Talent vs. experience not an issue in Jayhawks-Tar Heels semifinal
SAN ANTONIO -- Should be easy to tell who wins the UCLA-Memphis game. Just look at the scoreboard.
If Memphis puts up 80 points, the Tigers are in good shape. At 90, they're pretty much set. At 100, it's a virtual lock.
As much as the Final Four matchup will become a showcase for freshmen Derrick Rose and Kevin Love, the first of Saturday's semifinals also will be a test of tactics.
Can coach John Calipari's suddenly chic "dribble drive motion" offense break down UCLA's coach Ben Howland's rugged defense?
"All we're going to do is have fun," Calipari said Thursday. "If it leads us to something good on Monday night, have at it, we're going to have a ball. I want these kids to feel nothing but, `Let's go play, show what we're about. Let's make statements.'
"But the biggest thing is when they watch us we're hugging each other, we're smiling," he said. "If they're out there and you watch them and you say, `Wow, that team has more fun than any other team,' then I've done my job. That's what I'm trying to do."
That, and help lead the Tigers (37-1) to their first NCAA men's basketball championship.
Memphis looks to score in a hurry, either off the break or its normal set, leaving the middle open and encouraging Rose, All-America guard Chris Douglas-Roberts or anyone to take the ball to the basket and create a play.
"Calipari, I think, said they're kind of like Princeton on steroids. They're going to be very tough to defend," Love said.
It's worked well for them this season, with the Tigers scoring 90 points on eight occasions and topping 100 three times.
UCLA, meanwhile, has not reached 100 points in a game since December 2002. The Bruins never even scored 90 this season.
That's fine with Love, Darren Collison and their teammates. UCLA (35-3) is making its third straight appearance in the Final Four, and the Bruins have done it mostly by jamming up their opponents -- two weeks ago, they held overmatched Mississippi Valley State to 29 points, the fewest in the NCAA tournament since 1946.
Witness what happened two seasons ago when UCLA twice played Memphis. In November at Madison Square Garden, the Tigers won 88-80; that March in a regional final, the Bruins won 50-45.
"The key between those two games was our defensive effort. We didn't play nearly as good defense when we played in the Garden against them. That's why the score was so high," Collison said this week.
"In the tournament, we played extremely well on the defensive end and the score was low. That was one of the games that identified us as a defensive team. That's the type of effort we're going to need to win this game," he said.
UCLA did fine Thursday, at least in a test run. While the teams practiced at gyms elsewhere, workers at the Alamodome checked out the scoreboard. When the horn went off after a first-half time trial, it showed the Bruins leading 41-30.
Come Saturday, UCLA will get its first look at Rose. A third-team All-America guard, he probably will play his final college game in the next few days. Extremely athletic at 6-foot-3, he already has an NBA body and skills.
UCLA prefers to play man-to-man much more than zone, and Collison will likely start out guarding Rose. Russell Westbrook and others should get a turn, too.
"He reminds me of Jason Kidd. He has a Jason Kidd-type body, he's so strong and physical," Howland said. "He defends like Kidd and he's a much better shooter at the same stage. I can't think of higher praise because I love Kidd."
If and when Rose breaks clear, the 6-foot-10 Love figures to be waiting for him in the lane.
They have different games, but Love and Rose share one trait: While freshmen often wear down during a long season, they've gotten better through March and into April.
From far away, Love has managed to monitor Rose.
