Either Way, It’s Hard to Forget

Turtles Take It All

1 As the final seconds of the national championship game ticked away with Maryland Coach Gary Williams still sweating the details despite an insurmountable lead over Indiana, forward Chris Wilcox put his arm around Williams and playfully mussed his hair. A year after losing to Duke in the Final Four semifinals, determined Maryland had won its first NCAA title, 64-52.

Duke’s Last Gasp

2 With the defending champions’ season on the line, so was Jason Williams--once more. With 4.2 seconds left and one free throw to tie Indiana after being fouled as he made three-point shot, Williams missed--and everybody’s All-American was a goat from the line yet again after Duke’s regional semifinal loss.

Bruin Barnes-Burner

3 Top-seeded Cincinnati fell to UCLA in double overtime, and the Bruins reached the Sweet 16 in their annual revival. The comeback against Cincinnati started when Matt Barnes made two three-point shots in five seconds for a six-point possession aided by a Bearcat foul--turning an 11-point Cincinnati lead into a mere five-point edge.

Hoosiers’ New Horizon

4 Two tumultuous seasons after Bob Knight’s firing, Indiana’s seemingly endless supply of three-point shooters overwhelmed Kent State in the South Regional final. Coach Mike Davis, so recently beleaguered, carried the game ball to the stands to present it to university President Myles Brand--the man who fired Knight and later hired Davis.

Idol Time

5 Creighton’s Terrell Taylor paid homage to the Michael Jordan statue outside Chicago’s United Center, then pulled a Jordan move inside when he helped upset Florida in double overtime in the first round with a last-second three-pointer. And yes, he wears No. 23.

Turtle Waxed

6 That’s how the Kansas City Star put it after the Jayhawks’ semifinal loss to Maryland in the Final Four. Down by 11 early against Kansas, Maryland Coach Gary Williams bent his players’ ears during a timeout, and Juan Dixon and the rest of the Terrapin terrors roared back to lead by as many as 20 points.

Knight’s Move

7 The more things change, the more they stay the same. Knight turned a 9-19 Texas Tech team into an NCAA tournament team in one season--only to lose to Southern Illinois in the first round, his fifth first-round loss in his past seven tournaments.

Oregon’s Basketball Jones

8 The final seconds ticked down against Texas, and the Ducks did exactly what they did against USC and UCLA the last week of the regular season: They gave the ball to Frederick Jones. He drove the lane and lofted a runner that bounced around the rim and fell in for a 72-70 victory that sent Oregon to the Midwest Regional final against Kansas. The road ended there, one victory short of the Final Four.

Gonzaga Goes Home

9 Long after the last three-point shot went awry in the ‘Zags’ first-round flame-out against Wyoming, All-American guard Dan Dickau stood in the locker room, eyes still red, his career over. “I still believe we’re one of the 10 best teams in the country,” he said. “I guess I’ll spend the next two weeks trying not to watch too much of the NCAA tournament.... For me, that’s difficult.”

Dry Tank in Sacramento

10 Visions of a Duke showdown and a trip to the Final Four danced in the Trojans’ minds. But USC came up empty in the first round against North Carolina Wilmington, burning out in overtime after having to come from 19 behind against one of the lesser lights of the University of North Carolina system.