COLLEGE BASKETBALL DAILY REPORT : NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : He Called Time--Now They Call Him

Lawrence Moten of Syracuse has heard a lot of comforting words since his ill-conceived move in the closing seconds of an NCAA tournament game against Arkansas.

By calling time out when Syracuse had none, Moten drew a technical foul, giving Arkansas the opening it needed to go on to win in overtime.

Among the first to call was Moten’s mother, Lorraine Burrgess.

“You need someone to talk to you, and for me, it’s always her,” Moten said.

“She basically said, ‘You’ve won a lot of games, and things happen for a reason.’ ”

Moten told the Washington Post he also received a note from Doris Webber, whose son, Chris, made a similar mistake in the 1993 NCAA championship game when he played for Michigan.

She said, “Hang in here and this craziness will pass. It makes you stronger.”

Webber, now with the Washington Bullets, said he understood what Moten is going through.

“It’s no big deal,” Webber said. “He did it. He lost the game. So what?”

Webber told the Post he knows Moten, and said he will console him when he sees him, probably in the summer.

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Virginia Coach Jeff Jones is refusing to make an issue of having to play Kansas on Friday at Kemper Arena, only about 40 miles from the Jayhawk campus.

“I do think it is a definite advantage for Kansas,” said Jones, whose Cavaliers (24-8) will meet the top-seeded Jayhawks (25-5) in the Midwest Regional semifinals. “But it’s the best possible way to do it.

“Yeah, it’s unfair. But there are a lot of things in life that are unfair.”

Kemper Arena was dubbed “Allen Fieldhouse East” by former Oklahoma Coach Billy Tubbs, who insisted the familiar surroundings and partisan crowd provides the Jayhawks almost as big an advantage as they enjoy in their gym.

With the Midwest Regional running through Kemper this year, the NCAA selection committee was bombarded by criticism for making the Jayhawks the Midwest’s No. 1 seed, seemingly giving them an easy road to the Final Four.

It’s criticism Jones won’t buy.

“There’s no way Kansas, who deserved the No. 1 seed, should be penalized simply because the regional was being held at a site close to their campus,” Jones said. “I think this is the best way to do it. We’ve played in loud arenas before. We’re just going to have to deal with it and let our play on the court speak for us.”

Overall, Kansas is 49-17 at Kemper. But the Jayhawks are 20-1 there against nonconference foes, including a 29-point victory over then-No. 2 Connecticut in January. And in NCAA tournament games at Kemper, Kansas is 4-0, including a victory over Oklahoma in the 1988 title game.

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Based on Arizona State’s track record this season, Kentucky expects to bring out the best in the Sun Devils in the Southeast Regional semifinals.

Kentucky (27-4) and Arizona State (24-8) square off Thursday night in Birmingham, Ala.

Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino noted that Arizona State has posted big victories over Michigan (79-62), No. 10 Maryland (97-90), No. 15 Arizona (53-52 and 103-98) and No. 14 Oklahoma State (72-69) while falling to unheralded Oregon State (83-70), Washington State (84-71) and Oregon (73-72).

“The teams they lose to, I think maybe there’s something emotional to it,” Pitino said. “But they played their best basketball against UCLA, Michigan, Maryland, Oklahoma State, Arizona. They played not so terrific against Oregon, Washington State and Oregon State.

“So we realize because of our name we’ll see their best game.”

Kentucky is coming off an 82-60 victory over Tulane, while Arizona State eliminated Manhattan, 64-54, in second-round games at Memphis, Tenn.

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North Carolina (26-5) is expecting a fast-paced game from Georgetown (21-9) in the Southeast Regional.

“They play a little different style than the Georgetown teams of the past,” forward Pat Sullivan said. “It’s almost like a frenzied style. We can’t get caught up in playing that type of basketball.

“We won’t even have time to celebrate (after a basket).”

Coach John Thompson had to change his coaching style this season with the addition of freshman Allen Iverson, who averages 20.3 points and might be the quickest guard in the nation.

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Guard Derek Kellogg admits he grew a goatee last week “to look a little tougher and a little more intimidating.”

He and his Massachusetts team (28-4) will need to both look and play that way Friday. They face a jumbo-sized Tulsa in the East Regional semifinals at East Rutherford, N.J.

“I think the big key with us is wearing people down in the post area, because we have good size, not just good height,” Tulsa Coach Tubby Smith said. “We’re bulky.”

Tulsa (24-7) fields a front line that includes Rafael Maldonado, Ray Poindexter and J.R. Rollo, each at least 6 feet 10. Maldonado and Rollo weigh about 260 pounds apiece.

Their mission is to push, pummel and punish perhaps the most athletic front-court duo in college basketball, Lou Roe and Marcus Camby. The 6-foot-7 Roe averages a team-high 17 points, followed by 6-11 Camby with 14 points. But Camby weighs only 215 pounds.

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The Atlantic Coast Conference has bolted to an 8-0 start in the NCAA tournament, winning by an average of 17 points per game.

It rivals the 9-1 start the league produced after two rounds of postseason in 1990 when Duke and Georgia Tech eventually reached the Final Four.

What does the domination mean this time for Wake Forest, North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia?

“I think it makes a pointed case that (Georgia Tech) should have been there,” Wake Forest Coach Dave Odom said. “There is absolutely no question. I’m not trying to point fingers at any league but we all know what happened over the weekend.”

Odom was referring to the Big Ten, which placed six teams in the 64-team field, the most of any league. For the first time, none advanced to round of 16.

The Yellow Jackets (18-12, 8-8 ACC), a perennial NCAA tournament team for more than a decade under Coach Bobby Cremins, have missed the postseason the last two seasons after injuries to James Forrest and Drew Barry produced late tailspins.

“To me that is a dangerous precedent,” said Fred Barakat, ACC associate commissioner. “If all of a sudden you can be .500 in the ACC and not go to the NCAA tournament it is kind of frightening.”

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A published report says Oregon Coach Jerry Green has been offered the chance to do something four coaches were unable to accomplish this past season--reverse the sagging basketball fortunes at Nevada Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Sun reported Green was given an undisclosed offer at a meeting with UNLV interim President Kenny Guinn and Athletic Director Jim Weaver.

Weaver denied that Green had been offered the position.

Weaver said he and Guinn “had a very good meeting with Jerry, with a lot of in-depth conversation. But no offer has been extended.”

Weaver said Green returned to Oregon in the afternoon and planned to talk with officials at that school. Asked his impression of Green’s interest, Weaver said, “We’ll talk in the next day. He seemed very impressed about the potential here; he likes the tradition and the facilities.”

Green, 51, said he was interested in the challenge at UNLV. The beleaguered team played under four coaches the past season, finishing 12-16--the worst record in the school’s history.