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Story lines from the NCAA Tournament By
The Associated Press
WELCOME BACK
Syracuse is back in the Final Four for the first time in
seven years after beating top-seeded Oklahoma 63-47 to win the East
Regional. The last time Syracuse was in the Final Four was 1996 when it lost
to Kentucky in the national championship game. The last time the Orangemen
were in New Orleans for a Final Four they lost to Indiana in the 1987
championship. Now, coach Jim Boeheim gets another chance at that elusive
national title.
TRIUMPHANT TEXAS
Texas made the Final Four for the first time in 56 years
after beating Michigan State 85-75 in the South Regional _ just 80 miles
from their campus in Austin. With chants of ``Texas Fight'' and ``Final
Four'' reverberating throughout the Alamodome, the Longhorns earned the
school's first trip to the Final Four since 1947, when the NCAA tournament
field was eight teams.
ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER
Texas is the only No. 1 seed to advance to the Final Four.
The last time only one No. 1 seed made the Final Four was 2000, when
top-seeded Michigan State won the national title. This is the ninth time it
has happened since seeding began in 1979, and the lone No. 1 seed has won it
five previous times.
BIG 12 SHOWS UP
The Big 12 will have two teams in the Final Four for the
second straight year. Texas and Kansas, the league's regular-season
champion, made it to New Orleans. It is the fifth straight season one
conference has two teams in the Final Four. The run started in 1999 with
Michigan State and Ohio State of the Big Ten and continued with Michigan
State and Wisconsin in 2000, Duke and Maryland of the Atlantic Coast
Conference in 2001 and Kansas and Oklahoma last season.
AWESOME ANTHONY
Carmelo Anthony scored 20 points and added 10 rebounds to
lead Syracuse back to the Final Four. As the final seconds ticked off,
Anthony finally looked like a freshman as he stood near midcourt jumping up
and down before flinging the ball high toward the roof of Pepsi Arena. When
he was announced as the regional MVP, the partisan sellout crowd of 15,207
started chanting ``One more year,'' hoping that this wouldn't be his first
and last NCAA tournament. ``This is my first time getting to the Final
Four,'' he said, ``and hopefully not my last.''
LOOKING AHEAD
It's Texas against Syracuse, and Marquette against Kansas in
the Final Four. Want a player to watch? Take your pick. Freshman superstar
Carmelo Anthony, triple threat Dwyane Wade, Naismith Award winner T.J. Ford,
and Kansas duo Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich can change any game. Want a
coach to pull for? No coach in this year's group has won it all. Kansas' Roy
Williams and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim have been here before, but Williams has
lost four times and Boeheim three.
QUOTABLE
``I had a tremendous experience in New Orleans for five
days, 39 minutes and 56 seconds. Now I have to get that other four seconds
in this time.'' Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, discussing the last time the
Orangemen were in New Orleans for a Final Four. They lost to Indiana in the
1987 championship on a jumper by Keith Smart in the final seconds.
Copyright 2003
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
02/23/2007 10:47:01 AM
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