| OCR Text |
Show ‘The Salt Lake Tribune COLLEGE BASKETBALL Sunday, March 11, 2001 BIG EAST TOURNAMENT Eagles Celebrate Worst-toBoston College ety MVP Troy Bell, Boston top teams entering the Routs PittsburghtheNCAAaaa Tournament. season to wear down opponents and the samebalanced scoring to augment BY JIM O’CONNELL THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK—The celebration was almost as impressive as_ the turnaround. Boston College already had completed the first worst-to-first regular seasonin Big East history. Now, no sooner had the 10th- ranked Eagles closed out their 79-57 victory overPittsburgh in the tourna- menttitle game Setenight Lee they were in the stands hi the court dancing and up the ra cutting down thenets. Using th press it has all ee lore. woe Big ehOoo year Bell and coach of the year Skinner taking the individual honors, the Eagles set a school-record with win lege (26-4) cemented itself as one of No. 260n Saturdaynight, eclipsing the 25-7 markofthe 1982-83 team. “Most teams that have been regular-season and tournament East title came in 1997, under coach dim O'Brien, wholeft for Ohio State after a fallout with sch ——in the Big oehave been No. seeds,” Eagles coach Al Skinner rc “We'll see whathappens. We’ve earned it. We're one of the best basketball teams in the country and I don’t know what more they can ask us todo.” Boston College went 3-13 in the conference last season and was the 18th seed for the tournament. This season, the Eagles went 13-3 and almost will certainly get a high seed when the field of 65 is announced today. Thelast. two seasons produced a total of 17 wins. With co-playerof the Boston College's only other Big administrators, Skinner stepped in and, though success didn’t come immediately, has been impressive. “Forthis team to be in the tourna- mentafter where it wasa year ago isa tremendous accomplishment,” Skinner said. “To be talking No. 1 and 2 seeds is a differentstory. Ifthis was a movie it would be too corny. You couldn’t write it.” ‘The Panthers (18-13) were chasing history, trying to become thefirst team to win four games in a Big East tournament, buttheir run ended one I Pittsburgh iteBen Towland said. “We had a portunity tonight. Unfortunately,Se just didn’t capitalize on it. We were just a step slow. That’s not to make an excuse. They played a very good game and they were the better team it.” Boston College trailed by 11 points in the first half but used runs of 9-2 and 13-0 to go up 37-29 at halftime. The Panthers, who along with Connecticutlast season were the only teams to even play four games in the tournament, got within 50-45 on a three-pointer by Donatas Zavackas with 12:43 to play. The Eagles then went on a 19-0 run that Leg points from five players, butnotBel arGreerled Pittsburgh with 18 point ACC TOURNAMENT Duke Tips Maryland t game short as they ran out of gas in the second half. “No one expected us, except for the guysin blue and gold, to get this far,” BIG 12 TOURNAMENT Sooners’ Victory ° ‘Three-mendous’ Last-second basket sends Blue Devils into another showdown vs. pein ‘THE ASSOCIATED PRESS three straight lob passes in the seem. ond half. “Yd outlaw the dunk if I could,” said Williams. “For every lob that works,there’s about20,713 that stink “” the place up. It was bad decisions and ' bad execution, If they didn’t watch~ ‘SportsCenter,’ they wouldn’t do KANSASCITY, Mo.— It’snotalways how manythree-pointers you hit. Sometimes wae counts the most “We showed we're a good team, ‘THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ATLANTA — When slumping Nate James lost his starting spot in the final week of the season, the fifth-year senior never stopped workinghard. No. 3 Dukeis thankful forthat. dames tipped in a missed runner from Jason Williams with 13 seconds left, and Shane Battier scored 20 points as the Blue Devils edged No.11 Maryland 84-82 in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals Saturday. “You just don’t fall into those types ofplays, you make those plays happen,” Battier said. “That’s the result of a five-year player making a big play ina big game.” Duke (28-4)will play rival North Carolina in today’s championship game. James was 1-of-9 for four points said Maryland’s Steve Blake. “We can hang in there with anybody and second-halfdeficit to an 82-82 tie with 8.1 seconds left. Juan Dixonled the Terrapins with