.m., followed by a game between second-seeded New Hampshire and Denver.

The other New England team in the tournament is Yale, which was sent to the West Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich., to play top-seeded Minnesota on Friday at 2 p.m.

The Frozen Four is April 11-13 in Pittsburgh.

Blog Author: 
Jerry Spar
Sat, 03/23/2013 - 8:39pm — Anonymous

Mark Lyons scored 27 points and helped Arizona jump out to a 30-9 lead en route to a 74-51 victory over Harvard on Saturday in Salt Lake City, ending the Crimson’s stay in the NCAA tournament.

Harvard, coming off Thursday’s upset of third-seeded New Mexico in which the Crimson led the majority of the game, missed 20 of its first 22 shots against the Wildcats and never got closer than 14 after Arizona’s early run. Kenyatta Smith scored 10 points to lead the 14th-seeded Crimson, who end their season at 20-10.

Solomon Hill contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds for sixth-seeded Arizona (27-7), which advances to play the winner of Sunday’s game between Ohio State and Iowa State.

Blog Author: 
Jerry Spar
Fri, 03/22/2013 - 12:35am — Anonymous

A year after making its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1946, Harvard won its first NCAA tournament game ever, a shocking 68-62 upset of third-seeded New Mexico on Thursday night in Salt Lake City.

Wesley Saunders scored 18 points, Laurent Rivard netted 17 — hitting 5-of-9 3-pointers — and the 14th-seeded Crimson held their own down low against the bigger Lobos.

Harvard (20-9) advances to play Saturday against sixth-seeded Arizona, which knocked off Belmont in an earlier game.

“I’m exceptionally proud of our guys,” coach Tommy Amaker said in a televised on-court interview right after the monumental win. “They had to believe. We talked about preparation, we talked about passion, we talked about belief. We battled a really good basketball team in a tough environment. I’m very proud of our guys.”

The Crimson led most of the game. New Mexico (29-6), which scored just two points over the game’s first seven-plus minutes, fought back and led by two points with just under eight minutes left after a 3-pointer by Jamal Fenton.

But Harvard had the answer, pushing out to an eight-point lead, 63-55, after a jumper from freshman point guard Siyani Chambers with just over two minutes left. New Mexico never got closer than four points the rest of the way.

Alex Kirk, a 7-foot sophomore, scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the way for New Mexico.

Blog Author: 
Jerry Spar
Wed, 03/20/2013 - 9:52pm — Anonymous

Anthony Jackson and Dave Coley scored 20 points apiece to lead Stony Brook to a 71-58 victory over UMass in the opening round of the NIT on Wednesday night in Amherst.

Freddie Riley scored 16 points for second-seeded UMass (21-12), which reached the NIT semifinals last year.

Seventh-seeded Stony Brook (25-7) advances to play at Iowa on Friday night.

In an NIT game in Providence, Bryce Cotton scored 25 points to lead the Friars past Charlotte, 75-66.

Vincent Council had 16 points, six assists and five rebounds for fourth-seeded Providence (18-14), and he scored eight straight points in the second half to turn a two-point deficit into a six-point lead. Kris Dunn contributed 14 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four steals.

E. Victor Nickerson scored 14 points for fifth-seeded Charlotte (21-12).

Providence advances to host eighth-seeded Robert Morris, which knocked off top-seeded Kentucky on Tuesday night. That second-round game will be either Sunday or Monday.

Blog Author: 
Jerry Spar
Wed, 03/20/2013 - 12:33pm — Anonymous

BC senior forward Steven Whitney has won the 61st Walter Brown Award, given annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England.

Whitney beat out Eric Hartzell of Quinnipiac and his BC teammate, Johnny Gaudreau, for the honor. He is the 19th BC player to earn the award, the most recent Eagle to win it being goalie John Muse in 2011. BC head coach Jerry York and associate head coach Greg Brown also received the award, in 1967 and 1990.

Whitney leads Hockey East with 25 goals this year and ranks second, after Gaudreau, with a career-high 43 points. His six game-winning goals and 0.69 goals per game rate both rank second in the country.

A native of Reading and a graduate of Lawrence Academy, Whitney has 126 points over 158 career games at BC.

Blog Author: 
Annie Maroon
Wed, 03/20/2013 - 6:36am — Anonymous

Levi Randolph scored nine of his 13 points during a 22-0 second-half run as Alabama pulled away from Northeastern en route to a 62-43 victory in the opening round of the NIT on Tuesday night in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The eighth-seeded Huskies, as they did in their two CAA tournament games, got off to a slow start, trailing 17-3, but fought back, closing to within a point at 28-27 early in the second half. That’s when top-seeded Alabama responded, holding NU scoreless for over nine minutes while running off 22 straight. Northeastern finished with its season low in points.

Jonathan Lee led NU (20-13) with 13 points. The Huskies played without leading scorer Joel Smith, who was injured in the league tournament.

In other postseason action Tuesday, Boston University’s Dom Morris scored a game-high 17 points, but the Terriers fell at Loyola (Md.), 70-63, in the CollegeInsider.com tournament.

Blog Author: 
Jerry Spar
Tue, 03/19/2013 - 8:43pm — Anonymous

One week after being named ACC Freshman of the Year by the league’s media, Boston College guard Olivier Hanlan was named Rookie of the Year by the league’s coaches.

Hanlan averaged 15.4 points per game, ranking him fifth in the ACC. He scored an ACC freshman record 41 points in BC’s ACC tournament victory over Georgia Tech on Thursday.

Miami won the league’s other three awards announced Tuesday: Player of the Year for Shane Larkin, Defensive Player of the Year for Durand Scott and Coach of the Year for Jim Larranaga.

Hanlan was a unanimous choice on the coaches’ All-ACC Freshman team, while teammate Ryan Anderson was named All-ACC third team.

Blog Author: 
Jerry Spar
Sun, 03/17/2013 - 9:40pm — Anonymous

Harvard is the only New England team in the NCAA tournament, but the region is well-represented in the NIT, as Northeastern, UMass and Providence accepted bids to the 32-team tournament Sunday night.

Northeastern (20-12) was an automatic qualifier as the regular-season winner of the Colonial Athletic Association. NU is an 8 seed and will play at No. 1 seed Alabama on Tuesday at 9 p.m. Alabama (21-12) tied for the third-best record in the Southeastern Conference. The winner moves on to meet the survivor of a game between Stanford and Stephen F. Austin.

UMass (21-11) finished fifth in the Atlantic 10, a conference that had four teams receive NCAA tournament invitations. The Minutemen, who reached the NIT final four last season, are a 2 seed and will open play Wednesday night (7:15) in Amherst against Stony Brook. The Seawolves (24-7) were the regular-season champions of the America East. The winner gets Iowa or Indiana State.

Providence (17-14), which tied for ninth in the Big East, is a 4 seed and will host fifth-seeded Charlotte on Wednesday night (7:15). Charlotte (21-11) was eighth in the Atlantic 10. The winner advances to play No. 1 seed Kentucky or Robert Morris.

The NIT’s other top seeds are Virginia and Southern Mississippi.

Boston University (17-12) accepted a bid to the CollegeInsider.com tournament last week. The Terriers will visit Loyola (Md.) in the opening round on Tuesday night (7:30).

Blog Author: 
Jerry Spar