Section B · Page 12
The University Daily Kansan College Basketball
Monday, March 13, 2000
Fizer, Cyclones win Big 12 title
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Marcus Fizer scored 22 points as top-seeded Iowa State shook off doubts about its depth by winning three games in three days, the last a 70-58 victory against third-seeded Oklahoma yesterday to win the Big 12 tournament.
the seventh-ranked Cyclones (29-4) easily beat the only Big 12 team they had not defeated while setting a school record for victories and winning their first regular-season conference championship in 55 years.
Three surges from midway through the first half carried the Cyclones past No.15 Oklahoma (26-6), which had used a stirring second half Saturday to stop Texas in the semifinals and advance to the championship game.
This time, the rally was not there. The Sooners, trailing 35-25 at half-time, got the first basket of the second half, but Iowa State immediately went on an 8-0 run to lead 46-27 with 13:11 to play.
Iowa State, which got the top seed in the tournament for the first time in school history, defeated Oklahoma State in the semifinals. The Cyclones joined the Iowa State women's team as tournament champions after the women beat
Texas earlier, making for a joyous weekend for the thousands of Iowa State fans who annually make the trip to Kansas City for the tournament.
It was the first time men's and women's teams from the same school each won their tournaments.
Michael Nurse had 14 points, and Jamal Tinsley added 13 for the Cyclones, who made 21 of 25 free throws.
Eduardo Najera, who led the second-half rally against Texas, finished with 31 points Saturday and led Oklahoma with 19 points.
Iowa State went on a 9-2 run midway through the first half to open a 17-6 lead before Hollis Price hit a three and another basket to get the Sooners within 17-11.
But Iowa State reeled off six straight points, including a dunk by Fizer when he got behind the Oklahoma defense on a fast break. The Cyclones were up 30-13 on a couple of spinning layups by Tinsley and a basket by Nurse before the Sooners rallied at the end of the half.
It has been widely speculated that Fizer, a junior, will apply for the NBA draft. Fans chanted "One more year" as the championship trophy was presented to the Cyclones and Fizer was named the tournament's most valuable player.
Revenge a factor in Duke's victory
The Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — No. 3 Duke expected a long, inspirational speech from Chris Carrawell when the team's lone senior called a meeting before yesterday's ACC tournament title victory against Maryland.
The message was more to the point.
The Blue Devils, 27-4, secured a No.1 seed in the NCAA tournament and probably the nation's top ranking with their convincing win against No.20 Maryland, who was making its first championship game appearance in 16 years.
"There was a revenge factor, I'm not going to lie," Carrawell said following an 81-68 victory against the only ACC team to beat the Blue Devils in the last two seasons. "I was like, 'Look, we're not going to lose this game. It was embarrassing, they beat us at home, celebrated on our court."
Duke should ascend to No.1 after losses by Cincinnati and Stanford — teams ahead of the Blue Devils in the poll.
"I thought we won the tournament because of our defense, not
our offense," said Duke coach Mike Krzyezewski, who brought one of the nets to his postgame news conference.
Duke's freshmen led the way this time. Jason Williams scored a season-high 23 points and Carlos Boozer added 21 as the top-seeded Blue Devils became the first program since the 1973 and 1974 North Carolina State teams to win consecutive outright ACC regular-season and tournament titles.
Krzyzewski won his fifth ACC crown. The veteran coach pulled his starters with 33 seconds left and gave each a bear hug near the bench.
Juan Dixon led the second-seeded Terrapins (24-9) with 19 points.
The Blue Devils' home loss to the Terrapins a month ago snapped their ACC regular-season record 31-game winning streak, but the second half belonged to Duke and the team's youngsters this time.
Williams, the team's point guard, scored 15 of his points in the second half and got Duke's outside game going with a three-point shoot to open the half. Boozer scored 11 points after the break, taking care of Duke's inside game.
Injury cripples Illini in loss to Spartans
The Associated Press
It wasn't Morris Peterson and his amazing array of all-around skills, or Mateen Cleaves suddenly hot shooting hand that sealed Michigan State's 76-61 victory in the Big Ten tournament championship game.
CHICAGO — It wasn't so much No. 5 Michigan State's vaunted defense that did in No. 25 Illinois on Sunday.
It was Andre Hutson's elbow.
Hutson hit Cory Bradford in the nose during a scramble under the
basket with just less than eight minutes left in the first half, temporarily knocking Illinois leading scorer out of the game and permanently derailing the Illini.
Reeling from the sight of their team leader collapsing as he tried to walk to the bench, the Illini made five turnovers before halftime, and went 3 of 8 from the field. Their defense also collapsed as the Spartans on a 20-8 run, taking a 35-27 halftime lead.
Bradford returned for the second half, his nose swollen, bruised and
possibly broken, but it was too late. Hutson converted on a three-point play and followed with a layup, and Peterson hit a 3-pointer to give Michigan State a 45-32 lead with 17:22 left.
Peterson finished with 14 points,
four rebounds and three steals.
Cleaves had 12 points and six assists.
A.J. Granger led the Spartans (26-7)
with 17 points, and Hutson added 14.
Bradford went 2 for 9 in the second half, finishing with 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting. Frank Williams led the
The Big Ten final was a rematch of last year's title game, which Michigan State won 67-50. But that was a much different Illinois team, which was worst in the conference and weary from knocking off three Top 25 teams in three days in the tournament.
Illini (21-9) with 11 points, and Cleotis Brown had 10.
This year's Illini had been playing as well as anyone in the Big Ten Since a 91-66 rout in East Lansing Mich., on Jan. 30, Illinois had won 10 of its last 11 games.
Arkansas rises above its record, advances to NCAA
ATLANTA — Arkansas didn't want to be remembered for a mediocre regular season. Not to worry.
Playing their fourth game in four days, the Razorbacks earned an improbable trip to the NCAA tournament by beating Auburn 75-67 yesterday and winning the Southeastern Conference tournament and the league's automatic bid.
Brandon Dean scored 22 points, and Arkansas closed the game with
a 14-5 spurt, making the Tigers seem to be the tired team when it should have been the other way around.
"We didn't want to go down as one of the worst teams to come through Arkansas," said Dean, referring to a 15-14 record in the regular season. "We wanted to do something special."
This was special. Only one team, Auburn in 1855, had managed to win the SEC tournament with four wins in four days. Six other teams won their first three games but wilted in the finals.
would mean a trip to the NIT,
seemed to conserve its energy in the
first half against the Tigers, who led
32-27 at halftime. But the
Razorbacks turned up the heat in
the second half.
Arkansas became only the sixth NCAA team to win four tournament games in four days — and the second of the weekend. Saint Louis won the Conference USA title Saturday by completing a similar sweep.
Arkansas (19-14), knowing a loss
Arkansas, with a lineup featuring three freshmen and a sophomore, upset No.16 Kentucky in the quar-
tertfinals, eliminating the team that had won the tournament seven of the last eight years. In the semifinals, the Razorbacks defeated No. 10 Louisiana State, another of the four teams that shared the regular-season title.
"I don't think I've ever been as happy on the inside for a group of guys who are so young and have been through the trials and talk these guys have," said coach Nolan Richardson, whose school won its first SEC tournament since joining the league in 1991-92. "They put it all behind them."
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