After tame first day, NCAA tournament takes wild turns

The first day of the NCAA men's basketball tournament was pretty lame, with most of the big favorites rolling and few remotely competitive games.

Only Belmont's near-upset of Duke lent any suspense to Thursday's schedule.

But how things changed the next day.

Friday's slate provided numerous exciting contests, several spectacular finishes and two huge upsets by No. 13 seeds as San Diego -- no, not San Diego State -- stunned powerful Connecticut on a shot in the final seconds of overtime and Siena rolled past Vanderbilt.

I don't really consider Western Kentucky's win over Drake a major surprise, because even though the Bulldogs were a No. 5 seed, they aren't supremely talented. They just overachieved with a sensational, out-of-nowhere season.

Still, the 26-foot 3-pointer Ty Rogers hit at the overtime buzzer to sink Drake was the shot of the tournament so far.

There were some more exciting games Saturday and Sunday as the field was reduced to 16 teams.

The biggest surprise undoubtably was Davidson's upset of Georgetown.

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While former Southeast Missouri State assistant men's basketball coach Keno Davis -- in his first season as the head coach at Drake -- was bounced in the first round of the NCAA tournament, another ex-Southeast assistant was part of an opening-round victory.

Toby Lane, who was on Scott Edgar's initial Southeast staff last year after also serving under Gary Garner, is in his rookie season as an assistant at Miami, which beat Saint Mary's on Friday.

But the Hurricanes were eliminated by Texas on Sunday.

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The Ohio Valley Conference's representative in the NCAAs did not exactly make the league look good.

While Austin Peay had another great year -- the Govs captured their second straight OVC regular-season title and tied a school record for wins -- they were not even competitive as Texas romped 74-54.

Mighty Texas jumped out to a big early advantage and was never threatened as the Longhorns led by as many as 30 points in the second half.

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It's a shame the Southeast women's basketball team couldn't hold on to a 17-point halftime lead at Evansville in Thursday's first-round WNIT game.

But that can't detract from another sensational year for the Redhawks, who won at least 22 games for the fourth straight season and captured their third consecutive OVC regular-season championship.

The Redhawks, who finished 23-9, lose just two seniors -- although they are good ones in center Missy Whitney and guard Ashley Lovelady -- so you've got to figure they'll be among the OVC's top contenders again next year.

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At least two parts of the OVC basketball enrichment plan that was recently approved should have particular significance for Southeast.

The plan is designed to boost the OVC's overall status in hoops and will go into effect beginning with the 2009-10 season.

Under the plan, OVC teams can not play more than two guarantee games per season, and league squads must play a minimum of 50 percent of nonconference games at home (neutral site games do not count in that computation).

Southeast's men have played more than two guarantee games before, and just this past season the Redhawks played only three nonconference home games compared to six nonleague road contests (not counting neutral sites).

Having to play at least half of their nonconference games at the Show Me Center each season should make the Redhawks' schedule more fan-friendly.

OVC commissioner Jon A. Steinbrecher will decide if schools are complying, which will be tied to the league's revenue sharing.

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Regarding my recent Southeast men's basketball season wrapup article, I've had several people ask me about the potential eligibility status of incoming recruits Martino Brock and Abel Tillman.

I have heard that Brock, who is at a prep school in Nashville, Tenn., is iffy right now, but I've been told that Southeast coaches are still hopeful he'll qualify.

As for Tillman, a senior at Berkeley High School in the St. Louis area, I've heard from reliable sources that he definitely won't be eligible.

Tillman's options would then be to either attend Southeast and pay his own way (he wouldn't be allowed to even practice with the Redhawks) or attend a junior college.

If either Brock or Tillman -- or both -- don't qualify, then Southeast can use those scholarships to sign other people.

We'll see how it all plays out.

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There's no way anybody can expect freshman Trenton Moses to finish the season leading the Southeast baseball team in hitting, which he currently does at .385.

But the local product from Advance High School has certainly gotten his collegiate career off to a dazzling start.

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Best wishes to Mary Bolen as she recovers from recent surgery.

Mary, the wife of longtime Capahas manager Jess Bolen, ranks as one of Cape Girardeau's best and classiest ladies.

We're all thinking about you, Mary.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.