Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida partners with Gulf Coast Showcase

ESTERO, Fla. – When the Gulf Coast Showcase tips off for the third time during Thanksgiving week at Germain Arena, the action on the court will support Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. Tournament promoter bd Global announced the new partnership between the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s tournament and the hospital, which is a part of Lee Memorial Health System.

“In all of our events, we look to impact the local community and partner with a charitable cause that will be a good fit with our teams and one that resonates locally,” said bd Global President Brooks Downing. “We are proud to be able to support Golisano Children’s Hospital as it continues to serve all of Southwest Florida with new facilities and additional care.

Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida is the only children’s hospital between Tampa and Miami and provides vital health care for the region’s sick and injured children and their families. The hospital currently boasts a 98-bed inpatient facility located within HealthPark Medical Center in south Lee County. Construction is currently underway on a new facility set to open in early 2017. The new building will provide 300,000 square feet of space, 128 pediatric and NICU beds with space to expand to 160 beds, a 17-bay emergency department, a freestanding pediatric pharmacy and in-hospital school classroom. The final round of fundraising is on-going with the $100 million goal close to being met.

“We are very appreciative of this wonderful partnership between bd Global and Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida,” said Ken Shoriak, system director of operations for Lee Memorial Health System Foundation, primary fundraising entity for Golisano Children’s Hospital. “The Gulf Coast Showcase represents an opportunity for fans of elite college basketball to come out and enjoy some great action, all while helping a great cause – lifesaving hospital care for local kids.”

The Gulf Coast Showcase tips off on Monday, Nov. 23 with the men’s tournament to be followed by the women’s tournament starting on Friday, Nov. 27. The weeklong event showcases the very best men’s mid-major programs and the elite women’s teams in two eight-team tournament brackets. This year’s men’s field is led by Murray State, Western Kentucky and Central Michigan while the women’s tournament boasts Top-25 powers Louisville, Stanford, Dayton and LSU.

The tournament plans to donate funding from each ticket sold and participating teams plan to visit the hospital during Thanksgiving week. Organizers indicated that Golisano Children’s Hospital will have a major presence at the event. Last year, the tournament drew nearly 20,000 fans from around the country.

Pre-Season Honors

Central Michigan may well come to Southwest Florida as the favorite in the Gulf Coast Showcase men’s tournament. The Chippewas return all five starters from a squad that won a share of the Mid-American Conference last season and was recently picked as the pre-season favorite to win the MAC this season. Murray State is picked to once again win its division of the Ohio Valley Conference coming off last season’s 29-6 finish.

Two of the nation’s Top-25 teams will be in action in the women’s tournament. Louisville enters the season ranked No. 8 in the pre-season USA Today Coaches Poll with Stanford coming in at No. 14. Dayton narrowly missed the Top-25 coming in at No. 27 in the poll after last season’s Elite Eight finish. Missouri State enters the new season with high expectations as the Lady Bears are the pre-season favorite to capture the Missouri Valley crown.

NBA Scouts Requesting Credentials

Several NBA teams will be represented at the Gulf Coast Showcase men’s tournament with a number of franchises requesting scouting credentials for the tournament. One of the top players in the tournament drawing attention is Weber State big man Joe Bolomboy, a 6-9, 235 lbs. senior, who is already the school’s all-time leader in blocked shots.

Travel Package and Ticket Information

Tickets for the 2015 Gulf Coast Showcase are on-sale now at GermainArena.com or through Ticketmaster. Single session tickets are on-sale now and range from $10 General Admission to $45 Courtside for each two-game session. All-Tournament passes for either the men’s tournament or women’s tournament will be available on that date for $89 or $139 per tournament. Each day of the tournament will feature an afternoon session (starts at 12 p.m. for men’s and 11 a.m. for women’s) and evening session (starts at 6 p.m. for men’s and 5 p.m. for women’s) and tickets will be good for both games of a given session. All-session passes have been on-sale since April and will continue to be available to fans.

For complete information, visit www.gulfcoastshowcase.com or follow on Twitter at @GCShowcase.

2015 MGM Grand Showcase & Men Who Speak Up Main Event announced

LAS VEGAS – NCAA basketball action returns to MGM Grand in Las Vegas (www.mgmgrand.com) with two early season events featuring 10 teams at the 14,000-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena. The action tips Nov. 23-25, 2015 with the “Men Who Speak Up Main Event,” the second annual tournament featuring eight teams playing on Monday and Wednesday of Thanksgiving week. For the third consecutive year, the “MGM Grand Showcase” will be played Friday, Dec. 4, featuring Oregon vs. UNLV. The game will benefit Coaches vs. Cancer, an initiative spearheaded by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (www.nabc.com) and the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org).

