Thursday’s 6-pack:
— Pistons 113, Raptors 104- Jalen Duren had 24 points, 23 rebounds.
— Bulls 132, Pacers 129, OT- Bulls’ starters were +69; their subs, minus-54.
— Nuggets 100, Heat 88- Denver outscored Miami 28-17 in 4th quarter.
— Magic 114, Nets 106- Orlando made 14 of 32 shots on the arc.
— Hornets 110, Grizzlies 98- Charlotte played only 3 subs; they were +31.
— Cavaliers 116, Pelicans 95- Darius Garland had 27 points, 11 assists.
Quote of the Day
“Every day of my life I think about that home run. Wouldn’t you?”
Bill Mazeroski, who hit a walk-off home run to end the 1960 World Series
Thursday’s quiz
Where did Kirk Cousins play his college football?
Wednesday’s quiz
In the history of the Seattle Mariners, Edgar Martinez has scored the most runs.
Tuesday’s quiz
Washington Redskins drafted Kirk Cousins in the 4th round of the 2012 draft, the same year they drafted Robert Griffin III in the first round.
****************************************
Cincinnati 72, Kansas 52
Playing without its two best players, Kansas shot 3-20 on the arc.
Jayhawks lost four of their last five games.
Kansas State 78, Texas 74
K-State was only team Wednesday that was outside the Field of 68, and beat a team that is (right now) in the Field of 68.
— ACC
Boston College 76, Clemson 55
BC won decisively the last two nights, by 16-21 points.
Wake Forest 72, Notre Dame 59
Wake Forest-Pitt Thursday seems like an elimination game.
— SEC
Arkansas 90, Vanderbilt 85 OT
Vandy led by 15 with 16:55 left in game.
Arkansas’ Khalif Battle was 13-14 on foul line.
Vandy’s whole team was 13-21 on foul line.
— Big East
Xavier 76, Butler 72
Bulldogs lost six of their last eight games.
Subs in this game scored a combined total of only 5 points.
— Pac-12
USC 80, Washington 74
USC is 14-12 when Collier plays, 1-5 when he doesn’t.
Trojans shot 56% inside the arc.
— Big Sky
Montana State 85, Montana 70
Montana State was +12 in turnovers (15-3)
Bobcats win Big Sky tournament for third year in a row.
Favored Montana led 38-32 at halftime.
— Patriot
Colgate 74, Lehigh 55
Raiders shot 74.3% inside the arc.
Colgate has won this league five of last six years.
— Southland
McNeese State 92, Nicholls State 76
Cowboys are in NCAAs for first time since 2002.
McNeese has won 25 of its last 26 games- they won at VCU, UAB.
— Big West
Cal-Riverside 83, Cal-Bakersfield 78
Bakersfield led 40-21 late in first half.
Riverside was 24-34 on foul line, Roadrunners 9-11.
— MAAC
Fairfield 68, Iona 63
Gaels had won six of previous eight MAAC tournaments.
Fairfield started season 1-6, is 20-5 since then.
— Only two teams have won 25+ games the last four years:
Houston and………..the Drake Bulldogs.
— Good news/bad news for Marquette basketball:
Marquette coach Shaka Smart is 22-9 SU in conference tournament games.
Marquette’s star G Tyler Kolek (oblique) isn’t playing this week, so they’re a long shot to win the Big East tournament this year.
— Famous birthdays for March 14:
Michael Caine, 91
Billy Crystal, 76
Dave McKay, 74
Larry Johnson, 55
Corey Stoll, 48
Steph Curry, 36
Albert Einstein was born on this day, 145 years ago.
— Knicks are first NBA team since 2012 to hold three straight opponents under 80 points.
— A #5-seed has never won the NCAA Tournament:
#4’s- UConn 2023, Arizona 1997
#6’s- Kansas, 1988
#7’s- UConn 2014
#8’s- Villanova, 1985
— 14 conference tournaments are finished; here are the winners, by seeds:
#1-seeds- 7
#2’s- 3
#3’s- 1 (Morehead State, OVC)
#5’s- 2 (Longwood Big South, Montana State Big Sky)
#6’s- 1 (Wagner, NEC)
— Word of the Day: Integrity- being honest and having strong moral principles.
Baseball stuff……
— White Sox traded P Dylan Cease to San Diego, for three prospects and another player.
— Bronx ace Gerrit Cole has an elbow issue, is out at least 1-2 months.
— With all the pitching injuries, I’m surprised an older pitcher or two hasn’t tried to become a knuckleball pitcher, to prolong his big league career.
Tim Wakefield, RA Dickey are the most recent pitchers who had success with the knuckler; Matt Waldron of the Padres dabbles with it these days.
NFL stuff…….
— backup QB happenings……..
Jets signed Tyrod Taylor
Colts signed Joe Flacco
Titans signed Mason Rudolph
Bears signed Brett Rypien
— Tennessee also signed WR Calvin Ridley, for four years, $92M.
— Chargers released WR Mike Williams, saving $20M on the salary cap. Williams was a Charger for seven years, catching 309 passes for 4,806 yards and 31 TD’s.
— Washington signed LB Bobby Wagner for one year, $8.5M ($6M guaranteed).
— Rams signed CB Darious Williams, who helped LA win a Super Bowl three years ago, before going off to Jacksonville.
