SPORTS
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3B
Men’s College Basketball
Coaches: Carolina Final Four advantage to fade after tipoff
Oregon
coach Dana
Altman cuts
down the
net after
the team’s
Midwest
Regional
final against
Kansas in the
NCAA men’s
college
basketball
tournament,
Saturday,
March 25,
2017, in Kan-
sas City, Mo.
By ERIC OLSON
Associated Press
Coaches for Oregon,
South Carolina and Gonzaga
concede Roy Williams and
his North Carolina players
have an advantage when it
comes to knowing how to
deal with the spotlight during
Final Four week.
They also don’t think it will
matter once the games begin.
“You can play in the
national championship game
nine years in a row. If you go
the 10th time, you’re nervous
before that ball goes up in the
air. There’s no such thing as
not being nervous for a big
game,” South Carolina’s Frank
Martin said Monday during a
teleconference with reporters.
“What I do think is a
huge advantage for Roy,
his players, staff members,
everyone at the university,
is having been through it as
recently as last year. They’re
fresh on the preparation, on
the things to expect, what’s
coming. That way they can
better manage their times,
their days, to eliminate any
distractions that can prevent
them from being prepared for
the game itself.”
South Carolina (26-10)
and Gonzaga (36-1) will
be making their Final Four
AP Photo/Charlie
Riedel
debuts when they meet in
the first national semifinal
Saturday at University of
Phoenix Stadium in Glen-
dale, Arizona. Oregon is as
much a first-timer as those
two. The Ducks haven’t
made it this far since winning
the 1939 title.
Williams will be coaching
in the Final Four for the ninth
time, including five appear-
ances with Carolina. The Tar
Heels (31-7) play Oregon
(33-5) in the second semifinal.
North Carolina lost to
Villanova in last year’s cham-
pionship game in Houston.
Three of its starters from that
77-74 loss are back, and so
are seven other players.
Basketball is only part of
the Final Four experience.
There are team activities, lots
of media commitments and
constant attention.
Oregon coach Dana Altman
said he spoke on the phone
with old coaching friends Lon
Kruger and Mike Montgomery
to gain some insight on how to
balance basketball with every-
thing else.
“We want to try to help our
players as much as possible
and make them as comfort-
able as possible, try to get the
routine the same,” Altman
said. “This is a bigger stage.
Our guys are aware of that.”
Williams said he wouldn’t
expect players from any of
the teams to have difficulty
adjusting to the environment.
“Kids nowadays are so
much more experienced,
they’re so much more
worldly,” he said. “All the
teams have high-profile
players who have been very
successful and were recruited
really hard by several schools.
People will play (experience)
up if they choose to. Once
you get there, you have to
play the game. Yes, I think
it helps for me and some our
guys who were there last year
to know the hoopla around it.
Each coach is good enough
NFL
to get their guys to focus on
the games, and that’s what is
important.”
Gonzaga coach Mark Few
said “everything is going to
get ratcheted up 300 percent
now with the media, the
demands, the time.”
“The general distraction
meter is going to go out the
roof,” he said. “All four of
these teams have shown
they’re ferocious competitors
and have the ability to focus
on the task at hand.”
Other comments from the
teleconference:
BERRY’S ANKLES
There was no update on
North Carolina point guard
Joel Berry II, who played on
two injured ankles against
Kentucky in the regional
final. Williams said the travel
itinerary might help. The
Tar Heels fly to Phoenix on
Tuesday night rather than on
Wednesday.
“I thought it was smarter
for us to go out Tuesday
because some people’s feet
do swell when they go on
the airplane,” Williams said.
“If that’s going to happen
to Joel, I would rather have
that happen Tuesday night as
opposed to Wednesday night.
Hopefully by the time we get
to Thursday or Friday he’ll
do some things in practice.
I’m scared to death right now
because I just don’t know.”
WHY NOT VEGAS?
On the day the Oakland
Raiders’ move to Las Vegas
was announced, Altman and
Few said they would be in
favor of NCAA Tournament
first- and second-round
games and regionals being
played in Vegas. The
Pac-12 Tournament was
played at Vegas’ 18,000-seat
T-Mobile Arena earlier this
month. The NCAA has had
a long-standing policy of
not holding events in cities
where betting is legal.
“Gambling’s
every-
where,” Few said. “So we
need to quit punishing poor
Vegas when it’s in our own
backyard, front yard, side
yard, too.”
NOT
IMPRESSED
WITH HIMSELF
Altman has turned out to
be a much better coach than
player. He transferred from
a Nebraska junior college
to Eastern New Mexico
in 1978. He averaged 3.7
points and 1.4 rebounds
his first season. The school
couldn’t find statistics from
his second season.
“I didn’t have many high-
lights as a player,” Altman
said. “I was awful. I would
have sure hated to coach me.”
From Saturday
NFL owners approve Raiders’ move
By BARRY WILNER
Associated Press
PHOENIX — NFL
owners
approved
the
Oakland Raiders’ move
to Las Vegas at the league
meetings on Monday.
