NOTES

It’s hard to guess whether Utah will try to use the triangle-and-two defense that was so successful against Arizona again Saturday in the NCAA semifinal game against North Carolina.

One thing is certain. The Tar Heels have to spend practice time preparing for it in case Utah Coach Rick Majerus tries it again.

“Georgia Tech, in our league, has used that type of defense, and Jim Valvano used to use it,” North Carolina Coach Bill Guthridge said, referring to the late North Carolina State coach. “We know what we want to do against that type of defense. Whether we execute it or not. . . . We’ll work on it.”

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What’s the source of slender Kentucky Coach Tubby Smith’s nickname?

Orlando Smith, the sixth of 17 children, was overly fond of the washtub his mother used to bathe the children on their rural Maryland farm.

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One of the keys to the Stanford-Kentucky game figures to be the Cardinal’s three-point shooting against the Wildcats’ sometimes shaky defense of shots from beyond the arc.

“It’s always a focus for us. We had trouble defending the three all year,” Kentucky’s Smith said. “We know we need to limit those opportunities, limit those looks. . . . We’ve got to do a better job than we did in the first half against Duke.”