www.herald-review.com
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Decatur, Illinois
sports C3
College basketball
Wolverines ferocious from deep in win
Michigan,
Michigan State,
Wisconsin all win
H&R news services
‌ ILWAUKEE — Nik StausM
kas and Michigan figured out
the best way to overcome
Texas’ advantage inside.
One sweet shooting performance.
Stauskas made four of
Michigan’s 14 3-pointers,
and the Wolverines beat the
Longhorns 79-65 on Saturday to advance to the NCAA
tournament’s Sweet 16 for the
second straight year.
“Huge win for us,” coach
John Beilein said. “These
guys believe and they did a
great job.”
Stauskas had 17 points and
matched a career high with
eight assists as Michigan (278) moved on to next week’s
Midwest Regional semifinals
in Indianapolis. The secondseeded Wolverines will face
the winner of Sunday’s
Mercer-Tennessee game.
Michigan lost to Louisville
in the national championship game a year ago. But the
Wolverines are rolling again,
thanks to strong outside
shooting and Jordan Morgan’s
work inside.
“What I do like about this
team is they’ve never lost
two in a row. They’ve been
resilient,” Beilein said. “They
get better in both victory
and defeat.”
Isiah Taylor scored 22
points for the seventh-seeded
Longhorns on 8-for-22
shooting. Texas (24-11) outrebounded Michigan 41-30,
including 21 on the offensive
glass, but the Longhorns
got off to a slow start and
never recovered.
Michigan shot 14 for 28
from 3-point range and 17
for 21 at the free throw line
in its ninth win in the last
10 games.
Morgan had 15 points and
10 rebounds, and Caris LeVert
and Glenn Robinson III had
14 points apiece.
“It wasn’t the 14 3s that
beat us. It wasn’t,” Texas
coach Rick Barnes said. “It
was not finishing a couple
times defensively and the
shots in close that we didn’t
get to go down.”
Texas trailed by 18 points
Associated Press‌
Michigan State’s Branden Dawson (22) and Harvard’s Laurent Rivard go for a loose ball in the second
half. Michigan State won 80-73.
early in the second half,
but used its defense and
rebounding to get back in the
game. Martez Walker hit two
free throws and Taylor had
a jumper to trim Michigan’s
lead to 58-52 with 8 minutes left.
That’s when Robinson
stepped up for the Wolverines, driving inside for
a score.
After Connor Lammert turned it over for the
Longhorns, Robinson hit a
3-pointer to make it 63-52
with 6:43 remaining.
“I wanted the ball. I think
they were kind of keying
in on Nik, and some of our
other guys,” Robinson said. “I
hadn’t scored in a while.”
LeVert added a big 3 in the
final minutes, helping Michigan overcome its trouble
inside in the second half.
The Longhorns outrebounded the Wolverines
25-15 after halftime.
“We’ve got to look at this
game, and everybody in this
room has to remember this
feeling. It’s horrible,” Texas
guard Demarcus Holland said.
Michigan was coming off a
57-40 victory over Wofford,
while Texas advanced with a
dramatic 87-85 victory over
Arizona State in the late game
Thursday night. The Longhorns and Sun Devils were
tied in the final seconds when
Cameron Ridley picked up a
loose ball and banked it in as
time expired.
It might have been the
completely different games
in the previous round or just
Michigan’s advantage in tournament experience, but the
Wolverines jumped all over
the Longhorns at the start.
Wisconsin 85, Oregon 77‌
MILWAUKEE — In a test of
tempos, Wisconsin delivered
the knockout punch.
Ben Brust hit a 3-pointer
with 1:07 left and the
second-seeded Badgers
overcame seventh-seeded
Oregon’s transition game for
a thrilling win to get into the
Sweet 16.
Brust’s clutch 3 from the
corner gave the Badgers (287) the lead for good in a clash
of styles played before a boisterous pro-Wisconsin crowd
at the anything-but-neutral
Bradley Center.
Traevon Jackson followed
with three free throws, but
missed one with 21 seconds
left to give the Ducks (24-10)
one more chance to tie trailing by three.
Oregon gave it to Joseph
Young, who had made big
shots all night and scored
29 points. But he missed a
rushed 3 from the wing, and
the Badgers sealed it at the
foul line.
The red-clad fans erupted
into a deafening roar. Their
beloved Badgers are back in
the NCAA regional semifinals for the first time since
2012. They will play Baylor or
Creighton in Anaheim, Calif.,
on Thursday.
Frank Kaminsky led the
way with 19 points, Jackson
finished with 16 and Brust
had 12.
Left off-kilter by the Ducks
transition game early and
trailing by 12 at the half, the
Badgers hustled back in the
second half to answer the
Oregon charge and frustrate
their foes in the half court.
Michigan State 80,
Harvard 73‌
SPOKANE, Wash. —
Michigan State has a way of
making it look easy, and it
has a way of giving it up just
as easily.
