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Show College Basketball 2D Monday. March 10, 1997 Standard-Examiiner COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP reuaer Kansas ends regular season on rofé goal. We're just excited.” That next goal is winning a national title. Kansas is seeded No. 1 m the Southeast Regional! of the NCAA tournament. Minnesota got the No. 1 seed im the Midwest, while North Carolina got the top seed in the East and defending champion Kentucky got it in the West. season. The Jayhawks (32-1) won the inaugural Big 12 tournament Sunday with an 87-60 victory over Missouri, the only team to beat them this season That came a day after holding No. 16 lowa State to 48 points in the semifinals. “Yesterday, I was talking about the de- March 15-16 March 13-14 7 . March 13 & 15 paamentas 210 seaceil . ansas a tourna meni, it came as no surprise The Utes had, after al breezed through the Wester Athletic Conference regular sea son, and even reached the final of last week's WAC tournament Vega surprising. wa seed in the Wes! Regiona Despite losing to San Diego State in the WAC champion- ship game. the Utes were awarded their highest seeding ever for this vear s tournament Utah (24-5) will travel t teams for NCAA at-large berths, were also among fhe —s—s Kansas 82-1 Ss teams that were selected for the NIT it 1) aais Memphis, eee ee i oceans (9)| _Maryland 21-1( (5)) ™ Rhode Isiand 20-9 : March 13 & 15 Also ‘headed for the. NIT were Northern Arizona of,the Big Sky, Nevada of ithe, Bug West Conference, Fregno State and UNLVof the Western Athletic Conference, Jona, | Drexel, Southwest Missouri | State, Bowling Green, Tulane (8)| Purdue 17-11 : (6) and New Orleans. Each won 20 (5) TCU of the WAC Utah State (20-9) -daad (13) S Aiabama 23-6 connate [Minois 21-9 Birmingham, Ala — eecee March 21823 San Antonio rere March arch 2020 & 22 22 20-44 (4) _Anzona 19-9 — Georgia 23+ Cinemne c Buti Tenn-Chatt 22-10 <TR - 0 2D derbilt 19-1 Auburn Hills, . Mich. March 13 & 15 =< reaching the Big West semifinals before losing to eventpal championPacific Pacific received the “Big West’s automatic berth anvthe NCAA tournament, but ‘Litah? (10) “ _ Providence 21-11 — 21-7 _Duke23-6 (2) Murray State 20-8 2 (15) State will stay home and!watch™ the postseason for the seoond Associated Press straight year. The NIT brackets: put UNLV on one side and ‘Fresno State on the other, meamng Bulidogs coach Jerry Tarkan- Trek to Salt Lake may makePitino queasy tranquilizer, please, for Rick Pitino. A. For the honor of winning the Southeastern Conference championship and earning a record 38th NCAA tournament bid, Pitino and his Kentucky Wildcats were handed a No. 1 seed and then casually shipped to Salt Lake City to defend their national championship And, Rick, save a little of that sedative for Steve Lavin Winners of its last nine games and champions of the Pacific-10 Conference for the third consecutive season, UCLA quietly wished for a No. 2 seed in the West. With a little luck, the Bruins’ drive to the Final Four would have taken them through San Jose, Calif., for the West Regional. In 1995, UCLA passed through Oakland for the West Va. to Michigan, but will include Southern California for the first time since the days of George Raveling and Harold Minor in 1992 North Carolina’s Dean Smith needs two victories to reach Adolph Rupp’s NCAA record of 876 victories, and may do soin Regional championship before winning it all Scenpps-McCiatchy Westem Service in Seattle. This time, any UCLA magicwill have to be orchestrated by way of Auburn Hills, Mich., in the Midwest Region. Whenthe 64-team field was announced 1. Kansas City, Mo., Sundaythe selection Kentuckyin the West, North Carolina in the East, Minnesota in the Midwest and Kansas in the Southeast. Naturally, a few observers are feeling a bit squeamish today. Eight teams with 20-win seasons did not make the field. And