Indiana, Knight Win With Smart Play, 74-73

NEW ORLEANS â€”  Keith Smart, a junior college transfer, scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half, including the game-winner with four seconds left Monday night to give Indiana a 74-73 victory over Syracuse and earn Coach Bob Knight his third national basketball title.

Smart also intercepted Derrick Coleman’s floor-length desperation pass as time ran out.

Syracuse had a chance to win but Howard Triche missed the second of two free throws with 38 seconds left and Coleman missed a 1-and-1 with 28 seconds remaining.

In between, Smart, a quick 6-foot-1 guard, grabbed the rebound of Triche’s miss and drove for a goal to cut the Orangemen’s lead to 73-72. He hit the game-winner from just inside the three-point mark at the baseline.

Knight joined the select company of UCLA’s John Wooden, with 10, and Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp, with four, as coaches who have won more than two NCAA crowns. Knight, whose teams won titles in 1976 and 1981, saw the fulfillment of the recent adjustments he made. Previously, he was reluctant to sign junior college transfers and had been opposed to using zone defenses.

But those changes helped Knight share the Big Ten title with Purdue this year and ultimately took him to New Orleans.

Steve Alford, Indiana’s all-time leading scorer, added 23 points, hitting seven of 10 from three-point range. His only other goal was a layup.

Forward Daryl Thomas added 20 points and Dean Garrett, another junior college transfer, had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Syracuse, which shared the Big East regular season title with Pittsburgh and Georgetown, got 20 points from point guard Sherman Douglas, 18 from center Rony Seikaly and 12 from guard Greg Monroe.

Coleman, a 6-9 freshman, grabbed 19 rebounds, two short of the tournament record set by Bill Spivey in Kentucky’s championship win over Kansas State in 1951.

Indiana took a 41-37 lead in the second half, but Syracuse outscored the Hoosiers, 15-3, with reserve Derek Brower contributing 5 points and Seikaly 4 points for a 52-44 lead.

The Hoosiers bounced back with a 10-0 run as reserve Joe Hillman made two steals and Garrett blocked shots by Seikaly and Coleman. Smart’s jumper capped the run for a 54-52 Indiana lead.

Syracuse came back with seven straight points, the last on Douglas’ three-pointer.

Indiana came back to tie it at 61 on a basket by Smart. After three more ties, Seikaly scored with 2:03 remaining. He was fouled on the play, but missed the free throw.

Smart then tied it at 70 with a quick move to the basket with 1:20 left.

Triche then made a goal with 56 seconds remaining for a 72-70 Syracuse lead. Smart, from nearby Baton Rouge, then missed a shot with Triche grabbing the rebound. But Smart came back to hit the final two baskets.

Alford hit his fourth three-point shot of the game, coming one second before the buzzer, to boost the Hoosiers to a 34-33 halftime lead.

The Hoosiers trailed for much of the half and were down by 5 points, 29-24, with less than four minutes to play. But Indiana outscored Syracuse 10-4 over the rest of the period.

Alford, bothered by a series of changing defenses, hit 4 of his 8 field-goal tries--all the successful attempts from three-point range. He finished the half with 12 points, as did Indiana teammate Daryl Thomas.

Syracuse’s first-half effort was led by Seikaly and guard Sherman Douglas, each with 9 points.

The Orangemen built their small lead thanks to a 9-3 edge in offensive rebounds, with Seikaly scoring 2 baskets after grabbing missed shots by his teammates.

Seikaly also took part in the most spectacular play of the half. With 7:20 remaining, Douglas lofted an alley-oop pass in the direction of Howard Triche. The ball was deflected by Indiana’s Steve Eyl right into the hands of Seikaly, who slammed to give the Orangemen a 24-20 advantage.

The Indiana victory made Knight the third coach to win more than two NCAA Tournament championships, joining John Wooden and Adolph Rupp.

Knight led Indiana to national titles in 1976 and 1981. Wooden won 10 titles at UCLA and Rupp captured four while at Kentucky.

Indiana, co-champion of the Big Ten, was a 3 1/2-point favorite over Syracuse of the Big East in the first meeting ever between the teams. It was also the first time teams from the Big Ten and Big East--two of the nation’s top leagues--faced off in the championship game.

The game brought to a close a season that started with 290 Division I teams vying for the national title. Indiana (30-4) and Syracuse (31-7) reached the three-week, 64-team tournament final after posting semifinal victories Saturday.