— Michigan 71, Iowa 68
Wolverines won despite being minus-13 (18-5) in turnovers.
Michigan is 28-2, 18-1 in conference games.
Iowa is 20-10, but 2-5 in their last seven games.
— Louisiana Tech 76, Liberty 71
6-3 soph Bates scored 34 points, had four assists for Tech.
Liberty was 16-39 behind the arc, only 7-16 inside arc.
Liberty lost three of last four games, after a 23-3 start.
— Valparaiso 63, Indiana State 62
Indiana State led by 7 with 4:24 left in the game.
Valparaiso was 13-22 on foul line, Sycamores 3-4.
Crusaders play Bradley in the next round Friday.
— Drake 67, Southern Illinois 63
Salukis shot 4-25 on the arc, 3-9 on foul line.
Drake had lost nine games in a row, was a 9-point underdog.
Drake has also won this tournament the last three years; they had better teams then.
— Fairfield 71, Manhattan 60
Stags win 20 games for only 2nd time in last 14 years.
Fairfield starts four freshmen; they’re 9-3 in last 12 games.
Fairfield plays Saint Peter’s in the next round Friday.
— Famous birthdays, March 6th:
Jerry Rhome, 84
Mike Boryla, 75
Sleepy Floyd, 66
Connie Britton, 59
Shaquille O’Neal, 54
Michael Finley, 53
Sage Rosenfels, 48
Jake Arrieta, 40
Edmundo Sosa, 30
Joe Milton, 26
— Saw something on TV; so far in spring training, when a catcher challenges a ball/strike call, 54% of those calls have been overturned. When batters have challenged calls, 46% have been overturned. Still early in the process, but the ABS seems like a good system.
— There are only five players who have hit 400+ home runs, stole 300+ bases:
Carlos Beltran, 435 HR’s, 312 SB
Alex Rodriguez, 696, 329
Barry Bonds, 762, 514
Andre Dawson, 438, 314
Willie Mays, 660, 339
Jose Ramirez is the one active player who has a decent shot at joining this list; he’s hit 285 home runs, stolen 287 bases.
— Houston Astros’ SS Jeremy Pena has a broken bone in his finger, will be re-evaluated in two weeks. He’ll miss the World Baseball Classic; major league season starts in 20 days or so, it remains to be seen if Pena will be back in the lineup for Opening Day.
— There are two Max Muncy’s in the major leagues:
Dodgers’ 3B Max Muncy was drafted by the A’s, has played 10 years in the majors.
A’s 3B Max Muncy was also drafted by the A’s, has played one year so far.
What makes it weird is this: the two guys have the same birthday, August 25th.
— Chicago Bears traded WR DJ Moore and a 5th-round draft pick to Buffalo, in exchange for a second-round draft pick. Moore caught 50 passes for 682 yards and six TD’s last year; he has scored 43 TDs’ in his eight-year career.
— Sun Belt tournament:
Southern Miss 86, James Madison 80- Eagles were 28-34 on line; they play Texas State next.
Georgia Southern 80, Arkansas State 77- Eagles pull the first upset of the tournament.
