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March 18, 2000 By Mike Lurie SportsLine.com Staff Writer |
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- It's often hard to distinguish between the No. 8 and
No. 9 seeds in any bracket.
Kansas goes OT to hold off DePaul Video: NCAA Tournament highlights NCAA Tournament schedule and results
It's especially tough when the two teams are young, trying to find their
identity even at this late date.
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Not surprisingly, No. 8 Kansas and No. 9 DePaul were within a basket of each other for most of their game Friday night in the East regional at Joel Coliseum.
Strangely, it wasn't until DePaul established its biggest lead -- a six-point edge during the overtime -- that Kansas rallied for an 81-77 OT win.
The Blue Demons have had a difficult time all year closing out games in which they held a late lead.
"It's sort of been an enigma for us all year, the last-second collapses," junior guard Paul McPherson said.
Said DePaul coach Pat Kennedy, "We had the lead 77-71 (in overtime), and we've had a few of these games -- going back to (losses to) Duke and Cincinnati.
"We just had some errors down the stretch. We missed some foul shots and allowed somebody to hit a 3. You have just a few key plays at the end that can make the game go either way."
Kansas starts three freshmen. But in crunch time, the critical plays came from junior center Eric Chenowith, senior swingman Nick Bradford and junior guard Kenny Gregory.
Gregory's steal and fullcourt drive for a dunk tied it at 77 before a Bradford layup with 47 seconds left gave the Jayhawks the lead for good.
Bradford finished with 14 points, Chenowith had 10 and Gregory 22.
"That says a lot about those kids," Kansas coach Roy Williams said.
Never in doubt?
Duke came nowhere near being the first No. 1 seed to fall to a No. 16 during its 82-55 defeat of Lamar. But Lamar (Beaumont, Texas) had things far closer than expected, trailing by three points with four minutes left in the first half.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski attributed Lamar's stubborn competitiveness to the kind of hot shooting underdogs can be known for.
"I think when you have nothing to lose, you shoot better," Krzyzewski said. "(Coach) Mike Deane had them in the proper frame of mind to be loose. And you shoot better when you're loose."
The Blue Devils actually contained Landon Rowe, the top scorer for Lamar, who was only 3 of 13 from the field. Unexpectedly, forward Kenyon Spears was dangerous. Spears finished with 19 to lead the team.
Duke senior Chris Carrawell was critical of the Blue Devils.
"No, I don't think we played well," Carrawell said. "Give a lot of credit to Lamar. They played really well, played like they had nothing to lose."
Krzyzewski and Deane both have ties to the Midwest -- Krzyzewski is from Chicago and Deane coached at Marquette, in Milwaukee, before coming to Lamar. There is a lot of mutual respect.
"They're extremely well-coached," Krzyzewski said of Lamar. "I asked Mike Deane who coaches them. We're pretty good friends, actually. He said I looked like our mascot. So I had to get back at him one time."
Deane said he expects "nothing but positive ramifications" for his program from his team's performance.
"We think this is definitely a building block for Lamar basketball and the university," Spears said.
Left quaking
Pennsylvania left its 68-58 loss to No. 4 seed Illinois knowing it had squandered its share of opportunities.
Shooting guard Matt Langel made all the right decisions in the first half, consistently getting open for clear looks at 3-point range. His shots just wouldn't fall. He was 1-for-8 from the floor in the first half.
Langel finished 4-of-14 from the field, for 11 points.
"I had a few open looks. I think if I step up and make a few of the shots, maybe it's a different situation," Langel said.
Penn also forced Illinois into 17 turnovers, but often rushed its own offensive sequence right after gaining possession.
At one point, coach Fran Dunphy was frustrated even with his best player, point guard Michael Jordan.
"These guys are young people, and they do some things that maybe you wish they made a different decision," Dunphy said. "But I love these guys to death."
Dunphy was forced to used Jordan only for specific offensive sequences in the first half after Jordan drew his third foul with 11:13 before intermission.
While the first two fouls might have been borderline calls, No. 3 was an unnecessary block on the perimeter. Jordan accrued the three fouls in a short span.
"I've never gotten three fouls in a span of 30 seconds before," Jordan said. "I should have backed off. But I play defense really aggressive."
Illini's Griffin makes strides
Junior center Marcus Griffin played a large role in the Illinois victory, scoring 17 points in 24 minutes off the bench.
Griffin continues to make gains after arthroscopic surgery on his knee on Jan. 22, a procedure that cost him the starting job to freshman Brian Cook.
"Griffin has been getting closer and closer all the way," Illinois coach Lon Kruger said. "He hasn't quite been able to finish the things he did (earlier in the season). He's been getting healthier in practice. Today, I thought he looked good. He had a lot of balance, energy and played well."
Still a novelty
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said the turnover on the Blue Devils' roster means nobody is blasé about reaching the NCAAs.
"For seven of the kids in the program, it's their first time in the tournament," he said.
"I told the kids that it wasn't until my ninth year as a head coach (including his time at Army) that we got into the tournament," Krzyzewski said. "They were kind of shocked about that -- like, 'Oh, you've been in it all the time.' Well ... no."
Senior hardship
Losing to Florida on Mike Miller's leaner at the overtime buzzer brought a sudden end to the careers of Butler seniors Andrew Graves and Mike Marshall.
Graves spoke as clearly and deliberately about the ending as he might sound giving someone directions to his house.
"It's kind of hard to believe it's over," Graves said in the locker room. "Next time I play basketball will be in the backyard with my little brother."
Said Marshall, "Miller made a big shot. And it's pretty much over for me, as far as being a basketball player."