Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 23, 1992 TAG: 9203230027
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK SPORTS COLUMNIST
DATELINE: DAYTON, OHIO LENGTH: Medium
He does now.
The Miners pulled a major shocker in the NCAA Tournament's second round Sunday, eliminating the nation's second-ranked team 66-60 at Dayton Arena.
That leaves the Midwest Regional at Kemper Arena without an expected "home" team on Friday. It will be UTEP (27-6) that is goin' to Kansas City for a Sweet 16 date against Cincinnati. Memphis State plays Georgia Tech in the other semifinal in a region in which the first three seeds have become spectators.
The reason the Jayhawks hadn't seen the Miners use their four corners on the four tapes Williams watched was simple.
"We never worked on it until yesterday [Saturday] in practice," said UTEP coach Don Haskins. "This was the first time we've used it all year. We have weaved out front.
"I guarantee you, Roy didn't see it unless he had a tape of yesterday's practice."
The Miners spread Kansas' defense and opened up offensive opportunities for their big men. The Jayhawks, the region's top seed, became impatient and started rushing at their offensive end and when UTEP started getting most of the rebounds, the upset was imminent.
"We started out trying to spread the floor and pass and cut, and we did it very poorly," said Haskins. "I thought about the four corners only about 10 minutes before practice Saturday.
"We had to spread it out. We might not have gotten a shot from our regular offense against their defense. We had a problem all year running our offense with our small guards against really good pressure.
"So, I figured, if worse comes to worst, we'd go to it. Shoot, on defense, even Kansas' 7-foot-2 guy [Greg Ostertag] chases."
Kansas (27-5) went to a 1-3-1 spread defense to try and match up with the Miners, who kept reversing their offense and running the shot clock down to the 10-second range. Guards Prince Stewart and Eddie Rivera handled the ball throughout the game with only four turnovers.
"Needless to say, they had a marvelous game plan and the athletes to carry it out. When there were three or four minutes left, I thought we were where we wanted to be, but Johnny Melvin made two tough shots. Then we put them on the free-throw line, and they made their free throws."
With the last basket of the first half, UTEP tied the scoreat 27 "and when we came in I told the other fellas, `Let's forget the hype about Kansas and their history. We played a half with them. We can do it another half.' "
The Miners took control despite foul trouble on their big men, most notably senior center David Van Dyke. Alonzo Jamison's two free throws tied the score at 47 with 5:31 left, but then backup forward Ralph Davis pushed the momentum UTEP's way.
The Miners scored eight straight points to lead 55-47 with 3:20 left, the last hoop coming on a Rivera jumper from the top of the key after Stewart stole a Kansas inbounds pass.
"Yeah, then 30 seconds later the lead was three," Haskins growled. "I remember that part better than the eight-point lead."
The difference was still three, 58-55, when with the shot clock down to four seconds, Melvin squeezed between a double team on the right side of the lane and bounced in a wish with 50 seconds left.
"I couldn't believe he made that one," Haskins said.
Kansas trimmed its deficit to 62-60 on Rivhard Scott's rebound hoop with 16 seconds remaining, but Melvin swished two free throws on the next possession and then Stewart stripped Jayhawks guard Steve Woodberry of the ball to eliminate last year's NCAA runner-up.
"Our style of play is the power game," said Jamison of the Jayhawks, who had played in three of the past six Final Fours. "Today, we were forced to create things. We weren't mentally sharp, and the ball just wouldn't drop."
Haskins grasped the size of his 606th coaching triumph with a past-and-future reference point.
"I had wondered if Kansas might be the only team that could take [top-ranked and defending national champ] Duke off," he said. "We won't find that out now." \
see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB