The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 24, 2003 - 7B
Pitt beats Indiana, Davis rips team
BOSTON (AP) - Pittsburgh has a
Steel Curtain defense again, thanks to
coach Ben Howland.
His Panthers completely wore down
Indiana in a 74-52 victory yesterday to
reach the round of 16 for the second con-
secutive year.
Pitt didn't have much basketball tradi-
tion before Howland arrived, so he had to
find his inspiration elsewhere in the
city's sporting lore.
"Pittsburgh Steelers basketball," How-
land called it after becoming the school's
most successful NCAA Tournament
coach with four wins."
"We're not tall. We're burly. We want
kids that are tough. That's what wins.
Jaron Brown scored 20 points, and
Brandin Knight added 17 points and
seven assists for second-seeded Pitts-
burgh, which will play No. 3 seed Mar-
quette in the Midwest Regional
semifinals Thursday in Minneapolis.
Knight also had five steals, and
Chevon Troutman grabbed nine rebounds
to go with his 10 points as the Panthers
(28-4) did most of their damage on
defense.
Drawing on the Steel Curtain defense
that brought the city four Super Bowl
titles in the 1970s, Howland used a bulky
frontcourt rotation of Ontario Lett,
Donatas Zavackas and Troutman.
Listed at an average of 6-foot-7 and
246 pounds - but probably heavier -
they pushed around Indiana's taller but
spindly George Leach (6-foot-li, 240)
and Jeff Newton (6-9, 225).
Indiana (21-13) trailed by one before
going scoreless for the last 6:33 of the
first half, committing five turnovers dur-
ing that span while missing five shots -
mostly long, contested 3-point attempts.
At the same time, Brown had a blocked
shot and a 3-pointer, and Knight added
two steals and a pair of 3s to give Pitt a
31-21 halftime lead.
Indiana, a seventh seed, had a similar
stumble at a similar time of its opening-
round game against Alabama before
overcoming an 11-point halftime deficit
to beat the Crimson Tide 67-62.
This time, the deficit was more than a
temporary setback for the Hoosiers (21-
13), who lost in the championship game
to Maryland last year.
"It's hard to think back right now," sen-
ior Tom Coverdale said when asked to
assess his career. "I'm just thinking
about what we could have done."
Bracey Wright, who scored all of his
17 points in the second half against
Alabama, had nine of his 11 in the sec-
ond against Pitt - not enough.
Coverdale, who led Indiana with 23 in
the first round, had just six points on
seven shots against Julius Page's defense.
"He's probably the best defender I've
faced in my whole career," Coverdale
said. "I knew he was a good defender,
but I didn't realize he was that quick and
athletic. He sees what's going to happen
before it happens."
Leach scored 15, and Wright added
eight rebounds for the Hoosiers, but they
also turned the ball over 16 times for 18
Pitt points and got outrebounded 28-17.
It was the 1lth consecutive victory for
Pitt and the sixth time in seven games
that the Big East champions held an
opponent under 60 points. The only
exception was an 87-61 first-round victo-
ry over Wagner.
"Not one guy over there cares who
scores. That's the point we've got to get
back to as a team," said Indiana coach
Mike Davis, who blistered his players for
being selfish and listening to "outside
influences ... telling them how good they
are."
Indiana trailed just 22-21 when Brown
and Knight each hit a 3-pointer to make
it a seven-point game. Brown blocked
Wright's shot with 3:08 left in the half,
then Knight stole the ball from Wright
and hit another 3 to make it 31-21 head-
ing into the break.
Indiana cut it to four in the second
when Wright took a long pass for a layup
and a foul; he missed the free throw, but
got the rebound and scored in the lane to
make it 36-32 with 15:17 left.
Indiana was within seven before
Brown dunked to make it 52-43 with
6:49 left, then Page stole the ball at the
other end. He hit a 3-pointer to give the
Panthers a 12-point lead, and it was never
within single digits again.
AP PHOTO
Indiana's Bracey Wright falls back as Pittsburgh's Jaron Brown slaps the ball away in the first-half of the
Panthers' win over the Hoosiers.
" Cardinals shocked by
Butler 1n round two
LeBron goes out on winning note
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - A
team of blue-collar kids with crew cuts
from a tiny Indiana school beat a power-
house in the big tournament.
Mike Monserez split the Cardinals'
defense for 14 points.
Sound vaguely familiar?
Darnell Archey's brilliant shooting
and Brandon Miller's deft ball-handling
Sunday swept 12th-seeded Butler into
the round of 16 for the first time with a
79-71 stunner over Rick Pitino and
Louisville in the East Regional.
