Battle Creek Enquirer from Battle Creek, Michigan • Page 14

SPORTS 4B Thursday, March 25, 2004 Battle Creek Enquirer COLLEGE BASKETBALL POSTSEASON Freije eoters spotlight Nelson leads St. Joe's In- Ik 4m 1 Ai l) -VJ ASSOCIATED PRESS Vanderbilt's Matt Freije dunks during practice for their NCAA regional semifinal game, Wednesday in Phoenix. Vanderbilt and its leading scorer Freije face Connecticut today for a berth in the Elite Eight. Freije, From IB going to see Freije play, and he then reported back to Stallings that he wasn't going to recruit Freije. Williams already had Nick Collison and Wayne Simien at power forward.

"I said, 'OK, and the only thing I would ask you, Coach, is to promise not to change your He promised, and that's how we got Matt," Stallings recalled. "Matt wouldn't have enjoyed watching Nick play all the time. No offense to him, I love him, but Nick Collison was a lottery pick." It's been a great fit. And Freije and Stallings have formed a special bond. "I do have a pretty close relationship with Coach Stallings," Freije said Wednesday after Vanderbilt's practice.

"Whenever I have a problem, or something is weighing on my mind, I know his office is always open and I know I can go in there and talk to him about it. He has never given me bad advice or steered me the wrong way." On Sunday, Freije scored 11 of his 31 points over the final 3:28 as the Commodores rallied for a 75-73 second-round victory over North Carolina State in Orlando, Fla. He made four 3-pointers and shot 11-for-ii at the free-throw line. He is scoring 22 points and grabbing 5.5 rebounds in the tournament after averaging 18.7 points and 54 boards during the regular season. The Commodores lost to Florida in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament and received an at-large bid into the tournament the first NCAA appearance for the Nashville, school since 1997.

"First and foremost, he is a lediaea Auburn shows interest in Hoosiers coach Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS Indiana athletic director Terry Clapacs expects coach Mike Davis to still be in Bloomington next season. Associate head coach John Treloar, however, might have a new home and a new job. Even though Auburn interim president Ed Richardson confirmed that Davis was on his list of candidates for the Tigers' head coaching job, Clapacs said Wednesday he had not been contacted by the school and believed Davis would remain with the Hoosiers. "This is where he wants to fierce competitor," Vandy guard Russell Lakey said. "I think that is one of the things that gives him an edge over players who are probably more athletic and probably have more skills than he does.

His drive and his will to win are so great that he won't let himself lose and won't let his team lose." Stallings' job Thursday will be to make sure Freije gets periodic breaks so he stays fresh. Ideally, Freije will play around 30 minutes. "He is typically more productive if we have a little control of the minutes he plays," Stallings said. "If he plays 34, 35 minutes two games in a row, his productivity is going to decline He is a very difficult guy to guard, and we need to make sure he gets his fair share of touches." AD expects Davis MOTS NCAA TOURNAMENT OPENING ROUND At UD Arena Dayton, Ohio Tuesday, March 16 Florida 72, Lehigh 57 EAST RUTHERFORD REGIONAL First Round Thursday, March 18 At HSBC Arena Buffalo, N.Y. Texas Tech 76, Charlotte 73 Saint Joseph's 82, Lfcerty 63 At RBC Center Raleigh, N.C, Manhattan 75, Florida 60 Wake Forest 79, Virginia Commonwealth 78 Friday, March 19 At Kemper Arena Kansas City, Mo.

Memphis 59, South Carolina 43 Oklahoma State 75, Eastern Washington 56 At The Bradley Center Milwaukee Wisconsin 76, Richmond 64 Pittsburgh 53, Central Florida 44 Second Round Saturday, March 20 At HSBC Arena Buffalo, N.Y. Saint Joseph's 70, Texas Tech 65 At RBC Center Raleigh, N.C Wake Forest 84, Manhattan 80 Sunday, March 21 At Kemper Arena Kansas City, Mo. Oklahoma State 70, Memphis 53 At The Bradley Center Milwaukee Pittsburgh 59, Wisconsin 55 Semifinals Thursday, March 25 At Continental Airlines Arena East Rutherford, NJ. Oklahoma State (29-3) vs. Pittsburgh (31-4), 7:27 pm Saint Joseph's (29-1) vs.

