HL in the NCAA Tournament

[keithfromxenia]

every time cleveland state plays a game, norris cole looks like a bigger and bigger local fish that got away from the raiders!!!!!!!

[Retired Coach]

Mar 21, 2009 13:26:53 GMT -5 keithfromxenia said:

every time cleveland state plays a game, norris cole looks like a bigger and bigger local fish that got away from the raiders!!!!!!!

He wasn't a big local fish coming out of high school. He was headed to an NAIA program with ZERO D1 offers until CSU offered him during the summer after his senior year when he finally received a qualifying ACT score.

I, for one, sure don't want our coaches to wait until the middle of every summer for every local dumb ass to get qualified to fill out our recruiting class.

[Glory Days]

Mar 21, 2009 14:34:06 GMT -5 Retired Coach said:

Mar 21, 2009 13:26:53 GMT -5 keithfromxenia said:

every time cleveland state plays a game, norris cole looks like a bigger and bigger local fish that got away from the raiders!!!!!!!

He wasn't a big local fish coming out of high school. He was headed to an NAIA program with ZERO D1 offers until CSU offered him during the summer after his senior year when he finally received a qualifying ACT score.

I, for one, sure don't want our coaches to wait until the middle of every summer for every local dumb ass to get qualified to fill out our recruiting class.

I agree. I don't want a kid who can't make the grades at Dunbar. My second grader could be on Dunbar's honor roll right now. It's one of the crappiest schools in the area.

[Raider Alumni]

Good for Norris Cole and CSU. He overcame his academic problems and will end up a college graduate and CSU found a diamond in the rough when no other D1 school was interested.

[Big D]

Mar 21, 2009 7:47:09 GMT -5 Glory Days said:

Congratulations CSU. Anytime someone besides Butler from the HL does well in the NCAAs it's a good day. The HL doesn't get nearly enough respect for being a good conference besides having Butler.

I agree. Let's all root for CSU to get into the Sweet 16. It will be the 3rd different HL team to do so in the last 5 years.

[OG Raiderfan]

(13) Cleveland State vs. (12) Arizona
Sun Mar 22, 2009
By STEVEN WINE

MIAMI (AP)—Like many March Madness fans winding down for the night, Arizona forward Jordan Hill was watching the final game of the first round as scores from other sites appeared at the top of the screen.

One caught him by surprise: Cleveland State 84, Wake Forest 69.

“I was in shock, to tell you the truth,” Hill said.

Keeping with school tradition, Cleveland State was the biggest bracket buster in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. At No. 13, the Vikings became this year’s lowest-seeded team to reach the second round.

They’ll play another long shot Sunday: Hill’s team from Tucson. The No. 12-seeded Wildcats (20-13), derided as an undeserving at-large entry, defied critics by beating Utah 84-71 in the first round.

“They’re playing for something,” Cleveland State coach Gary Waters said Saturday. “People are saying they don’t belong, and I think they’re trying to show the world they belong.”

Waters could say the same about his Vikings (26-10). Their only other NCAA tournament appearance was in 1986, when they upset Bob Knight and Indiana to become the first 14th-seeded team to advance.

The win over Wake Forest was another stunner, and a further sign of the Vikings’ revival. Two years ago they were 10-21, and they made this year’s tournament only by winning four games in eight days for their first Horizon League Championship. A three-point victory over Butler in the title game clinched the berth.

“They’re a very underrated team,” Arizona interim coach Russ Pennell said. “You’ve got to be careful in this tournament not to read what’s on the front of a jersey, because everyone in this tournament is good.”

But games between teams seeded 12th and 13th are rare. This will be only the seventh such matchup since the tournament field expanded to 16 seeds in 1985.

The winner earns a trip to Indianapolis and a Midwest Regional semifinal Friday against the Louisville-Siena winner.

Games at Cleveland State often draw fewer than 2,000 fans, and supporters for the first-round victory barely filled one section at Miami’s arena. But the bandwagon is growing, as it did 23 years ago, and players were inundated with greetings Saturday.

“Yeah, tons of text messages and missed phone calls just congratulating us for the victory, saying they didn’t really expect it but keep up the good work,” forward J’Nathan Bullock said.

In the wake of the win over Wake Forest, Bullock and his teammates barely cracked a smile, saying their tournament goal was more ambitious than a single victory. They shrugged at the suggestion their team is the most surprising first-round survivor.

“We know we’re going to be underdogs probably in every game from here on out,” guard Norris Cole said.

Their element of surprise is gone, however. Arizona players had an awareness of Cleveland State even before the tournament—if only because they feared getting squeezed out of the field by the Vikings.

“All we knew is that before we got into the tournament, with them beating Butler, we thought they took one of our spots,” Wildcats guard Nic Wise said. “Friday was an eye-opener—just to know that they’re a small-name school but they have big-name talent. You can’t come out soft, because they’ll come out fast and they’ll hit you hard.”

That’s what Cleveland State did against Wake Forest, using superior quickness on the perimeter to create defensive pressure en route to a 29-12 lead. The Demon Deacons never recovered.

Waters said he doubts his team can rattle Arizona the same way.

“Wake Forest was younger, and there were things that we could exploit because of their youth,” Waters said. “When I look at Arizona, this is an experienced group. They know what they’re trying to do, and I think they’re a little bit hungrier than Wake Forest was.”

