Former Missouri assistant Harvey to take Texas Southern job
HOUSTON -- Former Missouri associate head coach Tony Harvey said he will become the basketball coach at Texas Southern.
The school called a news conference Friday to make the official announcement, but Harvey acknowledged Thursday that the job was his.
Harvey was a Missouri assistant under Quin Snyder from 1999-2004. The team went to the NCAA tournament four times in that span. Harvey resigned after the NCAA found he had violated its rules.
Texas Southern fired Ronnie Courtney in July. Former coach Robert Moreland returned on an interim basis last season.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
No. 13 Louisville 79, No. 5 Tennessee 60
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Tennessee's Wayne Chism tried to pick up the loose ball, only to be quickly outnumbered. Louisville's Earl Clark and Preston Knowles both dove to the floor, and the ball deflected off Chism out of bounds.
It was what Rick Pitino loves: down and dirty defense, floor burns and hustle, and it's left the Cardinals' coach a victory away from a sixth trip to the Final Four.
Clark scored 17 points and had 12 rebounds, and Pitino's mix of defenses made life miserable for Tennessee in a 79-60 victory Thursday night that put third-seeded Louisville in the East Regional final.
Pitino, who has won an NCAA title and taken three schools to the Final Four, has Louisville playing its best basketball of the season when it counts most. After Louisville's two blowout wins last weekend, Pitino's signature zone and pressure limited the high-scoring Volunteers to 34-percent shooting. The veteran coach improved to 8-0 in regional semifinals and secured a date with top-seed North Carolina on Saturday night.
"One of the keys on defense all year has been changing it up," Pitino said. "When you give any good team a steady diet of one defense, it's not quite as good. We extend our zone almost like a half-court trap, and we don't give the wings good looks."
Terrence Williams and Andre McGee each added 13 points and David Padgett had 10 points and eight rebounds for Louisville (27-8), which nearly blew all of a 16-point first half lead, only to take control midway through the second half. The Cardinals are vying for their second Final Four trip in six years under Pitino. He also took them there in 2005.
"The last three games, our offense and our defense have both been clicking," Pitino said. "There have been games where our offense has clicked or our defense has clicked, but our defense has stayed constant most of the year."
Chris Lofton scored 15 points for No. 2 seed Tennessee, but was 3-for-15 in his final game with the Volunteers (31-5), who have never advanced beyond the round of 16.
After a horrible start, Tennessee got within 37-36 early in the second half thanks to its own defensive pressure, which forced 20 turnovers.
But then the springy Clark, who has come on in the NCAA tournament, had a driving layup, hit a baseline jumper and converted a three-point play in a 13-5 run.
Louisville's defense didn't allow Tennessee to get back in it again, and the Cardinals hit all nine free throws over the final 5 minutes to keep Tennessee at bay.
"I've been coaching a long time and never has the tempo of the game been dictated so much by an opponent," Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said. "We usually dictate tempo. We attacked the pressure and we had opportunity to hurt the press, but we just didn't finish."
JaJuan Smith added 12 point and Tyler Smith had 11, but the Volunteers continued their NCAA tournament shooting slump.
Tennessee went 5-for-20 from 3-point range and finished 11-for-58 in three games. It was another disappointing end for Pearl, who has resurrected the program at Tennessee in his third season, but hasn't been able to get the Vols into the round of eight.
The Volunteers, who were outrebounded 43-28, dropped to 0-5 in regional semifinals and finished with a school record for victories in a season.
"This doesn't take much away from the finest season in the history of Tennessee basketball," Pearl said. "No team has accomplished the things these guys accomplished this year, and I'm awfully proud of them."
Things couldn't have started much worse for the Volunteers. Chism picked up two fouls in the first 2 minutes and Louisville's extended 2-3 zone bottled up Lofton, their leading scorer.
When the Cardinals weren't turning it over, they were scoring off easy baskets in transition. Pearl had called two timeouts by the time Louisville took a 24-8 with 8:58 left.
Tennessee got within seven at halftime, then cut the deficit to one early in the second half, despite getting little from Lofton.
Lofton, who came in third in NCAA history with 429 3-pointers, saw a defender in his face every time he got the ball. He missed his first seven 3-point attempts.
Lofton was 2-for-11 from 3-point range, and could only watch Louisville celebrate in the final minute from the bench.
"They wouldn't leave me," Lofton said. "It was tough to get my shot off. They're a great defensive team."
It left the Cardinals looking ahead to Saturday's game against North Carolina, the toughest test yet for their vaunted defense. The Tar Heels will also be playing a virtual home game just over two hours from its Chapel Hill campus.
