Syracuse Holds Off South Florida
Jonny Flynn made a jumper with two minutes to go, and Eric Devendorf hit two free throws in the closing seconds, helping No. 13 Syracuse hold off South Florida, 59-54, in Tampa on Friday night.
Andy Rautins scored 14 points and Arinze Onuaku added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Orange, which led by 16 at halftime but struggled to put the game away, in part because of poor free-throw shooting.
But Devendorf stepped to the line and calmly sank both ends of a one-and-one with 19.2 seconds remaining.
Syracuse (14-1, 2-0 Big East), which scored the last 11 points of the first half to take a 35-19 lead at the break, appeared to be headed for an easy victory before Dominique Jones made two 3-pointers to begin a methodical comeback.
South Florida (5-8, 0-1) pulled to 55-52 before Flynn's jumper gave the Orange breathing room.
TEXAS 78, APPALACHIAN ST. 43 Dexter Pittman set career highs with 21 points and 11 rebounds, leading No. 8 Texas to a victory at home over Appalachian State.
Pittman scored the final 7 points of the first half and the first 6 of the second half for the Longhorns (11-2), who went on a 19-2 run to take a 44-23 lead with 14 minutes 58 seconds left in the game.
Damion James had 14 points and 13 rebounds for Texas, and Gary Johnson added 16 points, 9 rebounds and a Longhorns season-high 5 blocked shots.
S. CAROLINA 85, BAYLOR 84 Devan Downey scored only 4 points in the first half but finished with 23 to lead the visiting Gamecocks past No. 19 Baylor. Zam Fredrick scored 19 points and made the go-ahead basket with 5.1 seconds left. Mike Holmes had 11 points, and Dominique Archie and Brandis Raley-Ross scored 10 each for the Gamecocks (10-2).
Curtis Jerrells scored 22 points for Baylor (12-2). Kevin Rogers had 14 points and 13 rebounds, Tweety Carter scored 18 points, and Henry Dugat had 16.
U.S.C. 83, OREGON 62 Dwight Lewis tied a career high with 26 points, the freshman DeMar DeRozan had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and visiting Southern California defeated Oregon in the Pacific-10 Conference opener for both teams.
Daniel Hackett added 15 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists for the Trojans (10-3), whose only loss in their last eight games was to No. 4 Oklahoma.
Tajuan Porter led the Ducks (6-7) with 12 points, but had only 2 in the second half.
MARIST 60, ST. PETER'S 54 Kaylen Gregory scored 15 points as Marist beat visiting St. Peter's.
Ryan Schneider added 15 points and 6 rebounds for Marist (6-9, 2-1 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), and David Devezin had eight assists in his first start since sustaining a heel injury in mid-December.
Wesley Jenkins had a game-high 16 points for St. Peter's (4-9, 1-2).
LEHIGH 73, COLUMBIA 59 Zahir Carrington scored 21 points and Bob Keefer added 20 as Lehigh overcame an early 15-point deficit to beat visiting Columbia.
Keefer shot 7 for 10 from the field, including 4 for 4 from 3-point range, and Marquis Hall added 12 points for Lehigh (10-3).
Joe Bova and Niko Scott each scored 10 points for Columbia (4-8), which shot 38 percent (23 for 60) from the field, including 6 for 24 on 3-pointers.
Women
STANFORD 64, ARIZONA ST. 61 Jillian Harmon scored 18 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and made a steal down the stretch to help No. 11 Stanford win at Arizona State in the Pac-10 opener for both teams.
Kayla Pedersen added 17 points and 6 rebounds for Stanford (10-3). Briann January scored 21 points, including 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range, to lead the Sun Devils (8-5).
CALIFORNIA 56, ARIZONA 46 Ashley Walker scored 23 points to lead No. 13 California to a victory over host Arizona.
California (10-2, 1-0 Pacific-10) also relied on Casey Morris, who scored all 18 of her points in the first half.
Reiko Thomas led Arizona (7-5, 0-1) with 16 points. VIRGINIA 62, GEORGIA 60 Lyndra Littles scored 14 of her 23 points in the final seven minutes to help No. 16 Virginia hold off visiting Georgia.
