November 29 , 2006 - SPORTS NEWS - SPECIAL EDITION
MARCH MADNESS COLLEGE BASKETBALL SPORTS NEWS
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FREE COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (associated press) tar heels favored to beat #1 ohio state.
Ohio State coach Thad Matta has kept his wits about him as his heralded freshman class has started strong despite missing its centerpiece. Roy Williams, though, is at his wit`s end hoping for consistency from his highly regarded first-year class at North Carolina.
In perhaps the most anticipated game of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, the sixth-ranked Tar Heels host the first-ranked Buckeyes at the Smith Center with a wealth of first-year talent on display from both teams.
Oddsmakers have the Tar Heels as 7-point favorites with the total set at 156 1/2.
Ohio State (6-0) was picked as a NCAA title contender after Matta successfully recruited the ``Thad 5`` of Daequan Cook, Mike Conley, David Lighty, Mark Titus and Greg Oden, and junior college transfer Othello Hunter. But Oden - who almost certainly would have been the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft last summer had the league not instituted a moratorium on high school players entering the draft - has yet to play a minute this season as he rehabilitates from offseason surgery on his right wrist.
Despite the absence of the 7-footer, Matta has seen the other five newcomers make successful transitions to college basketball, combining to average 44.3 points, 20.8 rebounds and 9.7 assists.
``Going into the season, there were so many unknowns. We were apprehensive and quite honestly we still are a little bit,`` Matta noted. ``The guys have done a nice job of adapting to how we want to play offensively and defensively. I give our veterans credit for the job they have done and the new guys for keeping their eyes and ears open and trying to learn.``
Cook leads Ohio State in scoring with 17.8 points per game despite coming off the bench. He is shooting 58.1 percent from the field and 48 percent from 3-point range. Conley has averaged 9.5 points and 6.3 assists, but also has an assist-to-turnover ratio of nearly 3-to-1 and has a team-best 19 steals.
``I have been pleased with their progress,`` Matta said of Cook and Conley. ``As a coach, it is enjoyable to watch guys get better over time. Cook has made the effort to learn the defense and Michael is growing into the point guard position at the college level.``
Lighty is averaging 8.3 points and 3.2 rebounds. Titus, meanwhile, is the only freshman not seeing significant playing time.
Hunter is averaging 7.7 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds despite playing just 22 minutes per game.
The arrival of Wayne Ellington, William Graves, Ty Lawson, Alex Stepheson, Deon Thompson and Brandan Wright at Chapel Hill was met with equally high expectations for Williams and the Tar Heels (4-1). Wright has been the best of the bunch so far, averaging 16.6 points and 7.4 rebounds while shooting 61.8 percent, with Ellington (12.2 points per game) and Lawson (10.6 ppg) also averaging in double figures as the three follow the lead of sophomore forward Tyler Hansbrough, who is averaging team highs of 20.6 points and 8.8 rebounds.
Williams has been exasperated at times, though, with his team`s inconsistent play. After a surprising loss to Gonzaga in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off, the veteran coach was still miffed at his team`s sloppy play following Friday`s 101-87 win over then-No. 22 Tennessee in the consolation game.
``I told them to go home and for Christmas ask for some brains,`` Williams said. ``One of the parents heard me say that and said, `Good. That doesn`t cost very much.```
The Tar Heels shot 57.4 percent from the field, but also committed a season-high 26 turnovers and 23 personal fouls and allowed the Volunteers to make 15 3-pointers.
``It`s still really early and I`ve got a really young team, ``Williams said. ``Two freshmen, two sophomores and one senior start. It`s a work in progress and I`ve got a lot of talent to work with.``
Hansbrough bounced back from a poor outing in Friday`s consolation contest, finishing with 27 points, nine rebounds and six assists. He was held to nine points in the loss to Gonzaga, just the second time in 36 collegiate games he failed to reach double digits.
North Carolina is just 2-5 all-time in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and lost 68-64 last season to Illinois in a rematch of the 2005 NCAA tournament title game won by the Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels have won seven of nine all-time games against the Buckeyes. This is the first game between the schools since an 81-68 North Carolina win Dec. 18, 1993.
