Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 21, 1991 TAG: 9103210126
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From Associated Press and New York Times reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Seton Hall, winner of the Big East tournament, didn't even get the reward of staying in the area. Instead, the Pirates were shipped to the West Regional, where they face No. 8 Arizona tonight at Seattle. If they get past that impressive obstacle, top-ranked and unbeaten Nevada-Las Vegas might be in the way. The Runnin' Rebels, seeking their second straight national championship, play Utah in the second game.
St. John's and Connecticut, the other Big East bigshots, make up half of the remaining teams in the Midwest. The Redmen face fifth-ranked Ohio State, the top seed in the region, and the Huskies get sixth-ranked Duke, trying for its fourth straight trip to the Final Four. Those games are at Pontiac, Mich., on Friday night.
This is the third time in four seasons that Seton Hall, Arizona and UNLV have kept company out West.
"It's really an interesting coincidence," Seton Hall coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "[The Wildcats are] similar to a Big East team in terms of their television exposure. We know their players. We've seen them on TV an awful lot; we've just played two games with them in Salt Lake City. It's a team that, despite the fact it's from the other side of the country, we're relatively familiar with."
The game will pit Seton Hall's hard-nosed defense and offensive explosiveness against Arizona's versatile and big front line of Sean Rooks and Brian Williams, both 6-foot-11 forwards, and 7-foot center Ed Stokes.
The Rebels are confident they can win it all again, despite a shaky showing against Georgetown in the second round. George Ackles, UNLV's center, had a sprained foot and played only 17 minutes in that eight-point victory Sunday in Tucson, but he should be fine for Utah.
Utah coach Rick Majerus says his 30-3 Utes may be in for "a bloodbath" against UNLV, but nobody thinks the Rebels are unbeatable.
"We believe we can win, but I'm sure Duke felt they could win last year, too," Majerus said, referring to UNLV's 30-point destruction of Duke in the final.
Carlesimo said, "If they play as well as they're capable, nobody is going to beat them, but Utah is capable of beating them."
In the East, at East Rutherford, N.J., North Carolina plays Eastern Michigan and Oklahoma State takes on Temple on Friday.
The Southeast has all four of its top seeds alive for tonight's play at Charlotte: No. 1 Arkansas takes on No. 4 Alabama and No. 2 Indiana faces No. 3 Kansas.
One of those four may have a little more on the line for program pride. The Crimson Tide has been successful reaching the round of 16 for the fifth time in the past seven years.
"I'm very proud of the basketball program at Alabama has reached the final 16 five times," Alabama coach Wimp Sanderson said Wednesday, "but you're all anxious for the story of why we haven't gone any farther. Well, we just have never been able to pull the surprise or the upset and most of the teams we have played have been one or two seeds and they've won."
In the late game tonight, Indiana and Kansas will know what the other does best because the teams mirror each other. Both average scoring in the mid-80s and feature tough aggressive defenses that held opponents to fewer than 70 points per game.
"Indiana has great, great balance," Kansas coach Roy Williams said. "The only team we've faced who plays even a similar style of defense is Oklahoma State, and on offense the closest team would be us so we've seen a lot of them in our practice."
Indiana, the Big Ten co-champion and ranked third in the polls, is a clear favorite against a Big Eight squad that lost three of its previous six games before the NCAA Tournament.
by CNB