December 7 , 2006 - SPORTS NEWS - SPECIAL EDITION

MARCH MADNESS COLLEGE BASKETBALL SPORTS NEWS

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FREE COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (covers.com) alabama star to see limited action against notte dame. When the No. 5 Alabama Crimson Tide travel to Notre Dame to play their first true road game Thursday, they will do so with backcourt issues. All-American guard, Ronald Steele, who has already missed two games with tendonitis, will be in the lineup for the Tide but his health is in question. Oddsmakers have yet to release a line for Thursday’s game. While Steele played Saturday in a 78-60 win over Tennessee State, the point guard acknowledged that he felt pain after the game. “I was in pain. I’m still not as explosive as I would like to be," Steele told Tidesports.com. Bama coach Mark Gottfried was relieved to have his go-to guy back in the lineup but says he may limit Steele’s minutes versus the Irish, even though Thursday’s game is a big one. "He`s not 100 percent, obviously. I didn`t anticipate playing him that many minutes (against Tennessee State). We`re doing exactly what the doctors tell us to do." Without Steele in the lineup, Alabama is a whole different team. One cause for concern has been the Tide’s erratic shot selection. In both games that he sat out, Bama lacked overall floor leadership from their guards and shot 26.7 percent from three-point land. After failing to shoot their way to a cover in two straight games, Gottfried thinks the Tide’s recent shooting woes have become a major issue. “It’s a concern," Gottfried said. “Some of that is because we don’t have a healthy Ron Steele, but we can shoot the ball better than we have been.” Steele is averaging 12.6 points per game and 5.4 assists per game this season. Notre Dame boasts an impressive backcourt of their own in Colin Falls and Kyle McAlerney. Falls, a senior, set a single-season record with 102 three-pointers last year while averaging 13.8 points per game. He is averaging 12.9 ppg this seaon. The Irish are on the brink of tapping into the Top 25 with a 6-1 record (2-2 ATS) and a win over Alabama would surely help their cause. "We`ve got a good start," forward Zach Hillesland told the South Bend Tribune, "and we`re going to keep this going." Books have yet to set a total for Thursday’s game.

