College Basketball

RFT Seeks St. Louis Comics for 2nd Annual "Standup Throwdown"

It's that time of year again. Time for college basketball's March Madness and the second annual installment of Riverfront Times' Standup Throwdown. Here's how it works:

REAL Tiger Trouble: Missouri Coach Frank Haith Under Investigation

Ugh. Missouri Tigers head coach Frank Haith is currently facing allegations of improper conduct and "failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance." The NCAA is, according to various reports, planning on notifying him of the allegations soon. Which is just as mysterious and confusing to me as ... More >>

Rick Majerus, Saint Louis University Billikens Basketball Coach, Dead at Age 64

Saint Louis University basketball coach Rick Majerus, who led the Billikens to a 95-69 record over five seasons, died today of heart failure in Los Angeles. He was 64. Majerus had stepped down as head coach in late August, citing health problems. Back in 2007, when Majerus was still new in town, R ... More >>

Wash U's Dylan Richter Drafted by Harlem Globetrotters

He helped the Washington University Bears win the 2009 NCAA Division III National Championship, was named the University Athletic Association Player of the Year and is a DIII All-Star. Now Dylan Richter has a new distinction: He's the latest member of the Harlem Globetrotters. The basketball team ... More >>

Frank Haith Receives Key to St. Louis; Rick Majerus Asks: "What The ...?

This morning at 10 a.m. Frank Haith is expected to arrive at Room 200 in City Hall where Mayor Francis Slay will bestow the Mizzou basketball coach with a key to the city. A press release sent out yesterday from the Mayor's Office notes that Haith "led the Tigers basketball team to one of their best ... More >>

March Madness Game Preview: SLU Billikens vs. Memphis Tigers

​I wrote a print edition article this week, looking at the brackets in the NCAA Tournament, doing some complaining about the selection committee's seeding choices, and previewing the road the Missouri Tigers will have to travel -- through the first couple rounds, at least -- if they want to get th ... More >>

John Hagerty: Kirkwood Man's Marshmallow Tricks Featured on Phillips 66 Commercial

​Anyone watching the Big 12 basketball tournament this week no doubt caught a glimpse of Kirkwood resident John Hagerty. Hagerty recently came in fifth place in Phillips 66 "Local Legends" competition in which people submitted videos showing off their special talents in the hopes of winning free g ... More >>

The Missouri Tigers' Awful Week

​Last Monday, the Missouri Tigers were the number three ranked team in the nation. They were 25-2. They were tied for first place in the Big XII Conference. They were looking at a #1 seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Life was good for the Missouri Tigers last Monday. Unfortunately, things aren' ... More >>

Tigers Win Biggest Game of The Year; Now Can They Avoid the Letdown?

What the city of Norman, Oklahoma should look like to the Mizzou players flying in. ​On Saturday evening the Missouri Tigers won perhaps their biggest game of the year. Well, okay, biggest of the year so far; the games really only get bigger from here on in. Such is the life of a top five college ... More >>

Tigers a Top Two Team? Totally!

​Number five Missouri beats number three Baylor, 89-88. Number four Duke loses to Florida State. Number one Syracuse loses to Notre Dame. Number two Kentucky pulls out a victory over an unranked Alabama team. All those things happened on Saturday, and if you're keeping score at ... More >>

Majerus on SLU's Loss to Temple: "It Just Breaks Your Heart"

Image via slubillikens.comTemple's stars were too much for the Billikens on Wednesday night.Throughout the season so far, Saint Louis University has thrived on powerful surges, pulling away from opponents with suffocating defense and crisp ball movement. But on Wednesday night, Temple's cold blooded ... More >>

Billikens Chase Sloppy First Half with Strong Second Half to Top George Washington

Image via slubillikens.comDwayne Evans' double-double led the Billikens to a 78-56 victory over George Washington.​The Billikens, up two points over George Washington with a few minutes left in the first half, were knee deep in an uptempo slop and the boys in the front couple rows of the student s ... More >>

Billikens Stomp Texas Southern With Steel-Toed Defense

Albert SamahaBrian Conklin and company held Texas Southern to 39 points on 30.6 percent shooting.​The biggest lead was 37 points. When the starters were pulled with a few minutes left in the game, Saint Louis University was shooting nearly 60 percent from the floor. Last night, the Billikens did w ... More >>

