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Irish: Digger Phelps days reborn? By JIM
O'CONNELL
AP Basketball Writer
Notre Dame's 3-point barrage that carried it to the second
round of the NCAA tournament hardly was a shock. That the Fighting Irish
held Illinois to 60 points was another matter.
The 68-60 victory Saturday moved Notre Dame into the second
round for the first time since 1987. It was the first time the Fighting
Irish looked like a Top Ten team in a while.
Notre Dame was 4-6 in its last 10 games entering the NCAA
tournament. In that span, six opponents scored over 80 points and two of
those cracked 90.
The 3-point shooting stayed solid at 37.8 percent; stopping
other teams was the problem.
On Saturday, the Fighting Irish were 13-for-24 from 3-point
range, including Dan Miller going 5-for-7. Just as impressive, the Fighting
Irish held Illinois 11 points below what they had allowed on average all
season.
``We jumped on them early and hits those 3s, and then we had
to play defense and rebound, and we did,'' said Chris Thomas, who had 17
points for Notre Dame (24-9).
Illinois shot just 38 percent, 10 points worse than its
percentage for the season.
``The way they came out and played in the first half, no one
would have been able to beat them,'' Illinois coach Bill Self said. ``We got
a lot of looks. They just didn't fall today.''
Digger Phelps was the coach when Notre Dame last went to the
regional semifinals. This time, Mike Brey is in charge.
``This is huge for our program,'' he said. ``In the summer
we talked about playing on the second weekend. I'm happy this group set a
goal and achieved it.''
Notre Dame will be joined in the round of 16 by Connecticut,
which beat Stanford 85-74 Saturday. The two wins gave the Big East a 6-0
mark, with Syracuse and Pittsburgh playing Sunday.
The only other multi-bid league to escape the first round
unbeaten was the Big Ten, but Notre Dame's win over Illinois took care of
that spotless record.
Two of Saturday's games needed more than 40 minutes to reach
an end.
Arizona became the first No. 1 seed to struggle, needing two
overtimes to beat Gonzaga 96-95 and advance to the round of 16 for the third
straight year.
``That's the greatest game I ever played in,'' Arizona's
Rick Anderson said. ``I could see it in their eyes. Everybody on the court
wanted to win.''
It will be tough to top this one the rest of the tournament.
``If you did not care who won, it was a great college
basketball game,'' Arizona coach Lute Olson said. ``That was not a game for
people who weren't willing to lay it out on the floor.''
Marquette beat Missouri 101-92 in one overtime. The Golden
Eagles scored 21 points in the five-minute overtime, tied for fourth most in
NCAA tournament history. Texas A&M set the record with 25 in the second
overtime of a 78-61 victory over North Carolina in the second round in 1980.
Wisconsin edged Tulsa 61-60 as Freddie Owens swished a
3-pointer with 1 second to play, capping a late rally.
In Saturday's other games, No. 1 Oklahoma beat California
74-65, Kansas defeated Arizona State 108-76 and Duke downed Central Michigan
86-60 to reach the round of 16 for the sixth straight year, the longest
current streak.
Jim O'Connell has covered college basketball for The
Associated Press since 1987. He was presented the Curt Gowdy Media Award by
the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002..
Copyright 2003
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
02/23/2007 10:46:54 AM
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