AP Photo/H. Rumph Jr

Saint Joe's can't help but think about the Big Dance, especially after a win over Xavier.

Key Shot

By Dana O'Neil
ESPN.com

PHILADELPHIA -- The idea that Saint Joe's can insulate itself from what's being said about its NCAA Tournament chances is plain silly. At this time of the year, coaches across America insist that they don't talk about their tournament chances, and that's probably true.

That doesn't mean their players aren't hearing it everywhere else.

"It just goes in one ear and out the other," Garrett Williamson said with a smile. "But yeah, it's tough."

It's particularly tough when the conversation turns sour as it has lately on Hawk Hill. Both the team's tourney hopes and the players' confidence took a direct hit over the past few weeks when a February skid turned what looked like an NCAA lock into an implosion. Saint Joe's lost five of seven, including three postseason killers at home to La Salle, Saint Louis and Temple.

So the court-storming that followed Saint Joe's 71-66 upset of No. 11 Xavier -- something coach Phil Martelli didn't particularly like and said, "We don't do that here. We don't jump around when we win games" -- was as much a catharsis as a celebration.

Saint Joe's (18-10, 9-6 Atlantic 10) isn't in, not when it hasn't even secured a bye in the Atlantic 10 tournament. But the Hawks, with a vital regular-season finale at Dayton on Saturday, are at least off life support.

"These guys have been called out," Martelli said. "Whether it's by their classmates or via e-mail, they've been told how they're so talented but they're not tough enough. All the credit goes to the 12 guys in that room."

Really this game looked like a setup for epic disaster. On Senior Night, the school also celebrated the aptly named Fieldhouse that will undergo a year-long renovation, with pre-game, in-game and end-game ceremonies. They trotted out Dr. Jack Ramsay and Jack McKinney, Jim Lyman and, of course, Jameer Nelson.

"I couldn't decide if I should start him or bring him off the bench," Martelli joked of his former player of the year.

Martelli avoided the whole Fieldhouse celebration like the plague, sticking to his hermit-like pregame routine. His players simply tuned it out, much like they say they tune out Bracketology. And when Xavier, fighting to extend its winning streak to 12 games, made it catch-your-breath close in the final minutes, the Hawks held on.

"We had to come down and finish," Ahmad Nivins said. "It was something we grew tired of not doing. Everybody that was out there, we know that feeling. Everybody on the bench said it, 'We've all been here before; let's get it together,' and that's what we did."

Expert's Take

By Doug Gottlieb
ESPN

UCLA won its third consecutive Pac-10 title when it beat Stanford 77-67 in overtime on Thursday, but Cardinal coach Trent Johnson has every right to believe his team was better on this night. The game went to overtime on a terrible foul call on Lawrence Hill as he blocked Darren Collison's drive with 2.5 seconds remaining. In addition to the ludicrous call, there was an intentional foul called on Stanford, which made the overtime a lock for the Bruins.

UCLA looked OK, but got nothing from Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Alfred Aboya, Lorenzo Mata-Real and Josh Shipp. Even Russell Westbrook was highly ineffective at times against Stanford.

Collison, on the other hand, hit big shot after big shot and seemed to steadily lead UCLA with his innate ability to find creases in the defense during transition. Collison was a virtual no-show in the first half, but his use of both on- and off-ball screens got his jumper going, which allowed him to get into the lane.

Stanford looks like a tough out in the Big Dance. To beat the Cardinal, you must attack guard Mitch Johnson's defense while keeping the Lopez twins out of the lane on the first and second shots.

Stanford used a rare style to overcome UCLA's double teams in the low post. Brook Lopez constantly turned away from the double team and shot a turnaround jump hook as soon as he caught the ball.

For people who wonder why NBA folks are not as high on Kevin Love as college fans are, Thursday is a great example of why. Love was still very solid, but he was unable to explode over or around Brook Lopez. And while Love can play more of a perimeter game at the next level, he may not have the green light to do so at UCLA.

Key Notes

By Jason McCallum
ESPN Research

• Providence's 85-76 win over Connecticut snaps a seven-game win streak by the visiting team in this series. The Huskies beat the Friars at home on Feb. 5, 2002. The last time the Friars had beaten the Huskies at home was Jan. 13, 2001.

• Winthrop beat High Point 61-53 in the Big South Conference tournament semifinals, bringing to an end one of the best college basketball careers among active players. Arizona Reid of High Point finishes his career with 2,069 points and 1,013 rebounds. He and Kyle Hines of UNC Greensboro are the only active players with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds -- and Reid's 46 career double-doubles is second among active players to Rider's Jason Thompson.

• UNC Asheville beat Liberty 75-57 in the Big South Conference tournament semifinals. Kenny George had 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs. In his career, George has scored at least 15 points in a game a dozen times. UNC Asheville is 12-0 in those games, but 17-20 in others.

• Oregon beat Arizona State 67-61. When these teams met in January, the Ducks shot a miserable 2-for-17 from beyond the 3-point arc. That was the fewest 3-pointers the Ducks had made in a game since Feb. 1, 2001, against Arizona. On Thursday, they got back on track by going 10-for-23.

• Arizona beat Oregon State 81-45, moving the Beavers to 0-17 in Pac-10 play this season. They've lost 18 straight conference games, and are 3-32 in Pac-10 play over the past two seasons. Two of those three wins have come against Arizona State, the team the Beavers will play host to in the regular-season finale on Saturday.