| March 30, 2002 SportsLine.com wire reports |
Posted on 03/30/2002 1:30:32 PM PST by Texaggie79
Prepared for battle: Maryland-Kansas, Oklahoma-Indiana
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ATLANTA -- Maryland is back in the Final Four and hopes to finish the job.
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. |
I ridden out so many of these that I'm as blasé as a California native.
Spell check huh?
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