4B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - March 16, 1998
BASKETBALL
Friday's game:
Michigan 80, Davidson 61
Michigan not only team to
break jinx, Indiana wins too
Yesterday's game:
UCLA 85, Michigan 82
(Q-WIRE) WASHINGTON -- The
Indiana men's basketball team had wait-
ed three years to win a game in the
NCAA Tournament. So in the grand
scheme of things, what's an extra five
minutes?
Thanks to a furious second-half
comeback, Oklahoma tied the game at
80 and forced overtime.
Oklahoma had the momentum going
into the extra period, but it didn't have
the legs. The Hoosiers were physically
stronger at the end and used that to their
advantage.
As a result, the Hoosiers posted a 94-
87 win in a NCAA Tournament first-
round game at the MCI Center.
Sophomore guard A.J. Guyton said his
team knew Oklahoma had used up a lot
of its energy just to force the game into
overtime.
"We thought they were lagging up
and down the court," said Guyton, who
connected on a game high five 3-point-
ers. "We wanted to take advantage of
that offensively. They were in foul trou-
ble, and we wanted them to send us to
the free-throw line. We lost the lead,
(but) we won the game."
It appeared to be a foregone conclu-
sion Ithat the Hoosiers would emerge
victorious when it led 74-59 with 7:48
seconds remaining in the contest. But
instead of playing the way they had to
establish the lead, the Hoosiers became
tentative.
'We just kind of lost our mental con-
centration," senior center Andrae
Patterson said. "We started looking at
the clock and waiting for it to wind
down instead of just playing our game."
Indiana coach Bob Knight knew
Oklahoma would make a run.
"I don't know what it is," Knight said
about his team's inability to close out
games. "I even said, 'We've gotten
ahead by this amount too early.' We
seemed to play for the clock to run out.
We made a lot of really dumb plays."
This is true, but Oklahoma also made
a lot of great ones. The Sooners ran off
the next 12 points, and suddenly, it was
74-69 with 2:02 to go. A jumper by
Patterson broke the Sooners' run, and
another Patterson basket made it 78-71.
But no matter what Indiana did, the
Sooners had an answer.
After two Patterson free throws made
it 80-74, junior guard Michael Johnson
buried a bomb from behind the arc to
cut the Hoosiers' lead to just three
points.
Indiana's situation reached a near cri-
sis level when it couldn't get the ball past
half court against Oklahoma's press and
a 10-second violation was called.
Things got worse when Oklahoma
senior guard Corey Brewer's three-point
play tied the game at 80.
The Hoosiers' last chance to win the
game in regulation ended when
Patterson's jumper was blocked.
In overtime, the Hoosiers quickly
took control. A great pass from fresh-
man forward Luke Recker led to a
Patterson basket, and the tone was set.
The Hoosiers reeled off the extra ses-
sion's first six points and, despite some
spotty free-throw shooting, were in con-
trol for most of the overtime.
The Hoosiers found many heroes in
their victory.
Patterson scored a game-high 26
points and was unstoppable for much of
the first half. Guyton had 23 points and
only committed two turnovers in 42
minutes of action. Recker was a fresh-
man in title only, scoring 21 points and
going a perfect three-for-three from
behind the arc.
Junior forward William Gladness had
12 points and grabbed six rebounds. He
contributed a crucial basket in overtime,
giving Indiana an 88-82 lead.
Sophomore guard Luke Jimenez played
a career high 34 minutes and dished out
four assists, without committing a
turnover.
Brewer led Oklahoma with 22 points.
The Sooners also got 18 points from
freshman Ryan Humphrey, and Johnson
chipped in 18.
Both teams shot the ball extremely
well. IThe Hoosiers shot a scorching
season-high 59.3 percent from the field,
while Oklahoma finished at 50 percent.
In the first half, it appeared Indiana
might shoot 75 percent for the game.
The Hoosiers made seven of their first
nine shots and finished the half at 62.5
percent.
