My Top Ten College Basketball Games of 2012 As Seen In Person

Sometimes, you need to get out of the house and just take a drive.  Such was the case Saturday night.  After staying indoors much of the day, I got stir crazy and went out for a bit.  I was supposed to have plans with a friend as well, but they fell through.  The bright side was that it forced me out of the house for a little while.  I got coffee to keep me going so I could write most of this article, money for Sunday's activities and gas for the car.  There's a bright side to everything, even failed plans.

What transpired Saturday night was that it also got me thinking on my year in review.  I had seen about sixty Division I and Division III men's and women's games in the calendar year of 2012.   I got to see several good NCAA Tournament men's teams in VCU, Iona and LIU.  I got to see the #1 women's team in the country, Stanford, play recently against a very gutty #19 South Carolina.  I saw many talented players, two of which ended up in the NBA; Kent Bazemore and Scott Machado.  Finally, I saw many exciting games and ten of them have made my Top Ten Games of 2012, one of which was a late year addition.  I also note some unique things I remember about each game.

Number 10 - St. Peter's vs. Iona -  The Gaels' Leave an Indelible Mark - I know what you're saying, what is a thirty seven point win doing in my Top Ten? Well, it's for the very simple fact that Iona went on a 31-0 run in the second half to turn a close seven point game into a blowout.  It was one of the most awesome displays by one team I had ever seen in a game.  Perhaps the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee was impressed too, as the Gaels eventually got an at large bid to the Big Dance.

What I always will love and now will miss about Iona games since I am now in South Carolina for the most part, is the Iona pep band.  They are an old school band.  They are the only pep band I know that plays Steely Dan's "Peg", a bouncy version of the theme song from "I Dream of Jeannie" and several Earth Wind and Fire songs, which are excellent songs for pep bands.

Number  9 - Iona vs. Manhattan - The Gaels Gain Revenge on the Jaspers - It was the final game of a Hofstra themed tripleheader, culminating at a raucous Draddy Gymnasium.  The Gaels were trying to extract revenge for the Jaspers' amazing come from behind rally at the Hynes Center earlier in the season. Iona would pull away for a convincing 81-71 win that wasn't even that close as the final score indicated.  But the atmosphere and a close first twenty minutes made the evening fun.

That night leaves several indelible memories.  First, you always have to be at Draddy early for a game, otherwise you will end parking in another state.  Thus was the case that night.  Second, the truly bizarre configuration of Draddy resulted in the only game I had ever had a partial, obstructed view of a basketball game.  Third, my little trouper of a color analyst, my now seven year old son Matthew making it through three games on the day.  He was still very much into watching basketball at Draddy that night and was bothered that he didn't have a full view of the game.  That folks is a basketball fan.

Number 8 - Stanford vs. South Carolina Women's Basketball Game - The Cardinal Withstand the Gamecocks in a NCAA Women's Tournament Quality Game - This is the only game from the 2012-13 season that has made my 2012 Top Ten and it was a dandy.  Imagine the 2010 Butler vs. Duke national championship men's game played as a women's game. It was a physical defensive struggle and the South Carolina fans made it a great atmosphere.

Here's the kicker.  It was the second game of a twin bill with the men's game vs. Appalachian State as the first game.  There was a late arriving crowd for the women's game.  How cool is that?  Dawn Staley has slowly but surely built a strong program in Columbia.  And once Frank Martin builds his program at South Carolina, the fans will be there for the men's game too.

Number 7 - Maine vs. Stony Brook - Seawolves win the Regular Season America East Championship - Perhaps the Black Bears-Seawolves game didn't have as large of a crowd of either number 9 or number 8 on my list, but it was still a sold out Pritchard Gym on Senior Day and the game had more meaning than those two games because a conference championship was on the line.  Plus it had a national TV audience thanks to CBS Sports Network.  Seeing the Seawolves win in front of their home crowd and hoist the regular season championship trophy in front of their fans made it extra special.

