d4 eZ M2 the washington post.wednesday, march 11 , 2020
college basketball
They’re going dancing
The teams that have earned an
automatic NCAA tournament berth:menBelmont, 26-7 (ohio Valley)Bradley, 23-11 (Missouri Valley)e. te nnessee st., 30-4 (southern)gonzaga, 31-2 (west Coast)hofstra, 26-8 (Colonial)Liberty, 30-4 (atlantic sun)north Dakota state, 25-8 (summit)northern Kentucky, 23-9 (horizon)Robert Morris, 20-14 (northeast)Utah state, 26-8 (Mountain west)winthrop, 24-10 (Big south)Yale, 23-7 (ivy)WomenBoise state, 24-9 (Mountain west)Connecticut, 29 -3 (american)Dayton, 25-8 (atlantic 10)DePaul, 28-5 (Big east)iUPUi, 23-8 (horizon)Maryland, 28-4 (Big ten)north Carolina state, 28-4 (aCC)oregon, 31-2 (Pac-12)Portland, 21-11 (west Coast)Princeton, 26-1 (ivy)samford, 18-14 (southern)se Missouri st., 25-7 (ohio Valley)south Carolina, 32-1 (seC)south Dakota, 30-2 (summit)BY KAREEM COPELANDEli Pemberton stalked the
court in the final moments of the
Colonial Athletic Association
tournament championship game,
shouting to everyone and no one
at the same time. His wide eyes
scanned Entertainment and
Sports Arena as he dramatically
pointed to the floor with both
hands over and over again.
The message from the Hofstra
senior guard: “We deserve this!
We deserve this!”
Moments later, Pemberton en-
gulfed his mother in a bear hug as
tears streamed down her cheeks.
The top-seeded Pride won its
first CAA tournament title Tues-
day with a 70-61 victory over No. 6
seed Northeastern, earning a
berth in the NCAA tournament
that will end a 19-year drought.
The victory was even sweeter be-
cause the Huskies upset Hofstra
in the 2019 tournament, in which
the Pride was also the No. 1 seed.“You know what song I’ve got in
my head? ‘The Payback’ by James
Brown,” Pemberton said. “It’s sur-
real. I can’t even describe the
feeling. But everything was
earned.”
The hero of the day was Desure
Buie — dubbed “Big Shot Buie” by
Pemberton — who sparked a run
midway through the second half
that allowed the Pride to rally
after it had trailed for much of the
game. Buie, who was named the
tournament’s most outstanding
player, hit a pullup jumper, a
d ribble-drive layup and a pair of
free throws during a 13-5 burst
that flipped a four-point deficit
into a four-point lead with 5:23
remaining. Hofstra never trailed
again.
“He’s built like that,” Pember-
ton said.
Buie finished with a game-high
20 points, and that run-starting
jumper was the beginning of a
27-14 stretch that closed the game.
Pemberton posted 19 points, and
Jalen Ray added 17. Isaac Kante
had nine points and a game-high
15 rebounds.
Hofstra’s most impressive feat
may have been holding North-
eastern guard Jordan Roland to
just 11 points after he led the
league in scoring, averaging 22.2
points.Hofstra had reason for concern
at halftime, when it trailed 30-28
amid a nightmarish performance
on the offensive end.
The highest-scoring team in
the league, the Pride struggled to
put the ball in the hoop through-
out the first half and immediately
fell behind 11-3. Hofstra went into
halftime shooting just 29.4 per-
cent from the field, but it shot
52.2 percent in the second half,
including 54.5 percent from
b ehind the arc.
Northeastern shot it better in
the first 20 minutes (42.9 percent)
and jumped to that eight-point
lead, but things didn’t exactly
come easy for the Huskies, either.
Roland was relegated to a casual
observer for much of the first half
and managed just three points
before halftime. Hofstra chipped
away and took its first lead at
24-21 on a Buie three-pointer
from the top of the arc.
“We came up about 20 minutes
short,” Northeastern Coach Bill
Coen said. “Felt we played a really
strong first half, very competitive
game overall. And these guys
played their heart out. In the end,
I just thought it was a little bit too
much Desure Buie.”
Maxime Boursiquot scored a
team-high 15 points and had nine
rebounds for Northeastern,which was seeking its first back-
to-back NCAA tournament
a ppearances since 1987.