>FREE COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (associated press) brewer out for florida.
Fourth-ranked Florida could be without forward Corey Brewer for several games because of mononucleosis.
SPORTSBETTING.com has the Gators as +600 favorites to win the NCAA Championship this season.
Brewer, who is averaging 11.7 points and 4.3 rebounds, was initially diagnosed with the flu last week when the defending national champions played Western Kentucky and Kansas in Las Vegas.
But his condition got worse, and tests revealed mononucleosis.
He was out of the starting lineup Tuesday night when the Gators defeated winless Southern 83-27.
Sophomore Walter Hodge started in his place.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (associated press) lsu keeps dominating.
Following its first loss of the season, LSU looks to get back on track with another game against an in-state school.
The 10th-ranked Tigers host McNeese State on Wednesday night, one of five Louisiana schools they`ll face this season.
Oddsmakers have not yet released a line on the game.
The Tigers (2-1), who opened their season with routs over two in-state schools, were upset 57-53 at home Saturday by then-No. 24 Wichita State, dropping them four spots in the rankings.
``When you have to put every possession on your defense to win the game, it makes it more difficult,`` LSU coach John Brady said. ``We did not do anything consistently well on offense.``
LSU was 8-for-24 from the field in the second half and also missed six of its 13 free-throw attempts. Glen Davis led LSU with 17 points and Darnell Lazare added 11, but they were the only two Tigers in double figures.
``We have to make more outside shots because it is going to be hard to get the ball into the post without hitting outside shots,`` Brady said. ``In the second half last Saturday, we weren`t able to hit enough outside shots to where we could operate around the basket. It seemed like it was all a struggle offensively. We never really had any rhythm on offense.``
Davis did pull down 13 rebounds to record his first double-double of the season. He had 19 in 36 games as a sophomore.
LSU beat Nicholls State 96-42 on Nov. 17, then handled Louisiana-Monroe 88-57 two days later. The Tigers have won 62 straight games at home against Louisiana schools, a streak that began Dec. 8, 1988, with a win over McNeese State.
The Tigers visit another Louisiana school, Tulane, on Saturday in their first road game of the season and also host Louisiana Tech on Dec. 23.
LSU has won all 15 meetings with McNeese State, including a 90-70 win last season. The Tigers have won 13 of the 15 games by double digits, although the Cowboys nearly pulled an upset in 2004, losing 82-79.
McNeese State (2-4) figures to have problems matching up with the size of the Tigers, especially the 6-foot-9, 295-pound Davis.
``This is a big task,`` McNeese State coach Dave Simmons said. ``They have a lot of players who can play and their size will be a big problem for us.``
The Cowboys` tallest player, 6-foot-11 Kleon Penn, a junior college transfer, comes off the bench.
McNeese State has won two of its last three games after opening the year with three straight road losses. However, both of the Cowboys` victories have come against non-Division I schools.
After playing only four games in November, LSU has nine in December, including matchups with No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 13 Washington and Texas.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS - (associated press): atlantic ten reprimands st.joes coach.
Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli was reprimanded by the Atlantic 10 on Monday for criticizing a call in the final seconds of the Hawks' 65-61 loss to Penn State. The coach apologized for his conduct.
The reprimand does not carry a penalty, but any additional conduct violation will be subject to more severe punishment, the league said.
Martelli was upset that a foul was not called when Geary Claxton blocked a layup attempt by Ahmad Nivins with 2.7 seconds to go. The coach was called for a technical foul after the play, allowing Penn State to put the game away. Afterward, Martelli said Nivins got fouled and that the official "blew the call."
"Coach Martelli's comments were uncharacteristic of the high standards to which he holds himself and his student athletes," Atlantic 10 commissioner Linda Bruno said.
Martelli apologized Monday.
"I apologize for my comments following Saturday's game at Penn State and sincerely regret my words of criticism directed at official Mike Sanzere," he said. "I know that I let down my team, my staff and my family and have directly apologized to them."
COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (associated press)- maimi's head coach's nephew gunned down.