The vote was a foregone
conclusion after the league
and Raiders were not
satisfied with Oakland’s
proposals for a new stadium,
and Las Vegas stepped up
with $750 million in public
money. Bank of America
also is giving Raiders
owner Mark Davis a $650
million loan, further helping
convince the owners to
allow the third team reloca-
tion in just over a year.
Owners voted 31-1 to
approve the move. The
dissenting vote wasn’t
immediately announced.
The Rams moved from
St. Louis to Los Angeles
in 2016, and in January the
Chargers relocated from San
Diego to LA. The Raiders
likely will play two or three
more years in the Bay Area
before their $1.7 billion
stadium near the Las Vegas
strip is ready.
Las Vegas, long taboo
to the NFL because of its
legalized gambling, also is
getting an NHL team this
fall, the Golden Knights.
AP Photo/Eric Risberg
John P. Kelleher holds up a sign outside the Oakland
Coliseum before the start of a rally to keep the Oak-
land Raiders from moving Saturday, March 25, 2017,
in Oakland, Calif.
“Today will forever
change the landscape of Las
Vegas and UNLV football,”
said Steve Sisolak, chairman
of the Clark County
Commission and a former
member of a panel appointed
by the Nevada Gov. Brian
Sandoval to study the
stadium tax funding plan.
“I couldn’t be more
excited for the fans and
residents of Clark County
as we move forward with
the Raiders and the Rebels,”
Sisolak said.
Oakland Mayor Libby
Schaaf and a group trying to
keep the team in Oakland,
made a last-ditch presentation
to the NFL last week. But that
letter was “filled with uncer-
tainty,” according to Commis-
sioner Roger Goodell.
Monday, she asked the
owners to delay the vote,
wanting to give her city a
chance to negotiate with a
small group of owners to
complete a stadium deal at
the Coliseum site.
“Never that we know of
has the NFL voted to displace
a team from its established
market when there is a
fully financed option before
them with all the issues
addressed,” Mayor Libby
Schaaf said in a statement.
“I’d be remiss if I didn’t do
everything in my power to
make the case for Oakland
up until the very end.”
Schaaf said the city has
presented a $1.3 billion
plan for a stadium at the
Coliseum site that would be
ready by 2021. She says the
existing Coliseum would
be demolished by 2024,
with the Oakland Athletics
baseball team either moving
to a new stadium at the
Coliseum site or somewhere
else in the city.
The
Raiders’
move
became more certain earlier
this month when Bank of
America offered the loan. That
replaced the same amount the
Raiders lost when the league
balked at having casino owner
Sheldon Adelson involved
and he was dropped from the
team’s plans.
Leaving the Bay Area
is not something new with
the Raiders, who played in
Los Angeles from 1982-94
before heading back to
Oakland. Davis was passed
over last year in an attempt
to move to a stadium in the
LA area that would have
been jointly financed with
the Chargers. Instead, the
owners approved the Rams’
relocation and gave the
Chargers an option to join
them, which they exercised
this winter.
UCONN ADVANCES: Future looks bright for Ducks
Oregon’s
Sierra
Campisa-
no, right,
fouls Con-
necticut’s
Gabby
Williams
during the
region-
al final
game in
the NCAA
women’s
college
basketball
tourna-
ment
Monday in
Bridgeport,
Conn.
Continued from 1B
The Huskies’ 111th
consecutive victory moved
Auriemma past Pat Summitt
for the most NCAA Tourna-
ment wins. Auriemma now
has 113 and counting.
Next up for top-seeded
UConn (36-0) is Missis-
sippi State on Friday night
in Dallas. It is just two wins
away from a fifth consecu-
tive title and 12th overall.
“It means a whole lot,
especially with this group
because no one thought
we’d be here and we
worked so hard this year,”
said Collier, who earned
most outstanding player of
the region honors.
The Huskies jumped all
over 10th-seeded Oregon
(23-14),
stopping
its
impressive run through the
tourney.
Leading 6-4, UConn
scored 17 straight points.
Saniya Chong got the game-
changing burst started with
consecutive
3-pointers.
Nearly 4 1/2 minutes later
she capped the burst with a
layup that made it 23-4.
Oregon closed to 34-21
midway through the second
quarter, but UConn put the
game away by scoring 15
of the final 18 points of the
half.
“They’ve owned the
whole month of March,
they weren’t just along for
the ride,” Auriemma said.
“It’s theirs and that’s a huge
AP Photo/
Jessica Hill
step. That’s a big step to go
from riding in the backseat
on a trip you’re going to,
to all of a sudden you’re
in charge of driving the
bus you’re responsible for
getting us there.”
With Breanna Stewart,
Morgan Tuck and Moriah
Jefferson gone to the
WNBA, UConn has a new
trio leading the way. Collier
and fellow sophomore
Katie Lou Samuelson were
honored as AP All-Amer-
icans on Monday, with
Williams, a junior, making
the second team.
Oregon also has a bright
future. Coach Kelly Graves’
team is led by outstanding
freshmen Sabrina Ionescu,
Ruthy Hebard and Mallory
McGwire. The trio aver-
aged 36.8 points combined
this season. Ionescu led the
way against UConn with 15
points.
