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Friday, December 29, 2000
A marquee The University of Iowa coaching staff got an eyeful of No. 6 Tennessee, before leaving in the waning moments of the Volunteers' 92-81 Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic victory last night over George Washington University.
semifinal: Tennessee
vs. Iowa
Hawkeyes stave off an upset by
the Titans, while the Vols shoot
60 free throws in a victory
over the Colonials
Ostler is out
By Paul Arnett
Star-BulletinWhat the 23rd-ranked Hawkeyes saw was a deep, athletic basketball team able to adjust to the physical style of play of the Colonials. It sets up the marquee matchup of the 37th annual event.
The winner advances to tomorrow's final at the Stan Sheriff Center. That team faces the winner of tonight's other semifinal between Saint Louis and the University of Hawaii.
TODAY
YESTERDAY
Iowa did its part by hanging on to a 69-68 victory over upstart Detroit-Mercy. The Titans had a chance to steal the win on a last-second shot by Willie Green.
The 14-foot floater in the lane went down, then spun out with only three seconds left. Terrell Riggs' follow fell short as Iowa grabbed the loose ball and flung it to the end of the court.
"I thought we had 26 minutes of really tough play," Iowa head coach Steve Alford said. "We've gotta keep building and I've gotta keep being patient. Tonight we started two freshmen. We're playing five freshmen of the 10. We've gotta lot of new faces, who are playing. Only experience is going to help us."
Tennessee should offer plenty of that. The Volunteers fought hard on the court and off it, before finally subduing a physical Colonial team with outstanding foul shooting and rebounding.
They attempted a school-record 60 free throws, hitting 45 of them. Despite not making a field goal the last five minutes of the game, the Volunteers did their damage at the foul line and on the boards, grabbing 50 for the second consecutive game.
Strong board play and several defensive stops allowed Tennessee to turn a 64-57 deficit at the 12:06 mark of the second half, into a 70-64 advantage the Volunteers would never relinquish only six minutes later.
"When some of their threes started coming up short and we started rebounding hard during that time, it made the difference in the game," Tennessee head coach Jerry Green said. "For that stretch, we played better team basketball than we did at any other point in the game."
Tennessee had five players finish in double figures with Isiah Victor leading the way with 16. Vincent Yarbrough scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
"I was thinking we had 70-something free throws in our only loss against Virginia," Green said. "But that was the two teams combined. You don't shoot 60 free throws every day."
The whistles blew early and often in Iowa's win over Detroit. The two teams attempted 59 free throws between them, hitting 43.
The Titans led by as many as 10 (56-46 with 10:56 left in the game), but the Hawkeyes went on a 21-10 run to take a 67-66 lead on a 3-pointer by Luke Recker with 1:45 left in the game.
He shot a wild 3-pointer with 10 seconds left, giving the Titans a chance to win it on Green's ill-fated jumper.
"It looked like it was down," Detroit head coach Perry Watson said. "Then it just came out. Great shot. Great game. Hard-fought. It was such an even game, it came down to that."
Rashad Phillips led Detroit in scoring with 18 points. Green added 15.
Iowa was led by senior point guard Dean Oliver with 18 points. Center Reggie Evans added 16 and nine boards.
University of Hawaii post player Troy Ostler will have to sit out tonight's Rainbow Classic semifinal against Saint Louis. Ostler out
He sprained his ankle last Saturday and could be sidelined until the Western Athletic Conference opener at Texas Christian next Thursday. Mindaugas Burneika will likely get the start.
"I ran on it a little bit (yesterday), but I'm not ready," Ostler said. "Maybe Saturday, but I'll have to pray on that."
DETROIT MERCY (8-4): Riggs 5-7 2-2 12, Mazur 1-1 1-2 3, Phillips 4-12 8-8 18, Grays 1-4 1-2 4, Belin 2-6 1-2 7, Harmon 1-1 1-2 3, Maxwell 0-1 0-0 0, Napoleon 2-5 2-2 6, Green 5-10 4-6 15. Totals 21-47 20-26 68. RAINBOW CLASSIC
No. 23 Iowa 69,
Detroit Mercy 68IOWA (10-1): Evans 4-8 8-16 16, Worley 1-1 4-6 6, Scott 1-1 0-0 2, Recker 3-9 2-2 10, Oliver 6-12 5-5 18, Hogan 1-5 4-4 7, Reiner 3-3 0-0 6, Henderson 1-3 0-0 2, Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Sonderleiter 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 21-44 23-33 69.
Halftime--Detroit Mercy 33, Iowa 31. 3-point goals--Detroit Mercy 6-17 (Belin 2-3), Iowa 4-14 (Recker 2-4). Fouled out--Mazur. Rebounds--Detroit Mercy 28 (Napoleon 6), Iowa 28 (Evans 9). Assists--Detroit Mercy 11 (Phillips 8), Iowa 13 (Oliver 4). Total fouls--Detroit Mercy 24, Iowa 22..
GEORGE WASHINGTON (5-5): Ngongba 1-6 1-2 3, Cosby 5-8 0-0 12, Monroe 9-18 6-6 27, Brown 4-10 9-12-17, King 3-9 0-0 6, Roma 0-1 0-0 0, Barrow 0-3 0-1 0, Miller 0-0 4-4 4, Iturbe 1-2 2-2 4, Smith 1-3 0-0 2, Collucci 2-4 0-0 6. Totals 26-73 22-27 81. No. 6 Tennessee 92,
George Washington 81TENNESSEE (11-1): Victor 3-6 10-12 16, Yarbrough 4-12 6-8 15, Hathaway 3-3 2-5 8, Higgins 2-3 1-2 7, Harris 2-6 7-9 13, Grindstaff 1-1 0-0 3, Walker 0-2 2-2 2, Haislip 1-6 8-10 10, Woods 1-4 2-2 5, Slay 3-5 7-10 13. Totals 20-48 45-60 92.
Halftime--Tennessee 49, George Washington 46. 3-point goals--George Washington 7-25 (Monroe 3-7), Tennessee 7-19 (Higgins 2-3). Fouled out--Brown, Cosby, Harris. Rebounds--George Washington 32 (Ngongba 7), Tennessee 50 (Yarbrough 10). Assists--George Washington 15 (Barrow 4), Tennessee 12 (Harris 4). Total fouls--George Washington 37, Tennessee 25. Technical fouls--Monroe, Brown, Hathaway. A--7,256.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
