Wednesday, November 21, 2001
[ COLLEGE BASKETBALL ]
Ball State’s Maui LAHAINA >> Just how much air would be left in their basketballs after a steamy first day was the question.
magic continues
The Cardinals beat a top-5 team
for the second straight dayBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comCould Ball State still be pumped up after its huge upset of No. 4 Kansas on Monday and pop another Top 25 team's ranked reputation?
Would the Jayhawks be deflated after losing a season opener for the first time since 1990?
How would Seton Hall respond after a 1-point loss to top-ranked Duke?
Would the defending NCAA champs be flat or fabulous after the near upset 24 hours earlier?
With the exception of Ball State's total thrashing of No. 3 UCLA in the final game, Day 2 of the EA Sports Maui Invitational didn't have the drama of Monday's first round. But the Lahaina Civic Center still had plenty of great basketball.
Ball State continued to be the Maui Wowie, dismantling UCLA, 91-73, to earn today's 4 p.m. title game. The Cardinals (2-0) have a chance to knock of their third Top-5 team in as many days when facing top-ranked Duke today.The Blue Devils (2-0), who downed South Carolina 81-56 yesterday, look to keep their MIT record perfect in their third championship game appearance.
At Lahaina, Maui Maui Invitational
SEMIFINALS
>> No. 1 Duke 81, South Carolina 56
>> Ball St. 91, No. 3 UCLA 73
CONSOLATION BRACKET
>> No. 4 Kansas 95, Houston 78
>> Seton Hall 74, Chaminade 62
The loss to Ball State dropped UCLA (1-1) into the third-place game against South Carolina (1-1) at 1 p.m.
In today's consolation bracket, Kansas (1-1) meets Seton Hall (2-1) at 10:30 a.m. for fifth place, a game ESPN yesterday decided to televise. In a game moved up a half hour to accommodate TV, Houston (0-2) takes on Chaminade (0-2) for seventh at 8 a.m.
Ball State 91, UCLA 73: The Cardinals couldn't have played a more perfect game, finishing with just three turnovers against the fumbling Bruins. Combine that with an unstoppable motion game that ran UCLA ragged on the perimeter, more heroics from senior guard Patrick Jackson and impressive inside dominance by 6-foot-11 Lonnie Jones, and Ball State may have an appearance on "Late Night with David Letterman,'' who is a BSU graduate.
"We saw what they did to Kansas and knew how good they were," said UCLA's Jason Kapono. "They just beat us in every way."
And badly.
The Bruins wanted a running game and got one, only to be run over by the quickness of the Cardinals. No defense worked, and UCLA tried every one in its suitcase.
The Cardinals had three players in double figures by halftime, led by Jackson's 13. Ball State scored the last seven points of the first half for a 44-40 lead then blew out to a 16-point margin with a 19-7 run to open the second half.
"We knew they would make a run on us, just like Kansas did," said Jackson, who hit the game-winning basket Monday against Kansas. "The focus was getting the ball and getting it going."
Ball State gave UCLA few good looks and even fewer second-chance baskets with 20 defensive rebounds. The only Bruin to have much success was Kapono, who finished with 26 points, going 10-for-10 from the line.
But trading free throws for 3-pointers won't win ballgames. Jackson had five of his team's 12 treys as the Cardinals enjoyed a double-figure lead for the final 16 minutes of the game.Any chance of a UCLA rally was killed by 22 turnovers, many unforced. Billy Knight was called for a double dribble while trying to bring the ball back up the court; Matt Barnes walked before he passed the ball to Kapono, negating what would have been a 3-pointer that would have cut the lead to 12 with 3:12 left.
Instead, Theron Smith hit a 3-pointer for a six-point swing, then finished a 3-point play, capping a 22-point night.
"It's pretty clear Ball State beat us to the punch and outplayed us in every phase," said UCLA coach Steve Lavin. "Having just three turnovers for as fast as they play is amazing. They made very good decisions at high speed.
"They call these preseason tournaments report cards. We failed tonight."
Duke 81, South Carolina 56: It was tied at 25-25 and then it was over. The Blue Devils scored 19 unanswered points to close the first half, 11 by Mike Dunleavy, to humble the Gamecocks.
