The big difference though was that the team with a losing record was the 6 point fav.
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Golden Grizzlies win sixth straight game
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) 2005 -- It took eight years in Division I for Oakland to get its first win in the NCAA Tournament.
As a reward, the Golden Grizzlies get to play top-seeded North Carolina -- in Charlotte, no less.Oakland broke open a tight game behind Rawle Marshall's 29 points and Cortney Scott's 21 to beat Alabama A&M 79-69 on Tuesday night in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at the University of Dayton."There can't be too many colleges who can say they won a game in the NCAA Tournament," a grinning Marshall said. "We'll ride this momentum and see how far it takes us."The Golden Grizzlies (13-18) won their sixth game in a row, including three upsets in as many days last week by a combined seven points to take the Mid-Continent Conference title, giving them a berth in the field of 65."If we win the national championship, we'll finally get to 19-18," coach Greg Kampe said with a laugh.Now they get to play the mighty Tar Heels on their home turf."To play against some of the No. 1 players in the nation -- it'll be great to put your talent up against them and see where you stand," Scott said.Oakland became only the fifth team with a losing record to win an NCAA Tournament game, following Bradley in 1955 and the last three years at the Dayton opening round -- Siena in 2002, UNC-Asheville in 2003 and Florida A&M a year ago."There was a whole lot of adversity during the season," said Brandon Cassise, who chipped in with 13 points. "It brought us together. That's why we've played so well in these do-or-die games."Obie Trotter scored 24 points and Joseph Martin added 22 for Alabama A&M (18-14), regular-season and tournament champs of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.Both teams were making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Oakland made the jump from Division II to Division I in the 1997-98 season.As the Golden Grizzlies stretched the lead to 21 points with five minutes left, the emboldened Oakland student section began chanting, "We want Tar Heels! We want Tar Heels!"The turnaround is almost incomprehensible for a team that was 7-18 and riding a three-game skid just 18 days earlier. Almost as incredible, Oakland opened the season 0-7, losing by an average of 13 points a game, against a who's who of powerhouses -- Illinois, Marquette, Xavier, Missouri, Texas A&M, Kansas State and Saint Louis.Marshall, a wiry, 6-foot-7 senior swingman expected to be taken in the NBA draft this spring, was the focal point for the Golden Grizzlies most of the night.He was 9-of-16 from the field, including 3-for-4 on 3-pointers and 8-of-11 in free throws, to go with nine rebounds and three assists.Marshall's most dramatic play came in the opening half. He took a pass on the right elbow, pump-faked a defender off his feet and then sliced through the lane for a soaring dunk and a foul. A crowd of 8,254 roared its approval.Ahead 38-35 at the break, Oakland scored 16 of the first 18 points in the second half.Patrick McCloskey, who had sleepwalked through the first half with no points and two rebounds in 12 minutes, led the surge with five points, five rebounds and a blocked shot. The 260-pound Scott, a transfer from Iowa, added four points on two twisting inside moves, Cassise came off the bench for two baskets and Marshall hit a 3-pointer."It took us a while to learn how to play against their speed," Kampe said. "We completely controlled the tempo the rest of the game."The Rochester, Mich., school with an enrollment of 16,500 pushed the lead to 54-37 and the lead never dropped below double digits."This is surreal," Cassise said. "I can't believe it's all happening."Scott built his 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting and added eight rebounds and McClosky had 11 rebounds as the Golden Grizzlies took a 43-29 edge on the boards.A&M coach L. Vann Pettaway said his team was worn out from playing four games in six days, winning the conference tournament on Sunday before hitting the road less than 24 hours later to make it to Dayton."We want to get back to the Big Dance, but we want to dance when we're rested," he said.
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Golden Grizzlies win sixth straight game
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) 2005 -- It took eight years in Division I for Oakland to get its first win in the NCAA Tournament.