"He's been doing a great job. I watched a couple interviews with him earlier in the year. He mentioned that at first there was a little bit of jealousy and he didn't know really where he fit in," he said. "But hey, he blossomed, no pun intended with the rose thing."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
NCAA Single-Game Leaders
Through Thursday's games
Scoring
40 -- Stephen Curry, Davidson vs. Gonzaga, first round
38 -- Jack McClinton, Miami vs. Saint Mary's, Calif., first round
35 -- Joe Crawford, Kentucky vs. Marquette, first round
34 -- Charles Rhodes, Mississippi State vs. Oregon, first round
33 -- Tyrone Brazelton, Western Kentucky vs. Drake, first round
31 -- Josh Akognon, Cal State-Fullerton vs. Wisconsin, first round
31 -- Tyrone Brazelton, Western Kentucky vs. UCLA, regional semifinals
31 -- Sonny Weems, Arkansas vs. Indiana, first round
30 -- 4 tied
Rebounds
22 -- Luke Harangody, Notre Dame vs. Washington State, second round
16 -- Jonathan Cox, Drake vs. Western Kentucky, first round
16 -- Damion James, Texas vs. Miami, second round
15 -- Kelly Biedler, Mount St. Mary's, Md. vs. Coppin State, opening round
14 -- Luke Harangody, Notre Dame vs. George Mason, first round
14 -- Kevin Love, UCLA vs. Western Kentucky, regional semifinals
13 -- Andrew Lovedale, Davidson vs. Gonzaga, first round
13 -- Michael Beasley, Kansas State vs. Wisconsin, second round
12 -- 7 tied
Assists
16 -- Mitch Johnson, Stanford vs. Marquette, second round
14 -- Adam Emmenecker, Drake vs. Western Kentucky, first round
10 -- Dominic James, Marquette vs. Stanford, second round
10 -- Taylor Rochestie, Washington State vs. Winthrop, first round
9 -- Jamont Gordon, Mississippi State vs. Oregon, first round
9 -- Drew Lavender, Xavier vs. Purdue, second round
9 -- Jason Richards, Davidson vs. Gonzaga, first round
8 -- 6 tied
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Bo Ryan, Big Ten champion Badgers preparing for Cal State Fullerton
MADISON, Wis. -- Bo Ryan's advice to his Wisconsin team as it prepares to face Cal State Fullerton in the first round of the NCAA tournaments: Don't blink.
He did. It wasn't pleasant.
"They'll get the ball up in a hurry," Ryan said. "I was looking at one game film today and I must have blinked, but they were laying it in at the other end after a make. Must have been a slow blink."
Despite being Big Ten champions and ranked sixth in the nation, the Badgers will have to stay alert to avoid an upset Thursday in Omaha, Neb.
The 14th-seeded Titans (24-8, 12-4 Big West) beat UC Irvine on Saturday night to win the conference tournament. Josh Akognon scored 23 points and was picked as tournament MVP.
No. 3 seed Wisconsin (29-4, 16-2), beat Illinois 61-48 to win the tournament title Sunday, to go with its regular season championship.
Ryan put his team through a light shooting workout Monday -- "no diving for loose balls, no chasing, no pinching, no rabbit punches," he said -- but he said he saw plenty of shortcomings during the conference tournament that his players will focus on when the heavy-duty workouts resume Tuesday.
Last year, the Badgers were without injured leading rebounder Brian Butch and got bounced by UNLV in the second round. But he has been healthy all this season and is averaging almost 13 points and seven rebounds a game.
"We know we've got tough competition down the road," Ryan said. "But the other teams playing us know they've got a team that's going to battle them, too, and I like the group that I have going into these games."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Brook Lopez leads No. 11 Stanford to 75-64 victory over Arizona in Pac-10 tourney
LOS ANGELES -- Stanford kept sending one big guy after another to the boards, grabbing everything that missed.
Brook Lopez had 20 points and 15 rebounds, including 10 in a second-half spurt that helped No. 11 Stanford pull away to a 75-64 victory over Arizona in the Pac-10 tournament quarterfinals Thursday night.
"I just shot," he said. "I know I have two of our other big guys crashing the boards if I miss, and that is a real boost of confidence."
The second-seeded Cardinal (25-6) advanced to Friday's semifinals against No. 3 seed Washington State, which beat Oregon 75-70. The Cardinal swept the Cougars (24-7) during the regular season.
Jerryd Bayless led seventh-seeded Arizona (19-14) with 18 points. Jordan Hill added 16, and Chase Budinger had 13.
Robin Lopez, the 7-foot twin brother of Brook, added 14 points. Lawrence Hill, Mitch Johnson and Fred Washington had 11 points each.
"It's been a while since we got back to rebounding the ball like that," said Stanford's Trent Johnson, Pac-10 coach of the year. "We did a good job setting the tone, setting the tempo, and getting the ball to the right spots."