two teams — Fairfield and Jackson State - gained automatic berths in thefield with losing records. They both NCAA play Kentucky features sopho- 17-5 before losing to Indiana, lowa, Purdue, UNLV (20-9) The NIT will be played at have to face sachusetis It as the fourth-seeded jyawks’ first appearance in the m our players and | look forward to the challenge.” tournament in Other prominent schools in the Huntsman Center fieid are lowa, Virginia and Boston Col- score 14 points per game to lead their team The eighth-seeded Hawkeve: ‘lege Davis and feature one years Rashid of the Arthur Bey eact top point more and soon-to-be NBA lot- The Hawkeyes and Cavaliers guards in the country in Andre If the Utes will their opener, they'll take on either No.4 seed tery pick Ron Mercer. The forward leads his team and the square off with each other, while Bostor College faces Valparaiso. The other matchup Woolridge. He averages 20 points and six assists per game and helpedhis team to a second- a game Sunday scoring. He already has an- is St. Joseph's vs. Pacific place finish in the Big If 13 Troy State in Game times will be an- Southeastern Conference in nounced this will be his last col- legiate basketbal! season: he will nounced"1tater today : < " champ! Sky Conference on Big Montana received a No. 9 enter T the ©}NBA draf L a nite seed, also in the West Regional is one of the best mm the country _ _.. Cvach Rick Pitino’s team stil The two schools few folks in Virginia, at 18-12, is the ninth much the West< seem‘ to know . — ‘ 4 @bout are St. Joseph's and seed and a perimeter-oriented team with Courtney Alexander Valparaiso ‘Valparaiso The olin Crusaders tedis oes ane * the after losing guard Derek AnderJanuary, a of . sop to a Knee injury If + 79 ade (19-8) on No. 15 Texas Tech ee Saturday at Stanford. Tech wor per game points This is what Pitino said in an _ < . ~ won ee Mid-Continent Conference the 2 was held in Missoula, and went coming to Salt Lake City The Grizzlies (25-3) take a a 20-game winning streak into . their first-round game against the 1993 West Regional, whict on to the win NCAAtitle be- hind star guard Shery] Swoopes Should Montana get by Texas Tech, with (30-1), it likely will meet up third-ranked Stanford the top seed in the West He acne was aamnatiomts averaging aimos Associated Press story about their first-ever trip to the NCAA 7 ournament ament lastlast season 9 ; Ah < : Bryce Drew leads 12th-seed- ed Valparaiso, located in Indi- and 3-point specialist Curtis ples. Staples has Stathi 97 treys seneon *§ i Boston College, Be the Big East at 21-8 Conference het champion : . s . ye = fo hetty features a enn. — oe Abrams per sa| game anc ty all season long with the number of injuries we've had. Now of Philadelphia St. Joseph's, (24-6) won the Atlantic 10 Con- Pacific (24-5) is making it first NCAA appearance siece wewill face adversity again.” Pi- ference championship, the league that includes George Washington, Temple and Mas- the days of disct campus and neutra! sites-for the first three rounds, with-the semifinal and finals at-Mwdison Square Garden on ‘March oR «) (1979) « 499 and Utes From 1D Kentucky 1 the third round. of last year's NCAA Tournament “You see Kentucky ang.you sec Wake Forest and you seg.two teams we're fairly familiar wth.” Utah forward Keith Van Horn said “You see two teams--we know how to play Utah's road out of the sib-regionais 1s difficult, but the Stes seemed pleased wit! the me “To be want do honest, is get all I-reaily oul ané~piay basketball ~ freshman ‘David Jacksor said. ““Tt be horést, T ic be the ttam wouldn | want playing us.” wr Said i hie - senior guard Ben Caton: most importan thing. is! that we're staying close to figme.|' That was our biggest concerp.” Utah's first-round game wath! Pent pomts tino said. “We have to travel a long distance, and if we ad- (20-7) and Memphis (16=P2 at t ana, scoring 20 —— per game “We have had to face advers! a (21-6) at Arkansas (15-42), Oregon (17-10) at Hawail “They've been the most disappomting team with their talent level,” ESPN's Dick Vitale said. “But certainly at 19 wins and certainly at .500 in the Big Ten, they belonged in the tournament.” on Friday Virginia or No. Fresno State (20-11), Alabama-Birmingham (18-13) at TCU (21-12), Northern -Arizo= style of play. But 1 am confident tional champion Kentucky which meets the 16th-seeded Grizzlies in the first round Games with regionaliierest include Nevada (20-9) at against Indiana's General Bob Knight looms Michigan was ranked as high as No. 4 by mid-December, including victories over Arizona and Duke, butits late-season slide was mind-boggling. The Wolverines were teams that are familiar with our From 1D No. |! seed and defending na- (17-11) will in the championship gamr.* The tournament opens Wednesday ~ Minnesota and Ilimois. won their league pamnannn titles For the first time in 15 seasons, thefield wil! not include either either Syracuse or vance, we ian could wind up facmg-his ex-team, the Runnin’ Rejgis, Winston-Salem, N.C. To break the Baron's record, a potential second round matchup committee passed out No. | seeds to E .more hoped for an NIT ‘bid after (14) iemeemie?22 6 rquetie sinmaaiindie Chariotte, N.C. March 14 & 16 nitty “ wi or games, as did Haway gee “ ‘So Cali! 17=10 ilinoi 2th-seeded lowa State 1997 NCAA womer trareaemerrnmranamneereet: Coppin State 21-8 (15 ‘Pipeerereaetes? ofChartestor 28-2 (12)| Onto 21-8 Charlottesville, When the University of Utal womer basketball team re ceived an at-large bid mto the Syracuse, West Virginia.and Hawaii, all considered bubble (2 S outhCarolina 24-7 S onan Uniw. 25-4 (4) Clemson 21-9 Hand nol City, March 14 & 16 (5) Tulsa 23-9 Utah gets hig hest seed ever at No. 5 in West was National Invitation Teurnament. 10 OUTHEAST eT Se field selected Sunday forthe Be . a (9) Temple 19-1C te (3) | sep a ™_—dackson State 14-15 (16) NCAA WOMEN however, a 7 (6) Mississippi 20-€ aid. “We werefighting. They were just a better team.” The The i“ indianapolis 16) SWTexas St. 16+12 (20-9) was SAI LAKE CITY invitation was expected. indianapolis MIDWEST lowa ‘State 6) lowe New Mexico 24-7 conference tournament.cuns§ ended in championship-game losses, headed the 32-team (7 LveiinAbinemninmeinciatiniil CHAMPION 1)\Minnesota 27-3 3) Miami, (6 Meiall eee os annem: NATIONAL sate Boston Louisville 23-8 Cer aa Mass.19-13 ee NEW YORK - North Carolina State and Texas® Christian, whose surprising (13)} March 14 & 16 ‘eereevoranmnsvnrie The Associated Press en09) Pittsburgh J” dV s) ) Yes he March 14 & 16 Pk by Nevada, UNLV and. Tark’s Fresno State ~ (4)) ‘ March21 & 23 : Tucson,Ariz. CINCAA castofis joined : (9)| Villanova 2 imncrmenonnnmeenmmmmnnnnemenee: 1.1. Univ. 21- Syracuse, N.Y. a" Championship indianapolis March 31 jtah 26 10-0 against Big West teams at home, including two tourney wins, heading into the final Faron Hand led Nevada witt points and had nine rebounds. Tim Barnett had 11 pormts and Carroll 10 “We came out, played hard What was Utah's Ne 2 USU gets | left out of NIT event ee March 13% 15 ——— os 201 j National March 20 & 22 (6) Stanford 20 : (8) “Princeton 24 San Jose, Calif. Mi (16)) indiana <22-10 WinstonSalem,iC. aeemannemneniaiens an (3) Wake Forest 23-6 ‘Fairfield 11-18 heremenrinrneneminennmee’ COMOTAGO21-9 aa teen . 