SLU Ranked In Top 25 for First Time in 18 Seasons

Congratulations to the Saint Louis University Billikens. The men's basketball team dismantled University of Oklahoma yesterday 83-63 in the 76 Classic in California. The Billikens are now 6-0 (with wins over University of Washington and Villanova, to name a few big victories) and ranked No. 23 in ... More >>

Frank Haith: The Most Hated Man in Columbia

An eloquent question, to be sure. ​Frank Haith, new head coach of the Missouri Tigers basketball team, has yet to coach a single game in Columbia. For that matter, I honestly don't know if he's even met any of his players yet. Even so, he's already made quite an impression with Mizzou fans, and th ... More >>

The Mizzou Coaching Search Loses a Candidate: Cuonzo Martin to Tennessee

This is the man Cuonzo Martin will be replacing. One can only hope he'll be able to do better at least from a fashion perspective. ​You can check Cuonzo Martin off your list of potential coaching hires for the University of Missouri. The former Missouri State basketball coach has accepted a job wi ... More >>

Three Reasons the Tigers Will Win, And Three Reasons They Won't

This is a bearcat. It is not the most intimidating creature one could choose for a mascot. ​The Missouri Tigers open their own NCAA Tournament run tonight against the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. It's been a long and somewhat disappointing road for the Tigers this year, as they've watched a ... More >>

Shedding Light on SLU Basketball's Suspension of Willie Reed and Kwamain Mitchell

photo by Keegan HamiltonRick Majerus and Kyle Cassity are not looking forward to a season without Kwamain Mitchell​Late yesterday afternoon, the Saint Louis University athletic department released a brief and cryptic statement saying that two star basketball players -- point guard Kwamain Mitchell ... More >>

SLU Basketball Ends The Longest Season in School History

Image via Rick Majerus, Kwamain Mitchell and Kyle Cassity have SLU's future looking up.​With all the faux-controversies that dogged Billiken basketball this year -- television snafu's, Rick Majerus' canceled radio show, the coach's views on stem-cell research and a dubious Internet rumor ab ... More >>

Photos Video: The Elite Eight in St. Louis -- Michigan State vs. Tennessee

photo by Keegan HamiltonMagic Johnson and Korie Lucious celebrate another Michigan State Final Four​The NCAA was gracious enough to grant the RFT court-side seats on press row for the big games this weekend. We were stationed directly behind the Tennessee bench for both the Sweet Sixteen and the E ... More >>

This Picture Pretty Sums It Up for Northern Iowa

Photo by Keegan HamiltonTears were flowing Friday night in the Ed Jones Dome​There were a whole lot of Northern Iowa fans on-hand to watch the Sweet 16 last night. The announced attendance in the stadium was 26,377. At least 85 percent of them were wearing purple and gold. (Tennessee had a very ro ... More >>

Get Your Bracket Ready: Alternatives to NCAA March Madness

Does anybody else not give a shit about college basketball? And, despite that, does anybody else feel slightly left out of all the never-ending discussions of brackets? Fortunately, all across the wondrous world of the Interwebz, there's a plethora of tournament brackets to rank things other than c ... More >>

Five Reasons Rick Majerus and SLU Will Make the Big Dance

Image ViaNot even the mascot expected SLU to be this good.​Shhh! Don't tell anyone. We don't want to jinx it but the SLU Billikens are just a few wins away from an NCAA tournament berth.You may not have noticed since the Bills' games are rarely televised locally (and even when they are, they somet ... More >>

Memphis Basketball Fans Watched the Birth of the Pastner Era Last Night in St. Louis

Last night at the Scottrade Center, University of Memphis basketball fans watched the birth of the Josh Pastner Era.Memphis played Kansas in the regular season game (and rematch of the '09 NCAA championship), with the Kansas edging the Tigers 57-55.Kansas was supposed to crush a scorched Memphis tea ... More >>

Court Is in Session

Time For Missouri Fans to Panic -- Mike Anderson Going to Memphis?