Mostly that was in the hands of Brook Lopez, who had 11 defensive rebounds. Johnson added 10 rebounds, helping Stanford dominate the boards, 50-27, and end its two-game losing skid.
"We definitely wanted to get some winning ways back before the NCAA tournament," Johnson said. "I don't think we have any magic tricks or secret weapons. Our game plan is to pound the boards."
And with no one under 6-foot on the team, it's easily done. The Cardinal owned a 21-8 edge on the offensive glass.
"They got a lot of second-chance shots and they shot the ball 15 more times than we did," Arizona's Jawann McClellan said. "That's where the game was won."
The Wildcats' streak of 23 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, longest in the nation, could be in jeopardy. They went 8-10 in the league's regular season, their worst record since 1983-84, the last time Arizona didn't make the NCAAs.
But the Wildcats played a rugged schedule, with half their losses coming against teams ranked in the top 10, including Kansas, Memphis and UCLA.
"Hopefully we get in," Bayless said. "We played against the best teams in America."
Interim Arizona coach Kevin O'Neill said he'd be surprised if the Wildcats are left out when the 65-team field is announced Sunday.
"We deserve to be there," he said.
Stanford swept Arizona during the regular season by a combined five points, and the third meeting was just as close until the final 11½ minutes.
That's when Lawrence Hill launched the game-breaking 20-5 run on a jumper that snapped a 49-all tie. Brook Lopez scored 10 points to put the Cardinal ahead for good, 69-54, with 4:55 remaining.
The Wildcats, who had been matching the Cardinal basket-for-basket until then, went cold and committed four of their nine turnovers in the spurt.
Arizona cut its deficit to 73-64 on back-to-back 3-pointers by McClellan and Nic Wise with 2:23 remaining. After a timeout, Robin Lopez blocked Bayless, and O'Neill angrily smacked his left hand on the scorer's table. Washington stole the ball, allowing the Cardinal to control the closing seconds.
The start of the second half duplicated the first 20 minutes, with the teams tied six times and Stanford never ahead by more than three points until the Cardinal's decisive run.
"We just stuck with our game plan, which is to pound it down low, hit the boards and get the stop," Johnson said. "We did a good job at making it tough."
Jordan Hill scored Arizona's first six points of the game while the Cardinal opened 0-for-6. The teams were tied for a stretch before Brook Lopez's basket gave Stanford its first lead, 21-19.
From there, the Wildcats outscored the Cardinal 16-14 -- taking a four-point lead three times -- but the teams went into halftime tied at 35 after Johnson stole the ball and fed Lawrence Hill for the score.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
After 24 years, Gilleran stepping down as WCC commissioner
SAN BRUNO, Calif. -- Mike Gilleran knows it's time for a fresh face to lead the ever-emerging West Coast Conference.
The second-longest tenured Division I commissioner behind Bay Area neighbor Tom Hansen of the Pac-10, Gilleran has watched John Stockton finish up his college career, experienced the Steve Nash era at Santa Clara and the many successful runs by the Broncos and Portland in women's soccer.
He's been there for Gonzaga's dominance in men's basketball over the past decade and, this season, the WCC landing two men's teams in the Top 25 for the first time since 1973. This weekend will mark his 25th and final conference basketball tournament as commissioner before he retires May 31. And Gilleran will be recognized for his service and accomplishments throughout the event at the University of San Diego.
"There comes a time when institutional knowledge, which is wonderful, has to give way to a fresher perspective," Gilleran said, leaning back with hands folded across his head as he reflected on his job Tuesday afternoon in his office. "They need somebody to grow with them, because it's a young league. We have young administrators. They need somebody who is their man or their woman."
Right behind Gilleran in tenure is the Ivy League's Jeff Orleans, who has run that conference for 24 years and recently announced he too will step down in June 2009.
Gilleran can point to many strides made by the WCC and its eight mid-major schools. He has seen so much change, too -- from the advancements in technology and using e-mail as a prime form of communication to better opportunities and resources for female athletes.
"I always thought of our league as having value beyond men's basketball," Gilleran said. "We had two of our teams compete for the championship in women's soccer a few years ago and that was wonderful. That probably year in and year out has been our best sport. We've had wonderful coaches and wonderful players. I've enjoyed it immensely. I've been blessed to have this job. I'll miss it, but it's definitely time."
