AP - George Mason sure proved it belonged in the NCAA tournament. Despite critical comments by some experts that it should not have gotten an at-large berth, the 11th-seeded Patriots used hot shooting, a balanced attack and a surprising rebounding superiority to upset sixth-seeded Michigan State 75-65 Friday night in the first round.

AP - Six road games, six losses — and zero hope for a playoff berth, let alone another winning season for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Not even the slumping Golden State Warriors could squander this chance to send the wilting Wolves home from the worst road trip in franchise history with one more defeat.

AP - Jon Iati vividly remembers the not-so-good old days at Albany — because they weren't so long ago.

AP - Darius Vassell helped eliminate Aston Villa from The Football Association Cup, scoring against his former club Tuesday night to lead Manchester City to a 2-1 victory and a berth in the quarterfinals.

AP - Kari Koch scored 17 points, leading Missouri State to the Missouri Valley Conference title and an automatic NCAA berth with a 64-55 upset over Indiana State on Sunday.

AP - Clifton Lee had 22 points to lead Northwestern State to a 95-87 victory in the finals of the Southland Conference tournament on Sunday, and a berth in the NCAA tournament.

AP - Tasha Williams scored 19 points and Aarica Ray-Boyd added 15 to lead No. 17 Louisiana Tech past New Mexico State 63-39 in the Western Athletic Conference championship Saturday, sending the Lady Techsters to their 25th straight NCAA tournament.

AP - Shontavia Williams scored 26 points to lead Florida Atlantic to a 74-63 victory Saturday over Gardner-Webb in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament championship game.

AP - Put the nation's elite on alert. Bucknell has another chance to spoil some top team's NCAA tournament.

AP - The Kentucky Wildcats feel confident they've finally earned an NCAA tournament berth. They'll have to play much better if they want to make that spot automatic as the Southeastern Conference tournament champions for the 26th time.

AP - Toronto at N.Y. Islanders (7 p.m. EST). Both teams are chasing Montreal for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth.

AP - Gerry McNamara has made plenty of big shots for Syracuse. This one might have topped them all. The senior guard drove the length of the court and hit a 3-pointer with a half-second left, leading Syracuse to a riveting 74-73 victory over Cincinnati on Wednesday in the first round of the Big East tournament. The Orange greatly improved their chances of earning an at-large NCAA berth.

AP - Richard Law scored 22 points, and South Alabama routed Western Kentucky 95-70 Tuesday night to win the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship and earn its first NCAA tournament berth since 1998.

AP - Ken Tutt scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half and Larry Owens added a career-high 24 points as Oral Roberts earned its first NCAA tournament berth in 22 years with an 85-72 win against Chicago State in the Mid-Continent Conference title game Tuesday night.

AP - Chrissy Givens had 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead Middle Tennessee to its third straight NCAA tournament berth with an 87-43 victory over Western Kentucky in the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship game Tuesday.

AP - Meg Dahlman scored 15 points in Marist's 68-57 win over Loyola, Md., on Sunday, giving the Red Foxes an NCAA tournament berth and their second title in three years in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference women's tournament.