In our attempt to bring you the most comprehensive Championship Week coverage anywhere, RTC is covering several of the conference tournaments from the sites. One of our RTC correspondents is at the ACC Tournament.  In addition to live-blogging select games throughout the tournament, he will post a nightly diary with his thoughts on each day’s action. Here is his submission for the 1st round games.

Virginia 68, Boston College 62

• Virginia was playing without second team all-ACC Sylven Landesberg, who was suspended by head coach Tony Bennett for the remainder of the season due to academic issues.
• Virginia opened a 34-27 halftime lead mostly in part to 6-11 (55%) 3-point shooting, compared to only 3-8 (38%) for BC.
• This was a clean, well-played game with both teams combining for only 12 turnovers (UVa – 5, BC-7), but not a thrilling game by anybody’s definition.
• Virginia held BC’s leading scorer, Joe Trapani, to 2 points on 0-7 shooting. Maybe he should consider transferring back to Vermont.
• BC’s Corey Raji injured his shoulder during the game. “We’ll let the doctors look at it, and hopefully rest will do it.”

Miami 83, Wake Forest 62

• Miami starting PF Dwayne Collins was not available for today’s game due to a “stress condition” of his left leg. Redshirt freshman big man Reggie Johnson, from Wake’s backyard in Winston-Salem, got the start in his place, scoring a career-high 22 points. Even without Collins, Miami still outrebounded the taller Deacons 39-34 for the game.
• Wake’s 2nd team all-ACC forward Al-Farouq Aminu again pulled a disappearing act, as he has been oft to do. He managed only 11 points on 3-10 shooting and 7 rebounds, a less than stellar performance for a supposed lottery pick. This kid pulls more disappearing acts than Lance Burton. If he’s ready for the NBA, then so am I. Maybe he should spend less time tweeting and more time finding out why he’s slumping. He needs another year of college ball, because he doesn’t have the body or the handle to be effective in the NBA next year.
• #12 Miami led 41-27 over #5 Wake Forest at the half. Miami opened the second half on an 8-0 run, extending their lead to 22. Their lead never dropped below 16 points in the second half. Miami was unconscious from the floor, shooting 52% for the game versus Wake’s 35%.
• Wake Forest never displayed the ability to keep Miami’s guards, particularly freshman Malcolm Grant, out of the lane. Wake’s usually stingy 3-point defense, which held teams to 32% during the regular season, was torched by Miami for 47% (8-17).
• Wake Forest is in their annual end of the year slump, which coach Dino Gaudio can’t explain. “I thought we were tired down the stretch last year, so we changed things this year, going with more time off.” Guess what coach, that hasn’t worked either. Maybe he’ll be able to explain why he doesn’t have a job this time next year.

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Rob Dauster of Ballin is a Habit is spending the week as the RTC correspondent at the Big East Tournament.  In addition to live-blogging select games throughout the tournament, he will post a nightly diary with his thoughts on each day’s action. Here is his submission for the late quarterfinal games.

Georgetown 91, Syracuse 84

• This performance from Georgetown shouldn’t surprise you. Remember, when healthy early in the season, this team was in the top ten nationally, and for good reason. Austin Freeman‘s health situation affected this team more than people realize  – Thompson said that was long as the Hoyas “keep Freeman’s levels fine he will be able to perform” – and they are just now hitting their stride again.
• You know about Georgetown’s big three, but don’t underestimate Jason Clark. Jeff Goodman called him the “ultimate glue guy” earlier today, and while I agree with him to a point – Clark is a great defender, he can go and get you an offensive rebound, and he racks up some assists – I think by definition a glue guy isn’t a scorer. Clark can be. He hasn’t put up the numbers simply because he doesn’t get a ton of shots, but he is a nightmare to stay in front of and a lights out shooter. Jason Clark isn’t a glue guy, he is a very good basketball player.
• The only way Syracuse doesn’t deserve a one seed is if both Duke and Ohio State win their conference tournaments. Otherwise, Syracuse is ok, although they may be headed out west.
• JTIII on the Orange: “That team is still one of the best, if not the best team in the country in spite of today’s outcome. Do I expect them to be a dangerous team in the tournament? Absolutely?” Very true, but today may have exposed a flaw in this team –  a stopper. Not on the defensive end, but a guy that can get you a basket when things aren’t going well. Can Wes Johnson be that guy? Right now, he is a jump shooter and an athlete.

