Mid-Major Madness Live Blog: Maui, Bill Walton and Feast Week continues

Update: 1:15 p.m.

Well, Mike Daum woke up in the mood to give out buckets. The Jackrabbits forward poured in 41 points against UTSA, and became the all-time leading scorer in South Dakota State history in the process.

The Jacks also got a huge performance out of Skyler Flatten, who dropped 27 points (including 6-6 from three) en route to the 99-79 victory. The Jacks finish the Gulf Coast Showcase with just a 1-2 record, which will probably be viewed as a bit of a disappointment given that the loses were to inferior opponents.

Elsewhere in morning basketball, Illinois State continued to play maddening basketball. After taking a five point lead into halftime against Akron, the Redbirds eventually coughed up the lead and trailed late in the second half. They rallied late for a 73-68 win. There’s so much talent on this team, but they go through stretches where they’re extremely frustrating to watch. Poor shot selection, dumb turnovers and defensive lapses have been a trend early on for the Redbirds. Nonetheless, they’re 3-2 with plenty of good teams left on the non-conference schedule. Maybe the early struggles will ultimately pay off come Missouri Valley play as the season progresses.

Have you had your fix of daytime basketball yet? No? Good, because it’s semifinal day and there’s some solid matchups on the board across the various tournaments.

You can start your morning off with Mike Daum, or you can tune in and see if Illinois State can string together a better performance than yesterday’s blowout loss to Georgia. Later on in the night, Gonzaga will face Arizona in the semifinals in Maui for a chance to play the winner of Auburn/Duke.

Grab a second screen and follow the action with us today. We’ll be checking in periodically throughout the day.

Here’s a quick rundown of the big games on the schedule:

11 a.m.: Gulf Coast Showcase, South Dakota State vs. UTSA
11 a.m.: Cayman Islands Classic, Akron vs. Illinois State (Stadium on Facebook)
1:30 p.m.: Gulf Coast Showcase, Colorado State vs. FGCU
2:30 p.m.: Maui Invitational, Xavier vs. San Diego State (ESPN2)
5 p.m.: Gulf Coast Showcase, Tulane vs. UC Irvine
5 p.m.: Cayman Islands Classic, St. Bonaventure vs. Boise State (Stadium on Facebook)
6 p.m.: Cancun Challenge, SMU vs. Bradley (CBSSN)
7 p.m.: Hall of Fame Classic, Missouri State vs. USC (ESPN3)
7:30 p.m.: Cayman Islands Classic, Georgia State vs. Creighton (Stadium on Facebook)
7:30 p.m.: Gulf Coast Showcase, Louisiana vs. Toledo
7:30 p.m.: Legends Classic, St. John’s vs. VCU (ESPN2)
8:30 p.m.: Cancun Challenge, Penn State vs. Wright State (CBSSN)
10:30 p.m.: Maui Invitational, Arizona vs. Gonzaga (ESPN)