North Carolina governor Mike Easley presented
legendary N.C. State women's basketball coach Kay Yow with the Laurel
Wreath Award, the state's highest sports recognition, prior to the
Wolfpack's 78-72 overtime win over Baylor in the second round of the
NCAA Tournament on Tuesday night.
Yow is a 1964 graduate of East Carolina,
majoring in English.
Heels football coach undergoing chemotherapy
North Carolina’s new head football coach Butch
Davis is taking a “business as usual’’ attitude about spring practice,
despite undergoing chemotherapy treatments to treat a cancerous growth
in his mouth, according to a report by Sammy Batten of the Fayetteville
Observer.
Davis, 55, had the growth removed from his gum
last month after a routine dental checkup in Cleveland where he resided
before taking the UNC job in November. Pathology tests at the Cleveland
Clinic revealed the growth to be non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Mountaineers send Wolfpack packing in NIT
West Virginia connected on a flurry of
three-point shots in the NIT quarterfinals on Tuesday night to end N.C.
State's season by a 71-66 margin in the NIT quarterfinals.
Hitting 6-of-9 from beyond the arc, senior Frank
Young scored 25 points and Alex Ruoff added 15, boosting West Virginia
(25-9) to its second win over the Wolfpack (20-16) this season before
11,215 vocal fans at West Virginia Coliseum.
The Mountaineers advance to the NIT semifinals
on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York against
Mississippi State, an 86-71 winner over Florida State.
March
21, 2007
Mathews, Mollenhauer earn national recognition
East Carolina relief pitcher Shane Mathews and
shortstop Dale Mollenhauer were named to the College Baseball Foundation
national honor roll on Monday after helping the No. 22 Pirates extend
their winning streak to nine games with sweeps of Radford and Michigan
last week.
Mathews struck out seven of the 11 batters he
faced in 2 2/3 innings and picked up his first win of the season as the
Pirates completed a doubleheader sweep of Michigan 3-2 in 12 innings
Saturday. Mollenhauer batted .412 (7-for-17) while helping the Pirates
to a perfect 4-0 week.
Texans on clock to match Giants' offer for Leach
Hoping to add a powerful lead blocker to their
revamped backfield, the New York Giants signed Houston Texans three-year
veteran fullback Vonta Leach to a restricted free agent offer sheet on
Monday.
The Texans will have seven days to match the
four-year offer sheet, which is worth a total of $8 million and includes
$1.6 million in guarantees.
If the Texans match the offer sheet, they will
assume the terms of the deal that the Giants negotiated with the former
East Carolina standout. If the Texans decline to match the offer sheet,
Leach will move on to the Giants.
Kansas aide named Redbirds hoops coach
Tim Jankovich was introduced as the new
basketball coach at Illinois State on Tuesday. Jankovich has been an
assistant at Kansas, which reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament
this past weekend.
He replaces Porter Moser, who was fired March 5
with a record of 51-67 over four years with the Redbirds, including
15-16 this year.
March
20, 2007
SMU tops first day of Pinehurst Intercollegiate
Southern Methodist shot a five-over par 293 in
the first round of the Pinehurst Intercollegiate on Sunday to lead
Mississippi by one stroke.
The 54-hole event at 7,035-yard, par 72
Pinehurst No. 8 is being co-hosted by East Carolina and Indiana.
The Hoosiers were tied with UNC-Greensboro for
third place at nine-over par (297). East Carolina is tied with Marquette
for 11th place after shooting an opening round of 18-over-par (306).
Health issues sideline Indiana football coach
Indiana has announced that football coach Terry
Hoeppner will not participate in spring practice so that he may attend
to personal health matters.
"Coach Hoeppner has indicated a need to take
some time to regain his strength and energy and to receive proper
medical care," Hoosier athletic director Rick Greenspan said.
Hoeppner underwent surgery last September and
returned within days to lead Indiana for the balance of the season,
recording victories over No. 13 Iowa, Michigan State and Illinois.
Assistant head coach and offensive coordinator
Bill Lynch will assume the day-to-day responsibilities for the football
program in Hoeppner's absence.
Durant faces decision on
NBA after Texas loss
Kevin Durant played the last game of his
freshman season for Texas in an 87-68 loss to Southern California in the
second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday. Now, the question is
whether the 6-foot-9 talent will opt for the NBA or stay in the
Longhorns' program.
"In his mind, I don't think he's ever thought
about leaving," Texas coach Rick Barnes told the Austin
American-Statesman. "I know he's not in any hurry to decide. I think
it's 50-50."
Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge was
fined $30,000 on Sunday for excessive contact with Durant's family after
sitting with Kevin's mother during last week's Big 12 tournament.
March
19, 2007
Depth prevails as Tigers advance to Sweet 16
A deep, versatile Memphis club neutralized
Western Athletic Conference player of the year Nick Fazekas and Nevada
when it counted Sunday and nailed down a 78-62 victory in New Orleans in
the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The win bumped the nation's longest winning
streak to 24 in a row and advanced the Tigers to the Sweet 16.
