University Daily Kansan / Monday, March 23, 1987
Sports
9
Two top seeds survive rough road to Final Four
The Associated Press
And finally there are four
The field of 64 NCAA Division I basketball teams has been reduced to just four teams, which will meet Saturday in New Orleans in the Final Four semifinals.
In one semifinal, No. 1-ranked Nevada-Las Vegas, the winner of the West Regional, will face third-ranked Utah in the Midwest Regional in Cincinnati.
Tenth-ranked Syracuse, 30-6, faces unranked Providence, 25-8, in the other semifinal, assuring that at least one Big East team will play for
the NCAA title. Syracuse upset second-ranked North Carolina 79-75 and won the East Regional on Saturday at East Rutherford, N.J., and Providence upended another Big East rival, fourth-ranked Georgetown, 88-73 in the Southeast Regional at Louisville.
The Syracuse-Providence semifinal is scheduled for 4:42 p.m. Saturday, with the second game at 7:12 p.m. The championship game will be plowed Monday night.
No Final Four teams from last year made a return trip this year LSU came within one game of mak
ing the exclusive quartet, while Kansas and Duke were eliminated after the round of sixteen.
Louisville, last year's national champion, did not receive a bid to the tournament.
In action Saturday, Syracuse outrebounded North Carolina 29-12 in the first half, led by 6-foot-10 junior center Rony Seikaly, and set the tone of the game, moving the Orangemen into only their second Final Four. Syracuse last advanced to the Final Four in 1975.
"We played a lot better in the second half, but by then it was a little
Seikaly scored 26 points and had 11 rebounds, while Reid was held to 15 points and six rebounds.
Syracuse, which beat Providence twice during the regular season, ballooned a 40-31 halftime lead to 53-38 with 15-41 to play. But North Carolina cut the lead to 57-54 with a 16-4 run. A basket by Kenny Smith of North Carolina cut the lead to 78-75 with 13 seconds left, but after Sherman Douglas hit one of two free throws, Smith missed a three-pointer as the game ended.
too late," Tar Heels freshman center J.R. Reid said.
Smith finished with 25 points for Carolina, which closed out its season at 32-4.
In the Southeast Regional, Providence was denied the three-point goal by Georgetown's defense, so the Friars went to the inside and advanced to its first Final Four since 1973.
Reserve forward Darryl Wright scored 20 points, including 11 during a 28-11 first-half run, matching the 20-point output of the Friar's toured outside shooter, guard Billy Donovan.
Providence, which led the nation in
three-point shooting, ran off to a 54-37 halftime lead, then built it to as many as 18 points in the second half.
Donovan had only five shots from the field, but made 16-of-18 attempts from the free throw line.
Providence coach Rick Pitino said he told his team beforehand that the three-point goal "was not going to be available to us today. We only had one day to prepare, to change our entire philosophy in order to win.
All-American Reggie Williams led all scorers with 25 points for Georgetown, which had won 14 in a row.
Rebels rally late, squeeze by Iowa
From Kansan wires
SEATTLE — Freddie Banks and Gerald Paddio, both mirred in deep shooting slumps, hit seven three-point shots during a second-half surge yesterday as No. 1 Nevada-Las Vegas stormed back from the 19-point deficit and beat Iowa 84-81, advancing to the NCAA Final Four.
Iowa had a chance to tie the score,
but Kevin Gamble, who threw away a
pass with 14 seconds left, missed a
23-foot shot as time ran out.
The victory sends UNLV into a Saturday matchup against Indiana in New Orleans and gives the Runnin' Rebels a 37-1 mark, tying the record for most wins in a season set last year by Duke.
UNLV rallied from way behind on the strength of the three-point shot and shocked an Iowa team that held a comfortable 58-42 halftime lead.
The charge was led by Banks and Paddio, who hit only one of 11 combined three-point tries in the first half. As a team, UNLV made just three-of-14 three-point attempts in the first half.
"I've given Gerald the green light all year," said UNL coach Jerry Tarkianan. "He's been in a slump for nine games. I've been telling him to keep going. Thank God he was hitting in the second half."
With UNLV trailing 62-44 early in the second half, Banks hit a three-point shot and the Rumni' Rebels were on their way.
After the two teams traded baskets, Paddio, who had missed his first six three-pointers, hit his first of four. Banks followed with two free throws.
Suddenly, UNLV was within seven points, trailing 66-59. Paddio then hit three straight three-pointers and gave UNLV a lead at 10:07 of the second half, and the Rebels never trained again. Banks capped a 27-4 win, with UNLV leading another three pointers with 8:26 remaining to make it 71-66.
"Coach told us if we want it badly
enough, go out and get it," said Banks, who finished five of 20 from the floor and four of 13 on three-pointers. "Armor told me not to get down. I went in the second half and shot some threes. When they started going down, I wanted the ball in my hands.
"I was amazed when they were falling. I'm always surprised when a three-pointer goes in for me. Once my three-pointers are not falling, I have another option and that's to drive."
Iowa refused to fold, however,
moving to within 82-78 on a basket by
guard B.J. Armstrong with 2:05
remaining. The two teams then
exchanged steals before Banks
missed a free throw, and Iowa got
the ball with about a minute left.
Gamble hit a three-point shot with 33 seconds left and pulled within 82-81 and Iowa used its zone press and kept UNLV from reaching the half-court line within the required 10 seconds, forcing a turnover.
Gamble, on what appeared to be a designed play to 7-foot Brad Lohaus inside, hit the backboard with his knee. The UNLV the ball with 14 seconds left.