As a reward, the Golden Grizzlies get to play top-seeded North Carolina -- in Charlotte, no less.Oakland broke open a tight game behind Rawle Marshall's 29 points and Cortney Scott's 21 to beat Alabama A&M 79-69 on Tuesday night in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at the University of Dayton."There can't be too many colleges who can say they won a game in the NCAA Tournament," a grinning Marshall said. "We'll ride this momentum and see how far it takes us."The Golden Grizzlies (13-18) won their sixth game in a row, including three upsets in as many days last week by a combined seven points to take the Mid-Continent Conference title, giving them a berth in the field of 65."If we win the national championship, we'll finally get to 19-18," coach Greg Kampe said with a laugh.Now they get to play the mighty Tar Heels on their home turf."To play against some of the No. 1 players in the nation -- it'll be great to put your talent up against them and see where you stand," Scott said.Oakland became only the fifth team with a losing record to win an NCAA Tournament game, following Bradley in 1955 and the last three years at the Dayton opening round -- Siena in 2002, UNC-Asheville in 2003 and Florida A&M a year ago."There was a whole lot of adversity during the season," said Brandon Cassise, who chipped in with 13 points. "It brought us together. That's why we've played so well in these do-or-die games."Obie Trotter scored 24 points and Joseph Martin added 22 for Alabama A&M (18-14), regular-season and tournament champs of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.Both teams were making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Oakland made the jump from Division II to Division I in the 1997-98 season.As the Golden Grizzlies stretched the lead to 21 points with five minutes left, the emboldened Oakland student section began chanting, "We want Tar Heels! We want Tar Heels!"The turnaround is almost incomprehensible for a team that was 7-18 and riding a three-game skid just 18 days earlier. Almost as incredible, Oakland opened the season 0-7, losing by an average of 13 points a game, against a who's who of powerhouses -- Illinois, Marquette, Xavier, Missouri, Texas A&M, Kansas State and Saint Louis.Marshall, a wiry, 6-foot-7 senior swingman expected to be taken in the NBA draft this spring, was the focal point for the Golden Grizzlies most of the night.He was 9-of-16 from the field, including 3-for-4 on 3-pointers and 8-of-11 in free throws, to go with nine rebounds and three assists.Marshall's most dramatic play came in the opening half. He took a pass on the right elbow, pump-faked a defender off his feet and then sliced through the lane for a soaring dunk and a foul. A crowd of 8,254 roared its approval.Ahead 38-35 at the break, Oakland scored 16 of the first 18 points in the second half.Patrick McCloskey, who had sleepwalked through the first half with no points and two rebounds in 12 minutes, led the surge with five points, five rebounds and a blocked shot. The 260-pound Scott, a transfer from Iowa, added four points on two twisting inside moves, Cassise came off the bench for two baskets and Marshall hit a 3-pointer."It took us a while to learn how to play against their speed," Kampe said. "We completely controlled the tempo the rest of the game."The Rochester, Mich., school with an enrollment of 16,500 pushed the lead to 54-37 and the lead never dropped below double digits."This is surreal," Cassise said. "I can't believe it's all happening."Scott built his 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting and added eight rebounds and McClosky had 11 rebounds as the Golden Grizzlies took a 43-29 edge on the boards.A&M coach L. Vann Pettaway said his team was worn out from playing four games in six days, winning the conference tournament on Sunday before hitting the road less than 24 hours later to make it to Dayton."We want to get back to the Big Dance, but we want to dance when we're rested," he said.
EXPERT: Larry Ness
REASON FOR PICK: Sports often offers us some unique symmetry. A case in point would be this year's Coppin St team, which becomes the 20th school in NCAA history to qualify for the NCAA tournament with a losing record. So I guess it is only fitting that the Eagles enter this year's tourney with 20 losses (16 wins), the most ever in a men's tournament. As everyone knows, Coppin State won 12 of its last 13 games, including four straight in the MEAC tourney (by a grand total of just SIX points!) to get here. Mount St Mary's will be its opponent in the play-in game. The Mountaineers also peeked at the right time, winning eight of their final nine games. As opposed to Coppin State, Mount St Mary's won all three of its Northeast tourney games by 10, 18 (over regular season champ Morgan St) and by 13 points (over Sacred Heart in the title game). Coppin St owns just one double digit scorer in guard McKee (16.6-4.3-3.1). Mount St Mary's counters with an excellent guard duo in Vann (14.4) and Goode (14.3-3.3-5.5). The Mountaineers also have freshman guard Jean Cajou (6.9) coming off the bench. Cajou scored 48 points in the just completed Northeast tourney, winning MVP honors. Neither team has much size, as no starters are bigger than 6-7. While both schools come in hot, it's fair to say that on paper, Mount St Marty's looks like the stronger team, especially considering its play in the Northeast tourney. All three of its wins came by double digits while Coppin St won its games by one, one (in overtime), two and two points. However, let's look at Coppin State's entire season. The Eagles opened 2-0 but then lost 19 of their next 21 games. However, a check of their schedule shows the team's first two losses came at Kent St and then at Xavier. From Dec 8 through Dec 27, the school lost at Arizona St, Ohio St, Dayton, Marquette, Indiana and Missouri. Now that's a schedule and I'm sure the school pocketed some nice "pay days." However, it also gave these players some 'big time" experience. So maybe the team's 12-1 run to end the year shouldn't be so much of a surprise? In comparison, a check of Mount St Mary's schedule shows nowhere near the level of competition Coppin State faced during its non-conference games. Look closely at the Mountaineers resume and you'll notice only Oregon and Oklahoma as big-name competitors. On the sidelines, Mount St Mary's is no longer led by coaching legend Jim Phelan, who was on the bench for 49 years, winning 830 career games. Instead, it's Milan Brown, who just completed his first winning season, after going 41-76 (.350) in his first four years. For Coppin St, "Fang" Mitchell is in his 22nd year of coaching (all at Coppin) and leads the Eagles to their fourth NCAA appearance. The last time was in 1997 and the Eagles upset No. 2 seed South Carolina, 78-65. Think that was a fluke? In the very next game Coppin lost 82-81 to Texas. I'll also note that NCAA play-in games in '02, '03, '04 and '05 featured teams with losing records. Each time, those schools won! Deja vu? You bet. Oddsmaker's Error on Coppin State (8*).
