Boston College Plays a Little Knight Music

Turnovers, cold shooting and Boston College gave Bob Knight plenty to grouse about Friday night.

The surprise team of the Big East scored the game’s final 10 points to bounce Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers from the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years with a 64-51 victory in the Southeast Regional.

It was the second first-round loss in a row for Knight, who a year ago drew a $30,000 fine for berating an interview-room volunteer following Indiana’s loss to Missouri.

Knight barked instructions to his players and, at times, paced the sideline or sat with an exasperated look on his face after his team turned the ball over 18 times against Boston College’s combination man-to-man and zone defenses.

But the coach was composed and well-behaved in a postgame press conference.

“We only had two chances in the game,” he said, referring to a pair of challenges that Boston College (19-10) successfully fought off in the second half. “Except for those two moments, we really weren’t in the same game they were in.”

Danya Abrams scored 22 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, including two crucial offensive boards that killed any chance for an Indiana rally.

Andrae Patterson led the Hoosiers (19-12) with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Neil Reed was the only other Indiana player in double figures with 11.

Eagle guard Scoonie Penn, the Big East freshman of the year, was relaxed in his NCAA debut, scoring 19 points.

“When you see Indiana, you think of Bob Knight and the history they have,” he said. “You just get pumped up to play them.”

Cincinnati 66, North Carolina Greensboro 61--The second-seeded Bearcats (26-4), disappointments in their previous two NCAA tournaments, opened up a big lead and managed to hold off the Spartans.

“We’re just happy to be playing again Sunday,” Cincinnati Coach Bob Huggins said. “It was not our best effort. They kept us off balance, and we really weren’t able to do what we wanted to do.”

Danny Fortson, the Conference USA player of the year averaging nearly 21 points, scored only 10, some of them set up from turnovers by Cincinnati’s trademark press.

Damon Flint had 18 points and seven assists to lead the Bearcats.

Big South champion North Carolina Greensboro (20-10) showed up well in its first tournament appearance, with Scott Hartzell and Eric Cuthrell each scoring 15 for the Spartans.

Temple 61, Oklahoma 43--”If it takes ugliness to win a game, then the uglier the better,” forward Marc Jackson said after the Owls’ victory over the Sooners (17-13).

Oklahoma star Ryan Minor and his teammates were held to 32% shooting and their lowest point total of the season by a Temple team (20-12) that prides itself on overcoming offensive deficiencies with tenacious defense.

“I think the thing that surprised us the most was the team that shot the three-pointer was Temple,” Oklahoma Coach Kelvin Sampson said.

Jackson and Levan Alston led Temple with 14 points apiece.

Georgia Tech 90, Austin Peay 79--On a day when defense dominated at the Orlando Arena, the third-seeded Yellow Jackets showed there’s still room for run-and-gun basketball in the tournament.

Paced by Matt Harpring’s 27 points, Georgia Tech sped past the Governors to advance to the second round against Boston College.

“It was like a track meet out there,” Georgia Tech Coach Bobby Cremins said. “We like to run, but those guys were flying.”

Harpring hit 12 of 17 shots and had a game-high 10 rebounds for Georgia Tech (23-11). Stephon Marbury and Eddie Elisma each scored 17 for the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season champion.

Austin Peay (19-11) was led by Reggie Crenshaw with 22 points and Jermaine Savage with 20.