The Horizon League team that plays
in the gym where the ultimate underdog
movie, "Hoosiers", was filmed is writ-
ing a poignant script of its own with
upsets of No. 5 Mississippi State and the
fourth-seeded Cardinals (26-6).
"And you know what? They won,"
Miller said, referring to the fabled Milan
High School team that won an improba-
ble state title in 1954.
Next, the Bulldogs (27-5) meet top-
seeded Oklahoma on Friday in Albany,
N.
Archey shot 8-of-9 on 3-pointers -
hitting all six in the second half - and
tied his career high with 26 points to end
Pitino's return to the NCAA tournament.
"I was in the zone. I felt like Michael
Jordan in '92 against the Blazers,"
Archey said. "My teammates just kept
getting the ball to me with wide-open
looks."
With their first at-large berth in 41
years, the Bulldogs set a school record
for wins and aren't ready to quit yet.
"It's not our goal just to get to the
Sweet 16," Archey said. "Our goal all
along has been to be national champi-
ons.
"We're thrilled and excited, but we're
not satisfied."
Pitino won a national championship
with Kentucky in 1996. His second
Louisville team won the Conference
USA regular-season and tournament
titles.
"Obviously, if you don't win a cham-
pionship, you're going to end on a low
note," said Pitino, who had won 12 of
his last 13 NCAA tournament games.
"To me, this is not a low note because
of what our team has accomplished this
year. And I'm not too disappointed,
because Butler is a great team."
Butler, with an enrollment of about
4,000 - less than a fifth of Louisville's
- made 14 of 22 3-pointers, including
9-of-13 in the second half.
Butler began to feel it early in the sec-
ond half, bumping chests and slapping
hands on the court when a 13-0 run
forced Pitino to call a timeout with his
team down 50-39.
Butler had assists on 21 of 27 baskets.
"As Princeton runs an offense for
layups, this team runs an offense for 3s,
and they're great at it," Pitino said.
"They're one of the best shooting teams
I've seen."
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -
Before his final high school game
tipped off, LeBron James walked
slowly toward the Akron Saint Vin-
cent-Saint Mary student section
holding his finger in the air to signal
"No. 1." LeBron James ends his
high school career as the only three-
time Mr. Basketball in Ohio history.
Whether he was referring to himself
or his team doesn't matter. Both are
correct.
James, likely to be the top pick in
this year's NBA draft, scored 25
points and had 11 rebounds as the
Fighting Irish (25-1) won their third
state championship in four years,
beating Kettering Alter 40-36 Satur-
day in Ohio's Division II.
"It's just all joy," James said when
asked whether he was relieved that
the Irish had capped their stellar
four-year run with another title. The
6-foot-8 senior was ruled ineligible
by the Ohio High School Athletic
Association for accepting two free
sports jerseys from a Cleveland
clothing store. A judge later reinstat-
ed him, reducing his punishment to
a two-game suspension.
"I think of my career like a roller
coaster," James said. "There's been
ups, there's been downs, there's been
double loops."
James seemed loose and carefree
in the jammed postgame news con-
ference. When asked about his
plans, such as whether he'll declare
for the NBA draft, James smiled,
ducked down to the microphone and
said, "What's next is ... party
tonight."
Alter had been beaten 73-40 by
the Irish earlier this season. The
Knights weren't about to get blown
out again, slowing the game and
refusing to let the Irish push the
tempo.
It didn't matter. James was too
spectacular and just too dominant
when he needed to be. The only
three-time Mr. Basketball in Ohio
history was far better than everyone'
on the court.
James made a pair of free throws
to put the Irish up 31-25 with about
51/2 minutes left. The inbounds pass
was tipped and James gathered it in
and nailed a long 3-pointer, holding
his follow-through and again hold-
ing one finger in the air.
After Laumann made a 3-pointer
for Alter, James knifed through the
defense and scored on a twisting
layup.
The outcome looked like it was
decided, but Alter wasn't done. Alter
came within 40-36 with less than a
minute to play on a three-point play
by Adam Gill.
James then threw away a pass.
Alter missed a 3-pointer and Romeo
Travis was fouled after pulling down
the rebound. He missed the free
throw, but James got the rebound
and passed to Dru Joyce III, who
dribbled out the clock and threw the
ball straight up toward the ceiling.
Michigan State routs second-seeded Florida
TAMPA (AP) - Michigan State lost
the hotshot guard to Florida, but that's
where the losing stopped.