One of the things I most remember about this game is that legendary broadcaster Don Criqui broadcasted this game.  If you know your basketball from the seventies and eighties, Criqui broadcasted many college basketball games for NBC on Saturdays.  Heck, I remember fondly Syracuse's Roosevelt Bowie, Louis Orr and Don Criqui.  CBS gave the Stony Brook game a very cool retro feel with Criqui there.

Number 6 - Loyola Md vs. Fairfield - In the MAAC, It's Never Over Til It's Over Part Deux -  This game is memorable for me for several reasons- One, I got to go to Frank Pepe's before the game. Two, you had the Evil Black Curtain.  Three, you had a great rally by the Greyhounds late to knock off the Stags on their home court twenty four hours after Manhattan rallied to take down Iona in New Rochelle.  And finally,you had one Jimmy Patsos, quite possibly the craziest cat to coach Division I men's college basketball.  It made for a truly entertaining night in a contest that was televised to a national audience, even if only 2,000 people showed up for the game live.

I will always remember the end of the game.  After Loyola wins, Patsos is so fired up, he's yelling at the Loyola fans. He yanks his tie off and tries to throw into the Greyhounds fan section behind the Loyola bench.  The problem is the tie doesn't go very far.  Doesn't stop Patsos.  He goes behind the bench, picks up the tie, puts it around a Loyola fan and then gives him a hug.  It was a huge win for Loyola, which eventually made the NCAA Tournament by winning the MAAC Tournament.

Number 5 - LIU Brooklyn vs. Wagner - This Isn't Your Father's NEC -  A nationally televised NEC game.  First place in the Northeast Conference on the line.  The defending NEC champs, LIU vs. Team Hurley.  A sold out Spiro Center. Yes, sign me up for that please.  Dandy of a game too as the Blackbirds held off the Seahawks to win.  I truly believe it was the springboard for the eventual second straight NCAA Tournament appearance for LIU Brookyn.

There were several things that stood out at Spiro. First they have a basketball club called the College Hardwood.  How awesome is that!  Second, the Wagner student section did a terrific job that night.  Third, the PA system didn't do such a good job.  It was waaaaaay too loud and the game so needed a pep band there.  Pep band music > Canned music every time.  More schools should take after LaSalle.  The pep band plays the entire night.  No canned music (at least that's what it was at Gola Arena back in December 2005 when I was there for a Hofstra-LaSalle game).

Number 4 - UMass vs. Drexel NIT Quarterfinals - Minutemen Rally to Take Down the Dragons at the DAC - There is nothing like a sold out DAC for a basketball game.  Drexel looked like they were going to again show the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee that they truly messed up by not taking the Dragons, as they went out to a seventeen point second half lead.  But the Minutemen rallied to give the Dragons their first home loss of the season.  It was one hell of a game.

It was memorable for several reasons.  First, obviously a huge UMass comeback down seventeen in the second half that stunned the home Drexel crowd.  Second, it was the night I found out that I didn't get a job in Colorado, which actually worked out better for me.  Third, how often do you get a parking spot literally right in front of the arena?  Yup that was the night.

Number 3 - Manhattan vs. Iona - It's Never Over Till It's Over in the MAAC -  One of the wildest games of the regular season.  The Gaels leading at home in the Hynes Center by seventeen points with seven minutes left.  Manhattan rallies late and hits a three pointer at the buzzer to win.  It was surreal.

This Jaspers-Gaels classic was unfortunately a foreshadow of a problem that Iona would have throughout the season, blowing huge leads.  The Gaels would do this again at Siena later in the regular season.  Finally, Iona blew a huge lead in their first round play in game against BYU.   The sense of "I have seen this before" dread watching the Cougars rally in the second half against the Gaels started from this game against the Jaspers.

Number 2 -  Georgia State vs. George Mason - Byron Allen's Game Winning Shot in CAA Quarterfinals -  You had your classic CAA knockdown rockfight with the Panthers and the Patriots. Georgia State rallies late to tie the game, only to lose in heartbreak fashion with Allen's basket with 3.4 seconds left, which I captured on video from my seat on press row.