The 58-year-old Gilleran, who on nice afternoons runs a 2½-mile loop around his office in this suburb south of San Francisco, likes the idea of the WCC tournament being held on a neutral court in the future. The conference could announce by tournament's end that the 2009 event will go to Las Vegas.
His successor also is likely to be named soon. Gilleran has no idea if his replacement will even keep the WCC offices in their current, expensive location. He realizes it is time for him to give way to someone new.
"When certain topics are brought up and I found myself cringing because I've had the conversation so many times, that's a clear message," he said. "People deserve better than that. They deserve better than I found myself doing."
Gilleran has no idea what's next. He would like to teach sports management or sports law and joked that he might return to WCC games as a fan to "yell at the officials."
"He has been with the West Coast Conference 24 years and it's grown so much during his tenure," said second-year Saint Mary's athletic director Mark Orr. "I hope people appreciate everything he's done for this league. You've got eight schools, and that's not an easy deal. He's been as fair as he can be."
In these days of big money in athletics and many kids focusing on one sport, Gilleran knows the bottom line always will be winning and losing.
But he hopes to have positively impacted the athletes he's come across.
"I've always tried to take the long view, which in this industry maybe is counterintuitive because we are an impatient industry in an impatient world. In this industry, if you're a fan, it's very much, 'What have you done for me since breakfast?" Gilleran said.
The conference hasn't changed membership in 29 years, and the Ivy League and Pac-10 are the only ones to have their same schools intact longer than the WCC.
The stability of the WCC along with improvements in exposure by way of national television have been important in putting this league on the map. So was Gonzaga becoming an NCAA tournament darling with repeated March runs beginning in the late 1990s.
"Two things immediately come to mind: The first is the length of his tenure and the volatility and the radical changes in college athletics. He's been our leader during that time period," said Ken Anderson, Gonzaga's NCAA faculty athletics representative, institutional rep to the conference and also chairman of the WCC executive committee.
"Secondly, he's leaving us in a really good position. We are really excited about the future and have a lot of good things going for us in the conference. There have been a lot of cool accomplishments over the last quarter-century. He's provided stability to the league in a time when college athletics have been a sea of change."
Last weekend, two ranked WCC programs -- Saint Mary's at Gonzaga -- faced off in men's basketball for the first time in the conference's 55-year existence. The 22nd-ranked Zags won their eighth straight WCC regular-season title and will be the top seed this weekend, followed by the Gaels. Both teams have a strong chance of receiving NCAA tournament berths.
This season was the first time two WCC men's teams have been in the poll at the same time since San Francisco and former member UNLV were in for two weeks during December 1973. Gilleran hopes the WCC will eventually have parity closer to that of the Pac-10.
"In this industry, you can never get away from the W and the L," he said. "I wish we were better in men's basketball top to bottom."
A Seattle native, the 6-foot-5½ Gilleran is a former college forward and three-year letter winner for Seattle University who played one season professionally in France. He worked for the NCAA prior to joining the WCC.
Hansen, the Pac-10's longtime commissioner, has served with Gilleran on the Collegiate Commissioner's Association and worked closely on NCAA matters with his WCC counterpart.
"He's been a superb member on that and has a great feel for the student athlete and a great empathy for students who are having a difficult time at school or in sports," Hansen said. "He is intellectually curious, very bright, a very fine administrator and someone I will miss in administration."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Louisville's task: finding a way to stop high-flying Irish
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Rick Pitino spent the better part of three days breaking down videotape of teams trying in vain to stop No. 17 Notre Dame.
The Louisville coach went bleary-eyed watching teams try zone, man-to-man and a myriad of "junk" defenses that desperate coaches sometimes experiment with -- Pitino included -- when attempting to disrupt an opponent's offensive flow.
Finally, after watching the Fighting Irish light up Syracuse's trademark 2-3 zone in a 94-87 win on Sunday, Pitino turned the video machine off in a fit of exasperation.
"They've been destroying zones," he said. "They shot like 56 percent for the game against Syracuse. I hate zone after watching that game."
