Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 18, 1993 TAG: 9303180230
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ORLANDO, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
PAST UPSETS MEAN LITTLE TO PURPLE ACES
There was East Tennessee State over Arizona last year, Xavier of Ohio over Nebraska in 1991 and Northern Iowa over Missouri in '90.Those were NCAA Tournament upsets in which No. 14 seeds ousted No. 3s. There seems to be a broadcast and print notion that if it is to happen again this year, it will be today in the Southeast Region opener at Orlando Arena.
So, can 14th-seeded Evansville knock off Florida State, the nation's 11th-ranked team, and join a list that previously included Cleveland State, Austin Peay and Siena among lucky 14s?
"Because 14s have beaten 3s in the past will have zero impact on this game," said Evansville coach Jim Crews of today's 12:30 p.m. start to a pair of first-round doubleheaders at the NBA's Shaq House. "All that is white-wine and shrimp-cocktail stuff.
"It's like people saying Georgia Tech went from the bubble to a fourth seed by winning the ACC Tournament. I never heard [NCAA Basketball Committee members] Tom Butters or C.M. Newton say that. You only hear that in bars, malls and McDonald's."
In offering up that fast food for thought, Crews tried to compare the Seminoles (22-9) to Xavier, but couldn't.
"They're somewhat similar," Crews said. "Florida State is just bigger. Florida State plays three guards like Xavier, but Xavier has those water-bug guys. Florida State's guards are just as quick, but a lot bigger."
The Purple Aces (23-6), who reached the 64-team field for the second straight year only by upsetting Xavier to win the Midwestern Collegiate Conference tournament title, will have to slow FSU's backcourt trio of Sam Cassell, Charlie Ward and Bob Sura to stay in the game.
The Seminoles, despite losing three of their past four games, including a woeful performance against Clemson in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament last week, don't seem fazed by their recent unraveling.
"We've been a little inconsistent the last three or four games, but before that we won 13 of 14 and no one was saying anything then," said Ward, who is FSU's quarterback in two sports. "We've lost four games since early January."
Two of those were to North Carolina, another to Duke. Two of those came with Ward sidelined because of a shoulder separation from which he is still recovering.
Ward pronounced himself at "85 percent" because of the injury that first occurred exactly a year ago during Florida State's first-round NCAA win over Montana.
"We haven't had consistent play at the point-guard position," said Pat Kennedy, who has coached Florida State to three straight NCAA appearances and five in six years. "That's because we haven't had anyone at point guard on a consistent basis."
Evansville, which nearly sent Texas-El Paso home in the first round last year before the Miners pulled their shocker over Kansas, has two players who should be known for more than their names - small forward Parrish Casebier (20.6 ppg.) and 7-foot-1 center Sascha Hupmann (10.6 rpg.).
FSU and Evansville have the second tipoff in the tournament - St. John's-Texas Tech starts 10 minutes earlier in the East at Winston-Salem, N.C. - and Kansas State (19-10) meets Metro Conference regular-season runner-up Tulane in the second game of the Southeast doubleheader.
The Green Wave (21-9) spent time Wednesday defending its NCAA presence despite a 1-4 finish some thought would drop the New Orleans school behind fellow Metro member Virginia Commonwealth in the selection committee's eyes.
"There's no question we deserve to be here," said Green Wave coach Perry Clark, whose team is an 11th seed. "We finished second in the Metro. . . . You can't just throw away the work we did early. We had some slippage, but we had created a margin of error for ourselves."
In an intriguing opener to tonight's doubleheader, Western Kentucky (24-5) plays Memphis State (20-11), led by Anfernee Hardaway, the only first-team All-America at this site. Frankie Allen's Tennessee State (19-9) team challenges second-seeded Seton Hall (27-6) in the nightcap.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL