The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, March 13, 1995 - 9
4 7
this one
is easyto
he 64 teams in this
season's NCAA
Tournament have been
announced, and that means only one
thing - the boss wants me to pick a
winner.
I tried to avoid it. I even forced
im to look at the preseason Tipoff
issue where I, proving to be about as
accurate as my
checkbook,
chose Indiana to
win it all.
But because
he's the boss
and because he
threatened not to
'RAN send me to
'lWHITE Michigan's first
t' hieton round game in
',..Target Dayton (which
isn't really much
irof a threat) I'm making the pick.
Conventional wisdom says go
with the top seeds, but this season has
been anything but conventional.
'flirdly anyone has been able to hold
oh to the top spot in the polls for
f iore than a week all season.
Based on that logic, I'm eliminat-
ing all of the top seeds right away.
: They're all gone.a
WMaryland, a No. 3 seed, could
also win it all. However, the Terra-
pins face Gonzaga in the first round.
Let's face it: Gonzaga is a much
*ooler name than Maryland.
.Maryland's gone.
Arizona, the five seed in the
Midwest, lost its final regular season
gname to Arizona State due in part to
the absence of Damon Stoudamire.
'"lie star point guard was ruled
.neligible by the NCAA.
" The Wildcats are appealing the
-ling but could be without their star
r their first game against Miami
(Ohio). It shouldn't matter, however
. ,Arizona will win. You didn't
actually think that I'd pick a Mid
American Conference team, did you?
BAs a matter of fact, we should
eliminate all of the small conference
'hoofs right now. It's nice to have them
In there, but none of them are going to
*in the thing. They're all gone.
Many feel that it has been a down
year for the Big Ten, yet it still placed
more teams in the tournament than
,any other conference.
It would seem to make sense then
that the winner should come from
what the selection committee deemed
4#be the strongest conference.
Now the only question left is
ich of the six Big Ten teams is the
Tiottest heading into tourney.
Well, Indiana beat a very good
Iowa team by 31 points yesterday,
they should get the nod.
So I guess Indiana is my pick to
win the national championship.
.I warned you, boss.
Wake Forest takes ACC
Childress scores 37 as Deacons squeak past Tar Heels
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Epps' free throws gave the Wild- won their fourth title game appeara
Randolph Childress said good-bye to cats(25-4) a 94-93 advantage and and it seemed like it was going to be
the Atlantic Coast Conference with his Tony Delk hit one of two free throws easy one when they took a 67-50It
career signature Sunday - a last-sec- with six-tenths of a second left to end with 12:42 to play.
ond basketthatgave No.7 Wake Forest the scoring after Arkansas' Scotty TheHuskies (254),thefirsttea
an82-80victoryoverNo.4NorthCaro- Thurman failed on a 3-point shot with ever repeat as Big East regular-sea
lina in the tournament title game. two seconds to play. champions with a second straight 1
Childresspenetrated the lane from It was the eighth victory in a row league mark, came up with an eig
near the center jump circle, drove to for the Wildcats, who claimed the minutestretch that broughtthemwit
the right side of the lane and threw in SEC's automatic berth in the NCAA 77-72 with 4:57 left.
a 10-footer with 4.6 seconds to go. tournament. That was all they could mus
That gave him a game-high 37 points. It was the fourth league tourney though, as Connecticut didn't sc
For Wake Forest (24-5), it was the title in a row for the Wildcats and again until there was 1:38 toplay and
school's first ACC title since 1962, their 19th overall - more than the then Villanova's lead was back
and it carries the league's automatic rest of the league combined. points
NCAA berth. Arkansas (27-6) had bolted to a Kittles, the league's player oft
North Carolina (24-5) not only 19-point lead in the first half, but saw year, made a sweep of conference h
lost the dramatic title game, but it also its 10-game winning streak end when ors as he was named the MVP oft
saw Rasheed Wallace fall with an Kentucky came back. tournament as well.
ankle injury. Freshman Antoine Walker, the Michigan State vs. Wisconsin
Tim Duncan, who played the final tournament's Most Valuable Player, EASTLANSING (AP)-Incoa
25 minutes with three fouls, got 16 led the Wildcats with 23 points, Delk Jud Heathcote's final Big Ten gan
points and 20 rebounds, the latter added 15 and Mark Pope 12 points his Michigan State Spartans may ha
tying for fifth-best in ACC tourney and 10 rebounds. sealed the fate of Wisconsin first-y
history. Stackhouse got 24 for North Corliss Williamson topped the Ra- coach Stan Van Gundy.
