Add Holy Cross and Delaware to the NCAA mix. Throw Bucknell and Drexel into the NIT hopefuls heap.
Two more automatic berths to the NCAA tournament were scooped up Wednesday night with Holy Cross beating Bucknell 98-73 in the Patriot League tournament championship game and Delaware edging Drexel 67-64 in the North Atlantic conference final.Holy Cross will be making its first appearance since 1980; Delaware is going back for the second year in a row.
Seventeen teams have received automatic bids so far, and another will be decided tonight when No. 20 Massachusetts plays host to Temple for the Atlantic-10 title.
Another 13 automatic bids have yet to be decided. Six tournaments begin today, another six begin Friday, and one other - the Western Athletic Conference tournament - got underway Wednesday.
Of the two tournament finals Wednesday night, the Delaware-Drexel game was clearly the best. Both teams had several chances to take control, but Drexel committed four turnovers in the final 28 seconds and Delaware missed four foul shots in the same span.
The game-winning points were scored by Anthony Wright after Kevin Blackhurst stole the ball for Delaware (22-7).
"I was just trying to help out on defense. The Drexel player went up for the shot, got caught in the air and couldn't get a shot off," Blackhurst said. "Fortunately, I was able to get the ball and feed Wright."
Holy Cross 98, Bucknell 73
At Lewisburg, Pa., Holy Cross used a pair of 9-0 first-half runs to built a 50-33 halftime lead, and went ahead by as much as 20 in the second half.
The win was the 17th in the last 19 games for the Crusaders (23-6), who will attempt to post an NCAA tournament win for the first time since 1953. This is the eighth NCAA berth in school history.
In top 25 action:
No. 2 Indiana 99, Michigan State 68
At Bloomington, Ind., Greg Graham tied a career-high with 32 points in his final home game for the Hoosiers (27-3, 16-1 Big Ten).
"I really felt good. After you hit your first shot and come back and hit your second shot, you just go into a zone," said Graham, who hit his first four shots and made 11 of 16 for the game.
The win assured Indiana the outright Big Ten title.
"The Big Ten, as long as I'm here, will always be our major objective," Indiana coach Bob Knight said.
The Spartans (14-12, 6-11) dropped their fifth straight game and perhaps any chance of a postseason bid.
No. 3 Michigan 98, Illinois 97, OT
At Champaign, Ill., Jalen Rose scored 23 points and Jimmy King had seven in overtime as Michigan escaped a barrage of 3-point baskets.
It was Rose's first game since news broke that he was ticketed last fall for loitering near a Detroit house where police seized drugs.
The Illinois crowd yelled "Just say no!" when Rose shot free throws. After he made a pair at one point, he waved a finger at the crowd.
"I heard it, but it didn't faze me," Rose said of the heckling.
Chris Webber scored 22 points for the Wolverines (27-4 overall, 14-3 in the Big Ten). Illinois (18-11, 11-6) got 27 points from Andy Kaufmann.
No. 17 Iowa 91, Wisconsin 65
At Ames, Iowa, Acie Earl scored a career-high 36 points and grabbed 10 rebounds with his grandmother watching from the stands on her 67th birthday.
"My grandma always says I'm great on her birthday, so I couldn't let her down," said Earl, who made 11 of 13 shots from the field and 14 of 17 free throws.
After Wisconsin (14-12, 7-10 Big Ten) closed to 58-50, Iowa (21-8, 10-7) outscored the Badgers 33-15.