Maryland 97, Kansas 88; Indiana 73, Oklahoma 64 [Final 4 Live Thread]

[Texaggie79]

Prepared for battle: Maryland-Kansas, Oklahoma-Indiana

March 30, 2002 SportsLine.com wire reports

ATLANTA -- Maryland is back in the Final Four and hopes to finish the job.

Juan Dixon and the Terps are trying to storm into the championship game.(Allsport)

The Terrapins (30-4) have never won the national championship and hope to move a step closer when they face Kansas (33-3) on Saturday in the second of two games at the Georgia Dome.

Oklahoma (31-4) meets Indiana (24-11) in the first semifinal.

Maryland, which squandered a large lead to Duke in last year's Final Four, is the only repeat team in the national semifinals.

The Terps are buoyed by their dynamic tandem of 6-8 Lonny Baxter and 6-10 Chris Wilcox, who will get a chance to face the Jayhawks' talented forward combo of Drew Gooden and Nick Collison.

Baxter had 29 points and nine rebounds in the Terrapins' 90-82 victory over Connecticut in the regional final. Wilcox has emerged as an overwhelming interior force and has scored in double figures in nine of the last 12 games.

Gooden is averaging 20.0 points and 11.5 rebounds and has scored at least 20 points in 17 games this season. He established a Big 12 record with 25 double-doubles and grabbed 20 or more rebounds on three occasions.

Kansas, the highest scoring team in the nation at 91 points per game, features three guards in its lineup. Senior Jeff Boschee, junior Kirk Hinrich and freshman Aaron Miles combine to average over 35 points.

The Jayhawks are making their 11th appearance in the Final Four and first since 1993. They are trying to give coach Roy Williams his first national championship in his third appearance in the Final Four.

Kansas leads the all-time series, 3-1. Maryland posted an 86-83 victory in the last meeting on December 7, 1997 in Washington.

Oklahoma (31-4) has won 12 consecutive games and defeated Missouri in the West Region final, 81-75, to earn their first trip to the Final Four since 1998. Hollis Price scored 18 points and Aaron McGhee added 15 for the Sooners, who overcame foul trouble to McGhee and Jabahri Brown.

Price is averaging 18.3 points per game in the NCAA Tournament and was named the West Region's Most Outstanding Player. He leads the team with 83 3-pointers.

The Sooners are in the Final Four for the third time and first since 1988. They became the first school from the Big 12 to reach the Final Four since the formation of the conference.

Indiana (24-11) may have 11 losses but a rugged non-conference schedule that had the Hoosiers away from home for 10 of their first 12 games has prepared them for the NCAA Tournament. Dane Fife made 5-of-6 from beyond the arc for 17 points as Indiana posted an 81-69 victory over Kent State in the South Region final.

The shooting of Indiana has been its key to success in the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers have shot better than 50 percent in their first four games and is a sizzling 56 percent from the floor for the tournament. They are 13-1 when shooting 50 percent or better this season and 14-3 when making seven or more 3-pointers.

The status of Indiana guard Tom Coverdale is in question. Coverdale, who is second on the team in scoring at 12.2 points per game, sprained his ankle against Kent State.

Indiana is the fourth No. 5 seed to advance to the Final Four but a fifth seed has yet to win the national title.

Indiana is 3-1 all time against Oklahoma, including a 2-0 mark in NCAA Tournament play. The teams last met in the first round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament and the Hoosiers posted a 94-87 overtime victory at Washington.

The championship game is on Monday night.

[Texaggie79]

March 30, 2002: Final Four

Indiana (5) at
Oklahoma (2)

6:07 pm
ET

Tracker | Preview
Audio: National | 

Kansas (1) at Maryland (1)	8:47 pm ET
Tracker Audio: National | Kansas | Maryland

all times eastern
schedule ordered by start time

[Texaggie79]

Standings
Rank	Pick Set Name	Points
1	911	85
2	augustus mccrae	84
2	KS_Flyover	84
2	Texaggie79	84
5	ABG(anybody but Gore)	83
5	evan	83
7	ClimoMike	81
8	BOP's picks	78
9	OUSoonerfan100	77
9	ProudGOP	77
9	Lansing Spartans	77
9	pbrstreetgang	77
13	team	76
14	I_know_jack_about_bball	75
15	invisiblechurch	73
16	darvon99	71
16	STD	71
18	GSWarrior	70
19	Figthing Mooses	69
19	MustangFan1024	69
21	calgradconservative	67
21	Frisco Aggie	67
23	JURB	65
24	socal_parrot's picks	64
24	connectthedots	64
26	trthnjsts	63
26	WFinal4	63
28	rabid bama fan	60
28	Wittyone's Picks	60
30	ydg's picks	59
30	Bubba the Moron	59
32	Shermy	55
33	Minnesota Mosquitos	52
34	Great Caesar's Ghost	43

[Texaggie79]

ping

[Tall_Texan]

I don't have a dog in this hunt. Who should I be rooting for?

If Duke were here, this would be like an "Axis Of Evil" Final Four. Seriously, there's no underdog, no Cinderella. Nobody that hasn't been here before.

I guess Maryland is the closest to a dark horse but, seriously, I can't get worked up over any of these.

[nunya bidness]

FEAR ME

[Texaggie79]

Um, Indiana is the dark horse.

[Texaggie79]

Yer goin down tonight

[Texaggie79]

I'm in quite a dilemma tonight. I need Indiana to win or I haven't a chance to win the pick'em, but I want OU to win to support the Big 12

[NeoCaveman]

Go Terps, since Duke is eliminated, I'm probably done but I'd like to end near the top.

[nunya bidness]

Could be. The cooler is stocked and I rearranged the furniture.

[Texaggie79]

I hope you have put away all your breakables........

[nunya bidness]

Well, I spent the whole day fishing in the hot sun. And I was drinking.

Then I came home and decided to throw out all the old glassware from the cabinets. So I put it all out on the floor between the kitchen and TV room. And I was drinking.

Now I'm getting ready to watch the game and the stuff is in the way. And I'm drinking.

[Dan from Michigan]

I'm at my parents house, so I can't be on the computer and watch the game at the same time(different rooms).

I'll check in here. I'm out of this anyway, so it really doesn't matter to me that much who wins. I like Indiana (Big Ten) and I like Oklahoma(Tough team and Sampson is ex-Spartan).

[Neets]

I just want to know if you are drinking.

[Neets]

ABG!!! Hey toots, I didn't know you were #5 here...(beat the pants off of TEX!!!)

[nunya bidness]

Hic. I better get something to soak up the situation. I'll put some pasta on the stove and just lay down on the couch for a minute.

[CedarDave]

Only 16 posts 45 minutes into the game (by the TV clock). It's that way all over FR this afternoon. Most posters are either bitching about all the changes (including myself), reading only a couple of threads, or have left! BADJOE's reporting that several monthly supporters have pulled their donations over the format change (FR is at least $1,600 a year poorer as a result of the changes). This is an FR Earthquake! day.

[Texaggie79]

Do you honestly think that FR's stickyness (people repeatedly coming to a website) is so week that a small change can ruin it? Of the few that leave, they will be back. There is no better site out there.

Let them bitch.

[hole_n_one]

I was napping

[hole_n_one]

............I almost forgot

GO HOOSIERS!