College Basketball: 2010 Southland Conference tournament predictions

The 2010 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament begins today at the Merrell Center in Katy and runs through Saturday. At the end of the tournament, one champion will be crowned and earn the right to represent the SLC in the NCAA Tournament.

Here is an educated guess on how it will shake out...

Quarterfinals

No. 1 Sam Houston State vs. No. 8 Nicholls State – On one hand, you have one of the hottest teams in the league (Sam Houston State) and in the other, a team that barely squeaked into the postseason. The Bearkats have three options on offense (Corey Allmond, Ashton Mitchell and Gilberto Clavell) while the Colonels have one (Anatoly Bose). It shouldn't be close. Daily Record Prediction: No. 1 Sam Houston State. CORRECT.

No. 2 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 7 UT-Arlington – The Lumberjacks enter the tournament coming off their first home conference loss since 2008. SFA dropped a 65-63 decision to Texas-San Antonio last Saturday night. The Mavericks lost their final three games but feature the reigning SLC Player of the Year (Marquez Haynes). While Haynes might be able to keep UTA close, he won't be able to win the game single-handily. Daily Record Prediction: No. 2 Stephen F. Austin. CORRECT.

No. 3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. No. 6 Texas-San Antonio – The Islanders finished the regular season with a 10-6 record in conference games while the Roadunners ended a game behind at 9-7. A&M-Corpus Christi and UTSA met twice this season with each team winning at the opposing team's home floor. The Islanders are a solid all-around team with guard Kevin Palmer and forwards Justin Reynolds and Demond Watt while the Roadrunners are guard-based with Devin Gibson and Morris Smith IV. If A&M-Corpus Christi pounds it inside with Reynolds and Watt, don't look for UTSA to keep up. Daily Record Prediction: No. 3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. CORRECT.

No. 4 Southeastern Louisiana vs. No. 5 Texas State – These are two of the hottest teams in the SLC right now. The Lions and Bobcats are each riding three-game win streaks but Texas State had the tougher schedule. The Bobcats battled Northwestern State, UTSA and Sam Houston State while SLU tackled Central Arkansas, Northwestern State and McNeese State. The Lions won the teams' only meeting this season by nine points, but that's still fresh in Texas State's mind. Look for the team that played the tougher schedule to close the season to come out on top. Daily Record Prediction: No. 5 Texas State. INCORRECT.


Semifinals

No. 1 Sam Houston State vs. No. 5 Texas State – If the Bobcats want to win this game, they'll need to play as well as they did in the teams' final meeting this season. Texas State went blow-for-blow with the Bearkats and walked out with a 101-97 overtime win in San Marcos. It wasn't the same story when the two teams met in Huntsville, with Sam Houston running Texas State out of the building. Can the Bobcats continue their momentum after a first-round win? Or will the Bearkats use the teams' last meeting as fuel to an already smoldering fire? Bet on the second. Daily Record Prediction: No. 1 Sam Houston State. CORRECT, but incorrect matchup.

No. 2 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – This might be the best game of the tournament. Both teams have solid guard play and forwards that can take over the game if need be. While the teams' only meeting during the regular season was forgettable (a 21-point win for the Lumberjacks), look for it to be a little bit closer. Daily Record Prediction: No. 2 Stephen F. Austin. CORRECT.


Final

No. 1 Sam Houston State vs. No. 2 Stephen F. Austin – Kind of funny how the seeding works its way out, huh? Both teams were head-and-shoulders above the rest of the conference during the regular season, but the Bearkats were on another echelon. Texas State head coach Doug Davalos said it best, “Take Sam Houston State out of it and then draw teams out of a hat and every matchup will be even.” There's a reason he took Sam Houston State out of the running: The Bearkats are just that good. Daily Record Prediction: No. 1 Sam Houston State. CORRECT.

College Baseball: An upset bid falls short

Texas State held a lead against the third-ranked team in the nation, Texas, Tuesday night for seven innings. The Bobcats were unable to hold on, as the bullpen collapsed once again at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Carson Smith's masterpiece (7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 8 K) went from a win to a no-decision while Mitchell Pitts and Garrett Carruth allowed the Longhorns to seize the lead.

Now for some thoughts...

• Carson Smith will be a weekend starter for Texas State. Bobcats head coach Ty Harrington confirmed that thought after the game, but Smith cemented his place in the rotation with his performance. Smith kept a dangerous Texas lineup at bay with his mid-90s fastball and vertigo-inducing off-speed pitches.
• Texas State needs to find some consistency within its lineup. The Bobcats had one big inning (the two-run fourth) but a bunch of other forgettable at-bats. Granted, it's still early in the season, but Texas State must pick it up with some tough weekend and mid-week games approaching.
• Jason Martinson and Laurn Randell are hurting the Bobcats' offense right now. Martinson did rip an RBI double Tuesday night, but his average is barely above the Mendoza line (.209). Randell turned in another 0-for and his averaged dropped to .200.
• Texas State just can't get it together in the late innings. The Bobcats had a two-run lead with four outs remaining in the game and couldn't close it out.
• If I were Harrington, I'd look closely at Pitts before using him again. Pitts threw 11 pitches and two of those were belted inches next to his noggin for singles. His earned-run average rose to 8.53.

Quotables

Harrington on whether or not he was worried about putting the ball in Smith's hands: "The kid wanted the moment. He got into it and pitched like he wanted to be in there."

Harrington on the team's struggles in the eighth and ninth innings: "It's just like everything else, you have to keep practicing at it. You have to be able to get into that moment, and this is one of the few places in America where you can get into that moment and attack something when it feels like the whole world is watching. We need to be able to adapt it emotionally to help us physically to be able to excel in this situation."

