BIRMINGHAM - Senior guard David Goldbold scored 25 points, provided baskets at clutch times and held St. Joseph's leading scorer to just 6 points as Oklahoma defeated Saint Joseph's 72-64 to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Oklahoma (23-11) will play the winner of the Louisville-Boise State game Sunday.
BIRMINGHAM - Blake Griffin only had 12 points for Oklahoma,but four of them came when St. Joe's had life left in them. His 2 baskets under the goal took some life out of the St. Joe's surge and preserved a 72-64 win for the Sooners.
Be back with more later...
BIRMINGHAM - St. Joe's keeps coming. Rob Ferguson just knocked down a 3-pointer and St. Joe's trals by just four points.
3:30 left and it's 65-61 OU. Don't go home just yet....
BIRMINGHAM - I think I jinxed Oklahoma.
As soon as the last entry was posted, St. Joe's has made a run and just forced OU to burn a timeout. Rob Ferguson and Pat Calathes have nailed 3's during that stretch and SJU has cut it to a 9-point deficit with 10 minutes to go.
BIRMINGHAM - As the clock ticks down here in Birmingham, the Hawks cannot seem to gnaw into the OU lead.
The Sooners lead by 18 with 13 minutes left. The offense continues to escape Phil Martelli's squad, and to make it worse for St. Joe's fans, the Sooners are actually scoring this half.
This one is headed for a blowout...
BIRMINGHAM - OU's David Godbold put an end to first half that happened primarily under the basket for OU by nailing a trio of three-pointers out of the break. Godbold now has 18 points in the game and has surged the Sooners to a 19-point lead.
If St. Joe's can't find a way to score some points quickly, this one will wind up just like the Butler-South Alabama game we witnessed a few hours ago -- UGLY!
BIRMINGHAM - As I said earlier, the first half was a battle to 30 and Oklahoma won. The Sooners went on a 14-2 run to close out the half. They lead St. Joe's 34-22.
The Hawks have committed 8 turnovers in the game, and that was a big part of its offensive struggles. They never seemed comfortable. They haven't played bad defense, but it's easy to get behind when you can't score. Those 8 turnovers led to 14 OU points.
BIMRINGHAM - Omar Leary just made 2 free throws and Blake Griffin converted a layup off a steal and OU is up 7 with just over 3 minutes to go. St. Joseph's has looked really sloppy in the second half of the first half.
Aside from Ferguson, there has been virtually no offense for the Hawks. They're really struggling to get into a rhythm the offensive side of the ball.
As I type, St. Joe's breaks the dry spell, but it was Ferguson who nailed the 18-footer. He now has 13 of the 22 Hawk points. 29-22 after a OU layup with 1:45 left.
BIRMINGHAM - Neither side can buy a bucket. Looks like the first half will be a struggle to get to 30. OU up 23-20 with 3:42 left in the half. Longar Longar has 7 points for the Sooners.
BIRMINGHAM - St. Joseph's forward Rob Ferguson is carrying the Hawks at the moment. He has 9 of their 19 points as the Hawks hold a 1-point lead with 7 minutes to go in the first half. The senior is well on his way to his average of 12 points per game.
Very exciting game. Lot of back-and-forth scoring. No team has grabbed a big lead yet.
BIRMINGHAM - The Sooners and Hawks have opened the game on a fast offensive pace, with OU holding a 12-10 lead 5 minutes in.
Longar Longar has 4 points in the paint for OU, while Austin Johnson has 5. Rob Ferguson has 5 for St. Joe's.
BIRMINGHAM - Game three of first round tournament action in Birmingham is set to tip in 30 minutes.
Six-seed Oklahoma (22-11) will battle 11-seed St. Joseph's (21-12) for the right to play the winner of the Louisville-Boise State game that follows this one.
The Sooners are out stretching now as the fans are starting to trickle into the stands. The Sooners are already the target of some taunting by some St. Joe's fans.
The crowd will likely not be as large or energetic for the second session, because of the school's distance from the Steel City. Louisville is by far the closest team to Birmingham with St. Joe's coming from the Northeast, Oklahoma the Midwest and Boise State clear across the country.
Stay tuned for updates throughout the rest of the night.
Friday's action in the NCAA Tournament will get kicked into high gear from the start as the high-octane Tennessee Volunteers will tip things off in Birmingham at 11:15 a.m. ET.
Bruce Pearl's troops will battle No. 15 seed American, who is making its first tourney appearance.
