Tonight is another night of conference tournament games and our big ones tonight feature Pangos and Sacre as well as Nik Cochran, Harouna Mutombo and Keaton Cole looking to punch their team's tickets to the Big Dance a few weeks away ...
Here is where the men are playing today ...
7:00pm Virginia Commonwealth vs. Drexel
7:00pm Northern Illinois @ Eastern Michigan
9:00pm Gonzaga vs. Saint Mary's - This will be a huge game for Gonzaga. Saint Mary's has been the class of the West Coast Conference all year and with the two teams splitting the series, this could be the grudge game. The big match up will be between Matthew Dellavedova and Kevin Pangos. Both are the lead guards for their teams and both have range for miles. Pangos had a 30 point, 4 assists, and 3 rebound game in the blowout of BYU on Saturday and he's going to need to not only score from deep but also defend Dellavedova. I would think that if Pangos can keep him in check than there is a good chance for a victory here for the Zags. On a side note, I'm just curious to see which Robert Sacre shows up to the game.
9:00pm Western Carolina vs. Davidson - Now this will be a dogfight. Western Carolina has been on a rollercoaster of a season and is peaking at the most opportune time. They are currently riding an eight game winning streak and it includes three straight in the Southern Conference Tournament. Harouna Mutombo is averaging 18.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in that tourney run and big game from him could mean a chance to dance. Keaton Cole is averaging 15.7 points in the Catamounts wins also and he could be an X-factor. For Davidson, the best team in the conference all season, a win here would ensure that they don't have to wait for an announcement that they are in the Tournament this Sunday so they will be looking to punch their ticket tonight. Look for Davidson's Nik Cochran to be lighting it up from downtown if he's given room.
9:30pm Southern Utah vs. South Dakota State
And here is where the women are playing today ...
3:00pm BYU vs. Gonzaga
6:00pm West Virginia vs. Notre Dame - Big game here for Notre Dame. This should be a win but the Big East Tournament is always ripe for an upset. I would look for Natalie Achonwa to have a big game off the bench if the Irish sputter at all. She's been the sparkplug whenever the team needed something all season so today should be no different.
7:00pm Youngstown State @ Cleveland State