New for 2015, the Main Event will be re-branded the Men Who Speak Up Main Event. Men Who Speak Up (www.menwhospeakup.com) is an educational initiative from Bayer Healthcare that raises the collective voices of prostate cancer to increase awareness about the condition and the importance of recognizing the symptoms of advancing disease. In the United States, prostate cancer is the second most frequently diagnosed cancer in men and a leading cause of cancer death in men.

The Men Who Speak Up Main Event features two four-team brackets with each team playing two games at the resort on Nov. 23 and Nov. 25. The Heavyweight bracket includes Clemson, Creighton, Massachusetts and Rutgers while the Middleweight bracket will feature Central Arkansas, Howard, UTSA and Texas Southern. Middleweight play begins on Monday, Nov. 23 with UTSA vs. Central Arkansas at 12:30 p.m. PT followed by Texas Southern vs. Howard at 3 p.m. The evening session features Clemson vs. UMass at 6:30 p.m. followed by Creighton vs. Rutgers at 9 p.m. All eight teams will be in action on Wednesday with the Middleweight championship game being played at 3 p.m. and the Heavyweight championship game at 6:30 p.m., the latter of which will be televised nationally on ESPN2. An additional eight games will be played at home sites preceding the games in Las Vegas.

The action returns 10 days later when the Runnin’ Rebels face off with Pac-12 power Oregon. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2 and UNLV is including the ticket in its home season ticket offering. This marks the second year in a row that the Rebels have played at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which sits one mile from the school’s campus. The game is played at the Grand Garden while the Rebels are out of their home court, the Thomas & Mack Center, due to the National Finals Rodeo.

“We are excited to once again bring the Main Event and Showcase to MGM Grand and the Las Vegas Strip,” said Brooks Downing, president of bd Global, the event promoter. “Many thanks to MGM Grand and its President and COO Scott Sibella for the commitment to bring the best of college basketball to Las Vegas by supporting both of these outstanding events.”

2015 Main Event Highlights Movember

The Main Event will also highlight Movember, an annual campaign in November challenging men to grow moustaches to spark conversations and raise funding for men’s health issues. As part of the Main Event, 500 tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis to men wearing moustaches to the games at the Grand Garden Arena.

“The symptoms of advancing prostate cancer can serve as an important warning sign for men to speak up and take action, but all too often men keep quiet when it matters most,” said Shannon Campbell, Vice President and General Manager of Oncology, Bayer HealthCare. “Through Men Who Speak Up, we hope to create a national movement to help men become more comfortable having these conversations with their doctors – and Movember, with its emphasis on conversation, is a perfect time to start. We are pleased to be partnering with some of the biggest names in college basketball to continue getting the word out and to show men that speaking up about their cancer symptoms is a sign of strength.”

Travel Package and Ticket Information

Tickets for both events go on-sale on Tuesday, Aug. 25 at 10 a.m. PT at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

WorldTEK, a full-service travel management company with more than 40+ years of experience, is the official travel package provider for the Men Who Speak Up Main Event. Information on fan travel packages, rooms at MGM Grand and tournament tickets is available on www.mgmgrandmainevent.com.

For complete information, visit www.mgmgrandmainevent.com and www.mgmgrandshowcase.com or follow on Twitter at @HOOPSatMGM.

PP-600-US-1492

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1 American Cancer Society. “Prostate Cancer.” (Last revised: March 12, 2012).

http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003134-pdf.pdf. Accessed on July 28, 2015.

2 Goh et al. New Multidisciplinary Prostate Bone Metastases Clinic: First of Its Kind in Canada. Current

Oncology. Volume 14, Number 1.

3 Prostate Cancer Symptoms Survey: U.S. Results, 2015.

Inaugural Lone Star Showcase announced

CEDAR PARK, Tex. – Eight NCAA Division I women’s basketball programs will descend upon the heart of Texas this Thanksgiving as the inaugural Lone Star Showcase is held at Cedar Park Center in Cedar Park, located on the outskirts of Austin. The event will showcase some of the best of women’s college basketball as seven of the eight teams participated in post-season play including three teams that earned berths in the NCAA Tournament. bd Global, LLC, a Lexington, Ky.-based sports marketing firm, is managing the three-day event.