But the Spartans will play
on, and they’ll gladly leave
Spokane Arena for the Sweet
16 despite the bumpy ride,
just as they did the last time
they visited here. Saturday’s
escape of Harvard wasn’t
quite as dramatic as a win
over Maryland in 2010 on a
Korie Lucious buzzer beater,
but it involved a similar collapse and recovery – a blown
16-point lead in the second
half, then a 20-11 run to end
the game after falling behind
briefly by two.
Branden Dawson scored
a career-high 26 points and
Gary Harris had 18, including
huge plays late, for the East
region No. 3 seed Spartans
(28-8), who also got 12 points
from Adreian Payne and
clutch shots and foul shots
from Denzel Valentine, Keith
Appling and Travis Trice.
The Spartans will play Friday at New York’s Madison
Square Garden in the East
regional semifinals against
the winner of today’s game
between No. 1 seed Virginia
and No. 8 seed Memphis.
The winner of that game will
play two days later for a trip
to the Final Four in Arlington, Texas.
This is MSU’s 12th trip to
the Sweet 16 in 17 years, all
under Tom Izzo. Only Duke,
with 13, has more in that
time. It’s also MSU’s sixth
trip in seven seasons, best in
the nation. Kansas can match
that with a win over Stanford
on Sunday.
If the Spartans are going
to win another weekend and
reach the program’s seventh
Final Four under Izzo and
ninth overall, they’ll need to
continue playing with high
efficiency and balance on
offense. And they’ll need to
keep progressing on defense.
After MSU was whistled for
27 fouls in Thursday’s 93-78
win over Delaware, the Spartans concentrated on fouling
less often.
But that meant more open
lanes to the basket and layups
for the No. 12 seed Crimson
(27-5), helping them stay in
the game and nearly steal it.
Wesley Saunders had 22
to lead Harvard, which is
coached by former Michigan
coach Tommy Amaker.
Florida coasts to Sweet 16 berth, beats Pitt 61-45
The Associated Press
‌ RLANDO, Fla. — ScotO
tie Wilbekin scored 21 points
and top-seeded Florida beat
Pittsburgh 61-45 in the NCAA
tournament Saturday, advancing to the Sweet 16 for the
fourth consecutive year.
Patric Young added seven
points and eight rebounds for
the Gators, who extended their
school record for consecutive
wins to 28 with the victory in
the South Regional.
Coming off a lackluster
performance in its NCAA
opener, Florida (34-2) played
with considerably more energy
and intensity against the Panthers (26-10).
Wilbekin and Young spearheaded the effort. The Gators
were 5 of 20 from behind the
arc, with at least five of those
rimming in and out.
Florida advanced to the
round of 16, where it will play
fourth-seeded UCLA or 12thseeded Stephen F. Austin on
WEST REGIONAL‌
Thursday in Memphis, Tenn.
The Bruins and Lumberjacks
play Sunday in San Diego.
Talib Zanna led the Panthers
with 10 points, their only
player in double figures.
San Diego State 63,
North Dakota State 44‌
Then Syracuse freshman
Tyler Ennis took a 3-pointer
with two seconds left. It was
off the mark.
“That thing was on the
line, and he went for the
win,” Dayton coach Archie
Miller said. “The thing that
went through my head was
the game at Pitt, when I saw
that highlight on SportsCenter 7,000 times, when he
banged the 3 on Pitt. Similar
situation. You don’t have any
timeouts. You’re trying to get
organized.”
Once again, just as they
did Thursday when Aaron
Craft’s last shot missed and
they beat Ohio State 60-59,
the Flyers piled on top of each
other. Senior Devin Oliver
raised both arms in the air, his
teammates going crazy behind
him. Some of the players then
ran to the section packed with
UD fans and pointed at them,
knowing the victory meant
as much to the Flyer Faithful
as it did to the Flyers themselves.
The Flyers won this game
by sticking to what got them
here. Eleven different players
saw action. Eight scored. No
one had more than Pierre’s 14.
Sibert had 10.
The pace slowed as Dayton
tried to figure out Syracuse’s
zone. The zone was good. It
was tough.
Yet Dayton, which never
plays zone and always manto-man, showed defensive
prowess of its own, holding
the Orange to 39-percent
shooting and 0-of-10 shooting from long range.
“The defense was great,”
Miller said, “but you could
also play them 10 times, and I
don’t think that some of those
shots would be missed. So
a little bit of luck is on your
head, and you need that in
this tournament.”
MIDWEST REGIONAL‌
Louisville 66, Saint Louis 51‌
Luke Hancock scored 21
points and defending national
champion Louisville shrugged
off a cold shooting performance to advance to the Sweet
16 for the third straight year.
The fourth-seeded Cardinals
(31-5) shot under 45 percent,
had 19 turnovers and only got
11 points from star Russ Smith.
It didn’t matter, with the fifthseeded Billikens (27-7) going
0 for 15 from 3-point range
and struggling to take care of
the ball.
Louisville moved on to face
No. 1 seed Wichita State or No.
8 seed Kentucky. The unbeaten
Shockers and Wildcats meet
Sunday in St. Louis.
Associated Press‌
Louisville guard Russ Smith, center, attempts to dribble between
Saint Louis forwards Rob Loe, left, and Dwayne Evans during the
second half. Louisville won 66-51.
