Maryland’s Rout Closes Cole Era

About the only thing that didn’t go according to plan was the net-cutting ceremony.

Long after No. 2-ranked Maryland ended its 47-year stay in storied Cole Field House at College Park, Md., with a 112-92 rout of Virginia on Sunday night, each player climbed a ladder to cut down the net in front of the Terrapins’ bench.

Juan Dixon sliced off the last cord, then realized that Coach Gary Williams was still behind him. So Dixon knotted the severed cord to the rim, and Williams ended the emotional night with one last snip.

Williams had no complaints, though, because Maryland finished 15-0 at home and concluded the best regular season in school history with a runaway victory.

“This is the way it’s supposed to be,” Williams said. “Everyone got into the game, and the crowd was great.”

Dixon scored 23 points, Chris Wilcox had 21 points and 11 rebounds and Lonny Baxter had 18 points for the Terrapins (25-3, 15-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference), who will move across campus next season into the new $101-million Comcast Center.

Williams, a Maryland alum, said his fondest memory of Cole was “sitting in Section Q and passing two exams to get out of here.”

Cole Field House will remain a place where students take exams and receive their diplomas, but college basketball fans will remember it as the site two Final Fours (1966 and 1970) and some classic ACC games.

In the finale, Maryland took the lead for good midway through the first half and cruised to its 12th consecutive victory, eclipsing the 22-3 regular-season record in 1974-75.

Chris Williams scored a season-high 28 points and Travis Watson had 20 for Virginia (17-10, 7-9).

No. 1 Kansas 95, Missouri 92--Nick Collison had 28 points at Columbia, Mo., and the Jayhawks (27-2, 16-0) became the first team to go unbeaten in the Big 12’s six seasons.

The Jayhawks enter the Big 12 tournament with a 14-game winning streak.

Clarence Gilbert had 23 points for Missouri (20-10, 9-7), which led, 92-91, after Arthur Johnson’s three-point play made with 1:57 to go.

No. 3 Duke 93, North Carolina 68--Jason Williams scored 23 of his 37 points in the first half at Durham, N.C. and the Blue Devils (26-3, 13-3 in the ACC) finished 13-0 at home.

Williams had eight three-point baskets.

Jason Capel matched his career-high with 28 points for the North Carolina (8-19, 4-12). Duke will try to hand North Carolina a school-record 20th loss in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament Friday night at Charlotte, N.C.

No. 4 Cincinnati 80, Memphis 75--Steve Logan scored 30 points and hit a floating jumper that sent the game to overtime, and the Bearcats (27-3, 14-2 in Conference USA) rallied for the victory at Cincinnati.

Cincinnati has won or shared each of the conference’s seven regular-season titles and earned the top seed for all seven conference tournaments.

Dajuan Wagner had 27 points for Memphis (22-8, 12-4), which took a 68-66 lead on Antonio Burks’ two free throws with 6.9 seconds left in regulation.

Mississippi 84, No. 6 Alabama 56--David Sanders scored a career-high 23 points for the Rebels (20-9, 9-7 in the Southeastern Conference at Oxford, Miss.

Alabama (24-6, 12-4)matched its second-lowest point total this season and committed 26 turnovers.

No. 15 Illinois 67, Minnesota 66--Frank Williams made a driving layup with 2.9 seconds left to cap a 10-0 game-closing run at Minneapolis and give the Fighting Illini (23-7, 11-5) a share of the four-way tie for the Big Ten title with Indiana, Ohio State and Wisconsin.

Trailing 66-63 with 12 seconds left, the Illini tied up the Gophers underneath their basket but the possession arrow kept the ball with Minnesota. After Kevin Burleson lost control, Cory Bradford picked up the loose ball and made a jumper from the free throw line to pull the Illinois within 66-65.

Then, with Minnesota (16-11, 9-7) trying to get the ball past halfcourt on its next possession, Illinois cornered Burleson again. His pass to Dusty Rychart sailed out of bounds, giving Illinois possession on the base line with 6.9 seconds left and setting the stage Williams’ winning basket--his only one of the second half.

OTHER GAMES

Lynn Greer had 32 of his 36 points in the second half and made a 14-foot jumper with 1.2 seconds left in the second overtime to lift Temple over Saint Joseph’s, 87-84, at Philadelphia. Temple (15-13, 12-4 in the Atlantic 10) gained the top seed in the conference’s East Division....Kenny Walls and Troy Bell each scored 15 points and Boston College (19-10, 8-8 Big East) kept its postseason hopes alive with a 69-65 victory at Syracuse (20-10, 9-7).

TOURNAMENTS

Horizon: At Cleveland, Louis Smith scored a career-high 20 points and Loyola of Chicago defeated Wisconsin-Green Bay, 63-57, in a semifinal at Cleveland. Illinois-Chicago (19-13)-- a 79-68 winner over Detroit--plays Loyola in Tuesday’s final.

Missouri Valley: Marcus Belcher’s 19 points helped Southern Illinois (26-6) beat Southwest Missouri State, 86-63, in a semifinal at St. Louis. Southern Illinois plays Creighton (21-8)--a 90-63 winner over Illinois State--in tonight’s final.

Southern--In the final at North Charleston, S.C., Peter Anderer scored 22 points to lead Davidson (21-9) past Furman, 62-57, to its second NCAA tournament appearance in four years.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Big West Tournament

AT ANAHEIM CONVENTION CENTER

WEDNESDAY

* Women’s first round: No. 3 Pacific (17-10) vs. No. 6 Idaho (11-16), noon; No. 2 UC Riverside (15-12) vs. No. 7 UC Irvine (8-19), 2:30 p.m.; No. 1 UC Santa Barbara (22-5) vs. No. 8 Cal State Fullerton (4-23), 6 p.m.; No. 4 Long Beach State (15-12) vs. No. 5 Cal Poly SLO (11-16), 8:30 p.m.

THURSDAY

* Men’s first round: No. 4 Pacific (19-9) vs. No. 5 Cal State Northridge (12-15), noon; No. 1 Utah State (21-6) vs. No. 8 Idaho (9-18), 2:30 p.m.; No. 2 UC Irvine (20-9) vs. No. 7 Long Beach State (13-16), 6 p.m.; No. 3 UC Santa Barbara (17-10) vs. No. 6 Cal Poly SLO (15-11), 8:30 p.m.

FRIDAY

* Women’s semifinals: Games at noon and 2:30.

* Men’s semifinals: Games at

6 p.m. and 8:30.

SATURDAY

* Women’s final: 1 p.m. (FSN)

* Men’s final: 9 p.m. (ESPN)

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Men’s NCAA Automatic Bids

* Florida Atlantic (19-11), Atlantic Sun

* Murray State (19-12), Ohio Valley

* Winthrop (19-11), Big South

* Davidson (21-9), Southern