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Show A look at the Final Four Aggies blow had Connecticut on Sunday to win the Washington Regional. The nth-seeded Patriots matched LSU in 1986 as the lowest seeds to reach the Final Four. They are the first team from a midmajor conference to get there since Penn of the Ivy League and Indiana State of the Missouri Valley in 1979Florida (31-6) gave the Southeastern Conference half the Final Four with a 75-62 victory over Villanova to win the Minneapolis Regional. BY JOM O'CoNNai The Associated Press A look at the Final Four matchups Saturday in Indianapolis in the national semifinals: George Mason vs. Florida GETTING THERE George Mason (27-7) stunned the college basketball world by capping its first Final Four run with an 86-84 overtime win over The third-seeded Gators are in the Final Four for the third time and the first since losing to Michigan State in the 2000 championship game. Both No. 1 seeds that played Sunday lost - Connecticut and Villanova - marking the second time since seeding began in 1979 that no top-seeded team is in the Final Four. The other time it happened was 1980. LSU is the other SEC team in the Final Four. THE ROAD George Mason beat No. 6 Michigan State 75-65; No. 3 North Carolina 65-60; No. 7 Wichita State 63-55; No. 1 Connecticut 86-84 in overtime. Florida beat No. 14 South Alabama 76-50; No. 11 Wisconsin-Milwaukee 82-60; No. 7 Georgetown 57-53; No. 1 Villanova 75-62. THE COACHES Jim Larranaga is in his 20th season as a Division I head coach. This was his third time taking a team to the NCAA tournament and these four wins are his first. The 56-year-old Larranaga has always been considered one of the best of the "unknown" coaches. Billy Donovan is in his 10th season at Florida and has led the Gators to eight straight NCAA appearances. The Gators are in the Final Four under him for the second time. Donovan was also there as a player with Providence in 1987- He is one of six men to accomplish the feat. Lav/renceJackion/AP Photo GEORGE MASON'S FOLARIN CAMPBELL (42) shoots over Connecticut's Rudy Gay during the fourth-round game of the NCAA basketball tournament in Washington Sunday. OFFENSE The Patriots average 69.2 points per game and all but 10 of the points come from the starters. Six-foot-7 forward Jai Lewis leads the way with a 13.5 average, and 6-4 guard Folarin Campbell is the lowest of the starters at 10.9. The Patriots shoot 48 percent from the field, including 36 percent from 3-point range. Florida averages 78.6 points per game, 15th in the nation. It is also a balanced effort with the starters all in double figures from Joakim Noah's 14.0 per game to Lee Humphrey's 10.7- The Gators are a good shooting team, hitting 51 percent from the field overall and 40 percent from 3-point range. Humphreys 101 3-pointers lead the team and he hits 47 percent from beyond the arc. DEFENSE George Mason allows 58.9 points per game, on pace to set a school record. The Patriots, who led the Colonial Athletic Association in field goal percentage defense at 38.4, held seven opponents to less than 50 points this season. They held Wichita State to 31.3 percent shooting in the regional semifinals, including 3-for-24 from 3-point range. Larranaga was credited with the key strategic move in the win over North Carolina, switching to a newly installed zone defense after falling behind 16-2. Florida like to gets out in the open court and run but the Gators still do a good job on the defensive end, holding teams to 63.9 points per game. Only one opponent has scored more than 70 points against Harvard BY BEN WALKER Senior Wriler The Aggie softball team led the Harvard Crimson 54 going into the seventh inning Friday, but Harvard scored two runs in the final inning for a 6-5 win in Salt Lake City. The game was contested throughout as the lead changed hands five times. Harvard (7-7) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning, but Utah State (419) took advantage of three Harvard errors in the third to tie the score. The Aggies pushed their lead to 3-1 in the fifth inning with runs scored by Jessica Garnett and Shawn Bjarnson on a hit by Whitnie Ray. The Aggies picked up two quick outs in the bottom of the inning, but singles by Harvard's Julia Kidder and Rachel Murray set up a 3-run homerun by Susie Winkeller. Utah State answered back in the sixth inning with bases-empty homeruns by Sara Fleming and Jeanine Hernandez. ; Harvard scored j the win on a double; by Danielle Kerper \ with two outs in thei bottom of the seventh inning. The Aggies have had seven games this season decided by a single run. They are 2-5 in those games. Utah State was also scheduled to play the University of Utah Sunday, but the game was canceled ; due to weather. < The Aggies will have a rematch against Harvard Tuesday in Logan. It will be p the first home game of the season. It will be a doubleheader with the first game starting at 1 p.m. -benwalker@cc.usu.edu FINALE From page 9 > FINAL FOUR see page 7 7 *^J^**) , i v i l i i •/' \-- » ( ' luopn'fi premier Apartments . . . across the streetfromcampus. ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR SUMMER & NEXT SCHOOL YEAR Clarksburg • Breslam • jStoneleifih • I^illside For more information call Dark (435) 755-8525 • Pager (435) 206-1929 • darkdckrk8pcu.net 679 East 600 North and l\ighlandcr For more information call Dennis or J/lax (435) 770-2326 or (435) 755-8525 mzxd@pcu.net n 800 N 700 N, 675 East 600 North N. 700 N 5n Q. HM ui 700 500 N. Old Main Hill 400 N. anor 676 East 600 North Highlander 720 North 700 East Jama Sfhultz/sdiultzgtcusu.edu. UTAH STATE'S JESSICA PARENTI performs on the balance beam during the WAC gymnastics championships Saturday in the Spectrum. Parenti finished tied for second in the all-around. ; "It was a tough event where they got their best to get started on," Jessica event score and the secondParenti said. "We came out best team score. of the locker room a bit Parenti once again kicked cold." things up a notch and not Parenti performed in the only got the team's best all-around for the Aggies, vault score of 9.85, but was finishing second overall. She in a six-way tie for fourth took first in the uneven bars place overall. with a season-best score of Following the vault, the 9.875. team once again had to sit Utah State sat out for out a round, but they came the second round, but came back for their final event in during the third round on the uneven parallel bars. for their second event on Parenti came out strong, the floor. The floor was the landing her the top bars team's worst event as they score. had to count falls. Once "We almost had it," again, delivering a solid per- Parenti said of the Aggies' • formance and coming in at performance. "It was close." a six-way tie for fourth place It was close as the top was Tschida. She scored a four teams, USU included, 9-75 for the team. were only .850 and fewer points apart. Sacramento Parenti pushed the level on floor and got a 9-725 and State, who came in first place, got a 193.950 and the was in a three-way tie for Aggies ended the meet and tenth place overall. the season with a 193.100. After floor, the Aggies -vramirez@cc.usu.edu then moved on to the vault, (Edinburgh 710 North 700 East 3 9 4 2 6 8 1 5 6 5 8 2 9 3 1 6 8 e 5 9 2 1 4 7 3 7 6 5 8 8 9 1 4 c 3 2 7 2 7 4 9 9 7 2 3 5 3 4 8 6 1 9 1 8 2 5 4 3 6 7 2 3 7 4 5 6 3 1 6 7 8 9 1 5 COI 677 East 600 North * Single Student Apartments * Private Bedroom & Bathroom * Desk, Bed & Bookcase in each Bedroom * Fully Furnished * Laundry in each Apartment * Modern Kitchen Facilities * Cable TV Jacks in each Bedroom * Living Room * Private Parking, No Hassles ^ ^ * Central Heating & Air Conditioning V * High Speed DSL Internet Service in each Bedroom * Phone in Apartment and Bedrooms * Filled Apartment Incentives :fi Fireplace and Entertainment Center in Selected Units 4 9 2 Answer to Today's Puzzle |