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The Morning Mix

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College Basketball Talk has Championship Week on lockdown. @RobDauster and @RaphielleJ are holding it down from their “home offices”, (See: couches), and @TroyMachir (Me) and @DanielJMartin_ will be in New York City covering the A-10 and Big East tournaments respectively. @CBTonNBC will have all the bases covered.

Let’s hit the links.


Read of the Day:
SB Nation has been rolling out a few long form essays recently, and their latest one profiles the death of Earl Badu, who famously scored the final points at Maryland’s Cole Field House. This is great stuff. Read it. (SB Nation)

Top Stories:
- Late Night Snacks: Get caught up to speed with all the major happenings from Thursday. There were a lot of happenings.

Charlotte makes eight free throws in final 4.7 seconds, stuns Richmond in A-10 tourney: In arguably one of the most bizarre finishes to a college basketball game in recent memory, Charlotte when from being down three to up five in just under two seconds. In the game’s final 4.7 second, three technical fouls were given and 11 foul shots were taken by the same player.

WAC co-champions Louisiana Tech, Denver eliminated in quarterfinals: Upsets in mid-major conference tournaments have been all the “rage” this week and the top two teams in the WAC followed suit on Thursday.

Utah beats California in overtime, advances to Pac-12 semifinals: The Cal bears hurt their NCAA tournament seeding with a puzzling loss Utah. The Utes look like they are tending in the right direction under Larry Krystkowiak.

Fitting end to a disappointing season for the Baylor Bears:Thursday night was a perfect example of the frustrating conundrum that is this Baylor basketball team.

Russ Smith scores 28 to beat Villanova playing with a heavy heart: The Brooklyn-native mourned the passing of his high school coach on honoring him on Thursday with a 28-point performance against Villanova.

Thurday’s Bubble Winners: Iowa, Iowa State, Maryland and Tennessee helped their NCAA tournament hopes with a victory on Thursday.

Thursday’s Bubble Losers: Minnesota, Arizona State, and Villanova headline a deep pool of teams that did not help themselves to a win on Thursday.

VIDEO: Gus Johnson bellows as Brandon Paul beats Minnesota. Gophers dancing?: Illinois beat Minnesota on a Brandon paul buzzer-beater, and Gus Johnson was there to call the action.

Iowa State’s comeback win locks them into the NCAA tournament: The Cyclones all but locked up an at-large bid with their Big XII tournament win over Oklahoma on Thursday.

Syracuse appears to have cured their offensive woes: For the second straight day, the Orange got into a rhythm offensively, opening up a 40-27 lead at the half and hanging on down the stretch to defeat Pittsburgh 62-59.

This crop of 16-seeds won’t be the one that beats a 1-seed: With no real dominant team this season, the thought was that this could finally be the year that a No. 16-seed defeats a No. 1-seed. But if you look at the potential No. 16-seeds, you’ll realize that this just isn’t going to happen.

Chaos rules in Norfolk as top four seeds bounced from MEAC tournament: All four top-seeds fell in the quarterfinals of the MEAC tournament in Norfolk, VA. We examine the chaos.


Observations & Insight:
- A strong multifaceted article covering realignment and the race for revenue among collegiate athletics. (Greensboro News-Record)

- Utah State’s season was filled with heartbreak and horrible luck. It came to a close on Thursday as the Aggies fell in the WAC quarterfinals. (Salt Lake Tribune)

- Will Leitch provides his thoughts on Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson and the idea of a trendy Bucknell upset pick in the NCAA tournament. (Sports on Earth)

- Gus Johnson misses college basketball, and you know what? College basketball misses Gus. (USA Today)


Coaching Carousel:
- Mike Gillian has spent the last decade at Longwood and saw the Lancers make the switch to Division I. He resigned yesterday, amassing an overall record of 93-214 (Eye on College Basketball)

- Billy Taylor will not return as head coach to Ball State next season. (Eye on College Basketball)

- Marist head coach Chuck Martin has been “relieved of his duties” following a 10-win season. (Sporting News)

- Mark Phillips has been dismissed as head coach of the Drake Bulldogs. (GoDrakeBulldogs.com)

- Loyola (Md.) head coach Jimmy Patsos has been linked to the vacancy at Siena, but the colorful Greyhounds coach said that he has not been contacted by the university. (Baltimore Sun)


Picture of the Day:
Former-President Bill Clinton visited the Louisville locker room following the Cardinals’ victory over Villanova. I’m speechless. (College Basketball Talk)

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