March Madness has come to the Midwest.
Teams that fell short of first in their regular-season races have the opportunity to begin anew in their conference tournaments.
Winning the conference tournament guarantees a trip to the NCAA tournament; playing well could mean at large-bid.
Illinois-Chicago will host the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Tournament. Action in the Pavilion begins with four games Saturday, followed by the semifinals Sunday and the title game Tuesday night.
UIC and Loyola need major upsets to advance.
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Last-place Loyola (4-10, 14-13) will try to bring down first-place Butler (12-2, 20-7) in Saturday’s 2 p.m. game and the Flames (5-9, 10-19) will attempt to ambush Cleveland State (9-5, 16-13) in the contest that tips off at 5:30 p.m.
Illinois-Chicago coach Jimmy Collins is looking for help from the stands.
“We hope our fans will be just as hostile and just as loud as fans in Green Bay and Detroit,” Collins said.
Loyola’s outstanding senior guard, Earl Brown, believes the Pavilion provides his team with something akin to a home-court advantage.
“It’s in the city,” he said. “Our friends and families can come and support us.”
In Saturday’s other games Wisconsin-Green Bay (6-8, 14-15) will play Wisconsin-Milwaukee (6-8, 14-13) at 11:30 a.m., and Detroit (8-6, 18-11) will meet Wright State (6-8, 11-16) at 8 p.m.
Three Illinois schools–Southern Illinois (12-6, 18-11), Bradley (10-8, 14-15) and Illinois State (5-13, 10-19)–are part of the 10-team field for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at the Kiel Center in St. Louis.
Illinois State opens the tournament Friday at 6 p.m. against Wichita State (5-13, 11-16).
The winner plays conference champion Indiana State (14-4, 21-8) Saturday at noon in the quarterfinals. The semifinals will be Sunday afternoon and the final Monday night.
Although both Illinois State and Wichita State had disappointing seasons they will bring to the tournament the league’s top two scorers: Wichita State’s senior guard Jason Perez has a 20.2 average and Redbirds junior guard Tarise Bryson is averaging 19 per game.
Senior guard Rob Dye will be in the forefront for Bradley when coach Jim Molinari’s team clashes with defending tournament champion Creighton (11-7 20-9) Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
The Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year, freshman guard Kent Williams, will lead Southern Illinois against Evansville (9-9, 18-11) in Saturday’s 8:30 p.m. nightcap.
Williams’ 13.7 average makes him the Valley’s highest scoring freshman.
“He knows how to play without the ball–he’s very smart,” Salukis coach Bruce Weber said. “Defense has been a tough transition for him and he has some lapses. I’d rather not have him guard the best player but he has had to do that on several occasions.”
To advance to Sunday’s quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference at Cleveland’s Gund Arena, Northern Illinois (7-11, 13-14) needs a victory at Toledo (11-7, 18-12) Wednesday night.
In the opinion of coach Brian Hammel, what Northern Illinois needs is more three-point shooting performances like the 11-for-23 afternoon the Huskies enjoyed in their last victory, an 84-61 home-court conquest of Central Michigan.
“When you have two high-profile post players, like we have in T.J. Lux and Leon Rodgers, you have a confined area to work in,” Hammel said. “The other teams are stacking people defensively, and there’s no way to get the ball in there–it’s like having a two-car garage and trying to get five cars in there.
“We have to spread the defense by reversing the basketball and hitting three-point shots. If we’re successful then we can either go inside or get some penetration off the dribble.”
In pursuit of its sixth straight trip to the NCAA tournament, top-seeded Valparaiso (10-6, 17-2) has a first-round bye in the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament at Ft. Wayne.
Meanwhile Chicago State (7-9, 10-17) and Western Illinois (3-13, 8-21) are auditioning for the role of Cinderella.
Locally, St. Xavier plays host to St. Francis, and Olivet Nazarene entertains Indiana-South Bend in the semifinals of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference playoffs Wednesday. The winners meet Saturday for the automatic bid to the NAIA tournament.
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