Wake Forest (21-9), 30 minutes after first game. Championship Saturday, March 27 At Continental Airlines Arena East Rutherford, J. Semifinal winners ATLANTA REGIONAL First Round Thursday, March 18 At The Pepsi Center Denver Texas 66, Princeton 49 North Carolina 63, Air Force 52 At RBC Center Raleigh, N.C Duke 96, Alabama State 61 Seton Hall 80, Arizona 76 Friday, March 19 At Nationwide Arena Columbus, Ohio Illinois 72, Murray State 53 Cincinnati 80, East Tennessee State 77 At TD Waterhouse Centre Orlando, Fla. Mississippi State 85, Monmouth, J. 52 Xavier 80, Louisville 70 Second Round Saturday, March 20 At The Pepsi Center Denver Texas 78, North Carolina 75 At RBC Center Raleigh, N.C.

Duke 90, Seton Hall 62 Sunday, March 21 At Nationwide Arena Columbus, Ohio Illinois 92, Cincinnati 68 At TD Waterhouse Center Orlando, Fla. Xavier 89, Mississippi State 74 Semifinals Friday, March 26 At The Georgia Dome Atlanta Texas (25-7) vs. Xavier (25-10), 727 p.m. Duke (29-5) vs. Illinois (26-6), 30 minutes after first game Championship Sunday, March 28 At The Georgia Dome Atlanta Semifinal winners -ST.

LOUIS REGIONAL First Round Thursday, March 18 At Key Arena Seattle Nevada 72, Michigan State 66 Gonzaga 76, Valparaiso 49 Friday, March 19 At Nationwide Arena Columbus, Ohio Kentucky 96, Florida 76 Alabama-Birmingham 102, Washington 100 At Kemper Arena Kansas City, Mo. Pacific 66, Providence 58 Kansas 78, Illinois-Chicago 53 At The Bradley Center Milwaukee Boston College 58, Utah 51 Georgia Tech 65, Northern Iowa 60 Second Round Saturday, March 20 At Key Arena Seattle Nevada 91, Gonzaga 72 Sunday, March 21 At Nationwide Arena Columbus, Ohio Alabama-Birmingham 76, Kentucky 75 At Kemper Arena Kansas City, Mo. Kansas 78, Pacific 63 At The Bradley Center Milwaukee Georgia Tech 57, Boston College 54 Semifinals Friday, March 26 At Edward Jones Dome St Louis Alabama-Birmingham (22-9) vs. Kansas (23-8), 7:10 p.m. Georgia Tech (25-9) vs.

Nevada (25-8), 30 minutes after first game Championship Sunday, March 28 At Edward Jones Dome St Louis Semifinal winners PHOENIX REGIONAL First Round Thursday, March 18 At HSBC Arena Buffalo, N.Y. Connecticut 70, Vermont 53 DePaul 76, Dayton 69, 20T At The Pepsi Center Denver Maryland 86, Texas-El Paso 83 Syracuse 80, Brigham Young 75 At Key Arena Seattle Alabama 65, Southern Illinois 64 Stanford 71, Texas-San Antonio 45 Friday, March 19 At TD Waterhouse Centre Orlando, Fla. North Carolina State 61, Lwiisiana-Lafayette 52 Vanderbilt 71, Western Michigan 58 Second Round Saturday, March 20 At HSBC Arena Buffalo, N.Y. Connecticut 72, DePaul 55 At The Pepsi Center Denver Syracuse 72, Maryland 70 At Key Arena Seattle Alabama 70, Stanford 67 Sunday, March 21 At TD Waterhouse Center Orlando, Fla. Vanderbilt 75, North Carolina State 73 Semifinals Thursday, March 25 At America West Arena Phoenix Vanderbilt (23-9) vs.

Connecticut (26), 7:10 pm Alabama (19-12) vs. Syracuse (23-7), 30 minutes after first game SandMarch27 At America West Arena Phoenix Semifinal winners FINAL FOUR AtTheAlamodome San Antonio Semifinals Saturday, April 3 E. Rutherford champ vs. St Louis champ, TBA AtlamcteurpiOTvs.PrK)emxcham Championship Monday, April 5 Semifinal winners NCAA Women's Basketbal Tournament EAST REGIONAL First Round Saturday, March 20 At The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, Calf. Houston 62, Wisconsin-Green Bay 47 UC Santa Barbara 76, Colorado 49 Sunday, March 21 AtCasselCofseum Virginia Tech 89, Iowa 76 Perm State 79, Hampton 42 At The Joyce Center South Bend, hid.