Until Oklahoma made its run, the
Hoosiers were making the 19,288 fans
at the MCI Center wonder how they
ever could have everlost I1 games this
season.
"To get to 19 ahead, we had played
27 minutes of really good basketball,"
Knight said. "That's as well as we're
capable of playing."
After the game, Brewer was upset
about the foul disparity, as Oklahoma
was whistled for 27 fouls compared
to 18 for IU. He might have had the
support of his coach Kelvin Sampson
privately, but he didn't have it pub-
licly.
"The officials weren't the problem,"
said Sampson, whose Sooners' teams
have now lost in the first round for four
consecutive seasons. "Indiana was our
problem."
MARGARET MYERS/Daily
Michigan has been no stranger to first-round frustration, having won their first tournament game in four years last Friday
night. But UCLA knocked the Wolverines out in last night's 85.82 victory over the Wolverines. Earl Watson, above, con-
tributed 10 points and four rebounds to Michigan's downfall.
Kentucky bombs Saint Louis; Duke,
Syracuse also join UCLA in Sweet 16
ATLANTA (AP) - For the first time
in four years, the Kentucky Wildcats
aren't a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tourna-
ment. It looks like they're taking it per-
sonally.
Second-seeded Kentucky extended its
month of domination with another dou-
ble-figure victory Sunday, routing No.
10 seed Saint Louis 88-61 in the second
round of the South Regional.
The Wildcats
(31-4) scored the
South first 10 points of
Region the game, then
destroyed the
Billikens (22-11)
with a five-minute stretch later in the
half that was a thing of beauty.
After Saint Louis cut the deficit to 19-
11 on Ryan Luechtefeld's baseline
jumper, Kentucky reeled off the next 19
points, showing off every one of its myr-
iad weapons.
Jeff Sheppard lead the Wildcats with
18 points. All five starters were in double
figures.
DUKE 79, OKLAHOMA STATE 73
Roshown McLeod scored 22 points
and had 10 rebounds Sunday as the top-
seeded Blue Devils ignored a hostile
crowd and hit the big shots down the
stretch to beat Oklahoma State 79-73 in
the second round of the South Regional.
Duke's depth was the deciding thing.
The Blue Devils led the entire second
half, pushing its advantage to 11 points,
and were much fresher in the closing
minutes when the Cowboys got within a
basket.
Joe Adkins, who led the Cowboys
with 20 points, hit a pair of free throws
that cut it to 69-66 with 3:26 left. But
Adrian Peterson, the Cowboys' leading
scorer, missed a 3-pointer and a driving
layup on consecutive possessions and his
last four shots overall as the comeback
came up short.
Peterson finished with 14 points on 5-
of-16 shooting.
SYRACUSE 56, NEW MEXICO 46
Jim Boeheim has learned to take vic-
tories any way he can get them in 22 sea-
sons at Syracuse.
"When you don't shoot well, it looks
like an ugly game," he said Sunday after
his Orangemen beat New Mexico 56-46
in the second round of the NCAA tour-
nament.
"But it doesn't matter how you get
there," he added. "We've played a lot of
beautiful games and gone home."
There would be the round of 16 where
Syracuse (26-8), the fifth seed, will play
top-seeded Duke in the South Regional's
third round at St. Petersburg, Fla., on
Friday. The Blue Devils defeated
Oklahoma State 79-73 in Sunday's other
second-round game in Rupp Arena.
The Orangemen advanced despite
shooting just 34 percent (21-of-62) but
turned the ball over only eight times and
held a commanding 49-36 advantage in
rebounds.
While Syracuse wasn't exactly light-
ing up the scoreboard, the Orangemen
turned in a splendid defensive effort with
their 2-3 zone. They held fourth-seeded
New Mexico (24-8) to a season-low 26
percent shooting, including 6-of-25 from
3-point range.
"We created some good shots and we
missed some good shots," said New
Mexico coach Dave Bliss, whose team
had just nine turnovers. "It's one of those
games. Syracuse is one of the best zone
teams in the country, and we're not a
team that performs well against a zone."
Etan Thomas scored six points during
a 15-6 run in the second half that put the
Orangemen in control.
Syracuse's Todd Burgan opened the
second half with an alley-oop dunk and
18-foot jumper from the left wing to give
the Syracuse a 28-18 lead with 18:45 to
go.
New Mexico rallied with a 12-6 run
behind Clayton Shields' two 3-pointers
and Kenny Thomas' two free throws and
short hook shot to close to 34-30 at
14:05.
Twenty seconds later, Jason Hart
ignited Syracuse's decisive run with a 3
from the top of the key. Thomas con-
tributed two free throws, a dunk and
layup as the Orangemen opened a 49-36
lead with 8:47 left.
New Mexico got no closer than 53-46
on David Gibson's two free throws at
2:38.
Burgan finished with 20 points and 10
rebounds, and Thomas had 12 points and
11 rebounds.
Surrounded by defenders all game,
Kenny Thomas made only 4-of-16 shots
and led New Mexico with 12 points and
12 rebounds.
"They packed it in and it was hard on
me to score in there, said Thomas, the
Lobos' leading scorer averaging 17.0
points per game.
New Mexico's strategy early in th*
game was to shoot over Syracuse's zone,
and it worked for a short time as Henry
hit two 3s and Long drilled another to
give the Lobos a 13-9 lead.
But the shots quit dropping for New
Mexico while Syracuse went on an 11-0
run behind Burgan's six points to go up.
20-13. The Lobos missed four shots and
turned the ball over three times during,
the spurt.
"We got open looks" Shields said
"We just didn't knock them dow
tonight."
New Mexico shot just 22 percent in
the first half (6-of-27) but still managed
to stay within 24-18 as the Orangemen-
made only 29 percent (10-of-35).
"The key to winning against a zone is
that you have to hit your open shots,'
Bliss said. "You know you're going to
get your open opportunities, which we
did, but we didn't.make them when
had them."
And Syracuse's defense proved to be'
the difference, even if it was ugly.
"They weren't shooting well, we
weren't shooting well but we were
always in control of the game," said
Syracuse guard Marius Janulis, who.
missed 8 of 12 shots and finished with
10 points.
AP PHOTO
Kentucky's Scott Padgett celebrates during the Wildcats' 88-61 victory over Saint
Lhis-last night.
Spartans out-executc
West Virginia,
Mateen Cleaves had 27 points, nine rebounds rebounds as the Huskies (20-9)
and ive assists to lead the Spartans (22-7). the second round for the first tim
Michigan State went on a 7-0 run late in the MacCulloch scored 17 points
second half to take a 61-54 lead in the final minutes of the second half, inclu
ninute. row as the Huskies opened a 6
- Steve Goodrich scored 18 points to lead coasted.
Princeton (27-2), which had its 20-game win- Jarod Stevenson scored 21 pc
ning streak snapped. seeded Richmond (23-8).
NORTH CAROLINA 93, UNC-CHARLOTTE 83 CONNECTICUT 78, INDIANA 68
in a tournament full of surprise upsets, North If this year's Indiana Hoosiers
Princeton as
ngton move on
advanced past
e since 1984.
in the first 10
ding nine in a
4-48 lead and
oints for 14th-
had as much
from the edge of disaster for the second consec-
utive game, before West made his 3.
Baker hit two-three-pointers in the last 1:02,
the second putting Cincinnati up 74-72 before
Jarrod West hit the game-winner with 0.8 sec-
onds left to send West Virginia to the Sweet 16,
their first since 1963.
MARYLAND 67, ILLINOIS 61
Obinna Ekezie, scoreless until the final six
minutes of the game, hit a game-tying jumper
.U..S ,, :a__>._ -