Defending Atlantic 10-champion George Washington and Big Ten-power Iowa lead the field for the “Red Bracket.” Both teams earned berths in last season’s NCAA Tournament with the Hawkeyes advancing to the Sweet 16. Wright State fell in overtime in the Horizon League title game this past March in its bid to earn a second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. Local favorite Houston, which will make the three-hour drive to Austin for the event, rounds out the Red Bracket field.

NCAA Tournament-participant Northwestern headlines the “Blue Bracket” but the three other teams in the pool all earned berths to the WNIT. Eastern Washington’s 21 wins last season were the second-most in a single season in school history. East Carolina, with 20-win seasons in each of the past three years, and Big East-power Creighton each bring high merits to the Blue Bracket.

2015 LONE STAR SHOWCASE RED BRACKET

  • George Washington (Atlantic 10 Conference) – 29-4 record last season | NCAA Tournament
  • Houston (American Athletic Conference) – 6-24 record
  • Iowa (Big Ten Conference) – 26-8 record | NCAA Tournament
  • Wright State (Horizon League) – 25-9 record | WNIT

2015 LONE STAR SHOWCASE BLUE BRACKET

  • Creighton (Big East Conference) – 17-14 record last season | WNIT
  • East Carolina (American Athletic Conference) – 22-11 record | WNIT
  • Eastern Washington (Big Sky Conference) – 21-12 record | WNIT
  • Northwestern (Big Ten Conference) – 23-9 record | NCAA Tournament

“Women’s college basketball is seeing tremendous growth in recent years, and it’s events like these in destination locations that really create a platform that will help continue to grow the sport,” said bd Global President Brooks Downing, whose company manages a similar event in Ft. Myers, Fla. “Many thanks to Sammy Wallace and his team at Cedar Park Center, as well as the local communities of both Austin and Cedar Park, for embracing the Lone Star Showcase and making it possible to bring these teams to Texas.”

“Cedar Park Center is delighted to host the inaugural Lone Star Showcase, and we look forward to three exciting days featuring some of the best women’s college basketball teams in the country,” said Cedar Park Center VP of Booking and Marketing/Assistant General Manager Sammy Wallace. “We are excited to work with Brooks Downing and his staff at bd Global on what we feel will quickly become one of the top destination events in women’s college basketball.”

The action tips on Thursday, Nov. 26 (Thanksgiving Day) at 11 a.m. at Cedar Park Center. The three game days feature an afternoon session (with two games at 11 a.m. & 1:30 p.m. featuring Red Bracket games) and an evening session (games at 5 p.m. and 7:30 featuring the Blue Bracket games). Tickets are good for both games of a given session.

THURSDAY, NOV. 26

  • 11:00 a.m. – Wright State vs. Iowa
  • 1:30 p.m. – George Washington vs. Houston
  • 5:00 p.m. – Eastern Washington vs. Northwestern
  • 7:30 p.m. – Creighton vs. East Carolina

FRIDAY, NOV. 27

  • 11:00 a.m. – Houston vs. Wright State
  • 1:30 p.m. – Iowa vs. George Washington
  • 5:00 p.m. – East Carolina vs. Eastern Washington
  • 7:30 p.m. – Northwestern vs. Creighton

SATURDAY, NOV. 28

  • 11:00 a.m. – Iowa vs. Houston
  • 1:30 p.m. – George Washington vs. Wright State
  • 5:00 p.m. – Creighton vs. Eastern Washington
  • 7:30 p.m. – East Carolina vs. Northwestern

The Westin Austin at The Domain to Serve Official Host Resort

All eight teams in the Lone Star Showcase will stay at The Westin Austin at The Domain. The property boasts a wide range of great features and amenities including 341 luxurious rooms and suites featuring the signature Westin Heavenly Bed® and Heavenly Bath® products, as well as the Westin Workout Fitness Studio with state-of-the-art equipment and an outdoor pool.

Travel Package and Ticket Information

Tickets for the 2015 Lone Star Showcase go on-sale to the public on Aug. 21 at 10 a.m. ET at CedarParkCenter.com or through Ticketmaster.

WorldTEK, a full-service travel management company with more than 40+ years of experience, is the official travel package provider for the Lone Star Showcase. Information on fan travel packages can be found on CedarParkBasketball.com.