Middle Tennessee 67, North Carolina 62 Notre Dame 69, Southwest Missouri State 65, OT At Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard Bridgeport, Corn. Auburn 79, North Carolina State 59 Connecticut 91, Pennsylvania 55 Second Round Monday, March 22 At The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, Calf. UC Santa Barbara 56, Houston 52 Tuesday, March 23 At Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard Bridgeport. Conn. Connecticut 79, Auburn 53 AtCasselCoRseum Bladcsburg, Va.

Penn State 61, Virginia Tech 48 At The Joyce Center South Bend, hid. Notre Dame 59, Middle Tennessee 46 Semifinals Saturday, March 27 At The Hartford Chic Center Hartford, Corn. Perm State (27-5) vs. Notre Dame (21-10), Noon UC Santa Barbara (27-6) vs. Connecticut (27-4), 30 minutes after first game Championship Monday, March 29 At The Hartford CMc Center Hartford, Corn.

Semifinal winners, 7 pm MIDEAST REGIONAL Rrst Round Saturday, March 20 At St John Arena Ohio State 73, West Virginia 67 Boston College 58, Eastern Michigan 56 At DaNberg Arena Missoula, Mont Texas Tech 60, Maine 50 Louisiana Tech 81, Montana 77 Sunday. March 21 At Williams Arena Minneapolis Kansas State 71, Valparaiso 63 Minnesota 92, UCLA 81 At Cameron Indoor Stadkim Durham, N.C. Marquette 67, Old Dominion 64 Duke 103, Northwestern State 51 Second Round Monday, March 22 At St John Arena Columbus, Ohio Boston College 63, Ohio State 48 At Dahfberg Arena Missoula, Mont Louisiana Tech 81, Texas Tech 64 Tuesday, March 23 At Williams Arena MinrteapoTis Minnesota 80, Kansas State 61 At Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, N.C Duke 76, Marquette 67 Semmnals Sundav, March 28 At Ted Constant Convocation Center Norfolk, Va. Duke (29-3) vs. Louisiana Tech (29-2), Noon Boston College (27-6) vs.

Minnesota (23-8), 30 minutes after first game Championship Tuesday, March 30 At Ted Constant Convocation Center Norfolk, Va. Semifinal winners, 7 p.m. MIDWEST REGIONAL First Round Saturday. March 20 At The Talahasee-teon County CMc Center Tabhassee. Fta.

Tennessee 77, Colgate 54 DePaul 83, George Washington 46 At McKenzie Arena (Chattanooga, Tena Chattanooga 74, Rutgers 69 At The Pit Afcuouerque, NJyL Florida 68, New Mexico 56 Baylor 71, Loyola Marymount 60 At Wells Fargo Arena Tempe, Ariz. Oklahoma 58, Marist 45 Stanford 68, Missouri 44 Second Round Monday, March 22 At The Pit Afcuouerque, NJyL Baylor 91, Florida 76 At The TaRahasee-Leon County CMc Center Tallahassee, Fla. Tennessee 79, DePaul 59 At McKenzie Arena Chattanooga. Term. Vanderbilt 60, Chattanooga 44 At Wefts Fargo Arena Tempe, Ariz.

Stanford 68, Oklahoma 43 Semifinals Sunday. March 28 At Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Okta. Stanford (264) vs. Vanderbilt (26-7), 7 pm Tennessee (28-3) vs. Baylor (26-8), 30 minutes after first game Championship Tuesday March 30 At Uoyd Noble Center Norman, Okia.

Semifinal winners, 9 pm WEST REGIONAL First Round Saturday, March 20 At The Liacouras Center Phladeiphia Georgia 78, Liberty 53 Texas Christian 70, Temple 57 Sunday, March 21 At Hilton Cofiseum Ames, towa Villanova 66, Mississippi 63 Purdue 78, St Francis, Pa. 59 At The Pete Maravicti Assembly Center Baton Rouge, La. Maryland 86, Miami 85 LSU 83, Austin Peay 66 At The Frank Erwki Center Austin, Texas Texas 92, Southern University 57 Michigan State 72, Arizona 60 Second Round Monday, March 22 At The Liacouras Center Phladeiphia Georgia 85, Texas Christian 71 Tuesday, March 23 At Hlton Cofeeum Ames, Iowa Purdue 60, Villanova 42 The Pete Maravkh Assembly Center Baton Rouge, La. LSU 76, Maryland 61 At The Frank Erwn Center Austin, Texas Texas80, Michigan State 61 Semifinals Saturday, March 27 At Bank of America Arena Scsttte Texas (30-4) vs. LSU (25-7), 9 pm Georgia (24-9) vs.

