Eastern Washington Must Find a Way to Slow Carr

It won’t be easy. The word painful comes to mind.

But Eastern Washington might want to take one last look at the game film from March 1 before playing Cal State Northridge tonight in the championship of the Big Sky Conference tournament.

At the very end, the Eagles will see Markus Carr dribble downcourt and beat them with an off-balance jumper with 2.2 seconds left.

Therein lies a key to defeating Cal State Northridge.

Find a way to stop Carr, a junior point guard, and you have a chance.

Brian Heinle scores the points and gets the headlines, but Carr sets them up.

The latest team parked by Carr was Weber State, a 91-74 victim of the Matadors in a tournament semifinal Friday at Northridge.

Carr leads the nation in assists with 8.8 a game. He had 10 at halftime against Weber State. He finished with 11, two shy of the tournament record.

And he drew the assignment of guarding the Wildcats’ toughest player, Jermaine Boyette, who set school and tournament records Thursday by making all 10 of his shots against Idaho State.

Boyette was five of 11 in the first half, with three turnovers and no assists.

Boyette finished with 29 points, most of them coming in the second half with Carr on the bench in foul trouble.

Carr was here, there, everywhere as Northridge made 11 of its first 13 shots and took a 27-13 lead.

Less than three minutes into the game, Carr ripped the ball from Boyette and went in for an uncontested layup.

A few minutes later, he zipped a bounce pass from halfcourt to John Burrell for a layup.

When Carr stalled, he atoned--he gave up a basket to Boyette four minutes into the game, but answered immediately by finding Heinle down low.

Carr holds the school record for career assists.

And he shows up for big games, averaging 11.5 points and nine assists against UCLA and USC this season.

A trip to the NCAA tournament is on the line tonight.

You get the feeling Carr will be present and accounted for.