WEST NOTEBOOK

UCLA’s Kris Johnson got a lot of camera time in the 1995 NCAA tournament because of the way he wore a towel hooded around his head.

West Virginia guard Carl Williams’ towel usage drew him some unwanted attention Thursday night. Reacting to a foul called against teammate Jerrod West with 8:28 remaining in the second half, Williams, who was on the bench, slammed a towel down on the court. The officials called a bench technical foul on West Virginia for unsportsmanlike conduct.

At first, Williams appeared to get off easy. Utah center Michael Doleac made only of the two free throws and Alex Jensen missed a shot after Utah received possession for the technical. But that one free throw loomed large in the final minute. Down by one point, the Mountaineers were forced to foul Doleac in the final 10 second, and Doleac made both free throws to seal the victory.

“I’m not going to dwell on what happened,” Williams said. “The technical was called. Things get called in big games.”

Behind him was a towel, neatly folded and draped over the back of the chair.

Williams who missed both of his shots during his three minutes, surrendered one more point on the bench than he scored in the game.

Other great moments in tournament towel history: Houston Coach Guy Lewis throwing a towel at an official in the national semifinal in 1983 (no technical was called), and Indiana guard Calbert Cheaney using a towel to whip Coach Bob Knight in the waning minutes of a 106-79 regional final victory over UCLA in 1992, showing there were no hard feelings after a photo of Knight cracking a bullwhip across Cheaney’s back in practice caused a mild uproar.