jon. But James remained positive, and coach Mike Krzyzewski insisted he “Peoplesay I’m overshadowed,butI just enjoy every game, every season.” Williains added 19 points and James 14 as the Blue Devils snapped Maryland’s six-game winning streak. post line, what makes college basetball great.” Kansas (24-6) held a 48-47 lead go, he hit a go-ahead long one that madeit 57-54. Kansas wasted a big height advantage, even misconnecting on Forte said, “and I have confidence in myself.” ‘THE ASSOCIATEDPRESS CHICAGO — When Mike Davis jumper with about two minutes left, and the two “He shoul be the payer ofthe yearn the ACC and in the nation." took over back in September, no one expected Indiana to contendfor a Big Tentitle, Duke's Nate James,center, reachestotip in the game-winning basket in the Blue Devils’ 84-82victory. Also jumpingforthe ball are Maryland's Terence Mons, right, and Duke’s Casey Sanders. Seniors Come Through as Ole Miss Holds Off Florida the semifinals of the SEC tournament. Reed scored 15 points and Flanigan made three over No. 7 lowa State, shot just 41 percent against the quick Texas defense. The Bears made only ; four of 17 three-point attempts while losing to. Texas for the eighth time in a row. Baylor's DeMarcus Minor, smothered by a relentiess Texas defense, was just 3-for-13 and had Coeee the toumament. Hoosiers Knock Off lini pointer than sneaked over the rim, a 15-foot free throws after Shaun Fein hit a three-pointer to bring Tech within 64-63, “Every time Forte had an open shot, he knocked it down,” Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. scored 23 points and Texas cooled off Baylor's: . BIG TEN TOURNAMENT Even though Forte was struggling from the outside, him to penetrate the lane for many of his points, and had to play the last 11 minutes with four fouls, Forte avoided his fifth foul and made most of the key baskets down the stretch — a three- Aaron Harper,this year’s been different. IN OTHER GAMES: #20 Texas 76, Baylor 62: Chris Owens, ; when Newton connected with his first three-pointer. Then with 1:40 to. disputed foul call against Tech's TJ. Vines. TOURNAMENT Conference's the Southeastern western division. With the addition of freshmen Justin Reed and Sooners the ball with lead andfive seconds. tbeSasa and then Kelley made oe couple of hottest shooter en route to the semifinal victory. ; threes,” said Roy WilBaylor, one day after pulling off the biggest liams. “That's the thrillof the three- upset in toumament history with a 62-49 victory Jo- andwason the verge offouling out. Still, therewas ‘THE ASSOCIATED PRESS bounds athe second aay:eenoe horns’ last loss before their current seph Forte didn’t have his normal shooting touch NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mississippi seniors Jason Flanigan and Rahim Lockhart didn’t want a repeatof last season’s last-place finish in SEC another. But the ball bounced out eight-game winningstreak. “They were struggling offensively IN OTHER GAMES: “My teammates have confidence in me,” could play a big role in the postseason. He ended up doing just that Saturday. “J run my own race,” James said. Kirk Hinrich missed a threepon attempt, got the rebound and put tle game. The Sooners swept path games from Texas in the son, including an embarrassing 354 romp at Austin that was thetLong- 17 points, while Lonny Baxter had 15 points and 12 rebounds, ate It was 58-56 when Kansas’ Drew Gooden madeoneoftwofree throws. :: Nolan Johnson answered a moment. later for Oklahoma with two foul:, shots for a 60-57 lead. sas 62-57 in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament. “Tt was fortunate we knocked down those stots,aee said in terse understatem Oklahoma (056),which also made 13ofits last 14 foul shots, will face Texas (25-7) in Sundayafternoon's ti- NoneofJames’points were bigger three-point range as helosthis starting position to freshman Chris 27. that. final five minutes Saturday. That sparked the Sooners past No. 9 Kan- than his last bucket. He went up ina crowd andtipped in the winning shot after Blake’s three-pointer had rallied the Terrapins from a 14-point That game ended stretch for James in which he was 1-for-14 from as the Blue Devils were handed their worstlossof the season, 91-80 on Feb. offensively, got two timely three. eae from Kelley Newton in the beat anybody. Thething is we'll just little doubt he would have