VANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, MARCH 29, 2010 / SPORTS
7B
EAST REGION
West Virginia overpowers star-studded Kentucky team
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Country roads, take me home.
Or better vet, Indianapolis.
It's almost heaven, West Virginia. DaSean Butler and the Mountaineers are off to the Final Four for the first time since 1959.
Joe Mazzulla scored a career-high 17 points in his first start this season and West Virginia handled a cold-shooting Kentucky team stocked with future NBA players almost from the opening tip for a 73-66 victory in the East Regional final Saturday night.
"It's something we've been preaching," Butler said. "Not even just two more. Ever since we won our first game. Five more, four more, three more. It doesn't mean anything unless you win the whole thing."
Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins, back with his alma mater, is in the Final Four for the first time since taking Cincinnati in 1992. It's an even longer stretch for West Virginia — Jerry West was the star of the team 51 years ago, and not yet a Hall of Famer
No. 2 West Virginia 73
No. 1 Kentucky 66
or NBA logo.
"The first day I was here, I told them I came back to win a national championship." Huggins said. "I came back to win it for the university, having played there, and for the great people of our state."
It's been a turbulent time for Huggins since his previous Final Four appearance. He was forced out at Cincinnati, had a heart attack in 2002 and spent a year coaching Kansas State before he found the country roads back to Morgantown in 2007.
"I told all guys I recruited, we want to win a national championship," he said. "We need you to be a piece of what we want to do."
Mazzulla made five of 11 shots before fouling out late in the game, but all of them were clutch.
rebounded WVU 29-13. But the Mountainers had only three turnovers after averaging 11.9 per game this season.
Kentucky missed all eight threes in the first half and out-
Now, Mountaineers fans will be singing "Take me home, country roads," all the way to Indianapolis.
K-State falls to an underdog while Butler shows its strength
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WEST REGION
SALT LAKE CITY — Every day they walk into practice, they also walk onto a movie set — the one where they filmed the story about the little team that gets its big chance and lives out the unthinkable dream.
That's the story of "Hoosiers."
That's also the story of Butler
No. 5 Butler 63
No. 2 Kansas State 56
the team that's reminding everyone that big schools with big money don't have a monopoly on everything in big-time sports.
Yes, the boys from Butler did it — getting 22 points from Gordon Hayward to defeat Kansas State 63-56 in the West Regional final Saturday and advance to the Final Four.
Next, the Bulldogs take their 24-game winning streak to downtown Indy. Though only five miles from the Butler campus, it's hard to think of many programs that have taken a longer, more unlikely road to get this close to a championship.
"It'd be just as cool if we moved it to Hinkle," Butler coach Brad Stevens said of his team's fieldhouse. "I'd be all
for that."
No such luck. Still, the fifth-seeded Bulldogs (32-4) are writing their own underdog story, even if they can't really be called underdogs anymore.
Shelvin Mack scored 16 and Ronald Nored and Willie Veasley keyed an in your-face defensive effort on K-State guards Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente to help Butler become the first school from a true, mid-major conference to make the Final Four since George Mason in 2006 — a trip that also ended in Indianapolis.
"This is probably the coolest thing that's ever happened in my life." Nored said.
Trailing almost the entire game, No. 2 Kansas State (29-8) rallied to tie it at 54 with 3:09 remaining.
But Butler didn't fold, it only got better. The Bulldogs scored the next nine points to seal the game before Pullen's shot at the buzzer dropped — but offered no consolation.
"It was a great experience, but it hurts that it had to end today," Pullen said.
No.1 Duke edges Baylor, emerges as only top seed left
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — Duke is back in the Final Four, ending an unusually long absence for coach Mike Krzyzewski's team — and keeping No.1 seeds from being shut out of the title chase.
Jon Scheyer added 20 points for Duke (33-5), which became the only No. 1 seed to advance to Indianapolis and earned its 11th Final four trip under Krzyszewski.
