Monday, March 18th, 2002
by Dan Hauptman
News and Notes
On Sunday, Fran Fraschilla announced his resignation as head coach at New Mexico. At the news conference in Albuquerque, N.M., Fraschilla said that he feels that he “let down” New Mexico A.D. Rudy Davalos. The Lobos finished the season 16-14 after losing to Minnesota in the 1st round of the NIT.
The six major conferences (ACC, SEC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, Pac 10) placed 14 teams into the Sweet 16. The only teams not from those conferences to advance to the 3rd round were Kent State and Southern Illinois.
The Big 12 sent 4 teams to the Sweet 16 for the first time ever. In the previous four NCAA Tournaments, the conference sent a total of four teams to the 3rd round.
For the first time since 1986, there have been two 2 OT games in the same tournament. #8 UCLA beat #1 Cincinnati in 2 OT in the second round and #12 Creighton defeated #5 Florida in 2 OT in the first round.
The 105-101 2 OT #8 UCLA win vs. #1 Cincinnati marked the first time that both teams scored more than 100 points in the same game since 1994, when UCLA lost to Tulsa 112-102. The 206 total points scored in the UCLA-Cincinnati 2nd round game was the most scored since that 1994 1st round game (214 points).
In the 3rd round, UCLA and Missouri will play for the first time since the classic game in the 1995 NCAA Tournament. In that 2nd round game, the Bruins defeated the Tigers 75-74 en route to winning the title. The game featured a memorable coast-to-coast drive by UCLA guard Tyus Edney to win it in the final seconds. Also, Missouri forward Kareem Rush’s brother, JaRon, played at UCLA in 1999 and 2000.
UCLA senior Rico Hines strained his left knee in the first half of the Bruins’ 2 OT win vs. Cincinnati. He didn’t play after halftime and his status is questionable for next Friday’s 3rd round game vs. Missouri.
In the Maryland-Wisconsin 2nd round game, Terrapins guard Juan Dixon became the all-time leading scorer in Maryland history. The senior passed Len Bias with a 3-pointer in the 1st half of the contest.
Conference Breakdown
Big 12 (8-2): 2nd round Win – Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma.
Pac-10 (8-3): 2nd round Win – Oregon, Arizona, UCLA. 2nd round Loss – Stanford, California.
ACC (6-2): 2nd round Win – Duke, Maryland. 2nd round Loss – Wake Forest, NC State.
Big Ten (6-3): 2nd round Win – Indiana, Illinois. 2nd round Loss – Ohio State, Wisconsin.
Big East (5-4): 2nd round Win – Connecticut, Pittsburgh. 2nd round Loss – Notre Dame
SEC (5-5): 2nd round Win – Kentucky. 2nd round Loss – Alabama, Miss St, Georgia.
MVC (3-1): 2nd round Win – Southern Illinois. 2nd round Loss – Creighton.
MAC (2-0): 2nd round Win – Kent State.
A10 (1-1): 2nd round Loss – Xavier. DONE after 2nd round.
WAC (1-2): 2nd round Loss – Tulsa. DONE after 2nd round.
CUSA (1-3): 2nd round Loss – Cincinnati. DONE after 2nd round.
MWC (1-3): 2nd round Loss – Wyoming. DONE after 2nd round.
Seeds Breakdown
1 (7-1): 2nd round Win – Duke, Kansas, Maryland. 2nd round Loss – Cincinnati.
2 (7-1): 2nd round Win – Oregon, Connecticut, Oklahoma. 2nd round Loss – Alabama.
3 (6-2): 2nd round Win – Arizona, Pittsburgh. 2nd round Loss – Miss St., Georgia.
4 (5-2): 2nd round Win – Kentucky, Illinois. 2nd round Loss – Ohio State.
5 (2-3): 2nd round Win – Indiana.
6 (3-3): 2nd round Win – Texas. 2nd round Loss – California.
7 (3-4): 2nd round Loss – Wake Forest, NC State, Xavier.
8 (5-3): 2nd round Win – UCLA. 2nd round Loss – Notre Dame, Stanford, Wisconsin.
9 (0-4): Done after 1st round
10 (2-3) 2nd round Win – Kent State.
11 (3-3): 2nd round Win – Southern Illinois. 2nd round Loss – Wyoming.
12 (4-3): 2nd round Win – Missouri. 2nd round Loss – Tulsa, Creighton.
13 (1-4): 2nd round Loss – UNC-Wilmington. DONE after 2nd round
14 (0-4): Done after 1st round
15 (0-4): Done after 1st round
16 (0-4): Done after 1st round
Arizona: Fifth Sweet 16 in last seven years.
Connecticut: First Sweet 16 since the Huskies won the title in 1999.
Duke: Fifth straight Sweet 16. 13th in last 17 years. Coach K 14-0 vs. former assistants (all-time).
Illinois: Second straight Sweet 16.
Indiana: First Sweet 16 since 1994.
Kansas: Second straight Sweet 16.
Kent State: First ever Sweet 16.
Kentucky: Seventh Sweet 16 in last eight years.
Maryland: Fourth Sweet 16 in the last five years.
Missouri: First Sweet 16 since 1994. The Tigers have trailed for only 45 seconds in the two wins.
Oklahoma: First Sweet 16 since 1999.
Oregon: First time the Ducks won two games in the same NCAA Tournament since 1960.
Pittsburgh: First time the Panthers won two games in the same NCAA Tournament since 1974.
Southern Illinois: First time the Salukis have won two games in the same NCAA Tournament.
Texas: First Sweet 16 since 1997.
UCLA: Fifth Sweet 16 in last six years.
Sunday’s Heroes
Dan Gadzuric, UCLA: 26 points (career-high) and 13 rebounds in 2 OT win vs. Cincinnati.
Leonard Stokes, Cincinnati: 39 points (career-high) and 10 rebounds in 2 OT loss vs. UCLA.
Caron Butler, Connecticut: career-high 34 points (12-12 FTs) and 9 rebounds in win vs. NC State.
Frank Williams, Illinois: 20 points (all in 2nd half), 5 rebounds and 5 assists in win vs. Creighton.
Jermaine Dearman, Southern Illinois: 25 points (career-high) and 8 rebounds in upset win vs. Georgia.
Juan Dixon, Maryland: 29 points and 5 rebounds in win vs. Wisconsin. Set school career scoring record.
Aaron McGhee, Oklahoma: 25 points and 5 rebounds in win vs. Xavier.
