The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

WHEN the dust settled on “Selection Sunday,” four Bahamian players and their respective universities received bids into the 68-team field for the NCAA Men’s Division I Tournament, commonly referred to as “March Madness.”

Three of those teams - Kadeem Coleby and the Wichita State Shockers, Wannah Bail and the UCLA Bruins and Tristian Curtis’ Coastal Carolina Chanticleers - received automatic bids as conference tournament champions, while Buddy Hield and the Oklahoma Sooners received an at large bid.

The Shockers were named the No.1 seed in the Midwest region, hosted in St Louis, Missouri. They will face the winner of the No.16 seed play in game between Cal Poly and Texas Southern on March 21.

The Shockers improved their undefeated record to 34-0 after they breezed their way to the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, following a trio of games won by an average margin of 20.3 points per game.

The Bruins are ranked No. 4 in the South Region and will play the No. 13 ranked Tulsa Golden Hurricane, March 21 in San Diego, California.

In the Pac-12, the Bruins added their names to the list of automatic bids when they won the conference title with a 75-71 upset over the nationally ranked No. 4, Arizona Wildcats.

Following a first round bye, they outlasted the Oregon Ducks 82-63 in the quarterfinals and defeated the Stanford Cardinal 84-59 in the semifinals.

The Chanticleers come into the East Region as the No.16 seed and will face the No.1 ranked Virginia Cavaliers, March 21 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In the Big South Conference, the Chanticleers advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 21 years after they claimed the conference championship with a 76-61 win over Winthrop in the title game.

Hield and the No. 18 nationally ranked Sooners received an at large bid and were named the No. 5 seed in the West Region. They will face the North Dakota State Bison, March 20 in Spokane Washington.

The Sooners fell in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament, 78-73 to the Baylor Bears. Hield finished with 15 points and seven rebounds on 6-15 shooting from the field. The Sooners are ranked No.2 in the conference tournament behind the Kansas Jayhawks. Baylor went on to reach the Big 12 title game where they lost to Iowa State, 74-65.

The NCAA tournament is scheduled to begin on March 18, and will conclude with the championship game on April 7 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Several other Bahamian players competed in conference championships this week, however, did not advance to the tournament.

Zane Knowles and the Texas A and M Corpus Christi Islanders were ranked second in the Southland Conference tournament and received an automatic bid to the semifinals, but fell 69-63 to Sam Houston State.

In the American Athletic Conference, the Houston Cougars were eliminated in the semifinals, 94-65 to the nationally ranked No.5 Louisville Cardinals.

Danrad Knowles finished with three points and five rebounds, Mikhail McLean added two points while LJ Rose finished with four points and five assists.

The Cougars advanced to the semis with an upset win over the No.25 ranked Southern Methodist University Mustangs, 68-64 in the third meeting between the teams this season.

Knowles finished with four points and two rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench while Rose finished with 16 points, including 3-3 shots from beyond the arch.

In the SEC, Dwight Coleby and the Ole Miss Rebels were ranked No. 6 in the conference tournament and won 78-66 over the Mississippi St Bulldogs in the second round matchup. They advanced to face the Georgia Bulldogs where Coleby had his best game of the season as Ole Miss was eliminated in the quarterfinals. He finished with a season high 10 points and three rebounds in the Rebels’ 75-73 loss.

Also in the SEC, it was a quick exit for Tavario Miller and the Texas A and M Aggies in the opening round when they fell 91-83 to the Missouri Tigers in a double overtime thriller. Miller finished with one point and two rebounds in 14 minutes.

In the ACC tournament, Shaquille Cleare and the Maryland Terrapins suffered a heartbreaking loss to Florida State in the opening round, 67-65. Tied at 85, FSU’s Boris Bojanovsky threw down the go ahead dunk on a pass from Okaro White with just 0.4 seconds left to play. Cleare finished with two points and three rebounds.