Georgia led, 58-57, with just more than a minute left, but a 3-point play by Littles and Enonge Stovall's two free throws sealed the victory.
Monica Wright led the Cavaliers (12-2) with 24 points. Ashley Houts led the Lady Bulldogs (9-5) with 19 points; Angel Robinson grabbed 11 rebounds.
(c) 2009 The New York Times Company
OSU men's basketball: Ford rivalry with Rams is rekindled
STILLWATER --- Of the two All-College Classic games being played tonight at the Ford Center, the Oklahoma-Virginia Commonwealth contest appears to have the more interesting back story, since OU coach Jeff Capel came from VCU.
But Oklahoma State's game against Rhode Island has an unexpected rivalry flavor, despite the fact the teams have never met before. The Cowboys and Rams tip off at 6:30 tonight at the Ford Center.
Rhode Island plays in the Atlantic 10, the same conference as UMass, where OSU coach Travis Ford spent the last three seasons. The Rams (8-3) are "kind of a rivalry to UMass," Ford said. According to the Providenc Journal, Ford helped ESPN broker the deal through Rhode Island athletic director Thorr Bjorn, who Ford became friends with when Bjorn was an athletic administrator at UMass.
"They're the closest school to us in the league," Ford said. "They're only an hour and a half from UMass.
If tonight's game resembles the UMass-Rhode Island games Ford and Rams coach Jim Baron played in the past, fans are in for a good one. The Minutemen and Rams played six times in the three years Ford was at UMass. Four of those games were decided by three points or fewer, and only once did a team win by double figures. UMass won four of the six.
Assistant coach Steve Middleton, who was on Ford's staff at UMass, told the Cowboys during Thursday's scouting report, "They know Travis Ford is here, so that's a rivalry. They will know that. It won't be missed."
The history is also helpful when it comes to scouting. The Rams play an up-and-down style similar to Ford's ideal tempo, and Ford said Baron, who has been at Rhode Island for eight seasons, is excellent at developing players who aren't highly recruited.
(c) 2008 NewsOk.
BYU men's basketball: Miles hopes to break slump for Portland
PROVO - Chris Miles is in a slump, and he knows it.
The BYU center had his best game as a college basketball player three weeks ago, scoring a career-high 24 points and grabbing six rebounds in a 76-64 win over Cal Poly.
In the four games since then, though, he has scored a total of 18 points.
"Yeah, in some ways I am struggling," the 6-foot-11 junior from Timpview High said Thursday. "I am looking forward to getting out of it."
The reason, as much as anything else, is foul trouble. Although he hasn't been disqualified on fouls since the Cal Poly game, ironically, Miles has gotten into early foul trouble in almost every game since then, forcing coach Dave Rose to turn to backups Gavin McGregor and James Anderson earlier than he wanted to.
Miles' playing time has decreased to the point where he was on the floor for only 13 minutes in BYU's 94-56 win over Boise State, which could have hurt the Cougars because McGregor was ill. But Anderson gave Rose 27 critical minutes, and had a career-high 10 points.
"I can't necessarily blame the refs. I can't necessarily blame my teammates. All I can do is say it was a tough situation and move on," Miles said.
The Cougars host 5-2 Portland of the West Coast Conference tonight in the Marriott Center (8 p.m., mtn.), and Rose says he will need solid contributions from his post players because the Pilots are a team similar to Utah State.
"It's a big, post-oriented team. They really like to play through their posts," Rose said. "They have 6-foot-9, 6-10 big, strong guys. So it will be a game where, kind of like Utah State, the ball will go into the post, and they will play out from there."
Miles served his LDS Church mission in Portland, and last year had a big crowd of supporters on hand at Chiles Center when the Cougars beat the Pilots 81-69. Portland forward Robin Smeulders is 6-10 and center Kramer Knutson is 6-9. The Pilots' leading scorer is 6-4 forward Nik Raivio (15.7 ppg.), and the club also features B.J. Porter, a 6-3 sophomore guard from Utah's Layton Christian High.