For complete information, visit www.cedarparkbasketball.com or follow on Twitter at @LSShowcase.

2015 Gulf Coast Showcase brackets announced

ESTERO, Fla. – The Murray State men’s basketball program, which won 25 consecutive games before being upset in its conference championship game in March, will open the third annual Gulf Coast Showcase at Germain Arena against UW-Milwaukee, while NCAA powerhouses Stanford and Louisville drew in opposite brackets of the women’s tournament, as pairings were released Tuesday by the event’s organizer, bd Global. The weeklong event showcases the very best men’s mid-major programs and the elite women’s teams in two eight-team tournament brackets.

The action tips with the men’s tournament featuring 12 games played over three days. Murray State is joined in the field by cross-state rival Western Kentucky which will play Drake in the opposite bracket. WKU expects a strong crowd for its Monday opener as its football team plays the Saturday before at FIU in Miami. The complete first-round schedule for Nov. 23 is as follows:

  • 12:00 p.m. ET – Murray State vs. Milwaukee
  • 2:30 p.m. ET – Pepperdine vs. Duquesne
  • 6:00 p.m. ET – Western Kentucky vs. Drake
  • 8:30 p.m. ET – Central Michigan vs. Weber State

Game times for Tuesday and Wednesday will be the same with semifinal games on Nov. 24 at 6:00/8:30. Wednesday’s championship game will tip at 8:30.

“We are extremely pleased with how well this event has been received by the local basketball fans, who turned out in record numbers last season for both tournaments,” said bd Global President Brooks Downing. “Likewise, NCAA Division I teams have lined up to play in this event, primarily because of the tournament’s location in beautiful Ft. Myers, Fla.”

Following a day off on Thanksgiving Day, the women’s tournament commences with Dayton battling upstart Maine in the opener. The Lady Flyers advanced to the Elite Eight and led eventual NCAA champ Connecticut at halftime before faltering. Fans will recall that UConn won the 2014 Gulf Coast Showcase as well. Stanford and Louisville were both ranked in the Top 25 all of last season, and were both joined by LSU in the NCAA Tournament. The schedule for the opening round of the women’s tournament is as follows:

  • 11:00 a.m. ET – Dayton vs. Maine
  • 1:30 p.m. ET – Stanford vs. Missouri State
  • 5:00 p.m. ET – Louisville vs. Marist
  • 7:30 p.m. ET – LSU vs. Purdue

“This year’s Gulf Cost Showcase has a field that is loaded with Top-25 caliber teams and will be arguably the best in-season tournament in all of women’s basketball,” said Debbie Antonelli, ESPN analyst and Gulf Coast Showcase Tournament host. “This tournament will mirror an NCAA regional this season.”

“Opening Games” schedule

As part of the event, seven “opening games” will be played at home sites:

 MEN’S

  • Seton Hill at Duquesne – Nov. 13
  • Alma College at Central Michigan – Nov. 13
  • Campbellsville at Western Kentucky – Nov. 14
  • Antelope Valley at Weber State – Nov. 19
  • TBD at Milwaukee – Nov. 20

WOMEN’S

  • MidAmerica Nazarene at Missouri State – Nov. 17
  • Colby College at Maine – Dec. 1

Travel Package and Ticket Information

Tickets for the 2015 Gulf Coast Showcase are on-sale now at GermainArena.com or through Ticketmaster. All-Tournament passes for either the men’s tournament or women’s tournament will be available on that date for $89 or $139 per tournament. Single session tickets will go on-sale on Aug. 19 and range from $10 General Admission to $45 Courtside for each two-game session. Each day of the tournament will feature an afternoon session (starts at 12 p.m. for men’s and 11 a.m. for women’s) and evening session (starts at 6 p.m. for men’s and 5 p.m. for women’s) and tickets will be good for both games of a given session. All-session passes have been on-sale since April and will continue to be available to fans.

WorldTEK, a full-service travel management company with more than 40 years of experience, is the official travel package provider for the Gulf Coast Showcase. Information on fan travel packages is available on GulfCoastShowcase.com.

For complete information, visit www.gulfcoastshowcase.com or follow on Twitter at @GCShowcase.

2015 Gulf Coast Showcase tournament fields announced

ESTERO, Fla. – Sixteen NCAA Division I basketball programs will descend upon Southwest Florida this Thanksgiving as the third-annual Gulf Coast Showcase is staged at Germain Arena in Estero, Fla. The men’s eight-team tournament, designed to showcase the top mid-major programs from across the country, will be held Nov. 23-25; it will be immediately followed by an eight-team, high-major women’s tournament from Nov. 27-29. bd Global, LLC, a Lexington, Ky.-based sports marketing firm, is managing the weeklong event.

Murray State, which won 25 straight games this past season, headlines the men’s field. The Racers were ranked as high as No. 24 in the nation and finished with a 29-6 record and only the fifth undefeated conference mark in OVC history but were upended in the league championship game and missed the NCAA Tournament in what was a very unpopular decision by the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Committee.

In the Gulf Coast Showcase, Murray State will be challenged by Central Michigan (23-9 last year and won the MAC West Division) and Western Kentucky (20-12 and a fourth-place finish in Conference USA).

2015 GULF COAST SHOWCASE MEN’S FIELD

  • Central Michigan (Mid-American Conference)
  • Drake (Missouri Valley Conference)
  • Duquesne (Atlantic 10 Conference)
  • Milwaukee (Horizon League)
  • Murray State (Ohio Valley Conference
  • Pepperdine (West Coast Conference)
  • Weber State (Big Sky Conference)
  • Western Kentucky (Conference USA)

“We created the men’s event to be a premium tournament strictly for college basketball’s top mid-major schools,” said bd Global President Brooks Downing. “Our men’s field is our deepest in three years with quality programs from around the country. To then follow it up with the best regular season women’s tournament in the country, it will certainly be an exciting week at Germain Arena.”

The women’s tournament features a strong field in which all eight teams played in postseason last year, including four teams that participated in the NCAA Tournament. Dayton advanced to the Elite Eight and led eventual National Champion and defending Gulf Coast Champion Connecticut at halftime before falling in its bid to advance to the Final Four. Louisville and Stanford both spent the entire season ranked among the Top 25 and each advanced to the Sweet Sixteen while LSU also earned a berth in the tournament.

2015 GULF COAST SHOWCASE WOMEN’S FIELD

  • Dayton (Atlantic 10 Conference)
  • Louisville (Atlantic Coast Conference)
  • LSU (Southeastern Conference)
  • Maine (America East Conference)
  • Marist (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
  • Missouri State (Missouri Valley Conference)
  • Purdue (Big Ten Conference)
  • Stanford (Pac-12 Conference)

“The mission of the Gulf Coast Showcase is to annually showcase the best teams in women’s hoops,” said Debbie Antonelli, ESPN analyst and Gulf Coast Showcase Tournament Host. “Last year, UConn rolled to the tournament title but we have eight great programs for 2015 and any of those eight could be playing for the crown on Sunday night.”

2014 Tournament Wrap-Up

More than 20,000 fans attended the tournament last November, and the first night of the women’s tournament set a tournament record with 3,987 fans in attendance as UConn debuted in Southwest Florida.

Four women’s teams from the 2014 Gulf Coast Showcase advanced to the NCAA Tournament led by eventual National Champion Connecticut. Minnesota, Green Bay and Arizona State also earned berths with the Sun Devils advancing to the Sweet Sixteen.

Four players from last season’s women’s tournament were named AP All-Americans. UConn’s Breanna Stewart and Minnesota’s Amanda Zahui B. were both first-team honorees while UConn teammates Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Moriah Jefferson were named to the second team. Stewart was named the AP National Player of the Year for the second straight season.

On the men’s side, both Green Bay and Hawaii advanced to its respective conference championship games (Green Bay fell to Valparaiso in the Horizon final and Hawaii lost to UC Irvine in the Big West final).

Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Returns as Official Host Resort

Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa will return as the official host resort for each of the teams of the 2015 Gulf Coast Showcase. Located in Bonita Springs, the 454-room resort is located just 15 minutes from Germain Arena and features multiple pools, 24 hour StayFit™ gym, cold-plunge waterfall, Stillwater Spa and the championship Raptor Bay golf course.

Travel Package and Ticket Information

Tickets for the 2015 Gulf Coast Showcase go on-sale on May 15 at 10 a.m. ET at GermainArena.com or through Ticketmaster. All-Tournament passes for either the men’s tournament or women’s tournament will be available on that date for $89 or $139 per tournament. Single session tickets will go on-sale this summer after match-ups and game times are announced.