“It’s tough,” Boursiquot said be-
fore taking a long pause. “It’s
called March Madness for a
r eason.”
Instead, Hofstra will make its
first NCAA tournament appear-
ance since it joined the CAA in- The Pride’s previous ap-
pearance came under Jay Wright
in his final season before he
moved on to Villanova.
That played a large part in the
jubilation at Entertainment and
Sports Arena, where a fan sitting
courtside pumped his fists repeat-
edly, and another turned to the
bleachers and let out a scream
toward the crowd. A pair of older
fans danced in the crowd, holding
a flag that read “Roar With Pride”
as the final seconds ticked down.
“It’s euphoric. It’s just euphor-
ic,” Hofstra Coach Joe Mihalich
said. “Champions win champion-
ships. And the guys I’m sitting
next to and the guys in that locker
room, their work ethic, their atti-
tude, their character, they’re all
better people than they are play-
ers. That’s why you win. You win
with good people. Surround your-
self with good people if you want
to be successful.”
[email protected]
Pride gets ‘Payback’ in CAA title game
hofstra 70,
northeastern 61After 19 years, Hofstra
returns to NCAA tourneyASSOCIATED PRESSHaylee Andrews scored 18
points, including her second
straight game-winner in the final
minute, and Portland captured
the West Coast Conference’s auto-
matic bid to the NCAA tourna-
ment for the first time in more
than two decades with a 64-63
overtime win against San Diego
on Tuesday i n Las Vegas.
Andrews, whose floater in the
lane with 3.6 seconds left gave the
fourth-seeded Pilots a 70-69 semi-
final w in over top-seeded Gonzaga
on Monday, didn’t need quite the
same dramatics against the
s econd-seeded Toreros. A ndrews’s
go-ahead layup came with
58.3 seconds left i n overtime.
Alex Fowler added 21 points
and 10 rebounds for the Pilots
(21-11), whose only other WCC
tournament title c ame in 1 994.
San Diego (20-11), which won
both regular season meetings, was
led by Leticia Soares with 16
points a nd 11 rebounds.
l SOUTH DAKOTA 6 3,
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 58:
Hannah Sjerven scored n ine of her
15 points in t he f ourth quarter, a nd
the top-seeded and 17th-ranked
Coyotes (30-2) earned a trip to the
NCAA tournament with a w in over
the second-seeded Jackrabbits
(23-10) in the S ummit League title
game in S ioux Falls, S.D.
The rivals met in t he c hampion-
ship game for the third year in a
row and sixth time overall, with
South Dakota State w inning the
previous five. Last season, South
Dakota became the first Summit
team to earn a n at-large bid.
l IUPUI 51, GREEN BAY 37:
Holly Hoopingarner scored 16
points on 4-for-5 shooting from
three-point r ange, and the Jaguars
(23-8) earned their first NCAA
tournament berth with a w in over
the P hoenix (19-13) in the Horizon
League title game i n Indianapolis.
Green Bay, which was bidding
for its 19th NCAA trip, did not
score i n the fourth quarter.
Two-time league most out-
standing player Macee Williams
added 13 points and nine re-
bounds for IUPUI, which was in
its f irst conference t itle g ame since
the 2017 Summit League tourna-
ment.
l HOWARD 79, SOUTH CAR-
OLINA STATE 72: The seventh-
seeded Bison (16-14) advanced to
the Mid-Eastern Athletic Confer-
ence quarterfinals with a win o ver
the 10th-seeded Lady Bulldogs
(3-26) i n Norfolk.
Jayla Thornton had a team-
high 22 points for Howard, which
will face second-seeded Norfolk
State at 2 p.m. Wednesday.Women’s Roundup
A ndrews guides Pilots
to first crown since 1994
Portland 64,
san diego 63 (ot) ASSOCIATED PRESSD rew Timme scored 17 points,
Filip Petrusev finished with a
d ouble-double, and N o. 2 Gonzaga
beat S aint Mary’s, 84-66, to re-
claim the West Coast Conference
tournament title Tuesday night in
Las Vegas.
The top-seeded Bulldogs (31-2)
won their eighth WCC tourna-
ment title in 1 0 years. Playing in its
23rd straight WCC title game,
Gonzaga raced away from the
Gaels i n the second h alf.
Petrusev finished with 10 p oints
and 14 rebounds to help the Zags
outscore Saint Mary’s 48-22 in the
paint. Joel Ayayi added 17 points.
