NCAA Tournament opens Thursday
INDIANAPOLIS, March 20 (UPI) -- One of the most significant events on the American sporting landscape is scheduled to get underway Thursday.
Despite the conflict that has begun on the other side of the globe, plans are for the NCAA Basketball Tournament to start on time.
At 12:20 p.m. Thursday, Marquette and Holy Cross will tip off the first game of the opening round. The action will conclude on the evening of April 7, when the national champion will be determined under the roof of the Louisiana Superdome.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the men and women in uniform involved in the Iraqi conflict and elsewhere," NCAA President Myles Brand said in announcing the tournament would proceed as scheduled. "At the same time, we share the President's resolve to maintain normalcy under Liberty Shield."
No. 1 seeds Arizona and Oklahoma will be part of Thursday's action, which will include 16 games in Oklahoma City, Spokane and Salt Lake City in addition to Indianapolis. The first round concludes Friday with contests in Boston, Tampa, Birmingham and Nashville.
Arizona, which spent most of the regular season ranked No. 1 in the country, will meet Vermont in Salt Lake City. Arizona is the top seed in the West region for the fifth time.
The Wildcats had a 10-game winning streak snapped in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Conference tournament with a 96-89 overtime loss to UCLA. Arizona Coach Lute Olson made it clear he did not take that tournament seriously and his players lack of motivation showed.
Oklahoma, No. 1 in the East Region, will be playing only a few miles from its own campus when it takes on South Carolina State.
The Sooners (24-6) have four starters back from last year's squad that reached the Final Four before a loss to Indiana. Hollis Price, the Big 12 Player of the Year, leads the way with his 19.5 scoring average.
Price scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half on Sunday as Oklahoma survived a dismal stretch to claim its third straight Big 12 championship with a 49-47 victory over Missouri. The Sooners did not have a bucket over the final 15 minutes and nearly blew a 22-point lead before holding on.
Arizona and Oklahoma will be trying to maintain the NCAA tradition of perfection for No. 1 seeds. No team seeded at the top of its region has ever lost to a 16th-seeded club.
Nets again struggle late
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., March 20 (UPI) -- Fourth-quarter struggles again cost the New Jersey Nets Wednesday night.
The Nets were knocked out of first place in the Atlantic Division as they suffered a 104-85 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, who got a big final period from rookie Marcus Haislip.
In their most recent home game on Sunday, the Nets were held without a basket for the final 8:56 in a 92-87 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. That loss cut the Nets' lead in the division to a half game over the Sixers.
The Nets rebounded from the loss with Tuesday's win at Boston, in which they managed just nine points in the fourth quarter. They again were horrendous in the final period in this one as the Bucks picked up an important win.
Haislip scored six points in a 15-2 run to start the fourth quarter that gave Milwaukee a commanding 88-75 lead with 7:19 remaining.
The Nets missed their first six shots of the quarter and were not able to cut the deficit under double digits after the Bucks' initial surge. They also committed seven of their 27 turnovers in the fourth quarter as they fell percentage points behind the 76ers.
Other NBA results: Indiana 102, Boston 72; Orlando 109, Miami 93; Toronto 87, Atlanta 86; Memphis 128, Cleveland 101; New Orleans 101, New York 96; Utah 99, Phoenix 86.
Dallas ends losing streak
ATLANTA, March 20 (UPI) -- Mike Modano scored 2:24 into overtime Wednesday night as the Dallas Stars downed the Atlanta Thrashers, 5-4.
The Stars ended a three-game losing streak.
Modano redirected defenseman Philippe Boucher's diagonal feed past goaltender Pasi Nurminen from under the left hashmark for his first goal in seven games and 28th of the season.
Scott Young, defenseman Stephane Robidas and Jere Lehtinen scored in the third period for the Stars, who rallied from a two-goal deficit before allowing Dany Heatley's equalizer with 36 seconds left in regulation.
Young scored a pair of power-play goals for the Stars, who moved within a point of Detroit for the best record in the Western Conference.
Heatley had a pair of assists for Atlanta, which escaped the basement in the NHL standings.
Other NHL results: New York Rangers 3, Buffalo 0; Minnesota 3, Florida 1; Anaheim 4, Chicago 3. San Jose's game at Colorado was postponed until Thursday because of the area's major snowstorm.
Knight wins in NIT
LUBBOCK, Texas, March 20 (UPI) -- Andre Emmett scored 18 points Wednesday night as Texas Tech defeated Nevada, 66-54, in the first round of the NIT.
After trailing by nine at the intermission, the Wolf Pack (18-14) closed to within 52-49 on Jerry Petty's three-pointer with 7:35 remaining. But Emmett's jumper ignited an 11-0 spurt for Texas Tech (19-13) that broke open the game.
The Red Raiders held Nevada scoreless for more than three minutes, building a 64-49 cushion on Kasib Powell's driving layup with 4:01 remaining. Powell scored 15 points.
It was the first postseason win for Texas Tech Coach Bob Knight since he was fired at Indiana two years ago.
Last season, the Red Raiders were upset by Southern Illinois in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Knight's first year in Lubbock. This season, an upset of Texas in the Big 12 Conference tournament was not enough to get the Red Raiders an at-large berth.