The first session wraps up with an intriguing matchup with perenniel mid-major power Butler taking on 10-seeded South Alabama, who will make a short trip up Interstate 65 to play.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Hundreds of Temple students swarmed around Sergio Olmos, the center from Valencia, Spain, who had his hand high in the air to lead a chant.
"Ole, ole, ole, ole... ole... ole..."
It was a chant the Temple students did many times over the weekend, but none was happier than that one. The Owls are headed back to the NCAA Tournament. It's the Owls seventh Atlantic 10 Championship, most of any team, and first since 2001.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Temple opened the second half on a 15-2 run and never looked back, beating Saint Joseph's 69-64 to win the Atlantic 10 Tournament and earn its first NCAA bid since the Elite 8 team in 2001.
Dionte Christmas scored 22 points to lead the Owls, who also got 15 from Chris Clark. Ahmad Nivins had 18 for the Hawks, who are 21-12 and must now wait until tomorrow night to see if they earn an NCAA bid.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Dionte Christmas stripped Pat Calathes on a drive to the basket, and Temple is holding on to a five-point lead, 64-59, with just 48.8 seconds to play.
A Pat Calathes jumper cut Temple's lead to four with 1:54 to play; the Hawks then took their final timeout. Mark Tyndale wasn't able to get a shot off before the shot clock expired on the next possession.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Saint Joseph's isn't letting this one get away that easily. But after a Rasheed Carr bucket closed the Hawks to three points, Mark Tyndale got his first field goal of the game while being fouled. He converted the free throw. It's now 63-57 with just under 2:30 to play. Tyndale has a pair of FTs coming up after the media timeout.
Ryan Brooks has 13 -- including 10 points this half -- for the Owls, while Pat Calathes has 12 and Ahmad Nivins 18 for the Hawks.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- While there are definitely more Saint Joseph's students here tonight, Temple's fans have all the props: Awkward signs with "ESPN" spelled out in the middle of words, Christmas wreaths (really), a sign with a dude's phone number on it. But the #1 Temple fan is not the kid in the anti-Penn State shirt -- he has been here for all three Owls games -- but a rather large student with the Temple logo shaved into his chest hair.
Dionte Christmas hit a three-pointer to put Temple up 9 at one point, but Saint Joseph's has closed back to 50-46 after a pair of Pat Calathes free throws. There's 8:40 left in this one.
Oh, Grizzlies assistant coach/player Aaron McKie, another Temple alum, is here as well. One wonders where Ron Rollerson is.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Temple's lead got as big as 7 before Tasheed Carr stopped the bleeding with a three-point play on a layup with just under 13 minutes to play.
Saint Joseph's is still playing catchup after Sergio Olmos hit a layup down the other end. It's 43-37, with 11:52 remaining.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Dionte Christmas now has 17 points, and Temple has clawed back to take the lead, 39-34, after Chris Clark followed up his three-pointer with a steal and layup. It's a 15-2 run to start the half.
Lavoy Allen opened the second half with a dunk, and Christmas followed it up with a three-pointer to cut the lead to 2. Ahmad Nivins has the only bucket of the second half for the Hawks.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Saint Joseph's jumped out to a 15-5 lead and has never trailed, leading Temple at halftime of the Atlantic 10 Tournament final, 32-25. The Owls are shooting just 7-for-26 (26 percent) but have stayed in it hitting half of their 10 three-point attempts.
Ahmad Nivins has 12 points and 5 rebounds for the Hawks. Dionte Christmas is 3-for-5 on three-pointers and has 12 for Temple. Mark Tyndale is 0-for-5 from the field and has just 3 points. Temple's turned it over 8 times to 4 for Saint Joseph's.
Darrin Govens is 4-of-8 from the field for 9 for St. Joe's.
Saint Bonaventure, who didn't make the Atlantic 10 tournament, had two students absolutely dominate the 2-ball NBA Jam-esque hot spot shootout championship and won $10,000. The team from Bonaventure was pretty much the only one that could actually shoot!
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Yeah, the two games between these teams ended in one-point finishes. But Saint Joseph's was down 11 in its win and Temple trailed by 12 four minutes into the second half of its win. Right now, the Hawks are up, 27-21, with 3:36 remaining in the first half, after leading by as many as 10.
Dionte Christmas is almost singlehandedly keeping Temple in this one. He now has 12 points. Ahmad Nivins now has 10 and Pat Calathes, back in the game after sitting with 2 early fouls, has 4.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Dionte Christmas hit a free throw to complete a four-point play after being fouled by Garrett Williamson, and Temple is right back in it at 19-15.
