YPSILANTI-- First year Northern Illinois University head coach Mark Montgomery has had a hard season with mostly underclassman. His pair of Norwegian sharpshooters got hot at the right time as NIU nipped Eastern Michigan 55-52 in the Mid-American Conference playoffs. NIU goes on to Cleveland where the action will take place through the weekend and the MAC Final will be televised on ESPN on Saturday.

First-year head coach Rob Murphy was named Mid-American Conference Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year for the 2011-12 season. EMU won the MAC West Division with a 9-7 conference mark.

Unicaja Malaga and Great Britain forward/centre Joel Freeland has agreed to stay in Spain instead of dipping his toes into the NBA and suiting up for the Portland Trailblazers.

Goodbye world championships and hello to the Basketball World Cup - and in honesty - it sounds better already.

We've only just reached the first day of Feburary 2012 and already we have our 'dunk of the year'. Los Angeles Clippers' forward Blake Griffin slamming on Oklahoma City Thunder's Kendrick Perkins.

A Happy New Year to you all!

B-Ball Potpourri is back on with some entertaining videos from around the world to please your day at the office, at home or wherever you may be.

Despite winning Eurobasket in Lithuania with Spain in mid-September, Ricky Rubio was the subject of some negative criticism.

YPSILANTI-- On Saturday, February 11, 2012 Eastern Michigan University will be hosting Polish-American Heritage Day along with their scheduled basketball doubleheader. The women will take on Kent State at 2:00 p.m. and the men host perennial Mid-American Conference power Ohio University at 4:30 p.m.

LAHAINA— The Duke Blue Devils have been the kings on Maui, winning titles in 1992, 1997, 2001 and 2007. Michigan has a pedigree of winning here but it has been awhile, 1985 and 1988. Duke endured a brutal New York-North Carolina-Hawaii travel schedule for their Maui No Ka ‘Oi - (Maui is the Best).

LAHAINA-- It was the fifth time Duke has won the invitational tournament in Maui hosted by Chaminade University. The outcome was never for certain as Kansas kept coming back. Tyler Thornton hit a hands-in-the-face and awkward three-pointer with 20 seconds left to finish Kansas off, 68-61. He had previously made one at 1:10 left.