No Mistaking This Charlotte Win

The last time North Carolina Charlotte defeated Cincinnati, it was considered a fluke.

But Charlotte’s 55-52 victory over No. 7-ranked Cincinnati Friday night in the semifinals of the Conference USA tournament at Birmingham, Ala., will be looked at differently because of how the final seconds unfolded.

The 49ers beat Cincinnati, 62-60, on Jan. 14 at Charlotte when a three-point basket by the Bearcats in the final seconds was waved off by a referee who ruled he had stopped play. The conference later said the referee had blown an inadvertent whistle.

This time, Cincinnati was trailing 53-52 with four seconds left when Melvin Levett took a three-point shot, and missed. Galen Young got the rebound and, after being fouled with 1.8 seconds, made two free throws. Cincinnati (26-5) couldn’t get off a final shot and saw its hopes for a No. 2 seeding in an NCAA regional get seriously jeopardized.

“First of all, there was not inadvertent whistle today,” said Charlotte Coach Bobby Lutz. “We have tremendous respect for Cincinnati and their players, but we beat them today.”

Charlotte (21-10) plays Louisville (19-9), a 77-68 winner over Alabama Birmingham (20-11), in today’s final. Louisville has won eight of 10 games since having a postseason ban lifted by the NCAA on Feb. 5.

BIG TEN

Mateen Cleaves’ shots were again clanking at the United Center in Chicago and Michigan State was again struggling in the quarterfinals, just like in last year’s tournament when the Spartans were eliminated in the same round.

However, Cleaves managed to make an awkward floating shot in the lane with 37 seconds remaining that provided the decisive points for Michigan State, the regular-season champion and second-ranked team in the nation, in a 61-59 victory over scrappy Northwestern.

Northwestern (15-13) had previously lost by 17 to Michigan State (27-4) but held a 59-56 lead with less than two minutes left primarily because of 6-foot-11, sixth-year senior Evan Eschmeyer, who had 30 points.

Morris Peterson’s three-point basket tied the score, 59-59, with 1:42 left, and after Northwestern freshman Steve Lepore missed a rushed shot, Cleaves found a seam in the Wildcat zone defense, drove through and put up a high-arcing shot that resulted in only his second basket in nine attempts.

After two timeouts by Northwestern, Antonio Smith blocked a layup by David Newman, another Wildcat freshman. Lepore retrieved the ball and put up a desperation shot that missed and Smith got the rebound as time ran out.

“Every game, all the shots are not going to go in,” said Cleaves, a 41% shooter. “I wasn’t thinking about the last shot. I was just thinking of getting the ball on the rim and giving it a chance to go in.

Cleaves has made only seven of 44 shots in three games at the United Center, including last year’s quarterfinal loss to Minnesota.

“My job is to run the team. My job is not to lead the team in scoring,” said Cleaves, who had six points.

Michigan State, which has won 16 in a row, plays today against the last team it lost to--No. 19 Wisconsin, a 74-60 winner over No. 20 Iowa (18-9). Wisconsin (22-8) made 61% of its shots and got a combined nine for 13 on three-point attempts and 44 points from guards Sean Mason, Ty Calderwood and Jon Bryant.

In the other semifinal, No. 11 Ohio State (23-7) plays surprising Illinois (13-17). Ohio State, which had the best win-loss turnaround in Big Ten history in going from 1-15 last season to 12-4, had four double-figure scorers in an 87-69 victory over Michigan (12-19). Illinois, which finished last in the regular season, was a 82-66 winner over No. 17 Indiana (22-10). The Illini had a 51-26 rebounding advantage.

ATLANTIC COAST

The good news for North Carolina State (18-12) was that it probably earned an NCAA bid with a 66-52 victory over Wake Forest (16-13) in the quarterfinals at Charlotte, N.C. The bad news is that North Carolina State runs into a buzzsaw in the semifinals in No. 1 Duke (30-1). The Blue Devils have defeated ACC opponents by an average of 26 points, including a 31-point victory the last time they played the Wolfpack. . . . No. 5 Maryland (26-4) overwhelmed Florida State (13-17) with its full-court pressure, converting 23 turnovers in 26 points in a 93-69 victory. Maryland’s semifinal opponent will be No. 15 North Carolina (23-8), a 78-49 winner over Georgia Tech (15-5).

