TUESDAY,APRIL1,2003
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3B
Knight shoots for another NITtitle
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Asked about his fondest memories of the city, Bob Knight tilted his head back, crossed his arms and told a story about his first visit, when he was 7.
"We came over Christmas and New York was snowbound," Knight said. "You could walk down the middle of Fifth Avenue."
He went on recalling his four visits to the National Invitation Tournament as the coach at
Army. He later took Indiana to three NITs, winning the title in 1979.
Knight has a deep respect for the NIT, and he's in the tournament for the first time since 1985, this time in his second year with Texas Tech. The Red Raiders will play St. John's in the semifinals tonight.
"This is the third school I've had play in the NIT, and I'd like to think there isn't any coach today who doesn't feel any stronger about the NIT than I do," Knight
said. "What the NIT has done to sustain the tournament has been a tremendous help to college basketball."
Knight appreciates the NIT because of the way the NCAA selects its tournament field. He believes computers should determine the field, and no team should receive an automatic bid.
In four appearances with Army, he reached the semifinals three times. He said the goal every year at West Point was to play in the NIT.
Knight won three NCAA titles at Indiana, and the Hoosiers beat Purdue 53-52 to win the 1979 NIT championship.
Knight is proud to have Texas Tech (21-12) in the NIT because of the way the team rebounded at the end of the season. After finishing the regular season 16-11, Knight said he didn't want his base salary of $250,000.
But the Red Raiders finished strong, and one of their best victories came against Final Four-bound Texas in the Big 12 tournament.
Novak threatens Kansas in Final Four
MILWAUKEE—The message finally got through to Steve Novak.
The Associated Press
Marquette's 6-foot-10 freshman drew the ire of his teammates during the regular season by passing up open outside shots.
With their prodding fresh in his mind, Novak has gone 14-for-20 from behind the 3-point line during the NCAA Tournament, despite making only 21 of 49 three-pointers in the team's first 20 games.
"We would get mad at him," point guard Travis Diener said after a spirited practice yesterday. "We'd be upset with him because he wouldn't shoot. Now he's finally putting up shots and it's paying off."
Novak's accuracy from the perimeter is a major reason the Golden Eagles are headed to their first Final Four since 1977, when the Al McGuire-coached squad won the national championship.
Since making five 3-pointers at DePaul on Feb. 12, Novak has made 34-of-55 3-pointers in 12
games, an incredible .618 clip.
"I don't know what his problem was at the start," Diener said. "When you can shoot like that, I don't know why he was hesitant in the first place. Now, we're just happy that he's firing them up there."
Novak won't be a secret in Marquette's semifinal game against Kansas on Saturday night in New Orleans, but he should be a big factor.
He made two 3-pointers in Marquette's 72-68 victory over Holy Cross in the first round and
added four against Missouri, three of them in overtime as Marquette prevailed 101-92.
He added three more in the Golden Eagles' 77-74 victory over second-seeded Pittsburgh and hit five 3-pointers in Marquette's stunning 83-69 rout of top-seeded and top-ranked Kentucky.
Novak blames his slow start this season on the tentativeness he felt as a first-year sixth man who played both small and power forward.
"As the season went on, I was able to more easily recognize what the team needed from me."
Syracuse shows great improvement in 2003
The Associated Press
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Kueth Duany is glad to be around for his senior season at Syracuse, especially after last year's disappointment.
The Orangemen didn't make the NCAA Tournament field in 2002, but coach Jim Boeheim's team came back strong this season, advancing to the Final Four with a 63-47 victory against top-seeded Oklahoma in the East Regional final on Sunday.
"This is the best feeling I've had since I've been at Syracuse," said Duany, the only senior among Syracuse's starting five. "I just want to keep it rolling."
The Orangemen (28-5) will play Texas (26-6) in the national semifinals on Saturday night in New Orleans.
While Oklahoma, Indiana, Kansas and eventual champion Maryland were making their way to the Final Four last year, Duany and the Orangemen were back in Syracuse, trying to
become the first team to win both the preseason and post-season NIT. They lost to South Carolina in the semifinals.
The Orangemen had gone 20-10 during the 2001-02 regular season, but they stumbled to a 4-8 finish. And when Villanova beat the Orangemen in the first round of the Big East tournament, Boeheim knew they wouldn't be going to the NCAA Tournament.
"In practice an hour and a half before the selection show, Coach pretty much told us, 'Sorry. Let's get ready for next year,'" sophomore center Craig Forth said.
"This year we walked into the room to watch the selection show, and everybody was smiling, happy, ready to go," Forth said. "It makes it a lot more fun to actually be one of the teams playing for a national championship, knowing that we can do something special."
Boeheim, who has 651 victories in his 27 years at Syracuse, thought that was possible before this season started.
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