NCAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS APPROVE EXPANDED MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

The NCAA's Board of Directors approved an expanded men's basketball tournament Thursday, passing a proposal that will take the field from 65 teams to 68 next season.

The move comes one week after NCAA officials recommended the first expansion of March Madness since 2001, when the tourney added one team to the 64-team field that was established in 1985.

Still to be determined: How the format will work.

The board is hoping that by adding three opening-round games to the one already played, it will eliminate the stigma of a what outsiders have dubbed the tourney's ``play-in'' game.

Thanks to the new 14-year, $10.8 billion television package with CBS and Turner Broadcasting, announced last week, fans will be able to choose which games they want to watch. It will be the first time that every game will be televised live nationally.

And now the tourney will have three more teams competing - fewer than most people were expecting.

Four weeks ago during the Final Four in Indianapolis, NCAA officials discussed the possibility of expanding to 80 or 96 teams, proposals that were rejected after television executives said additional games would not affect their bids for broadcast rights and the public complained that so many more teams would water down the competition.

While the NCAA kept the ability to expand at will, it went with the much more modest 68-team format that likely means three more at-large bids.

``Expanding to 68 teams gave us an opportunity to involve more teams in the championship, and in doing that, we were able to enhance the experience of the opening-round game,'' said Clemson president James Barker, the committee chairman. ``Expansion enables us to give more exposure to the universities and provide more opportunities for student-athletes.''

Committee members were not immediately available to answer questions on a day they were also scheduled to discuss legislative proposals regarding the use of athletes' names, images and likenesses in commercial products, concussions and tougher academic standards for junior college transfers.

But the top of the agenda was the NCAA's marquee event.

``We will spend the next two months studying various options and garnering feedback from the membership in an effort to finalize a format for the four opening-round games that makes the most sense for everyone involved,'' UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero, the outgoing selection committee chairman.

Guerrero also chairs the Division I men's basketball committee, which must approve format changes.

UNI RALLY FALLS SHORT IN 61-56 LOSS TO PURDUE

The University of Northern Iowa men’s basketball team was able to cut a 14-point second-half deficit to two, but it was unable to completely close the gap in a 61-56 loss to Purdue in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday afternoon.

Jordan Eglseder led the Panthers (23-11) with 13 points, and Kwadzo Ahelegbe scored 11. Ali Farokhmanesh added 10 points, all in the second half. Lucas O’Rear came off the bench to grab seven rebounds.

E’Twaun Moore led Purdue (26-9) with 17 points, and JaJuan Johnson scored 14 for the Boilermakers. Robbie Hummel scored nine points and collected 12 rebounds for Purdue.

A three-point play from Eglseder and a three from Johnny Moran gave the Panthers a quick 6-4 lead. UNI was held scoreless for more than seven minutes, however, allowing Purdue to go on a 14-0 run and build an 18-6 advantage.

A three from Moran and a layup from Eglseder cut the Panther deficit to seven, 20-13 with 8:24 left in the half.

The Boilermakers stretched their lead back to a dozen, however, and they took a 32-20 lead into the break.

Hummel scored at 19:30 to give Purdue its largest lead of the game, 34-20. Adam Koch responded with a three-point shot to pull the Panthers within 11.

Johnson and Eglseder traded baskets, and a pair of free throws from Moore gave put Purdue in front by 13, 38-25 with 16:59 to play. Farokhmanesh hit his first three of the game to make it a 10-point game, 38-28. He connected on a three off an assist from Travis Brown to cut UNI’s deficit to seven, 38-31 with 14:18 to play.

Hummel scored on a pull-up jumper to extend the Purdue lead back to nine, but Ahelegbe knocked down a mid-range jump shot as he was fouled. The free-throw made it a two-possession game, 40-34 with 12:10 left.

Johnson and Eglseder traded baskets twice, keeping the Panther deficit at a half-dozen, 44-38 with 10:02 remaining.

The Panthers came up empty-handed on their next three possessions, and Purdue took advantage to build its lead to 48-38 with 9:13 to play.

Eglseder knocked down a pair of free throws at the eight-minute mark, and Moran grabbed a defensive rebound and found Koch ahead of the pack. Koch drove in for a one-handed dunk that cut the Purdue lead to six, 48-42 with 7:39 left.

The teams traded baskets over the next four minutes, and at 3:00 Farokhmanesh grabbed a steal that gave UNI the ball down six. The Panthers turned the ball over, however, and Moore scored to give Purdue a 54-46 lead with 2:22 on the clock.

UNI elected to send Moore to the free-throw line, and he missed the front end of a one-and-one. Moran tracked down the rebound, and Kerwin Dunham knocked down a three at 1:30 that pulled the Panthers within five, 54-49.

Hummel made one of two free throws to make it a six-point game, and Ahelegbe was fouled as she attempted a layup. The sophomore made both tries, pulling UNI within four, 55-51 with 1:07 on the clock.

Keaton Grant made one of two free throws, and Farokhmanesh collected the rebound for the Panthers. Dunham hit a three from the right baseline to cut the UNI deficit to a pair, 56-54 with 17.9 seconds remaining.

