She’s Waiving Flag in Protest

Like the rest of her team, Toni Smith stands before the national anthem is played.

Then she does something different. She turns away from the U.S. flag in protest.

Smith has been doing it all season, whether at Manhattanville College home games or on the road. She said she is protesting because “the government’s priorities are not on bettering the quality of life for all of its people, but rather on expanding its own power.”

Recently, she has received a bitter, and vocal, reaction from fans at road games, including hundreds of flag-waving students Thursday at Mount St. Mary.

More than 500 people filled the tiny gym and jeered Smith at every opportunity. Smith was booed even when she was on the bench. As time ran out, the crowd sang “God Bless America.”

It wasn’t the only time Smith, a senior at the Division III school in Purchase, N.Y., has faced objections.

When Manhattanville played at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on Feb. 11, more than 300 flag-waving midshipmen greeted Smith with chants of “U-S-A” and “Leave our country.” The crowd was believed to be a record turnout for the Mariners, who are winless this season.

When Smith picked up two fouls in the first three minutes and was benched, the crowd chanted, “We want Toni,” according to the New York Journal News.

After the Mount St. Mary game, Smith felt compelled to define her beliefs.

“For some time now, the inequalities that are embedded into the American system have bothered me,” Smith said in a statement. “As they are becoming progressively worse and it is clear that the government’s priorities are not on bettering the quality of life for all of its people, but rather on expanding its own power, I cannot, in good conscience, salute the flag.”

Smith’s profile on the team Web site includes two quotes posted by her: “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything,” and, “It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the military has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.”

Smith’s protest is drawing some supporters, most notably Manhattanville President Richard Berman.

“I told her I think what she’s doing is courageous and difficult,” said Berman, who protested the Vietnam War as a student at Michigan in the 1960s. “I asked her if she wanted to talk about the issues, and she said no.”

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Commander Keady

After Purdue’s dreadful 52-44 loss Saturday at Ohio State, Coach Gene Keady took to heart the “fire up the troops” cliche.

During a heated postgame tirade, Keady scoffed at the suggestion that team morale was low.

“Why would they be down on themselves?” Keady said. “Send them off to Afghanistan and they’ll get fired up real quick. They’re the luckiest men in the world to have a scholarship to a Big Ten school.

“They should be up every second. We’ve got soldiers who are getting ready to go to war. It’s ridiculous that they be down. What are they down about?”

Keady did not offer any excuses for his team’s skid of four losses in five games.

“If you’re down, it’s because you’re not a winner,” he said. “Winners don’t get down.”

Keady’s rant was much more scintillating than the game, which had 34 turnovers and 60 missed shots. Purdue, ranked No. 24, was held 31 points below its average.

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Carolina Crushed ... Again

North Carolina’s arrival at Maryland was delayed by torrential rain. Unfortunately for the Tar Heels, they made it to the Comcast Center, where the real downpour began. Final score: Maryland 96, North Carolina 56.

It used to be significant if Maryland pummeled North Carolina but now it leads only to comparisons from the previous year -- indeed, this was worse than North Carolina’s 33-point loss last season at Maryland.

It was Maryland’s largest margin of victory in the 79-year series and the most lopsided Atlantic Coast Conference victory in school history. It was also the third-worst defeat in North Carolina history.

The most surprising part of the rout: Maryland was playing its third game in six days. The No. 13 Terrapins beat No. 10 Wake Forest on Monday in a game delayed by snow, then lost Wednesday at No. 8 Duke.

“I thought it would be a tough game for us, just given the situation,” Maryland Coach Gary Williams said.

The first two minutes were tough. That was about all.

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Texas Tech Turmoil

Two Texas Tech players were suspended last week for a game. One quit. The other came back to the team and scored 26 points Saturday.

It’s a good thing for the Red Raiders that Andre Emmett didn’t quit after he and Nick Valdez were suspended for Monday’s game against No. 3 Texas -- which Tech lost, 77-65 -- because they missed breakfast and a walk-through meeting.

Emmett was a main reason why the Red Raiders defeated Texas A&M;, 70-69, Saturday. Valdez, however, has not come back to the team after a confusing exchange between his father and school officials.

After the suspensions, Valdez’s father, Joe, said in an e-mail to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that the players didn’t receive a customary wake-up call and had been “set up” as punishment for their part in the team’s recent string of losses.

But Thursday, Valdez’s father apologized to Coach Bob Knight.

“I understand now that Nick was actually being disciplined by the coaching staff to be responsible in his actions,” Valdez said in a letter.

But a day later, Nick Valdez, averaging 5.6 points, quit the team.

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Foul Mood

Louisville continues to deflate. So does Coach Rick Pitino.

Pitino was thrown out of a 101-80 loss to Cincinnati and then complained about the officiating.

Cincinnati made 42 of 58 free throws, both figures setting school records. Louisville was 15 for 35, numbers padded by late free throws.

“We got a directive two weeks ago out of the blue saying hand-checking would be called,” Pitino said. “There was no mention of people being thrown out of bounds and assaulted.

“Guys just have to ref the game. I haven’t been happy with it all season. It’s got to be a two-way street. They just evened it up at the end.”

Louisville, which ascended to No. 2 two weeks ago, has lost three of its last four games.

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Numbers Games

Some players stood out on Saturday:

* Creighton’s Kyle Korver launched a school-record 15 three-point attempts, and made seven, in a 67-66 victory over Fresno State. Korver scored 27 points for the Bluejays and broke the school record for three-pointers in a season with 105.

* Has anybody had a better two weeks this season than the ones put together by St. Louis’ Marque Perry?

Perry scored the winning basket against DePaul and has averaged 21.5 points in the Billikens’ last four games, all victories. In the last 11 days, St. Louis has beaten then-No. 2 Louisville and Cincinnati.

* Xavier forward David West pounded Dayton again, scoring 27 points in the No. 14 Musketeers’ 73-72 victory. West had 47 points in the teams’ first meeting.

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Times wire services contributed to this report.