Marquette 80, Villanova 76

• The Golden Eagles shot 65% in the second half. The were 6/6 from three in the second half and 11/18 overall. They had 17 assists and just 8 turnovers. I think it is safe to say Villanova hasn’t solved their defensive issues.
• There may not be two more underrated players in the Big East than Corey Fisher and Darius Johnson-Odom. Both were on full display this afternoon. Fisher was impossible to keep out of the lane, finishing with 16 points and 6 assists, while DJO had 24 points, 5 assists, and hit five threes.
• Marquette is going to make it out of the first weekend. Put that on the record. This team is so difficult to defend. Hayward and Butler are match-up nightmares for opposing bigs. Their guards can all shoot it, they can all get into the lane, and they all can kick the ball out to an open shooter. Most importantly, everyone on the team understands that they are at their best when they move the ball offensively.
• Buzz Williams on Jay Wright: “I think he will be in the Hall of Fame long before his career is over”

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Welcome back to RTC Live for another quarterfinal game at the Pac-10 Tournament from the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.  This city takes a lot of heat for a lot of different things, but they know how to put on a solid event, and the Tournament so far has been buzzworthy.  Tonight we’ll see if one of the league’s two bubble teams in Washington can continue to improve its resume for the Selection Committee by getting past an old foe, Oregon State, a team that the Huskies defeated twice this season already.  The Huskies are led by Pac-10 POY runner-up Quincy Pondexter, and many believe that he should have won the award over Cal’s Jerome Randle.  Oregon State has had a middling season, but the Beavers are capable of springing the upset, having won eight games in the Pac-10 this year.  This game is also a contrast in styles of play, as OSU is one of the slowest teams in the country in terms of tempo, while Washington looks to run on nearly every possession.  If you haven’t had enough hoops on this glorious day of college basketball across the nation, stop by with a coffee for a little late-night action.

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The night cap from the first day of play in the WAC tournament features the #3 seed New Mexico State Aggies versus the #6 seed San Jose State Spartans. New Mexico State comes into the tourney on a two game slide after losing at Nevada and Utah State when two wins would have meant a WAC championship. The Aggies have been a much better team since Troy Gillenwater and Wendell McKines became available during the spring semester, and combined with first team All-WAC player Jahmar Young, they make for a dynamic team capable of scoring in bunches. San Jose State counters with the best pure scorer in the WAC in Adrian Oliver (also a first team All-WAC player) and an odd lineup in which they will play up to four guards at once and try to push the pace of the game. New Mexico State also loves to play the uptempo game so expect each team to finish in the 80s or 90s. The winner of this game gets a semifinal matchup with the winner of the Nevada/Idaho on Friday night, while the loser packs up and hopes for a better season next year. Stay up late and see who can survive and advance to Friday night in Reno.

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We’re here at the conference tournament quarterfinal round at what we like to call the best mid-major league in America, the Pac-10 Conference.  Cal might be a ‘favorite,’ but that term is relative in this year’s league as even the Bears won the regular season with five losses.  The Bears are only at about a 40% shot to win this thing, and the odds of a team that’s nowhere near the bubble getting into the NCAAs using a weekend run is pretty high at 16% (normally, it’s south of 2%).  As for this particular matchup, Cal won both previous games handily, but the Ducks have been playing much better in recent weeks than they were when they faced Mike Montgomery’s team, having won four of five.  Then there’s the additional incentive that the Duck players have in trying to send their coach out on a positive note after reports have surfaced that Ernie Kent will be gone from the UO job at the end of the season.  Will it be a good game?  We think so, but in this wild and wacky league, you really never know.  Join us at 2:30 pm PT for a little afternoon hoops from the Staples Center with Cal and Oregon on RTC Live.

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Rob Dauster from Ballin is a Habit reports in from the Big East Tournament on some of the big news this afternoon…

A couple quick notes here from the press room chatter:

• Arinze Onuaku looks like he is going to be fine. He took a spill with about three minutes to go as Syracuse was trying to come back against Georgetown and had to be carried off the court. According to his doctor, however, it looks like the injury is just a strain and he should be ready go by the start of the NCAA Tournament.  “I think he’ll be back, unless something bad happens tomorrow. I’ve seen him worse,” Syracuse doctor Irving Raphael said after the game. “We’re hoping it’s just a strain, but tomorrow we’ll get an MRI. It’s already scheduled.”  Onuaku left on crutches.
• The other story that has been floating around is in regards to St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts. NY Post writer Lenn Robbins filed a story this morning claiming that a source told him that Roberts was going to be fired.  But as of now, that seems to be just the rumor that is circulating as nothing official as been announced. I’ve said it numerous times, but my personal opinion is that they should give Roberts at least one more year. He’s bringing back 10 seniors and only loses Anthony Mason, Jr., from the rotation. His kids play hard and stay out of trouble. In this day and age, that’s saying something.

