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Close calls and clutch shots By The
Associated Press
CLOSE CALLS
Fifth-seeded Notre Dame barely got past No. 12
Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the first round of the West Regional on Thursday
night when Dylan Page missed a layup just before the buzzer after getting a
terrific pass from Clay Tucker. A day after shaving the heads of his
Fighting Irish teammates as a show of team unity, Chris Thomas scored 27
points in his hometown of Indianapolis. ... One year after surviving a scare
against 16th-seeded Holy Cross, No. 2 seed Kansas held on to beat No. 15
Utah State 64-61 in the West Regional. The Aggies missed two 3-point tries
in the final 10 seconds.
CLUTCH SHOTS
California's Richard Midgley and Missouri's Rickey Paulding
hit big shots to help their teams win tight first-round games. Midgley, a
freshman from England, nailed a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left in overtime
as the eighth-seeded Golden Bears beat ninth-seeded North Carolina State
76-74 in the East Regional. Paulding made a free throw with 4.1 seconds
remaining after drawing a questionable blocking foul as the sixth-seeded
Tigers eliminated No. 11 seed Southern Illinois 72-71 in the Midwest
Regional.
UPSETS
Mike Manciel scored a season-high 29 points as 11th-seeded
Central Michigan beat sixth-seeded Creighton 79-73 in the West Regional for
a mild upset. The Chippewas (25-6) allowed a 26-point lead to dwindle to two
before hanging on for the victory. It marks the fourth time in five years
that a Mid-American Conference team has reached the second round of the
tournament. Last year, No. 10 seed Kent State made it within one win of the
Final Four, losing in the quarterfinals to Indiana. ... Jason Parker and
Dante Swanson each scored 24 points as 13th-seeded Tulsa surprised No. 4
Dayton 84-71 in the Midwest Regional. The Golden Hurricane, who have won
eight straight, will play Wisconsin in the second round Saturday.
TOUGH CROWD
With leading scorer Dahntay Jones on the bench after fouling
out and a capacity crowd enthusiastically hollering against them,
third-seeded Duke held off No. 14 Colorado State 67-57 in a game that wasn't
nearly that one-sided. Freshman Shelden Williams scored on an offensive
rebound with 1:21 to play, then sank two free throws with 44.2 seconds left
to push the Blue Devils into the second round of the West Regional in Salt
Lake City, where they will play Central Michigan.
HEARTBROKEN AGAIN
For the third straight year, Holy Cross almost pulled off an
upset. But Travis Diener scored a career-high 29 points as No. 3 seed
Marquette beat the 14th-seeded Crusaders 72-68 in the Midwest Regional. Holy
Cross lost to Kentucky by four points in 2001 and to Kansas by 11 last year
in a game that was closer than the final score indicated.
BYE-BYE, BYU
Connecticut sure did the NCAA selection committee a favor.
The Huskies beat BYU 58-53 in the South Regional, saving a potential
headache. The NCAA mistakenly put the Cougars in the South, where the
Mormon-owned school would have had to play the fourth round on a Sunday.
Because BYU does not play on Sundays, the NCAA would have reshuffled the
brackets if the Cougars won their first two games, sending them to the
Midwest.
OUTTA HERE
Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins was ejected with about 16
minutes left in the Bearcats' loss to Gonzaga along with team radio
announcer Chuck Machock for arguing a traveling call on Jason Maxiell.
Huggins jumped in the air, landed with a two-footed stomp and quickly drew a
technical. He continued to complain and a minute later was called for a
second technical by official Mike Kitts. Huggins had a massive heart attack
in September and said at the time there wouldn't be any change in his
trademark sideline intensity. After the game, Huggins wouldn't talk about
the ejection. ``I don't know that this is more disappointing than any other
year. It's hard when you lose,'' he said.
JOLLY GOOD
Richard Midgley's friends made fun of him when he chose to
play hoops over soccer. Look who's laughing now. The freshman, who grew up
in Burgess Hill, England, made a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left in overtime
to give California a 76-74 win over North Carolina State in the East
Regional. Twice in the final minute of regulation, Midgley had potential
game-winning layups blocked. He finished with 11 points. Midgley moved to
California in 1999 and played two seasons at Modesto (Calif.) Christian
High. ``Guys used to pick on me (in England) because I played basketball,
not soccer,'' Midgley said. ``But I picked the right sport, I guess.''
AMERICA'S TEAM
Gonzaga is back to its ol' tricks in the NCAA tournament,
beating Cincinnati 74-69. Ninth-seeded Gonzaga _ which made runs from low
seedings to the round of eight in 1999 and round of 16 the next two years
has only one first-round loss in the past five tournaments. That came last
year, when the Bulldogs were seeded sixth and got bounced by No. 11 Wyoming.
SHORT STAY
Vermont spent more time in the Denver airport than it did in
the NCAA tournament. Stranded overnight by a Colorado snowstorm en route to
their first NCAA appearance in 103 years of playing basketball, the
16th-seeded Catamounts didn't get to Utah until 11 p.m. Wednesday. Thirteen
hours later, they tipped off against No. 1 seed Arizona and lost 80-51 in
the first round of the West Regional. ``We spent two days in the biggest
blizzard in the history of Denver,'' coach Tom Brennan said. ``Who knew that
would be the calm before the storm?''
LOOKING AHEAD
GAMES TO WATCH: Sixth-seeded Oklahoma State against No. 11
seed Pennsylvania in the first round of the East Regional on Friday. The
Quakers, who love to shoot 3-pointers, went undefeated in the Ivy League and
won their last 15 games. The Cowboys faded down the stretch in the Big 12
and lost their opening game in the NCAA tournament the last two years. Also,
top-ranked Kentucky takes on IUPUI in the Midwest Regional. Jaguars coach
Ron Hunter has his team watching ``Hoosiers'' and reading the story of David
and Goliath for inspiration.
UPSET SPECIAL: North Carolina-Wilmington over defending
national champion Maryland in the first round of the South Regional. The
11th-seeded Seahawks, led by star guard Brett Blizzard, surprised Southern
California last year before losing a tough game to NCAA runner-up Indiana.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: A great matchup in the East Regional
between Syracuse's Carmelo Anthony and Manhattan's Luis Flores, the two
highest-scoring players in the tournament.
QUOTEABLE: ``Personally, I wouldn't play, but it's not my
decision. My father served in Okinawa. My uncle died in Normandy. If we have
a ground assault, we ought to call it off out of respect for what is
happening.'' Utah coach Rick Majerus..
Copyright 2003
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
02/23/2007 10:46:50 AM
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