What I will always, always remember is Panthers' Head Coach Ron Hunter's emotional post game press conference.  It was truly honest, raw and heartbreaking.  It's a shame that Ron Hunter was only in the CAA a couple of years (Georgia State leaves for the Sun Belt after this season).  I got to meet with him after the press conference and he is genuine, funny and was really kind to Jerry Beach and me. He even joked with us about the IUPUI - Hofstra CBI game seen by only 952 people.  Class act.

Number 1 -  George Mason vs. VCU - The Patriots Stage a Near Impossible Comeback But Fall Short  -  In the second game of the CAA Semifinals, VCU rolls out to a 22-0 lead, then actually extends it to 32-4.  The sold out "neutral" Richmond Coliseum crowd was DEAFENING.  It looks like George Mason is going to be blown out of the building.

But the Patriots didn't fold up their tent.  They actually whittle that twenty eight point lead down to six with three minutes left before eventually losing by ten 74-64.  Yes, there were closer games than this in the countdown.  But considering the raucous "neutral" crowd (yes there were a good number of Mason fans, but it was mostly a pro VCU crowd) and the huge deficit, what George Mason did was nothing less than heroic

What I will always remember is the perspective you get sitting on the court.  I had been going to the CAA Tournament for years starting in the 2002-03 season.  Until this past March, I always sat in the stands.  This time, I was on press row.  You truly don't have an appreciation of how loud a sold out crowd in Richmond Coliseum is until you are on the court.  It was truly an incredible atmosphere.  It was also the last time I would see in person VCU in the CAA.

2012 was a great season college hoops wise.  May 2013 be just as good for all college hoops fans everywhere.  Happy New Year!

Gamecocks Twin Bill (Recap of Appalachian St v. USC men's game &Stanford v. USC women's game)

With all that's happened the past four months, I have been more clueless than I normally am (ask my wife). I knew that the South Carolina men's basketball team had a 5:00 PM game yesterday. I was curious about the start time and I figured since they had the Saturday evening game at the Barclays Center vs. Manhattan, they decided on an early time for the game.

Of course, I had no idea until Ian McCormick, the ubiquitous writer for Mid Majority and my seat mate for last night's twin bill, told me that the #19 ranked USC women's team was hosting #1 Stanford in the second game of the doubleheader at 7:30 PM. Doubleheader? It doesn't say that on the ticket (and it doesn't). Well, I wasn't going to pass up watching the second game as well.

In the first game, the men's team faced a Mountaineers team that so far this season had won just one game vs. a Division I team (UMKC). However, with the exception of the Jacksonville game, the Gamecocks have struggled to a 4-2 home record going into last night's game. And last night turned out to be no exception.

Before the game started, Frank Martin came onto the court with a microphone talking about the tragedy in Newtown and imploring our country's leaders to find a solution so that this never occurs again.  He then led the crowd in a moment of silence.  Later on, before the women's game, Dawn Staley also did the same thing.

Early on, it looked like South Carolina was going to blow Appalachian State out of the arena. R.J. Slawson, seldom a scoring threat, scored five of the first seven Gamecocks' points. Then Eric Smith scored four straight points. South Carolina was out to an early 11-2 lead.

But the Gamecocks' couldn't extend the lead. The Mountaineers continued to hang around keeping the score within single digits. After a Mindaugas Kacinas basket finally put the Gamecocks up by double digits, 29-18 with six and a half minutes left, Appalachian State called a thirty second timeout.

Whatever was said during those thirty seconds by head coach Jason Capel apparently resonated with the Mountaineers' players. Appalachian State went on a 17-5 run over the next six minutes. Tevin Baskin and Jay Canty, a transfer from Xavier who scored 29 points vs. Missouri, scored thirteen of the seventeen Mountaineers' points. A Canty jumper put Appalachian State in the lead for the first time in the game 35-34. But Bruce Ellington buried a three pointer and South Carolina entered the locker room at the half up 37-35.