The teams were set to meet in an early season tournament in Las Vegas, but the Cardinals were upset by Brigham Young.
This time Pitino and the Cardinals, who have won 12 of 14, are a confident bunch thanks to their defense.
"It's improved a lot over the course of the season," McGee said. "Coach has talked deny pressure, and trying to force steals and turnovers. Today, as far as offense, we did a terrible job in the first half -- we had a lot of turnovers -- but we handled their pressure pretty good. We stepped it up in the second half."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Felton left speechless by Georgia's amazing run to NCAA tournament
ATLANTA -- Dennis Felton had nothing to say Monday, which was certainly understandable.
No one could blame the Georgia coach for being speechless about his team's improbable, inspiring, unprecedented run through the Southeastern Conference's tornado tournament.
Actually, though, Felton's silent treatment wasn't by choice. After prodding and cajoling the Bulldogs to heights no one could have imagined just four days earlier, he finally gave out.
"He has no voice, not even a little growl," assistant coach Pete Herrmann said. "He's trying to get that back."
Better hurry, coach. There's another game to play on Thursday.
Georgia (17-16) is heading to the NCAAs for the first time since 2002, a seemingly lost season turned upside down when the Bulldogs won the SEC tournament and an automatic bid.
To call it a miracle might be a bit of a stretch. But not by much.
"You're talking about one of the more incredible stories in college basketball this season, maybe the best," Florida coach Billy Donovan marveled. "Their story is the kind of thing you talk about when you go out to give motivational speeches, when you have a mountain to climb and don't think you can climb it. The mountain they climbed as a program, as a team, is truly remarkable."
After winning only four SEC games during the regular season, the Bulldogs matched that total during four thrilling, frightening, frustrating and ultimately glorious days in Atlanta.
The story will be told for years to come:
A last-place team and a coach fighting for his job win their first game on a shot with drops with less than a second to go in overtime. Then, while waiting to play the following night, a tornado rips through the Georgia Dome on its destructive march through downtown Atlanta. The game is postponed and the tournament is hastily moved to a much-smaller coliseum at nearby Georgia Tech -- the Bulldogs' bitter in-state rival.
From there, it only gets better. Much to Felton's chagrin, the SEC draws up a new schedule that has one team playing a doubleheader Saturday. That turns out to be Georgia, which beats Kentucky for the first time ever in the conference tournament, again going to OT. The Bulldogs sneak in a nap, then return six hours later to knock off Mississippi State, which won the SEC West.
Georgia catches a bit of a break when regular-season champ Tennessee is eliminated in the semifinals, but there's still NCAA-bound Arkansas waiting in the championship game. Playing their third game in less than 28 hours, the Bulldogs race out to an early 19-point lead and hold on to win the conference tourney for the first time since 1983.
Next up is third-seeded Xavier in the opening round of the NCAAs.
"They never stopped believing in themselves," Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said. "That was no smoke and mirrors. They were better on four nights than all four teams they played against."
On Monday, more tidbits from the amazing weekend emerged.
The team's regular bus driver came down with a severe case of the flu before the title game, forcing the school to call in a replacement. When the Bulldogs arrived at the arena, the fill-in driver ordered everyone to take their luggage because he had other stops to make.
"We're talking about going in to play in the SEC finals, and he's telling us, 'I've got to go get the track team, I've got to get the baseball team. Get that stuff off of here," Herrmann said, able to laugh about it now. "Here we are, on this tremendous run, and we've got to get all our luggage off the bus and leave it in the parking lot at Georgia Tech."
The victory was especially meaningful to Georgia's two seniors, Sundiata Gaines and Dave Bliss. Both were there at the beginning of a massive rebuilding job, and it looked as though their gritty careers would end without even a sniff of the NCAA tournament. No wonder they looked so happy during the celebration.
Herrmann also remembered a player who wasn't there. Kevin Brophy was supposed to be part of this senior class, but he was killed two summers ago in a car accident.
"Dave and I reflected on that in the locker room," Herrmann said. "I choked up for a few moments when thinking about that."
In a sense, this makes up for the NCAA tournament Georgia missed in 2003. The Bulldogs won 19 games that year and surely would have received a postseason bid, but allegations of major wrongdoing began to emerge late in the season. Coach Jim Harrick's son sent illicit payments to a player, and also taught a sham course that turned Georgia into a national laughingstock.
For those who might have forgotten, the class was "Coaching Principles and Strategies of Basketball," which included such strenuous questions on its final exam as "How many halves are in a college basketball game?" and "How many points does a 3-point field goal account for in a basketball game?"