The Ducklings upset
seventh-seeded Temple, No.
2 Duke and No. 3 Maryland
to get to the Elite Eight for
the first time in program
history.
“I just think all of it is
part of the process,” Graves
said. “A run like this will
make it easier to motivate
our team in the offseason.
Our goal is to host the first
and second round and not
to make two trips across the
country. Those things will
really help us and give these
guys confidence that they
can win in the tournament.”
BIG PICTURE
Oregon: The Ducks
were trying to become the
first double-digit seed ever
to reach the Final Four.
Only 10th-seeded Lamar
and 11th-seeded Gonzaga
had made it this far. The
Zags were also coached
by Graves. ... Oregon took
advantage of Bridgeport’s
proximity to New York
and visited the Freedom
Tower and Times Square on
Sunday after practice.
UConn: The win was
UConn’s 135th straight
against an unranked oppo-
nent. The Huskies have
won 310 of past 311 against
non-Top 25 teams. The lone
loss came against St. John’s
in 2012. Since the 1993-94
season, UConn is 587-9
against unranked teams. ...
The victory gave Chong and
Tierney Lawlor 152 wins
at UConn, the most in the
history of the NCAA for a
senior class. They only have
one loss.
MISCUES
Oregon had 22 turnovers,
including 17 in the first half,
that led to 38 points for the
Huskies.
“The turnovers doomed
us right from the get-go,”
Graves said. “That defen-
sive pressure set the tone.”
SELLOUT
While
attendance
struggled at the three other
regional sites, Bridgeport
sold out the arena on both
Saturday and Monday.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
Oregon forward Jordan Bell, right, tries to block a shot by
Kansas guard Josh Jackson (11) during the second half
of the Midwest Regional final of the NCAA men’s college
basketball tournament, Saturday in Kansas City, Mo.
Oregon beats Kansas
to keep dancing
By DAVE SKRETTA
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo.
— Oregon lost one of its
best players to an injury
just before the NCAA
Tournament, had to survive
two nail-biters to reach the
Midwest Regional finals,
and then faced a top-seeded
Kansas team that had romped
to the brink of the Final Four.
Of course, the Ducks
would rise to the occasion.
With swagger and verve
and
downright
prolific
shooting, the plucky team that
everybody wanted to count out
rolled to a 74-60 victory over
the Jayhawks on Saturday
night, earning the Ducks their
first trip to the national semifi-
nals in nearly 80 years.
“You feel so good for so
many people,” said Ducks coach
Dana Altman, who is headed to
his first Final Four after 13 trips
to the NCAA Tournament. “It’s
a team effort. You feel good for
a lot of people.”
Indeed, a whole lot of
people had a hand in it.
Tyler Dorsey hit six 3s and
poured in 27 points, Dillon
Brooks added 17 and Jordan
Bell finished with 11 points,
13 rebounds and eight blocks
in a virtuoso performance for
the Ducks (33-5), who seized
the lead with 16 minutes left
in the first half and never
trailed the rest of the way.
Now, they’ll face North
Carolina in the Final Four
in Glendale, Arizona. It will
be their first trip since 1939,
when the Tall Firs won it all.
Player of the year candi-
date Frank Mason III had
21 points in his final game
for the Jayhawks (31-5), but
the offensive fireworks and
steady poise that had carried
them to a 13th straight Big 12
title fizzled just 40 minutes
from campus on a night
where very little went right.
Star freshman Josh Jackson
was mired in early foul trouble.
Sharpshooting guard Devonte
Graham never got on track.
And the swagger the Jayhawks
showed in humiliating Purdue
in the Sweet 16 simply evap-
orated for a team that rolled to
the Elite Eight by an average
margin of 30 points.
“I’m disappointed for them
more than I am for me,” said
Kansas coach Bill Self, who fell
to 2-7 in Elite Eight games. “But
the one thing that happened
today, and it’s hard to admit, the
best team did win today.”
The Ducks knew every-
thing was stacked against
them, but the point was only
driven home when their bus
passed the Power and Light
District in downtown Kansas
City on the way to the arena.
Thousands of fans in red
and blue were rallying hours
before the tipoff, turning it
into a de facto road game.
But the torrid shooting of
Brooks, Ennis and Dorsey
quickly deflated the sold-out
Sprint Center, and sent a
warning shot to the Jayhawks
that they were in for a fight.
“You’ve got to give them
credit,” Graham said. “They
hit some big shots.”
Foul trouble sent Jackson
to the bench for much of the
first half, allowing the Ducks
carve to out a comfortable
lead. Then Dorsey finished
the half with back-to-back 3s,
including a deep bank shot
at the buzzer, as the Ducks
pranced to their locker room
relishing in a 44-33 advantage.
“When you play hard
throughout the whole game,”
Brooks said, “you catch some
breaks.”
The Ducks’ lead swelled
to 55-37 when Brooks drilled
another shot from the perim-
eter, and frustration began to
creep into the Kansas bench.
Jackson didn’t score until
midway through the second half,
and Graham was 0 for 7 from
the field, missing all six of his 3s.