Smith on Texas' lineup: "I had to go attack their lineup like anybody else I'd face. You have to respect them, but at the same time, you can't put them above you. You have to go right at them."

Texas State first baseman Kyle Livingstone on the almost double play: "I knew the throw had to be perfect, so I stretched and hoped, but he got it. He was safe. That's what they did all night. They had infield hits. They weren't hitting the ball hard but they got the breaks when they needed them and it was pretty frustrating knowing we made all the plays, but the one we needed we just didn't get."

College Basketball: Texas State is flying high at the right time (VIDEO)

Texas State opens play in the Southland Conference tournament tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m. vs. Southeastern Louisiana. If the Bobcats beat the Lions, they'll face Sam Houston State in the semifinals Thursday night.

College Basketball: SLC awards to be released Tuesday

The Southland Conference is set to announce its 2009-2010 All-Conference award winners Tuesday morning. Among those awards given out will be the prizes for Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year.

Here are my picks for POY, DPOY and COY:

Player of the Year — Gilberto Clavell (Sam Houston State) or Kevin Palmer (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi). Clavell averaged 18 points and 7.1 rebounds per game while knocking down 57.8 percent of his shots. Palmer, on the other hand, poured in 19.5 points per game while leading the SLC in steals. ACTUAL SELECTION — Marquez Haynes.

Defensive Player of the Year — William Mosley (Northwestern State). Mosley led the SLC in rebounds (11.1), defensive rebounds (7.4) and blocks per game (3.6). ACTUAL SELECTION — Not given out.

Coach of the Year — Bob Marlin (Sam Houston State). Marlin should be an unanimous pick. He guided the Bearkats to a 14-2 record in the SLC and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. ACTUAL SELECTION — Bob Marlin.

College Basketball: 2010 SLC tournament pairings

The pairings for the 2010 Southland Conference basketball tournament have been set.

Texas State, by virtue of its 101-97 win Saturday afternoon against Sam Houston State, clinched the fifth seed. The Bobcats will play Southeastern Louisiana Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m.

Here are the official pairings...

• No. 1 Sam Houston State vs. No. 8 Nicholls State, 6 p.m. Wednesday
• No. 2 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 7 UT-Arlington, 12 p.m. Wednesday
• No. 3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. No. 6 UTSA, 2:30 p.m. Wednesday
• No. 4 Southeastern Louisiana vs. No. 5 Texas State, 8:30 p.m. Wednesday

Keep checking back in to the Cats' Cradle as I'll be handicapping the tournament leading up to Wednesday's tip-off.

College Basketball: Recapping Saturday's 101-97 overtime win

Texas State posted its third consecutive win after beating Sam Houston State, 101-97, Saturday afternoon at Strahan Coliseum. The Bobcats also assured themselves at least the sixth seed in the Southland Conference tournament.

John Rybak led Texas State with 25 points while Emmanuel Bidias a Moute chipped in 16. Both seniors were monumental in the Bobcats' win.

Rybak drained back-to-back 3-pointers to give Texas State the lead late in the second half while Moute set the tone early by battling for tough lay-ups.

Player of the Game: You can't go wrong by giving it to both seniors as they combined for 41 points. It was a welcome sight to see Rybak regain his shot after struggling through most of the SLC slate.

It was over when ... Ryan White took over the game in overtime. White's lay-up with 1:30 remaining gave the Bobcats a four-point lead and his six free throws iced the win.

Quotables

Texas State head coach Doug Davalos on the game: You have to make some big shots and our guys stepped up and made big shots. When our guys do that, we become such a better defensive team that we’re going to be in most games. This ain’t a shocker to the guys in the locker room. We expect, when we play well, to win."

Davalos on the importance of winning on senior night: "We want to kind of make it a tradition here where we send our seniors off with a win. We’ve done it past three years and I said, ‘That’s what you owe to these guys, because you’re going to be a senior one day and the underclassmen when you’re a senior are going to owe it to you. That’s a heck of a tradition to set. The great thing was that the seniors said if you’re not going to do it for me, we’ll carry it ourselves, as well. You can’t write a better script that two seniors were so instrumental in our win."

Rybak on his two huge 3-pointers in the second half: "I've been struggling in the past a little bit, but when you hear that as a shooter (the crowd's cheers after he made the first), it’s almost a given the second one is going in."

College Football: Texas State holds its first spring scrimmage (VIDEO)

A few notes...

• The Bobcats cycled through several first-team QBs to try to find any consistency in the group. Eric Soza and Tim Hawkins started the day with the first team (mainly Soza) but by the end, Alvaro Garcia got his shot.
• Hawkins didn't look sharp at all, but he did lead an 80-yard drive to close practice. The ball was placed at the opposite 3-yard line and the first-team offense tried to score against the first-team defense. Hawkins' legs kept several plays alive, but two incomplete passes stalled any chance at a score.
• Frank Reddic and Dexter Imade looked strong running the ball yesterday. Reddic and Imade should see steady carries next season.
• Texas State's coaches moved Corey Petro, a redshirt freshman wide receiver, to running back in an effort to give that position depth. Petro earned all-state Class 5A honorable mention and first-team District 3-5A honors as a running back at Midland Lee.
• The Bobcats recorded two sacks yesterday as redshirt freshman Roger Martinez and soon-to-be-senior Ron Jackson wrapped up the quarterback.
• Texas State's secondary came out ready to play, putting a few big hits on the wide receivers and picking off three passes.