SPOKANE, Wash. -- With the season done, there's a job
waiting for Kevin Durant back on campus: stat keeper.
Durant, the freshman considered the favorite for national player
of the year honors, was hoping Texas' season would continue Sunday
against Southern California, delaying all the questions about his
future and whether the NBA would be his next stop.
Instead, the fifth-seeded Trojans ran away from the No. 4-seed
Longhorns for an 87-68 win in the East Regional, despite 30 points
by Durant. That gave him 903 for the season, the second-highest
freshman total in NCAA history, trailing the 965 LSU's Chris
Jackson scored in 1989.
So it's back to school for Durant, who pushed aside the NBA
question after the game. Instead, he's headed back to take stats
for an intramural team at Texas that some of the basketball team
managers play for.
"I think they have a game coming up I've got to get back for,"
Durant said. "I've got to go back to that. They do it for us, so
I've got to do it for them."
As for his immediate on-court future, Durant said he'll stay off
the court for a couple of days, but that's it, and watch friends
play on in the tournament.
There is no timetable about an NBA decision for the 6-foot-9
forward.
"I've never been here before so I don't know what to tell you
guys," he said. "Whenever I know, you'll know. I'm not trying to
think about that right now."
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^DREAM'S OVER:@ Winthrop coach Gregg Marshall still remembers a
time when his school was regularly mistaken for Wingate, a
top-level Division II program in the Charlotte, N.C., area.
With an NCAA tournament win finally under the Eagles' belt,
that's unlikely to happen again.
But Winthrop's dream season, full of firsts for the school,
ended Sunday under a barrage of 3-pointers and stifling defense by
Oregon. The third-seeded Ducks frustrated Winthrop's stars, and
buried the Eagles with 11 3-pointers in Oregon's 75-61 second-round
win.
Winthrop's departure leaves the tournament devoid of a
double-digit seed for the first time since 1995 heading into the
second week. The 11th-seeded Eagles (29-5) were the last true
"underdog" left.
"When this magic carpet ride comes to an end, it ends rather
abruptly and it's not an easy thing to accept. You certainly don't
have to like it," Marshall said. "It doesn't take away from the
year we had and what these guys to my right and everyone in the
locker room has established."
The Eagles' level of success was set in previous seasons as
Marshall developed Winthrop into a Big South Conference power and
an NCAA tournament participant seven times in the last nine
seasons.
But that bar was elevated this season when the Eagles received
their first AP Top 25 ranking, and went into the tournament as
something other than a bottom 14, 15 or 16 seed.
The elevated step became a giant leap with the Eagles'
first-round win over sixth-seeded Notre Dame. But there is a
drawback to all the new notoriety.
"The flip side of that is having to wear that into battle.
You're not gonna sneak up on Notre Dame or Oregon," Marshall said.
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^THE BIG MISS:@ Just one unusual miss on an uncontested 4-foot
shot had Nick Fazekas wondering what might have been.
A short pull-up in transition isn't the type of shot the Nevada
star would normally clank off the rim -- not with five minutes left
and Nevada in position to tie the game.
Missing the shot not only allowed Memphis to cling to its 64-62
lead, but also caused a scramble for the rebound that ended when
the Wolf Pack's other leading scorer, Marcelus Kemp, was called for
his fourth foul.
"It's a shot I make nine out of 10 times and that could have
changed the whole game," Fazekas said. "Then Marcelus got called
for the foul and that changed the momentum because they went down
and shot two free throws. If my shot would have (gone in) there's
no telling what could have happened."
Instead, Memphis pulled away and the seemingly deflated Wolf
Pack failed to score again in a 78-62 loss that was a lot closer
than the final score indicated.
Coach Mark Fox said he hoped the senior wouldn't be too hard on
himself, saying Fazekas "has left a legacy that will be hard to
measure up against. He knows the impact he has made on me as a
person and our community and our team. One miss will not define
what he has done."
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^SHARPSHOOTING SALUKIS:@ Depending on how you look at it,
Virginia Tech played a pretty good defensive game against Southern
Illinois in a West Regional second-round matchup in Columbus.
The Hokies outscored the Salukis 34-14 inside the 3-point arc.
Toss in a five-point differential at the line and Virginia Tech
still had a 42-27 scoring edge.
But the Salukis went wild on 3-pointers, matching their season
high with 12, in 21 attempts. They shot 57 percent outside the arc,
and 32 percent inside it. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech was just 2-of-13
on 3-pointers.
"If you look at the statistics, they make seven 2-point
shots," Hokies coach Seth Greenberg said. "They had to come into
the game thinking they would have to make more than that to win the
game."
The long-distance accuracy helped Southern Illinois to a
lopsided 63-48 win.
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^RETURN OF TALL FIRS?:@ Oregon won the first NCAA basketball
championship in 1939 with a team known as the Tall Firs. That team
posted a 29-5 record, while this year's edition -- the Ducks -- is
28-7 and posted the third-most wins in program history.
Asked the significance of a 29th victory if the Ducks beat UNLV,
coach Ernie Kent did not hesitate.
"Admiral John Dick is still alive," Kent said.
Dick was the leading scorer with 16 points when the Tall Firs
beat Ohio State 46-33 for that first NCAA title. Dick, a retired
Navy rear admiral, is still an Oregon season ticket holder and has
accompanied the team to Spokane for the first two games of the
NCAAs.
"I went to school at Oregon," Kent said. "I'm a Duck at heart
and will always be a Duck and the admiral is the same way."
The only Oregon team to win 30 games was the 1944-45 team that
also went to the NCAAs.
Oregon has been to a total of nine NCAA tournaments, and is 11-7
all-time in the tournament. It advanced to the round of eight in
2002 under Kent before falling to Kansas. The Ducks also went to
the tournament in 2003, 2000, 1995, 1961 and 1960.
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^BRUISED REBEL:@ UNLV guard Wink Adams went up for the tip-in
and went down for the count. Or so it seemed.
Adams expects to be ready for UNLV's next game after bruising
his tailbone midway through the second half of Sunday's 74-68
victory over No. 2 seed Wisconsin in the second round of the
Midwest Regional.
UNLV was ahead by two when Adams got bumped by Wisconsin's Greg
Stiemsma as he tried to tip in a missed jumper by the Runnin'
Rebels' Joe Darger. Adams landed on his back with 11:23 left and
stayed face-down for a couple minutes, before sitting up and
walking gingerly off the court.
"I will be able to play," said Adams, who had nine points. "I
just need to ice it up and let it rest for a while, and hopefully,
it will be all right. I'm feeling good right now since we got the
victory."
Adams checked back in with 8:15 left and missed a shot about
1:50 later. He left with 5:58 remaining.
"We ran a play to him right away when he went back in just to
see if he was going to be able to go, and he couldn't," coach Lon
Kruger said. "He got to the paint, and normally, he'd be pretty
explosive at that point. He just was pretty soft going up there."
Adams wasn't the only bruised Rebel.
Wendell White, who bruised his ribs late in Friday's victory
over Georgia Tech, hit his jaw on Wisconsin's Michael Flowers on
Sunday.
"I told Kevin (Kruger) my jaw is hurting really bad," White
said. "He said, `You got three more minutes and you're good to go.
So tough it out.' So that's what I did."