The Wildcats endured tournament flops in 2007 and 2008, coach Lute Olson’s sudden retirement last fall and a stumble at the finish line this year, with five losses in six games before this week. They barely kept alive their streak of 25 consecutive NCAA tournaments, second longest behind North Carolina’s 27 in a row in 1975-2001.

But the Wildcats have rallied around three juniors—Hill, Wise and forward Chase Budinger. The trio combined for 66 of the 84 points against Utah.

“I had confidence in our team that not a lot of other people did,” Budinger said. “I knew that our team was going to be very talented this year starting with me, Nic and Jordan. I knew that us three were going to lead this team to have a good season, and that’s what we did.

“We made it to this point and were able to get our first win, all three of us, in an NCAA tournament. We’re just hoping that we can keep on going.”

rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/preview?gid=200903220017

[OG Raiderfan]

No. 12-seeded Arizona beats Cleveland St 71-57
By STEVEN WINE

MIAMI (AP)—As the final seconds ticked off and Arizona fans chanted “Sweet 16,” a grinning Chase Budinger threw one final pass on the perimeter and joined the applause.

The Wildcats relish their new role as long shots.

Seeded only 12th, the NCAA tournament perennials took an early 14-point lead Sunday and advanced to the Midwest Regional semifinals by beating upstart Cleveland State 71-57.

“Making it to the Sweet 16 feels great,” Budinger said. “We’re showing that we’re a lot better than what people thought of us.”

The Wildcats are appearing in the tournament for the 25th year in a row, two shy of the record. But they’ve never been seeded so low, and they drew criticism as undeserving of a berth.

Now they’re bound for the round of 16 for the 12th time since 1988, and they’ll be the lowest-seeded team still playing.

“When you look at the NCAA tournament, a lot of times the teams that get hot at the right time are teams that had to struggle to get in,” interim coach Russ Pennell said. “What’s happening now doesn’t surprise me with this team. We’ve seen it before at points in the season.”

Nic Wise scored 21 points to lead four double-figure scorers for the Wildcats (21-13), who earned a trip to Indianapolis. On Friday, they’ll meet the tournament’s top overall seed, Louisville, which beat Siena 79-72.

Bracket-busting Cleveland State (26-11), at No. 13 the lowest-seeded team to reach the second round, was unable to duplicate its improbable run to the regional final in 1986. That’s the only other time the Vikings made the tournament.

“Our year is coming to an end as a family,” senior guard Cedric Jackson said. “But we had a great year. We’re just proud that we could make it this far.”

The Vikings struggled to solve Arizona’s zone defense, starting 0-for-11 and 1-for-18 from 3-point range. They finished 3-for-23, and shot 37 percent overall.

“Arizona’s zone was really tough,” Cleveland State coach Gary Waters said. “That has been our nemesis all year—the zone.”

The Wildcats also hurt Cleveland State with their transition game, totaling 15 fast-break points, often to swing momentum.

The Vikings trailed 41-29, then cut the deficit to 48-44 midway through the second half but got no closer. From 56-52, Wise scored five consecutive points to spark a 13-2 run as Wildcats fans filled the half-empty arena with one roar after another.

Arizona put the game away with free throws and finished 24-for-28 from the line. Cleveland State totaled only five points in the last 6:26.

Jordan Hill had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats despite being limited to 32 minutes because of foul trouble. Budinger and Jamelle Horne had 15 points apiece, and Wise had eight assists while shooting 10-for-10 from the line.

The victory is the latest chapter in a roller-coaster season for Arizona following Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson’s sudden retirement last fall. The Wildcats barely made the tournament after losing five of their final six regular-season games.

After a loss in their opening game in the Pac-10 tournament to rival Arizona State, Wise told his teammates he wanted to play in the NCAA tournament title game.

“That’s the way we’re playing,” Wise said. “We have the talent to do it. We’re proving it now, and we’re peaking at the right time.”

Pennell, the team’s radio analyst before replacing Olson, said he’ll need some time to absorb his players’ accomplishment.

“To see them happy, looking forward to playing again next weekend, that’s where I’m getting my joy,” he said.

Norris Cole scored 17 points for Cleveland State. Jackson was sidelined by a scratched eye in the first half but missed only three minutes and finished with 15 points.

The guards penetrated to create open looks for forwards J’Nathan Bullock and George Tandy, but they shot a combined 4-for-17.

“I couldn’t find my shot,” Bullock said. “Some nights that happens. It’s tough when it happens in the second round of the NCAA tournament. When you play a zone, you have to make your open shots. We weren’t able to do that.”

The Vikings were hurt early by turnovers, several the result of sloppy mistakes far from the basket. Jeremy Montgomery dribbled the ball off his foot, and Tandy stepped into the court before throwing an inbounds pass.

The Wildcats ran early, scored on their first three possessions for a 7-0 lead and increased the margin to 28-14 as Cleveland missed 16 of its first 21 shots.

Even the 6-foot-10 Hill became involved in the running game, getting out front on one fast break and converting a three-point play. The 6-7 Budinger showed his athleticism by coming from the backside twice to take passes near the rim for layups.

“I give all the credit to Arizona,” Vikings forward Chris Moore said. “A lot of people underestimate how tough they are.”


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