Jordan Ford finished with 27
points and M alik F itts added 17 f or
the Gaels (26-8), who upset
G onzaga in last year’s t itle game.
l ROBERT MORRIS 7 7,
SAINT FRANCIS (PA.) 67: The
host Colonials used a second-half
surge to beat the Red Flash in the
Northeast Conference title game
in Moon Township, Pa. The victory
qualified Robert Morris (20-14) for
the N CAA tournament f or the f irst
time since 2015.
Dante Treacy scored 18 points
and A J Bramah and Josh W illiams
added 17 for t he top-seeded
C olonials. Saint Francis i s 22-10.
l NORTHERN KENTUCKY
71 , ILLINOIS CHICAGO 62: InIndianapolis, Ty ler S harpe scored
16 points t o lead the Norse (23-9)
past the Flames for their s econd
straight Horizon League tourna-
ment title and another trip to the
NCAA tournament.
Ta rkus Ferguson had 15 points
for I llinois Chicago (18-17).
l NORTH DAKOTA STATE
89, NORTH DAKOTA 5 3: In
Sioux Falls, S.D., V innie Shahid
scored 25 points as the top-seeded
Bison ( 25-8) led from start and
overwhelmed the Fighting Hawks
(15-18) to capture t he Summit
League tournament title and an
automatic NCAA b erth.
l HOWARD 70, SOUTH CAR-
OLINA STATE 63: Charles Wil-
liams scored 2 4 points as the
1 0th-seeded Bison s urprised the
seventh-seeded Bulldogs i n the
first round of the Mid-Eastern
Athletic Conference tournament
in Norfolk.
Kyle Foster scored 1 8 points and
Zion Cousins grabbed 12 rebounds
for Howard (4-28), which w ill p lay
North Carolina A&T, the No. 2
seed, at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Damani Applewhite had 22
points for South Carolina State
(11-18).
l PITTSBURGH 81, WAKE
FOREST 72: Justin Champagnie
scored 31 points as the Panthers
(16-16) t opped the Demon Dea-
cons (13-18) in the opening round
of the ACC tournament in G reens-
boro, N.C.
Pittsburgh advanced t o play
fifth-seeded North Carolina State
in the second round W ednesday.Siena placed on probation
S iena College in Loudonville,
N.Y., was given three years of pro-
bation and a $5,000 fine by the
NCAA for violations found under
former c oach J immy Patsos.
The NCAA found that Patsos
provided impermissible benefits,
including payments to players.
Punishment for the violations va-
cates 46 wins from the final three
seasons Patsos was coach. He re-
signed after the 2017-18 season.
l ACC: Duke freshman V ernon
Carey Jr. was n amed A P p layer a nd
newcomer of the year in the ACC,
and Florida State’s Leonard Ham-
ilton i s the c oach o f the year.
Carey and teammate Tre Jones
were the only unanimous picks to
the AP all-ACC team. They were
joined on the first team by Syra-
cuse’s Elijah Hughes, Notre
Dame’s John Mooney and Louis-
ville’s Jordan Nwora. Virginia’s
Mamadi D iakite was on the sec-
ond team.
Hamilton earned 13 votes for
coach of the year honors. Two-
time reigning coach of the year
To ny Bennett of Virginia earned
the o ther two.
l BIG TEN: Iowa center Luka
Garza is the AP player of the year
in the Big Te n, and Wisconsin’s
Greg Gard i s c oach of t he year.
Maryland’s Jalen Smith joined
Garza on the all-conference first
team, along with Michigan State’s
Cassius Winston, Illinois’ Ayo
D osunmu and Penn State’s Lamar
Stevens. Maryland’s Anthony
Cowan Jr. is on the s econd team.men’s RoundupBulldogs reclaim W CC championship
gonZaga 84,
saint MarY’s 66Jonathan newton/the washington Post
J alen Ray h oists the trophy after Hofstra beat Northeastern to clinch a spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001.BY GENE WANGGREENSBORO, N.C. — One of the
purest blue bloods in men’s col-
lege basketball found itself in
stunningly ignominious circum-
stances Tuesday night.
Yes, that indeed was North
Carolina in the ACC tournament
as the No. 14 seed, penalized as
such for finishing in last place
during the regular season with
its most losses in conference
history.