All along through the tournament run that Mizzou just made, I would constantly hear from people, "Oh, Anderson's gone. Kentucky is going to snatch him up." But Kentucky wasn't going to take Mike Anderson. I thought they would go for a bigger name, a splashy move that makes bold headlines all ov ... More >>

Four Reasons Mizzou Will Make the Final Four

Mizzou's win last night over Memphis combined all the ingredients for a March Madness special.A three-quarter court shot at the buzzer? Check. Enough bricks from the free throw line to rebuild Mizzou Arena? Check. 102 points against the most efficient defense in college basketball? Check.Yup, the Ti ... More >>

Eight Reasons Mizzou Will Make the Elite Eight

Just before the Madness began last week, I laid out a lengthy list of reasons why Missouri would fail in the first few rounds of the tournament, pointing out a few of the Tigers' most glaring weaknesses and the dangers of each potential early round match-up.Just pretend this is a tiger next to eight ... More >>

Redemption! SLU Defeats La Salle Wednesday

photo by Keegan HamiltonAfter losing their final home game of the season to La Salle last week, Saint Louis University's men's basketball team exacted a little revenge and won a rematch against the Explorers Wednesday night in the first round of the A-10 tournament. Freshman Kwamain Mitchell made th ... More >>

Mizzou and SLU: Ending On a Low Note

Over the weekend, both the Missouri Tigers and the Billikens of Saint Louis University closed out their regular seasons in ignominious fashion. The Billikens blew a commanding lead en route to a heartbreaking loss, while the Tigers just came out flat against a Texas A&M squad that was as jazzed ... More >>

How About Those Billikens?

Mardi Gras kept me from joining the sold-out crowd on Saturday at Chaifetz Arena, so when I saw that Saint Louis University's men's basketball team somehow managed to beat Dayton 57-49, my eyes nearly popped out of my mildly hungover head.Just from speaking to others who attended and reading th ... More >>

SLU vs. Duquense: A Rundown Diary

SLU defeated Duquense at Chaifetz Arena last night, 78-74 in overtime. Here's a log of the game, updated this morning to include a few pictures and the highlights from coach Rick Majerus' post game comments.  Pre-game notes: The Billikens are coming off an impressive 88-58 at Fordham in which t ... More >>

SLU Ski Team Loses to Richmond

Just when I point out that SLU needs to give "veteran" players like senior Barry Eberhardt and sophomore Paul Eckerle more minutes, a game like the one yesterday against Richmond happens. SLU fought hard in their 70-62 loss, but with freshman point guard Kwamain Mitchell out with a concussion, they ... More >>

SLU Gets an "Old-Fashioned Butt-Kicking," and Other College Hoops News

The Billikens' woes on the road continued last night when they were manhandled by Temple, losing 65-40. Tom Timmermann at the Post-Dispatch was in Philly to watch the massacre and came through with some very colorful reporting and this quote from the always-upbeat Bills coach Rick Majerus: ... More >>

SLU Beats UMass, Realizes It Has Experienced Players

There's been much ado in the land of SLU about the youth of the Billikens. When the season started, there were seven true freshmen on the roster and, thus far, freshman have played about half of the team's minutes. With an average player age of just older than 19 years old, they are the fourth young ... More >>

SLU Stomped By 16th Ranked Xavier

While every college sports fan on the planet was busy nodding off to the most boring BCS National Championship in recent memory, SLU basketball got their asses handed to them by 16th ranked Xavier in their A-10 conference opener, losing 70-44.Luckily for them, even though the game was nationally tel ... More >>

How Orange Is Our Valley?

The bench empties at controversial Milestone Christian Academy

Basketball by the Book: A Riverfront Times Investigation

The Vashon High School Wolverines have won five state titles in the past eight years. But did they play by the rules?

Bracketology

Two SLU professors say they’ve solved the world’s most challenging math problem: your office NCAA pool

Bet on Black

Glory Road relives the season college hoops smashed the color barrier

The Sporting Crowd

No Final Four tickets? No problem -- just grin and bar it!

Welcome!

Blatant Localism

Joe Herbert documents the skate scene

Fly Like an Eagle

To Alton

Best College Athlete

Linas Kleiza

Bobs and Weaves

You gotta have style at Spring Bling '04

Know News?

The year in review: A quiz (For answers, see last page)

Import Duty

A former pro basketball player from Israel has to be bigger, stronger and faster for the American college game

This Week

Highlights from RFT's "Calendar"