BYU guard Jackson Emery twisted his ankle and sat out most of Thursday's practice, but Rose said he thinks the sophomore starter will play.
(c) The Salt Lake Tribune.
Kansas' Self won't let alma mater's job opening distract as Jayhawks prep for North Carolina
SAN ANTONIO -- On the day Sean Sutton resigned as Oklahoma State's coach, Bill Self walked into Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins' office.
Self told Perkins what he already knew: there would be speculation that Self was a candidate to return to his alma mater.
Perkins said Thursday that Self told him: "'I'm staying. I'm not going anyplace."
The only destination on Self's mind these days is the national championship game.
He's already reached another elusive goal -- the Final Four. Self had been one step away four times until the Jayhawks held off Davidson on Sunday in the Midwest Region final.
Think he was relieved? When Davidson launched its last-gasp shot, Self crouched in front of his bench, as if he almost couldn't bear to watch. The shot fell harmlessly away, and Self had erased the one glaring gap on his resume.
"I don't know if it was on his back or anything, but I think it was on his mind quite a bit," Perkins said. "He's been so close. I'm glad for him that he was able to break through. I don't think he lay awake at night saying, 'If I don't do this, I'm not a good coach."
Self's reward for breaking through is a date in the national semifinals with mighty North Carolina (36-2), the top overall seed.
As if the matchup wasn't intriguing enough, it also pits Self against his predecessor, Roy Williams, still vilified by many Jayhawks fans despite leading Kansas to four Final Fours.
"Fans will make a big deal of it," said Self, who is 140-32 in five seasons at Kansas.
Some Kansas fans are still mad at Williams for leaving for his alma mater. The same people might be worried about Self doing the same thing. He graduated from Oklahoma State in 1985.
The coaching merry-go-round has become a fact of Final Four life, with speculation about coaches' moves filling the idle time until tipoff. Perkins said he's not concerned.
"He's given me no indication he's leaving," Perkins said. "Bill's not a phony."
Self has made it clear he wants to stay at Kansas. The school gave Self a five-year contract extension last season, increasing his annual compensation to more than $1.3 million with a chance to make another $350,000 each year if he meets incentives.
Perkins said he and the 45-year-old Self will meet after the season to talk about a new deal -- and Self stands to capitalize on his newly minted status as a Final Four coach.
Self had been agonizingly close to the Final Four four times, reaching the regional final with Tulsa in 2000, Illinois in 2001 and Kansas in 2004 and 2007.
As if Self's near-misses weren't painful enough, he had to watch from afar as Illinois went 37-1 on its way to the 2005 championship game, where it lost to North Carolina. In a case of spectacularly bad timing, Self had left Champaign -- and a potential national championship roster -- for Kansas in 2003.
"I really thought that that team had a chance to be special," Self said. "That group of players -- turned out five of those guys all played in the NBA. But it was tough watching them play, because I know I could have been a part of that.
"I just kept telling myself: 'Hey, we did it for the long run, and this is the long run," Self said.
The long run was bumpy at times. When Self arrived in Lawrence, the Jayhawks were coming off a title-game loss to Carmelo Anthony and Syracuse. Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich had left for the NBA, and although Kansas still had talent, it took Self time to connect with his new players.
Self made it to the regional final in his first season at Kansas. But first-round NCAA tourney losses to Bucknell in 2005 and Bradley a year later didn't make him any more popular in Lawrence.
"It's different when you walk into a situation saying, 'OK, guys, this is how we're going to play and it works,' and you haven't won as much as a guy that played differently that was in there before you," Self said. "So the players would maybe say, 'Why do we want to play that way? We know this other way works.' So that right there was to me the challenge: getting everyone to buy into that this was best for us."
Self doesn't have to worry about that now. These are his Jayhawks -- a talented group that is willing to share the ball and the accolades. Kansas has five players averaging between 9.2 and 13.1 points per game.
The Jayhawks like to run. That could spell trouble against the Tar Heels, who might have the most dangerous transition game in the Final Four. But Self said he won't try to slow the pace.
