Midwest Roundup : Bartow Earns a Showdown Against Old School

Alabama Birmingham, appearing in its fifth straight NCAA tournament, scored a 70-68 upset victory over Michigan State in a Midwest Regional first-round game at Houston.

The victory puts Blazer Coach Gene Bartow in a position to add another footnote to his career. In Sunday’s second round, Alabama Birmingham meets Memphis State, a team Bartow coached to the NCAA final against champion UCLA in 1973.

The victory was made possible by Steve Mitchell and Jerome Mincy, who each scored 18 points to nullify a 32-point performance by Spartan guard Sam Vincent.

“Vincent was everything we were told,” Bartow said. “We changed defenses four times in the second half to throw off their timing.”

Spartan Coach Jud Heathcote said: “Our inside guys disappeared in the second half and we lost it on the boards.”

The lead changed eight times in the first half, with the Spartans (19-10) going into the locker room ahead, 35-32.

Alabama Birmingham (25-8) took the lead for good midway through the second half on a basket by Mitchell that made it 46-45. The Blazers never trailed again, boosting the lead to a game-high eight points at 59-51 with 6:26 to go.

A late surge by Vincent and a basket by Scott Skiles at the final buzzer cut the margin to the final score.

James Ponder added 15 points for the Blazers, while Skiles finished with 15 for the Spartans.

In other first-round games in Houston Friday, Boston College edged Texas Tech, Memphis State downed Penn, and Duke defeated Pepperdine.

Alabama Birmingham faces Memphis State and Boston College meets Duke in Sunday’s second round.

Boston College 55, Texas Tech 53--Michael Adams’ 25-foot jumper with five seconds to play carried the Eagles to victory over the Southwest Conference champion Red Raiders.

Adams, who scored 17 points, got the ball with 13 seconds to play after a time out, dribbled to the top of the key, and let fly with a perfect shot. Boston College (19-10) had stalled the final 1:31 off the clock before the game-winner.

Texas Tech’s Vince Taylor had tied the game at 53-53 with a layup before Adams’ heroics.

Bubba Jennings led Tech (23-8) with 16 points and Taylor added 12.

Roger McCready scored 17 points for the Eagles.

Memphis State 67, Penn 55--Playing all but a minute of the second half without foul-plagued All-American Keith Lee, the Tigers (28-3) turned to hot-shooting guard Andre Turner in their win over the Quakers.

Lee played only 61 seconds of the second half before drawing his fourth foul, and the 17-point underdog Quakers built a five-point lead at 31-26.

The lead changed 17 times before Turner, who finished with 16 points, and William Bedford, who had 11, took control for the Tigers, champions of the Metro Conference.

Penn (13-14) was paced by Perry Bromwell with 16 points and Phil Pitts with 12.

Memphis State held only a 26-25 lead at halftime as the surprising Quakers, the Ivy League champions, controlled the flow of the game.