6B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2006
NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Wisconsin-Milwaukee upsets No. 6 Oklahoma
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers have stopped surprising themselves in the NCAA tournament.
BY FRED GOODALL THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pulling off their third major upset in two years, the 11th-seeded Horizon League champions got 24 points apiece from Joah Tucker and Boo Davis to eliminate No. 6 seed Oklahoma 82-74 in the Minneapolis Regional on Thursday.
The closest Oklahoma (20-9) got the rest of the way was six. Terrell Everett led the Sooners with 21 points, but most of his production came after it was too late.
Tucker, one of the stars in Milwaukee's stunning run to the round of 16 last season, scored nine during a 23-7 surge that carried the Panthers (22-8) to a 60-46 lead with just over seven minutes to go.
With four starters back — but without coach Bruce Pearl, now at Tennessee — from the team that upset Alabama and Boston College before losing to eventual national finalist Illinois in last year's tournament. Milwaukee had both the experience and confidence
necessary to get the job done again against an Oklahoma team that many felt underachieved in finishing third in the Big 12.
Inconsistency undermined the Sooners all season, and it looked like they could be in for a long afternoon when Tucker's high-arching three-pointer put Milwaukee up 24-14 with just over eight minutes left in the opening half.
But just as quickly as it appeared the game might be slipping away, Michael Neal hit a three-pointer and Kevin Bookout made two easy baskets to start a 17-9 run that closed Oklahoma's deficit to 33-31 at the half.
The Sooners closed the gap despite playing the last three minutes of the half without Bookout, who walked off clutching his already-taped left wrist after getting tangled with a Milwaukee player and tumbling to the floor.
The Oklahoma forward returned for the start of the second half with his wrist taped even more heavily and finished with 14 points. David Godbold had 15 points and leading scorer Taj Gray had 13 before fouling out in the closing minutes.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Joah Tucker and Derrick Ford celebrate their 82-74 victory against Oklahoma in the first-round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament Thursday in Jacksonville, Fla.
Alex Brandon/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Boston College ends victorious in double-overtime battle
NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
BY EDDIE PELLS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SALT LAKE CITY — Boston College got the first NCAA thriller out of the way Thursday, a double-overtime 88-76 victory that derailed scrappy Pacific and the Maraker Express.
The final overtime was anticlimacit, but the fourth-seeded Eagles (27-7) made it interesting for the first 45 minutes.
first overtime and needed a pair of free throws from Craig Smith, a 64 percent shooter, with 4.3 seconds left to send the game into the next extra period.
With nine seconds left in regulation, Pacific's star, Christian Maraker, hit an open three-pointer to tie the game at 65 — a shot the Pacific fans were cheering for even before it left his hands.
But BC held Maraker scoreless in the two overtimes and
BC trailed by six early in the
the 13th-seeded Tigers (24-8) failed in their quest to advance to the second round for the third straight year.
Everyone on the BC team but Jared Dudley took the razor to their head before the game and now, the Eagles will take their game, and their new look, into the second round of the Minneapolis regional against either Nevada or Montana.
Smith led the Eagles with 25
points and 13 rebounds and Dudley had 23 points. Tyrese Rice opened the second overtime with an alley-oop pass to Sean Williams for a dunk, then followed with a three-pointer, his only bucket of the game
— to help Boston College start pulling away.
Pacific had a bunch of nice looks early in that overtime, but Maraker (30 points, nine rebounds) and Johnny Gray each had three-pointers rim out. By
the time the Big West champs scored, they were trailing by nine with 1:45 left — playing out the string in an otherwise taut, exciting game.
rim on Pacific's next possession, the Eagles worked it to Smith, who drew contact inside against Maraker and went to the line for the tying free throws.
Mike Webb opened the first overtime with a pair of three-pointers to put Pacific ahead 71-65. BC pulled within two, but Gray (16 points) answered with another three to make it 74-69. But Dudley made a three-pointer to pull it within two and after Michael White barely grazed the
As the second overtime wore down and it became clear this would be Maraker's last college game, the small Pacific fan base got its point across — yelling "overrated" to the BC players who had to work hard against the team from Stockton, Calif.