Miami coach Frank Haith got the phone call early Saturday morning that his nephew, the relative he always thought looked just like him, had been shot and killed in New York.
Miami Coach Frank Haith wasn't going to be able to attend his nephew's wedding. Now, Haith will be at his nephew's funeral.
He didn't tell his staff, his players or his administration because he knew he had to coach the Hurricanes against Lafayette that day -- the day his nephew, Sean Bell, was to be married to Nicole Paultre in Queens.
But once Haith heard more details and knew that the investigation of whether undercover officers used excessive force outside Bell's bachelor party at the Kalua Cabaret strip club in Queens was going to be national news, he had to let everyone know of his relationship with Bell.
"He was a good kid," Haith said Tuesday morning by phone as he sat in his hotel room in Chicago, awaiting the Hurricanes' game against Northwestern in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday night. "It's a sad, sad story.
"We're all very devastated. He was just about to start a new chapter in his life. He has two kids. He was getting married. We're all truly saddened by what happened," he said.
Bell is the son of Haith's brother, William. Haith said he has his father's last name, while William has his mother's.
Haith plans on going to New York for the funeral Friday. But he will be back to coach the Hurricanes in Sunday's ACC opener against Georgia Tech.
Haith said he wasn't planning on going to Bell's wedding Saturday, because of the Hurricanes' schedule. He said he recently joked with his nephew about scheduling the wedding at this time of the year.
"He just told me it was time," Haith said.
Haith said he can't talk further about how Bell died because of the investigation and asked that members of the media respect the family's privacy.
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday said he was "deeply disturbed" by what occurred but didn't want to prejudge the district attorney's case or anything the grand jury would do from this point forward. Bloomberg said he met with NYPD commissioner Raymond Kelly as well as community leaders to go over how the shooting occurred. The Rev. Al Sharpton has also spoken out over the high-profile case.
"We prefer talking than not talking, but the object is not a conversation, the object is fairness and justice," Sharpton told the New York Times. "Because we're not just interested in being treated politely, we're interested in being treated fairly and rightly. And that will happen when police are held as accountable as anyone else."
Five undercover officers fired their weapons 50 times or more at Bell and his friends as they left the strip club in their car, allegedly after the car struck an officer and an unmarked police van.
Bell was the only one killed in the shooting. Friends Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield were also shot but are expected to survive.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (associated press): oregon ad resigns.
Bill Moos will resign as athletic director at the University of Oregon, school president Dave Frohnmayer announced on Sunday.
Moos will continue serving as the athletic director until March 2007.
"Bill and I agreed this was a good time to reflect on that progress and look closely at what it will take to be successful over the next decade. Together we reached the decision that now was the appropriate time to make this change," Frohnmayer said in a statement.
Moos, 55, has been athletic director since 1995, and guided the expansion of Autzen Stadium and the construction of the department's Moshofsky Center.
During his tenure, the budget for athletics at Oregon rose from $18 million to $40 million, and the department has added two new women's sports.
Moos was the 10th athletic director for the university.
"I owe so much to this place and I will reflect with fond memories on my years at the University of Oregon. I am extremely grateful to my coaches and staff and to the many donors who believed in the vision and helped to build the blueprint that has made Oregon one of the premier athletic programs in the country," said Moos.
Frohnmayer said the university will begin looking at candidates for the position with the goal of having a successor named before Moos' departure
FREE COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (associated press): top 10 ats college basketball teams as of 11/28/2006.
1 Ohio St
2 UCLA
3 UC Santa Barbara
4 Penn St
5 Pittsburgh
6 Southern Methodist
7 Idaho State
8 Arkansas St.
9 Arkansas
10 Bradley
COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (associated press) ex fresno state player killed in finland.
Chris Sandy, a former Fresno State and Harlem Globetrotters player, died Thursday in a car accident in southeastern Finland, police said. He was 27.
Sandy, from New York, lost control of his car and collided with another vehicle going in the opposite direction, police said.
Sandy, in his first season in Europe, played for one of the top Finnish teams, Kouvot of Kouvola. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 18 points and was third in the league with 3.9 assists per game.
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