Associated Press
The college basketball notebook …
NEW YORK ó Gregg Marshall has always believed that his team belonged in the NCAA tournament. He sees two teams in the Final Four that Wichita State nearly beat, then considers how well the Shockers have played to reach the NIT championship game.
ěThese kids were very disappointed, we talked about this ad nauseam, they wanted to go to the NCAA tournament,î Marshall said Tuesday night, shortly after his Shockers blitzed Washington State 77-45 in the NIT semifinals. ěWe came here, and here we are playing for a title.î
Garrett Stutz had a career-high 24 points with 11 rebounds, Toure Murry added 13 points and the Shockers (28-8) surpassed the 1954 team for the most wins in school history in impressive fashion. Theyíll try to win one more against Alabama on Thursday night.
Alabama 62, Colorado 61
NEW YORK ó JaMychal Green scored 22 points, Trevor Releford scored the go-ahead basket in the closing seconds, and top-seeded Alabama withstood a late rally to beat Colorado 62-61 in the NIT semifinals Tuesday night.
Releford finished with 13 points for the Crimson Tide (25-11).
RICE TO MONMOUTH
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ó Monmouth hired Vanderbilt assistant King Rice as its basketball coach Tuesday, looking to put the basketball program on course after five straight losing seasons.
He replaces Dave Calloway, who resigned under pressure. The Northeast Conference school plans to introduce Rice at a news conference Wednesday.
Rice, once a point guard who played for Dean Smith at North Carolina, has 13 seasons of college coaching experience, including 10 years working for current Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings.
Rice and Stallings were together for five seasons at Illinois State (1994-98) and the last five at Vanderbilt, which made the NCAA tournament four of the last five seasons.
“He brought a tremendous amount of energy, liveliness, hard work, and dedication to his position here at Vanderbilt, and I believe those attributes will make him a very successful head coach at Monmouth,” Stallings said.
The 42-year-old Rice also worked at Providence and Oregon. He was the head coach of the Bahamas national team from 2001-04.
Rice played at North Carolina from 1988-91, helping the Tar Heels to a spot in the 1991 Final Four. He ranks third in assists on the school’s career list.
PITINO UPDATE
LOUISVILLE, Ky. ó The woman convicted of attempting to extort money from University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino has been ordered to report to prison in Florida next week.
James Faller of U.S. Justice Watch, which is part of Karen Cunagin Sypher’s legal team, said in an email Tuesday that Sypher is to report April 6 to the federal prison at Marianna, Fla.
Sypher was sentenced in February to more than seven years in prison for extortion, lying to the FBI and retaliation against a witness. Prosecutors said she sought millions in cash, cars and a house from Pitino in 2009 to stay quiet about a tryst in a restaurant.
GOUDELOCK
CHARLESTON, S.C. ó College of Charleston guard Andrew Goudelock has been picked for an all-star game and 3-point shootout as part of Final Four weekend in Houston.