The Morning Dish – Sunday, April 3rd
It’s the Illini… Illinois rode excellent three-point shooting and a big second half from Luther Head and Roger Powell to a berth in the national championship game with a 72-57 win over Louisville. The Illini shot better than 62 percent from the field in the second half and hit 40 percent of their three-point field goals for the game. Meanwhile, Powell, who was saddled with early foul trouble and played just five minutes in the first half, scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half, and Head added 14 of his 20 after the intermission. The two accounted for 32 of the 41 points scored by the Illini (37-1) in the second half.
Illinois scored the game’s first six points and never trailed in the first half, but they never led by more than seven. The Cardinals (33-5) would take their only lead of the game at 33-31 early in the second half, but it wouldn’t last long as Powell scored nine straight points. The Cardinals would get close again, eventually coming within 50-49, but the Illini then put the game away with a run of 11 unanswered points.
Powell and Head, who combined to shoot 15-of-26 from the field, were the only Illini to score in double figures. James Augustine had six points and 11 rebounds, helping the Illini to a 38-26 advantage on the boards. Ellis Myles led Louisville with 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots in his final college game. The Cardinals’ vaunted perimeter trio of Larry O’Bannon (12 points), Taquan Dean (12) and Francisco Garcia (four) were a combined 10-of-35 from the field.
…Taking on the Tar Heels: Much like the first game, a big second half made all the difference in who won the game. North Carolina came out like gangbusters in the second half, scoring the first six points en route to outscoring Michigan State 54-33 to overcome a five-point halftime deficit en route to an 87-71 win.
After the initial run, the Spartans (26-7) would regain the lead twice, then tie the game again at 49 when it was decided. The Tar Heels scored the next 12 points, then scored six more after a three-pointer by Kelvin Torbert, taking the lead for good and never leading by single digits again the rest of the way.
The game was close for most of the first half, with the Spartans grabbing the lead late in the half. They got two consecutive three-pointers by Shannon Brown as part of a 10-2 run to open up their largest lead at 35-27, and the Spartans went into the locker room with a 38-33 lead.
Sean May led North Carolina (32-4) with 22 points and seven rebounds, 18 of those points coming in the second half when the Tar Heels shot better than 57 percent from the field. Jawad Williams added 20 points and eight rebounds, Rashad McCants had 17 points and Raymond Felton had 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Michigan State shot just better than 29 percent in the second half and was led by Maurice Ager’s 24 points, but he made just 6-of-18 shots. Brown added 15 points, and Paul Davis had 14 points and 15 rebounds.
Aftermath in East Lansing: Police in riot gear dispersed a crowd of rowdy Michigan State fans and made several arrests near the school after the Spartans’ loss in the national semifinal on Saturday night. Police Lt. Kevin Daley said that as of 1 a.m., between 12 and 24 people had been arrested for disorderly conduct. He added that there were no reports of serious injuries at that time.
Headed to the Hall: Long-time friends Jim Calhoun and Jim Boeheim have been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Both coaches passed the 700-career win mark this season, and each has won a national championship the past two years as Boeheim won one with Syracuse two seasons ago and Calhoun won his second at Connecticut last year. The official announcement will be Monday afternoon in St. Louis, and they will be inducted in a ceremony Sept. 8-10 in Springfield, Mass.
Panthers on the Lookout: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that UW-Milwaukee interviewed two candidates on Friday to succeed Bruce Weber, who left earlier this week to become the head coach at Tennessee. Wisconsin assistant Rob Jeter and Metropolitan State coach Mike Dunlap were both interviewed in St. Louis, and Jeter said that there is interest on both sides. Dunlap just finished his eighth season as head coach at the Division II school in Denver and has a 227-40 record.
Calls to Recruits at OU Investigated: Oklahoma Athletic Director Joe Castiglione said the NCAA is investigating whether the men’s basketball coaching staff made too many telephone calls to potential recruits in past years. He did not comment further since the investigation, as well as the school’s own internal one, is ongoing, and the school’s gymnastics teams is also being investigated.
Bogut Wins AP Player of the Year: Utah sophomore center Andrew Bogut was named the Associated Press player of the year, capping off a tremendous season. Bogut, who led the nation with 26 double-doubles, averaged 20.2 points and 12.2 rebounds per game, the latter of which ranks second in the nation. He led the Utes to a 29-6 season, which ended in the Austin regional semifinal as they lost to Kentucky.
Weber Wins Coaching Award: Illinois head coach Bruce Weber won the Associated Press national coach of the year award in a landslide, getting 54 of 72 votes from the panel that votes for the weekly AP Top 25. Weber continues to rack up the awards as a result of leading Illinois to its winningest season ever, as they were No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the final 15 weeks of the season. Mike Krzyzewski of Duke had six votes, Boston College’s Al Skinner received five, and Washington’s Lorenzo Romar had four. Weber is the first Big Ten head coach to win the award since Michigan State’s Tom Izzo won in 1998.
Tonight’s Menu
• It’s an off day for the men, so the women take center stage with their national semifinal games in Indianapolis. Baylor takes on LSU at 7 PM, followed by Michigan State and Tennessee at approximately 9:30 PM.