Too bad, because Pitino knows the 13th-ranked Cardinals (22-6, 12-3) have little choice but to give it a shot when they host Notre Dame (21-5, 11-3) on Thursday.
"We've got to try a little bit of everything and see which one works," Pitino said.
Not much has against the Irish, who have blitzed opponents this season behind a breathtaking fast break and a steady dose of center Luke Harangody, the leading candidate for Big East Player of the Year. Harangody, however, is hardly doing it alone. Try to double-team him and he'll simply kick it out to guard Kyle McAlarney, who set a school record with nine 3-pointers against the Orange.
"It's like playing Georgetown at twice the speed," Pitino said. "They're just very difficult to play against. Shot selection is so important for us because if you take a bad shot against them they get out on the break so well. ... They can beat you so many different ways."
Notre Dame has won eight of nine by simply running past teams. The Irish have become so efficient in their motion offense and so quick to get out on the break opponents have been rendered breathless bystanders at times. Turn your head the wrong way, and odds are there's a Notre Dame player streaking to the basket right behind you.
"You can't connect the dots," Pitino said. "You can't say 'Go here and we're going to scramble from this point to the next point.' It's not going to happen in this game."
Maybe, but Notre Dame coach Mike Brey knows all zones aren't created equal.
Syracuse's lack of depth prevented the Orange from extending the defense to get out on shooters like McAlarney. The Cardinals and their 10-man rotation have no such problems. Get beat, get tired or get in foul trouble and Pitino doesn't hesitate to go with someone else.
"I think their zone is the most active zone I've seen," Brey said. "They've got length and athletic ability and they bounce around in it and they're able to keep fresh bodies in it."
The Cardinals are fourth in the nation in field goal defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 37.5 percent from the floor. Their fullcourt press makes teams work to simply get the ball up the floor, and Brey said the Irish can't afford to simply take a breath when they cross midcourt. Notre Dame thumped Louisville last year by attacking the press to get easy baskets.
"That got us going a little bit and we were successful," Brey said. "We have to remember to try and do that."
It hasn't been easy for opponents this season against the Cardinals. No Big East team has managed more than 58 points at Freedom Hall this year. Notre Dame, by contrast, hasn't been held under 64 points all season. Yet Pitino doesn't necessarily think his team has to walk it up the floor every possession to win.
"You know going in the way they're going to play (fast) and we're going to play fast with them," Pitino said. "We're not going to try and slow it down."
The Cardinals have found a way to turn up the tempo when they've had to during their seven-game winning streak. They've topped 80 points three times during the streak and played well enough offensively to overcome an uncharacteristically sloppy defensive performance during a 75-73 victory at Pittsburgh on Sunday.
The winner of Thursday's game all but sews up a top-four seed in the Big East tournament and a much-needed first-round bye.
It's a position the Cardinals have been preparing themselves to be in all year, though they're not worried about the big picture. Do the little things right and things tend to fall into place.
Besides, no matter at what speed the game is played, if it comes down to the last three minutes, players on both sides know what to do.
"Late in the second half it is going to come down to who is going to stop the other team," said Louisville guard Andre McGee. "It is going to come to a point where shots are not going to fall and you've got to be able to (get after it)."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Gordon scores 22 points to lead No. 15 Indiana to 77-68 victory over No. 14 Purdue
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Kelvin Sampson briefly reflected on his two seasons as Indiana's basketball coach after the Hoosiers' victory over Purdue.
By the end of the week, memories could be all he's left with.
Eric Gordon scored 22 points to lead No. 15 Indiana to a 77-68 victory over No. 14 Purdue in the Hoosiers' last game before the completion of the school's investigation into accusations that Sampson committed major rules violations.
Sampson talked about how far D.J. White has come in two years, going from a player who was "allergic to running" to one who had 19 points and 15 rebounds against Purdue despite playing with a sprained left knee. He talked about how hard his team plays, and about what good people his players are.
Mostly, he reflected on this season's victories.
"When you play 26 games, and you look up and you've lost four times ... I think we had a two-month stretch where we didn't lose," he said.
But the end could be near for Sampson.