BIG EAST

No. 3 Connecticut, sluggish for the most part since a convincing victory at Stanford on Feb. 6, re-established its Big East superiority with a 71-50 victory over Syracuse in the semifinals at New York. Connecticut (27-2) converted 15 turnovers into 15 points in the first half to take a 38-18 lead in beating Syracuse (21-11) for the second time since a Feb. 1 home loss that ended a winning streak at 19. “The past month, we weren’t the same team at times,” Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun said. “Now we’re back.” No. 10 St. John’s (25-7) also reached the Big East final with a 62-59 victory over No. 9 Miami (22-6) and will be trying to win the tournament for the first time since 1986. St. John’s led by eight points with four minutes left but needed a steal and free throw by Erick Barkley with 1.8 seconds and a narrow miss on shot from three-quarters of the court by Johnny Hemsley at the buzzer to hang on.

SOUTHEASTERN

Western Division champion and No. 4 Auburn (27-2) overcame poor shooting from the field (41%) with strong rebounding, aggressive defense, and accuracy on its free throws in a 93-61 victory over Alabama (17-14) in the quarterfinals at Atlanta. Auburn had a 20-9 advantage in offensive rebounds that led to 25 second-chance points, forced 25 turnovers that it converted into 37 points, and made 27 of 29 free throws. Auburn plays No. 14 Kentucky, an 83-73 winner over Mississippi (19-12), in the semifinals. Kentucky (22-9) has won six of the last seven SEC tournaments and was the first team to beat Auburn this season. . . . Eastern Division champion and No. 18 Tennessee (20-8) was a 62-56 loser to Mississippi State (20-11) as guards Tony Harris and Brandon Wharton made only six of 30 shots. Mississippi State’s semifinal opponent will be No. 22 Arkansas (21-9), a 75-74 winner over No. 21 Florida (20-7).

OTHER TOURNAMENTS

Atlantic 10--Two teams not known for their outside shooting put up 59 three-point attempts the semifinal game at Philadelphia, with Temple (21-9) slightly more accurate than Xavier (21-10) in a 76-64 victory. Temple made eight of 23 three-point shots, Xavier was 12 for 36. Temple, the East Division champion, will try to win the tournament for the first time since 1990 today when it plays Rhode Island, a 94-78 winner over West Division champion George Washington. Forward Lamar Odom had 17 points and 11 assists for Rhode Island (19-12) while Shawnta Rogers, the Atlantic 10 player of the year, missed 14 of 20 shots and scored most of his 20 points after George Washington (20-8) had fallen behind by 30 with 3:58 left.

Big Sky--Regular-season champion Weber State (23-7), with a 93-73 victory over Montana State (16-13), reached the final at Ogden, Utah against Northern Arizona (21-7), a 73-56 winner over Portland State (17-11).

Big 12--It turned out to be a tournament of take-and-give for Nebraska. After taking advantage of 26 Texas Tech turnovers in a first-round victory, Nebraska (19-12) gave up numerous easy baskets and a possible NCAA bid with a tournament-record 27 turnovers in a 77-53 loss to Kansas (20-9) in the quarterfinals at Kansas City, Mo. Today, Kansas plays Kansas State (20-11), an 84-74 winner over No. 24 Missouri (20-8). . . . Oklahoma State, which lost twice to Oklahoma (20-10) in the regular season, defeated its state rival when it mattered most, solidifying its hopes for an NCAA bid with a 60-57 victory. Oklahoma State (21-9) plays in the semifinals against regular-season champion Texas (19-11), which overcame torrid three-point shooting by Colorado and guard Kenny Price in an 82-76 victory. Price made nine of 11 three-point shots and had 31 points, and Colorado (17-14) made a tournament-record 14 three-point shots in 24 attempts.

Patriot League--Regular-season champion Lafayette (22-7) advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1957 with a 67-64 victory over Bucknell (16-13) in the final at Easton, Pa. Lafayette’s amount of time without an NCAA appearance was the second-longest currently to Harvard (1946).

Western Athletic--No. 8 Utah (26-4) stretched its win streak to 21 with a 64-61 overtime victory over Tulsa (22-9) in the semifinals at Las Vegas. Today, Utah will play No. 25 New Mexico (24-7), a 57-55 winner over Southern Methodist (15-15).