Burtschi's key basket lifts Air Force over DePaul
March 21, 2007
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- The Air Force Falcons have put their NCAA snub and their senior day stub behind them.
"It still (stinks) that we did it a little too late, but you know what, it's unbelievable," Jacob Burtschi said after scoring the basket that sent Air Force to the NIT semifinals in New York with a 52-51 win over DePaul on Wednesday night.
"I want to go get some pizza from there, I hear that's where it's at."
The Falcons (26-8), who will play South Regional top seed Clemson in the semifinals on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, saw their NCAA bubble burst with four straight losses to end the season.
That slide included a 62-58 loss to Brigham Young that snapped the longest home winning streak in the nation at 30 games and spoiled senior day for a group that has won 90 games, more than any other class in the academy's history.
Now, their final memories of Clune Arena, where they've won 57 of their last 59, will be of their fans storming the court and carrying them off.
"Coach said something that really hit home: in life sometimes you're not given a second chance," said senior Matt McCraw, who also scored 13 points. "He said this game was our second chance to go out with how our senior night should have been."
He called it a great feeling to be able to give military personnel serving overseas something to cheer about.
Burtschi was 0-for-7 in the second half before scoring the game-winner with 7.7 seconds left after taking a perfect pass from Tim Anderson and drawing the foul from Wilson Chandler.
"I was excited because we got the lead back. I was pretty pumped up," Burtschi said. "I was probably too pumped up because I missed the free throw, but I don't care because we won. ... I was finally able to make a shot in the second half. But hey, I don't care if I was 0-for-8 in the second half. The last seven seconds were absolutely the most important. We didn't give up even if we could have."
The Blue Demons (24-10) had one last chance to earn their fifth trip to the NIT Final Four, which they won in 1945, when the tourney was more prestigious than the NCAAs.
DePaul's Draelon Burns, who scored 18 points and had five 3-pointers, rimmed out a 3-pointer from the right corner at the buzzer.
"I thought it was good, it was on line," Burns said. "But the ending wasn't quite like I wanted it to be."
The normally restrained crowd at Clune Arena stormed the court as Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" serenaded them over the loud speakers.
DePaul had been 18-0 when leading with five minutes left, and the Blue Demons were up 46-43 at that mark against Air Force.
Anderson scored on a layup with 3 1/2 minutes left to give Air Force a 47-46 lead, its first since the opening minutes of the second half. The lead changed three more times, with Chandler putting DePaul up 51-50 with a 3-pointer with just under two minutes left.
Dan Nwaelele's basket was called off when he was whistled for a charge with 1:14 left, stunning the Falcons and their fans who had thought he was on his way to the foul line for a three-point play.
After a timeout, Anderson knocked the inbounds pass off inbounder Jabari Currie, giving the Falcons the ball under their basket. But Nwaelele was whistled again for a foul on a pick with 47 seconds left.
The Blue Demons again gave the ball back, this time when Sammy Mejia turned it over after running into Anderson with 16 seconds remaining.
With a bigger, more physical lineup, frequent substitutions to deal with the altitude and a deft shooting touch from outside, the Blue Demons weathered a packed lane and an early 16-2 Air Force run to trail just 29-26 at the half.
Burns started the second half with a 3 that sparked a 9-2 Blue Demons run that put DePaul ahead 35-31. His fifth 3-pointer, which came after he banged his head hard on the floor while committing a foul, made it 38-34, and Chandler followed with another 3-pointer to give DePaul its biggest lead at 41-34.
But Burns didn't score again, and the Falcons re-energized their crowd by scoring seven straight points to set up the frenetic final minutes.
Air Force coach Jeff Bzdelik, 50-15 at Air Force, augmented his resume Wednesday night. The University of Colorado hopes to be first in line to talk to him when the Falcons' season is over, but he said his only concern was Clemson next week.
"I love my players. My only focus is on my basketball team," Bzdelik said. "I haven't even given it a thought."
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Duke sophomore McRoberts eligible for NBA draft
DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke forward Josh McRoberts declared himself eligible for the NBA draft Thursday.
"I am extremely grateful for the opportunities that I have had here at Duke," McRoberts said. "This was a difficult decision, but I feel it is the best one for me and my family at this point in time. I will miss Duke, the coaching staff and my teammates, but it has always been goal of mine to play in the NBA."
Several online draft projections have McRoberts, one of two sophomore team captains for Duke, as an early- to mid-first-round pick. The draft is June 28 in New York.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski said he supports McRoberts' decision to turn pro.
"In the past couple of days, I've had the opportunity to meet with Josh and his mother," Krzyzewski said. "Josh has been a terrific player for us for the past two years, and he will be even better in the future as a professional. Based on our information, it is time for him to move on to the next level, and we are ready to help him in any and every way during this process."
McRoberts averaged 13 points and a team-leading 7.9 rebounds for the Blue Devils (22-11).
