Eastern seeds set up for potential surprises

  Duke Sports Information Duke’s Shane
Battier shoots against a UNC defender.

By AJ Cadman
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Pac-10 champion Stanford proved to the be the best and was sent
out West. Arizona, runner-up in the conference, had an argument
last Thursday in a win over the Cardinal to attest, but they got
shipped to the Midwest.

UCLA surprised them all and got the Beast in the East.

Many college basketball “bracketologists” felt that
the Bruins rough weekend in Washington proved to be the straw that
broke the camel’s back. Others believed it was it was the
selection committees’ way of sticking it to the West Coast
powerhouse.

Regardless, UCLA’s fourth seed in the East equates to a
trip through a thick jungle of the nation’s elite. In no
other region of this year’s NCAA Tournament will you find a
pack of tigers more ready to alter the Bruins’ plans of
making a title run.

Here’s a quick look into the rest of the 2001 Eastern
bracket.

(All games with Thursday times are approximate.)

No. 1 Duke (29-4) vs. No. 16 Monmouth (21-9),
Greensboro, N.C., 4:40 p.m. PST

The Blue Devils return to March Madness for the 25th time coming
off a stunning 26-point massacre over rival North Carolina in the
Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship.

Junior center Carlos Boozer is questionable, as is sophomore
guard Jason Williams. Duke’s floor leader reaggravated a
sprained left ankle Sunday, but says he expects to play Thursday.
Senior forward Shane Battier has evolved into a complete player as
a defensive stopper with an amazing three-point touch.

Monmouth put together an incredible second half in the Northeast
Conference championship to stake claim to a spot in the field of
65. They trailed by 20 points with 13:59 remaining and came back to
defeat St. Francis, 67-64.

The Hawks have improved by leaps and bounds after posting an
overall record of 12-16 last season and 5-21 two seasons ago.
Junior guard Rahsaan Johnson, the conference player of the year,
averages 19 points and six rebounds per game.

Second-round matchup: winner of No. 8 Georgia vs. No. 9
Missouri.

No. 2 Kentucky (23-9) vs. No. 15 Holy Cross (22-7),
Uniondale, N.Y., 9:20 p.m. PST

Wildcat Head Coach Tubby Smith has the boys from Lexington back
on the right track following a rough start to the season with two
losses at the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament in New York. With five
losses before New Year’s, they put together a charge that
culminated with a Southeastern Conference title and a top 15
ranking.

Senior guard Saul Smith, the coach’s son, continues to
persevere amidst the controversy over his playing time.

Kentucky leads the tournament in appearances, games and
victories.

Holy Cross pulled off a 68-64 victory against Navy in the
Patriot League tournament final. Finishing 10-18 last season, the
turnaround stems from sophomore forward Tim Szatko, the Patriot
League player of the year, who averages 14.5 points and nearly
eight rebounds a game.

Second-round matchup: winner of No. 7 Iowa vs. No. 10
Creighton.

No. 3 Boston College (26-4) vs. No. 14 Southern Utah
(22-5), Uniondale, N.Y., 4:40 p.m. PST

B.C. Head Coach Al Skinner’s Screaming Eagles strung
together the country’s best turnaround this season.

Finishing last in the Big East Conference in 2000 with a 11-19
overall record, this year the team was a model of consistency.
Boston College proved their regular season title was no fluke when
they won the conference tournament.

Sophomore guard Troy Bell ““ last year’s Big East
freshman of the year ““ shared Big East player of the year
honors with Notre Dame’s Troy Murphy. Bell is as talented a
guard in the bracket as Duke’s Williams and UCLA’s Earl
Watson.

Southern Utah is making its first-ever trip to the NCAA
Tournament following a 62-59 victory over Valparaiso in the
Mid-Continent Conference tournament title game.

Senior forward Frederick House was named the conference
tournament’s most valuable player, scoring 24 points in the
title game.

Beating the six-year reigning champion Crusaders of Valpo is no
small feat. But Boston College was a tough draw in the tournament
selections.

Second-round matchup: winner of No. 6 Southern Cal vs. No. 11
Oklahoma State.

No. 4 UCLA (21-8) vs. No. 13 Hofstra (26-4), Greensboro,
N.C., 11:55 p.m. PST

See preview on page 34.

Second-round matchup: winner of No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 12 Utah
State.

