Jack McCarthy

And to be fair, Northwestern, ISU and SIU all could have appeared in a postseason tourney but all three declined opportunities.

The Vegas 16 is half of what was hoped for, but NIU is among eight in the inaugural tourney and Illinois' only D1 team in the postseason.

NIU postpones this afternoon’s presser on post-season basketball plans.

Hmm. NIU men’s basketball getting a shot at post-season tourney? Presser at 1 p.m. in DeKalb.

DePaul-St. John’s underway in Big East women’s semis. Winner faces Creighton, which upset Seton Hall 77-56.

That ‘70s look. St. John's Crystal Simmons sports short basketball pants mostly unseen for a couple of generations. https://t.co/5H8JHQQ9Kc

Day Two of Big East women’s tourney at DePaul underway with Creighton against No. 2 Villanova. Top seed Blue Demons play at 6 p.m.

Big East women’s hoops tourney under way at DePaul this afternoon. Say hello to Xavier’s mascot. https://t.co/JDbvbCyMa6

Greetings Fire fans. Was asked if I'd be covering the team for the Trib in 2016. Nope, sorry. Trib cut out most #cf97 coverage last year.

Villanova scored 15 unanswered points to open second half for a 56-29 lead over DePaul.

DePaul shot 39 percent half (9-for-23) and committed 12 turnovers and trailed 41-29 at intermission.

And back-to-back treys from Josh Hart makes it 16-2 Villanova with 14:21 left in opening half.

6-11 F Daniel Ochefu, big man inside, has five points as ‘Nova opens 10-2 early lead on DePaul.

DePaul is 1-6 all-time against No. 1 teams in Chicago, 0-1 at Allstate. Only win: beating Illinois 69-65 in 1952 at Chicago Stadium.

NO. 1 COMES TO TOWN. Villanova, with first-ever AP top-ranking, warms up before playing DePaul at Allstate Arena. https://t.co/YW947KCPlR

Huskies stay perfect (12-0) at home with 75-70 win over Central Michigan. Back at Convo Center on Friday against Toledo.

Had a chance to chat with the great Mike Korcek, NIU’s retired Sports Information Director. One of the best in the business