With the final two early season tournaments of Thanksgiving week wrapping up, I'm going to flip my usual format for one of these posts. Today's entry will start with a look at the final day's slate in Lake Buena Vista and Anaheim. After the jump, I'll have a quick rundown of how Saturday's finals went down.
For a reminder of Friday's Old Spice and 76 Classic results, click here.
Old Spice Classic Finals
Championship: Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Dayton Flyers, approx. 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
3rd/4th Place: Indiana State Sycamores vs. Fairfield Stags, approx. 4:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
5th/6th Place: DePaul Blue Demons vs. Arizona State Sun Devils, approx. 2 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
7th/8th Place: Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 11:30 a.m. ET (ESPN3)
76 Classic Finals
Championship: Saint Louis Billikens vs. Oklahoma Sooners, approx. 9 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
3rd/4th Place: Villanova Wildcats vs. Santa Clara Broncos, approx. 6:30 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
5th/6th Place: Boston College Eagles vs. New Mexico Lobos, approx. 4 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
7th/8th Place: UC Riverside Highlanders vs. Washington St. Cougars, 1:30 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
A quick Saturday recap is after the jump.
If you predicted that Harvard would be the first Battle 4 Atlantis champion, I suggest that you go buy a lottery ticket right now. The Crimson shut down UCF from the opening whistle en route to a convincing 59-49 triumph. They'll take home the trophy and three potentially important wins from a seeding, and possibly at-large selection perspective. In the third-place game, Connecticut looked disjointed in the late stages for the second day in row, but Florida State's Jeff Peterson fouled Ryan Boatright during a three-point attempt. He hit all three shots to eventually force overtime, where the Huskies prevailed, 78-76. College of Charleston picked up its second win of the tournament, blasting UMass, 85-61. Finally, Utah further cemented its status as the worst major conference team with an 87-65 loss to UNC Asheville in the seventh-place game.
Wisconsin got a big second half to claim the Chicago Invitational Challenge crown. The Badgers led BYU by just a bucket at the break, but roared past the Cougars when play resumed, winning by a convincing 73-56 scoreline. Third place went to Nevada, who held off Bradley, 64-59. UMKC claimed the mid-major crown by slamming Longwood, 93-53. Wofford left Hoffman Estates with a 56-49 win over Prairie View.
UNLV stunned top-ranked North Carolina, 90-80, to claim the Las Vegas Invitational crown at the Orleans Arena. The Runnin' Rebels torched the Tar Heels from the perimeter, connecting on 13 treys on the night. The "Duel of USCs" in the third place game ended in favor of Southern California, 63-60 winners over South Carolina. Among the mid-majors, Cal Poly topped Mississippi Valley State, 72-55, to claim the title. Tennessee State finished third by topping Morgan State, 69-64.
The South Padre Invitational concluded with Iowa State pummeling Rice, 90-63, and Northern Iowa doing much the same to Providence in a game that ended up 79-62 in favor of the Panthers. The two in-state rivals finished the event 4-0 and will have to settle things at their regularly-scheduled annual meeting in Ames on Wednesday night. In the mid-major bracket, Northern Colorado finished on top, thanks to a 77-57 win over Southern. Western Carolina won the consolation game, 62-46 over Florida A&M.
Finally, the Great Alaska Shootout title went to Murray State who got 36 from Isaiah Canaan on the way to defeating Southern Mississippi, 90-81. New Mexico State beat San Francisco by an 81-71 score in the third-place game. Central Michigan took fifth place by knocking off Dartmouth, 65-48. Host Alaska-Anchorage finished seventh after grabbing a 77-63 win over UC Irvine.
As always, please feel free to discuss today's action in the comments.
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