The Western Athletic Conference begins its postseason tournament here in The Biggest Little City in the World. The feature game of the afternoon pod is the #4-#5 seed matchup as Louisiana Tech takes on Fresno State to decide which set of Bulldogs will reign supreme in the WAC this season. Louisiana Tech sputtered out to end the season winning just one of its last five conference games, and they just weren’t the same without All-WAC second teamer Kyle Gibson down the stretch run. Gibson averaged 19 points a game for Tech and could have easily been a first team performer had he not missed several games, but he promises to be back for the stretch tourney run. The Fresno State Bulldogs have been the hardest team in the WAC to figure out. Steve Cleveland’s team has some of the best talent in the WAC in the form of future NBA players Paul George, Greg Smith and Sylvester Seay, but the west coast Bulldogs have a hard time putting it all together. Still they have scored some huge upsets in conference play, beating New Mexico State, Nevada and most recently Louisiana Tech just last Thursday. Will Gibson’s return be enough to get Louisiana Tech back on track and into the second round or will Fresno’s NBA talent finally gel and lead them to the semis? Find out whose NCAA dream will last at least one more day with us on RTC Live.

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North Carolina fans never imagined a fall so hard and so fast. Who would have believed that last year’s national champion would be 16-15 entering the 2010 ACC Tournament with hopes of making the… NIT? Well, folks, welcome to every Tar Heels fan’s worst nightmare. UNC enters this nationally televised game versus the Rambling Wreck with its worst season since 2002-03, a 19-16 year and a seventh-place ACC finish. Georgia Tech enters having pretty well manhandled the Heels this year, with two wins over their rival, including a beatdown in Atlanta almost a month ago. Will Carolina have any confidence coming in from the Cameron Indoor debacle last Saturday? Can Tech, coming off a season-ending home loss to Virginia Tech, get off that proverbial NCAA bubble—on which they squarely sit—with a win tonight? Let’s find out together on RTC Live.

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With one round under our belts, the big boys in Conference USA finally get to strut their stuff, with the top four seeds all in action for the first time in this year’s tournament. This is also a big opportunity for the lower seeds to come away with upsets. #5 Tulsa especially has something to prove.  The preseason champs fell on hard times, finished 10-6 in the conference, and have been left for dead; but tonight, the Golden Hurricanes have a chance to redeem the lost season with a win over #4 Marshall. They have the home crowd all week, and three straight victories will send them to the Big Dance. Let’s see if they can catch lightning in a bottle. On the other hand, Marshall has a chance to get fitted with their own pair of glass slippers and crash the hometown party with a win. They are both dangerous teams with a shot at the championship, but only one can survive. So come get in on the action with RTC Live!

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RTC Live is here at MSG to bring you coverage of what may be the two best games of Championship Week to date. It kicks off with Georgetown-Syracuse, who you all should know are bitter rivals. This will be the third time that these two teams lock horns this season, and Syracuse has won both of the first two. In the first game up in Syracuse, the Orange overcame a 14-0 deficit, smacking around the Hoyas for the last 37 minutes en route to a 17-point victory. In the rematch in DC, Syracuse was able to hang on late after nearly blowing a 23-point second half lead. They say beating a team three times in a season is difficult, but does that ring true when dealing with a team as talented as Syracuse is?

If recent history holds, Villanova-Marquette is destined to be a classic. Last year in the Big East tournament, Villanova knocked off the Golden Eagles on a layin from Dwayne Anderson at the buzzer. In their first matchup this season, Villanova won on a late jumper from Scottie Reynolds. Not two weeks after that first go-round, Marquette came back from a huge second half deficit before eventually suffering their third straight single-possession loss to the Wildcats. These two teams match up very well with each other. Both have a bit of a weakness in the paint, making up for it with excellent perimeter play.

Whatever happens this afternoon, we seem all but guaranteed to have two more Big East battles on our hands.

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