It was not immediately clear whether he has hired an agent. Underclassmen who do not sign with agents have until June 18 to withdraw from the draft and return to school.
McRoberts was second on the team with 114 assists and was the only player in the nation to average at least 10.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 3.5 assists.
He scored a career-high 22 points in his final game at Duke, a 79-77 loss to Virginia Commonwealth in the first round of the NCAA tournament. That was the Blue Devils' fourth straight loss to end the season.
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NCAA: JSU 'David' meets Florida 'Goliath'
JACKSON STATE VS. FLORIDA
2007 Men's NCAA Tournament
When: Today, 8:50 p.m.
Where: New Orleans Arena
TV: CBS (WJTV-12, Jackson)
Radio: JSU network (WKXI-1400 AM, Jackson)
Talk about David and Goliath!
Tonight, our own Jackson State University Tigers - 16 seed - take on No. 1 seed and defending champion Florida in the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
To say that the matchup could be a "challenge" for the Tigers is an understatement. As a clue, the Las Vegas betting line this week showed Florida a favorite by 28 points.
But the movie 300 could be a better analogy - where 300 Spartans took on tens of thousands of Persians, leaving a mark in history that will never be forgotten for sheer glory.
JSU players are taking it in stride. It will be the Tigers' first appearance in the Big Dance since 2000 and is seen as a chance to shine.
No slouches, the Tigers were the Southwestern Athletic Conference's regular-season runners-up and conference tournament champions.
A No. 16 has never beaten a No. 1 seed in the 23 years since the tournament was expanded to 64 teams.
All Mississippians should be pulling for the underdog Spartan ... uh, Tigers to turn that around!
@2007 The Clarion-Ledger
Fifth-ranked Gators first SEC team to beat Wildcat
March 4, 2007
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Joakim Noah was thumping his chest, screaming at the top of lungs and pumping up teammates with his hustle and tenacious defense.
Noah was back to his usual self -- and so was Florida.
Noah broke out of a slump with 17 points and 10 rebounds, played with the kind of passion missing in recent games and helped the fifth-ranked Gators rebound from consecutive losses and make history with an 85-72 victory against Kentucky on Sunday.
Florida became the first Southeastern Conference team to win six in a row against the Wildcats. Only Notre Dame has won seven straight against the storied program.
"We've come a long way," said center Al Horford, who added 14 points and 10 boards. "We're all about setting records, and that's what we did."
It started with Noah, the 6-foot-10 son of tennis star Yannick Noah.
Noah -- who had his father, mother, two sisters and brother on hand for what might have been his last home game -- had scored 18 points the last three games and was admittedly playing without his usual energy. He had plenty of it against the "Kitty Cats," the nickname Noah playfully gave Kentucky (20-10, 9-7) this week
I feel like if you can deal with all the good that we've gone through, you have to know how to deal with some bad," Noah said. "We knew that it wasn't the end of the world, but I feel like to me it's like crazy how people can just be on your side and all of a sudden, a couple days later, the same people ... just trash you. I've never experienced that before. I realize now that I can't let those people affect who I am."
The Gators (26-5, 13-3) got behind early again and were tied at halftime, but they used a 13-2 run to open the second half and pulled away down the stretch to finish the season unbeaten at home (18-0).
Noah, much like last year's run through the NCAA Tournament, was the catalyst. He had a left-handed jam in the second-half spurt, then threw down consecutive dunks that pushed the lead to 62-51 with about 10 minutes to play. He added seven straight points in the closing minutes that sealed the victory.
Coach Billy Donovan said no one really knows what kind of pressure Noah has played under this season, from getting harassed by fans on the road to being the media focal point to getting double- and triple-teamed nearly every time he touches the ball.
"It's amazing to me how everybody thinks they've got everything figured out. They know Joakim Noah. They know what's wrong. And they have no clue what they're talking about," Donovan said. "Nobody does.
"They all want to pump up Joakim Noah, and when he doesn't play well, tear the kid down. Unfortunately, that's the way of the world. I think Jo has finally realized, 'I've got to play up to the expectation of my coaches and my teammates and do the very best I can.' It was good to see him get back to that energy level that he's had."
Noah's teammates seemed to feed off his excitement.
Taurean Green also broke out of a shooting slump with 17 points. Green had hit 6 of 32 shots in the last four games -- Florida lost three of those -- but was 6-of-11 Sunday. He added five assists.
Lee Humphrey, one of two scholarship seniors honored before their final home game, finished with 11 points. Walter Hodge was 5-of-5 from the field and had 15 points.
"That's the way we need to play," Green said. "We need to play with that emotion and passion. As long as we play with that and be smart with the ball and play defense we'll be fine."
Bobby Perry led Kentucky with 20 points, but 16 of them came in the first half. Perry carried the Wildcats in the opening 20 minutes, but Florida clamped down on him after the break, and no one else stepped up to make shots for the Wildcats.
