Texas-Arlington Clinches First-Ever Tourney Berth

Texas-Arlington, led by Anthony Vereen's 25 points, grabbed the Southland Conference title with an 82-79 victory over Northwestern State and the first NCAA tourney berth in the school's history. And the Mavericks' reward for getting into the Big Dance? A matchup against No. 1 seeded Memphis. Rog'er Guignard added 17 points and Larry Posey had 11 for the Texas-Arlington, reports AP.

Mavericks coach Scott Cross praised his top players. "It's unbelievable to win this, and these three guys are the reason we're here," he said. Northwestern State, who's appeared on those office pool brackets two other times, most recently 2006, just missed this time despite a sub-.500 record at 15-18. The Demons were led by Trey Gilder who had 20 points. (More NCAA basketball stories.)