Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 60

Sedtion Page 12 I Star-Telegram I Sunday March 29 1998 Despite their success Utes keep feet firmly on Riverwalk Wendell Barnhouse of-12 He missed his last 12 shots against Arizona and his first five against Utah for an 0-for-17 arctic streak Kentucky is college basketball's winningest program with 1719 victories North Carolina started the season trailing by 10 victories and its 34 victories this season gives it 1709 victories Sound bites North Carolina Charlotte coach Melvin Watkins was interviewed yesterday by Texas athletic director Wally Groff for the Aggies' vacant job Vanderbilt coach Jan van Breda Kolff is expected to be interviewed by today Former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino spun this tale this past week: He claimed that Kentucky athletic director CM Newton wanted to hire Billy Donovan but Pitino convinced Newton to hire Tubby Smith Newton scoffed at that Pitino the Boston Celtics' coach called a Lexington Ky reporter to explain that it was all a "misunderstanding" Utah coach Rick Majerus says when his team was playing in the Western Athletic Conference tournament in Las Vegas its hotel was one of the city's casinos And that's where the NCAA's anti-gambling video was delivered "I didn't know if was supposed to show it to the team at the roulette wheel or the black jack table" he cracked Before Utah and North Carolina tipped off official Don Rut The Associated Press Singer Wynonna left and her actress sister Ashley Judd cheer for Kentucky during overtime of the Final Four semifinal yesterday in San Antonio Kentucky topped Stanford and will play Utah tomorrow for the championship great" In the lobby of the coaches' hotel there have been a lot of head shaking and astonished looks over Tom Penders' impending dismissal at Texas None of the coaches could believe Penders' fate or how it came about With Pete Gillen moving from Providence to Virginia there will be talk of Penders returning to the Northeast to coach the Friars But Iona coach Tim Welsh is likely to get the Providence job Staff writer Mike Jones contributed to this report For one diehard fan having a seat is enough 'SAN ANTONIO Give Utah credit Not only have the Utes knocked off consecutive No 1 seeds (Arizona and North Carolina) they've done it in quiet understated gee-whiz fashion On Thursday Utah took a boat ride on the San Antonio River along the Riverwalk The Utes savil a boatload of North Carolina players -1'We were saying 'Hey there's Carter there's Jamison" sophomore forward Alex Jensen said "We see those guys on TV all the time" 'So did the North Carolina players recognize the Utah players? "Ah no I don't think so" Jensen said "I think they figured a bunch of tall white guys were basketball players though" -Most teams given that treatment would cry "Respect! They don't respect us They dissed us" Not Utah "We don't go in for that respect stuff" Jensen said modestly Fallon's farewell The Final Four will lose its voice after tomorrow night's championship game Frank Fallon will retire after 21 years of being the public-address announcer at the event Fallon who was the voice of the Baylor Bears for 42 years is closing out his Final Four career in the city where he grew up and attended high school He made his Final Four debut in 1978 in St: Louis His understated low-key style is in stark contrast to the PA screamers employed in WHAT THEY'RE SAYING It's not individuals we win together and we die and lose together It's nobody's fault it's all of our fault If we played better defense things would have gone better We plued horrible defense Ademola Okulala North Carolina forward gi Imay not have another chance to get back to the Final Four Just to make it to the Final Four two years in a row is almost impossible Emotions were just going through me at the end of the game IC Antawn Jamison North Carolina junior I ii We were playing so hard and we rebounded really well I thought our guys