I guess I'll start with the good news: wins for La Salle, St. Joe's and Villanova.
The Explorers needed the win more, Mike Jensen writes in the Inquirer, and got it, 77-72, over visiting Temple. In the Daily News, Bob Cooney reports on how pleased John Giannini was that his team didn't blow a lead this time. La Salle still needs another win and some help from St. Bonaventure to get to Atlantic City, but now it's at least more possible than it was at this time yesterday.
St. Joe's beat George Washington to take over fourth place in the A-10. In the Daily News, Mike Kern relays a quote from Phil Martelli that should be plastered all over the city. When asked whether his players follow the conference standings, he said, "Don't they go to ESPN or Philly.com to see?" You can't get better advertising than that, folks. In the Inquirer, Ray Parrillo notes that the Hawks did something they couldn't do a few weeks ago in D.C. -- fight off a late Colonials rally.
Villanova embarrassed Cincinnati last night at the Pavilion, 64-48. I watched the whole game on TV and it was obvious that the Bearcats really are that bad. In the Inquirer, Shannon Ryan says the Main Line hadn't had this much fun since 50 Cent came to Midnight Madness. In the Daily News, Dana Pennett O'Neill writes that 'Nova held Cincy scoreless for a stretch of 11 minutes, 33 seconds in the first half.
There's the good, now for the bad: Drexel pretty well killed its at-large bid chances by losing last night at William and Mary, 60-47. Beating Creighton might not be enough now, much less making a run in the CAA Tournament.
In the student section, the Villanova paper looks at teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble, and a columnist breaks down the 10 kinds of people you see on Jumbotrons.
National news after the jump.
Andy Katz gives props to Old Dominion, writing that the Monarchs "might just be your next George Mason, well at least in a literal sense." Mike Jarvis (!) likes Air Force, Butler, Southern Illinois, Xavier, and Nevada.
Boston College lost at home to Duke last night. The Boston Globe's beat writer says the Eagles "may not be ready for prime time after all," while columnist Jackie MacMullan calls the game "a real dud."
Washington State beat Washington in Seattle, though I don't think the Huskies are as out of the NCAA Tournament as this story seems to claim.
Providence and Notre Dame will be on your TV tonight (ESPN), and here's a preview.
Philly native Mustafa Shakur plays his final home game for Arizona this weekend.
Kevin Durant's father says "there's a chance he [Kevin] would come back to Texas next year."
The NCAA Football Committee has scrapped the idiotic clock rules that were in place last season.
And a half-hoops, half-politics story: Brown men's coach Craig Robinson is the brother-in-law of Barack Obama.
