Butler Serves Defeat to Detroit

L.A. Times Archives

March 8, 2000 12 AM PT

From Associated Press

LaVall Jordan scored 19 points, Thomas Jackson had 15 assists and Butler won its 15th consecutive game in a 62-43 defeat of the Titans in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference tournament title game Tuesday night at Chicago.

The Bulldogs were able to slow league most valuable player Rashad Phillips, who entered the game averaging 23.4 points. He finished with 11 points and Detroit (20-12) shot only 26% from the field. Detroit had defeated Butler (23-7) in last year’s MCC title game.

In other men’s tournament games, Valparaiso defeated Southern Utah, 71-62, and won the Mid-Continent title at Fort Wayne, Ind. The Crusaders (19-12), who advanced to the round of 16 two years ago, earned their fifth consecutive NCAA tournament trip. Lubos Barton had 23 points for Valparaiso. Fred House and Justin Sant led the Thunderbirds (16-13) with 12 points apiece. . . . Louisiana-Lafayette scored the game’s final five points and edged South Alabama, 51-50, in the Sun Belt final at North Little Rock, Ark. Lonnie Thomas’ bank shot with with 3.5 seconds left earned the victory for the Ragin’ Cajuns (25-8), who will be making their first NCAA appearance since 1994. Virgil Stanescu scored 14 points for South Alabama (20-10).

Alabama sophomore Schea Cotton is considering making himself eligible for the NBA draft because his father is ill. . . . Temple announced that Kevin Lyde had violated an NCAA rule when he had a class paid for by a coach in high school, but the school said the center had been cleared by the NCAA to play in the Atlantic 10 tournament. . . . Bill Guthridge said he’ll return to coach North Carolina next season. . . . Tennessee State Coach Frankie Allen resigned after a 7-22 season. . . . Bevon Robin, Fordham’s leading scorer, has been suspended indefinitely for violating team rules and center Alejandro Olivares has left the team for personal reasons. . . . Kansas’ Luke Axtell, who has missed the last 10 games because of an undisclosed illness, will sit out the rest of the season. He is expected to for his senior season. . . . Dennis Mims, Virginia Tech’s leading scorer and rebounder, was suspended indefinitely for an unspecified violation of team rules.

In women’s games, No. 1 Connecticut defeated No. 8 Rutgers, 79-59, and won the Big East tournament at Storrs, Conn. The Huskies (30-1), who were led by Sue Bird’s 18 points, shot 85% in the second half in winning their seventh consecutive tournament championship and earning a berth to the NCAA tournament. Tasha Pointer and Usha Gilmore had 13 points apiece for the Scarlet Knights (22-7). . . . Youngstown State earned an NCAA berth by defeating Valparaiso, 73-57, in the Mid-Continent title game at Fort Wayne, Ind.

The NCAA women’s basketball tournament could start having neutral sites for first- and second-round games as early as next season under a proposal before the management council, which meets in April. Currently, the first- and second-round games are played in the arenas of the 16 highest-seeded teams in the tournament. Those sites are not known until pairings are announced five days before the first games.

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NCAA Tournament

Schools that have received automatic bids to NCAA basketball tournament. All bids are by virtue of conference tournament championships with the exception of Ivy League and Pacific 10, which do not conduct postseason tournaments:

MEN’S BIDS

* Appalachian State, Southern

* Butler, Midwestern Collegiate

* Central Connecticut State, Northeast

* Creighton, Missouri Valley

* Gonzaga, West Coast

* Iona, Metro Atlantic Athletic

* Louisiana Lafayette, Sun Belt

* N.C. Wilmington, Colonial Athletic

* Pennsylvania, Ivy League

* Samford, Trans America Athletic

* Southeast Missouri State, Ohio Valley