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GREENSBORO— Quin Snyder knew exactly what his Missouri Tigers were in for Saturday. After all, he helped bring Shane Battier and Jason Williams to Duke not so long ago.
Battier and Williams combined to score 58 of their team’s points in the Blue Devils’ 94-81 victory over Missouri in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. With the win, Duke improved to 31-4 and moved on to a Sweet 16 matchup against UCLA on Thursday in Philadelphia .
“We are two of the tougher matchups in college basketball,”said Battier, who scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. “On any given night we’re capable of carrying this team. Tonight, we both carried the team on the offensive end.”
Williams, who finished 11-for-20 from the field for 31 points, teamed with Battier to halt a late Missouri run. Star Tiger Kareem Rush’s 3-pointer with 10:42 to play pulled his eighth-seeded squad within one point of the No. 1 Blue Devils.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, sensing a turning point in the game, fretted over whether to call a timeout. He decided to let his star duo stem the tide.
“Times when I have normally called a timeout, I’ve not called one,”Krzyzewski said. “When it got to 63-62, the insecure part of me said to call one and the one that believed in my team said, ‘Shut up and just let them play.’ Thank goodness that part won.”
Battier and Williams combined for the next nine Duke points. Williams darted ahead of the pack for a fast-break layup and Battier drained three straight shots, including a 3 that stretched the lead back to 72-64.
“They made the plays when it counted,”said Rush, who led the Tigers with 29 points. “They put a lot of pressure on us to make plays. If you go out and miss three or four shots in a row, you’re in a lot of trouble.”
Missouri’s woes mounted quickly. Duke maintained its eight-point lead with seven minutes to play when Williams took over. During the Devils’ 15-5 run over the following four minutes, Williams scored twice and assisted on three other easy scores to put the game away.
He finished with nine assists, hitting Chris Duhon and Battier for layups and Nate James for a driving dunk that increased the margin to 91-73.
“I think they were really worried about me scoring a lot,”Williams said. “My ability to get into the paint was big and I found a lot of open people and they hit big shots.”
Williams drained 5-of-12 attempts from the 3-point line, scoring 30 or more points for the fifth time this season .
“After this year you sort of lose track of his great games,”Battier said. “You just come to expect greatness from him whenever he steps on the court.”
Snyder, who played and coach under Krzyzewski during 10 seasons in Durham, expected great things from Battier and Williams — he recruited both of them. With his in-depth knowledge of the Devils, he tried to keep Missouri (20-13) in the game by using a small lineup, knowing Duke was playing its sixth game without injured center Carlos Boozer.
The Tigers held early leads of 16-10 and 19-16 thanks to 10 early points from junior guard Clarence Gilbert. Duke’s defense clamped down, though, as Duhon stole three balls to spark a 14-0 surge. Battier, normally a 6-foot-8 small forward, powered into the post to play the center position.
He connected once, then drew three fouls banging with Missouri down low. He made the Tigers pay for the fouls, draining 12-of-13 free throws for the game.
“It was a reaction to Coach Snyder’s defense. He went really small,”Battier said. “We’re a very capable team when I play the 5. It worked good for us.”
Snyder noticed.
“I had a weird mixture of admiration and frustration to see him make those plays,”said the second-year Mizzou coach. “I do admire him, but at the same time I thought those plays were winning the game. Give Shane credit.”
Rush knocked down a pair of 3-pointers before halftime to pull the Tigers within 43-37. He drained three more silky-smooth bombs in the opening minutes of the second half to keep his team in striking distance before the final run.
“There were a lot of points where Duke could’ve broken us, but our kids responded,”Snyder said. “When (Duke) went small and spread the floor, Jason and Shane took the game over.”
Which is exactly what the national Player of the Year candidates have done all season.
“They’re great people,”Krzyzewski said. “Most of the problems you have with a team comes from insecurity and jealousy. They know they’re not bigger than the program. They co-exist on high levels.”
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NOTES: Mike Dunleavy made a big impact for Duke with 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and nine rebounds. … Duhon finished with seven points and three steals. … James also played well off the bench, hitting 4-of-5 shots for eight points. … Duke scorched the nets for 62-percent field-goal percentage in the second half. For the game, the Devils shot 54.2 percent.
Penn State’s Titus Ivory wants to be ‘The Man’ against Heels
by mike london
NEW ORLEANS — About 15 years ago, a basketball player named Richard Morgan grew up not too far north of Chapel Hill. His dream was to one day play for the UNC Tar Heels.
Young Morgan painted the walls of his room Carolina blue and since he was a star, he waited expectantly for the Tar Heels to recruit him.
