Arnold hired as Hawaii’s new coach
March 21, 2010
HONOLULU (AP)—Former Southern California assistant Gib Arnold was introducedSaturday as Hawaii’s new men’s basketball coach.
“It’s not every day a dream can come true … I am thrilled, excited,humbled and grateful for the opportunity,” said Arnold, wearing a greenHawaiian shirt and leis.
Hawaii athletic director Jim Donovan announced the selection of Arnold. Hesucceeds Bob Nash, who was fired after going 34-56 in three seasons with theRainbow Warriors, including 10-20 in 2009-10.
“(I wanted someone) who was hungry, had extensive recruiting experience anda plan specific for UH,” Donovan said. “Also someone with a clear vision forthe future of our basketball program and could fit into Hawaii’s unique culture.That’s why Gib is here with us today.”
Donovan said seven finalists were interviewed among 50 applicants. The otherfavorite was believed to be Saint Mary’s associate head coach Kyle Smith.
“I’m well aware of what this team and university means to Hawaii,” saidArnold, who served as an assistant at USC for the past five seasons before beingfired this month by coach Kevin O’Neill.
Arnold helped recruit such former USC standouts DeMar DeRozan and TajGibson, both first-round selections in the NBA draft. He also was head coach atSouthern Idaho from 2003-05 and held assistant positions at Pepperdine,Vanderbilt, Loyola Marymount and Utah Valley State.
The 40-year-old Arnold played prep ball in Honolulu and is the son of formerHawaii coach Frank Arnold. The elder Arnold went 11-45 from 1985-87.
Arnold said the job has “special meaning,” because he’s following in hisfather’s footsteps. He is the program’s 19th coach. His father was the 16th,preceding longtime coach Riley Wallace.
He acknowledged, however, his father’s time was “a tough era.”
“As a son, I’ve got the opportunity to change that (and) build a programthat the people of Hawaii can be proud of,” he said.
Arnold told his father about the job last night.
“He cried. He was very excited and proud,” he said.
Center Bill Amis watched the news conference and said he was excited to playfor Arnold.
Arnold has huge challenges ahead of him. Hawaii’s isolation in the middle ofthe Pacific has always made recruiting difficult, the school is facing majorbudget problems and there’s only one returning starter. The team also finishedlast in the Western Athletic Conference and attendance has fallen dramaticallyhere, where football has long been king.
He said plans to capture all the top talent in Hawaii and build recruitingpipelines to the islands from the target markets on the mainland.
“When you call (recruits), they’re going to listen just because it isHawaii,” he said. “You need to understand which ones are doing it for thebeach and bikinis and which ones are doing it for the basketball.”
Arnold said he wants to build something special, but fans will need to havesome patience because “there’s going to be some growing pains.” But he’s eagerto get started and plans to hire his assistants soon and get started onrecruiting.
Arnold starred for two seasons at nearby Punahou School, where PresidentBarack Obama played several years earlier, and was on the 1979 statechampionship team.
When asked who was the most famous basketball player to come out of Punahou,Arnold said, “I would say Barack’s got me on that. But I think I did averagemore than him.”
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Dunn’s 26 lift Baylor over Old Dominion
March 21, 2010
NEW ORLEANS (AP)—With its first NCAA tournament victory in 60 years out of theway, Baylor has now earned an extended stay.
LaceDarius Dunn scored 26 points and the third-seeded Bears outlasted No. 11Old Dominion 76-68 on Saturday in the second round of the South Regional. Baylorsquandered a 14-point first-half lead but went on a late 8-1 run to pull away.
Now, the Bears (27-7) head back to their home state to play 10th-seededSaint Mary’s in Houston in the round of 16.
Baylor struggled to beat Sam Houston State in the first round for its firstNCAA tournament win since 1950, but the Bears arrived loose and confidentagainst Old Dominion, taking a double-digit lead amid a barrage of early3-pointers and alley-oops.
After the Monarchs (27-9) rallied to take the lead in the second half,Baylor received a big lift from 7-footer Josh Lomers, who tied a career highwith 14 points, 12 in the second half.
Old Dominion, which edged No. 6 seed Notre Dame 51-50 in the first round,was trying to become the first team from the Colonial Athletic Association toreach the round of 16 since George Mason’s Final Four run in 2006. The Bearswould have none of it, scoring the most points of any Monarchs opponent allseason.
Down 38-28, Old Dominion scored nine straight points to start the secondhalf. Frank Hassell dunked to make it a one-point game, then shot the OldDominion cheering section a quick glance before heading back on defense.