Nolan Smith scored 29 points and the Blue Devils returned to college basketball's big event for the first time in six years by beating Baylor 78-71 on Sunday in the South Regional final, halting the Bears' charming run to college basketball redemption.
"We played against a great, team," Krzyzewski said. "It was such a well-played game, and we were fortunate to win."
In the national semifinals for the first time since 2004, the Blue Devils will play East Regional champion West Virginia on Saturday night. They have won 11 of their last 12 regional finals under Krzyzewski, but haven't won a national title since 2001.
No. 1 Duke 78
No. 3 Baylor 71
Smith and Scheyer helped the
Blue Devils offset a poor game from junior forward Kyle Singler, who was 0 for 10 from the field and made only five free throws. It was the first time in his college career he failed to hit a field goal.
LaceDarius Dunn had 22 points and Ekpe Udoh scored 18 for the Bears (28-8), whose program was in shambles when coach Scott Drew took over in the wake of murder and scandal less than seven years ago.
Drew took the Bears from tatters to the cusp of their first Final Four appearance in 60 years.
After tying the game for the 12th time on a free throw with 3:36 left, Smith missed his second attempt. But Lance Thomas grabbed one of his nine rebounds and quickly passed the ball right back to Smith, who hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to put Duke up 64-61.
"I just wanted to make the plays," said Thomas, one of three Duke seniors. "My teammates know I can make them. I made it and I just got the ball to our shooters."
Scheyer, another senior, then extended the lead to six with his fifth 3-pointer.
Tweety Carter and Quincy Acy had 12 points each for Baylor at Reliant Stadium, where most of the crowd of 47,492 was dressed in the green and gold of the Bears.
The long-range shots were the best for Duke against Baylor's tenacious zone defense featuring a combination of a 7-footer and a pair of 6-10 players.
The Blue Devils made 11 of 23 3-pointers (48 percent) — and shot only 11 of 38 from inside the arc.
With Baylor desperately trying to get the ball back after a turnover by Carter, there was a scuffle by the sideline following a whistle and Acy was called for a technical foul. Scheyer hit both free throws, pushing the lead to 10 with 1:19 left.
The fairy-tale ending wasn't meant to be for the Bears — at least this year.
APRIL 3 - FINAL FOUR
APRIL 5 - NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
No. 5 Michigan State vs. No. 5 Butler (5:07 p.m., CBS)
No. 2 West Virginia vs. No. 1 Duke (7:47 p.m., CBS)
MIDWEST REGION
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Spartans go to second consecutive Final Four
ST. LOUIS — The fifth-seeded Spartans are on their way to their second straight Final Four and sixth in 12 years after Raymar Morgan's free throw with less than two seconds left lifted Michigan State to a 70-69 victory over Tennessee in the Midwest Regional final Sunday.
"There is nothing greater than
No team in the country — not North Carolina, not Kansas, not UCLA, not Kentucky — has been better during the Spartans' run. And all six of those trips have come under Izzo, the hard-nosed coach who preaches defense, rebounding, defense, physical play, and have mentioned defense?
No. 5 Michigan State 70
No. 6 Tennessee 69
going to a Final Four that I know of. lzzo said, "exceed winning it."
HUMANITIES LECTURE SERIES 2009-2010
This event is free and open to the public. No tickets required.
785-864-4798 * www.hallcenter.ku.edu
Afghanistan: Rhetoric & Reality
RORY STEWART
March 29, 2010 | 7:30 p.m.
Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union
In 2002, Rory Stewart covered 6,000 miles on foot across Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal, and related that journey in his critically acclaimed book, The Places in Between. In this lecture he will share with audiences his intimate knowledge of the region. Stewart is the Ryan Family Professor of the Practice of Human Rights and Director of Harvard University's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy.
---
"A Conversation with Rory Stewart"
Monday, March 29, 3 p.m.
Hall Center Conference Hall
This series is coproduced by Kanai Public Radio. Partial funding for the Humanities Lecture Series is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities' 2000 Challenge Grant