Jackson State Hits Some Sour Notes in Loss to Arizona

The ensemble arrived late, pumped up the crowd with its inspired play and briefly knocked Arizona on its brass section.

Too bad the up-tempo Jackson State band can’t play basketball.

Crossed up by a bogus itinerary, the school’s band and pep squad arrived with 7:18 left in the first half Thursday night and inspired a brief 4-0 Jackson State run that tied the score at 15-all.

After that, though, all the notes on the court fell flat.

Arizona, the top-seeded team in the West, shook off a sloppy first half and took care of first-round business with a 71-47 win before a crowd of 13,411 at the Jon Huntsman Center.

Arizona (27-6) advances to play Wisconsin on Saturday in a West Regional second-round game. Texas and Louisiana State meet in the other game.

Jackson State (17-16) entered the game as the worst shooting team from one of the nation’s least regarded Division I conferences, the Southwestern Athletic, yet Arizona opened with sweaty palms.

“We were really tight,’ Coach Lute Olson said.

Despite its No. 1 status and lofty reputation, Arizona is the youngest team in the tournament, starting three freshmen.

“And we played like three freshmen were on on the court,” Olson said.

Already without star center Loren Woods, out of the tournament because of a back injury, the paper-thin Wildcats pressed even more when guard Gilbert Arenas was forced to the bench early with two fouls.

But there’s a reason no No. 16-seeded team has ever defeated a No. 1, and eventually talent prevailed.

Arizona shot only 30.8% in the first half, and led by only eight at intermission, but stretched the lead to 16 on an Arenas jump shot with 13:40 left.

The game seemingly in hand, Jackson State went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 45-37, but Arenas then made consecutive three-point baskets to quell the rally.

“I was open,” Arenas said, “and I just wanted to hit big shots. I wanted to get my team hyped up.”

It worked, although you expect Arizona will have to pick up the pace considerably to stay in the tournament through the weekend.

Jackson State shot a dismal 29.5%, making only 18 of 61 shots and only three of 17 three-point attempts.

Michael Wright led Arizona with 19 points and 13 rebounds, Arenas had 16, and Richard Jefferson added 14.

Vincent Jones led Jackson State with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Louisiana State 64, Southeast Missouri State 61--The team from the “Show Me” state nearly showed fourth-seeded LSU the door. Brian Beshara’s three-pointer with 17.8 seconds left proved to be the game winner for the Tigers, but the postgame feeling was more relief than exhilaration.

“They played well enough and deserved to win,” LSU Coach John Brady said of his opponent.

13th-seeded Southeast Missouri, champions of the Ohio Valley Conference, didn’t play like a school making its first NCAA appearance.

Although physically outmatched, the Indians beat the Tigers to almost every loose ball and had more offensive rebounds, 14-8.

And, after Roderick Johnson’s basket with 1:38 left, Southeast Missouri had the lead, 61-58.

But Torris Bright’s three-pointer with 1:17 left tied the score at 61, setting up a frenetic final minute.

With the shot clock winding down, Bright passed to Beshara, who put a pump fake on defender Mike Branson before making his three-point shot.

“I haven’t been shooting like I know I can,” Beshara said of a recent shooting slump. “I’m glad I was able to come through for the team. The team is the most important thing.”

Southeast Missouri State (24-7) had a last-second chance to tie, but Johnson’s three-point attempt would not drop.

Johnson deserved better. A 6-6 power forward overshadowed by LSU’s front line of 6-11 Jabari Smith, 6-9 Stromile Swift and the 6-8 Beshara, Johnson finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, eight on the offensive boards.

Smith led LSU with 17 points.

Texas 77, Indiana State 61--The Longhorns were more like the Tallhorns, using their substantial size advantage to pound out the first-round victory. Texas’ front line of 7-foot center Chris Mihm, 6-7 forward Gabe Muoneke and 6-8 forward Chris Owens combined for 49 points and 22 rebounds against the Sycamores, whose tallest player is 6-7.

12th-seeded Indiana State was pesky, rallying from a 17-point first-half deficit to make things interesting. A 14-2 second-half run by the Sycamores cut the lead to 56-51 with 9:19 left, and Texas’ Mihm was on the bench with four fouls.

But then it became an inside job. Successive baskets by Owens, Muoneke, Owens and Muoneke on an 8-0 Texas run pushed the lead back to 13 and the Longhorns held on for the win.

“Everyone did what it took to get the victory,” said Mihm, who finished with 16 points and eight rebounds in only 25 minutes. “They took over the game and handled it while I was out.”

It’s already been a tough week for Mihm. Tuesday, his grandmother died while visiting his parents in Austin and, Wednesday night, Mihm was bed-ridden with a 101-degree temperature.

Fifth-seeded Texas (24-8) plays on, while Indiana State’s first NCAA appearance since 1979 ends abruptly.

Michael Menser led the Sycamore (22-10) with 22 points.

Wisconsin 66, Fresno State 56--The eight-seeded Badgers outscored the ninth-seeded Bulldogs, 26-4, in a second-half blitz that completely dumbfounded Bulldog Coach Jerry Tarkanian.

“It seemed like we died out there,” he said.

Wilted may have been a better description. Wisconsin’s man-to-man defense suffocated free-shooting Fresno State (24-10). Mike Kelly held Bulldog guard Courtney Alexander, the nation’s leading scorer at 25 points a game, to 11. Alexander made only five of 19 shots.

Wisconsin’s win atoned for last year’s first-round exit, when the Badgers scored 32 points in a loss to Southwest Missouri State.

Wisconsin (19-13) relies on defense to win, but put Thursday’s game away by making 13 of 26 second-half shots, including four straight baseline three-point shots by Jon Bryant, who finished with a game-high 21 points.