their hearts out We were opportunistic and we played great defense This is tremendous )) Rick Maierus Utah head coach Utah From Page 1 folir-point cushion Utah made seven of nine free throws in the filial minute could sense at that point we were playing not to lose rather than to win" Majerus said If anyone thought the Arizona triumph was a one-time fluke Utah dispelled those notions in -the opening minutes Motto la hit a 3-pointer from the comer and Drew Hansen copied him Less than six minutes into the game the Utes had a 17-4 lead when Doleac hit two free throws think they thought they were going to overpower us in the first five minutes" Motto la said "But that didn't happen" who had a triple double (17 pints 14 rebounl 13 assists) against Arizona finished ri most arenas "When you do something for 21 years people can't see anyone else doing the job btu they'll find somebody they're comfortable with" Fallon said "I guess the reason is I just feel it's time to do this" The NCAA men's basketball committee will select Fallon's replacement Numbers game Write in Arthur Lee for your 1998-99 preseason All-America team The junior guard made all 35 of his NCAA Tournament free throws and averaged 206 points for Stanford And King Arthur's end-game heroics will become legend on The Farm It's hard to imagine a worse shooting slump than the one that enveloped Stanford guard Kris Weems during the NCAA Tournament In five games he was 14-of57 from the field (245 percent) Shooting slump part two: North Carolina senior guard Shatrimond Williams was 1-of-13 in last year's semifinal loss to Arizona Against Utah he was 2- North Carolina's Vince Carter puts stunned top-seeded UNC 65-59 with 16 points 14 rebounds and seven assists yesterday "He didn't surprise us" said Vince Carter who scored 21 to lead both teams in scoring "He did it all out there 1 hope he does a great job in the championship game" Despite an edge in speed quickness and jumping ability the Tar Heels were frustrated offensively against Utah's gritty defense North Carolina the nation's best shooting team at 522 percent made 27 of 69 shots 39 percent They were particularly frigid from 3-point range making 3 of 23 (13 percent) "People underestimate Utah's speed and quickness" said North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge who was trying to become the first coach since Steve Fkher led Michigan to the title in 1989 as an interim coach "They're a very sound and well-coached team" North Carolina forward vm 7tilo I 6 'V '''I i 14 1 0 -4- eore t-Z1 ''''''111 I 't' 'k I i --7 kst I 4) 4 Or 't I 1--1rilt ii: i 11 4 ff 't fill i 1 'e- t' '14411L4 I 1 1 i 1111 'i f'y lotiy a N44? i 4tY l'Avy" Ok 4PAliPlf -4 I ''0 -re is4) 4 Pir4trA Is Ili "71 tOrov 1 '10''' '''re44 i '100'r' ItI i I 'Li -1- Ii '') 1( i' 1 I i 4t i i z' i ar- fil i 3i 1 ''si i lf 'Vt A NI i i i 44k1t I '''''''''''''''''ks4'' I iboiiiimit I a By GIL LEBRETON Star-Telegram Staff Writer SAN ANTONIO From his seat in Section 315 of the Alamodome Larry Carnes could see yesterday's NCAA Final Four Sort of SAN ANTON But he IO brought binocSCENE ulars just in case Down below him were about 25 rows of blue and tan seats and then a sea of distant humanity The Alamodome is said to seat 41254 for this Final Four and Carnes is so far away they may or may not count him If this were a football game he'd have a prime sideline seat for his $100 Instead Carnes 41 a computer engineer from nearby Austin has to sit at a 60-degree angle and even then crane his neck to see around a ceiling-tofloor blue curtain "Every now and then" Carnes said "I sit back in my seat and I miss a few baskets" Carnes said he is a college basketball fan more than he is a follower of any of yesterday's four teams His outfit is a curious mismatch of Kentucky blues and Utah reds "But how often does this thing come to Texas?" he asked twist ing to see a Kentucky fast break Domed stadiums are viewed as both the bane and blessing of the Final Four Their cavernous