Purdue (29-3), 30 minutes after first game Championship Monday, March 29 At Bank of America Arena Seattle Semifinal winners, 9 pm THERMAL FOUR At New Orleans Arena new uncarts Semifinals Sunday. Apr! 4 East champion vs. Mideast charnpion, 7 or pm Midwest champion vs. West dwnpion, 7 or 930 pm Championship Tuesday, Apr! 6 Semifinal winners, 830 pm :) St. Joe's, From IB Saint Joseph's both comical and aggravating.

"There are a lot of people that had the same opinion I did, so I don't feel like I'm out on an island," said Packer, who still believes the Hawks deserved a No. 2 seed. "This game and this tournament has nothing to do with Billy Packer. I did not interject myself into this tournament and never have. I prepare to do the games and say what I see." There was a friendly moment Wednesday.

Martelli walked across the court at a certain point to shake hands with Packer and chat briefly. "I think it was just Martelli's master plot to get more media attention," Hawks guard Tyrone Barley said of the feud. "Little schools don't get enough credit. The bigger schools, they're going to get the media attention and everything." It will be the third meeting between the two teams in the tournament, and the first since 1962, when Packer was a star guard for the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest, in the round of 16 for the first time since 1996, has no scholarship seniors on its roster and is led by freshman guard Chris Paul.

"I think the easy thing would have been to think, next year is our year. Well be good down the road," coach Skip Prosser said. to stay head coach openings. Treloar has been coaching since 1980 and spent 11 seasons as a head coach either overseas or in the CBA. He also spent two years as a general manager in the CBA before joining Indiana's staff as an assistant in 1997.

GILLISPIE TAKES TEXAS JOB COLLEGE STATION, Texas Billy Gillispie, who took Texas-El Paso from 24 losses to 24 wins and nearly upset Maryland in the NCAA tournament, took over the Texas program Wednesday. The Aggies, who were winless in the Big 12 conference and haven't been to the NCAA tournament in 17 years, are hoping Gillispie can turn things around. am looking forward with great anticipation to building a strong and competitive program at Texas Gillispie said. The senior guard averaged 18.6 points and three assists. Flint Powers faced some Class A powers in the Big Nine Conference, but Brandt more than held his own.

He averaged 18.3 points and made 47 three-pointers. McCloskey helped Marshall to a 22-0 record through the district tournament. The 6-7 senior will take his talents to Oakland University after averaging 19.6 points and nine rebounds. The Detroit Public Schools League always has an abundance of talent and Roper had a great season at Southwestern, scoring at a 234 clip. Koetsier made the AP first team for the second straight season, averaging 21 points and 15 rebounds.

Cedar Springs won its first league title since the 1970s and Wolfe led the way. He had a 47-point game and averaged 22.4 along with 6.5 assists. Coloma; Jimmy Wilkens; John Mathews, Essexville-Garber, Kirk Ellsworth, Saginaw Swan Valley; Kyle Pelzer, Marine City; Kyle Upchurch, Erie-Mason; Levent Sipahi, Spring Lake; Mac Miller, Williamston; Marcus Jenkins, Madison Heights Madison; Ryan Morlock, Wyoming Rogers; Scott Miller, Bangor John Glenn; Scott Spencer, Armada; Steve Short, Kingsford; Tim Beeman, Bridgeport; Tony Gugino, Holland Christian; Karl Trost, Cheboygan; Gibson Tobin, Grayling; Adam Gurski, Shepherd. COACHES: Jim Petteys, Frankenmuth; Mark Farrell, Lakewood; Bill Core, Spring Lake. Neitzel wins Class B's top hoooir fired last week after 10 up-and-down seasons with the Tigers.

Davis declined on Monday to comment on the Auburn job. Calls to his cell phone on Wednesday went unanswered. Davis still has four years left on his contract at Indiana where he earns $800,000 per year, and Clapacs said the standard protocol would be for Auburn to contact Indiana before speaking to Davis. Clapacs said it might be difficult for Auburn to hire an Alabama graduate. "It would be sort of like Steve Alford going to Purdue," Clapacs said.

