Shot Comes in Nick of Tide

With two defenders all over him and the clock ticking down, Earnest Shelton jumped into the air to take what would have been a tough shot.

Then, he saw teammate Antoine Pettway alone under the basket.

Shelton fired a pass to Pettway, who laid it off the glass just as the buzzer sounded to give No. 5 Alabama a 65-64 victory over No. 8 Florida on Saturday at Tuscaloosa, Ala., and at least a share of its first Southeastern Conference regular-season championship in 15 years.

“I looked up at the clock and it said zero-zero,” Pettway said. “It was time to go home.”

Well, not quite.

As fans chanted “SEC! SEC!” and a horde of students stormed the court, Pettway and two teammates leaped on the scorer’s table, with the reserve guard hollering “We’re No. 1.” Some other students soon paraded onto the court with a banner proclaiming Alabama “2002 SEC Champions.”

The Crimson Tide--23-5 overall, 11-3 in conference and a winner of 18 consecutive home games-- trailed by as many as 13 points midway through the second half before rallying to set up the frantic finish.

Erwin Dudley’s free throws with 53 seconds left gave Alabama a 63-62 lead, its first of the half. Orien Greene of Florida (20-6, 9-5) answered with a jumper 13 seconds later.

The Gators’ James White missed the front end of a one-and-one with 16 seconds left after teammate Matt Bonner had stripped Kenny Walker of the ball. Maurice Williams rebounded White’s miss and dribbled up the court, passing to Shelton. The freshman appeared trapped in the corner by two Gators with about three seconds left, but managed to get the ball to the wide-open Pettway.

“I went up to take the shot but Pettway was so wide open and he knocked it down,” Shelton said. “I don’t know how he got so wide open.”

Bonner, who had 18 points and nine rebounds, said he came within “two or three inches” of deflecting Shelton’s final pass.

“We loaded the ball and they went to Shelton and we trapped him on the sidelines,” Florida Coach Billy Donovan said. “If we take away that last cut [from Pettway], they’re probably going to throw up a prayer. We had a breakdown for one second, and that one second cost us.”

The Crimson Tide also clinched its last SEC regular-season championship in a thrilling fashion against the Gators. In 1987, when Coach Mark Gottfried was a senior guard, Alabama won the title with an 86-85 overtime victory.

“Somebody asked me if I was thinking about 1987,” Gottfried said. “I was thinking about Earnest Shelton passing the ball, that’s all I was thinking about. I’m just glad to be back here and be part of it.”

Gottfried became the third person to win an SEC championship as both a player and a coach, joining C.M. Newton (Alabama and Kentucky) and Joe B. Hall (Kentucky).

The win over Florida also gives Alabama a chance to finish with its highest ranking since 1956, when it was No. 5 after going undefeated in the SEC at 14-0.

“It’s a great thing, but we’ve still got other things we want to accomplish,” said Dudley, who had 14 points and nine rebounds.

Alabama has two games remaining before the SEC tournament in Atlanta, but is assured of its first NCAA tournament berth since 1995.

No. 6 Oklahoma 96, Texas 78-- Ebi Ere scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half, and Aaron McGhee had 20 points and 10 rebounds at Norman, Okla., as the Sooners (22-4, 11-3) locked up the second seeding for the Big 12 tournament. Oklahoma had a season-high 12 three-point baskets in winning its 21st home game in a row and defeating Texas (17-10, 8-6) for the seventh consecutive time.

No. 12 Kentucky 71, Arkansas 58--Tayshaun Prince had 16 points to lead five scorers in double figures for the Wildcats (19-7, 9-5 in the Southeastern Conference) at Lexington, Ky. Kentucky has won fourth of its last five games and Arkansas (13-13, 5-9) has lost five of seven.

No. 13 Oklahoma State 77, Baylor 64--Ivan McFarlin had 20 points and 14 rebounds, and Victor Williams scored 18 points at Stillwater, Okla., as the Cowboys (22-6, 9-5 in the Big 12) won their fourth in a row. Lawrence Roberts had 22 points and 15 rebounds for Baylor (14-13, 4-10). The Bears have lost 16 in a row on the road.

