Valparaiso Goes From Storybook to Footnote

Maryland Coach Gary Williams didn’t have to do a lot to motivate his second-seeded team for its first-round game in the South Regional in Orlando, Fla. Valparaiso’s reputation as a giant-killer in the NCAA tournament took care of that.

Playing with the business-like attitude of a Final Four contender, Maryland wore down Valparaiso in an 82-60 victory on Thursday.

Laron Profit and Terence Morris each scored 18 points and Steve Francis had 15 points and seven assists for the Terrapins (27-5).

“Playing in the first round is always a scary situation, especially playing a team like Valpo with their tradition and what they did last year,” said Williams.

Valparaiso, as No. 13-seeded team last year, stunned Mississippi, 70-69, in the first round on Bryce Drew’s buzzer-beating three-point basket, then defeated Florida State in overtime to make it to the round of 16, where it lost by six points to Rhode Island.

But Valparaiso (23-9) never seriously threatened Maryland in the second half, falling behind 71-49 with seven minutes left after the second of two 10-0 runs by the full court-pressing Terrapins.

Zoran Viskovic had 14 points and nine rebounds. for the Crusaders, who dubbed themselves “Young Guns” this season because their starting lineup had three freshmen.

Creighton 62, Louisville 58--The No. 7-seeded Cardinals, who got a reprieve to get NCAA tournament, were denied entry to the second round as the No. 10 Bluejays overcame a 13-point deficit in the second half.

With Creighton (22-8) behind 40-27 with 16 minutes left, Rodney Buford scored on a breakaway dunk to start the comeback. Buford’s three-point basket put Creighton ahead for good at 52-49and the Bluejays held the lead by making all 10 of their free throws in the final 1:30.

Louisville (19-11) wasn’t supposed to be in this tournament, but last month became the first school to get a postseason ban reversed. The Cardinals had been penalized for recruiting violations, then were allowed to play because of a procedural error by the NCAA. They had reached the round of 16 under Coach Denny Crum four of the previous six years.

Creighton won only its second NCAA tournament game in 25 years, and first since 1991. The Bluejays play Maryland in the second round.

Indiana 108, George Washington 88--Freshman Kirk Haston scored 27 points despite playing with a broken left hand for the No. 6-seeded Hoosiers (23-10). Haston made nine of 11 shots and nine of 10 free throws.

Indiana broke the school scoring record in the tournament (107 points) set in 1987, when the Hoosiers won the last of three championships under Coach Bob Knight. Indiana has won only two of its last seven tournament games.

No. 11-seeded George Washington (20-9) was led by 5-foot-4 Shawnta Rogers, who had 28 points, but was 10-for-31 shooting. The Colonials made only 34 of 90 shots and were outscored 31-11 on free throws.

St. John’s 69, Samford 43--The No. 3-seeded Red Storm was focused and poised, determined to not let No. 14-seeded Samford make a name for itself.

Ron Artest had game-highs of 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead St. John’s (26-8) to a victory in the first round for the first time since 1993. The Red Storm plays Indiana Saturday.

Samford billed itself as “Southern-Fried Princeton” because it uses the same deliberate style of offense as the Ivy League school which has been a giant-killer in the tournament. But the Bulldogs (24-6) didn’t come close to duplicating Princeton’s recent success in their first tournament appearance--falling behind 13-0 and missing 26 of 33 three-point shots.