2B
Thursday, March 30, 1995
SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Virginia Tech takes NIT title
Hokies win on last second free throws
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Shawn Smith, who struggled from the free throw line this season, made the two biggest foul shots of his career last night.
Smith, a 67 percent free throw shooter, made two with less than a second left in overtime to give Virginia Tech a 65-64 victory over Marquette for the NIT championship.
"I wasn't trying to be a hero. I just wanted to win the game," said the junior forward, who made 10 of 12 from the line.
Smith, voted the tournament MVP after getting 24 points and 12 rebounds in the final, was fouled by Faisal Abraham as he went up for a shot under the basket with sevenths of a second remaining. He made his first free throw to tie the game, then sank his second after Marquette called a timeout to make him think about it.
"He had to step to the line and make them, and he did just that," said Marlene coach Mike Deane.
After Smith made the free throws, Marquette inbounded the ball to Anthony Pieper just across mid-court, but he couldn't get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.
It was the second NTT title for Virginia Tech (25-10), which also won the final in overtime over Notre Dame in 1973.
"If you want national exposure, this is how you're going to do it," Tech coach Bill Foster said.
Marquette, which won the NIT in 1970. finished with a 21-12 record.
"It was disappointing the way we lost. We're just going to come back stronger next year," freshman guard Aaron Hutchins said.
Hutchins scored the first basket of overtime to put Marquette ahead 59-57. But Tech, which beat Marquette 57-54 on Jan. 17, then scored six straight points to take a 63-59 lead.
Marquette countered with a 5-0 run, moving ahead 64-63 on a driving layup by Pieper with 18 seconds left. Tech then ran down the clock and Smith was fouled after making a pump fake near the basket.
Deane didn't complain about the call.
"I thought we fouled them," he
said. "It was a gutty call to make, but the disadvantage would have been too great for them if a call wasn't made."
Shawn Good scored 14 points for the Hokies. Hutchins and Tony Miller each scored 15 points for Marquette and Anal McCaskill had 13 points and 15 rebounds.
After Roney Eford's free throw put Marquette up 56-55, Tech took its first lead of the second half on two foul shots by Good with 49 seconds left.
Both teams shot only 38 percent from the field, but Tech was much more accurate from the line. The Hokies made 20 of 26 free throws, while Marquette missed 10 of 16.
Trailing by nine points midway through the second half, Virginia Tech tied it at 55 on Smith's free throw with 1.59 remaining.
Hutchins made one of two from the line to tie it at 57 with 33 seconds remaining.
Marquette, which led 27-21 at halftime, increased its advantage to 42-33 on a 3-pointer by Hutchins with 11:44 left. But Tech then went on an 18-11 run to cut the Golden Eagles' lead to 53-51 with 3:56 remaining.
Tulsa basketball coach resigns
The Associated Press
TULSA, Okla. — Tubby Smith, who led Tulsa to the NCAA tournament's final 16 the past two years, resigned yesterday and was expected to become coach at Georgia.
"Much of the credit for the rise of TU's basketball program to its present level is directly attributable to the efforts and hard work of Tubby Smith and his coaching staff." Tulsa president Robert Donaldson said.
Georgia scheduled an afternoon news conference in Athens to address the Bulldogs' coaching vacancy. Georgia athletic director Vince Dooley was looking to replace Hugh Durham, who was fired March 19 after 17 years.
The 43-year-old Smith took over a Tuska team that had lost favor in the community since Nolan Richardson left in 1985 for Arkansas. In four years, he restored excitement with an uptempo style.
Until last year, the Golden Hurricanes had never won
a first-round game in the NCAA tournament. Tulsa upset UCLA and Oldahoma State in last year's tournament and beat Illinois and Old Dominion this year to get to the round of 16, losing last weekend to Massachusetts in the East Regional semifinals.
"In his four years he has gained the respect of the community, state and region," Donaldson said. "He not only has taken the Tulsa program to a level never attained on the basketball court, but he and (his wife) Donna have become solid fixtures in many community activities."
Smith met with his players in the morning, then boarded a private jet for Georgia, a source close to the program told The Associated Press.
A player confirmed Smith met with the team and that the coach said Georgia had offered him the job.
Dooley had received permission Monday to interview Smith along with three other candidates, Tulane coach Perry Clark, Wake Forest coach Dave Odom and Miami of Ohio coach Herb Sendek.
NEW YORK — Major league baseball players voted yesterday to end their 7 1/2-month strike if a federal judge issues an injunction restoring salary arbitration and free agent bidding.
The Associated Press
Injunction could end strike
U. S. District Judge Sonia Sotomayor scheduled a hearing tomorrow on the National Labor Relations Board's petition for a preliminary injunction. There's no indication when she will rule.
If players end the strike, owners may lock them out. But even hard-line owners don't know if they can get the required 21 votes from among the 28 teams, and management officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they doubted owners would lock out the regular players.
The resolution was passed by the union's executive committee and players do not need to vote on it. No votes were announced.
The vote by the executive committee came as the union prepared a response to the owners' latest offer.
"We expect to make a response probably tomorrow," said union head Donald Fehr, who met with acting commissioner Bud Selig for 90 minutes Tuesday.
No. 2 union official Gene Orza said, "We're going to make an unconditional offer to return to work, based on the conditions restored by the injunction."
Selig wouldn't say whether opening day could be pushed back, but some teams have begun planning for an extra three weeks of spring training.
Management's new proposal offered to keep the system of salary arbitration and free agency that was in effect during the expired collective bargaining agreement.
"I assume there's room for negotiation," Fehr had said Tuesday.
night before the union's executive board began a two-day meeting. "If there isn't, we're in trouble."
Management's plan called for a 50 percent luxury tax on the portions of payrolls above $44 million, which was 8 percent more than the average payroll in 1994. The sides would play this season under the old rules and the tax would start in 1996 and continue through 2000, when the agreement would expire.
"This proposal is much less than the clubs hoped to achieve, and I'm sure it will not thrill you either," Selig said in a letter sent Tuesday to all major league players. "But both the clubs and the players are at the point in this dispute where they must swallow hard and make an agreement. Otherwise, we will continue to do damage to this industry, which ultimately will cost the clubs and players far more than the amount at stake in this negotiating."
The Associated Press
ownin Monterey, Calif.
PHOENIX — They are brothers and business partners. Yet they, face the cruel reality that when one is joyful, the other must suffer.
This week's movement toward a settlement, with the start of the season just days away, has once again flipped their fates.
For the past month, Rich has been starring for the replacement Brewers while Mike has been struggling with his emotions as "a replacement batting cage instructor" at the baseball academy they
Now, Mike is cautiously optimistic about the possibility of a settlement and his return to the field. Rich is lamenting the possible loss of a big payday and the end of his baseball career.
Rich, 31, who has hit .369 with four homers and 25 RBIs this spring for Milwaukee, hopes to start the regular season with the Brewers. That would earn him a $5,000 bonus and the promise of a $20,000 severance payment.
"It's good for him and bad for me," Rich said. "My good news is always his bad news, and that's the way it's been from the start. I'm happy for him and for baseball, but I'm sad for my family."
he'll get just a $5,000 check on April 15 and the $2,500 in meal money he's saved this spring.
Mike, 34, tried to discourage Rich from becoming a replacement player, and has not been supportive of his younger brother.
If the strike ends before replacements play in the regular season,
"I've tried desperately to look at it objectively, but it's hard to be peepy and upbeat in my conversations with him."
"I'm not by any means looking at it as 'Let's keep things happening good for me and bad for my brother,'" Mike said. "I don't want to be a selfish person, but I want it to end soon."
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