Ryan Brooks had hit a three-pointer on the previous possession. Ahmad Nivins now has 8 for Saint Joseph's. Christmas has 4 for TU. The Owls would have closed within a point, but the refs ruled Chris Clark pushed off before hitting a three.
Saint Joseph's is getting a bucketful of offensive rebounds.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Darrin Govens, who scored 3 points the last Saint Joseph's-Temple game, already has 7 after this three-pointer gave the Hawks a 15-5 lead just under seven minutes into the first half. He had 7 in the first game between the the two teams.
Dionte Christmas missed back-to-back open looks at three-pointers, but Pat Calathes picked up his second foul on the rebound and has been taken out. Mark Tyndale also missed a pair of follow attempts about a foot from the rim. Temple only has one field goal, by Lavoy Allen.
Rob Ferguson just picked up his second foul of the game right before the second media timeout. There's 11:49 left in the first.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Ahmad Nivins' reverse jam gave him four points and Saint Joseph's is out in front, 8-5, at the first media timeout just over four minutes in. Mark Tyndale hit all his free throws after Pat Calathes fouled him on a three-point attempt.
Nivins has a pair of FTs after the media timeout ends.
Boardwalk Hall is finally buzzing tonight after a week of less-than-stellar crowds. Yesterday's crowds were decent-sized, but things are definitely hot tonight. Former Temple guard Mardy Collins -- who, unfortunately, has to play for the Knicks now -- is here. Earlier in the week, former Princeton coach Pete Carrill was in attendance.
Unfortunately, there were no celebrities here as big as the man down the boardwalk: The Iron Shiek, who was part of a comedy tour at the House of Blues last night.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Two Philadelphia schools meet for the third time this season with an NCAA Tournament bid on the line as second-seeded Temple meets fifth-seed Saint Joseph's in the Atlantic 10 Championship at Boardwalk Hall.
The Hawks stunned Temple, 68-67, on a Pat Calathes three-pointer with 3.9 seconds left on Jan. 26, while a Mark Tyndale with 22.3 seconds to go pushed Temple past the Hawks, 57-56, on March 2. Temple led almost the entire way in its home loss; St. Joe's led almost the entire way in Temple's win at the Palestra earlier this month.
Both teams controlled the play throughout their games yesterday; Joe's upset 10th-ranked Xavier, 61-53, while Temple shut down a game Charlotte squad, 60-45.
The Hawks are playing their fourth game in four days, having routed Fordham on Wednesday and Richmond on Thursday. Temple got a bye into the quarterfinals and scored the final 11 points to push past La Salle on Thursday night.
Both schools are among the best shooting teams in the country; the Owls' effective field goal percentage, which weights made three-pointers, is 54.5 (19th nationally). Saint Joseph's has a 54.8 eFG percentage, 14th in the country. Both teams are in one of the various bracket predictions online, but one team won't have to wait 'til Sunday to find out if its in.
It will be the 31st consecutive year a team from the Big 5 makes the NCAA Tournament. Tonight's game tips at 6.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli said he knew his team was ready for Xavier, having played the Musketeers already this season and beaten them eight days earlier. He also said he "prayed a double rosary" before today's games that Xavier's threes didn't fall.
After making 23 three-pointers in the first two games between the schools, Xavier went just 1-for-14 from distance. Joe's jumped out to a 7-2 lead and never trailed in its 63-51 upset win over the 10th-ranked team in the country.
Xavier's 51 points were its lowest total all season.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Are the Hawks in? They certainly gave it their best effort Saint Joseph's used a 15-0 run at the end of the first half and beginning of the second and held on to beat Xavier, 61-53 tonight.
Xavier cut it to 5 with just over a minute to play, but the Hawks broke the press and Pat Calathes' emphatic dunk put them back up 7. Calathes had 24 for the Hawks in the upset.
A pair of Xavier free throws by Drew Lavender cut the Hawks' lead back to 5, but Calathes hit 3-of-4 free throws to bring the lead back to 8. Calathes missed the back end of his first set of free throws, but the Hawks got the rebound. An airballed three at the other end pretty much sealed the win.
Josh Duncan had 11 points for X, all in the second half. The Musketeers shot just 19-for-52 (36.5 percent) for the game.
At the end of the game, Joe's fans held up signs that read "BOARD HAWK HILL."
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Back in Saint Joseph's win over Xavier on March 6, the Hawks were up 10 going into the final minutes to play but held on for a five-point victory.
