Beast of the East Returns to Form

Third-ranked Connecticut concluded its decade of dominance in the Big East with an 82-63 victory over No. 10 St. John’s in the tournament final in New York on Saturday.

It was the second consecutive tournament championship and fourth this decade for Connecticut, which also finished first in the conference six times. No other Big East school won more than two championships.

Perhaps more important than capping its impressive showing in the ‘90s in the Big East was the fashion in which Connecticut (28-2) disposed of St. John’s (25-8), ending any doubts about the Huskies receiving a No. 1 regional seeding when the NCAA tournament field is announced today.

Connecticut looked more like the dominant team that was ranked No. 1 for 10 weeks this season rather than the one that struggled offensively for most of February as two-time Big East player of the year Richard Hamilton was slowed by a leg injury.

The Huskies started the game with a 13-0 run that looked like something from a highlight film. They made six consecutive shots--three by Hamilton--while forcing three turnovers.

Connecticut took a 40-29 halftime lead when Khalid El-Amin made a 27-foot shot at the buzzer as he was falling down.

Connecticut started the second half with an 11-0 run and increased its lead to 36 points before Coach Jim Calhoun started to call off the Huskies.

“Two things have happened,” Calhoun said of Connecticut’s return to top form. “The kids understood the energy situation of what we need and second, we’ve gotten healthy. Richard Hamilton is a much better player than he was a week ago.”

Hamilton made eight of 11 shots and had 23 points in his best game since he was injured in a 78-74 victory over St. John’s on Jan. 30.

ATLANTIC COAST

Some of the players on No. 1 Duke (31-1) sounded as if they were running on empty after an 83-69 victory over North Carolina State (18-13) in the semifinal at Charlotte, N.C., as the pressure to not only win, but be impressive doing it, mounts.

“I know this is wearing on me right now,” forward Chris Carrawell said after Duke extended the nation’s longest active win streak to 26. “With all the hype we have, people expect so much from us, and we expect so much from ourselves. We were up by eight at halftime and we felt like it wasn’t enough.”

The Blue Devils had won their previous 17 games against ACC teams by an average of 26 points. North Carolina State made six of 10 three-point shots in the first half and still trailed by only 53-45 early in the second half when Duke scored on 12 consecutive possessions to go ahead by 23.

The Blue Devils played without second-leading scorer Trajan Langdon, who suffered a foot injury in Thursday’s 37-point victory over Virginia. He was replaced by freshman Corey Maggette, who made eight of 10 shots and had a season-high 24 points.

Langdon will also sit out today’s final against No. 15 North Carolina, an 86-79 winner over No. 5 Maryland.

North Carolina (24-8) built a 23-point lead with eight minutes left on the strength of nine-of-16 three-point shooting, but Steve Francis scored 12 of his 31 points to bring Maryland (26-5) within 78-74 with 47 seconds left.

That was as close as Maryland could get, however, as Max Owens, who had a career-high 23 points, made six free throws to send North Carolina to the tournament final for the 11th time in 13 years.

ATLANTIC 10

Lamar Odom, who started the season with a game-winning shot, sent Rhode Island into the NCAA tournament with another one.

Odom made a three-point shot as time ran out to give Rhode Island a 62-59 victory over Temple in the final at Philadelphia and an automatic NCAA bid. Rhode Island (20-12) reached the NCAA’s round of eight last year under former UCLA coach Jim Harrick in his first season at the school.

Odom had 21 points and 10 rebounds, but saved his best for last. With 6.1 seconds left, Odom got the ball near halfcourt and drove down the left sideline while closely guarded. He stopped about 22 feet from the basket and put up a shot that swished through as the horn sounded.

Odom also made a winning shot in his first game at Rhode Island against Texas Christian on Nov. 9.

Temple (21-10) is expected to make the NCAA tournament for the 15th time in Coach John Chaney’s 25 years. The Owls defeated Rhode Island twice during the regular season.

BIG TEN

Illinois, which went from first to last place from one conference season to another, now could go from nowhere in the postseason to the NCAA tournament.

