Welcome back to RTC’s coverage of the first day of the Big East tournament. Tonight, we are bringing you coverage of the 10-15 game between Providence and Seton Hall. Providence is an interesting team. They can score as well as anyone in the conference, but defense is far from their forte. If you do tune in tonight, be sure to keep an eye on Jamine Peterson, a 6’6″ combo forward that is a double double machine. For Seton Hall, there is still a chance at receiving an at-large berth. If Jeremy Hazell and company can win two games, they will more than likely be dancing.

So hit the jump, leave a comment, and join us as we follow the biggest and best conference tournament.

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Welcome to the first day of RTC’s coverage of the Big East Tournament, live from Madison Square Garden. Today, we will be bringing you a live-blog as UConn starts its foray through the Big East Tournament in an attempt to move themselves back into bubble consideration. The Huskies have been a tough team to peg. They beat then No. 1 Texas without head coach Jim Calhoun only to lose five of their next six, including an ugly loss at home to Cincinnati that seemingly knocked them out of any and all tournament talk. But a fire was lit under this club after the loss to Cincy, and the Huskies went on to win their next three games, which included Ws at Villanova and at home against West Virginia, to put themselves right back into the mix. So how did they follow that up? With losses in three straight to take themselves off what is one of the weakest bubbles in recent memory. What’s worse is that Jim Calhoun benched his three seniors — Gavin Edwards, Jerome Dyson, and Stanley Robinson — at the end of the South Florida game for what seemed like apathy on the part of the Husky “leaders.” Calhoun has not yet announced who will be starting today. St. John’s is not a bad basketball team. They have some athletes, they have some size, and they have one of the most underrated players in the Big East in DJ Kennedy. UConn will have their work cut out for them if they want to climb into the NCAA tournament conversation again.  Join us this afternoon for the action.

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Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga meet in a rematch for the championship of the West Coast Conference tournament tonight with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line. The Zags hammered the Gaels 83-58 in last year’s championship game, and have beaten the Gaels five times in a row, including both regular season games this year. The Gaels are definitely riding on that bubble this week, and may need a victory to assure their participation in the NCAAs, while Gonzaga is assured of its twelfth straight bid whether they win or lose.  RTC Live will be at courtside from the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas to cover all the action tonight, so please join us.

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RTC Live will be back at the Richmond Coliseum tonight for the CAA championship game between top seed Old Dominion and #3 seed William & Mary.  The two tidewater Virginia schools, both located within an hour of the venue, should make for a raucous environment tonight with hordes of fans in attendance and ESPN in the house as a part of Championship Week.  In yesterday’s semifinal round, ODU scrambled from down nearly ten in the home stretch of the game to push local favorite VCU into overtime, where the Monarch’s prevailed behind Gerald Lee’s 26/4 on 10-13 FGs.  William & Mary had the opposite problem — instead of coming from behind, they had to hold off a surging Northeastern squad using a key David Schneider trey late to re-take the lead and standing tough on the last Husky possession as NU missed seven shots that would have tied the game.  Both of these teams are capable of pulling an upset in the NCAAs next week, with the scalps of Georgetown (ODU), Maryland (W&M) and Wake Forest (W&M) already on their resumes this year, so this game should serve as a primer to a tremendous #5/#12 matchup next week.  It should be a great one tonight, so join us for all the action as our correspondent will live-blog all of the action in the CAA championship.

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Ed. Note: apologies, but we ran into technical issues during the first game in the WCC semifinals, and were unable to finish tonight’s RTC Live.  We should be back in action for tomorrow night’s title tilt between Gonzaga and St. Mary’s.