Harrick lost his job and the Bulldogs landed on NCAA probation. Enter Felton, who came from Western Kentucky with a mandate to clean things up.
"Dennis inherited one of the biggest messes that has ever been inherited," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. "What he's done there under very adverse circumstances is extremely admirable."
It wasn't easy. The Bulldogs bottomed out at 8-20 in Felton's second season, winning just two games in the SEC. They managed 19 wins a year ago and played in the NIT, raising hopes of a breakthrough season. But, in keeping with his no-nonsense nature, Felton kicked two of his best players off the team for breaking team rules. Another player quit and two promising freshmen were lost to season-ending injuries.
With only eight scholarship players, Georgia staggered through a 13-16 regular season and finished last in the SEC East. Going into the conference tournament, there was plenty of speculation that Felton's next loss would be his last with the Bulldogs.
Not anymore.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
McNeal's 28 points leads Marquette to 89-79 victory over Notre Dame in Big East quarters
NEW YORK -- Jerel McNeal missed the Big East tournament last year because of a wrist injury. He's making up for it big time.
The junior guard scored a career-high 28 points and No. 25 Marquette beat No. 14 Notre Dame 89-79 on Thursday night in the quarterfinals. He led the team with 21 points in the opening-round win over Seton Hall.
"It was very hard for us to watch him not have an opportunity to play here last year because of his injury," Marquette coach Tom Crean said. "I think he has made up for lost time the last two nights."
The sixth-seeded Golden Eagles (24-8) will play seventh-seeded Pittsburgh in the semifinals on Friday night. The Panthers advanced with a 76-69 victory over second-seeded and 13th-ranked Louisville.
McNeal was the conference's defensive player of the year last season but he missed the last game of the regular season, the Big East tournament and the NCAA tournament because of the injury.
"It was one of the hardest times of my life, working all the way up to that point in the season and not getting to play in the most exciting part of the season, which is March Madness," McNeal said. "I had a whole year to think about it and I was real anxious to get back to this point."
Marquette was 0-2 in its only two previous quarterfinal appearances in the tournament and its first win in that round came at the expense of the conference player and coach of the year, Luke Harangody and Mike Brey of Notre Dame.
"McNeal's been fabulous the last two nights," Brey said. "We could not get them under control in the second half. That's a lot of speed coming at you."
Reserve guard Maurice Acker scored 10 of his 11 points in a 4:07 span of the second half when Marquette took its first double-digit lead with 3:37 to play.
McNeal and Acker played together at Hillcrest High School in Chicago -- "We've been together since the fifth grade," Acker said -- and they combined to control the game for the Golden Eagles.
Kyle McAlarney had 20 points for the Fighting Irish (24-7), who reached the semifinals last year for the second time in school history.
Notre Dame appeared to be in good shape at halftime, leading 38-32 despite Harangody, the conference's leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, being limited to just seven minutes because of foul trouble.
The Irish started the second half on a 6-2 run to take their biggest lead of the game, 44-34 with 18:42 to play.
McNeal, whose previous career high was 25 points last season, scored seven points as Marquette answered with a 13-2 run to take a 47-46 lead with 15:51 to go. Harangody, who finished with 13 points, scored eight straight points for Notre Dame but McNeal had eight of Marquette's next 10 as the Golden Eagles took the lead for good at 57-54 on his 3-pointer with 11:52 to play.
Acker, a 5-foot-8 sophomore who averages 4.5 points per game, started his personal run with a jumper that made it 66-57 with 7:44 left. When he hit his second straight 3 with 3:37 left to give Marquette a 76-66 lead, Notre Dame called a timeout and the Golden Eagles rushed to midcourt and picked up the diminutive Acker in celebration.
"That just shows how we are as a team," Acker said of the gathering at midcourt. "When someone's doing good we're going to acknowledge it. It just makes you feel good knowing you have teammates behind your back."
Harangody said the first-half fouls "got him out of his rhythm."
McAlarney credited Marquette's defense.
"In the second half they went on a few runs we didn't answer," he said. "They really got after us and for a stretch they were tougher than us."
Notre Dame has not lost consecutive games all seasons and Brey seemed relieved that the Irish's next outing would be in the NCAA tournament.
"I am glad we won't be playing Big East games next week," he said. "I've had enough and I'm sure other coaches feel the same way."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Hansbrough leads No. 1 North Carolina over Florida State 90-77
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Ty Lawson caught the pass as North Carolina pushed the ball in transition, the place where the Tar Heels' fleet-footed point guard is at his toughest. Yet instead of going without hesitation to the rim, Lawson pulled up and knocked down a jumper.