Illinois defeated No. 11 Ohio State, 79-77, in the semifinals at Chicago, and could get an automatic NCAA bid today with a sub-.500 record by defeating regular-season champion and No. 2 Michigan State. The Spartans defeated No. 19 Wisconsin, 56-41.

The Illini (14-17) lost all of its starters from last season’s Big Ten co-championship team, but freshman Cory Bradford has played like a senior in a tournament run that includes victories over No. 23 Minnesota and No. 17 Indiana.

Bradford scored 54 points in the games, getting 17 in the semifinals--including six free throws in the final 1:19.

“Obviously we’re having lots of fun because we’re winning,” Bradford said. “But three ranked teams, and we’re in the Big Ten, it can’t get any tougher than this. It’s like a one-game season right now.”

Ohio State has had its own turnaround season, going from last place in the Big Ten and 8-22 overall to second place and 23-8. The Buckeyes almost came back from an 11-point deficit against the Illini, but Michael Redd, who had a game-high 32 points, missed a shot in lane at the buzzer after rebounding Scoonie Penn’s intentionally missed free throw.

“It was close in Illinois when we beat them the first time [by three] and we knew it was going to be tough tonight,” Redd said.

Illinois was also a tough opponent for Michigan State earlier this season when it lost by two points at Champaign, Ill. The Spartans (28-4) had no such trouble with Wisconsin (22-9) in extending their win streak to 17.

Wisconsin missed 14 of its last 16 shots of the first half and its first eight of the second half. The Badgers, who shot a season-best 62% in the quarterfinals against Iowa, finished at 29%.

BIG 12

Kansas hasn’t taken its usual position among the nation’s best teams, but the Jayhawks are still good enough to continue their mastery of rival Kansas State.

Freshman Jeff Boschee scored six points in the final 1:35 of the semifinals at Kansas City, Mo., to lift Kansas (21-9) to a 69-58 victory over Kansas State (20-12). It was the 16th consecutive time the Jayhawks have defeated the Wildcats.

Kansas has not been ranked in the top 25 for three weeks and its record is the worst since 1988-89--Coach Roy Williams’ first season when the Jayhawks went 19-12 while on NCAA probation.

In today’s tournament final, Kansas will play Oklahoma State, a 59-57 winner over regular-season champion Texas. Oklahoma State (22-9) lost to Kansas, 67-66, in overtime at Lawrence, Kan., on Feb. 22 when Ryan Robertson made a free throw with no time remaining after being fouled by Adrian Peterson.

Peterson made his presence felt in a positive way against Texas, scoring 18 points despite not playing almost eight minutes of the first half because of an ankle injury.

Texas (19-12) made only eight of 26 shots in the second half and had turnovers in two of its final three possessions. Oklahoma State also shot poorly in the second half, going eight for 31.

CONFERENCE USA

For North Carolina Charlotte, beating Cincinnati in the semifinals was for respect. Winning the tournament was for missing teammate Charles Hayward, who has leukemia.

Charlotte, which defeated Louisville, 68-59, in the final at Birmingham, Ala., has a plastic seat cover with Hayward’s name and number holding his spot on the bench. Hayward sat out all of last season but managed to come back and play 10 games this season before having a relapse.

“He’s had a tougher battle than anything we go through,” guard Galen Young said. “He’s in our minds and with us all the time. We played for him.”

Charlotte (22-10) nearly lost a 19-point lead in the second half to Louisville (19-10), but Diego Guevara’s two free throws with 12 seconds left sealed its seventh victory in a row. Charlotte defeated regular-season champion and No. 7 Cincinnati twice this season, with the first on its home court being disputed when a referee did not allow an apparent game-winning shot by the Bearcats.

SOUTHEASTERN

The regular season might have been disappointing by Kentucky’s lofty standards. Still, don’t count out the defending national champions just yet.

The No. 14 Wildcats moved within one victory of another Southeastern Conference tournament championship, taking an early double-digit lead against No. 4 Auburn and cruising to a 69-57 victory in the semifinals in Atlanta.