In tonight’s first semifinal game, Loyola Marymount brings momentum and a memory of its 74-68 upset over Gonzaga on Feb. 18 into a rematch with the Zags at  the West Coast Conference tournament from the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. LMU has won two rounds of the tournament already, including last night’s 84-76 victory over San Francisco, while Gonzaga, as the tournament’s top seed, will play its first game. RTC Live will be courtside for all the action and we invite you to join us beginning at 5:30 p.m. Pacific.  In the later game, Saint Mary’s and Portland square off for the third time this season. The teams split their regular-season games — each one winning by five points on its home court — and will be playing tonight for the chance to battle for the tournament championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Join RTC Live at approximately 7:45 p.m. Pacific for this WCC showdown with postseason implications.

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It should be an epic Sunday afternoon in Richmond as four of the top five seeds in the CAA Tournament face off in the semifinals.  In the 3 pm game, #1 seed Old Dominion, fresh off a thirty-point pasting of Towson in the quarters, will take on #5 VCU, a team that has the advantage of playing in its hometown this weekend.  The two teams split a pair this year, with ODU taking the last one just a week ago by three in Norfolk.  In the second semifinal at 5:30 pm, #2 Northeastern will play #3 William & Mary in a matchup between teams that only met once in the regular season with the Tribe taking a one-point victory on Feb. 13.  These four teams are all good enough to do some damage to an unsuspecting first round opponent in the NCAA Tournament, but the only question is which team it will be.  Join us this afternoon for what should be some excellent mid-major basketball with RTC Live at the CAA Tournament.

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RTC Live from Arch Madness returns for the MVC Championship game, between the top seeded Northern Iowa Panthers and the Wichita State Shockers. Despite predictions of wild upsets and a wide-open field coming into the tournament, come Sunday the top two teams will meet for the title. The teams split their first two matchups, with the home team winning each time. They both play a similar defense-first style, and as such, both games were low-scoring affairs. Sunday’s title game will therefore place a premium on taking care of the ball, hitting the open looks when you get them, and making fewer mistakes than your opponent. Join RTC Live at 12:45 CT for the MVC Title Game, live from St. Louis!

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Top seed Northern Iowa had little problem with Drake on Friday, but figure to face a stiffer test Saturday when they take on the Bradley Braves. Bradley dominated fourth seeded Creighton 81-62 on Friday. Next up, they’ll look to repeat their performance from February 13, when they defeated UNI 68-59. The key to the Braves’ upset that night was beating UNI on the glass (they outrebounded them by 5) and avoiding turnovers. If they can do those two things again, it’s possible the Braves can pull the upset and put a serious dent in UNI’s NCAA Tournament seeding. The consensus among media in St. Louis is that UNI is going to get an at-large bid regardless of their finish in the tourney this weekend, but a favorable seed is very much on the line.  Join us at 2:30 ET for the action on RTC Live!

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When the Big East scheduled this game back in September, everyone assumed the stakes would include the conference regular season title, the #1 seed in the Big East Conference Tournament and maybe a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Syracuse’s remarkable season has altered the circumstances,  but when West Virginia meets Villanova at the Wachovia Center in downtown Philadelphia on Saturday, the Mountaineers and Wildcats will compete for the #2 seed at Madison Square Garden, with the winner taking the inside track for a #2 in the NCAAs as well. West Virginia, fresh from their 81-68 destruction of Georgetown on Big Monday, is led by senior Da’Sean Butler who scored 22 points in that game. Villanova will counter with a senior of their own, Big East Player of the Year candidate Scottie Reynolds, who scored 17 second half points in Villanova’s 77-73 win over South Florida on Tuesday. Injuries forced West Virginia coach Bob Huggins to develop his “Four Forwards Offense” (Butler, Devin Ebanks, Wellington Smith and Kevin Jones are matched with sophomore guard Darryl Bryant ) to get his five best players on the court. Villanova will counter with two speedy guards (Reynolds and Corey Fisher), a wing (Reggie Redding? Corey Stokes?) and a pair of low post players (Antonio Pena and Mouphtaou Yarou). Can Villanova’s “quicks” compete with West Virginia’s “length”? Join us Saturday at noon, as RTC Live blogs from the Wachovia Center in teh City of Brotherly Love.

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