No. 16 Illinois 56, Northwestern 41--At Evanston, Ill., the Illini (21-7, 9-5 in the Big Ten) won its sixth in a row, holding the Wildcats (16-10, 7-7) to season lows in scoring and shooting percentage (29% from the field). Northwestern missed all 17 of its three-point shots.

Notre Dame 90, No. 17 Miami 77--Freshman Chris Thomas matched his career high with 32 points and had 12 assists at Miami as the Fighting Irish (19-8, 9-5 in the Big East) ended a losing streak at three to the Hurricanes (21-6, 8-6). Thomas, also 10 for 10 from the foul line, made four free throws over the final 1:16 to seal the victory. Miami’s Darius Rice scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half, including six three-point baskets.

No. 18 Georgia 55, Louisiana State 54--Rashad Wright’s jumper from just inside the three-point line with 22 seconds to play at Baton Rouge, La., was decisive for the Bulldogs (20-7, 9-5 ) in the victory. Louisiana State (14-13, 4-10) didn’t get much out of its last chances at winning the game as Ronald Dupree shot an airball and then lost the ball out of bounds with 3.9 seconds left.

No. 19 Ohio State 77, Purdue 66--Brian Brown scored 18 points at Columbus, Ohio, to pull the Buckeyes (19-6, 10-4) within a half-game of Big Ten-leading Indiana. Purdue (12-17, 4-11) has the most losses in Gene Keady’s 22 seasons at the school and went winless in Big Ten road games (0-8) for the first time since 1966. The Boilermakers’ Willie Deane, the Big Ten’s leading scorer at 17.6 points, had only 12.

Georgia Tech 82, No. 22 Virginia 80--Marvin Lewis made a three-point shot from the top of the key with one second to play for the Yellow Jackets (13-15, 5-9 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) at Charlottesville, Va. Tony Akins had 23 points for Georgia Tech and Lewis had 15, all on three-point baskets. Virginia (16-9, 6-8) missed four consecutive free throws in the last minute in blowing a six-point lead and losing for the seventh time in nine games.

No. 24 Western Kentucky 65, Middle Tennessee 61--Chris Marcus scored 27 points and had 11 rebounds as the Hilltoppers (25-3, 13-1 in the Sun Belt) won their 15th consecutive game overall and 23rd in a row at Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky. John Humphrey made eight of 12 three-point shots and had 26 points for Middle Tennessee (13-14, 6-8).

OTHER GAMES

Caron Butler scored 28 points and Emeka Okafor blocked eight shots as Connecticut (19-6, 11-3) clinched the No. 1 seeding for the East Division in the Big East tournament with a 95-73 victory over West Virginia (8-18, 1-13) at Storrs, Conn ....Andrew Bryant had five three-point baskets in the final 10 minutes as Boston College (18-9, 7-7 in the Big East) came back from an 11-point deficit in a 69-67 victory over Villanova (14-11, 5-9) at Boston ....Brothers J.P. and Chris Spatola combined for 34 points as Army (12-15, 6-8 in the Patriot League) ended a losing streak at 13 against Navy (10-19, 5-9) and denied Midshipmen Coach Don DeVoe his 500th Division I victory in a 73-63 win at West Point, N.Y. ... Texas Tech (20-6, 9-5 in the Big 12) held Texas A&M; (9-19, 3-11) to 14 first-half points in a 74-53 victory at Lubbock, Texas. The victory gave Tech its first 20-win season since 1995-1996 and the 25th in Coach Bob Knight’s 36 Division I seasons.... Eric Nielsen scored the game-deciding basket with 24 seconds to play as Brigham Young (17-8, 7-5 in the Mountain West ) rallied from a 21-point deficit in the second half at Provo, Utah, in a 63-61 victory over Utah (19-6, 9-3)

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Missing the Big Dance

Schools in the six “power” conferences (Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific 10 and Southeastern) that have gone the longest without an NCAA tournament appearance.

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