"I don't know if he could do that." Treloar, however, is in a different situation. Clapacs has already given two schools Southern Methodist and Southern Mississippi permission to talk to Treloar, Davis' top assistant, about their McCloskey of Marshall, Paul Roper of Detroit Southwestern, Todd Koetsier of Grandville Calvin Christian and Tyler Wolfe of Cedar Springs. Crawford and Hairston formed an unstoppable duo that made Renaissance the unanimous No. 1 team in every AP poll this season. Crawford, who will continue his career at Kentucky, averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 56 percent from the floor and 81 at the free-throw line.

Hairston has similar numbers with averages of 21 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Kent State has signed Knight, who was a force at Detroit Crockett. He supplied 22 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks a game. Muskegon Heights lost only once during the regular season and the main reason was York. Rapids South Christian; Nick Freer, Stevensville Lakeshore.

COACH: Dave Schlump, Cedar Springs. HONORABLE MENTION (nominees receiving one or no votes from the 11-member panel): Andre Lawson, Warren Fitzgerald; Bill Eaddy, Milan; Brandon Bradford, Detroit Country Day; Brandon Burrel, Muskegon Heights; Brandon Gerth, Fremont; Clint Tobias, Lake Odessa Lakewood; Dan Hess, Corunna; Darby Decker, Tawas Area; Desi Mayner, Linden; Eric Spearman, Houghton Lake; Erik Kangas, DeWitt; Farrid Coleman, be," Clapacs said of Davis. "He tells me that all the time." Davis, 43, just completed his fourth season as the Hoosiers coach. He has an 81-53 career record and led the Hoosiers to a share of the Big Ten regular-season title and into the NCAA championship game in 2002. But Indiana went 14-15 this season, posting its first losing season since 1969-70 and missing the postseason for the first time since 1976-77.

"I think Mike could come right out and say he has no interest," Clapacs said. "But that's the world of sports today. Our focus has to be on this coming season and I assume if Mike is interested, he'll talk to me about it." Davis is a native of Fayette, and played college basketball at Alabama Auburn's most bitter rival The Auburn job opened when Cliff Ellis was week. Dan Coddens of Marshall was selected as Class Coach of the Year. Neitzel, who has signed with Michigan State, averaged 33.0 points and 9.2 assists.

He either scored or passed for an astounding 51 points per game. VanderKlay had the privilege of coaching Neitzel during four years on the varsity and has been watching him since grade school. "He was playing against sixth graders when he was in the third grade," VanderKlay said. "You could tell he was going to be something special." Neitzel lived up to all the hype, scoring 2,329 points and dishing out 665 assists during his varsity career. He is joined on the Class first team by: Isaac Knight of Detroit Crockett, Jessie York of Muskegon Heights, Joe Crawford and Malik Hairston of Detroit Renaissance, Josh Brandt of Flint Powers Catholic, Patrick Paul Roper, Detroit Southwestern, 6-2, sr.

Isaac Knight, Detroit Crockett, 6-6, Sr. Jessie York, Muskegon Heights, 6-L Sr. Josh Brandt, Flint Powers Catholic, Sr. COACH: Dan Coddens, Marshall. SPECIAL MENTION (nominees receiving two or more votes from the 11-member panel): Anthony Townsend, Wyoming Kelloggsville; D'Mario Curry, Madison Heights Madison; David Kool, Grand Associated Press EAST LANSING Is Drew Neitzel right-handed or left-handed? When Wyoming Park basketball coach Thom VanderKlay is asked that question, his answer is "Yes." Neitzel shoots with either hand, including jump shots.

He not only scores with his right hand or his left, he scores in bunches. During a 24-hour period in the first week of February, Neitzel scored 102 points. He had 45 in one game and came back the next night to hit 57. "You've got to see him to believe him," VanderKlay said. "He's 6-foot and only weighs about 165.

He isn't going to impress anybody when he gets off the bus, but he's the real deal." The real deal, and The Associated Press Class Player of the Year. Neitzel also was named Mr. Basketball this CLASS ALL-STATE The 2004 Associated Press high school Class All-State basketball team selected by Michigan sports writers and broadcasters: FIRST TEAM Drew Neitzel, Wyoming Park, 6-1, (Class Player of the Year). Joe Crawford, Detroit Renaissance, 6-4, Sr. Malik Hairston, Detroit Renaissance, 6-6, Sr.

Patrick McCloskey, Marshall, 6-7, Sr. Todd Koetsier, Grandville Calvin Christian, 6-3, Sr. Tyler Wolfe, Cedar Springs, 6-2, Sr..