Stung and shocked when Anthony
Roberson chose the Gators over his
home-state Spartans, Michigan State
held the freshman guard scoreless yes-
terday as part of a stunningly easy 68-46
win in the second round.
"I never thought it would happen like
this, Roberson said.
Getting playing time that might have
otherwise gone to Roberson, freshman
guard Maurice Ager scored 16 points to
help the seventh-seeded Spartans (22-
11) win in a rematch of the 2000 title
game, also a Michigan State victory.
Playing its best ball of the season,
Tom Izzo's team advanced to play
defending champion Maryland in the
South Regional semifinals next week in
San Antonio.
"It doesn't get much better than what
happened for us tonight' Izzo said. "It
was one of those games where I couldn't
believe it myself"
Florida, meanwhile, can forget the
Alamodome.
The second-seeded Gators (25-8)
failed to get past the first weekend of the
tournament for the third straight year -
and failed to break 50 points for the first
time in coach Billy Donovan's seven
years. They closed what had looked like
a promising season - they were ranked
No. 1 in the country on Feb. 3 - with
four losses in five games.
Seniors Matt Bonner, Brett Nelson
and Justin Hamilton ended their final
seasons the same way they ended their
first - dispirited after a tournament loss
to Michigan State.
"Somebody asked me if I was
shocked," Hamilton said. "The only
thing I'm shocked about is that we did-
n't lose by more."
Indeed, Michigan State played better
than it has most of the season and
Florida played worse.
The Spartans won with a grinding,
brutish brand of basketball that the
Gators couldn't match. To top it off,
they stayed on a shooting streak that
began in their first-round 79-64 victory
over Colorado.
Led by Ager's 6-for-9 night and
Erazem Lorbek's 4-for-7 effort, Michi-
gan State shot 55 percent from the floor
- 70 percent in the first half when it
took a 37-27 lead. The Spartans are
shooting 50 percent in the tournament, 5
percent above their regular-season aver-
age.
Roberson certainly wouldn't have
fit in.
The Saginaw native, who caused a
ripple back home with his late decision
to shun Izzo's four-year recruiting
effort, finished 0-for-6 with two assists.
Florida shot 37 percent and made only
five 3-pointers.
"It's just sad that we had to end the
season not playing our best game,"
Roberson said. "We played hard, but we
just couldn't make a basket."
Early in the game, Roberson was
greeted with a nasty blow to the face
while running through a pick set by Lor-
bek. He got outplayed by Paul Davis
(eight points, five rebounds), the guy
Roberson felt stole Michigan's prep Mr.
Basketball award from him last year
because Davis chose the Spartans and
Roberson didn't.
U I
The Butler bench erupts as guard Darnell Archey runs downcourt after a shot in
the second half of Butler's 79-71 upset win over Louisville.
Boyle and Simms
snap school records
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FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL AMY AT 647-8354.
By Mustaflzur Choudhury
Daily Sports Writer
When the average person hears
about track and field, he or she might
think of the many sprints, relays and
other running events that epitomize the
competition in the sport. Some ath-
letes, though, are not satisfied with
these one-dimensional events; they
need a second element to provide more
of a challenge.
These athletes are hurdlers, and jun-
ior Vera Simms is one such athlete.
Simms and freshman pole-vaulter
Elizabeth Boyle highlighted a success-
ful weekend for the Michigan women's
track and field team, who had kicked
off the 2003 outdoor season at the
Florida State Relays, held at the Mike
Long Track in Tallahassee, Fla.
Simms showed why she is the
defendine Bit Ten chamnion and the
son, repeated the feat this past weekend.
Boyle finished first in the event with a
mark of 12'6," and she'll be joining
Simms at the regional qualifying meet.
"I was really pleased with both of
them, especially Elizabeth for being
a young person," coach James Henry
said. "I never expect anyone to break
a record this early (in the season).
They're both a part of our overall
plan to improve and develop a bal-
ance this season."
The Wolverines took advantage of
the warm weather by adding four more
event victories, giving them a total of
seven for the meet. Sophomore Tracy
Egnatuk and senior April Phillips fin-
ished in first place in the 800-meter
run and the shot put, respectively.
Michigan placed seven runners in the
top eight spots in the 1,500-meter run,
with Lindsey Gallo crossing the finish
line first. Gallo also helped the 800-
AST HMA
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- nrrr-- cn :in ... r +n tr n f . n mn-n- r
The Department of Communication Studies
of the University of Michigan
presents a lecture by
Professor Javed Nazir
2002-2003 Howard R. Marsh
Visiting Professor of Journalism
Media and Fundamentalists
in
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