No. 5 Ohio State (20-10) vs. No. 12 Utah State (27-5),
Greensboro, N.C., 9:25 a.m. PST

He doesn’t have Sconnie Penn or Michael Redd. But Ohio
State Head Coach Jim O’Brien has taken the Buckeyes back to
March Madness.

Quality victories over No. 3 Michigan State, No. 14 Iowa and No.
16 Wisconsin fill Ohio State’s postseason plate.

Senior center Ken Johnson is all about defense. But he has been
working on the other end of the floor, too. He is Ohio
State’s all-time leading shot blocker and one of the top 10
in NCAA history.

The Aggies, meanwhile, defeated Pacific in the Big West
Conference title game 50-38 en route to an automatic bid.

There are no gimmicks with Utah State. With one of the
nation’s top defenses, they hold opponents to less than 60
points per game on average.

Senior forward Shawn Daniels led the Big West in blocked shots
and was 12th in scoring. He helped the Aggies go a perfect 15-0 at
home this season.

Second-round matchup: winner of No. 4 UCLA vs. No. 13
Hofstra.

No. 6 USC (21-9) vs. No. 11 Oklahoma State (20-9),
Uniondale, N.Y., 7:10 p.m. PST

Head Coach Henry Bibby’s Trojans got in with a late-season
surge that was missing from last year’s more talented squad.
They had no quality wins, featuring sweeps by the Pac-10 top three
of Stanford, Arizona and crosstown rival UCLA.

USC’s go-to guy is junior forward Sam Clancy. He has shown
flashes of dominance, complemented by complete Houdini acts in
other games.

This year marks the Trojans’ return to the NCAA Tournament
for the first time since 1997, Bibby’s first season at the
helm. Maybe the walk-ons will stop worrying about the perks and
just settle for their team making the postseason. 

The Cowboys have the backing of a nation behind them and it may
work to help their title chances.

Despite the Jan. 27 plane crash that killed 10 members of the
Oklahoma State program, including two players, the team never gave
up and earned their way to the Big Dance.

Winning four of their last five regular season games, junior
guard Maurice Baker averaged 20 points a game and had 31 in a
regular season-ending loss to Oklahoma.

Head Coach Eddie Sutton’s ballclub advanced to the Sweet
16 last season with NBA high-flyer Desmond Mason, defeating Hofstra
and Pepperdine before losing to Florida in the East Regional
semifinals.

Second-round matchup: winner of No. 3 Boston College vs. 14
Southern Utah.

No. 7 Iowa (22-11) vs. No. 10 Creighton (24-7),
Uniondale, N.Y., 11:50 a.m. PST

Iowa started the season 9-0 and scored a Dec. 9 victory over
Iowa State. But Luke Recker’s fracture of his right kneecap
against Indiana in late January had Head Coach Steve Alford’s
Hawkeyes unsure of their dream season. A Big 12 Tournament
Championship can change that.

Junior forward Reggie Evans, a junior college transfer, has made
the kind of impact that has NBA scouts travelling to see this guy.
Evans is the nation’s leading rebounder and has shot more
free throws than any player in the country.

The Bluejays posted their third consecutive 20-win season, with
big wins over Providence, Georgia State and Tulsa.

Sophomore forward Kyle Korver is a long range shooting threat
that may be crucial to breaking the Hawkeyes suffocating matchup
zone.

Second-round matchup: winner of No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 15 Holy
Cross.

No. 8. Georgia (16-14) vs. No. 9 Missouri (19-12),
Greensboro, N.C., 7:10 p.m. PST

Bulldog Head Coach Jim Harrick played the tough nonconference
schedule in December and with a tough SEC season afterward, Georgia
got in strictly on RPI and an above-.500 record.

Their 14 losses ties the record for at-large teams making the
tournament, while their 16 wins do the same.
     

Junior guard D.A. Layne is a prolific scorer and will look to
break down any double team or box-and-one zone that tournament
teams throw at him.

The Tigers tried a similar strategy in terms of playing a strong
schedule of varied quality opponent. But losing to the likes of
Iowa, Syracuse and Illinois didn’t aid their vote for a spot
in the NCAA Tournament field.

Junior Clarence Gilbert and sophomore Kareem Rush are two of the
finer scoring guards you will find anywhere. They both are instant
offense for Head Coach Quin Snyder’s run-and-gun team from
the Big Ten.