Saint Louis, which has never
been to the Sweet 16, lost in
the third round of the tournament for the third consecutive
dayton
Continued from C1
have posed in front of one of
the many Buffalo statues on
the way out of town because
they made this town theirs
this week with two of the biggest victories in the history
of the program in the space of
three days.
Dayton (25-10) will now
walk in Memphis, Tenn. —
after their flight there this
week — and will face No. 2
Kansas or No. 10 Stanford
in the regional semifinals
Thursday. Stanford and Kansas meet on Sunday in the
third round.
“It means everything,”
junior Jordan Sibert said. “To
be able to get here with my
teammates is just a blessing.”
“It’s a great feeling,”
sophomore Jalen Robinson
said. “We worked so hard for
year. Dwayne Evans led the
Billikens with 16 points and
Atlantic 10 player of the year
Jordair Jett finished with 15.
SPOKANE, Wash. — Xavier
Thames scored 30 points and
San Diego State reached the
round of 16 for the second time
in school history.
The fourth-seeded Aztecs
(31-4) now get to make the
short drive up the highway to
Anaheim, Calif., where they
will face No. 1 seed Arizona or
eighth-seeded Gonzaga in the
West Regional semifinals.
Thames, who was 9 of 19 from
the field, had five assists and
ended the comeback hopes of
the Bison with a six-point spurt
late in the second half.
Dwayne Polee II was the
only other San Diego State
player in double figures with
15 points.
Kory Brown led the 12thseeded Bison (26-7) with 13
points, but the best shooting
team in the country shot only
31.9 percent.
Associated Press‌
Dayton’s Devin Oliver (5) celebrates with teammates during the
second half of a third-round game against Syracuse.
this. We showed the world we
can compete with anybody.
As long as we stick with it and
never fracture and continue
to stick with our system, anything can happen.”
For the second straight
game, the Flyers watched
a shot go up at the buzzer,
knowing if it missed, they
would advance. Dayton
sophomore Dyshawn Pierre
made 1-of-2 free throws with
seven seconds remaining.
New
family
tradition
It all comes
together for
Wiggins brothers
H&R news services
‌ T. LOUIS — They grew
S
up in a quiet suburb outside
Toronto, a place where you
had to work to care about the
NCAA Tournament.
It’s not that all Canadians were averse to brackets
or watching wall-to-wall
basketball for a few days in
March. Drama is drama, no
matter what country you’re
living in.
But Andrew Wiggins was
not one of those who cared.
His older brothers — Nick
and Mitch Jr. — may have
flipped on the games every
once in a while. Their father,
Mitch Sr., played at Florida State.
But young Andrew had
more important things
to care about. His own
basketball games, his own
teams, maybe even the
Toronto Raptors.
“I watched TV,” Wiggins
says, “but when I watched it,
it would be more cartoons.”
As Wiggins, a freshman
wing, says these words,
the Kansas locker room is
flooded with cameras and
noise on the day before the
Jayhawks, the No. 2 seed in
the South Region, opened
the NCAA Tournament
with a victory over Eastern Kentucky.
The tournament Wiggins
never really cared to watch
is now the most important
thing in his life outside his
family, and wait a minute .
. . this tournament is now
about family, too.
In another locker room
inside the Scottrade Center, Nick Wiggins, a senior
reserve on Wichita State, is
arriving for an open practice with the undefeated
Shockers, the top seed in
the Midwest. Two brothers
from Canada, on two highly
seeded teams from Kansas,
both with an opportunity
to move into the Sweet 16
on Sunday.
“We never really thought
about this happening when
we were younger,” Andrew
Wiggins says.
Nick says the same. His
parents, Mitch and Marita,
are here, waiting to watch
Kansas face Stanford and
Wichita State take on Kentucky. Their oldest son was
also in the state, competing
Saturday in a slam-dunk
contest in Kansas City.
Pretty cool, Nick says,
before stopping to send out
a text.
“We have a very athletic
genes,” he says. “Shoutout to
my parents!”
Andrew Wiggins says he
is more like his mother, the
Olympic silver-medalist
sprinter. Marita Payne-Wiggins is the type of mom that
likes to measure her words
and analyze her thoughts.
That’s Andrew. Big smile,
gentle demeanor.
Mitchell Wiggins Sr. was
always more outspoken than
his wife, and it’s no secret
that Nick took some of those
genes. He plays with more
outward passion, more fire,
more likely to let people in.
There are other, more
subtle differences. Nick
spent part of his college days
covering his arms in new
tattoos. Andrew is waiting
on that.
“I like more of the
clean image right now,”
Andrew says.
But if there’s one thing
that Andrew and Nick can
agree on, it’s this: Among
the six Wiggins children,
neither Andrew nor Nick
is the most athletic. That’s
Mitch Jr., who just finished
his college career at Southeastern, an NAIA school in
Lakeland, Fla.
“I probably had the best
skill-set of the three,” Nick
says. “But I feel like Andrew
is very athletic, very young
and talented. And Mitch . .
. he’s very athletic and very
bouncy. He’s probably the
most athletic in our family.”
Now the goals are
changing. Bigger stages,
more attention.