Yes, the top-ranked Tar Heels' floor leader is back from his lingering ankle injury just in time for the trip to Duke this weekend. But it's clear North Carolina will have to wait a little longer for Lawson to feel completely comfortable.
Tyler Hansbrough had 20 points while Lawson, playing in his first home game in a month, added 10 in 20 minutes to help the Tar Heels beat Florida State 90-77 on Tuesday night, keeping them in position to play for the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title this weekend against the sixth-ranked Blue Devils.
Marcus Ginyard had 13 points for North Carolina (28-2, 13-2), which led by 12 at halftime and maintained a comfortable margin through most of the second half for its seventh straight victory. North Carolina, which spent 11 weeks atop the national rankings before losing to Maryland here in January, was playing its first game since regaining the No. 1 spot following Tennessee's loss at Vanderbilt last week.
Now the Tar Heels can focus on this weekend's trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium. The question is how much they can get from Lawson as he plays his way back from missing six games with a sprained left ankle.
"A couple of things I can't do," Lawson said. "I don't think I can jump as high as I used to, so I took my time and tried to pull up and little things like that. Holes I feel like I can normally get through, I feel like I can't, so I just take my time and pass it around sometimes."
Coach Roy Williams noted that Lawson is "still not comfortable enough to take the ball to the basket in a crowd of people." Regardless, having the sophomore running the Tar Heels' fast-paced transition attack again is a welcome sight for a team with national title aspirations.
"I don't think it's as much of an adjustment for us," Hansbrough said. "Maybe for him and getting into shape and things like that, but we've played with Ty. It's just one of those things where it comes right back to you. We're all used to him."
Lawson had seven points on 3-for-3 shooting in the second half, helping the Tar Heels shoot 70 percent after the break while pulling away from the Seminoles (17-13, 6-9) over the final 11 minutes. North Carolina led by just six midway through the second half before pushing the margin to as many as 23 in the final minutes.
Jason Rich scored 27 points to lead Florida State, which was trying to win four straight ACC games for the first time since the Sam Cassell-led Seminoles did it 15 years ago. North Carolina has won eight straight meetings and 19 of 22 in the series.
"Carolina scrambled the game with their run and jump, and their trapping of our ball screens," Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton said. "We never regained our composure, and that's a credit to them."
That's not to say it was easy for North Carolina, which had trouble getting open looks for Hansbrough inside -- he didn't score his first second-half basket until the 7:40 mark -- while second-leading scorer Wayne Ellington had six points on 2-for-9 shooting.
And Lawson's health was again a concern -- if for only a few minutes -- for the second straight meeting. He injured the ankle in the early minutes of the overtime win at Florida State on Feb. 3, and didn't play again until scoring four points in 21 minutes at Boston College over the weekend.
On Tuesday, playing his first home game since Jan. 31, Lawson offered North Carolina fans a bit of a scare when he grimaced on his way to the bench with a left hip pointer with 1:53 left in the first half.
He left for the locker room sporting an ice bag, and didn't return to the bench until about 4 minutes into the second half. Still, he seemed more comfortable as the game wore on, particularly in one stretch after the Seminoles had closed within 59-53 with 11:20 left. He knocked down an open jumper from the left side followed by the pull-up jumper in transition on the next play to spark an 8-0 spurt.
Florida State got no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
"There was no question I was going to try to play through it, no matter what," Lawson said of the hip pointer. "You get tired of sitting out, so right now I'm playing through anything."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Wildcats learning to listen to coach Billy Gillispie
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- It was a battle of wills the Kentucky players soon learned they were never going to win.
For weeks, as the Wildcats slogged through an uninspired nonconference schedule, they kept expecting first year coach Billy Gillispie to loosen up. Eventually, they figured, Gillispie would crack a smile. Eventually, they were sure, Gillispie would open his perpetually folded arms and give the Wildcats a big ol' hug, hand the ball to guards Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley and tell them to "go."
But that's not "Billy Ball." Never has been. Gillispie built his resume by putting together physical, determined squads that made up for in grit what they lacked in finesse.
Ask Gillispie about his coaching philosophy, and he's typically blunt.
"Play hard, play smart, play together," Gillispie said while shrugging his shoulders. "It's easier said than done."
It is ever.
It wasn't until the Wildcats figured out that if anybody was going to change, it was going to be them and not their coach, that they began to turn their season around.