WorldTEK, a full-service travel management company with more than 40+ years of experience, is the official travel package provider for the Gulf Coast Showcase. Information on fan travel packages will be released on Friday, May 1 on GulfCoastShowcase.com.

For complete information, visit www.gulfcoastshowcase.com or follow on Twitter at @GCShowcase.

No. 14 Utah beats UNLV in MGM Grand Showcase

LAS VEGAS — Delon Wright scored 17 points, Brandon Taylor had 16, and No. 14 Utah beat UNLV 59-46 on Saturday night in the MGM Grand Showcase.

Utah (8-2) had 12 steals — including six by Taylor and four by Wright — to cap a rough stretch by winning for the third time in four games.

Rashad Vaughn had 16 points and seven rebounds to lead UNLV (7-3), and Christian Wood added eight points and 13 rebounds.

The Utes led 24-23 at halftime before UNLV scored the first two points of the second half to take the lead. However, Utah followed with an 8-0 run to regain the lead and didn’t trail again. The Utes increased the lead to 13 and the Rebels didn’t get closer than nine over the final 6 minutes.

Neither team had more than a six-point lead in the first half with five lead changes.

No. 16 Washington holds off Oklahoma in MGM Grand Showcase

LAS VEGAS — Washington’s fast start almost turned into a heartbreaking finish.

Jernard Jarreau scored 12 points, and No. 16 Washington held on for a 69-67 victory over No. 15 Oklahoma on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Showcase.

“At the outset of the season, I talked about being sneaky old, but we have some guys that hadn’t played college basketball for one game,” Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar said. “When you are in a position like this, if you are together and have a belief in one another, you are capable of pulling off something we’ve been able to do.”

The Huskies (10-0) led by as many as 20 in the first half, but scored only three points in the final 4:01 of the game. Jordan Woodard had a look at a potential winning jumper for the Sooners (7-3), but it rattled out and Andrew Andrews grabbed the rebound.

UConn rolls to Gulf Coast Showcase women’s championship

ESTERO, Fla. — UConn wasn’t slowed by a slow start.

Once the Huskies got their fast break going, Wisconsin-Green Bay was no match for the defending national champions.

Moriah Jefferson had 19 points and Breanna Stewart added 17 for No. 3 UConn in an 89-53 victory Sunday night in the championship game of the Gulf Coast Showcase.

Tournament MVP Kia Nurse scored 16, all in the first half.

The Huskies (5-1) now have won 56 straight games when playing in regular-season tournaments.

“For us to score that many on them tonight is a lot,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “It happened quickly and it came from a lot of different angles. That’s what good teams do.”

Oklahoma State crowned MGM Grand Main Event champions

LAS VEGAS — Six games into the season the Oklahoma State basketball team is unbeaten and already has a tournament championship. But that doesn’t mean coach Travis Ford is content.

Far from it. After beating in-state rival Tulsa 73-58 to capture the MGM Grand Main Event title Wednesday, Ford emphasized the importance of continuing to improve.

“It’s always good to be 6-0, but I don’t even look at it in those terms,” he said. “I don’t allow myself to put any expectations on this team right now. The only expectation we have is to get better every day.”

The Cowboys took two big steps this week, defeating Oregon State in the tournament opener on Monday, then blowing out Tulsa (3-2) with exceptional shooting and strong defense.

Green Bay claims Gulf Coast Showcase men’s crown

ESTERO, Fla. – Jumping out of the gates with a 15-0 lead and holding Florida Gulf Coast (5-1) to just 27.3 percent shooting from the field, Green Bay (4-1) led wire-to-wire on Wednesday night and posted a 59-45 victory in the championship game of the Gulf Coast Showcase at Germain Arena.

Green Bay was the home team on the scoreboard in the neutral site event, but the Phoenix played in a hostile environment just three miles from Florida Gulf Coast’s campus. From the opening tip-off, that didn’t matter for head coach Brian Wardle’s team.

“I could tell all day long that we had a bounce in our step and were ready to go,” Wardle said. “I told the team before the game, ‘we’ve been tested already. Now let’s go out there and throw the first punch.’”

Senior Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.) scored the game’s first basket to fuel the 15-0 start, and the All-American candidate continued to set the tone throughout the tournament and the game. Sykes finished with a game-high 19 points and added five rebounds, five assists and three steals. The senior was named the tournament most valuable player after averaging 17 points, six rebounds and 4.8 assists.