"We're not going to change who we are going into this," Self said. "So I'm not going to tell our guys, 'Let's ratchet it down.' We've got to play. We just can't let them play the way they want to play. But we still have to play the way we want to."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Stanford's big guys ready to face little Longhorns - and all their fans
HOUSTON -- At some point Friday night, perhaps as early as pregame layups, the chants will start.
"Texas!" the burnt-orange throng on one side of the stadium will holler.
"Fight!" the other side will answer.
Brook Lopez and his Stanford teammates will notice, of course -- 25,000 people tend to make a lot of noise. And with their hands locked in the Hook 'em Horns gesture, their arms pivoting in unison, it'll be quite a sight, too.
Yet Cardinal players insist it won't bother them, even when the Orangebloods gang up and turn against them. After the catcalls they heard at UCLA and the edgy jabs spewed at Oregon State, they're convinced playing Texas in an NFL stadium in Houston will be just another road game.
"Same thing," Lopez said. "Just a bigger arena."
Bigger stakes, too.
Texas and Stanford are playing in a South Regional semifinal, with the winner becoming among the eight teams still vying for the national title. The third-seeded Cardinal (28-7) hasn't gotten this far since 2001, while the second-seeded Longhorns (30-6) already have gotten a round farther than they did last year with superstar freshman Kevin Durant.
The matchup is a classic case of opposites: Stanford and its big guys, 7-foot twins Brook and Robin Lopez, vs. Texas and its little guys, do-it-all guard D.J. Augustin and shooting ace A.J. Abrams.
Analysts can fill a school's worth of chalkboards with strategies and counterstrategies about exploiting those differences. But the X factor might be how both teams will react to the Longhorns-loving crowd.
After all, the pressure of trying to please family, friends and fans can be a burden for guys in their late teens and early 20s.
"We don't want them distracted from the fact that we have to get ready to play a basketball game against an outstanding team," coach Rick Barnes said.
Texas has done just fine in recent years, going 6-0 in NCAA tournament games played in the Lone Star State since 2002. That includes a trip to the Final Four in '03 that was sealed by a pair of regional-round wins in San Antonio.
Back then, the Alamodome was more raucous than a neutral site is supposed to be. Longhorns fans could make it even louder this time, mainly because there will be even more of them. The Reliant Stadium configuration can hold around 40,000 fans and Houston is home to the one of the largest group of Texas exes.
"It's going to be great, man," said swingman Damion James, among nine native Texans on the roster. "I'm excited, the fans should be excited. And I want you to put this: We really appreciate them to come out and support us. Keep cheering."
Go ahead, said Stanford coach Trent Johnson, who considers it such a moot point he doesn't plan to talk to the club about it.
"This is a mature, experienced basketball team," he said. "The one thing I've told them that the crowds get bigger and the magnitudes in question in the game gets bigger, but it's still a game itself, and your ability to relax and do what you've done all year long is going to put you in situations where you can be successful or not."
A scan of the Cardinal's record shows at least a hint that hostile crowds can get to them: six of its seven losses came away from home.
Three were to UCLA, and there's no shame in that; the Bruins are the top seed in the West region. Stanford held its own in the road games, going to overtime at Pauley Pavilion and losing in the final seconds of the Pac-10 tournament (at the Staples Center, as much of a neutral site as this will be).
As encouraging as that might be for Cardinal fans, there's also this fact: Texas was one of the two teams that beat UCLA at home this season.
"You watch that videotape and you understand that that basketball team is more than D.J. Augustin's team," Johnson said. "It's a very complete team and a very tough-minded team and a very skilled team."
Abrams has been the offensive spark in the NCAA tournament, scoring 26 points in each of the first two games. Texas also gets a lot of outside shots from its frontcourt of James and Connor Atchley. At 6-foot-10, Atchley is technically a center, but he takes -- and makes -- the third-most 3-pointers on the squad.
Texas isn't all small. On the bench there's 6-foot-10, 299-pound Dexter Pittman. He had 10 points and 11 rebounds in the opening round and might log extended minutes to help contain the Lopez brothers.
Stanford talked Thursday about trying to play a slow-tempo game, but that's not totally its style. The Cardinal averages 71.2 points per game, only 4.3 less than the Longhorns.