They never did, because Dean Smith was quite certain that another Virginia boy, a kid named Kevin Madden, was better. Madden played the same position as Morgan (small forward) and was Morgan’s biggest rival.
Madden received a scholarship offer from UNC. Morgan settled for the University of Virginia.
Madden turned out to be pretty good, but for the next four years, every time the Cavaliers and Tar Heels got together, Morgan would just go crazy, taking out his anger and anguish on Madden and the school that had gone from being his revered ideal to his worst enemy.
This is all worth mentioning, because UNC will have another Richard Morgan on its hands this afternoon when it takes on Penn State in the second round of the NCAA South Regional at the Superdome.
This latter-day Morgan is Penn State guard Titus Ivory, who has been dreaming of this day since he left Huntersville’s North Mecklenburg High School in 1995.
Ivory is not Penn State’s best player, although he averages 15 ppg and leads the Nittany Lions in assists and steals. He’s probably their third best, after high-scoring guard Joe Crispin and big man Gyasi (pronounced Jossi) Cline-Heard.
But today, Ivory will try very, very hard to be The Man.
Ivory came home for Christmas break just to watch UNC play UMass in Charlotte. “I was wishin’ I could play for UMass that night,” said Ivory. “Just so I could beat them — beat them bad.”
Ivory, 6-foot-4, was a star for legendary coach Leroy Holden at North Meck, but passed well under the Tar Heels’ radar screen, which picks up only the nation’s elite.
“Wake Forest and Clemson sent me letters and stuff,” said Ivory. “UNC never even gave me a look. It hurt. Like anyone from that state, that’s where I wanted to go. I knew I could play there, but you don’t go where you’re not wanted.”
Ivory wound up on an odyssey that took him to Phillips Academy, a Massachusetts prep school, and then to Penn State to play for N.C. native Jerry Dunn. Ivory red-shirted his first year and is now a 24-year-old graduate student, majoring in Kinesiology.
“I went to Phillips because my mom didn’t think I was ready for college even though I had a 3.8 GPA in high school,” said Ivory. “I was recruited by most of the Big Ten after I left Phillips, but still no UNC. That’s why I’ve got a point to prove on Sunday. This game is a dream come true for me. With the help of my teammates, I’m gonna show Carolina what they missed.
“I think half my graduating class at North Meck went on to Carolina. This will be something to talk about when we have a class reunion.”
Sounds like the second-seeded Tar Heels (26-6) will have a fight on their hands with the Lions (20-11).
UNC coach Matt Doherty acknowledges that Ivory is a good player, but he’s more concerned with Cline-Heard and Crispin. Cline-Heard, son of former NBA player Gar Heard, is a mobile big man, who averages 17 ppg, while Crispin throws in 19 ppg and is one of the best 3-point shooters in the country. He scored 47 this year against Indiana and is very good with the ball.
Crispin’s little brother, Jon, can also shoot.
The Crispin clan bombed in 13 3-pointers in an upset of Kentucky early this season. The seventh-seeded Lions also beat No. 1 seeds Illinois and Michigan State. They’re unpredictable, though, as they also lost to N.C. State.
“They concern us,” said Doherty. “Maybe they don’t match up in size, but they shoot the ball as few teams can shoot the ball.”
Still, the Tar Heels are big favorites. They look to be over whatever it was that was bothering them late in the regular season and they have huge size and depth advantages on Penn State. And the Lions are no quicker than the Tar Heels.
“But they’re a tough team,” said Doherty, who will again start Julius Peppers in place of wounded Kris Lang. “They beat Kentucky and Michigan State and those teams beat us.”
In terms of tradition, the teams are polar opposites. The Heels are Final Four perennials. Penn State’s win over Providence on Friday was its second in NCAA tourney play in the last 45 years.
“That’s true,” said Cline-Heard. “We realize no one expects us to win, but that’s when we’re at our most dangerous.”
One weird factor is also in Penn State’s favor. It’s Sunday and the Tar Heels have been beaten on each of the past four Sundays.
“We prefer to look at the superstition that UNC is 5-0 in this building,” said Tar Heel guard Joseph Forte.
Doherty, who wore St. Patrick day beads (he’s Irish) to his press conference and said he’d just spit in the Mississippi River (his mentor Roy Williams told him to) for luck, sounds as confident as Forte.
“I like what I see in my guy’s eyes right now,” he said. “I see confidence that wasn’t there not long ago.”
The Heels will win this game and advance to Atlanta for the regional semifinals. At least they will, if Ivory doesn’t just go crazy.
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