Knight Wins 700th, Indiana Marches On

This has been another season on the brink for Indiana and volatile Coach Bob Knight--on the brink of disaster, that is.

After a 6-0 start, the Hoosiers were blown out by 34 points at Kentucky. They also fell to an uncustomary seventh place in the Big Ten at 5-6 after a home loss to undermanned Ohio State on Feb. 8, setting the stage for the rest of the month for a constant shuffling of the starting lineup and near-meltdowns by Knight.

The February madness, however, has been replaced by March Madness as this became a milestone season for No. 25-ranked Indiana and Knight after a 70-66 victory over Wisconsin on Wednesday night at Bloomington, Ind.

Knight became the eighth Division I coach to win 700 games, while the Hoosiers are virtually assured of a 12th consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament, though there was no acceptance speech from their coach.

“Am I on the tournament committee?” Knight asked. “Am I close to the tournament committee? Do I like the tournament committee? Do I care about the tournament committee? Does the tournament committee care about me? Any one of those answers ought to suffice.”

Knight then referred to a fine he had to pay for some profane comments at an NCAA Htournament news conference two years ago: “The tournament committee is still playing golf on my $30,000.”

Indiana’s Rating Percentage Index is 14th out of 305 teams, which easily removes the Hoosiers, 22-9 overall and 9-8 in the Big Ten, from the NCAA tournament “bubble” classification which Wisconsin (17-9, 10-7 and a No. 32 RPI) falls under. The Badgers end their regular season Saturday against No. 2 Minnesota (26-2, 15-1) at Madison, Wis.

As for the 700 victories (against 256 losses), Knight said: “I look back and pinpoint all the good teams we’ve had and the teams like this one that have struggled. One of the great things about something a coach accomplishes is it represents all the things the players have done over the years.”

The player who accomplished the most for Knight against Wisconsin was forward Andrae Patterson, who had 14 of his 18 points and eight rebounds in the second half and appears recovered from the ankle problem that has hindered him throughout Big Ten play.

No. 15 Illinois 90, Ohio State 83--Guard Kiwane Garris, playing his final home game, made 17 of 18 free throws for the Illini (21-8, 11-6), which made 22 in the final seven minutes of the Big Ten game at Champaign, Ill. Illinois is tied for second place with Iowa (20-9 and a No. 33 RPI) and Purdue (16-11 and a No. 28 RPI). Ohio State is 10-16 and 5-12.

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In other Big Ten games:

Guard Andre Woolridge had 26 points in his final home game for Iowa, which led by as many as 34 points in an 81-55 victory over Penn State (10-17, 3-15) at Iowa City. . . . Forward Maurice Taylor made nine of 10 shots and all eight of his free throws as Michigan (18-11, 8-9 and a No. 27 RPI) ended its losing streak at five with a 93-76 victory over Northwestern (7-21, 2-15) at Ann Arbor, Mich.

TOURNAMENTS

ATLANTIC 10

Center Tyrone Weeks had 21 points and 11 rebounds as Massachusetts (19-12 and a No. 35 RPI) won its 16th consecutive tournament game--a 64-49 decision over La Salle (10-17) in the first round at Philadelphia. Massachusetts advances against George Washington (14-12). La Salle freshman guard Donnie Carr, the nation’s fourth-leading scorer at 24 points a game, missed 15 of 18 shots and had 10 points. . . . Temple (18-9 and a No. 39 RPI) held Duquesne (9-18), the third-highest scoring team in the Atlantic 10, to 20 points in the second half of a 64-47 victory. Temple advances against No. 11 Xavier (22-4).

BIG EAST

Freshman point guard Jason Hart from Inglewood High had a career high 24 points for Syracuse (19-11 and a No. 55 RPI) in an 84-66 victory over Notre Dame (14-13) in the first round at Madison Square Garden. Syracuse could earn an NCAA berth with a victory today over No. 21 Villanova (21-8), the tournament’s top-seeded team. Notre Dame forward Pat Garrity, the Big East player of the year and leading scorer (21.7 points a game), missed eight of 11 shots and had 10 points. . . . Forward Derrick Brown made eight of 11 shots and had 25 points to lead Providence (20-10 and a No. 43 RPI) to a 77-56 victory over Rutgers (11-16). The Friars, who had lost five of their previous seven, advance against West Virginia (19-8 and a No. 38 RPI), a first-round 77-57 winner over Seton Hall (10-18), in a game that could determine an NCAA berth.

CONFERENCE USA

No. 20 Louisville (23-7), which had lost five of its last nine regular-season games, struggled to 69-58 victory over South Florida (8-19) despite a 19-0 first-half run in the first round at St. Louis. Louisville, which had made only four of 20 free throws in its previous game, was successful on 28 of 29. Louisville advances against North Carolina Charlotte (19-7 and a No. 36 RPI) . . . Alabama Birmingham (17-12 and a No. 101 RPI) rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to defeat Houston (11-16), 55-54--its first conference tournament victory since 1990. Alabama Birmingham advances against Tulane (20-9 and a No. 50 RPI).

PATRIOT LEAGUE

Forward Hassan Booker, from University High in West Los Angeles, had 25 points and 13 rebounds to give Navy (20-8) a 76-75 victory over Bucknell (18-11) in the championship game and the Patriot League’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament. Booker’s three-point play with 1:04 left put the Midshipmen ahead for good, 69-66.

College Basketball Notes

Forward Faron Hand of Nevada was named Big West player of the year and Pacific’s Bob Thomason was coach of the year in a vote of the conference coaches. Long Beach State guard James Cotton and UC Santa Barbara guard Raymond Tutt were first-team All-Big West selections. . . . Cincinnati point guard Charles Williams, from Manual Arts High and Chaffey College, has been suspended indefinitely for violation of team policy, according to Coach Bob Huggins.