"We played outstanding defense," said Krzyzewski after his team ran its winning streak to 12 dating back to last year. "Mike (Dunleavy) had an amazing game in the first half and Carlos (Boozer) had two strong halves.
"What I liked about that (19-0) run is that it was a run without pressing."
Dunleavy finished with 24 -- 22 in the first half -- with a team-high 8 rebounds.
"What we did in the last five minutes (of the first half) was what we were trying to do all tournament," said Dunleavy. "It was all because of defense."
Boozer celebrated his 20th birthday with 19 points, transfer Dahntay Jones added 11 and Daniel Ewing 10. Junior guard Jason Williams, the leading candidate for Player of the Year, had just six points, hampered by foul trouble most of the game.
Duke hit 5 3-pointers, 3 by Dunleavy, to run their streak with at least 1 3-pointer to 414 games. The last time the Blue Devils did not make a trey was in the 1989 Rainbow Classic against Hawaii.
Aaron Lucas led the Gamecocks with 13 and Carlos Powell with 11.
Kansas 95, Houston 78: The shock of the loss to Ball State was not in play against the Cougars.
"We knew we'd feel sorrier for ourselves if we didn't come out and play hard this game," said Kansas senior guard Jeff Boschee. "We had to be ready to play and we took care of the job."
The Jayhawks led from the opening tip, and the inside game of Drew Gooden and outside game of Boschee combined for 26 first-half points as Kansas took a 51-33 lead into the locker room.
Houston never got closer than 17 the rest of the way as Kansas easily avoided an 0-2 start for the first time since 1972.
"We fought hard but it was a battle we couldn't win," said Houston coach Ray McCallum, whose team has lost to two Top-5 teams on consecutive days. "We knew Kansas had one of the best inside-outside combinations in the country."
Forward Nick Collison, who was hooked up to an IV due to dehydration Monday, was very fluid yesterday. He finished with a game-high 22 points, including 13 of the Jayhawks' first 21 points after intermission.
"I drank a lot of Gatorade and even added salt to it," said Collison, who has not missed a game in his three years.
Gooden added 19, Boschee 15 on 6 of 8 shooting and Keith Langford 11. Boschee also had three assists to pass Danny Manning for 11th place on Kansas' career list.
Seton Hall 74, Chaminade 62: The Lions could sleep last night. Loyola Marymount's 11-year old record for 3-pointers is still intact.
Seton Hall threatened to shoot down the 1990 mark of 19, held by LMU in its 162-129 win over Chaminade in this event. The Pirates had 10 by halftime but went 0-for-11 after intermission.
"We shoot 3s because we have good perimeter shooters," said Hall coach Louis Orr. "We're an up-tempo team and we're going to take those shots."
As for being 0-for-11? "Nobody shoots to miss," said the first-year coach.
After an emotional 1-point loss to No. 1 Duke in Monday's opener, the Pirates came out pumped against the host Silverswords.
"We played our hardest (Monday) and we now know we can beat almost any team," said Seton Hall's Andre Barrett. "Getting up for a 9 a.m. game wasn't hard. We practice at 6 a.m. at home. We felt real confident."
The Pirates were also feeling their shots. Of their first 14 baskets, 10 were 3-pointers as they took a 41-25 lead with 3:28 left before half.
While Seton Hall cooled off from the perimeter, Chaminade chipped away at the deficit. Although they didn't score a basket for over six minutes midway through the second half, the Silverswords stayed close with free throws, hitting 6 of 8 attempts.
"We stayed up all night shooting free throws," joked Chaminade coach Aaron Griess, whose team sank just 12 of 23 Monday but finished 17 of 21 from the line yesterday. "Seriously, we thought Seton Hall would be flat. It would have been natural to have a letdown.
"But they played hard and we did not let down either."
"I didn't know what to expect (about the move to Division I)," said Silversword junior Mike Donegan, a transfer from Saddleback (Calif.) College. "But I found we could play with these teams."
Chaminade was led by Leon Ballard's 14 points and 12 rebounds. Nine of those boards came in the second half on long rebounds off Seton Hall's missed 3-point attempts.
Leading the Pirates was Darius Lane with 16. The senior guard had just five points in the loss to Duke, only the 10th time The Hall's leading scorer had been held to single digits.
Barrett added 15 points, while John Allen and Ty Shine each had 10.