Confident Utes look to end streak
Tubby Smith doesn’t believe Kentucky’s recent success against Utah in the NCAA Tournament has any bearing on the Wildcats’ next matchup with the Utes.
Kentucky is 5-0 against the Utes in the tournament since 1993, a streak of dominance that had one local newspaper referring to Utah as the Wildcats’ “perennial NCAA punching bag.” Second-seeded Kentucky (27-5) plays sixth-seeded Utah (29-5) in a regional semifinal Friday night in Austin, Texas.
But Smith said Tuesday that Utah’s current team, led by All-American center Andrew Bogut, is better than the Utes’ 1998 squad that lost to Kentucky in the national championship game.
“They had a lot of talented players in 1998,” Smith said, rattling off names such as Andre Miller and Michael Doleac. “But this team, because of what they’ve been able to accomplish, suggests it is a balanced team.”
The Utes upset third-seeded Oklahoma 67-58 in the second round to earn another shot at Kentucky.
“We were not predicted to win the last two games,” Bogut said. “The 20 people on our staff knew we’d beat Oklahoma. We believe we can beat Kentucky. As long as the 20 people on our staff believe it, we’ll be fine.”
N.C. State back in Sweet 16
Reaching the Sweet 16 is nothing new for Duke and North Carolina, two programs that have a total of six national championships between them. North Carolina State? That’s a different story.
Hobbled by various injuries during the regular season, the Wolfpack stumbled to a seventh-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference and needed a pair of victories in the conference tournament just to secure an at-large bid. N.C. State survived two close games in Worcester, Mass., to reach the regional semifinals for the first time since 1989. That’s also the last time the three teams from the Triangle region of the state made it that far – until now.
The Blue Devils are there for the eighth straight year and the Tar Heels snapped a five-year drought with two easy victories in Charlotte, N.C. Three schools, separated by about 30 miles, all two games away from a trip to the Final Four.
Villanueva may jump to NBA
Connecticut sophomore Charlie Villanueva, who led the Huskies to an unprecedented ninth regular-season Big East title, is considering a jump to the NBA but has not made a final decision, a team official said.
“Certainly he has not told Coach (Jim) Calhoun he will not be coming back,” team spokesman Kyle Muncy said.
Villanueva averaged 13.6 points and 8.3 rebounds a game, emerging as the Huskies’ leading scorer.
Davis will remain Hoosiers coach
Mike Davis will remain Indiana’s basketball coach, resolving doubts that persisted throughout the Hoosiers’ disappointing season.
A written statement from athletic director Rick Greenspan included a warning that IU’s 29-29 record over the past two seasons needs to improve. The Hoosiers went 15-14 this season, which ended with a 67-60 loss to Vanderbilt in the first round of the NIT.