Tigers Turn Into Lambs

Looking anguished, exhausted and over-powered, Princeton finally Petered out Saturday night.

Two days after lighting up the sports world with a scintillating upset over defending national champion UCLA in the NCAA tournament, Pete Carril ended his legendary 29-year career at Princeton with a flat 63-41 loss to Mississippi State before 32,293 at the RCA Dome.

And for Carril, architect of so many textbook Tiger teams, winner of 525 games, and maintainer of the Ivy League dream, the end of the era in this Southeast Regional second-round game was far more bitter than sweet.

“What I don’t like is that in L.A. and UCLA, they could be thinking our game was a fluke against them,” said Carril, 65, who announced his retirement a week ago Saturday.

“I don’t think we honored our victory over UCLA tonight. Because the feeling had to be, and I can understand it, ‘We could’ve beaten this team if this fluke hadn’t happened.’ That’s the discomforting thing.”

But Carril’s team actually did pull off another amazing transformation Saturday--it turned the frenetic, fifth-seeded Bulldogs (24-7) into a poised and efficient team, two days after their scattered performance against Virginia Commonwealth.

The Bulldogs were led by 6-foot-11, 265-pound center Erick Dampier’s 20 points (on 10-for-12 shooting) and point guard Marcus Bullard’s precise, nine assist, no-turnover performance. Mississippi State shot 60% and outrebounded the Tigers, 34-15. Princeton (22-7) did not get an offensive rebound.

Plus, the Tigers, not exactly a powerful offensive team to begin with, struggled for open shots against Mississippi State’s zone defense.

“I thought we came out a little nervous, played a little tentatively, which was a surprise,” Carril said. “And I thought we’d handle that center of theirs better than we did.”

Said Princeton junior point guard Sydney Johnson, who was a model of efficiency and leadership against the Bruins but scored only four points and looked edgy Saturday: “I’m somewhat ashamed of my performance. And with it being the last game for Coach Carril, it’s too bad. But there’s nothing I can do about it.”

The Tigers fell behind early, 12-4, on a series of power plays by Dampier, and never seemed to recover. Princeton trailed, 31-20, at halftime, closed within eight once in the second half, but collapsed against the Bulldogs’ merciless inside game.

“It was obvious on Thursday night that UCLA didn’t pound the ball into the blocks enough,” Bullard said. “And when [Dampier’s] screaming at you in there, calling for it, it’s kind of hard not to throw it to him.”

Mississippi State moves on to Lexington, Ky., for a regional semifinal game against No. 1-seeded Connecticut. This is the Bulldogs’ second consecutive trip to the Sweet 16--last year, they lost to UCLA in the West semifinals.

But this game was about Carril, and goodbye. His assistant, Bill Carmody, will take over the Tigers.

“I didn’t think about [retirement] at all,” Carril said of his game-time thoughts. “I’m not even thinking about it now. I knew when I made the decision, it was very clear my time was over. [The players are] not going to miss me. And I’m not saying it for you to say, ‘Oh, no, they will miss you!’

“Life is like that. When you’re out of that door, it’s closed. You’re forgotten. And that’s what they’re supposed to do. Because it’s the next guy’s turn. You go on.”

Then another last sigh.

“If there’s no more questions, I’d just as soon pack it in, all right?”

*

* CINCINNATI

Bob Huggins is a tough coach, and Bearcats are their coach’s kind of team. C3

* MIKE DOWNEY: C3