South Carolina shot fifty percent from the floor in the first half, but so did Appalachian State from two point field goal range. The only thing that kept the Mountaineers from leading at halftime was that they were shooting 0 of 6 from three point range as opposed to the Gamecocks 4 of 9 from beyond the arc.

In the second half, Appalachian State regained the lead as Mike Neal scored five straight points, including the Mountaineers' first three pointer of the game.  The Mountaineers were up 40-37 and the partisan Gamecocks' crowd was getting restless.

But behind crowd favorite Bruce Ellington, South Carolina responded with a 15-5 spurt over the next five minutes to jump back out in front 52-45.  Ellington had five points in that spurt.  This would be Ellington's last game until after the Outback Bowl on January 1st.

Appalachian State once again responded with a 9-2 spurt as Neal, Jamaal Trice and Tab Hamilton each scored three points to tie the game at 54 with a little less than seven and a half minutes left.  Again, the crowd grew restless with South Carolina's play.  Once again, the fans would be seeing another close home game.

Then Lakeem Jackson and LaShay Page took it upon themselves to put South Carolina ahead to stay.  Jackson and Page combined to score the next eleven Gamecocks' points.  After Mindaugas Kacinas capped the 13-4 spurt with a jumper, South Carolina was ahead 67-58 with two and a half minutes left in the game.

However, Appalachian State was not going down without a fight.  The Mountaineers started whittling away the Gamecocks' lead.  After Jackson was called for an inbounds violation, Canty tipped in a Neal miss and Appalachian State was down two, 71-69 with twenty two seconds left in the game.

The Mountaineers fouled Smith.  With a chance to go up two possessions, Smith only hit one of two free throws.  Appalachian State had a chance to tie but Nathan Healy's three pointer missed and Page sealed the game with two free throws.  South Carolina held on for a 74-69 win.

Jackson led the Gamecocks with sixteen points, Kacinas added twelve points and three blocks and Brenton Williams had a "quiet' eleven points.  Smith had a very solid game with nine assists and only two turnovers. Canty, Neal and Baskin each had sixteen points for the Mountaineers.

The crowd started filling up at the end of the men's game and during intermission.  It was clear that the women's game was the big game of the night.  The #1 ranked Cardinal playing on the home court of the #19 ranked Gamecocks.

Dawn Staley, an Olympian and considered one of the fifteen greatest women's basketball players of all time, took over as head coach of the South Carolina women's team in 2008. Previously, she had been the head coach of Temple, where she led the Owls to six NCAA Tournament appearances in eight years.  The Gamecocks improved in each of their first four seasons under Staley, including last season's 25-10 record which included a NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance.

Staley's Gamecocks came into the game undefeated at 10-0. They are an excellent defensive team; first in the SEC in scoring defense, allowing only forty five points per game, first in field goal percentage defense at 31.8 percent and first in rebounding margin at +16.8 per game.

Meanwhile the Cardinal came in as the top scoring team in the PAC 12 at seventy eight points per game, shooting 51.8 percent from the field, also tops in the PAC 12. Stanford also can play defense, first in the PAC 12 at 31.6 percent field goal percentage defense and second in the PAC 12 in rebounding margin at +14.6 rebounds per game.

By the time the game started, the crowd at Colonial Life Arena had filled in.  Next to the men's game vs. Clemson, it was the largest crowd I had seen at Colonial life this season.  And the 8,118 fans in attendance were fully invested in the game from start till finish.

It was clear early on that this was going to be a physical, defensive game and the pace clearly favored the Gamecocks.  Stanford' height advantage affected the Gamecocks' offense as they struggled to get shots off against the Cardinal.  Stanford would have eleven blocks on the game. But on defense, the quicker Gamecocks swarmed all over the Cardinal players, especially around the paint, forcing numerous Stanford turnovers.