— Pistons 113, Raptors 104- Jalen Duren had 24 points, 23 rebounds.
— Bulls 132, Pacers 129, OT- Bulls’ starters were +69; their subs, minus-54.
— Nuggets 100, Heat 88- Denver outscored Miami 28-17 in 4th quarter.
— Magic 114, Nets 106- Orlando made 14 of 32 shots on the arc.
— Hornets 110, Grizzlies 98- Charlotte played only 3 subs; they were +31.
— Cavaliers 116, Pelicans 95- Darius Garland had 27 points, 11 assists.
Quote of the Day
“Every day of my life I think about that home run. Wouldn’t you?”
Bill Mazeroski, who hit a walk-off home run to end the 1960 World Series
Thursday’s quiz
Where did Kirk Cousins play his college football?
Wednesday’s quiz
In the history of the Seattle Mariners, Edgar Martinez has scored the most runs.
Tuesday’s quiz
Washington Redskins drafted Kirk Cousins in the 4th round of the 2012 draft, the same year they drafted Robert Griffin III in the first round.
****************************************
Thursday’s Den: Wrapping up a busy Wednesday
— Big XCincinnati 72, Kansas 52
Playing without its two best players, Kansas shot 3-20 on the arc.
Jayhawks lost four of their last five games.
Kansas State 78, Texas 74
K-State was only team Wednesday that was outside the Field of 68, and beat a team that is (right now) in the Field of 68.
— ACC
Boston College 76, Clemson 55
BC won decisively the last two nights, by 16-21 points.
Wake Forest 72, Notre Dame 59
Wake Forest-Pitt Thursday seems like an elimination game.
— SEC
Arkansas 90, Vanderbilt 85 OT
Vandy led by 15 with 16:55 left in game.
Arkansas’ Khalif Battle was 13-14 on foul line.
Vandy’s whole team was 13-21 on foul line.
— Big East
Xavier 76, Butler 72
Bulldogs lost six of their last eight games.
Subs in this game scored a combined total of only 5 points.
— Pac-12
USC 80, Washington 74
USC is 14-12 when Collier plays, 1-5 when he doesn’t.
Trojans shot 56% inside the arc.
— Big Sky
Montana State 85, Montana 70
Montana State was +12 in turnovers (15-3)
Bobcats win Big Sky tournament for third year in a row.
Favored Montana led 38-32 at halftime.
— Patriot
Colgate 74, Lehigh 55
Raiders shot 74.3% inside the arc.
Colgate has won this league five of last six years.
— Southland
McNeese State 92, Nicholls State 76
Cowboys are in NCAAs for first time since 2002.
McNeese has won 25 of its last 26 games- they won at VCU, UAB.
— Big West
Cal-Riverside 83, Cal-Bakersfield 78
Bakersfield led 40-21 late in first half.
Riverside was 24-34 on foul line, Roadrunners 9-11.
— MAAC
Fairfield 68, Iona 63
Gaels had won six of previous eight MAAC tournaments.
Fairfield started season 1-6, is 20-5 since then.
— Only two teams have won 25+ games the last four years:
Houston and………..the Drake Bulldogs.
— Good news/bad news for Marquette basketball:
Marquette coach Shaka Smart is 22-9 SU in conference tournament games.
Marquette’s star G Tyler Kolek (oblique) isn’t playing this week, so they’re a long shot to win the Big East tournament this year.
— Famous birthdays for March 14:
Michael Caine, 91
Billy Crystal, 76
Dave McKay, 74
Larry Johnson, 55
Corey Stoll, 48
Steph Curry, 36
Albert Einstein was born on this day, 145 years ago.
— Knicks are first NBA team since 2012 to hold three straight opponents under 80 points.
— A #5-seed has never won the NCAA Tournament:
#4’s- UConn 2023, Arizona 1997
#6’s- Kansas, 1988
#7’s- UConn 2014
#8’s- Villanova, 1985
— 14 conference tournaments are finished; here are the winners, by seeds:
#1-seeds- 7
#2’s- 3
#3’s- 1 (Morehead State, OVC)
#5’s- 2 (Longwood Big South, Montana State Big Sky)
#6’s- 1 (Wagner, NEC)
— Word of the Day: Integrity- being honest and having strong moral principles.
Baseball stuff……
— White Sox traded P Dylan Cease to San Diego, for three prospects and another player.
— Bronx ace Gerrit Cole has an elbow issue, is out at least 1-2 months.
— With all the pitching injuries, I’m surprised an older pitcher or two hasn’t tried to become a knuckleball pitcher, to prolong his big league career.
Tim Wakefield, RA Dickey are the most recent pitchers who had success with the knuckler; Matt Waldron of the Padres dabbles with it these days.
NFL stuff…….
— backup QB happenings……..
Jets signed Tyrod Taylor
Colts signed Joe Flacco
Titans signed Mason Rudolph
Bears signed Brett Rypien
— Tennessee also signed WR Calvin Ridley, for four years, $92M.
— Chargers released WR Mike Williams, saving $20M on the salary cap. Williams was a Charger for seven years, catching 309 passes for 4,806 yards and 31 TD’s.
— Washington signed LB Bobby Wagner for one year, $8.5M ($6M guaranteed).
— Rams signed CB Darious Williams, who helped LA win a Super Bowl three years ago, before going off to Jacksonville.
