Nash Teaches Maryland a West Coast Lesson

The 28 points and 12 assists were almost incidental. Steve Nash’s most important work occurred 75 feet away from the basket.

Nash foiled Maryland’s pressure defense with his dribbling Friday, often weaving through three-man traps, and led underdog Santa Clara to a 91-79 victory in the NCAA West Region’s first round at Tempe, Ariz.

By breaking through the press, Nash allowed the 10th-seeded Broncos to get into their beloved half-court offense and his passing and three-point shooting from that kept Santa Clara in control.

“It wasn’t that easy. It took me a while,” said Nash, who struggled for a few minutes before solving the press. “Once you break that first trap, it’s open sailing.”

Maryland Coach Gary Williams, whose seventh-seeded Terps lost in the opening round for the first time in 13 NCAA appearances, said Nash’s consistency and quickness were the keys.

“He can knife through a double team,” Williams said. “It’s not a 100-yard dash out there, it’s how you get from point A to B.”

Marlon Garnett added 18 points for Santa Clara (20-8), which broke open a close game with a 14-0 run midway through the second half. The Broncos built their lead to as many as 16 points after that.

Johnny Rhodes had 27 points for Maryland (17-13), which missed 10 of its 18 free throws in the second half.

Nash added six rebounds and two steals, including one he made while sitting on the court. He also led crowd cheers throughout the second half.

The one ominous sign for Santa Clara was Nash clutching his sore left hamstring several times in the game’s closing minutes. Nash said he did not reinjure the hamstring, which forced him to skip most of practice Thursday.

Nash, an 88% free-throw shooter, missed his first Friday and then hit 17 in a row. The Broncos outscored Maryland, 34-10, at the foul line.

The Terrapins learned something that West Coast Conference teams have known about for four seasons about Nash.

“He’s a little different than most guys in the ACC who look for their shot more,” said Maryland’s Duane Simpkins. “He’s very smart. He drives to the hoop, gets bumped and goes to the line.”

The big run began with the Broncos up, 48-47. With 14:14 to play, Garnett hit a three-pointer and Drew Zurek was fouled underneath on the play. He missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Maryland was called for a lane violation. Zurek then hit two free throws.

The five-point play fired up the Broncos, who had built their lead to 62-47 before Maryland finally scored with 11:19 to play. Maryland never got closer than 10 points the rest of the game.

Kansas 92, South Carolina State 54--The Jayhawks have been called big, slow and beatable, and they are taking it personally.

“It fired me up,” Kansas forward Raef LaFrentz said. “I like to pride myself on being a big guy who’s agile and can move.”

“Slow?” said Kanas Coach Roy Williams. “I don’t know if I’d agree that Jacque [Vaughn] is slow.”

Kansas (27-4) won its 11th NCAA first-round game in a row by hammering the smaller Bulldogs inside and shooting them down from the outside right from the start, when Jerod Haase opened up with three quick three-point baskets en route to a game-high 17 points.

The Bulldogs (22-8) wanted to keep the score down, and they did, though only on their side.

“They hit five of their first seven shots for three-pointers and we got down,” South Carolina State Coach Cyrus Alexander said. “We panicked and rushed our shots. And before you knew it, it was a 20-point lead.”

When the Bulldogs drove the middle, they ran into a wall of giant Jayhawks--Scot Pollard, LaFrentz and T.J. Pugh, looking impenetrable. When the Bulldogs tried to shoot jump shots, they found hands in their faces--Vaughn and Haase throttling their guards. Anything Kansas wanted to do, it did.