COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA TOURNAMENT : SOUTHEAST REGIONAL : It Comes Two Years Late, but Frieder Gets His NCAA Victory

It came two years later than Bill Frieder would have preferred, but he finally got his NCAA tournament victory at the Omni in Atlanta.

Frieder’s Arizona State Sun Devils rallied from a nine-point deficit in the final nine minutes to defeat Rutgers, 79-76, Friday in the opening round of the Southeast Regional.

“It’s so ironic that this was where I was supposed to coach my Michigan team,” Frieder said, recalling the 1989 tournament when the Wolverines started their national championship run with two victories in Atlanta.

“The football guy wouldn’t let me coach ‘em,” he said.

Frieder often refers to former Michigan coach and athletic director Bo Schembechler as “the football guy.”

It was Schembechler, acting in his role as athletic director, who told Frieder his services were no longer needed when it became known that he was leaving Michigan for the Arizona State job.

“How ironic that I would come back here and coach on March 15, 1991, which is exactly two years to the day when I was told I couldn’t coach after I announced that we were leaving after the season. So it’s kind of ironic and it’s great to win the basketball game.”

Senior guard Tarence Wheeler was the key to the comeback, scoring 21 of his 25 points in the second half, including a three-point shot with 1:32 left that gave Arizona State (20-9) the lead for good.

Stevin Smith extended the lead to 77-74 on two free throws with 30 seconds remaining before Earl Duncan made two free throws for the Scarlet Knights (19-10) with 21 seconds to play.

Wheeler made one of two free throws with 15 seconds left and freshman Jamal Faulkner’s free throw ended the scoring with less than a second remaining.

No. 2 Arkansas 117, Georgia State 76--The Razorbacks overcame an early scare to rout the Panthers, who were making their first NCAA tournament appearance.

Top-seeded Arkansas (32-3), the Southwest Conference champion, quickly fell behind by nine points and still trailed, 26-23, before getting on track. The Razorbacks outscored Georgia State, 29-9, over the final nine minutes of the first half to take a 52-35 lead.

Georgia State (16-15), the No. 16 seeded team, scored 11 consecutive points to take a 13-4 lead and remained ahead until Ron Huery made two free throws to give Arkansas a 27-26 lead with 8:33 left in the half.

No. 19 Alabama 89, Murray State 79--Robert Horry made his first five shots in the second half to help the Crimson Tide pull away to a 64-38 lead with 14:25 left. The Tide led, 89-69, with 1:30 left before the Racers, champions of the Ohio Valley Conference, scored the last 10 points.

Melvin Cheatum led Alabama (22-9) with 23 points and Horry had 21.

Paul King led Murray State (24-9) with 25 points. Popeye Jones, the Ohio Valley Conference player of the year, was held to 11 points, nine under his average.

Wake Forest 71, Louisiana Tech 65--Freshman Randolph Childress scored seven consecutive points to help the Demon Deacons build a 10-point lead midway through the second half and they withstood a Bulldog rally.

Wake Forest (19-10), appearing in the tournament for the first time since 1984, took a 54-44 lead with 11:07 left on Childress’ 7-2 run, but Louisiana Tech (21-10) moved to within 66-63 before Childress made three of six free throws in the final minute.