"From the start of the regular season we could still be going in that direction (against Gillispie), we could still be going toward losses instead of piling up wins and trying to do something better," forward Perry Stevenson said.
Gillispie prefers to play coach instead of psychiatrist, and isn't ready to say he's built a team in his image. Though he's not arguing with the results.
"I think that you should play basketball very intently," Gillispie said. "Whether that's your personality or not, I don't know, but I really believe you should play intently and I really believe we're getting closer to playing with intensity all the time."
Now the team that was left for dead after losses to Gardner-Webb, San Diego and No. 18 Vanderbilt finds itself in the thick of the SEC East race.
As difficult as Gillispie's first year at the home of college basketball's winningest program has been, if Kentucky (15-10, 9-3) beats struggling Ole Miss (18-8, 4-8) on Wednesday, the Wildcats will have double-digit conference wins for the first time in three seasons and an NCAA tournament resume that doesn't look quite as bleak as it did on New Year's Day.
Their secret really is no secret. The players say they're just trying to do whatever is necessary to placate their tightlipped, constantly intense head coach.
"He's a tough, hard-nosed, blue-collar kind of person and we're just trying to mimic that," Stevenson said.
They've done a pretty good job over the past six weeks.
Though hardly dominant -- Kentucky's average margin of victory in conference play is just 5.8 points -- the Wildcats have won eight of their past nine games by keeping focus and minimizing mistakes down the stretch.
"That's what we live for," guard Derrick Jasper said. "We know if we've got 5 minutes left and it's close, then we've got a shot."
It's not always pretty. These Wildcats are a far cry from the 3-point happy, high-flying glory years of Rick Pitino. Kentucky is on pace to average less than 70 points for just the third time in 20 years as Gillispie has chosen to play a deliberate offensive style intended to slow the game down so he can keep his top players fresh.
The Wildcats are sure there's a breakout offensive game in there somewhere, but at this point in the season, there's no use waiting for it. Even Gillispie admits it might not happen until next year, when his players have had more time to adjust to his system.
"The plays may be the same, but the way you play may be different," Gillispie said.
For now, the plays will run through Bradley and Crawford. After some initial skirmishes with Gillispie that left Crawford in his new coach's doghouse, he and Bradley have formed the backbone of a team that has become relentless in the decisive moments.
The duo scored 15 of Kentucky's final 18 points during Saturday's 63-58 win over Arkansas that kept the Wildcats undefeated at Rupp Arena in SEC play and second behind No. 1 Tennessee in the SEC East.
"That's just senior leadership," Stevenson said. "Most of the time they're just making big plays and everybody else is just a part of that."
It's those leaders that have helped the team come around on its new coach. Crawford and Gillispie walked off the floor together after beating Arkansas, something that seemed unimaginable three months ago. That was before the detente that comes with winning, a detente Gillispie never doubted would happen once the players bought into what he was selling.
"When you talk about love relationships, it doesn't happen overnight," Gillispie said. "It's something that's really worth having. It takes a little time and it's something we've always been good at developing."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
White scores 19 in Aztecs' 79-68 win over Wyoming
LARAMIE, Wyo. -- Billy White scored 19 points, including 17 in the second half, and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead San Diego State to a 79-68 victory against Wyoming on Tuesday night.
Lorrenzo Wade scored 14 points, Richie Williams finished with 13 and Ryan Amoroso added 12 points for the Aztecs (17-9, 7-5 Mountain West).
The Cowboys (10-15, 3-9) led 35-32 at the break, but White's put-back with 18:21 remaining gave the Aztecs their first lead of the game. He and Wade combined for 22 of SDSU's first 23 second-half points, and the Aztecs led 55-47 with 9:22 to play.
"Close to the basket I'm very comfortable," White said. "Coach told me to get the ball and try to attack the basket hard, so that's what I was thinking."
Wyoming's Tyson Johnson converted a three-point play with 8:55 remaining to spark a 7-3 run that cut the lead to four points, but that was as close as the Cowboys would get. Williams hit back-to-back layups to extend the advantage to 68-59 with 3:36 remaining. White was fouled on a dunk and converted the three-point play a minute and a half later to help seal the win.
"Our biggest concern was to keep the ball out of the post, and I think Wyoming did a good job of that in the first half and we did a bad job," said San Diego State coach Steve Fisher. "We did much better at not allowing the ball to get into the post in the second half.
"It is hard for any team to come here and win, but we were able to do it tonight for a big team win."
Johnson led Wyoming with a career-high 18 points. Ryan Dermody added 14 points and Brandon Ewing scored 12.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
|