University president Michael McRobbie said last Friday that the school would conduct a new investigation into the NCAA's accusations that Sampson committed five major rules violations.
A school investigation last year revealed Sampson and his assistants made more than 100 impermissible calls. That occurred while Sampson was on NCAA probation for making 577 improper phone calls between 2000 and 2004 while coaching Oklahoma.
Athletic director Rick Greenspan, university counsel Dorothy Frapwell and faculty representative Bruce Jaffee were asked to run the investigation and recommend by this Friday what steps the university should take.
In other games involving ranked teams on Tuesday, No. 13 Connecticut beat DePaul 65-60 and Bradley defeated No. 16 Drake 72-71.
After the game, Sampson tried to keep the attention on the team -- Indiana beat Top 15 teams (Michigan State and Purdue) in consecutive games for the first time since 1992. But questions continued to go back to his future. When asked what he had told his team about it, he said: "That's between me and the players."
Sampson said he's not concerned about the opinions of those with limited information.
"The people who know me, know me," he said.
White said the Hoosiers (22-4, 11-2 Big Ten) aren't thinking about what Sampson's future holds.
"When we're on the court, that's all we're focused on," he said. "Right now, we're just trying to win games."
The latest win snapped Purdue's 11-game winning streak and brought Indiana within one-half game of the Boilermakers (21-6, 12-2) at the top of the conference standings.
If Tuesday's game was his last at Indiana, he has White to thank for it ending well.
"You learn not to take a kid like him for granted," said Sampson, who indicated he expected to be in charge of the Hoosiers when they play at Northwestern on Saturday. "He's a horse."
White said it would have taken a more serious injury to keep him out of the game.
"At the beginning, I was kind of timid," he said. "It's always in your head when you have an injury like that. I got more comfortable as the game went on."
Robbie Hummel had 17 points for the Boilermakers.
The Hoosiers went 30-of-34 from the free throw line while Purdue was just 11-of-21. Purdue coach Matt Painter said his team was aggressive in creating turnovers, but couldn't turn it down enough to avoid committing fouls.
"We made careless mistakes, putting our hands on guys," he said. "We had so many situations where if we get a stop, we could take the lead, and then we'd foul."
The Hoosiers shot 47 percent to make up for committing 23 turnovers.
The Hoosiers opened the second half on a 13-6 run capped by a long 3-pointer by Gordon that gave Indiana a 45-35 lead with 12:28 left.
Indiana led by 12 points before Purdue went on a 7-0 run, including a 3-pointer and a layup by Hummel, that made it 53-48 and forced the Hoosiers to call a timeout. Scott Martin's 3-pointer with just under 7 minutes to go cut Indiana's lead to 57-55 but the Hoosiers went 17-of-20 from the free throw line the rest of the way.
Indiana's fans seemed to move toward Sampson's side after a giving him a lukewarm response during pregame introductions. Chants of "Kel-vin Samp-son" rang out from the student section in the game's final minutes. He never acknowledged them, saying he expects to see them at Indiana's next home game against Ohio State.
"We've been pretty good at Assembly Hall the last few years," he said before looking ahead. "I expect to be in here Tuesday."< ^No. 13 Connecticut 65, DePaul 60=
Hasheem Thabeet had 16 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocked shots for the Huskies (21-5, 10-3 Big East), who won their 10th straight by overcoming a 13-point deficit in the second half. Craig Austrie had 14 points and Jeff Adrien added 12 points and 11 rebounds for UConn, which outscored the Blue Demons 23-7 over the last 10:30 of the game.
Draelon Burns scored 20 points for visiting DePaul (10-15, 5-8), which has lost six of seven.< ^Bradley 72, No. 16 Drake 71=
Jeremy Crouch's 18-foot jumper with 11 seconds left capped Bradley's game-closing 12-2 run. Crouch scored 23 points to lead the Braves (16-12, 9-7 Missouri Valley Conference), who held Drake scoreless for the final 5 minutes to win for the eighth time in the last 10 games.
Drake's Klayton Korver missed an open jumper and Josh Young's desperation shot hit the rim as time expired. Young had 23 points for the Bulldogs (23-3, 14-2), who lost at home for the first time this season and have lost two of three.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
|
