Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 21, 1992 TAG: 9203210012
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL BRILL SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
ACC. Big Ten. Big East. Big Eight.
A sense of familiarity. Major programs. High-profile coaches. Star players.
There's even a rematch from a year ago, something the NCAA prefers to avoid.
But Duke and Iowa tip-off at high noon in the second round, just as they did a year ago in Minneapolis.
Duke won that one, 85-70, and Minneapolis is on the minds of the No. 1 Blue Devils, because that's where the Final Four will be played.
"I knew Duke would win the national championship after they beat UNLV," Iowa guard Kevin Smith said Friday. "I thought that wasn't so bad, that at least we lost to the team that won it."
Iowa is expected to do the same today. And Duke, ranked No. 1 wire-to-wire this season, wants to continue its pursuit of immortality.
In the second game, Seton Hall (21-8) and Missouri (21-8) will meet for the first time ever. But that doesn't mean there aren't more similarities than just the record.
The coaches are good friends. The daughter of Missouri coach Norm Stewart used to date a member of the Seton Hall staff.
Stewart, the 31-year veteran, first met The Hall's bearded, wise-cracking P.J. Carlesimo in a preseason tournament in Maui.
"You always have fun in Hawaii," Stewart said. "But that's before Seton Hall got their program established, so they were having fun and we were just having more fun."
The teams stayed at the same hotel. Stewart and Carlesimo are dedicated golfers, "and you know how it is," Carlesimo said, "coaches can always find something to talk about, although you couldn't print it."
Duke and Seton Hall are staying at the same airport hotel here, which gives the Hurley brothers a chance to socialize.
Bobby Hurley has just been chosen first-team All-America by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, who tend to appreciate point guards more than the media. Freshman Danny Hurley plays sparingly for Seton Hall.
The games won't be quiet affairs, but as Iowa's Tom Davis said: "There's nothing that all of us haven't seen before. If there's any advantage that teams from our leagues have, it's that we're used to this.
"The thing that makes leagues like the Big Ten or Big East so difficult is that the sixth, seventh and eighth-place teams are all good. And when you play on the road, it's a difficult, hostile atmosphere.
"Playing Duke in Greensboro is just like playing a road game."
Carlesimo knows close games.
"Our last five have gone down to the final shot," he said.
The fourth-seeded Pirates, rated No. 20, trailed most of the game against LaSalle but won on a jump shot by Terry Dehere from the corner with 1.8 seconds left, 78-76.
"I don't enjoy the first weekend [of the NCAA]," said Carlesimo, who achieved national prominence when his 1989 team reached the national finals against Michigan. "I think teams play not to lose. After that, it's just fun. But I think there's so many good teams that the tournament has moved up a round. A game like this is [between Top 20 teams] is what you'd usually find in the third round.
"But we're just happy to be here, since we were lucky to win. First games always terrify me."
Missouri has a prominent program that hasn't known a lot of recent postseason success. Stewart caught some heat for losing first-round NCAA games, and this team came here with a four-game losing streak.
But it also has Anthony Peeler, a 6-foot-4 left-hander who averages 23.2 points and is a certain NBA lottery pick.
There will be no mysteries. The teams will play man-to-man, there will be a lot of pushing and shoving, and both coaches will stand and scream all afternoon.
Carlesimo, ever so quick, said, "You mean you don't think we're quiet, gentle people? Norm and I believe in letting the kids play. We never offer any suggestions."
Stewart's team survived the opening round by beating West Virginia 89-78 in a three-hour struggle interrupted three times by power outages in the Coliseum.
Using another analogy based on his favorite recreation, Stewart said: "That was just like playing golf after you've had to come off the course during a storm. You have to come back and play your ball where you left it. In my case, that's under a tree or against a fence.
"P.J. would be down the middle."
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB