Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 17, 1991 TAG: 9103170096
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BRILL EXECUTIVE SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: COLLEGE PARK, MD. LENGTH: Medium
Against tenacious, physical Oklahoma State, Fire and Ice became smoke and water.
Thanks to a 19-0 run and uncharacteristic mental mistakes by Corchiani, the Cowboys eliminated N.C. State 73-64 in a second-round NCAA game.
Oklahoma State (24-7) advances to the East Regional in East Rutherford, N.J., where on Friday the Cowboys will meet another team that wins with defense, Temple.
During that scoreless span of 6:17, ending the first half and starting the second, Corchiani committed four fouls - three within 54 seconds just before intermission.
Two of the fouls came on offense, and, briefly but fatally, Corchiani lost his cool.
As a result, Oklahoma State scored the last eight points, six at the free-throw line, to lead 37-34 at halftime.
Then OSU started the last half with 11 more points, Corchiani got his fourth foul, and the Wolfpack had too far to come.
N.C. State, which made several miraculous recoveries this season, almost did it again. The Wolfpack got to 56-54, and had the ball, with less than five minutes to play.
But Monroe, hounded all afternoon by alternating guards Dawrwyn Alexander and Corey Williams, missed a jumper. State's all-time scoring leader had just one field goal in the last 30 minutes, a meaningless 3-pointer with 17 seconds left.
Without Monroe's shooting, and with a cautious Corchiani unable to drive recklessly, State had insufficient weapons.
Monroe's miss was followed by the critical sequence of the game.
Oklahoma State, precisely coached by Eddie Sutton, who returned to the bench this season after a year's forced absence following Kentucky's probation, worked the 45-second clock to the last tick and then missed.
But OSU rebounded and ran the clock down to three seconds, when John Potter was fouled on a drive to the basket.
Monroe missed a 3-pointer - his 11th straight blank - and Oklahoma State simply held the ball from then on until it got fouled.
When the Cowboys went to the line, they converted, 27 of 29, including 12 straight in the final 1:13.
"Give them credit," said N.C. State coach Les Robinson. "Good teams make their free throws, and they're a good team."
Oklahoma State has one star in 6-foot-7, 230-pound Byron Houston, an Adonis who bulled inside for 24 points and 12 rebounds.
But it was the defense on Monroe, who finished with 19 points, matching his season low, that kept the Wolfpack at bay.
More disconcerting, however, were the quick whistles against Corchiani, one for an illegal screen - "We don't see many of those," Robinson said - and another for pushing off.
"[The fouls] affected me quite a bit," said Corchiani, who got his fifth with 22 seconds left. "It disrupted the way I like to play. I got a little frustrated because I couldn't take the chances I wanted to take."
Corchiani had to sit down for three minutes, but consecutive turnovers forced Robinson to bring back his floor leader with 11:37 left.
Corchiani would wind up with 15 points, and the all-time NCAA assists leader padded his final numbers with six more, but he also had a rare seven turnovers.
As for Monroe, who scored 2,551 points in his career, he didn't shoot well in either regional game.
He was 8-for-22 against Southern Miss, and followed with 4-for-16 against the Cowboys.
"The tough defense was nothing new to me. I'm used to it," Monroe said. "I thought I took some good shots. I just had a tough shooting day."
He was taken out of the game by Robinson with 10 seconds left, and the best guard tandem the ACC has seen for quite a while watched morosely as the Cowboys shot down their NCAA dreams.
"It wasn't the way I wanted it to end," Corchiani said.
see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB