Familiar Foes Could Get a Crack at Each Another

By ROBYN NORWOOD

March 8, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Michigan State is the top-seeded team after dominating the Big Ten, but most eyes are on a potential matchup between two of college basketball’s bluebloods--Kentucky and Kansas--in the second round.

Also looming is a rematch of the teams that played in last year’s championship game--Kentucky and Utah--in the Sweet 16. Only this time, Utah--which has gotten used to losing to Kentucky in the tournament--is the higher-seeded team.

Arizona is the No. 4-seeded team and a Lute Olson-Jim Harrick reunion could take place in the second round if Rhode Island can get past North Carolina Charlotte.

1. MICHIGAN STATE (29-4)

* First-round opponent: Mt. St. Mary’s.

* Season in brief: Lost to Duke and Connecticut in December, but the tough, physical Spartans finished strong, dominating much of the rest of the way. Lost only to Wisconsin in the conference and won the Big Ten tournament. Point guard Mateen Cleaves makes the Spartans go, but forward Morris Peterson has been a strong scorer off the bench.

* Player to watch: Cleaves, a flashy passer and scorer, is one of the nation’s 10 best players. but his outside shot can be erratic.

* Tidbit: Coach Tom Izzo is best friends with San Francisco 49er Coach Steve Mariucci from their college days at Northern Michigan.

* NCAA bio: Reached Sweet 16 last season before losing to North Carolina after two-year absence from tournament. Won 1979 title with team led by Magic Johnson, beating Larry Bird’s Indiana State team.

2. UTAH (27-4)

* First-round opponent: Arkansas State.

* Season in brief: Fresh from the Final Four, Utah started only 5-4 even with Andre Miller and two other starters back. Then the Utes turned it around, winning 22 in a row, including the Western Athletic Conference tournament. Swept New Mexico in three games, once by 30. Thrived with defense, but emerged as a contender to return to the Sweet 16 or beyond as forwards Hanno Mottola and Alex Jensen improved offensively.

* Player to watch: Miller, the savvy senior point guard, is a pick for national player of the year by some people.

* Tidbit: Utah has been beaten by Kentucky in four of the last five tournaments--including last year’s title game.

* NCAA bio: Reached Final Four last time for fourth time. Won NCAA title in 1944.

3. KENTUCKY (25-8)

* First-round opponent: New Mexico State.

* Season in brief: The defending NCAA champions didn’t look particularly poised going 3-4 in February but won the Southeastern Conference tournament. Beat UCLA, Kansas, Miami, Indiana and Maryland in consecutive games early in the season. Key gauge: A 71-60 loss to Duke.

* Player to watch: Senior forward Scott Padgett is a versatile performer--he leads Kentucky in scoring, rebounding and steals--but has had less than 10 points 12 times this season.

* Tidbit: Tayshaun Prince, a freshman forward from Compton Dominguez High who averages six points and 20 minutes a game, has gained 30 pounds since his high school career ended--and still looks skinny.

* NCAA bio: Kentucky is 17-1 in the NCAA tournament over the last three seasons. Seven national championships, including two of the last three.

4. ARIZONA (22-6)

* First-round opponent: Oklahoma.

* Season in brief: Jason Terry went from sixth-man extraordinaire to the Pac-10’s top player, leading the conference in scoring, assists and steals. He and A.J. Bramlett kept Arizona in the thick of things even with three freshmen in the starting lineup, led by Michael Wright. Split with Stanford, Washington, and UCLA. Only nonconference loss was on a last-second shot at New Mexico.

* Player to watch: Terry will be the focal point of every opponent’s defense. Slow him down, and you probably stop the Wildcats.

* Tidbit: Those funny-looking shoes Eugene Edgerson wears are vintage 1980s Nikes that were ordered for Jud Buechler when he played at Arizona from 1987-90, but never worn until Edgerson found them in a storeroom.

* NCAA bio: Coach Lute Olson’s 15 consecutive NCAA appearances are the longest streak by any active coach--and second only to Dean Smith’s 23 in NCAA history. Wildcats won NCAA title in 1997.

5. UNC CHARLOTTE (22-10)

* First-round opponent: Rhode Island.

* Season in brief: Handed Cincinnati its first loss in a game remembered for a controversial call in the final seconds, then defeated the Bearcats again in the Conference USA tournament before beating Louisville in the final. The 49ers are back in the tournament under new Coach Bobby Lutz even though they lost their two best players, DeMarco Johnson and Sean Colson.

* Player to watch: Senior Galen Young is an athletic wing and Charlotte’s best defensive player.

* Tidbit: Forward Charles Hayward played at the beginning of the season after missing last season undergoing treatment for leukemia, but the illness returned and he has been in and out of the hospital.

* NCAA bio: Took North Carolina to overtime in the second round last season before losing. Reached Final Four in 1977 with Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell.

6. KANSAS (22-9)

* First-round opponent: Evansville.

* Season in brief: Not the usual Kansas team after losing Raef LaFrentz and junior Paul Pierce to the NBA. Battered in conference play, usually the Jayhawks’ private domain, but won the Big 12 tournament.

* Player to watch: Eric Chenowith, the 7-foot sophomore center from Villa Park High, has made big strides this season.

* Tidbit: Coach Roy Williams and North Carolina officials deny an account in a recently published book claiming it has already been arranged that Williams will replace Bill Guthridge.

* NCAA bio: Top-seeded Jayhawks were upset by Rhode Island in the second round of the Midwest Regional last season--the latest in a series of early exits for Kansas. Won NCAA titles in 1952 and ’88.

7. WASHINGTON (17-11)

* First-round opponent: Miami (Ohio).

* Season in brief: The high hopes for the Huskies after their Sweet 16 appearance last season faded quickly after a loss to Connecticut was followed by slip-ups against Boise State and Gonzaga. In the Pac-10, they were swept by Stanford, but split with Arizona and UCLA.

* Player to watch: Todd MacCulloch, the 7-foot center from Winnipeg, might look like a big galoot but once he gets the ball, he’s almost unstoppable.

* Tidbit: If you can’t pronounce freshman point guard Senque Carey’s first name, just remember a sign seen at Hec Edmundson Pavilion: “Senque very much!”

* NCAA bio: Stopped moments short of the Final Eight last season when Connecticut’s Richard Hamilton came up with an offensive rebound and made a last-second shot. Reached the Final Four in 1953.

8. VILLANOVA (21-10)

* First-round opponent: Mississippi.

* Season in brief: Probably clinched its bid with a victory over St. John’s in the regular-season final. Just in time too because the Wildcats lost to Syracuse in their second Big East tournament game. Strong turnaround from a 12-17 record last season, Villanova’s worst in five seasons.

* Player to watch: Senior point guard John Celestand was the big scorer down the stretch.

* Tidbit: The Wildcats were a No. 8-seeded team when they won the 1985 national championship, making them officially the longest shot to win since seeding began in 1979.

* NCAA bio: Besides ’85 title, also reached Final Four in 1939 and 1971.

9. MISSISSIPPI (19-12)

* First-round opponent: Villanova.

* Season in brief: Only 5-5 to finish the conference season, including a four-game losing streak to Auburn, Tennessee, Mississippi State and Alabama before a second-round Southeastern Conference tournament loss to Kentucky. Best wins were over Louisville, Oklahoma and Arkansas (twice). Lost to Temple and Ohio State.

* Player to watch: Senior guard Keith Carter is one of only three players in Mississippi history to have at least 1,000 points, 550 rebounds and 200 assists.

* Tidbit: William Faulkner’s home, Rowan Oak, is an Oxford, Miss., landmark.

* NCAA bio: Mississippi is the almost-forgotten victim of the stunning last-second shot by Valparaiso’s Bryce Drew that started the Crusaders’ run to the Sweet 16 last season. Rebels are 0-3 in NCAA games.

10. MIAMI OF OHIO (22-7)

* First-round opponent: Washington.

* Season in brief: Ranked in the Top 25 at times, the Redhawks made it as an at-large team despite losing to Kent in the Mid-American Conference final. Made an impression with an early victory over Tennessee, but also lost to Xavier and Wisconsin Green Bay. Wally Szczerbiak, a 6-8 power forward with an inside-outside game that has drawn comparisons to Tom Gugliotta, figures to be an NBA lottery pick.

* Player to watch: Szczerbiak ranked among the top five scorers in the nation with a 24-point average.

* Tidbit: Szczerbiak was perhaps the best player on the Goodwill Games team that included Elton Brand and Khalid El-Amin.

* NCAA bio: Seventeen appearances and four first-round victories, but the Redhawks have never won a second-round game.

11. EVANSVILLE (23-9)

* First-round opponent: Kansas.

* Season in brief: Made the field as an at-large team despite losing to Creighton in the Missouri Valley Conference final after winning regular-season title. Evansville was third in the nation in field-goal percentage at 51.1%, third in three-point percentage at 41% and second in free throws at at 77.6%. But the Purple Aces lost in the MVC final when they shot less than 38% against Creighton.

* Player to watch: Senior guard Marcus Wilson was the conference player of the year. That ought to make Notre Dame wince: He’s from South Bend, Ind.

* Tidbit: The Purple Aces have a different uniform look. Their jerseys have sleeves.

* NCAA bio: Most recent trip was in 1992. Only win in four appearances was a 1989 overtime victory over Oregon State.

12. RHODE ISLAND (20-12)

* First-round opponent: North Carolina Charlotte.

* Season in brief: The Rams’ March magic might be back as they ran the table in the Atlantic-10 tournament, earning a bid with Lamar Odom’s tie-breaking three-point shot just before the buzzer against Temple. Might not have been selected otherwise after losses to St. Bonaventure and Fordham in the final regular-season games.

* Player to watch: Odom, without a doubt. He’s not in the college player-of-the-year picture for various reasons, but the much-traveled future NBA lottery pick is 6-9, 220 pounds, can handle the ball and make the three-point shot.

* Tidbit: Jim Harrick Jr., an assistant at Valparaiso when it played Rhode Island in the Sweet 16 last season, is now on his father’s staff.

* NCAA bio: Came thisclose to the Final Four last season before Stanford’s stirring comeback. Previous best showing was Sweet 16 in 1988.

13. OKLAHOMA (20-10)

* First-round opponent: Arizona.

* Season in brief: Folks in Norman, Okla., believe it’s time for Coach Kelvin Sampson to win an NCAA tournament game--he’s 0-4.

* Player to watch: Forward Eduardo Najera.

* Tidbit: Najera was born in Chihuahua, Mexico.

* NCAA bio: Lost to Indiana in the first round last season, and hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game since Billy Tubbs was coach. Lost to Kansas in the 1988 national championship game.

14. NEW MEXICO STATE (23-9)

* First-round opponent: Kentucky.

* Season in brief: Coach Lou Henson took the Aggies to the Final Four in 1970. He has New Mexico State in the tournament again after coming out of retirement to take over for ousted coach Neil McCarthy last season.* Player to watch: Point guard William Keys.

* Tidbit: Henson, the former Illinois coach, grabbed five transfers when Northern Illinois dropped basketball.

* NCAA bio: First appearance since 1994, the last of five consecutive appearances under McCarthy.

15. ARKANSAS STATE (18-11)

* First-round opponent: Utah.

* Season in brief: Had a better record last season at 20-9, but this time the Indians did what they had to if they wanted to be in the field of 64. They won the Sun Belt tournament, defeating a Western Kentucky team that included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, son of the former Laker. * Player to watch: Point guard Chico Fletcher is 5-feet-6 and terrific. He was the conference’s player of the year for the second season in a row. Along with George Washington’s 5-4 Shawnta Rogers, one of the mighty mites of the tournament.

* Tidbit: Coach Dickey Nutt’s brother is Arkansas football Coach Houston Nutt.

* NCAA bio: First appearance.

16. MOUNT ST. MARY’S (15-14)

* First-round opponent: Michigan State.

* Season in brief: Jim Phelan, the bow-tie wearing coach who will turn 70 this month, got his 800th victory in the Northeast Conference tournament final, sending the Mountaineers to the NCAA tournament for the second time. Only three other coaches--Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp and Clarence Gaines--have reached 800 victories.

* Player to watch: Freshman center Melvin Whitaker, 22, originally signed with Virginia but landed at Mount St. Mary’s after serving time for slashing the face of a Virgnia football player after a dispute that began during a pickup game.

* Tidbit: The Emmitsburg, Md., school has an enrollment of 1,300. * NCAA bio: Lost to Kentucky in 1995 in only other trip.

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