Texas Tech hosted its first NIT game since 1979, when the Red Raiders lost to Knight's Hoosiers. Tech will face San Diego State or Santa Barbara in the second round.
Other NIT results: Western Michigan 63, Illinois-Chicago 62; College of Charleston 71, Kent St. 66; Providence 67, Richmond 49; Iowa St. 76, Wichita St. 65; Georgia Tech 72, Ohio St. 58; Virginia 89, Brown 73; Rhode Island 61, Seton Hall 60; St. John's 62, Boston U. 57; Alabama-Birmingham 82, Louisiana-Lafayette 80; Minnesota 62, St. Louis 52.
Bruins fire head coach
BOSTON, March 20 (UPI) -- For the second time in four years, Robbie Ftorek has been fired near the end of the regular season.
In a move that was somewhat surprising since the Boston Bruins appear headed to the playoffs, General Manager Mike O'Connell dismissed Ftorek as coach Wednesday and will take over the team on an interim basis.
Ftorek's job appeared to be on the line a few weeks ago when the Bruins suffered through a nine-game winless streak. Boston bounced back with five wins in its last eight games (5-2-1) and is in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the New York Islanders and eight points ahead of ninth-place Montreal and the New York Rangers.
But that was not good enough for O'Connell, who decided to make a change after the Bruins opened a three-game road trip with a 2-1 loss at Phoenix on Tuesday.
"This change is being made at this time because of this team's record over our past 46 games and the fact that, fairly or unfairly, the coach is judged on the record," said O'Connell. "This team's record over that span is 14-24-5-3 and I have not seen any indication that our direction is changing."
Ftorek was fired as coach of the New Jersey Devils with eight games to go in the 1999-00 season. New Jersey went on to win the Stanley Cup under Larry Robinson.
Jets let Coles go to Redskins
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., March 20 (UPI) -- The New York Jets deemed Laveraneus Coles too expensive on Wednesday.
They failed to match the Washington Redskins offer sheet to the receiver, who had emerged as the favorite target for quarterback Chad Pennington.
A restricted free agent, Coles last week agreed to a seven-year, $35 million offer sheet that includes a $13 million signing bonus.
By failing to match the offer after making a qualifying offer of $1.318 million last month, the Jets will receive the Redskins' first-round pick, 13th overall, in next month's draft. New York already has the 22nd pick.
Coles had a breakout season in 2002, catching 89 passes for 1,264 yards and five touchdowns.
The Jets last week decided to match the Redskins' five-year, $8 million offer sheet to kick returner Chad Morton. The Redskins already have signed starting guard Randy Thomas and kicker John Hall away from the Jets as free agents.
Panthers sign Kevin Dyson
CHARLOTTE, March 20 (UPI) -- The Carolina Panthers have upgraded their receiving corps for the second time in less than a week.
The Panthers announced Wednesday they had signed free agent Kevin Dyson, who has spent his entire career with the Tennessee Titans but is best known for being tackled inches shy of the goal line in Super Bowl XXXIV.
Contract terms were not disclosed.
The Panthers, who ranked 30th in the NFL in passing last season, signed veteran Ricky Proehl away from the St. Louis Rams on Sunday.
The 27-year-old Dyson caught 41 passes for 460 yards and four touchdowns last season.
Yankees, Padres work trade
PEORIA, Ariz., March 20 (UPI) -- The New York Yankees took a step toward clearing up their crowded outfield and filled a hole for the San Diego Padres Wednesday.
The Yankees sent left fielder Rondell White to the San Diego Padres for outfielder Bubba Trammell and minor league lefthander Mark Phillips.
White has been mentioned in trade rumors since December, when the Yankees signed Japanese star outfielder Hideki Matsui. Matsui is expected to play in left field alongside center fielder Bernie Williams and right fielder Raul Mondesi.
The Padres have been looking for an outfielder to replace Phil Nevin, who had shoulder surgery and is expected to miss the season.
White has a .288 average with 134 home runs and 503 RBI in 982 career games with the Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs and Yankees. White made $4.5 million last season and is signed through 2003.
Trammell had career highs of 25 homers and 92 RBI in his first season with San Diego in 2001, but last year had just 17 and 56 with a .243 batting average. He has two years left on his contract worth $7.5 million.
Woods, Els face off at Bay Hill
ORLANDO, March 20 (UPI) -- Tiger Woods and Ernie Els will finally play in the same stroke-play tournament beginning Thursday at the Bay Hill Invitational.
While rehabilitating his surgically repaired left knee, Woods watched on TV as Els began the year by winning the first two events on the PGA Tour before taking his act overseas and adding two more victories in his next three events.
The only event in which Woods and Els were both entered this season was the Match Play Championship. Woods won it and Els lost in the first round.
At last, Els will get a chance to show whether he really has closed the gap on the world No. 1.
"I knew deep down in my heart that I could not compete against him at that moment," Woods said. "l wasn't physically ready, but competitively, I wanted to compete. I think (his performances) got everyone's attention.
"I've seen him hit the ball like this before, but I have not seen him roll the ball as consistently (on the greens) day in and day out as he has been."
Woods is seeking to become the first golfer since 1930 to win the same PGA Tour event four times in a row.
