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News Nuggets, 03.26.05
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NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...

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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Capsules: Duke, State bite the dust; Heels survive

PREVIOUS NUGGETS

03.25.05: Holland named to powerful USA Basketball panel ... ECU fans to have rooting interest in NIT semis ... Triangle's Sweet 16 teams converge at RDU ... Another DUI charge embarrasses Cincinnati ... More...
03.24.05: NIT: Memphis whips Vandy to advance to Garden ... NIT: Maryland overcomes big Davidson lead ... Big East hops on replay bandwagon ... More...
03.23.05: NIT win over UNLV extends Stokes' ties to USC ... Davidson-Maryland NIT matchup set for TV ... Activists file suit over 'Chief Illiniwek' ... More...
03.22.05: Break over for East Carolina football team ... Frogs in NIT quarterfinals after overtime win ... CBS reaping ratings bonanza from tourney ... Baseball America & Collegiate Baseball Polls ... More...
03.21.05: Spurrier straps on visor, gets down to business ... NCAA Tourney Sweet 16 pairings & schedule ... Tournament's TV ratings up over 2004 ... More...
03.20.05: Kentucky proves it still has Bearcats' number ... Memphis zaps Hokies, starts thinking NIT title ... Davidson tames Bears, turns focus to Terps ... Preview: (4) Louisville vs. (5) Georgia Tech ... More...
03.19.05: Hodge leads Wolfpack to comeback win over 49ers ... Louisville escapes upset bid by Ragin' Cajuns ... Preview: (7) Cincinnati vs. (2) Kentucky ... Preview: (11) UAB vs. (3) Arizona ... More...
03.18.05: UAB smothers 6th- seeded LSU in Round 1 shocker ... Bearcats dump Iowa, set sights on Kentucky ... Preview: (7) Charlotte vs. (10) N.C. State ... Preview: (4) Louisville vs. (13) UL-Lafayette ... More...
03.17.05: Timeline on ECU hoops coach Ricky Stokes ... Nothing heals like an NIT win for Tigers' Washington ... Horned Frogs halt RedHawks' home streak ... Davidson rips VCU for first-ever NIT victory ... More...
03.16.05: It's not the Big Dance, but it's a win for DePaul ... NCAA preview: UAB vs. LSU ... NCAA preview: Cincinnati vs. Iowa ... CORRECTED Final AP college basketball poll ... More...
03.15.05: Handicapped Marquette makes quit exit from NIT ... New arena a factor in Virginia's firing of Gillen ... Heart attack hospitalizes Tech football coach ... Final 2004-05 college basketball poll ... More...
03.14.05: 12 current, future C- USA teams earn NCAA or NIT bids ... Finney dismissed by Tulane ... More...

MICHIGAN STATE 78, DUKE 68

AUSTIN — Michigan State had the depth and muscle, and coach Tom Izzo finally has his win over Duke and Coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Paul Davis scored 20 points and fifth-seeded Michigan State moved within a game of the Final Four with a 78-68 win over top-seeded Duke in the Austin Regional on Friday night.

Alan Anderson added 17 points, and the Spartans (25-6) sent wave after wave of defenders out to the perimeter to bottle up J.J. Redick, holding the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year to 13 points.

Michigan State will face Kentucky on Sunday in the Austin Regional final. The loss ended Krzyzewski's bid for an 11th Final Four with Duke (27-6).

WISCONSIN 65, N.C. STATE 56

SYRACUSE — Alando Tucker helped Wisconsin bounce back from a horrible first half, scoring eight straight points during a 13-0 run that gave the Badgers a spot in the NCAA tournament's round of eight.

Sixth-seeded Wisconsin (25-8) will play North Carolina on Sunday with a Final Four berth on the line.

Tucker scored 22 points and Mike Wilkinson scored 17, getting his final two on a breakaway dunk with 20 seconds left that got the rest of the Badgers to leap for joy on the court.

Engin Atsur scored 16 and Julius Hodge had 14 on 4-for-15 shooting for 10th-seeded N.C. State (21-14).

NORTH CAROLINA 67, VILLANOVA 66

SYRACUSE — North Carolina won without Raymond Felton — barely. After the star point guard fouled out, the top-seeded Tar Heels did just enough down the stretch to hold off Villanova, earning a trip to the regional finals for the first time since 2000.

