Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 19, 1990 TAG: 9003192643
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LONG BEACH, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
Loyola Marymount's sad postseason turned sweet Sunday as Bo Kimble and Jeff Fryer led the Lions to a 149-115 victory over defending national basketball champion Michigan in the highest-scoring game in NCAA Tournament history.
Playing two weeks after the death of Gathers, their star, the Lions parlayed their sentiments into a second tournament victory and a place in the Sweet 16.
"A lot of it is emotion, but a lot of it is also skill," said Fryer, who sank a tournament-record 11 field goals from 3-point range. "But we're just on an emotional hurricane. We just want to go out and win because we're doing it for Hank, and nothing is going to stand in our way."
Thirteenth-ranked Michigan's quest for consecutive championships didn't stand in the Lions' way either. No NCAA champion has repeated since UCLA in 1972-73.
The loss snapped coach Steve Fisher's string of seven straight NCAA Tournament victories, including six last year en route to the title. His Wolverines ended the season 23-8.
The 21st-ranked Lions (25-5) used their press and a barrage of 21 3-pointers over the taller Wolverines to advance to the West Regional semifinals on Friday at Oakland, Calif. The nation's highest-scoring team will play Alabama, a 77-55 winner over Arizona.
Fryer scored 41 points and Kimble put in 37 for Loyola, which dedicated its season to Gathers, who died shortly after collapsing during a game March 4.
"Loyola is on a crusade and they played that way today," Fisher said. "They played with every bit of emotion, if not more so, than they did against New Mexico State.
"If they can continue to shoot like they did against us, I don't know who can beat them. They made NBA 3-point shots, they made them with people guarding them and with people not guarding them.
"They played sensational. They are very much focused on moving ahead in this tournament. Whether they can take that with them to Oakland, I don't know."
Kimble, a friend of Gathers' since their schoolboy days in Philadelphia, said, "That emotion has really helped us and will continue to be with us."
Kimble, the nation's leading scorer, again paid tribute to Gathers by making his first free throw left-handed. Gathers, a right-hander, had trouble shooting free throws so he began shooting them left-handed before the season.
The 264 total points broke the tournament record of 247 set in 1961 when St. Joseph's (Pa.) beat Utah 127-120 in four overtimes.
Loyola's points total was the highest ever against Michigan, breaking the record of 117 by Utah in 1969, and the highest ever by one team in the tournament. The previous mark was set by St. Joseph's in the 1961 game against Utah.
And there's another tie to St. Joseph's - Lions coach Paul Westhead played there.
Fryer, going 11-of-15 from 3-point range, broke the record of 10 3-pointers by Nevada-Las Vegas' Freddie Banks in 1987 against Indiana in the Final Four.
The Lions, in their sixth NCAA appearance, broke tournament records by shooting 21-of-40 on 3-pointers. The record for shots made was 14 by Providence against Alabama in 1987; the mark for attempts was 39 by the Lions against North Carolina in 1988.
Michigan was led by Rumeal Robinson and Terry Mills with 23 each. About the only thing that went Michigan's way was the rebounding margin, 51-39; Loy Vaught had 17.
Terrell Lowery had 23 points and Per Stumer 21 for Loyola, which caused 27 turnovers and had 12 steals.
\ LOYOLA MARYMOUNT (149)
Stumer 6-9 4-4 21, Kimble 11-29 14-17 37, Knight 2-5 0-0 4, T.Walker 0-2 5-7 5, Fryer 15-20 0-0 41, Peabody 4-5 6-6 14, Lowery 10-17 0-0 23, Scott 0-1 0-0 0, Lee 1-1 0-0 3, G.Walker 0-0 1-2 1, O'Connell 0-0 0-0 0, Roscoe 0-0 0-0 0, Slater 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 49-89 30-36 149.
\ MICHIGAN (115)
Griffin 2-4 0-0 4, Vaught 9-15 1-3 19, Mills 11-16 1-2 23, Calip 2-8 6-8 10, Robinson 7-14 7-10 23, Tolbert 7-11 1-1 16, Talley 1-3 1-2 3, Higgins 5-13 4-4 15, Riley 1-1 0-0 2, Voskuil 0-0 0-0 0, Seter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 45-85 21-30 115.
Halftime-65-58, Loyola. Three-point goals-Loyola 21-40 (Fryer 11-15, Stumer 5-8, Lowery 3-8, Lee 1-1, Kimble 1-8), Michigan 4-13 (Robinson 2-6, Tolbert 1-2, Higgins 1-4, Talley 0-1). Fouled out- Griffin, Higgins, Knight, Kimble. Rebounds-Loyola 39 (Stumer 8), Michigan 51 (Vaught 17). Assists-Loyola 33 (T.Walker 9), Michigan 21 (Robinson 8). Total fouls-Loyola 26, Michigan 29. Technical-Vaught. A-NA.
by CNB