Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 31, 1990 TAG: 9003310252
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BILL BRILL EXECUTIVE SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: DENVER LENGTH: Long
The NCAA Tournament semifinals. Four basketball teams, often representing universities with little in common, battle for the right to play in Monday's final.
As exciting as championship games have been in recent years - in direct contrast to the overhyped Super Bowl - the more intriguing day is when all the survivors get their next-to-last opportunity.
This time, in relatively tiny (16,500 seats) McNichols Arena, the spotlight falls on the bad and the rowdy, the Rebels and the Razorbacks, as well as two members of the proud - and some would suggest arrogant - ACC.
The furor over tickets reached its zenith Friday. Good seats were selling for $2,000, even $2,500 - although scalping is illegal.
And McNichols was almost full Friday afternoon as the competing squads went through their final, one-hour workouts, and the mandatory news conference.
In a tournament in which the unexpected has been the norm, when pathos, sensational play, buzzer-beaters (and one that likely didn't) and upsets have demonstrated national parity, meet the survivors:
Second-ranked, and wearing their accustomed black hats, the Runnin' Rebels (also rebels) of Nevada Las-Vegas. They are coached by Jerry Tarkanian, a man who has been on the NCAA's hit list for more than a decade.
Eighth-ranked Arkansas and its coach, Nolan Richardson, the second black man to take a team to the Final Four. (Georgetown's John Thompson was the first). Richardson's race has been a non-issue. His conference, the Southwest, has not. There is little national respect for the SWC, and Richardson has been its flag bearer. Friday, he insisted the best teams the Razorbacks had played were Texas, Houston and TCU. Arkansas' scheduled included UNLV, among others.
Twelfth-ranked Georgia Tech, in its first Final Four, with its gunslinging trio of Dennis Scott, Kenny Anderson and Brian Oliver - "Lethal Weapon 3."
And 15th-ranked Duke, as close to a perennial as it gets these days, back for the fourth time in five years. Since 1986, only Kansas, among the other 292 Division I schools, has made the Final Four twice.
The ACC, its coffers enriched by more than $5.1 million because of a 13-3 tournament record, has two Final Four entries for just the second time. North Carolina and Virginia did it in 1981.
The only other leagues with multiple entries have been the Big Ten in 1976 and last year, the Big East in 1985 (three teams) and 1987 and the Big Eight in 1988.
Today's pairings have Duke, with the worst record in the field at 28-8, meeting Arkansas (30-4) in the first game and UNLV (33-5) facing Georgia Tech (28-6) in the second.
Despite the disparity in rankings and record, Duke is a one-point choice over Arkansas, making just its second Final Four appearance. That appears to be a tribute to Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils' tradition more than to common sense.
UNLV, seeking a first title for the eternally beleaguered Tarkanian in his third Final Four, is a 4 1/2-point favorite over Georgia Tech.
There also are some underlying story lines.
How will Duke handle "the 40 minutes of hell," which is the way Richardson describes his team's style of play?
According to Arlyn Bowers of the Razorbacks, "40 minutes of hell means hell for Duke."
To which Blue Devil Phil Henderson responded, "We've heard worse."
Duke is the eternal bridesmaid. The Blue Devils have neve won the title in seven Final Four appearances. Nobody has lost more often, but getting this far is the significant accomplishment. Only UCLA, Kentucky and North Carolina have done that more times.
The biggest question surrounding Duke is the physical condition of team captain Robert Brickey, at 6-foot-5 the most athletic of the Blue Devils. Brickey, who injured a hamstring last week in the East Regional, pronounced himself well enough to play Friday.
In '89, Duke grabbed an early 17-point lead against Seton Hall, but Brickey suffered a serious thigh injury and the Pirates won going away.
"Last year he [Brickey] got hurt and we got blown out," Henderson said. "We need him, but this time we're used to playing without him."
Brickey missed eight games with a knee injury at midseason, and the team did well in his absence.
Duke is high-scoring, but Arkansas scores more, at a 95.9-point clip. Of the four schools, Georgia Tech is the lowest-scoring at 88.7 points per game. It could mean the McNichols scoreboard, with its NBA-style clock, is in for a busy time. These teams have combined to score 100 or more points on 43 occasions.
The Razorbacks are the deepest of the teams. Richardson uses nine players, including "Baby Huey," 6-9, 265-pound Oliver Miller, he of the large legs and larger mouth.
"I feel like their big men can't run with us," Miller said.
UNLV has been established as the favorite, although Tarkanian refused to consider it an overwhelming endorsement.
His team is the only No. 1 seed remaining. The ACC dispatched the other three - Duke over Connecticut, Georgia Tech over Michigan State and North Carolina over Oklahoma.
The Rebels have a distinct edge inside in 6-6, 250-pound All-American Larry Johnson, one of six junior-college players on the UNLV roster.
But the key matchup will be 6-8 Olympian Stacy Augmon, a defensive wonder, against Dennis Scott, Tech's bomber. Scott needs 20 points to overtake Bo Kimble of Loyola Marymount as the tournament's top scorer.
"Dennis shoots from the locker room," said his roommate, freshman wunderkind Anderson.
Of all the coaches, only Tarkanian said the mile-high altitude would make a difference. His team played here in the West Regional in '89. "It will even out," he said. "I think all of the teams will be a step slow."
How slow will that make Oliver, the senior leader of the Tech trio who all average better than 20 points? He has been favoring his injured left foot in NCAA games. With UNLV having so many weapons, Tech needs a great showing from all its stars.
"I'm better than I was," Oliver said bravely. He wouldn't come out unless he was hit by a truck.
Which, come to think of it, describes the bullish Johnson.
by CNB