NBA
BASKETBALL
Atlanta 83.
INDIANA 82
Seattle 109,
DALLAS 101
L.A. Clippers at
DENVER, inc.
Vancouver at
L.A. LAKERS, inc.
NHL
HOCKEY
NY RANGERS 3,
NY Islanders 1
Phoenix at
VANCOUVER, inc.
SPORTS~r9a1 dl
Conn
Huskies pull off upset
over mighty Blue Devils
U
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -
Connecticut spoiled the Duke Invitational.
The Huskies beat top-ranked Duke, the team
no one thought could be beaten in this NCAA
Tournament, for their first national champi-
onship in their first Final Four appearance.
The 77-74 victory last night ended Duke's 32-
game winning streak, kept the Blue Devils from
an NCAA record for wins in a season, and pre-
vented them from ending the '90s with a third
national championship.
Richard, Hamilton led the third-ranked
Huskies (34-2) with 27 points, but it was some
tremendous team defense and a big shot and
free throws by Khalid El-Amin that won it all.
Trajan Langdon led Duke (37-2) with 25
points, but Duke's last two possessions ended
with him making turnovers. And so the Blue
Devils, fell short of what everyone had expected
- another,title.
These were the only two teams to hold the No.
1 rankingthis season and they played a final
game'worthy of the two best.
Connecticut was able to keep the game at a
pace it liked even though most everyone thought
the Huskies should try to slow the tempo.
The quick pace made for what seemed like
constant lead changes, the last coming with 3:50
to play when Hamilton's free throws gave the
Huskies a 70-68 lead.
He hit a 3-pointer 21 seconds later for a five-
point lead and suddenly Duke was playing a role
it had very little experience at this season - the
chaser.
William Avery's free throws with 54 seconds
left got the Blue Devils within 75-74. El-Amin,
whose driving basket had given Connecticut the
75-72 lead, missed on a drive with 24 seconds
left and Duke had life.
The crowd of 41,340 at Tropicana Field, the
court where Duke's season ended a year ago,
was roaring as the Blue Devils went for the final
shot without calling a timeout.
But Trajan Langdon, after an awkward-look-
ing drive, seemed out of sync, and traveled
egregiously. El-Amin made two free throws to
extend Connecticut's lead.
Langdon again tried to push the ball up the
floor, but as he approached the 3-point arc, he
tried to split three defenders, and crashed to
earth along with Duke's chances of winning the
national title.
THE REAL WINNERS ...
The winner of The Michigan Daily/Pizza House 1999 NCAA Tournament
Contest is Jeff Fisher, with 143 points. His prognosticating skills have earned him
10 Pizza House pizzas, so if you're hungry, be nice to Jeff.
Jared Phillips, as the runner up, can use his free copy of EA Sports' NCAA
March Madness to polish his skills for next year
Of course, both will have to stop by the Daily's sports desk on the second floor of
the Student Publications Building at 420 Maynard St. to claim their prizes.
For those of you listed below, we have copies of the Daily's own book, "We're
No. 1," about another national championship.
The best of the rest ...
*Jared Phillips, 137 points
Seth Greene, 127
David Siegle, 121
Nathan Bertucci, 118
... and the worst
Heather Berkin, 48 points
Josh Cockrell, 51
Pamela Spaulding, 52
Jason Jones, 53
AP PHOTO
Connecticut's Richard Hamilton pounds the floor in glee after his Connecticut Huskies defeated Duke, 77-74 last night in St. Petersburg, Fla. for
the NCAA Title. Hamilton was named the tournament's most outstanding player.
Fl' I~I
'M' hockey regroups after heart-
breaking loss to New Hampshire
Wolverines plan offseason work outs to prepare for next season
By Mark Francescutti
Daily Sports Writer
Instead of preparing for their fifth
straight trip to the NCAA Frozen
Four yesterday, the Michigan hockey
team was instead meeting as a team
for one of the final times this season.
The Wolverines' hopes of a third
NCAA championship in the 90's fell
short in a 2-1 overtime heartbreaking
loss to New Hampshire this past
Saturday.
New Hampshire's Darren Haydar
dug the grave for the Wolverines
when he slipped a puck past
Michigan goaltender Josh
Blackburn.
After scoring five unanswered
goals to come back from a 3-0
deficit against Denver and then hold-
ing New Hampshire, the most prolif-
ic offense in the country, to one
fluke-like goal for three periods, the
Wolverines still weren't awarded
with a trip to Anaheim.
"The best team doesn't always
win," Michigan coach Red Berenson
said. "Games are often decided by a
fluke goal. You have to accept the
fact that you are not always going to
win.
"I think they can feel good about
themselves because the way they
came back in the Denver game and
the way they played in the New
Hampshire game. They played hard
and physical and took the game into
overtime."
One-goal games have been the sta-
ple of Michigan hockey's success
throughout the 90's. The Wolverines
won 16 of 20 one-goal games in the
1998 championship season and 11 of
17 this season.
But when Michigan needed its
strength in close games most, the
package was lost in the mail and
never made it.
HIUGH MARKS FROM
MORNINGSTAR, S&W.L~ MOODY'S,
MONTEYMAGAZINE AND BILL.
Berenson urged his players not toa
forget the emotions of the close loss
and spoke at length about theirfeel-
ings after Saturday's game.
"I told them that we've been
through this before; there's a fine
line between winning and losing. I
don't want our team to ever accept
losing." Berenson said. "I want them
to learn how hard it is to get that far,
how important the bye is, and just
how hard you have to work to get
there just to give you a chance.
"The difference between the jubi-
lation of winning and the emptiness
of losing is extreme. I want my team
to understand that"
The Michigan players will look to
use this experience in future champi-
onship runs, but for now, will receive
an opportunity to relax a little.
The Wolverines have the choice of
See OFFSEASON, Page 120
Close calls
The Michigan hockey
team has relied on clutch
play down the stretch for
its success in one-goal
games. Here is the team's
record over the last two
years in games decided by
only one goal,
4 a~oc
U!_____________
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STUDENTS WITH
CROHN'S DISEASE
OR ULCERATIVE
COLITIS
Please join
Dr. Ellen Zimmermann
Asst Professor of
Gastroenterology, U of M
The Psychology Peer Advisors Present
Focus Groups: Winter Term 1999
Exploring Mental
Health Professions:
Earning the Ph.D.,
Psy.D., M.S.W., and
M.*D.
Thursday
April I, 1999
7:00-9:00 PM
4th Floor Terrace,
i