Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 24, 1994                   TAG: 9403240136
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KNOXVILLE, TENN.                                LENGTH: Medium

SWEET 16 A LITTLE SWEETER THIS TIME FOR KRZYZEWSKI

An end - the Blue Devils' second-round NCAA Tournament loss to Cal a year ago - was a beginning for the Duke coach. That halted the Blue Devils' streak of consecutive Final Four appearances at five.

Tonight, sixth-ranked Duke (25-5) play its eighth NCAA Sweet 16 date in nine years, against Marquette (24-8) in a Southeast Regional semifinal (7:30 p.m., WDBJ). Krzyzewski is thinking back several years.

"You know how you get one season? Well, we kind of ended three seasons for me last year," Krzyzewski said Wednesday at Thompson-Boling Arena before the Blue Devils' workout. "I think that's one reason I was so emotional, with it being the last game for Bobby [Hurley] and all that.

"And I feel, `We're dead.' I think when you get so tired from being on the race track at such a fast pace you do lose sight of a lot of really neat things that are happening.

"This year, for me it's been a great year. I've thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm as excited as I've been in the past five years about just being in the NCAA Tournament. It's been a great year for me personally, just to know that I still have those feelings and I still love coaching."

\ ACC REBOUND: With Metro Conference champion Louisville the only conference tournament titlist in the NCAA's surviving 16, the coaches here were asked whether it might be better to lose in the league playoffs.

Krzyzewski, who reportedly was very emotional after Duke's ACC semifinal loss to Virginia at the Charlotte Coliseum on March 12, said the defeat helped the regular-season champions.

"We'd rather have won," Krzyzewski said. "But we have used it as a motivational thing. I think losing showed us we were still living in the past after we won the regular season, and we hadn't brought ourselves back to the future.

"That sounds like it could be a movie, doesn't it?"

Krzyzewski pointed out that the Devils had been the only ACC team with a winning record in conference road games. The loss to Virginia "woke us up," he said.

\ BOILING OVER: If top-seeded Purdue beats Kansas in the regional semifinal nightcap here, it will be the furthest the Boilermakers have advanced in the NCAA Tournament in coach Gene Keady's 14 seasons at the school.

Keady figures that won't be enough back in his part of the Hoosier state - even though this is his 10th NCAA berth, and in his 14 years, only Indiana has a better Big Ten Conference record.

"Back in West Lafayette, people will say I can't coach until I get in the Final Four," Keady said Wednesday. "I don't think there's a Division I coach - and there are about 300 of us - who doesn't have the goal of getting in the Final Four. Some of us have a better opportunity than the others, because of the school you're at or the league you're in.

"Certainly, I can relate to that, but I'm not sure it bothers me, because I'm the type of guy who's going to try to change that. I think we have at Purdue, hopefully."

The Boilermakers (28-4) won the Big Ten title this season. Glenn Robinson, who is expected to be named the national player of the year, is a junior. However, he is expected to head to the NBA next season.

"They only judge you on how you do in the NCAA," Keady said. "It's not fair, but it's going to stay that way. If you don't like it, you should get out of coaching at this level."

\ DEFENSIVE SCHEME: Kansas coach Roy Williams said his Jayhawks (27-7) won't mind if Robinson scores big in tonight's 9:50 tip-off (WDBJ) - as long as he doesn't help too many of his Boilermaker teammates score, too.

"Glenn Robinson is extremely talented, maybe the best college player of the last three or four years," Williams said. "He can beat you with 3-pointers; he can beat you posting up.

"It's all right with me if Glenn gets 55 points, as long as the Kansas team can get one more than Purdue. That will be tough. Purdue lost four games by 12 points. That's a team.

"When I looked, Glenn Robinson was averaging about 30 points and Purdue was getting 85 as a team. So, somebody else was accounting for about 55 points. That's not just Glenn Robinson; that's a good team."

\ BOBBY'S BACK: A familiar face visited Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday for the Duke practice before the Devils left for Knoxville - Bobby Hurley.

The former Duke point guard is recovering from injuries suffered several months ago when his jeep was struck by a car after an NBA game in Sacramento, Calif.

"Bobby's doing really well," Krzyzewski said. "He's gained weight back to 160 [pounds], and he said he ran a mile in 8 1/2 minutes. I told him I could do that."

Hurley watched practice "which was good," Krzyzewski said, "because then I didn't have to give them an inspirational speech."

Krzyzewski said his wife asked Hurley how he felt watching practice.

"Mickie said Bobby said, `I feel tired watching them,' " the coach said. " `If I were out there, I'd feel good. Sitting here and watching, you feel tired.' "

Keywords:
BASKETBALL