Carolina, but struggled at the free zorbacks with 22 points before foul- "I want one more game. I want
throw line with 6-for-l1 shooting. ing out with 1:32 left in the extra other practice," Van Gundy said ai
Donald Williams had 20. period and Arkansas holding a nine- n'7 '711 A .--I,.
nce
e an
lead
nto
son
6-2
ght-
hin
ter,
ore
dby
15
the
on-
the
ach
me,
ave
ear
an-
dter
SEC Championship
ATLANTA (AP)-Third-ranked
Kentucky overcame a six-point defi-
cit in the final 38 seconds of overtime,
with Anthony Epps' two free throws
with 19.4 seconds remaining giving
the Wildcats the lead in a 95-93 vic-
tory over No.5 Arkansas in the South-
eastern Conference tournament cham-
pionship game Sunday.
point lead.
Big East Championship
NEW YORK (AP) -Kerry Kittles
andJason Lawson each scored 27 points
and No. 13 Villanova withstood one
furious rally in the second half Sunday
before pulling away to a 94-78 victory
over No. 6 Connecticut for its first Big
East tournament championship.
The second-seeded Wildcats (25-7)
Satumay s - 7 rarshing by the ninth-
ranked Spartans. "I don't want it to end
like this. The players mightjust wantto get
it over with, but I'd play tomorrow if
they'd get me somebody to play."
With Saturday's loss, Wisconsin
finished the regular season 13-14 over-
all and 7-11 in the Big Ten, making
even an NIT bid not too likely.
Itwas Heathcote's lastBig Ten game
in a 19-year career with the Spartans.
Wake Forest celebrates its 82-80 overtime victory over North Carolina.
- -. - - r -
Tournament excitement will
r those of you who plan on
spending the next three weeks
. embedded in your couch,
enjoy it.
For those of you who are
actually have to leave your home,
don't fret. Here's what will happen.
EAST: Wake Forest easily wins
its opener over North Carolina Awful
& Talent-less, then goes on to beat
Minnesota when Demon Deacon fans
launch the unusual shout "N-B-A! N-
B-A!" at Gopher guard Voshon
Lenard. Up next for Wake is
Alabama, which
beats Oklahoma
State in the
second round
after the
Cowboys'
Bryant Reeves
blinds referee Ed
Hightower by MICHAEL
spitting tobacco ROSENBERG
in his eyes. Roses are
Reeves' defense: Read
"I was gargledy
lah joh sook shamon." Cowboy fans
forgive him. Wake beats Alabama.
In the other half of the bracket,
Illinois coach Lou Henson oversleeps
for his team's game against Tulsa. He
shows up late in the second half with
his team up by 12. Despite Henson's
presence, the Illini hold on to win by
two. Henson shows up on time for
Illinois' game with Villanova, which
means trouble for his team. The
Wildcats roll. Illinois center Shelly
Clark, frustrated by his team's defeat,
eats a small child. "Mmmm," he says.
Stanford plays Massachusetts in
the second round, prompting all sorts
of jokes about the teams' respective
SAT scores. "The smarter team will
win," says Detroit Free Press
columnist Mitch Albom, fresh off a
two-month Safari. He's right this time
- Stanford squeaks past the
Minutemen. The Cardinal then plays
Villanova in a game marred by shot
clock violations, with both teams too
unselfish to take it to the hole. 'Nova
wins, 2-0.
The media bills the Wake Forest-
Villanova championship matchup as
Wildcat star Kerry Kittles against the
Deacons' Randolph Childress.
Childress hits 13 3-pointers, then
shakes his head at Kittles' numbers:
15 assists, seven steals, 12 rebounds,
five blocks, 0-2 from the field. "Why
doesn't he shoot more?" Childress
asks. Wake advances to the Final
Four.
WEST: UCLA beats Florida
International, 148-2, in the first
round. The Bruins stay on the court
for 45 minutes after the final
buzzer, begging for a chance to
keep playing. The NCAA refuses
their request, citing "game
termination due to time elapsation."
UCLA beats Indiana in the second
round, 77-68. "It doesn't matter,"
says Hoosier coach Bobby Knight.
"I'm a lot smarter than (UCLA
coach) Jim Harrick." Asked for a
response, Harrick gives a blank
stare. UCLA has little problem'with
its next opponent, Long Beach
State, which beat Santa Clara in the
upset corner of the bracket. "Life's
a Beach," say Long Beach fans.
Harrick looks confused. UCLA
rolls, 98-71.
In the other half of the bracket,
Maryland thrashes Oregon to make
its second straight Sweet 16. Joe
Smith leads the way with 38, then
changes his name to Mahmoud
Mohammed. A religious thing?
"No," he says, "I just want someone
to remember my damn name."
Connecticut beats Cincinnati in
the second round on Donny
Marshall's two free throws with no
time remaining. "This Don
Marshall doesn't choke," he says.
In the next game, the Huskies take
an early lead on Maryland.
Mohammed, peeved over missing
his first nine shots, changes his
name back to Joe Smith, scores 25
in the second half and leads
Maryland to victory.
In the regional final, UCLA star
Ed O'Bannon goes for 40 against
the Terps. Smith also scores 40, but
O'Bannon's little brother Charles
scores 23, while Smith has no little
brother. "Damn parents," he says,
disgusted. UCLA heads to the
Kingdome.
SOUTHEAST: Kentucky beats
BYU in the second round behind
Rodrick Rhodes' 40 points. Arizona
State squeaks by Oklahoma despite
coach Bill Frieder's clothes. The
Sun Devils then fall 11 points
behind Kentucky in the first half.
Frieder ignores his team at halftime
and instead recruits Rhodes to play
for Arizona State. Rhodes scores 14
in the second half and drives away
in a Porsche.
reach new eak
Meanwhile, Michigan State Defe ing champ Arkansas loses to
beats Georgetown after Hoya Syracuse largely because guard
freshman Allen Iverson has to sit Scotty Thurman injures himself
out because of an illegal tattoo. tripping on his shorts in practice.
North Carolina beats Iowa State 95- The Boilermakers beat Syracuse on
60. Rasheed Wallace gets a double- Cuonzo's 29 points.
technical with a minute left and the Purdue outplays Kansas in the
Tar Heels up by 40. North Carolina regional final, but the Jayhawks win
beats Michigan State, 88-76, despite on their 20-for-20 free throw
76 from Shawn Respert. "I just shooting. Purdue is three-for-28 from
wish I could have done more for the foul line. Kansas prepares to take
Coach (Jud) Heathcote," Respert on the Tar Heels.
says. Heathcote, upon hearing this, FINAL FOUR: Kansas coach Roy
hits himself in the head. He gets a Williams goes to give North Carolina
concussion. coach Dean Smith a pregame
North Carolina crushes Arizona handshake, and the two good friends
State when Frieder fails to recruit hug each other until halftime. During
Rasheed Wallace away from the Tar free moments, Vaughn reads Stephen
Heels at halftime. "I ain't leaving Hawking's "A Brief History of Time"
Carolina now," says Wallace. "I'm on the bench. Wallace laughs at him
leaving in a week." Wallace and scores 30 before getting a double-
receives no technicals, and both technical. Still, North Carolina rolls.
teams thank "the great officiating of "It's amazing about those black
Ed Hightower," who is still blind. holes," Vaughn says.
The Tar Heels head to Seattle. In the other game, Childress
MIDWEST: Kansas beats lights it up for 45-- in the first
Michigan in the second round after half. But UCLA wins a wild one,
the Wolverines fail to score in the 133-131, in overtime. Harrick: "We
first half. "It sure would have scored more. That was the key, I
helped to score earlier," says think." UCLA and North Carolina
Michigan coach Steve Fisher. get ready for the final.
Arizona falls to Virginia in the North Carolina jumps out to a
second round despite Damon big lead early, but the Tar Heels are
Stoudamire's 45 points. Stoudamire hurt when Wallace turns pro at
shouts "Money!" after every shot, halftime. The Dean wastes no time
raising suspicions about his - he brings in a 6-foot-6 swingman
association with agents. The guard who scores 20 in the second half.
denies everything, then goes home Jordan Michaels, as he is called,
in his own private jet. The Cavaliers refuses to talk to the media after the
fall to Kansas, though, when game. Hightower referees the -
Jayhawk guard Jacque Vaughn, an championship game. He gains his
Academic All-American, devises a vision back at halftime and
unique technique for differentiating promptly blows'every crucial call
among Virginia's three Alexanders. late in the game. The O'Bannons
Purdue beats Memphis thanks to combine for 71 and the Bruins win
Cuonzo Martin's 33 points. After the national title.
the game, Martin officially changes "God I'm a great coach!" says
his name to Martin Cuonzo. Harrick. "Did we win?"
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