The Wildcats (24-8) missed a chance to tie it in the final seconds when Allan Ray was called for traveling on a drive to the basket. He made the shot as he was slapped across the arm, but referee Tom O'Neill already had blown his whistle for the violation.

McCants had 15 of his 17 points in the second half and Marvin Williams scored 16 for the Tar Heels (30-4). Felton finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds and five assists before fouling out for the first time this season.

Randy Foye led the Wildcats with a career-high 28 points, and Lowry also set his career best with 18 points..


Louisville, WVU rumble for spot in Final Four

Just a No. 8 seed for the Big East tournament, West Virginia is now one of only eight teams left with a shot at the national championship.

Just a No. 4 seed for the NCAA tournament, Louisville can further prove the selection committee wrong by becoming one of only four teams remaining.

Rick Pitino looks to return to the Final Four as the Cardinals try to spoil the Mountaineers' surprising run through the Albuquerque Regional in a matchup (4:40 p.m., CBS) that should include plenty of long-range shooting.

``Coach (Pitino) tells us that the name on the front of the jersey doesn't really matter,'' Louisville's Larry O'Bannon said. ``You got to go out there and play the game of basketball whether you are a one seed or an eight seed. I mean each game you just go out there and play.''

Pitino, who made the last of his four Final Four trips in 1997 with Kentucky, has the Cardinals a win away from the national semifinals for the first time since coach Denny Crum and Pervis Ellison led them to the 1986 national championship.

That 1986 squad finished with 32 wins, the number this Louisville team reached with a decisive 93-79 victory over top-seeded Washington on Thursday.

While the Cardinals have dominated the last two games — they routed No. 5 seed Georgia Tech in the second round — West Virginia has pulled out a close victory in every round.

The Mountaineers beat Creighton on a last-second dunk, defeated No. 2 seed Wake Forest in a double-overtime thriller and knocked off Bobby Knight's Texas Tech team 65-60 on Thursday in the regional semifinals.

``Thrilled. It's the best word I can use to describe it for our state, our university and especially our players,'' coach John Beilein said.

This is the furthest West Virginia has advanced since 1959, when Jerry West led the team to the national title game.

The Cardinals, winners of 12 straight since falling to Memphis on Feb. 9, have won two of three meetings with the Mountaineers, the last coming in 1980.

Saturday's winner goes to St. Louis to meet Illinois or Arizona for a spot in the national title game.


Fires plague Morgantown after tourney win

MORGANTOWN — University officials condemned students and fans who celebrated West Virginia's victory in an NCAA regional semifinal by setting about 50 street fires.

The Mountaineers defeated Texas Tech 65-60 on Thursday night, moving West Virginia into the regional finals — where they will play Louisville —for the first time since Jerry West led the school to the NCAA championship game in 1959.

``It's unfortunate that people who had nothing to do with the team's victory stole the spotlight briefly after the game,'' said Ken Gray, WVU's vice president for student affairs.

Gray vowed Friday that students who set fires will face sanctions, including expulsion.


Players nabbed for passing fake currency

CONWAY, AR — A pair of University of Central Arkansas football players pleaded guilty to reduced charges, settling claims they possessed counterfeit money, and will avoid jail as long as they stay in college and out of trouble.

Gregory Mills, a junior tackle and noseguard from Conway, and Kentrel Rogers, a junior tailback from Fordyce, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of theft of property in Faulkner County Circuit Court. Judge Michael Maggio gave each a one-year suspended jail sentences.

The pair must make $20 restitution over the next two years — a penalty for attempting to pass a fake $20 bill at a food court. Prosecutors say the pair were caught with several hundred dollars of counterfeit money but only passed only one bill.

Under the conditions of Maggio's sentence, Mills and Rogers must complete 12 hours per semester toward their degree in each of the next two years. If they fail, prosecutors can reinstate a forgery charge, Deputy Prosecutor David Clark said Tuesday.

Clark said the pair were very cooperative and deserved a plea-bargain.

``They wanted to make amends immediately,'' Clark added. He said the two showed more remorse than any other defendants he has ever seen. ``They're both good kids, and they both made a silly mistake.''


News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 

Page Updated: 02/23/2007 12:22 PM

 

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