At the under twelve minute media timeout, the score was only 8-5 Stanford.   South Carolina didn't score their third basket until nine minutes left in the first half.  The Cardinal then went scoreless for five minutes which allowed the Gamecocks to briefly take a one point lead, 15-14 on a jumper by Tiffany Mitchell.

The Cardinal responded with an 8-2 spurt and held the Gamecocks to one basket over the next five minutes.  Chiney Ogwumike scored six straight points in that spurt.   Stanford would enter halftime leading 25-19. Considering South Carolina missed on a lot of good first half scoring opportunities and were only down six to the #1 ranked team in the country, the Gamecocks were in good shape.

During halftime, I learned something new.  Part of the halftime festivities during women's home games is Cocky bringing a large group of kids onto the court and leading them in the Chicken Dance. Members of the band joined and even some adults.  It was pretty humorous.

The second half saw South Carolina hold Stanford to one of six shooting in the first four plus minutes. This resulted in the Gamecocks cutting the lead to one point, 26-25 with fifteen and a half minutes left.
But Ogwumike, Amber Orrange and Toni Kokenis would score the Cardinal's next fourteen points and Stanford would continue to lead 40-39 with about five minutes left.

However, off a timeout,  Ieasia Walker would hit a three pointer to put South Carolina in the lead for the first time since four minutes left in the first half.  The Colonial Life Arena erupted and Stanford was now officially on the ropes as the Gamecocks led 42-40 with four and a half minutes left in the game.

After Orrange tied the game at forty two, Sancheon White gave South Carolina the lead back with a jumper.  But a three point play by Ogwumike put Stanford back up 45-44 with two minutes left.  The teams were going back and forth with the leads.  Ian and I were witnessing the best game we had seen all year so far.  It was certainly the most electric a Colonial Life Arena crowd had been for a basketball game all season.

Alegsia Welch had put South Carolina on her back in the second half, scoring twelve points in the second half, nearly half of the Gamecocks' second half points at the time.  This despite seemingly two Cardinal players on her in the paint.  Welch again tried to score with about 1:15 left in the game when she was fouled. With a chance to take the lead, Walsh was only able to hit one of two free throws. The game was tied at 45.

Mikala Ruef then hit a tough layup to put Stanford up two again, 47-45 with fifty four seconds left.  Walker was fouled on a layup attempt to the basket.  With a chance to tie, Walker missed the first free throw and then hit the second.  Stanford was now up one 47-46 with only twenty six seconds left.  If South Carolina couldn't steal the ball, then they would have to foul.

On the inbounds pass, Kokenis got the ball but appeared to run with the ball before she started dribbling.  But much to the chagrin and loud displeasure of the fans, no traveling call was made.  Kokenis was subsequently fouled and she hit both free throws.  Stanford was now up 49-46 with twenty three seconds left.

With a chance to tie, South Carolina turned the ball over and again was forced to foul.  Again Kokenis made two free throws and Stanford was up five, 51-46 with seven seconds left.  Much to the Gamecocks' credit, they didn't give up and Walker buried a three with 1.5 seconds left.   South Carolina was down two, 51-49 and praying for a Reggie Miller type steal and jumper.

It never came. Kokenis got the inbounds pass and was fouled.  She sank two more free throws, giving her a perfect 7 of 7 from the line.  Stanford earned a hard fought 53-49 win.

For Stanford, Ogwumike led all scorers with twenty one points, added fifteen rebounds and had four blocks. Kokenis added fifteen points, while Orrange had eleven points. Joslyn Tinkle added seven blocks for the Cardinal.

Welch led South Carolina with seventeen points, while Walker added fifteen points.  The Gamecocks had ten steals.  They forced eighteen turnovers on the Cardinal.  Stanford, which had led the PAC-12 in assists to turnover ratio at 1.33, had only four assists to go with those eighteen turnovers.  The Gamecocks only had seven turnovers.

