Butler’s Time Finally Arrives

It took Butler 53 years to make it back into the Associated Press Top 25, so it isn’t likely the Bulldogs have much sympathy for a team that stumbled after a long winning streak.

In honor of its first ranking since 1948, No. 23 Butler showed no let-up in taking out Indiana, 66-64, in the championship of the Hoosier Classic at Indianapolis.

It ended Indiana’s 39-game, 20-year winning streak in the tournament and kept Butler (13-0) as one of only five unbeaten teams in Division I.

The game wasn’t decided until Butler’s Joel Cornette leaped over a crowd in the lane and slammed home the game-winner off a rebound after a missed shot by Thomas Jackson with 3.3 seconds left.

“Originally, it was our Hoosier Classic,” Cornette said, referring to the tournament that was played among four of the state’s biggest powers from 1947-60. “We had won it a couple of times then, we’ve got a little tradition too, and it’s nice to take it back.”

Indiana had one chance to tie or win the game but didn’t get a shot off in time and a raucous scene--with Cornette pointing toward the crowd and the Butler coaches jumping onto the court--ensued.

“They played a great game, they hit big shots, they did everything they had to to win the game,” Indiana Coach Mike Davis said. “It can’t get any simpler than this: Stay with your man. The last play of the game we missed a blockout.”

Cornette knew what would have been in store had he faltered.

“I think the guys here would have killed me if I’d missed it,” Cornette said. “I wish my dreams could be this good because this is just amazing.”

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Fisher magic finished: After No. 1 Duke’s 92-79 victory against visiting San Diego State, the Blue Devils improved their record at Cameron Indoor Stadium to 625-138, having lost only three of their previous 140 against nonconference opponents.

The last time before Saturday that San Diego State Coach Steve Fisher had been in Durham, N.C., was in December 1996, when his Michigan team defeated Duke, 62-61, on a last-second basket by Robert Traylor to account for one of those Blue Devil losses.

There was no upset this time for the Aztecs’ third-year coach, who was one of only four active coaches with a two-game winning streak against Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski. The others are Stanford’s Mike Montgomery, Arkansas’ Nolan Richardson and Connecticut’s Jim Calhoun.

“I was looking for Robert Traylor down the stretch because the last time I was in here he made a play that was helpful to us,” Fisher said. “But unfortunately for us, he wasn’t there.”

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Falling stars: Texas forward Chris Owens and Utah center Chris Burgess left their game in the first half with injuries Saturday.

Owens, a preseason candidate for the Wooden Award as the nation’s top player, hurt his right knee. Burgess, Utah’s leading scorer and rebounder, tore a ligament in his right foot and is expected to sit out at least two games.

Both were on crutches after Utah’s 71-61 victory.

Burgess, a former Irvine Woodbridge High standout, dropped to the floor about four minutes into the game. He was near the top of the key, not involved in a play, when he was hurt. The injury was diagnosed as a tear of the ligament connecting the heel and ball of the foot.

“I’m all right,” Burgess said. “I know I’ll be OK.”

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No longer the Pitts: The joke around the University of Pittsburgh is that the greatest shotmaker ever associated with the school isn’t a basketball player. It’s Jonas Salk.

That’s not to say the Panther basketball program hasn’t had its moments through the years, although the school’s last NCAA tournament appearance was a first-round loss to Utah in 1993.

After Saturday’s 74-61 victory against St. Francis, Pittsburgh is 12-1 for the first time since 1987-88 when the Panthers finished 24-7, won the Big East Conference title and played two rounds into the tournament.

That team was led by Charles Smith and Jerome Lane, who was best known for his backboard-shattering experience against Providence.

This team relies on Donatas Zavackas and Brandin Knight--not exactly household names, but file them away for March.

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Fingering Fairleigh: If you’re trying to find the nation’s worst team, look no further than Fairleigh Dickinson, which dropped to 0-11 after an 88-45 loss to Kansas State at Manhattan, Kan.

Not only do the Knights have an RPI of 324--last among Division I schools--they have a coach named Tom Green, whose Hollywood namesake knows what it means to bottom out quickly.

Fairleigh Dickinson’s Green actually has been successful at the Teaneck, N.J., school, posting winning records in 13 of his 18 seasons and NCAA tournament appearances in 1985, ’88 and ’98.

The 45 points Saturday were a season low for Fairleigh Dickinson, which set an NCAA record for combined points in overtime in a 133-130 four-overtime loss to Sacred Heart on Dec. 1.

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No Zip in his step: Bob Huggins led Akron to its only NCAA tournament appearance in 1986 and three years later he bolted for a higher-profile job at Cincinnati.

Saturday marked the first time Huggins played against his former team as the No. 17 Bearcats won, 73-57.

Huggins, however, wasn’t in a particularly nostalgic mood.

“We had it going pretty good back then,” said Huggins, who coached at Akron from 1984-89 and had a 97-46 record. “But I don’t know anybody there now. Everybody is gone, and if not, they ought to be.”

Since Huggins left, the Zips haven’t even been invited to the NIT.

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Performance of the day: Mike Helms, a 6-foot-5 guard for Oakland--the school in Michigan, not the city in Northern California--had quite a 19th birthday, scoring a career-high 45 points in a 100-94 overtime victory against Western Michigan.

Helms, a sophomore from Detroit, made 16 of 20 shots, including five of six three-pointers, and eight of 11 free throws.

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Performance of the weak: Somewhere, Wally Szczerbiak had to be hiding his face.

Surely that couldn’t have been his Miami of Ohio RedHawks making only eight of 60 shots (13%) in an embarrassing 60-23 loss to Dayton.

It was.

Thirteen RedHawks played, but only five scored. Larry Drake and Brian Edwards led Miami with six points apiece.

Alex Shorts shot 0 for 11, Danny Horace was one for 10 and Doug Davis was 0 for 8.