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. 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