Chris Douglas-Roberts led South Region No. 2
seed Memphis (32-3) with 16 points, but missed the final 8:11 with a
left ankle sprain described by Calipari as mild-to-moderate. The Tigers
overcame it thanks to the play at both ends of the court from guys such
as Jeremy Hunt, Antonio Anderson and Robert Dozier.
Hunt scored 16 points, Anderson had 14 points
and 10 rebounds, and Dozier had nine points, eight rebounds and most of
the good defense on Fazekas. Backup point guard Andre Allen had yet
another better-than-usual game in the NCAA Tournament with 10 points and
four assists, and bruising big man Joey Dorsey was aggressive as ever
underneath.
Now Memphis, which made the round of 16 last
year with a very different lineup, is headed to San Antonio for a
showdown Thursday against third-seeded Texas A&M. Once again, it'll be
the toughest test yet for a team that's beaten only five teams that made
the NCAA field — counting the two they've already knocked off.
Calipari is hopeful Douglas-Roberts will be
ready to face the Aggies.
"He said he's playing Thursday, but we don't
know," Calipari said. "If he can't go, he can't go. In that kind of
game, you can't be at 70 percent. I feel bad, but we don't know yet.
Will they move the game to Friday to try to accommodate that? I don't
think so."
Nevada, seeded seventh, finished its season
29-5.
Herd forms search committee for hoops coach
Marshall athletics director Bob Marcum has
announced the formation of an eight-person screening committee for the
vacant head men's basketball coaching position.
The committee will assist in the search and
forward recommendations to Marshall president Dr. Stephen J. Kopp.
Ron Jirsa was dismissed after four seasons as
Thundering Herd coach. Marshall was 13-19 in 2006-07.
Vols advance with 77-74 win over Cavaliers
Virginia guard Sean Singletary missed a
three-pointer in the final seconds, allowing fifth-seeded Tennessee to
knock off the fourth-seeded Cavaliers in the second round of the NCAA
Tournament.
Chris Lofton made four free throws in the last
12 seconds for Tennessee (24-10), which advances to face Ohio State, the
top seed in the South regional.
ECU women netters post pair of triumphs
East Carolina posted 10 straight-set wins out of
a possible 18 matches while recording consecutive 7-0 non-conference
victories over Mount Olive and Barton in doubleheader action on Saturday
afternoon at the ECU tennis complex.
The pair of triumphs improved the Lady Pirates'
dual match record to 13-6.
March
18, 2007
Amaker dismissed as
Wolverines hoops' coach
Tommy Amaker was dismissed as Michigan
basketball coach on Saturday after failing to get the Wolverines into
the NCAA Tournament in his six-year tenure.
Amaker, a former player and assistant coach at
Duke, finished his career at Michigan with a 109-83 overall record
(43-53 in Big Ten play) with one NIT title.
Hibbert powers Hoyas over Boston College
With 7-foot-2 Roy Hibbert scoring 17 points and
grabbing 11 rebounds, Georgetown topped former Big East adversary Boston
College 62-55 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
The Hoyas are the region's No. 2 seed.
Weather puts quietus on East Carolina softball
Friday afternoon's scheduled non-conference game
between East Carolina and Hofstra was cancelled due to inclement
weather, as was the Hofstra University Invitational.
The Pirates will return home and face Akron on
Monday in a doubleheader that gets underway at 4 p.m. On Thursday, the
Pirates host UNC-Greensboro in a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m.
March
17, 2007
Streaking Memphis moves ahead in NCAA
The Memphis Tigers made it 23 straight wins on
Friday by beating North Texas 73-58 in the first round of the NCAA
tournament.
Chris Douglas-Roberts had 16 points, Robert
Dozier had 11 points and seven rebounds, and Joey Dorsey had nine points
and 15 rebounds for the Tigers. Andre Allen added 14 points in the
victory.
Wolfpack advances in NIT with win at Reynolds
N.C. State jumped out to a big lead in the first
half, then held on through a second-half rally to advance to the
National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals by beating Marist, 69-62,
Friday night at raucous, sold-out Reynolds Coliseum.
Paced by a 15-1 scoring run midway through the
first half, State (20-15) jumped out to a 33-19 at the break.
The Wolfpack now advances for a rematch with
West Virginia, which beat coach Sidney Lowe’s squad 71-60 on Dec. 6 in
Charleston, WV, in State’s second game without injured senior point
guard Engin Atsur.
Tar Heels suspend RB Edwards indefinitely
North Carolina tailback Barrington Edwards has
been suspended indefinitely from the Tar Heel football team for
violating team rules and university policies, the school said Friday in
a news release.
Edwards will not participate in spring practice
but will remain on scholarship through the spring semester. Edwards
gained 330 yards rushing last season in a back-up role.