the ball for North Caroee guard scored 27 points,inSe a tetn. and the Tar Heels survived a scare from feisty Georgia Tech. Forte, who also had 12 rebounds, made the free throws with 33.6 seconds remaining after a against the Terrapins on Senior Day is when you hit them. No, 16 Oklahoma, scuffling all day haveto stay positive about the way we played. It’s tough to talk about right now.” #6 North Carolina 70, Georgia Tech Beth A. Kelser/AP, Boston College’s Uka 7 right, shoots over Pitts Jaron... Brown on Saturdaynight. young guys. We knew they were going to work In the championship game on Sunday afternoon, the Rebels (25-6) will meet No. 15 Kentucky, an 87-78 winner over Arkansas in the second semifinal. This timelast year, Ole Miss was alreadyout of the tournamentand headed toward the NIT. Ole Miss, which ousted Tennessee 86-73 in the quarterfinals, has won three straight games and reached thefinals for thefifth time butthe first since 1990, whenit lost to Kentucky 70-51. “Last year was a sick feeling comingin last hard andlistento us.” overcomein one season. There were so manydistractions, there was no hich got to the Final Fourlast season, was hoping its battle with injuries could be conquered with another win to help lock up a top seed in the NCAA Tournament. in double figures. Cory Bradford had was nearly perfect Friday with a. season-high 11 assists and no turn- Kirk Haston blocked Frank Williams’ last-second layup attempt. “When the season started, the wanted Coach Davis to be here ora lot of us probably wouldn't have come back,” Coverdalesaid.“If he’s not the coach after what he's done, someThe Hoosiers (21-11) have won nineoftheir last 11 games, and Davis #15 Kentucky 87, Arkansas 78: Keith Bogans had 23 points 14 points, wasthe only Illinois player. nine points on 3-of-11 shooting. Sergio McClain missed two free throws final against Iowa after knocking off No.4 Hllinois 58-56 Saturday. Tom Coverdale had 17 sit and thing's wrong.” IN OTHER GAMES: and had 12 turnovers, Williams, with in the last 50 seconds andfinished Yet look at Davis’ Hoosiers now. They're in the Big Ten tournament “I don’t know enough to say where we'll be seeded,” Gators’ coach Billy Donovan said. confidence is sky-high.” TheIllini shotless than 33 percent way Indiana could excel. players stepped up and said we “We have just been blessed all season long.” Florida (23-6), Thefallout from Bob Knight'sfiring was just too messy, too public to “T feel real good about this ball team right now,” Davis said. “Our is thefirst Indiana coach to win 21 mes in his first season.In oneyear, Bovis hasalrvady won more: aintin with two points. And then there was Williams. He overs in 30 minutes, and then he fol- lowed it up with an impressive offen- sive displayin thefirst halfSaturday. But he disappeared in the second half, scoring just three points. Part of the reason was Indiana’s DaneFife, .~ who smothered the Big Ten’s player ofthe year. IN OTHER GAMES: lowa 94, Penn State 74: Reggie Evans scored a career-high 30 points and had a toumament-record 18 rebounds — matching the. free throws down thestretch Saturday to help No. place,” Flanigan said. “Over the summer we and 10 rebounds as the Wildcatsrallied from 15 points down to ad- the Big Ten tournament (two) than total for the entire Penn State team — as the 14 Mississippi upset fifth-ranked Florida 74-69 in worked hard and we knew wehadto lead thésSe vance into the SEC championship, Knight managed in three years (one). sixth-seeded Hawkeyes routed the Nitany Lions, ‘Nicona 7. gCae CharlotteTames Cincinnati ti toto WinWin Conf Conference USA : west78 ‘Souter Cal 78. We Sartos Mare37 8.63 cee Hawai 78, Tulsa OT SSOCIATE! PRESS THE ASSOCIATED a5 acl mrk Johnson's tring on #13 oe Washington UCLA 94: Michael MEN’S BASKETB ALL LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For years, Cincin- ‘America East Conterence pee _ ee CanCarre Carolina 70, Georgia Tech 63 nati has muscled opponents in Conference % The Bearcats were a far tamer team Saturday, and it cost them an automatic Washington to a huge upset in Seatte second time in its last 11 games. White, the league's leading scorer and ATLANTIC 10: freshman of the year, was named the tour- bid to the NCAA Tournament. KenKay Jones matched a career-high with 18 points as Charlotte earned an 80-72 win in the Conference USA championship. nament's Most Valuable Player,scoring 61 Points and grabbing 26 rebounds in three enareclitiy Lay six coe. andfive locked shots on Saturday, _ “ame oman Washingon 5 Serine (oonPS4 29, 27-15 in the second half alone, and scored 22 second-chance points to the Bearcats’four. “We were just outmanned,” Cincinnati reaking his wrist. You saw today what kind ofa player wethought he would be.” KennySatterfield scored 18 points for aaah {Big 12 Conterence lution 02, Karans 57 played incredible,” Lutz said. "The 49ers outrebounded Cincinnati 45...