Auburn, which won its first regular-season championship since 1960, was clearly out of its element against tournament-tested Kentucky, which has won six of the last seven postseason SEC championships.

“Our guys have been here before,” Kentucky Coach Tubby Smith said. “There’s not a lot you can do coaching-wise at this point. It’s all about reaching inside. The heart and competitiveness we showed today goes pretty deep. The pride in wearing that Kentucky uniform carries a lot of weight.”

Poor three-point shooting was one of the reasons Kentucky (24-8) had its most regular-season losses since 1989-90, but the Wildcats made their first three shots from beyond the arc in taking a 26-9 lead. Auburn (27-3) missed 17 of its first 20 shots and never recovered, trailing by at least 10 points most of the game and finishing with 30% shooting.

“We felt like we had a lot to prove in this game” Kentucky senior forward Scott Padgett said. “A lot of people have written us off. They say we’re not the Kentucky of past years. Obviously, we didn’t have the regular season we wanted to. But I still feel like this team will do a lot in the [NCAA] tournament. Our goal is to win another national championship.”

Padgett had 13 points as one of Kentucky’s five double-figure scorers and played well defensively against SEC player of the year Chris Porter, who had 12 points and only two offensive rebounds--normally an important part of his high-flying game.

Kentucky, which won two of its three games with Auburn, plays in today’s final against No. 22 Arkansas, an 84-79 winner over Mississippi State.

After playing past midnight in a one-point quarterfinal victory over Florida, Arkansas (22-9) was extended to overtime by Mississippi State (20-12).

Pat Bradley scored 27 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 52 seconds left in overtime, to lead Arkansas, which stayed with its full-court press most of the game. Derek Hood had 17 points and 17 rebounds, sending the game into overtime with a basket after an offensive rebound with 5.2 seconds left. Hood also had a blocked shot and a dunk after a rebound in the final 23 seconds of overtime.

Detrick White led Mississippi State with 27 points. Tang Hamilton had 16 points, but didn’t play much after the first half because of a broken nose.

WESTERN ATHLETIC

No. 8 Utah and and 6-foot-9 forward Alex Jensen took advantage of the absence of No. 25 New Mexico’s standout center Kenny Thomas in a 60-45 victory in the final at Las Vegas.

Jensen had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead Utah (27-4) to its 22nd consecutive victory. New Mexico (24-8) played its second consecutive game without its leading scorer and rebounder Thomas, who suffered a groin injury in his team’s first-round game.

Utah defeated New Mexico by 17 and 30 points in the regular season with Thomas playing, and its average of margin of victory against WAC teams was 19.

OTHER TOURNAMENTS

America East--Regular-season champion Delaware (25-5) won the tournament for the second consecutive year with an 86-67 victory over Drexel (20-9) at Newark, Del. Delaware will be making its fourth NCAA appearance, losing to Purdue last year, 95-56. “We had that deer-in-the-headlights look [last year],” said Delaware Coach Mike Brey. “Hopefully we can keep it within 20 this time.”

Big Sky--Harold Arceneaux had 27 points to lead regular-season champion Weber State (24-7) to an 82-75 victory over Northern Arizona (21-8) in the final at Ogden, Utah.

Big West--Lou Henson-coached New Mexico State (23-9) was a 79-69 winner over Boise State (21-10) in the final at Reno.

Mid-Eastern Athletic--A season that started with 10 consecutive losses isn’t over for Florida A&M; (12-18) after it earned an NCAA bid with 64-61 victory over South Carolina State (17-12) in the final at Richmond, Va. Florida A&M; is the 15th team to make the NCAA tournament with a losing record.

Southland--Devin Brown had 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead Texas San Antonio (18-10) to its first NCAA bid since 1988 in a 71-63 victory over regular-season champion Southwest Texas State (19-9) at Shreveport, La.

Southwestern Athletic--Regular-season champion Alcorn State (22-6) earned its first NCAA bid since 1984 in an 89-83 victory over Southern (21-7) on the latter’s home court at Baton Rouge, La.