You can hear Boop chat with Big Daddy Graham every Friday at 5 a.m. on SportsRadio 94.1 WIP . . .
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TUESDAY’S QUICKIE QUIZ
>>> Temple will attempt to get to the main draw of the NCAA Tournament Tuesday when it faces Belmont at Dayton shortly after 9 p.m. . . . La Salle in 2013 is only other Big 5 team to appear in a Play-In game in that round’s 18-year history . . . Whom did the Explorers beat to earn their way into the 64-team draw that season?
(Answer Below)
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TUESDAY’S SINGLE DIGITS
>>> In addition to the NCAA Tournament, the NIT begins Tuesday and the storyline there for us is Campbell’s Chris Clemons and his quest to move up the NCAA career scoring list . . . He is currently third (3,193), 25 points away from passing La Salle’s Lionel Simmons (3,217) -– who has held third place for 10,610 days -- and another game or so (if Campbell wins) from passing Portland State’s Freeman Williams (3,249) for second.
Be aware, however, that the NCAA nows owns the NIT and uses it for some rules experimentation each season . . . One of those this year is using the international distance for three-pointers (22 feet, 1.75 inches) which is about 20 inches farther than the NCAA distance . . . BTW, Clemons is a sniper (440-for-1211 from the arc in his career) . . . The Fighting Camels open play at UNC Greensboro Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Further down the scoring chain is South Dakota State’s Mike Daum (3.042, ninth place) . . . His Jackrabbits are also in the NIT, playing at Texas Tuesday at 9 p.m. . . . He is chasing Keydren Clark (3,058) and Harry Kelly (3,066).
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>>> The Rockets’ James Harden Sunday had 24 shots from the field but did not attempt any free throws . . . The single-game database at basketball-reference.com dates to 1983-84, which is where we found a Jan. 30, 1997 game in which Hakeem Olajuwon had 40 FGA and 0 FTA . . . Hard. To. Do.
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>>> Villanova is a sixth seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the seeding years (1979-2019) . . . The only other time was 1988, when they made it to the Southeast Regional Final, where the Wildcats lost to the Stacey King/Harvey Grant/Mookie Blaylock top-seeded Oklahoma Sooners club.
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>>> The Big East will not have a Top 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001 . . . The Big 12 will not have a Top 2 seed for the first time since 1999 . . . In fact, here are the conferences that have Top 2 Seed NCAA Streaks alive as of 2019:
29 . . . ACC (Last without 1990
2 . . . . Big Ten (Last without 2017)
1 . . . . WCC (Last without 2018)
1 . . . . SEC (Last without 2018)
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QUICKIE QUIZ ANSWER
>>> La Salle defeated Boise State, 80-71, in a 2013 Play-In game . . . The Explorers then stopped Kansas State (63-61) and Mississippi (76-74) before dropping a 72-54 decision to Wichita State in the West Regional Semifinal in Los Angeles.