With 3:15 to play tonight, the Hawks led by 12 and were up by 9 with 2:32 to play after a Josh Duncan layup. A Stanley Burrell steal and layup made it 54-47 with just under 2 minutes left.
Let's see if the Hawks can hold on again eight days later.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Saint Joseph's has had about five three-pointers so far this game go in and out, but the Hawks still lead this one by 12, 53-41. There's 5:09 left in this one.
Xavier's Josh Duncan, who didn't score in the first half, has 7 points in the second. He's still only 1-for-6 from the floor. Ahmad Nivins has 14 for the Hawks.
Xavier has 8 fouls; St. Joe's has 9.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Pat Calathes had just 3 points with a little over a minute left in the first half. The Saint Joseph's senior had a three-point play and a shot from behind the arc to close the half, then opened the second half with a trifecta of three pointers.
He now has 18 and had made four straight threes until he airballed one just before the second media timeout. With 11 minutes left in this one, Saint Joseph's continues to be up by double digits, 46-32.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- The referees called four consecutive fouls to open the first half and the Saint Joseph's center is now on the bench just 5:36 into the first half. Xavier still trails by 10, 38-28.
Xavier began pressing after Josh Duncan hit a pair of free throws -- his first points of the game -- just three minutes into the half. Joe's broke the press both times Xavier used it; a Pat Calathes three had the Hawks up 14, 38-24, at the first media timeout at 15:48.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- How much did the Hawks shut down Xavier's offense in the first half? The 8-for-25 first half was one of its worst performances of the season. But things might have gotten worse at halftime.
The first round of the Atlantic 10 Shootout was held inbetween halves. The game was a mixed doubles shootaround competition where winners from each campus competed against each other in a game similar to that awful "2-ball" that used to be played during NBA All-Star Weekend. Xavier played Saint Joseph's in the first matchup and Xavier's team didn't score at all. X also had several airballs -- as did many teams! I shudder to think who these teams defeated at their campuses.
Rob Ferguson opened the first half with a three-pointer that puts the Hawks up 13; Rashid Carr's jumper just made it 35-20, Hawks. Ferguson is 6-for-6 from distance so far this tournament. The Musketeers turned it over again and now have eight.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Saint Joseph's ended the half on a 10-0 run to break a tie and went into the locker room up 30-20 on Xavier. Pat Calathes' three-pointer just before the clock expired of the first half gave him 9 for the game. Ahmad Nivins also has 9 for the Hawks, but sat for a stretch with 2 fouls.
The Hawks have so far clamped down on Xavier's normally extremely efficient offense, holding the Musketeers to just 32 percent shooting. Josh Duncan is 0-for-4 and scoreless. C.J. Anderson has 6 for X.
Saint Joseph's has given up 5 offensive rebounds, but has also forced Xavier into 7 turnovers.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Saint Joseph's and Xavier have been tight throughout the first half so far, with neither team gaining much ground through the first 10 minutes. The Hawks have pulled ahead to four-point leads twice since.
Rob Ferguson has 6 points for the Hawks, while C.J. Anderson has 6 and Drew Lavender 4 for the Musketeers.
There's a heavily pro-Philly crowd here tonight, with a few hundred St. Joe's students clumped behind both baskets. Temple and Saint Joseph's fans dot the crowd, though there are Xavier loyalists in Boardwalk Hall as well.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- If Saint Joseph's can beat Xavier tonight, the Hawks will be able to breathe easier come Selection Sunday. The 20-11 bubble team has routed its two opponents so far in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, avoiding the close games the rest of the A-10 Tournament is producing.
Of course, Joe's may still need to win the whole thing, especially with how unpredictable March has been so far in 2008.
Xavier has had a tournament bid locked up for a while now, but the regular season champion will be attempting to guarantee at least a No. 3 seed in the Big Dance. The Musketeers held off a game Dayton squad yesterday, 74-65, and have run an incredibly efficient offense to a 27-5 record.
The Hawks are no slouch on offense either, and after a pair of incredibly exciting games to close the quarterfinals last night, this game and the Temple-Charlotte nightcap could be more exciting than landing on Free Parking as SJU and TU alums pack Boardwalk Hall.
The first A-10 semifinal tonight tips at 6:30.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Everybody but Saint Joseph's has been tested so far in this tournament. The Hawks routed Fordham yesterday and used a 15-0 run midway through the first half to take control against Richmond; they cruised to a 61-47 win. The Hawks improved to 20-11 and moved closer to their first NCAA Tournament berth since the 2004 Elite 8 team.