REASON FOR PICK: Sports often offers us some unique symmetry. A case in point would be this year's Coppin St team, which becomes the 20th school in NCAA history to qualify for the NCAA tournament with a losing record. So I guess it is only fitting that the Eagles enter this year's tourney with 20 losses (16 wins), the most ever in a men's tournament. As everyone knows, Coppin State won 12 of its last 13 games, including four straight in the MEAC tourney (by a grand total of just SIX points!) to get here. Mount St Mary's will be its opponent in the play-in game. The Mountaineers also peeked at the right time, winning eight of their final nine games. As opposed to Coppin State, Mount St Mary's won all three of its Northeast tourney games by 10, 18 (over regular season champ Morgan St) and by 13 points (over Sacred Heart in the title game). Coppin St owns just one double digit scorer in guard McKee (16.6-4.3-3.1). Mount St Mary's counters with an excellent guard duo in Vann (14.4) and Goode (14.3-3.3-5.5). The Mountaineers also have freshman guard Jean Cajou (6.9) coming off the bench. Cajou scored 48 points in the just completed Northeast tourney, winning MVP honors. Neither team has much size, as no starters are bigger than 6-7. While both schools come in hot, it's fair to say that on paper, Mount St Marty's looks like the stronger team, especially considering its play in the Northeast tourney. All three of its wins came by double digits while Coppin St won its games by one, one (in overtime), two and two points. However, let's look at Coppin State's entire season. The Eagles opened 2-0 but then lost 19 of their next 21 games. However, a check of their schedule shows the team's first two losses came at Kent St and then at Xavier. From Dec 8 through Dec 27, the school lost at Arizona St, Ohio St, Dayton, Marquette, Indiana and Missouri. Now that's a schedule and I'm sure the school pocketed some nice "pay days." However, it also gave these players some 'big time" experience. So maybe the team's 12-1 run to end the year shouldn't be so much of a surprise? In comparison, a check of Mount St Mary's schedule shows nowhere near the level of competition Coppin State faced during its non-conference games. Look closely at the Mountaineers resume and you'll notice only Oregon and Oklahoma as big-name competitors. On the sidelines, Mount St Mary's is no longer led by coaching legend Jim Phelan, who was on the bench for 49 years, winning 830 career games. Instead, it's Milan Brown, who just completed his first winning season, after going 41-76 (.350) in his first four years. For Coppin St, "Fang" Mitchell is in his 22nd year of coaching (all at Coppin) and leads the Eagles to their fourth NCAA appearance. The last time was in 1997 and the Eagles upset No. 2 seed South Carolina, 78-65. Think that was a fluke? In the very next game Coppin lost 82-81 to Texas. I'll also note that NCAA play-in games in '02, '03, '04 and '05 featured teams with losing records. Each time, those schools won! Deja vu? You bet. Oddsmaker's Error on Coppin State (8*).
If anyone needs further proof that Larry Ness is a complete moron just read this "expert" analysis. Coppin may well cover but the reasons he lists are idiotic as well as implying the oddsmaker error
I love Coppin's story, but let's look at this realistically. They are NOT a good team. They ARE a good story. They have 1 guy averaging in double digits scoring. They struggled to average 60 points per game because they shoot less than 40% from the floor as a team.
Yes, it is true Mt. St. Mary's didnt have as tough an out of conference schedule, but they were competitive in their game at Oregon. Coppin was never competitive, even got blown out against a pretty lousy Hawaii team that would be an underdog if they were playing the Mount tonight.
And all the refernces to 1997 - that team was completely different (duh, it was 10 years ago) they had 2 good guards, Brockington and Singletary as well as Terquin Mott who had NBA teams interested in him. That team was 22-8 when they beat South Carolina and as a 30 point underdog they had the whole arena cheering wildly for them, which is certainly not going to be the atmosphere tonight in Dayton.
I don't really have an opinion tonight beyond the Mount should win and if the line is 7 it is right where it should be. I just wanted to point out that Larry Ness is basically a coin flipper if that is his analysis.
Are you serious?
You tell me what a fair line would be for Hawaii vs Mt. St. Mary's so I can see how stupid I am.
Hawaii was favored twice this year on the road vs UC-Riverside and Louisiana Tech, they lost both of those games OUTRIGHT.
Mt. St. Mary's would be favored against Hawaii as well as both those teams Hawaii couldn't beat on the road