FREE COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (associated press) florida looking to get back on track. Defending national champion Florida looks to bounce back from both illness and its second loss of the season Wednesday when it hosts Providence. Oddsmakers have the Gators listed as 15 1/2-point favorites and the total is set at 146 1/2. The Gators (7-2) lost 70-66 to in-state rival Florida State on Sunday and fell from fourth in the rankings to a tie for seventh with Duke in this week`s poll. Forward Corey Brewer, who is averaging 11.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, missed his second game with mononucleosis. Coach Billy Donovan said Tuesday he hopes to have Brewer back before the Gators` Dec. 23 matchup against No. 5 Ohio State. Even if that happens, Florida will be without him for their next three games. I do have a level of optimism that he could be back before Christmas if all goes well, which I`m hopeful, which would be pretty good, which would be a few weeks, Donovan said. He`s going to class. He`s walking around. This is not a bedridden illness that he`s on the flat of his back. He`s up, moving around, walking around and he can do anything. It`s just the sweating and being under physical stress and physical contact is not what they want him to do right now. Forward Joakim Noah has been battling an upper respiratory infection and has managed just 14 points in the last two games. Noah, who scored 11 points in 26 minutes against the Seminoles, is averaging 12.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. I`m feeling a little better, said Noah, who played just 12 minutes in Florida`s win over Southern on Nov. 28. But we`ve still got to find ways to win games without guys being at 100 percent because that kind of stuff happens all the time during the season. With Brewer out, guard Walter Hodge got his second straight start on Sunday and had 17 points. Taurean Green, who leads Florida with 13.4 points per game, scored a team-high 21 for the Gators, whose other loss came Nov. 25 in overtime against 12th-ranked Kansas. We tried to turn it on at the end, but it wasn`t good enough, Donovan said. The Friars (6-1) have won five straight games, including Monday`s 67-50 victory over Fairfield. Dwain Williams scored 19 points and went 5-for-6 from 3-point range, improving to 10-of-15 from beyond the arc this season. Sharaud Curry leads Providence with 16.7 points per game but managed only eight on Monday. Herbert Hill, who is averaging 15.4 points per game, had 18 for the Friars, who are off to their best start since going 9-1 in 2003-04. Florida has won each of its previous three meetings with Providence, including victories in each of the last two seasons. Donovan played for Providence from 1983-87, leading the Friars to the Final Four his senior year.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (associated press) can pitt keep dominating in december. Pittsburgh gets one last chance to take advantage of its home-court atmosphere before hitting the road. The second-ranked Panthers (8-0) look for another home victory when they host intracity rival Duquesne (2-4) on Wednesday night. Oddsmakers have Pitt listed as a 27-point favorite and the total is set at 141 1/2. Pitt has played only two games away from the Petersen Events Center this season, including a 74-66 victory over Auburn on Sunday. Following Wednesday`s game, the Panthers play their next three games on the road, including a visit to No. 11 Wisconsin on Dec. 16. Pitt hopes to remain undefeated going into that stretch by winning once more at home. The Panthers - off to an 8-0 start for the fifth consecutive season - are 70-6 at the Petersen Events Center since the building opened for the 2002-03 season. Pittsburgh has won 64 of its last 65 nonconference home games in the regular season. It was the tough road victory over Auburn, however, that had coach Jamie Dixon excited. Not a lot of teams have a good road win like that and are 8-0 at this point, Dixon said. We won by eight on the road and if we would have made some more free throws that might have changed some things against a very good team. Dixon is 24-0 in his career in December, and the Panthers are 43-1 against nonconference teams since he became coach in 2003. The eight-point win over the Tigers was the closest of the season for Pitt, which had won its previous seven games by an average of 18 points. Aaron Gray fought through a painful blister on his left foot to record 16 points and 12 rebounds. I was just trying to give my team a little bit of energy, said Gray, who developed the blister late in Pitt`s last game against Robert Morris. I kind of faded just a little bit in the second half and wasn`t effective. The Panthers have dominated their crosstown rival of late, winning five straight and 24 of the last 27 meetings with Duquesne. The Dukes, playing the last of three straight road games, have lost four in a row after opening the season with consecutive victories. Duquesne, using only eight scholarship players following the September shooting of five players, blew a 10-point second-half lead and committed 21 turnovers in a 73-72 loss to Robert Morris on Saturday night. When you shoot 58 percent from the field, you`re supposed to win, Duquesne coach Ron Everhart said. Twenty-one turnovers, that`s what did it to us, especially late in the game. We would have been better off taking the ball and handing it to the band director, Everhart said of the late turnovers. At least then we could have got our defense set. Robert Mitchell led the Dukes with 29 points, the fourth-best freshman scoring performance in school history. He was named Atlantic 10 rookie of the week for the second consecutive week. Pittsburgh leads the series with Duquesne 43-31. COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS - (associated press): nevada star may miss game. It's uncertain whether Nevada's all-time scoring leader Nick Fazekas will play in Saturday's matchup against in-state rival UNLV, Coach Mark Fox said. Fazekas suffered bruised ribs in the Wolf Pack's 77-71 victory Sunday over California and hasn't been medically cleared to practice. Fox said he'll know better by Thursday or Friday whether the star forward will be in the lineup. "They will reevaluate him daily starting Wednesday," Fox said. "They're very cautious because it's so painful. "He was a lot more sore yesterday than he was the day of the game," the coach told the Reno Gazette-Journal on Tuesday. Fazekas has never missed a game at Nevada, playing in all 106 since the 2003-04 season. The 6-foot-11, 240-pound Fazekas is a two-time player of the year in the Western Athletic Conference, and has 1,970 career points. He needs 30 more to become the 12th player in WAC history to reach 2,000. In the third game of the season, Fazekas broke Nevada's scoring record of 1,877 points set by Edgar Jones from 1975-1979. Fazekas is averaging 22.6 points, 13.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists this season. He has hit nearly 61 percent of his shots from the field, including 8-of-15 from 3-point range. Fazekas has 996 career rebounds and needs only four to join Pete Padgett, Nevada's all-time leader with 1,464, and Jones as the Pack's only players to grab 1,000 rebounds or more. Fazekas needs 20 rebounds to tie Jones for the second spot at 1,016. If Fazekas doesn't play, Fox said David Ellis would be the likely choice to start in Saturday's home game at Lawlor Events Center. The 7-1, 222-pound Ellis is a junior from Capital Christian High in Sacramento, Calif. "David Ellis has really taken a step forward," Fox said. Ellis is averaging three points and three rebounds in 17 minutes this season. He equaled a career high with six points in 17 minutes in the California game. Since starting three games as a freshman, Ellis didn't start another game until this season's opener against Alaska Anchorage when he and Lyndale Burleson started in place of regulars Marcelus Kemp and Ramon Sessions. Fox said Ellis has shown significant improvement since his sophomore season. "I think he realizes he belongs," Fox said. "He's stronger than he used to be. He doesn't get as many shots as he'd like. But we have a lot of guys who can score and none of them get as many shots as they'd like."

COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (associated press)- florida's brewer feeling better. Florida coach Billy Donovan hopes to have forward Corey Brewer back when the seventh-ranked Gators host Ohio State (No. 4 ESPN/USA Today; No. 5 AP) on Dec. 23. Brewer missed the last two games with mononucleosis and probably will be sidelined for the next three, including Wednesday night against Providence. "I do have a level of optimism that he could be back before Christmas if all goes well, which I'm hopeful, which would be pretty good, which would be a few weeks," Donovan said Tuesday. Brewer, the team's best defender and most versatile player, started feeling sick before the Gators (7-2) played Western Kentucky in Las Vegas on Nov. 24. He had 20 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and six steals in the victory, but the viral infection caught up with him the following night as he struggled in a loss to Kansas. Tests revealed mononucleosis, a white-blood cell disorder that typically causes flulike symptoms. The virus also causes glands, including the spleen, to swell. In rare cases, physical contact can cause an enlarged spleen to rupture. "Corey's situation is positive because his spleen was not enlarged, but he's got to get better," Donovan said. "I don't even know if it's necessarily fatigue right now. He looks really good. He looks refreshed. He's eating well. He says he feels fine. I guess it's the blood work. "I know the major thing they worry about with mono, with having contact, is the spleen issue. But his spleen wasn't enlarged. When those doctors tell me he can't go, he can't practice, I really don't even spend a lot of time during the day factoring him into anything. I just try to go with what we've got right now." Florida has other health issues. Forward Joakim Noah, the team's emotional leader, has been slowed with an upper respiratory infection that has caused breathing problems during recent games. "I'm feeling a little better," said Noah, who has 14 points in the last two games. "But we've still got to find ways to win games without guys being at 100 percent because that kind of stuff happens all the time during the season." Noah will remain in the lineup and try to battle through his illness. Brewer, meanwhile, probably won't practice for another week. "He's going to class. He's walking around," Donovan said. "This is not a bedridden illness that he's on the flat of his back. He's up, moving around, walking around and he can do anything. It's just the sweating and being under physical stress and physical contact is not what they want him to do right now." Donovan said Brewer was scheduled to have more blood work done this week. He hopes Brewer will then be cleared to start individual workouts without contact. After that, Donovan expects Brewer will be allowed to return to practice and eventually cleared to play. "I don't think it is going to be a situation where without any practice I'm going to hear from the doctors, 'He can play today,"' Donovan said. "I think it's going to be a gradual buildup." COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (espn.com): cincinnati center ruled inelgible. Adam Hrycaniuk will have to wait until next season to have an impact with the Cincinnati Bearcats.

The NCAA on Tuesday ruled that Hrycaniuk will not be eligible to play for Cincinnati this season but will have his eligibility restored for the 2007-08 campaign.

A 6-10 center from Poland, Hrycaniuk will be required to sit out the 2006-07 season due to amateurism issues involved with international competition. He will have one season of eligibility remaining.

"Adam competed in a total of 39 games on what was determined to be a professional team by the definition set forth by the NCAA," Cincinnati director of compliance Maggie McKinley said in a statement.

"Adam was reinstated for eligibility to compete for the University of Cincinnati on the condition that he be withheld from competition for one academic year and lose a season of eligibility."

The decision was made by the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff and upheld by the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement committee.

Hrycaniuk, 22, played 39 games as a member of Spojnia Stargard in Poland over the 2002-03 and 2004-05 seasons prior to coming to the United States and entering junior college.

Individuals on the team on which Hrycaniuk competed as an amateur were paid above normal expenses, triggering the NCAA's definition of a professional team and a violation of rule 12.2.3.2.

"Adam himself never received any compensation above and beyond actual and necessary expenses, nor did he sign a contract with an agent or the team in Poland," McKinley said. "The violation occurred because at least one of his teammates was paid above and beyond actual and necessary expenses, thus triggering the NCAA definition of a professional team."

Hrycaniuk enrolled at Cincinnati this summer and has been practicing with the team. He averaged 11.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks last season at Trinity Valley Community College, where he earned all-region honors.

He came to the U.S. in 2004 and played his freshman season at Barton County Community College. FREE COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (associated press): top 10 ats college basketball teams as of 12/06/2006. 1 Ohio St 2 UCLA 3 Butler 4 Western Kentucky 5 Penn St 6 Southern Methodist 7 Illinois St. 8 UC Santa Barbara 9 Va. Commonwealth 10 Buffalo COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (associated press) jimmy v foundation gives all poceeds to research. The V Foundation, honoring the late basketball coach Jim Valvano, will direct all donations in full toward cancer research.

The foundation has reached the point where it can cover operating expenses from the investment income of its endowment fund, foundation chairman Bob Lloyd said Monday.

"Donated money will not go to pay for administration and overhead," Lloyd said. "It will go to research, so that we can find cures for cancers. This is an extremely rewarding milestone for The V Foundation."

The foundation was started in 1993 to honor the North Carolina State coach and ESPN commentator who died of cancer. It has raised more than $60 million and awarded cancer research grants in 36 states.

The fifth annual Jimmy V Women's Basketball Classic travels to Rutgers, Valvano's alma mater. Rutgers was to host Duke (No. 5 ESPN/USA Today; No. 4 AP) on Monday night. The 12th annual men's tournament starts Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, with No. 21 Syracuse facing Oklahoma State and Arizona (No. 15 ESPN/USA Today; No. 14 AP) meeting Louisville.