Tournament Wrap-Up – First Round
by Dan Hauptman
News and Notes
After four decades of coaching college basketball, Jerry Tarkanian is throwing in the towel. The 71-year-old announced his decision at a press conference on Friday afternoon. He will stay at Fresno State and serve as a consultant for his alma mater. Tarkanian won a NCAA title with UNLV in 1990 and is the fourth winningest coach in major college basketball (778-202 in 31 years in Division I).
Former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson made his first public comments since his dismissal. He issued a statement to the AP saying that he would fight a buyout of his contract. He is scheduled to meet with University of Arkansas system president B. Alan Sugg on Monday.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said on Friday that he will need right hip replacement surgery following the season. The 55-year-old had the surgery on his left side following the 1999 Tournament.
Larry Shyatt will be behind the bench at Clemson next year. Clemson athletic director Bobby Robinson said Friday that he has given Shyatt a two-year contract extension. The new deal will keep the coach at the university through 2005.
Tennessee junior Marcus Haislip will enter June’s NBA Draft. The 6-foot-10 forward averaged 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds this season.
Oklahoma guard Hollis Price hurt his left ankle and strained his right hamstring in the Sooners’ win vs. Illinois-Chicago.
Indiana guard Tom Coverdale didn’t practice on Friday. The junior injured his left ankle in the first half of the Hoosiers’ win vs. Utah. He returned to the game but was limping noticeably. He says that he is going to play on Saturday, but he feels a sharp pain when he tries to cut on the ankle.
Kansas is preparing for its 2nd round game as if guard Kirk Hinrich will not be available. The junior sprained his left ankle in the 1st half of the Jayhawks’ win vs. Holy Cross. He didn’t participate in Friday’s practice and coach Roy Williams said that had the game been on Friday, Hinrich would not have been available.
Missouri forward Kareem Rush is optimistic that he will play on Saturday vs. Ohio State. He needed 21 stitches to close a cut on his lip that occurred in Thursday’s game and also strained his neck in the victory.
Teams from the six big conferences (ACC, Big 10, SEC, Big 12, Pac 10, Big East) were 24-9 in the First Round.
For the first time in Tournament history, three 12-seeds advanced to the 2nd round (Tulsa, Missouri and Creighton). The lowest seed to win was 13-seed UNC-Wilmington. Double-digit seeds won seven games in the 1st round. Last year, nine double-digit seeds advanced to the 2nd round.
There were two overtime games in the 1st round. In each game, the lower seed won. 13-seed UNC-Wilmington defeated USC on Thursday, and 12-seed Creighton beat Florida in double overtime on Friday.
Ohio teams are 4-0, with wins by Kent State, Ohio State, Cincinnati and Xavier. The state of Florida didn’t fare nearly as well, going 0-3 with Florida, Miami and Florida Atlantic going home after one game in the tournament.
Of the eight sub-regions, only the Midwest lower bracket saw all four top seeds advance to the 2nd round. Sixth seed Texas will meet No. 3 Mississippi State and second-seeded Oregon faces No. 7 Wake Forest.
Bob Knight and his Texas Tech Red Raiders lost to Southern Illinois on Friday. Knight’s teams have now lost 5 of their last 7 1st round NCAA Tournament games.
Conference Breakdown
Pac-10 (5-1): Win – Oregon, Arizona, Stanford. Cal, UCLA. Loss – USC
ACC (4-0): Win – Wake Forest, Duke, NC State, Maryland Margin of victory: 20.5 ppg
Big Ten (4-1): Win – Ohio State, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin. Loss – Michigan State.
SEC (4-2): Win – Kentucky, Alabama, Miss. St., Georgia. Loss – Florida, Ole Miss
Big 12 (4-2): Win – Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas. Loss – Oklahoma St, Texas Tech
Big East (3-3): Win – Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, UConn. Loss – Miami, St John’s, Boston College
MVC (2-0): Win – Creighton, Southern Illinois.
WAC (1-1): Win – Tulsa. Loss – Hawaii.
MWC (1-2): Win – Wyoming. Loss – Utah, San Diego State.
CUSA (1-2): Win – Cincinnati. Loss – Charlotte, Marquette.
WCC (0-2): Loss – Gonzaga, Pepperdine. DONE after 1st round
Seeds Breakdown
1 (4-0): Win – Kansas, Duke, Cincinnati, Maryland
2 (4-0): Win – Oregon, Alabama, Oklahoma, UConn
3 (4-0): Win – Arizona. Pitt. Miss. St, Georgia
4 (3-1): Win – Kentucky, Ohio State, Illinois Loss – USC
5 (1-3): Win – Indiana. Loss – Miami, Marquette, Florida
6 (2-2): Win – Cal, Texas. Loss – Gonzaga, Texas Tech
7 (3-1): Win – Wake Forest, NC State, Xavier. Loss – Oklahoma State
8 (4-0): Win – Notre Dame, Stanford, Wisconsin, UCLA
9 (0-4): Loss – Charlotte, Western Kentucky, St. John’s, Ole Miss
10 (1-3): Win – Kent State. Loss – Pepperdine, Michigan State, Hawaii
11 (2-2): Win – Wyoming, Southern Illinois. Loss – Penn, Boston College
12 (3-1): Win – Missouri, Tulsa, Creighton. Loss- Utah. 1st time three #12 seeds advanced to 2nd round.
13 (1-3): Win – UNC-Wilmington. Loss – Valparaiso, Davidson, San Diego State.
14 (0-4): Loss – UC Santa Barbara, Central Conn State., McNeese State, Murray State
15 (0-4): Loss – Florida Atlantic, Montana, Ill-Chicago, Hampton
16 (0-4): Loss – Holy Cross, Winthrop, Boston University, Siena
Cincinnati: Coach Bob Huggins won his 500th game on Friday vs. Boston University.
Connecticut: 10-0 in 1st round games under Jim Calhoun.
Kansas: 19 consecutive 1st Round wins.
Kent State: Won in 1st Round for 2nd straight year. The Golden Flashes have never been to the Sweet 16.
Kentucky: 12 straight 1st Round wins. Tubby Smith will face his old team, Tulsa (1992-95), in the 2nd round.
Oregon: Won first NCAA Tournament game since 1960.
UNC-Wilmington: 1st ever win in NCAA Tournament.
Pupil vs. Mentor: Former Duke assistant Mike Brey and his Notre Dame squad will battle Coach K and Duke in the second round. Last year, another former Krzyzewski protege, Quin Snyder, and his Missouri Tigers lost to the Blue Devils 94-81 in the second round.
Friday’s Heroes
Terrell Taylor, Creighton: GW 3-pter and 28 points (all after halftime) in 2 OT win vs. Florida.
Aaron McGhee, Oklahoma: 26 points and 12 rebounds in win vs. Illinois-Chicago.
Frank Williams, Illinois: 25 points and 8 assists in win vs. San Diego State.
Steve Logan, Cincinnati: 27 points and 8 assists in win vs. Boston University
Juan Dixon, Maryland: 29 points and 4 assists in win vs. Siena.
Jarvis Hayes, Georgia: 31 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in win vs. Murray State.