Joe's shot 22-of-45 for the game and held the Spiders to just 33 percent shooting (8-for-24) in the second half. The Hawks had four in double figures; Richmond's Kevin Anderson scored 16 to tie SJU's Rob Ferguson for the game high. Joe's turned it over 16 times to Richmond's 15, but outrebounded the Spiders, 34-27.
Although the Hawks were considered a slight favorite going into the game, this is the first lower seed to win in the Atlantic 10 tournament so far this year.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Saint Joseph's has been able to completely put this one away yet -- the Hawks' lead hovered around 20 until a short Richmond run cut it to 13 with 2:45 left -- but it seems like it's in the bag, barring a tremendous comeback.
So I went over to the other side of the court and got a photo of the Richmond inflatable "spider" mascot, who sort of looks like a Zooperstar. That's just the kind of hard-working, dedicated liveblogger I am. I uploaded the photo over here.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Richmond is making Saint Joseph's earn its points -- multiple turnovers and snuffs at the offensive end -- but the Hawks are using the shot clock and have pushed the lead to 14, 45-31, just about halfway through the second.
The Hawks have seven fouls already this half -- and with Richmond hitting only three field goals since the break, the Spiders may need to barrel inside and try to draw fouls. Kevin Anderson hit a three for Richmond to give him 10 points; Rob Ferguson has 15 for the Hawks.
Richmond's Gaston Moliva lowered his shoulder like he was an NFL lineman in the most obvious charge of the tournament so far. The Spiders have pulled out their secret weapon for the stretch, though: A giant inflatable spider that kind of looks more like a termite. But it has a spider web cape, so I assume it's a spider superhero. The Saint Joseph's Hawk is apparently ready to square off, taking sips of Gatorade under his mask. That's what happens when your team has a mascot on scholarship.
Unfortunately, there are no Richmond fans here wearing this hat.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Saint Joseph's extended its lead out to as many as 11 early in the second half and now leads by 9 five minutes in. Rob Ferguson, a 6-8 senior, hit another three, giving him 13 for the game. Ahmad Nivins now has 9.
Richmond's Ryan Butler was fouled while hitting a nice driving layup, but couldn't convert the three-point play.
I would venture a guess that this game will feature the least amount of visible tattoos in the Atlantic 10 tournament. Richmond's entire lineup appears free of ink right now, while SJU only has Pat Calathes' enormous right-arm tattoo and tats on a few guards.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Richmond clawed its way back to as close as two with just over a minute to play, but Saint Joseph's Pat Calathes and Rob Ferguson hit threes before the half to give the Hawks a 30-22 lead.
There's a decent-sized Joe's crowd here, and a fair number of students who didn't have class today I'm sure. There aren't any rollouts, but a Hawks fan did threaten to excommunicate RIchmond's Kevin Anderson after he hit a shot.
Ferguson has 10 to lead everybody; Calathes and Ahmad Nivins each have 7 for the Hawks. Anderson and Dan Geriot have 5 each for Richmond.
Richmond is shooting 9-for-22 from the floor; SJU is 13-for-27 and has three more offensive rebounds and three fewer turnovers.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Saint Joseph's has run off 16 straight points to take a 10-point edge here at Boardwalk Hall. Rob Ferguson now has 7, while Arvydas Lidzius' only bucket came on a layup as the shot clock expired off a nice pass from Pat Calathes.
Since the early deficit, Joe's has completely stuffed anything Richmond has attempted to work inside. The Hawks are still not getting good looks at threes but are working the ball inside more successfully.
Richmond big man Kevin Smith already has two fouls.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Saint Joseph's had only three buckets the first eight minutes, but a Rob Ferguson three has cut the Richmond lead in half. The Spiders lead, 12-9, at the second media timeout.
Until that three, the Spiders had denied Joe's any good shot looks. SJU hit five threes in the first half of yesterday's game. Dan Geriot has three for Richmond.
The crowd here is obviously chiefly composed of Saint Joseph's fans, including a couple in Jameer Nelson jerseys, both Orlando and SJU varieties.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Now this was the Atlantic 10 tournament everybody expected. The league's members beat each other up all season; yesterday, games were decided by 1, 2 and 3 points. Despite the close games, all the top seeds managed to hold on, although eighth-seeded Dayton needed OT to do it. Basketball Prospectus predicted a wide-open tournament, and even the teams who survived yesterday are certainly dangerous in quarterfinal matchups today.
Here's what's coming from down the shore at Boardwalk Hall this afternoon.