“He“KenKay missed: 30 days of practice after coach Bob Huggins said, “We got blasted on the ow ‘ead-doverioan Condrerioe aire playing in the title game for the fourth timein five years and wonit TOP 25: . Kae.e terete Lantern ADietcConference oe * ‘The 49ers will play in the NCAA Tour- scored 15 of his 21 points in the first hail and Ryan Men Henge 0Cote Bat 88 ‘MountainWestConterence Dap Youresc Soutenatar Conference Mens 1Fert CA Cantarense ect S72 Bsa" ee tie top- top-seeded Cincinnati, which lost for the premtney White,the nation’stopscoring on" ee eet Whit . the os time _ three oe - ree ship game. 1 Cente Rodney Leonard Stokes added Clevolaryd Huffman took over in the second hal, scoring Temple 76, Massachusetts 65: Lynn Greer scored 20 points and Kevin Lyde had 18 points and 11 rebounds to jead the Owls to the Atlantic 10 tournament tile in , Sending Temple to the NCAA Toumament forthe 12 straight year, BIG SKY: coisa 72, Eastern Waahingon 88 » £1 Stanford 9,Arizona Stat 75: CasoyJacsan daz added 19 as the top-ranked Cardinal clinched the Big Sky fina! in Los Angoles Heinle was named the lounament MVP, and top swaded Northridge (22:9), tho Big Sky's rarseason champion, eamed its frst NCAA Touriament Hofstra 68, Delaware 54: Norman Richardson £ ‘West Regional. #8 Arizona 78, California 76: Loren Woods had 22 tournament in Hempstead, N.Y, Holstra (26-4) wil be in the NCAA tourament for the second straight year and ‘Stanford led by 22 pont in ho frst half and by 26n AMERICA EAST: think we're road-tested. We only had Hi games, all but assuring the Cardinal ofthe top seed in the scored 20 points as the Pride won the America East Cincinnati (23-9) most likely will get an at-large bid, despite losing for just the . Hampton 70, South Carolina State 58: Tarvis Wilkams scored 11 of his 18 points in the second hal to lead Hampton to the MEAC tite in Richmond, Va. The Pirates. (24-8), who split withthe Buldogs this season and led “RETO wort ena 137 na weshs ree than The MEAC reprsocan te, eam ha et trip to the NCAA Tournament in only their sixth soason in the second while cruising to its eighth victory in nine home games and nota lot of teams can say that.” first trip to the NCAA Tournament. muss to play and moved ahoad for good at65-48. Pao-10title. ready for wherever they send S00red 14 points and Tyrone Levelt added 12 as Ala‘bama State rallied to win the Southwestern Athietic Conference toumamentin Birmingham, Ala., and eamed its 5 and us,” said Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz. “ . ATHLETIC: "Quine Wadey tad 20 ports and oh nbounds, SOUTHWESTERN Jooy Ball: Alabama State 64, Alcom State 52 and Alex Wesby added 10 points for Temple,which lost seven straight early in the season — the longest losing streak in Chaney's tenure, butfor thefirst time since1999. “We're 14 of Kent State's final 16 points and 19 after halftime for the Golden Flashes, who made their only other trip to the NCAAs in 1999. Cotrarence USA Player ofthe Year Stove fan Hora scored 21 pois ashe Matadors won he MID-EASTERN ATHLETIC oe tee he Beare and three assists for the third-seeded 49ers '-0gan had 14 for the Bearcats, namentfor the fourth time in five years, Kent State 67, Miami (Ohio) 61: Trevor Huffman scored 27 points as Kent eamed its second trip to the NCAA Tournament by winning the MAC toumament in 4 ae ‘Champlonatip Towrgle mrene ‘Championship MID-AMERICAN:. points and nine rebounds as visling Arizona capped its this time it enters on an 18-game winning streak, the roller-coaster regular season with its sbth straight viclory. longest in the nation, \ Division | sours . LAND: Northwestern State 72, McNeese State 71: Michal | Byers-Dawson sank two free throws with nine seconds remaining, Northwestem the Southiand, | Conference tournament tile in Bossier City, La., and its first tip to the NCAA Toymament A |
