Wednesday
March 10,1999
Best Bet
Mens NIT
First Round
4:30 pm, ESPN (34)
Ducks welcome Yellow Jackets into the Pit
Oregon
begins its
postseason
tonight in
a first
round NIT
game
against
Georgia
Tech of the
Atlantic
Coast
Conference
They 're a
real tough
team from a
tough
conference.
V
A.O. Smith
Oregon forward
By Rob Moseley
Oregon Daily Emerald
It may not be the Big Dance, but for the
Oregon men’s basketball team tonight, the
dance card is full.
The Ducks (16-11 overall, 8-10 Pacific-10
Conference) missed out on qualifying for
the NCAA Tournament by just one game,
but they get consolation in the form of a
first-round National Invitation Tournament
matchup against Georgia Tech at 9 p.m. at
McArthur Court.
The game will be televised live nationally
by ESPN.
The Yellow Jackets (15-15, 6-10 Atlantic
Coast Conference) will be making their sec
ond straight appearance in the NIT, having
won twice last season before losing to even
tual runner-up Penn State.
This season, Georgia Tech is a markedly
different team. Gone are its three leading
scorers, including NBA draft pick Matt
Harpring, who took his 21.6 points and 9.4
rebounds per game to the Orlando Magic.
Gone too are Michael Maddox and Dion
Glover, the only two Yellow Jackets to start
every game last season. Maddox left after
completing his eligibility; Glover, just a
freshman last season, has missed all of this
season after tearing his anterior cruciate lig
ament in the preseason.
The loss of Glover, who averaged 18.4
points and five rebounds per game last sea
son, left a gaping hole in the Georgia Tech
backcourt. The Yellow Jackets starting
point guard, Tony Akins, is merely a fresh
man, and the entire roster features just six
upperclassmen, none of them seniors.
“We’re a very inexperienced team, so
what I’m hoping for is that the more we
play, it will mean something next year for
us,” Georgia Tech head coach Bobby
Cremins said. "The opportunity just to play
is good for us. In the long run, I hope it
means something to these guys, because
we've got everybody back [next season].”
What Cremins does have this season is a
pair of posts as formidable as any the Ducks
have faced this season.
Alvin Jones, a 6-foot-ll, 265-pound cen
ter, averaged seven points and seven re
bounds per game last season as a freshman
and had 141 blocked shots. This season, his
Turn to TOURNAMENT, Page 12
All-ACC selection Jason Collier averaged 17
Courtesy Pbotu
points and 10 rebounds per game lor Georgia Tech after transferring from Indiana.
Big Dance has been groovy
for Pac-10 last two seasons
Men’s
Pac-10 Notes
am
Pyle
The odds constructed
from recent NCAA
Tournaments tell us
that the four Pacific
10 Con ference teams grooving
in the Big Dance this season
will fair well.
In the past two seasons, eight
of the nine Pac-10 teams invit
ed to the NCAAs have stayed
well past midnight — at least
until the Sweet 16, to be exact.
So who will be raising the
roofand representing the West
Coast in the late hours — er,
rounds — of the tournament
this time?
Pac-10 champion Stanford
(25-6 overall, 15-3 Pac-10) is
the obvious choice, as the Car
dinal boasts depth, experience
and expectations.
Plus, Stanford got to stay close
to home as the No. 2 seed in the
West Region, opening against
15th-seeded Alcorn State.
The Cardinal hope to avoid
the infamous Sports Illustrated
cover jinx — SI proclaimed
Stanford its national champion
with a photo of point guard
Arthur Lee sprawled across the
cover of its college basketball
preview issue last fall — by ad
vancing deep into the tourna
ment again.
Last season, the Cardinal
surprised most prognosticators
by making the Final Four.
Now, Stanford has the same
starting lineup and another
season under its belt. The Car
dinal should make the Sweet
16 rather easily.
Barring an upset against Al
corn State, Stanford will travel
to Phoenix and face No. 3-seed
Turn to MEN, Page 10
Pac-10 sends four teams to NCAAs,
but each has a different purpose
ESPN was there. So
were about 2.000 of
the Oregon women
basketball team’s clos
est fans and supporters. When
the big-screen television
flashed Oregon as a No. 5 seed
and once again headed to
Ames. Iowa, the jaw's of every
one stationed at McArthur
Court dropped to the floor.
The fans booed. The players
lost their smiles. And in the
center of it all was Jody
Runge, who looked as if she
was using every last ounce of
her strength to keep from
blowing up.
Was Oregon — co-champi
ons of the Pacific-10 Confer
ence for the first time, win
ners of nine of its last 10
games, the top-drawing team
in terms of fan attendance in
the Pac-10 — a victim in this
NCAA Tournament selection
process?
You bet. But the No. 16
Ducks can make up for any in
justices by the selection com
mittee this weekend with two
victories in Iowa. And that
won’t be an easy task.
Cincinnati, the Ducks' first
round opponent, is a very tal
ented and very aggressive de
fensive team. Iowa State —
should Oregon get by the first
round — looks to be a difficult
matchup as well.
As for the rest of the Pac-10,
UCLA, Arizona and Stanford
seemed to fair a little better in
Sunday selection.
The No. 15 Bruins, Pac-10
co-champions with Oregon,
were given a No. 3 seed and
will host at least a first-round
game. UCLA could wind up
Turn to WOMEN, Page 10
Women’s
Pac-10 Notes
Joel
Hood