Louisville Gets Bumper Crop of Wheat, 82-80

Entering the NCAA tournament, DeJuan Wheat’s long-range jumper was off the mark and his right middle knuckle was swollen and throbbing.

Wheat had no problems Friday, scoring 33 points and making six three-point shots in Louisville’s 82-80 overtime victory over Tulsa in the opening round of the Midwest Regional.

“If you can’t get yourself pumped up for tournament time, you might as well go home,” Wheat said.

Wheat, who went 15 minutes without scoring after getting 22 points in the first half, found his touch just in time for Louisville (21-11) to overcome a 12-point deficit and force overtime with a 13-1 run over the final 3:41 of regulation.

Wheat made a three-point shot and free throw in the final 47 seconds of overtime to give Coach Denny Crum a 16-4 record in first-round NCAA tournament games.

“I don’t care what the score was, a loss is a loss and I’m not ecstatic about it whatsoever,” first-year Tulsa Coach Steve Robinson said. “We had our chances to put the game away.”

After Cordell Love’s three-point basket gave Tulsa a 77-75 lead with 1:07 left in the extra period, Wheat made a three-point basket with 47 seconds left to put Louisville up by one.

After a turnover by Tulsa, sixth-seeded Louisville called timeout. On the ensuing inbounds play, Wheat stepped out of bounds as he got the ball but it wasn’t called. Wheat said that’s because he was pushed by Tulsa forward Shea Seals.

“I knew I was on the line, but it was an iffy call and he pushed me,” Wheat said. “I’ve got to believe that’s why he didn’t call me out.”

Seals then fouled Wheat, who made his first free throw. He missed the second but the ball went out of bounds off Tulsa’s Michael Ruffin. Louisville’s Tick Rogers was fouled with 15 seconds left and hit one of two free throws for an 80-77 advantage.

Tulsa (22-8), the No. 11 seed, then set up for a potential game-tying three-point shot, but Love threw the ball past Seals and out of bounds in the backcourt.

“They are a tourney-tested team, they come from a tough league [Conference USA], and I didn’t expect them to quit,” Robinson said of Louisville. “They made it into a frenzy and we lost our poise.”

Samaki Walker scored 20 points for the Cardinals, who have reached the round of 16 three of the last four years.

Seals scored 22 points and Ruffin had 21 for Tulsa, which went to the final 16 the last two years under Coach Tubby Smith, who moved to Georgia.

Villanova 92, Portland 58--This time there were no surprises for Villanova. No upsetting first-round loss to digest. Just a good old-fashioned blowout for the Wildcats to enjoy.

Villanova (26-6) took control from the opening tip and ruined Portland’s first NCAA tournament appearance in 37 years.

The Wildcats, first-round losers to Old Dominion last year when they were also seeded third, put the Pilots away in a hurry by scoring the game’s first 13 points and running out to a 46-17 halftime lead.

Kerry Kittles, who sat out practice Thursday with stomach flu, scored 19 points. But the Wildcats didn’t really need a big game from their star. They had too much talent and size for the outmanned and jittery Pilots (19-11). Eric Eberz added 18 for the Wildcats.

Texas 80, Michigan 76--The Wolverines called a timeout again when they didn’t have one, and the blunder, reminiscent of one three years ago in the NCAA championship, helped the Longhorns clinch the win.

Brandy Perryman hit two free throws with 3.2 seconds left to seal the victory, right after Michigan’s Louis Bullock had driven for a layup to bring the Wolverines to within two at 78-76.

But Maceo Baston then signaled for a timeout--just as Chris Webber did against North Carolina in 1993--and the Wolverines, who didn’t have one remaining, were assessed a technical foul. Bullock tried to stop Baston from calling the timeout, grabbing his arms.

Reggie Freeman led Texas with 22 points, including four free throws in the final 35 seconds.

The Longhorns also got eight clutch points in the closing minutes from Lamont Hill as they hung on for their sixth first-round victory in seven tries under Coach Tom Penders.

Baston, a Dallas native, led seventh-seeded Michigan with 23 points as the Wolverines (20-12) made a first-round exit for the second consecutive year.

Wake Forest 62, Northeast Louisiana 50--The Demon Deacons managed to survive 14 minutes without All-American center Tim Duncan and moved into the second round.

Duncan, who came in averaging 19.6 points and 12.3 rebounds, had 10 points and 13 rebounds in 26 minutes. Still recovering from a stomach virus, he started his 66th consecutive game but sat after picking up his third foul with 10:25 remaining.

Rusty LaRue, playing point guard in place of injured Tony Rutland, scored 18 points and Ricky Peral 14 for second-seeded Wake Forest (24-5).

The 15th-seeded Indians (16-14), who overcame a 3-11 start to win the Southland Conference tournament, pulled within 53-46 on Paul Marshall’s basket with 2:05 left.

But LaRue’s three-pointer with 1:33 remaining made it 56-46 and the Indians dropped to 0-7 in NCAA tournament appearances.

Marshall led the Indians with 13 points.