That was as close as the Panthers could get, however, as the Boilermakers finished 5-of-6 from the stripe in the closing seconds to hold off UNI.

Purdue shot 41 percent from the floor, while UNI connected on 37 percent of its shots. The Panthers made 7-of-22 (32 percent) from three-point range, with two each from Farokhmanesh, Moran and Dunham. UNI held Purdue to just 3-for-15 from behind the arc. The teams were even in rebounding, 33 each, with UNI collecting 11 offensive boards to 10 for Purdue.

MINNESOTA GOPHERS MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM MAKES THE NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

After recording a 22-win season, Minnesota was rewarded with a No. 10 seed in the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. The Gophers (22-10) will face No. 7 seed Texas (22-11) on Thursday in Greensboro, N.C. The Gophers will make their first NCAA appearance since 2005 and its sixth overall.

The Gophers are the No. 10 seed in the East Regional. Should the Gophers defeat Texas, they will face the winner of No. 2 seed Duke and No. 15 Binghamton. The No. 1 seed in the Regional is Pittsburgh.

"First, I want to thank the NCAA selection committee and say how excited we are to be in the Tournament. It's one of the greatest sporting events in our culture and our country. I am excited for our players," Smith said following the selection. "We only have one kid that has participated in the Tournament, in 2005 (Jon Williams). To be going there in just two years, I am very happy with the direction of our program. I want to thank Joel Maturi and President Bruininks for giving me the opportunity to lead this program and hopefully we will build on this. Being a No. 10 seed, we are just excited to be playing. Rick Barnes and the Texas Longhorns are from a very tough conference. He is an outstanding coach and they have outstanding players so we know we will have to be at our best to give them a good game.""For me, it's going back to an area I went to college. It's just 20-30 minutes away but Rick Barnes is from North Carolina. We played against each other in college. He was a freshman at Lenoir-Rhyne and I was senior at High Point. I taught school in North Carolina for two years and went to college there for four years. I have a lot of friends in that region."

Minnesota has never faced Texas in its history. The Longhorns are 22-11 and finished tied for fourth in the Big 12 with a 9-7 conference mark. They lost to Baylor in the Big Ten 12 Tournament semifinals.

Minnesota has enjoyed a stellar season, finishing with 22 wins, which ranks as the fourth-highest total in school history. The Gophers' 21 regular season wins is also the second-most in school history. Head Coach Tubby Smith earned his 16th straight 20-win season as well, the longest active streak in the country.

Senior Jamal Abu-Shamala

On tension during selection show...“At first we were getting nervous. You’d see some teams that were getting the spots that we thought we would get. But when they called our name it was one of the greatest feelings. Everybody got excited and it was just a great experience.”

On team’s expectations of Texas...“We’ve seen them play a little bit. They’re a very tough team; they have some big guys inside and have some very good scorers. They’re going to be a tough team but we have to really just take care of what we can control and go out there and play.

Senior Jon Williams

On comparing this selection to his previous tournament selection...“I think it was a little more nerve racking this time. But it shows hard work pays off. We had some tough times this year and we stuck together and played good basketball and now we’ve been rewarded.”

On Tubby Smith’s impact on the program so far...“When Coach (Tubby) Smith came here, one of the main things he emphasized was going to the NCAA tournament. I think overall we improved in all aspects of basketball. He told us he was going to do everything to make us better players. I think last year we were a good team and now we’re an even better team. There’s nothing but progress this year and I’m sure there’s more to come.”

Junior Damien Johnson

On reaction to being selected into the tournament...“I was surprisingly one of the most nervous people. I saw Maryland make it and then saw Arizona get in. I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it at that point since we were in the same position as those guys. Once we found out, everyone went crazy. I think there were some people body slamming each other out of excitement and it was just pure happiness.”

On match up with Texas...“With this game it’s more about what we can do, more than worrying about what Texas will do. We have to play our own game. It’s tournament time and a lot of crazy things are going to happen. I think we’ll just focus on getting the win.”

UNI TO FACE PURDUE IN NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND

The University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team (23-10, 14-4 Missouri Valley Conference), seeded 12th in the West Region, will face fifth-seeded Purdue (25-9, 11-7 Big Ten Conference) on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Portland, Ore. The winner will face the winner of the Washington-Mississippi State game on Saturday. Game time has yet to be determined.

UNI received an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament by virtue of capturing the 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship. This is the fifth NCAA tournament appearance for the Panthers, and fourth in the last six years. UNI also qualified in 1990, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Quotes from UNI head coach Ben Jacobson and select UNI players:

UNI head coach Ben Jacobson“It's been a great week knowing we were in the tournament. But there is still excitement when you see your name come up - it's just neat to see your name. It's a great, great feeling.”

"I've seen part of four of five games Purdue has played. I haven't watched a full 40 minutes, but I've seen enough to see what they are about and what they do. We know how they'll play because of coach Matt Painter's experience at Southern Illinois. Purdue is talented and they'll play hard.”

“We'll need to play tough defensively and hopefully we'll hold up our end of the deal. We've been able to win games because our team defense has been good.”