size gives Every fan his chance to view a piece of college hoop history On the other hand critics say basketball is not a game best viewed through the Hubble Telescope Carnes looked down at his Wal-Mart binoculars "A telescope wouldn't have been a bad idea" he observed managing to grin Even with the 41254 seats this was a tough ticket Downtown San Antonio just a sweaty eight-block walk away had far more buyers than sellers as game time approached "Need Two for Me and Pregnant Carolina Wife" read a man's handmade sign outside of the Marriott Itiverwalk In the hotel's lobby ticket wheelers-and-dealers blatantly brokered deals on mobile phones "Tell him we'll take the two for a thousand" chirped a telephone voice "This is a great ticket a great ticket" said a man in jeans on the street leading to the He was peeling off bills from a fist-thick stack Some of them yikes might have been in Section 315 1 1 ledge showed that he's a fan too The Kentucky-Stanford overtime thriller had just ended about 10 minutes earlier Rutledge turned to some writers on press row and mouthed the words "What a game" And actress Ashley Judd Kentucky's top fan had this to say: "Jiminy Cricket That was Star-TelegramRON JENKINS semifinal game in San Antonio Utah ished with 14 points and 12 rebounds making seven of 19 shots "I may never have the opportunity to get back to the Final Four" said Jamison who was on last season's Tar heels team that lost in the Final Four semifinals to Arizona "Their defense caused us a lot of problems and we missed some easy shots" North Carolina's six-man rotation was finally exposed Center Mahktar Ndiaye fouled out going scoreless in 14 minutes Freshman center Brendan Haywood scored two points in eight minutes Kentucky has ended Utah's season in the NCAA Tournament three of the past four seasons Tomorrow night the Utes get a chance to score some retribution "When we play aggressively we can play with anybody" Utah sophomore Alex Jensen said "It would be nice for our seniors h' we could finally beat Kentucky" CAME AT A GLANCE Utah upset No 1 seed North Carolina 65-59 in the second semifinal game last night Here is a comparison of Utah's Andre Miller and North Carolina's Vince Carter 7 4:) NI I 11 16 Points 21 14 Rebs 5 7 Assists 0 7-15 FG 10-16 1 Fouls 3 37 Minutes 32 up a shot against Utah in yesterday's Utah 65 North Carolina 59 FO 91-A 2-9 3-4 6-11 7-15 1-1 0-2 1-2 3-7 1-3 24-54 FT M-A 4-6 0-0 2-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 12-22 Reb 0T 1-1 1-5 0-5 2-14 0-6 0-0 0-0 1-2 11 6-34 Utah Motto Jens Do leac Maer Hansen Jettison McTavish ishasen Caton Totals Mm 29 34 25 37 -33 18 3 16 5 200 A 0 3 1 7 2 0 1 0 0 14 PF 3 4 2 21 15 Pt' 9 7 16 16 5 a 3 7 2 65 Percentages: FG 444 FT 545 3-Point Goats: 5-17 294 (Jensen 1-1 Hansen 1-1 McTavish 1-2 Johnsen 1-2 Mono la 1-4 Cinteac 0-1 Jackson 0-1 Caton 0-2 Miller 0-3) Teem Rebounds: 5 Blocked shots: 3 IMotiola Do Mac Johnsen) Turnovers 9 (Miter 4 Mono la 3 Hansen Jackson) Steels: 5 (Jensen 2 Miller Hansen Johnsen) Technical fouls: None FG FT Rib Carolina Mm MA M-A 04 A PF Oko lam 37 3-8 0-0 2-9 1 3 7 Jamison 37 7-19 0-2 4-12 1 4 14 Roam 14 0-3 0-2 1-2 0 5 0 Cola 38 4-9 0-0 1-7 7 2 8 Caner 32 10-16 0-1 3-5 0 3 21 Sha Othams 34 2-12 2-2 0-2 5 0 7 Haywood 8 1-2 0-0 2-3 0 2 2 Totals 200 27-69 2-7 13-40 14 10 59 Percentages: FG 391 FT 286 3-Point Goals: 3-23 130 (Caner 1-4 Ohitima 1-5 Sha 19 Jamison 0-1 Cola 04) Team Rebounds 2 Blocked shots: 5 3 Ndiave 2): Turnovers 8 (91a Wiltiams 3 Caner 2 Cola 2 Notate): Steals-5 (Notate 3 Jomison Cote) Technical loots None Utah 35 30 65 Carolina 22 31 59 A AG'S Cioughedy Andre Pateed DOI Fideedge Antawn Jamison The Associated Press national player of the year kissed the Alamodonte floor before he left the court Ile fin Carter 3-point percentage UTAH UNC 5-17 3-23 2940 130 Turnovers UTAH UNC 9 8 Blocked shots UTAH UNC 3 5 Miller Field-goal percentage UTAH UNC 24-54 27-69 444 391'Yo Free throws UTAH UNC 12-22 2-7 Rebounds UTAH UNC 34 40.