Everybody made shots for the Gators, who finished 32-of-50 from the field and had a 35-23 rebounding advantage.
"We gave up a lot of open looks in the first half," Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. "We thought we addressed it at halftime, but obviously we didn't because they shot better in the second half."
It was just what the defending national champions needed after poor performances in back-to-back losses at LSU and Tennessee. Now, the Gators have some much-needed momentum heading into the postseason.
And Noah might be back on track.
"We did a good job of playing our style," Humphrey said. "We had the ball hopping and a bunch of guys scoring, which is the way we like to play."
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Conley's late layup helps Buckeyes survive Badgers
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Mike Conley Jr. stepped out of Greg Oden's lengthy shadow at just the right time.
Conley drove the lane and made a runner with 4 seconds left to give No. 2 Ohio State a 49-48 victory over top-ranked Wisconsin on Sunday, clinching the Buckeyes' second consecutive Big Ten title.
The game marked the first time Big Ten teams have met in a 1 vs. 2 game.
"I had a feeling I was going to get the ball," said Conley, son of the 1992 Olympic triple-jump gold medalist. "I just went to the hole and it worked out for us."
With the victory, the Buckeyes are likely to climb to the top spot in the Associated Press rankings for the first time since Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek and a sub named Bob Knight were ranked No. 1 throughout the 1962 season.
"I hope it motivates us," coach Thad Matta said. "I hope it continues to pour gas on our fire."
Alando Tucker, Wisconsin's candidate for conference player of the year, had given the Badgers the lead with just under a minute left when he scored inside off Jason Chappell's dump pass.
Chappell then blocked a shot by Ron Lewis before Wisconsin's Kammron Taylor was sent to the line in the bonus situation with 20.3 seconds left. Taylor's first attempt spun off the rim.
After a timeout, the Buckeyes (26-3, 14-1) passed around the perimeter before Conley, a freshman who has spent his career in the shadow of 7-foot high school and college teammate Oden, scissored through the lane and tossed up a soft shot that balanced on the rim before falling.
"If you've got a point guard like Conley, he's going to try to penetrate," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. "We were trying to make him take a tough shot."
The Badgers (26-4, 12-3), who lost both games this week after becoming No. 1 for the first time ever, inbounded to Taylor who drove the length of the floor and tried an off-balance 15-footer at the buzzer. Oden got a piece of it before Lewis, a senior playing his final home game, swatted it away.
"I didn't know I was going to block it until he put it right in my face," Lewis said with a wide grin while wearing a Big Ten championship hat and T-shirt.
Taylor looked to the officials, hoping to hear a whistle. But there was no call and within seconds a capacity crowd flooded the court in celebration.
"I was just trying to get to the basket and draw some contact but it didn't work out," a disconsolate Taylor said. "It feels bad. We worked so hard, and then to have it go through your hands like that, it hurts."
Ivan Harris led the Buckeyes with 13 points, with Oden and Conley each scoring 11.
Amid speculation he might turn pro after his freshman year, the crowd serenaded Oden with a chant of "One More Year!" as the Buckeyes assembled on the floor to accept the conference championship trophy.
"I thought they were talking about Ivan!" Oden cracked.
Pressed for an answer, he said, "That's a decision that's going to be made later on in the year."
Tucker, averaging 20.2 points, was held to 12. Reserve Jason Bohannon went 3-for-3 from 3-point range and finished with 11 points. Taylor scored 10.
Ohio State also won the last time a No. 1 team visited Columbus -- stunning unbeaten Illinois in the home finale two years ago.
The Buckeyes have won 12 straight conference games and 25 in a row at home, including all 18 this season.
In a tense, gritty yet typical Big Ten defensive struggle, Wisconsin grabbed a 46-42 lead before Conley converted a 12-foot right-handed jumper -- he usually shoots left-handed. After an errant alley-oop pass by Chappell, Conley drove the lane and dished to Oden, who retrieved the loose ball and dunked while he was being fouled. He then completed the three-point play for a 47-46 lead with 2:46 left.
With just under a minute left, the Badgers pulled Oden away from the basket as he guarded Chappell, who dumped a pass inside to Tucker for a layup to set up the final, hectic minute.
"It came down to the last play and the guy made a tough shot. You can't hang your head on that," Tucker said. "The thing that gets me is we were in position to put the icing on it and a defensive stop that we pride ourselves in, we didn't get it."
The Badgers lost their tallest starter and leading rebounder, Brian Butch, for the entire second half after he sustained an elbow injury midway through the opening half.
Ohio State captured back-to-back outright titles for the first time since running off three in a row between 1960-62.
Wisconsin was No. 1 in the poll for the first time ever, but then lost at Michigan State 64-55 on Tuesday night. The Badgers won the first matchup between the teams 72-69 on Jan. 9 in Madison.
"We've got another game, at home," Ryan said of the season-ending rematch against the Spartans on Saturday. "We'll take a day off to rest, then get back at it. We'll get after it."
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