11) Oklahoma 19-10 Pacific won the Big West tournament for the first time since 1979 by becoming the first conference team to beat Nevada at Lawlor Events Center this season Las nal 15 munutes. North Carolina 24-6 (1)| ' 13) Pacific 23-4 1n a season e* stat ialaeel (4) St. Joseph's 244 West conference championship for only the second ume, earning the automatic NCAA bid that goes with it. “This is like a dream come true. You can't even explain it.” Bowman said. “! wanted this so bad for our team. We just thought we would come out, play hard and show people how good a team weare.” The victory set off a celebration, with fans pouring onto the court to mob the team representing the 4,000-student private university based in the central California city of Stockton “I’m happy for the school happy for Stockton and I’m really happy for these players,” said Pacific coach Bob Thomason, who is taking the Tigers to the NCAA tournament for the first time in his nine years with the school “T have a saying that I always say at the end of the season: “You get what you deserve, and this team definitely deserves where it’s going Rayne Mahaffey added 14 points, 12 in the second half, and Michae! Olowokandi had 12 rebounds, part of Pacific’s 43-31 rebounding edge that helped the Tigers (24-5) equal the schoo! record for most in Ray Harrison had 1 3 points to lead’ the Bulldogs (24-8), who trailed 44-29 at-halftime and byat least 20 points over the-fi- March 43-14 March 15-16 i. Salt Lake City ae 12) Valparaiso 24-€ 63-55 Sunday to win the Big seeding, — © ~ - their third game in three days, theif fifth Southeastern Conference tourney champi- ” onship in six years and 20th overalle<"< First round Second round Regionals Semifinals AA. ot (9) Virginia 18-1 RENO, Nev Pacific 1s back on top of the Big West and back in the NCAA tournament after an | 8-year wait Tim Bowman scored 25 points, 10 in the fina! 2:07. and Pacific held off Nevada tandard-Ex nc 16) Montana 21-11 The Associatec Press and just came up short,” qi =S 1) Kentucky 29.4 (8) lowa 21-9 Pack Semifinals Regionais Second round First round 18 years of frustration Wolf season-high 12 assists. “We've accomplished one ofour goals by winning this tournament,” Pierce said. = > No. 6 Kentucky 95, No. 24 Georgie 68: At Nashville, Tenn., Anthony Epps scored a career-high 22 points and Ron Mercer had 20 as the Wildcats (30-4).won MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP Pacific ends The SEC tournament REI BIG WEST WINS The Wolfpack (16-14) was the first No. 8 seed to reach an ACCtournament final. “We had some injuries. We had some ilinesses,” Missouri coach Norm Stewart said of what turned out to be a disappointing season. “We had a few shots that didnt fall. The other teams had a few shots that did fall.” highs with 30 points and 11 rebounds, tournament championship game Sunday. as the Tar Heels won their 12th straight Derek Grimm and Jason Sutherland each scored 10 points for Missouri (16-17), which beat Kansas 96-94 in double overtime at home on Feb. 4. while point guard Jacque Vaughn had a sci Shammond Williams scored 23 poimts up 72-41 followimg Ryan Robertson's 3pointer midway through the second half. ward Paul Pierce who matched his career North Carolina State in the ACC career leader Adolph Rupp. Jayhawks, Vaughn had 13 and Pollard 10 Kansas led 51-26 at halftime and was fense, but that 10- or 12-minute stretch at SWEET CAROLINA: The North Carolina bench erupts after UNC guard Shammond Williams hits a 3-pointer during the second half of the Tar Heels’ 64-54 victory Over >No. 5S North Carolina 64, North Canelina State 54: At Greensboro, N-CL she © Tar Heels (24-6) won their 14th ACC tatte, their 13th under coach Dean Smith, who got his 875th career victory, one short.of Raef LaFrentz scored 16 points for the the end of the first half was about the best offense we've ever played,” Kansas coach Roy Williams said. “It was an up-and-down game, and when we get into an up-and-down game, we're pretty doggone good.” Leading the way was sophomore for- _e _ Top-ranked Kansas pul two impressive exclamation points on an almost-perfect ETER A HARRIS The Associated Press ACC tournament “Now we're ready to accomplish the next The Assocatec Press after beating Nevada for the Big West tournament title Sunday Navy will be played Fridayat the! McKaie Center on the campus of] the University of Arizona.- Game times nounced today will - be-an- |