Though the fans left disappointed, they gave the Gamecocks a good ovation after the game was finished. Dawn Staley's team nearly defeated the best team in the nation. More importantly, it showed that if given the proper amount of time to develop a winning program, the fans will come out and support the team.

I am sure Frank Martin was taking in the game and coming to the same conclusion.  The fans and administration just need to give him the same amount of time. Given his track record, the results mostly likely will be the same.

UMass Falls Short at "Home" (Recap of UMass - Stanford NIT Semifinal)

Last week I was at the DAC to see UMass face Drexel in the NIT Quarterfinals.  With about sixteen minutes left in the game and the Dragons up seventeen, it seemed pretty certain there would be a little bit of Philly flavor at Madison Square Garden for the NIT Semifinals.  But the Minutemen went into a half court trap, shot seventy percent from the field in the second half and used a 26-7 run to go on and defeat the Dragons 72-70.

Considering the other NIT final four teams were Washington, Minnesota and UMass' opponent on Tuesday night, Stanford, it kind of figured from a geographical sense that the Minutemen would have the largest contingent at the World's Most Famous Arena.  But I wasn't prepared for the sea of maroon that made up most of the Garden crowd as I entered my seat in Section 118.

It was kind of fitting that MSG was transformed into a UMass home game, given the fact their first three NIT games were all on the road.  They first knocked off Mississippi State in overtime in the first round, then "upset" number one seed Seton Hall in the second round, then finally the stunning rally at Drexel last week.   But despite having the home crowd, the Minutemen still wore the road maroon uniforms since Stanford was the higher seed.

Now in the first of three ironic twists of fate for me on the evening, our seats ended up being in the only Stanford section at the Garden Tuesday night.  When I got to my seat along with my friends Tieff and Mal, the game was tied at nine as Chaz Williams hit all three of his free throws after being fouled on a three point attempt.  However, it would be a long while before I would see UMass tie the game again.

Stanford would take the lead on a jumper by Dwight Powell, who entered the game for Andrew Zimmerman, who, I'll be honest, models his appearance after the Geico Caveman spokesman.  After Terrell Vinson hit a three pointer to cut Stanford's lead to two, 16-14, the Cardinal went on a 10-0 run, thanks to a couple of threes and a couple of turnovers by the Minutemen.  Stanford was up 26-14 and the Cardinal fans in my section were, needless to say, quite happy.

This wasn't the same UMass team that I saw rally against Drexel the week before.  Instead of getting it inside to their bigs, like the terrific Vinson, they seemed too happy to either have Chaz Williams drive the lane or chuck up three pointers.  Nearly half of their thirty two shots in the first half, fifteen were three pointers.  They only hit on four of those.

One player in particular, reserve forward Freddie Riley, was firing up shots from all over the place.  It seemed like there was never a shot that Freddie didn't like to take. The problem was he wasn't hitting many of them.  Riley was two of seven from the field in the first half and one of five from beyond the arc.  Part of me was hoping that UMass Head Coach Derek Kellogg would go out and literally pull Riley off the court.

Down 28-19, the Minutemen did go on a 10-3 spurt to cut the lead to two, 31-29 with about four minutes left. In the second ironic twist of the night, Riley accounted for five of those points, as he hit his only two shots of the first half in that spurt.  UMass would enter the half only down three 36-33.  It seemed that momentum was on the side of the "home" team.

Both teams were mirror images of each other in the first twenty minutes.  UMass and Stanford had very long players.  In particular, the Minutemen's Raphaiel Putney seemed to have a nine foot wing span and he again showed a nice touch from the outside, burying two three pointers in the first half. Neither team shot the ball well.  UMass shot thirty seven percent while Stanford shot thirty three percent.  Thus there were a ton of rebounds in the first half.  UMass had twenty five rebounds and Stanford had twenty four.