Senior guard Travis Brown“It means a lot for us to earn a spot in the tournament. It's a huge accomplishment and it means a lot for the University of Northern Iowa. I still got butterflies when I saw Northern Iowa show up on the screen. Seeing our name show up there is special and something I'll never forget.”

"It's the beauty of the NCAA Tournament - the 12-5 matchup. It always seems like they produce exciting games.”

“Our goal going into the season was to make the NCAA Tournament and win a game in the NCAA Tournament. Now that we have qualified, we have to focus on playing a great game.”

Junior guard Ali Farokhmanesh (who grew up in Pullman, Wash.)“All of my friends are back there and they didn't take long to start asking me for tickets - it was like 10 seconds after we saw Northern Iowa on the board that they started texting me. It's going to be really exciting to go back out West.”

“It doesn't matter who you play, we knew it was going to be a tough matchup.”

THE MINNESOTA GOPHERS ARE HEADED TO THE NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

THIS IS FROM THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

The Gophers are going to Greensboro, N.C. They will play Texas in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament on Thursday. Minnesota is the 10th seed in the East Region; Texas is No. 7.

The winner will play either Duke or Binghamton on Saturday.

North Dakota State University, the 14th seed in the Midwest Region, will play at the Metrodome on Friday against No. 3 seed Kansas.

The Bison (26-6) qualified for the tournament in their first season of eligibility in Division I. They will likely bring plenty of green-and-gold clad fans on the four-hour drive down Interstate 94 from Fargo, N.D.

The other three games at the Dome will have No. 2 seed Michigan State vs. No. 15 seed Robert Morris, No. 7 seed Boston College vs. No. 10 seed USC and No. 6 seed West Virginia vs. No. 11 seed Dayton. Second-round games will be played in Minneapolis on Sunday.

Game times have not yet been announced.

Louisville, the Big East champion, was named the No. 1 overall seed and will play in the Midwest Region. The other top seeds are Pittsburgh, North Carolina, and Connecticut. Pitt and UConn are Big East teams too.

ARE THE MINNESOTA GOPHERS IN OR OUT OF THE BIG DANCE

I GOT THIS FROM THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

If the Gophers needed a victory Friday to secure an NCAA tournament bid, they didn't succeed.

If the selection committee just wanted proof that they could hang with one of the best teams in the country in a tournament setting, then maybe the Gophers passed the test.

Minnesota suffered a 64-56 loss against Michigan State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, but Gophers coach Tubby Smith said he thought his team might have shown enough.

"They're definitely one of the better teams," Smith said. "And we went toe to toe with them at least for a good half, a good 30 minutes there. And I think that is noteworthy for anybody that saw the game ... [the Gophers] could represent well in postseason play."

Whether Minnesota's third loss against Michigan State this season hurt its chances of earning an at-large bid won't be known until Sunday, when the NCAA tournament field is announced.

The Gophers have enough positives on their résumé to warrant serious consideration. They defeated Northwestern 66-53 in the opening round of the tournament, had a respectable Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) of 38 after Friday's game and have five victories over teams in the RPI's top 50.

A victory against Big Ten champ and potential No. 1 seed Michigan State would have virtually guaranteed Minnesota a bid.

"I thought we had to win," said guard Lawrence Westbrook, who had 10 points. "Hopefully, we're in, but I figured this is the No. 1 team in the conference, they're fighting for a No. 1 seed, so if we would have beat them, that's huge for our résumé. But it didn't go our way."

Michigan State, one of the quickest teams in the country, scored only two points the entire game on fast breaks, while Minnesota got 17 on the run. The Gophers forced 16 turnovers and were down only 33-30 at halftime.

But after playing Michigan State even for most of Friday's game, an offensive drought caused by an uptick in Michigan State's defensive intensity, turnovers and missed chances at the free-throw line proved costly for the Gophers.

Minnesota failed to score for 4 minutes, 47 seconds after Devron Bostick, who had his second double-digit effort in the conference tournament with 12 points, made a layup with 15:43 to play that cut Michigan State's edge to 38-36. From there Minnesota searched in vain for scorers while the Spartans found an offensive rhythm.

A game-changing 8-0 run, punctuated by a pair of flashy alley oops, enlivened the Michigan State fans scattered throughout Conseco Fieldhouse.

Minnesota's last push -- a 7-0 run in the closing minutes -- ended with Damian Johnson scoring two of his game-high 19 points with 1:23 to play. With a 58-53 lead, Michigan State finished the game going 6-for-8 from the free throw line. Chris Allen's 17 points led the Spartans.

Misfires from the free-throw stripe -- the Gophers were 13-for-27 -- doomed their chance at a late comeback.

But in spite of the loss, Gophers players said they believe they deserve the program's first bid to the NCAA tourney since 2005. Only now, they'll have to wait like everyone else until Sunday to find out whether the selection committee agrees.

"I'm kind of nervous for Sunday, but at the same time I can't wait," freshman guard Devoe Joseph said. "I think it's going to be a fun experience. Hopefully, everything turns out our way on Sunday and we can find out we're going to dance."