Brook and Robin are the focal points at both ends of the court. Brook averages 19 points and is coming off a buzzer-beater over Marquette.
The other highlight from that game was Johnson getting tossed in the first half. That couldn't possibly happen again ... could it?
"Yeah," he said. "If we get off to a bad start, I'm going to get ejected again so we can win the game."
Hearing laughter, he added, "It's not a joke, it's true, I love winning, so whatever it takes."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
College-loving Hibbert prepares for last go-round with Georgetown
WASHINGTON -- Roy Hibbert is really going to miss college life. If the NCAA offered a fifth year of eligibility, it's easy to get the feeling the Georgetown center would take it -- and postpone the trappings of the NBA yet again.
Because when Hibbert does turn pro, he'll leave behind the late nights he and the rest of the Hoyas seniors spent in point guard Jonathan Wallace's room just talking. Gone will be the days when he can sit next to what he calls "random people" on campus and spontaneously start a conversation. He'll no longer get to take fascinating classes like his current favorite, black nationalism, for a degree in government that has him thinking about running for office someday.
And wherever he winds up in the NBA, it's doubtful Hibbert will be able to get together with Georgetown teammate Tyler Crawford for a game of Halo on Xbox.
"The two of us versus everybody else," Hibbert said. "I wouldn't have been able to get that chance if I left to go to the NBA last year. That's one of the things I'll remember."
In that sense, Hibbert is just like many college seniors who hate the thought of leaving the friends and familiarity of campus for the responsibilities of the working world. Unlike most of those kids, however, Hibbert is 7-foot-2 and could be making a hefty salary right now if he had followed former Georgetown teammate Jeff Green to the NBA last year.
"He's absorbing all of the college life," Wallace said. "Everybody wants to go for the early money, but Roy saw the bigger picture. It's all about developing both athletically and academically. Roy takes a lot of pride in that."
It's only recently begun to dawn on Hibbert that he is in his final days as a basketball player on the Hilltop. He and the Hoyas, the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Regional, will face Maryland-Baltimore County on Friday in the first game of his final NCAA tournament. The goal, of course, is to win the national championship, completing the task left undone last year when Georgetown reached the Final Four but lost to Ohio State.
"I want to get in as much time as I can with these guys before we have to depart, before basketball gets really serious and we have to talk about contracts and stuff," Hibbert said. "Hopefully, we can go out with a bang."
If college is about growing up, Hibbert has spent his four years well. He arrived as a stiff, awkward-looking freshman who, by his own admission, didn't think he would have to work very hard because he was so tall.
"I remember the first workouts of his freshman year, we had him out here just working on moving. 'Let's go from this end of the floor to that end of the floor and see if we can pick our feet off the ground," coach John Thompson III said.
"But he's grown up. He was a 17-year-old freshman that was unsure of himself on the floor, off the floor, that's been teased all his life," Thompson said. "It's not like Roy came in the door with the same confidence, with the same swagger, with the same accolades that Patrick (Ewing), Alonzo (Mourning) and most of the other people in our league came in with. ... You've seen on the floor and off the floor his maturation and growth."
Now it's time for Hibbert to lead the Hoyas toward an NCAA title, something that's easier said than done.
Green was the undisputed leader last season, a role that fit his personality, but Hibbert has a softer demeanor that can look out of place when the Hoyas need a spark. It's not that he is incapable of turning it on, but it might take a raging fire lit under him -- like when he scored a season-high 25 points in last week's Big East tournament semifinals one day after foul trouble limited him to zero points in the quarterfinals.
"He's understanding and has a sense of what is necessary for us to win," Thompson said. "At times that's to be more aggressive, more assertive than he is by nature."
If Hibbert has trouble being assertive, he could be in trouble in the career he's eying for his post-basketball days. He'd love to dabble in politics -- he's having a ball watching Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton battle for the 2008 Democratic nomination -- and was nicknamed "Governor" by a teammate at last summer's Pan Am Games.
Hibbert has joked about running for president as a Democrat, with Alabama-native Wallace as his running mate so that they could carry the Southern states.
Lately, however, Hibbert has had a change of heart.