Never before had the six-time
national champions been rele-
gated to playing on the first day
of the tournament that they have
won 18 times, but injuries, inex-
perience and, at times, inepti-
tude conspired to doom the Ta r
Heels to an opening-round game
against 11th-seeded Virginia
Te ch.
Embracing the oddity of being
the ACC tournament’s prohibi-
tive underdog, at least by virtue
of its r ecord, North C arolina took
the first step toward the improb-
able — winning five games in as
many days — by pulling away in
the second half to throttle the
Hokies, 78-56.
“I told the kids, ‘Let’s play as
hard as we can play, as well as we
can play, and in the end, some-
body may let us stay around and
play another one,’ ” North Caroli-
na Coach Roy Williams said
afterward. “I thought that’s what
we did.”
Any doubt about the outcome
faded amid a 13-0 run in the
second half that swelled the Ta r
Heels’ lead to 68-43 with 5:47 to
play.
Brandon Robinson made all
three of his three-point attempts
in that stretch, and Virginia Te ch
(16-16) never got closer than 19
the rest of the way.
Behind five players scoring in
double figures, with Garrison
Brooks’s 20 points a game high,
North Carolina (14-18) advanced
to face No. 6 seed Syracuse on
Wednesday night.
The Hokies’ season, b arring an
appearance perhaps in the pay-
to-play College Basketball Invita-
tional, ended with the youngest
and smallest team in the ACC
shooting 29 percent, getting out-
rebounded 45-30 and trailing in
points in the paint 32-12 in what
was theoretically a neutral-site
game.
But enthusiastic fans turned
the lower bowl of Greensboro
Coliseum into a sea of Carolina
blue, with one side chanting
“Tar!” and the other “Heels!” —
turning the showdown less than
60 miles from Chapel H ill i nto an
atmosphere more closely resem-
bling that of a Ta r Heels home
game.
“It felt like being in the Smith
Center in there tonight,” Hokies
Coach Mike Young said.
The decibel level peaked in t he
first half when Armando Bacot
finished a two-handed dunk off a
pass from Leaky Black with less
than six minutes to play. The
basket provided North Carolina
a 28-18 lead, its largest of the
half, on its way to a 32-26
advantage going into the locker
room.
Virginia Te ch did well to keep
the margin within reach despite
missing its first five three-point-
ers.
It also played with a signifi-
cant height disparity, a common
theme for the Hokies, whose
signature win came in the first
month of the season.
That 71-66 victory in Maui
over Michigan State, which was
then ranked No. 3, had the
Hokies faithful thinking about a
fourth straight NCAA tourna-
ment berth, which would have
extended a program record that
former coach Buzz Williams es-
tablished before d eparting for
Te xas A&M.
But the Hokies were never
able to recapture the momentum
that accompanied opening the
season with five consecutive
wins.
“There will be better days
ahead for the Hokies,” Young s aid
following his program’s worst
loss in its ACC tournament histo-
ry. “I can assure you of that.”
Still, the reality of playing an
ACC schedule with the third-
youngest roster in Division I
yielded a litany of lopsided re-
sults, including a 65-39 loss to
rival Virginia in January.
The Hokies were on the wrong
end of other noncompetitive
scores, such as a 76-57 loss to
Georgia Tech, a 88-64 throttling
from Duke and a 68-52 defeat to
Louisville — the last two to
opponents that finished in the
top four in the conference to
secure double byes into Thurs-
day’s quarterfinals.
The Ta r Heels aspire to be
there as well despite enduring
losing streaks of five and seven
games during the regular season
this year.
One of the losses during the
five-game skid was a 79-77
d ouble-overtime defeat against
Virginia Te ch in Blacksburg on
Jan. 22. North Carolina’s starting
point guard, Cole Anthony, was
out at the time while recovering
from an arthroscopic procedure
to repair a torn meniscus in his
right knee.
The highly touted freshman
had 10 points, eight rebounds,
four assists and four turnovers
Tuesday in his first ACC tourna-
ment game.
“Having Cole in the game
makes me a lot better coach,”
Williams said. “He didn’t have
one of his great games. He’s 4 for
4 on assists-to-error ratio, but he
was the man in charge out there.
He was the guy that put us where
we needed to be and made some
shots.
“We need him to play better
tomorrow.”
[email protected]A lost season continues:
Tar Heels claim opener
north Carolina 78,
Virginia teCh 56