At halftime, the three of us went out into the newly renovated MSG concourse.  I have to say the Garden folks did a magnificent job.  The concourse and the hallways are much, much wider.  In fact, they are so wide, they are wider than most of the concourse at Met Life Stadium.  Yes, a 20,000 seat basketball arena has a much wider concourse than an 82,000 seat football stadium.   

The food selection is also much better now at MSG.  Yes you have the standard hot dog, hamburger and fries fare.  But there is now now a lobster and shrimp roll stand (though closed), a sausage concession that sells cheese bratwurst and Carnegie Deli, which was my choice on the evening.  A turkey sandwich, piled high with meat, a warm knish and a large lemonade was my dinner.   Yes, it was about twenty five bucks.  But a Carnegie Deli turkey sandwich was much more filling than your standard small hot dog.

The second half was mostly a nip and tuck affair.  For the first sixteen minutes of the half, Stanford's largest lead was five points.   UMass would keep it close, mainly due to Williams, who scored twelve second half points, six more than any other Minutemen player.  However, UMass would only have the lead once, when Riley hit his only field goal of the second half, a three pointer that put the Minutemen up 50-49.

But Anthony Brown, who had thirteen of his career high eighteen points in the second half, drilled a three pointer to put Stanford up 52-50.  The Cardinal would not trail the rest of the way, despite committing ten second half turnovers.   This was due to UMass breaking out their half court trap midway through the second half, the same trap that helped rally them against Drexel last week.

This time, the Minutemen couldn't capitalize on those turnovers.  Williams hit two free throws to tie the game at fifty two with 7:18 left.  But after that, Stanford went on a 15-4 run over the next five plus minutes.   Duiring that span, UMass went ice cold from the field, missing eight of their nine field goal attempts.  Williams seemed out of control, missing on all three of his attempts in that span.

Stanford was up eleven, 67-56 with less than two minutes left.  The realization then finally hit me, the third ironic twist of fate. Based on the Mid Majority's criteria,  I was about to see my last game involving a mid major this season.  Fifty eight Division I games I had seen in person this season to this point. All of them had involved at least one mid major team (again based on Mid Majority's Criteria).  The other NIT semifinal pitted two Power Six conference teams.  My fifty eight game mid major streak was about to end.  The fifty ninth and last Division I game I would see live this season would be my only non mid major game.

Williams did his best to try to keep the Minutemen and the Mid Majority's last hope in the NIT alive by scoring six of his team's last eight points.   But it wasn't enough, Stanford went on to win 74-64.   The Cardinal had another thirty rebounds in the second half as they held UMass to thirty percent shooting from the field in the last twenty minutes.

Before the game had ended, a Stanford fan in the row in front of us, turned around and said "How many New Yorkers do you think will walk in to see a Stanford -Washington Championship game on Thursday?"  We all started laughing, knowing the answer.   The NCAA and the Garden's hopeful championship game cash cow, UMass, was being shown the exit door.

Stanford showed nice balance, with four scorers in double figures, led by Brown's eighteen. Josh Owens had fifteen points, Aaron Bright had thirteen and Chasson Randle had twelve points.  Meanwhile, for UMass, only Williams with nineteen points and Riley with ten had double figure.  Williams and Riley combined to shoot ten of twenty eight from the field.  Vinson, who was terrific against Drexel, only had eight points, ten less than he had against the Dragons.

Shortly after the buzzer had sounded, there was a mass exodus from the Garden seats of the folks in maroon. As Tieff, Mal and I went out to the concourse in search of ice cream, the ultimate comfort food, there seemed to be a Minuteman fan clad in team colors every two feet.   You saw the occasional Stanford, Minnesota or even the rare Washington fan.  They were though few and far between in a sea of UMass faithful.

So most of the 7500 in attendance were leaving unhappy.  It was a shame given the terrific turnout of support for their school.  Having attended many NIT games over the years at the Garden, it was definitely one of the best fan bases I ever saw for one team.

In the end though, it didn't matter.  When you shoot not even thirty four percent from the field on the game, it's hard to win, even at "home".

And last night, UMass didn't win at "home".