"I'm nice. Jon's a charming young chap," Hibbert said. "I'll let him be at the top of the ticket. He can do all the work, and I'll just go to funerals."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Douglas-Roberts scores 17, No. 2 Memphis downs Tulane 75-56 to open tourney
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Even the free throws were dropping for Memphis as the Tigers began what they hope will be another championship run through the Conference USA tournament with an easy victory.
Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 17 points, and No. 2 Memphis made 71 percent of its free throws in a 75-56 victory Thursday night on its home floor against Tulane.
The Tigers (31-1) came in shooting 58.7 percent from the line, one of the worst percentages in Division I. It's the most obvious weakness on team with few. Against Tulane, Memphis went 22-for-31 from the stripe.
"I know that makes everybody mad because they want this to be the centerpiece of our team, our free throw shooting," Memphis coach John Calipari said. "These guys will tell you, I've never worried about it."
Even Joey Dorsey, who has only gotten worse in his career and now is a 36.4 percent shooter at the line as a senior, got into the act. He finished 4-for-6 and drew a loud cheer from the crowd after hitting three of his first four.
"What about Joey stepping up and making free throws. ... That is a big night," Calipari said.
Memphis, the two-time defending tournament champ, will play Southern Mississippi, which beat No. 4 seed UCF 68-62.
Calipari and the Tigers are trying to lock down a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament for the second time in three seasons. As long as they don't stumble in the conference tournament, a top seed seems like a good bet.
That just wasn't going to happen Thursday night, not against No. 9 seed Tulane (17-15) which had lost eight of its last nine. Memphis improved to 38-6 in this series.
Tulane coach Dave Dickerson wasn't happy about the discrepancy in free-throw shooting. Tulane shot only 10 free throws and was called for 23 fouls.
"I just wish we could have had a better situation for our guys," Dickerson said. "Hats off to Memphis. They are a very good team, great coach, great players. I hope they win a national championship for our conference."
Memphis, who beat Tulane 97-71 on Feb. 20, came in having beaten the Green Wave by an average of 30½ points in their past six games. The Green Wave hasn't beaten Memphis since Feb. 9, 2000, or left Memphis with a win over the Tigers since 1992.
Robert Dozier added 14 points for Memphis, his highest-scoring game since that last win against Tulane, and he also grabbed nine rebounds. Doneal Mack added 11 points off the bench. Derrick Rose had six assists and six rebounds to offset a 2-for-8 performance from the floor.
David Gomez led Tulane with 18 points, and Robinson Louisme added 13 on 6-of-7 shooting. Gomez said he feels the seniors left a mark at Tulane with consecutive winning seasons.
"We have gone through a lot of adversity, and I feel like we have come through that," he said.
Memphis dominated on the boards, too, outrebounding Tulane 43-28.
The Tigers never gave Tulane a chance to get started. They dunked on three of their first four buckets and grabbed eight of the first 10 rebounds. Louisme picked up two fouls within the first 24 seconds and got his third at 16:07, which helped neutralize him on the boards.
"That's where it all started from, and our confidence was real high after that," Douglas-Roberts said. "And that made it easy for us to get out and run."
Dickerson tried to slow down Memphis, calling two 30-second timeouts inside the opening seven minutes. With the Green Wave missing four of their first five shots, it wasn't enough.
Willie Kemp came off the bench and hit a 3-pointer for Memphis, and Doneal Mack added another for a 16-4 lead at 14:26
But Memphis went cold, not hitting another shot from the floor after Douglas-Roberts' jumper with 10:40 left in the first half. Tulane tried to take advantage of the Tigers' soft spot by sending them to the line.
It didn't work. Memphis connected on 14-of-19 in the first half, and the Tigers led by as much as 23 in the second half.
Calipari took a share of the blame for disrupting the Tigers' rhythm by substituting too much.
"When you are doing this tournament thing, the biggest thing is I just want to know how many guys am I going to be able to play, and we subbed I think 11 or 12 in that first half," Calipari said.
The fans got so bored they started doing the wave and cheered Dorsey, who has fouled out four times this season, when he picked up his first personal foul with 6:24 to go.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
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