UNLV senior guard Gary Graham made both his free throws after being fouled with 10 seconds left, setting up the final missed shot by Gamble, who had put Iowa in the West Regional finals by hitting a three-point basket in overtime to beat Oklahoma on Friday.
Armon Gilliam, who kept UNLV in the game through a miserable first-half performance, led all scorers with 27 points while Paddio had 20 and Banks added 17 for the Runnin' Rebels.
"Once Gerald got back in the game, I knew it would be easier for me," said Gilliam. "Number one, it spread things out. Once Gerald started hitting, I was real confident we would win."
Gamble and B.J. Armstrong both had 18 points for Iowa. Lohaus added 12 points, 10 of them in the first half.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Providence's Billy Donovan drives past Alabama's Mark Gottfried during the NCAA Southeast semifinal game. The sharp-shooting Friars租住 Alabama 103-82 Thursday, and went on to defeat Georgetown 88-73 on Saturday and earn a berth in the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans.
Royals beat Pittsburgh 4-1 in exhibition play
The Royals banged out 10 hits.
Tony Pena's single with two outs in the sixth was the lone Pirate hit. Steve Shirley and Dan Quisenbergh had half a miller over the final three innings.
United Press International
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Danny Jackson gave up just one hit in six innings yesterday, leading the Kansas City Royals to a 4-1 exhibition victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In other action, the Royals sent right-handed pitches the Shaw and Bill Swaggerty to the minor league complex yesterday. The Royals now have 35 players left in camp, including seven non-roster.
with Willie Wilson, Bo Jackson, Kevin Seitzer and Danny Tartabull each contributing two.
Wilson doubled and scored in the sixth and singled in two more runs in the seventh. George Brett's first run was a Sweeter with the other Rovers run.
'Hawks lose more than a game
By NICOLE SAUZEK
Take that.
If losing to Georgetown 70 57 in the NCAA Southeast semifinal was not enough for the Kansas men's basketball team, having their hotel rooms burglarized was.
While the team was at Louisville's Freedom Hall on Thursday night playing what would be their last game of the season, $2,000 to $5,000 in cash, jewelry, and cameras was stolen from their rooms at the Holiday Inn Airport East, punctuating an already disappointing day.
Doug Vance, sports information director, said yesterday that he did
not know any details of the theft, but that some of the rooms' doors looked as though they had been jinnied.
Hotel security said yesterday that the hotel would not comment on the theft while the Louisville city police conducted an investigation. A police report was not available yesterday.
According to Gary Hunter, associate athletic director, 11 to 12 rooms were robbed. The robbery occurred sometime between 7 p.m. and midnight, when the team was at the game.
Only two team members, Chris Piper and Keith Harris, were not robbed. Piper had put his money under his mattress before leaving for
the game and Harris had taken his valuables with him.
Kevin Pritchard lost the most in the burglary. Close to $1,000 in cash, jewelry and electronic equipment was taken.
None of the team's Final Four rings from last year, when KU reached the national semifinals before losing to Duke, were reported stolen.
The team stayed up most of the night with police, taking inventory of what had been taken.
The players were all staying on the first floor of the Holiday Inn. Coaches rooms' on the second floor were not touched.
Indiana slips by Tigers
United Press International
CINCINNATI — Indiana coach Bob Knight maintained that it was his "freak offense" that sparked Indiana past Louisiana State University in the Midwest Regional final and put the Hosiers into the Final Four.
Second-ranked Indiana, 28-4,
erased a 12-point deficit in the second
half yesterday and posted a 77-76
victory, becoming the first team
from the Big Ten to advance to the
Final Four since 1981 when Indiana
won the national title. The Hoosiers
will meet Nevada-Las Vegas, the
winner of the West Regional.
"It was our freak offense down there in the final five minutes," said Knight, making a sarcastic reference to LSU's well-publicized freak defense.
"I wasn't sure we could beat this team," Knight said. "As I continued to look at them on tape, I thought they were as good a collection of athletes playing as hard as I've seen all year."
Ricky Calloway scored on a rebound basket with 7 seconds left, lifting the Hoosiers. Calloway missed a missed shot by Daryl Thomas.
"I just went to the boards hard. Luckily, it went back in," said Calloway, who scored 11 points and had just that one offensive rebound in the game. "It was a great thrill, but we never gave up."
After the Calloway basket, LSU called timeout before inbounding from under its own basket. Nikita Wilson's 12-foot at the buzzer fell off the front rim, ending LSU's bid to return to the Final Four for the second straight year.
Steve Alford paced the Big Ten cochamps with 20 points, 18 in the first half. Dean Garrett added 17 and Thomas had 16.
Nakita Wilson scored 29 points and Anthony Wilson had 15 for LSU. 24-15. Freshman Fess Irvin came off the bench and scored 14, but missed the front end of a one-and-one with 26 seconds remaining with LSU up 76-75.
Indiana scored seven straight points, including a three-point play by reserve Joe Hillman, and closed the score to 75-73 with 3:06 left. LSU then went to a spread offense and committed two straight turnovers but Indiana failed to cash in on either opportunity.
"I don't regret the decision (to go to the spread)," LSU coach Dale Brown said. "We knew they only had four fouls and wanted to eat up some clock."
Daryl Joe hit the front end of a one-and-one and gave LSU a 76-73 lead with 50 seconds remaining. Keith Smart answered with two free throws, closing the deficit to 76-75 with 40 seconds remaining.
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