A little while later, Kent Bazemore’s two free throws put Old Dominion ahead49-47—its first lead since 1-0.
The Monarchs could never shake the Bears, though, and they couldn’t containLomers, the lumbering senior who always seemed to be around the basket with theball. With Baylor ahead 62-61, Old Dominion lost track of Lomers, and histhree-point play started the Bears’ final big run.
Dunn’s 3-pointer made it 68-62, and a reverse layup by Tweety Carter putBaylor ahead by eight.
Hassell had 15 points and eight rebounds for Old Dominion.
The Bears made their first four shots of the game—including 3-pointers byDunn and Carter and an alley-oop from Carter to Dunn—to take a 10-1 lead.Bazemore answered with an alley-oop dunk of his own at the other end, but thatdid little to stem the tide. Dunn made a 3-pointer and sneaked behind thedefense for another alley-oop from Carter for a 15-5 lead.
Baylor led by as many as 14, and yet another alley-oop—again Carter toDunn—made it 31-18. Carter capped the half with a floater that beat the buzzerto make it 38-28.
Carter finished with 12 points and eight assists.
USC assistant Arnold named Hawaii coach
March 21, 2010
HONOLULU (AP)—Former Southern California assistant coach Gib Arnold isHawaii’s new men’s basketball coach.
Hawaii athletic director Jim Donovan introduced Arnold at a news conferenceSaturday. Arnold succeeds Bob Nash, who was fired after going 34-56 in threeseasons with the Rainbow Warriors, including 10-20 in 2009-10.
Arnold says he’s “thrilled, excited, humbled and grateful,” for theopportunity.
The 40-year-old Arnold served as an assistant at USC for the past fiveseasons before being fired this month by coach Kevin O’Neill.
Arnold played prep ball in Honolulu and is the son of former Hawaii coachFrank Arnold. The elder Arnold went 11-45 from 1985-87.
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Pullen rallies Kansas St. past BYU
March 20, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)—BYU’s Jimmer Fredette got smacked in the face, whacked onthe head and then sent home from the NCAA tournament.
Jacob Pullen and Kansas State are moving on, thanks to a physical brand ofbasketball that was too much for even Fredette’s prison-toughened game.
Pullen scored 20 of his career-high 34 points in the first half to help digNo. 2 seed Kansas State out of an early 10-point hole, and the Wildcats turnedaway Fredette and BYU 84-72 on Saturday night in the second round of the NCAAtournament.
Pullen came alive with a scoring flurry shortly after he and Fredette gottangled up in transition in the first half, and K-State (28-7) wouldn’t trailagain in earning its first round of 16 appearance since 1988.
Pullen matched his career-best with seven 3-pointers and surpassed 30 pointsfor the third time in his career. Down the stretch, he helped seal the victorywith a 3-pointer and six free throws. Equally as important as his scoring washis physical defense against Fredette, who had scored 37 points to get theseventh-seeded Cougars (30-6) past Florida in double overtime in the firstround.
Kansas State did something it couldn’t even do with future No. 2 NBA draftpick Michael Beasley on the roster two years ago, moving on to face the winnerof a Sunday game between No. 3 seed Pittsburgh and sixth-seeded Xavier nextweekend in Salt Lake City.
Fredette finished with 21 points on 4-of-13 shooting, breaking his string ofthree straight games with at least 30 points.
Fredette put his stamp on March Madness with a combination of tricky scoopshots and clutch 3-pointers as he matched BYU’s NCAA tournament scoring recordin the opening game. It only added more intrigue that he had a unique nickname—created by his mother to distinguish him from her brother, who’s also namedJames—and his experience toughening up in pickup games against inmates atupstate New York prisons.
But then he ran into Pullen—literally.
The two got tangled up after Pullen knocked the ball away from Fredette withjust under 7 minutes left in the first half and Pullen remained on the court fora few moments grasping his left hip. He stayed in the game and hit a 3-pointerfrom the right wing that gave K-State its first lead with 4:21 left beforehalftime, completing a rally out of an early 10-0 hole.
Pullen then scored the Wildcats’ last 11 points of the first half, includingthe final eight points in their own 10-0 spurt—five on free throws and then a3-pointer that made it 38-29. The Wildcats wouldn’t trail again.
Fredette took shots to his face and head at least three times in the game,including a midcourt run-in with Denis Clemente that left him grabbing at hisnose to check for blood. He also got smacked in the face in transition after aK-State steal in the first half and had his head dinged under the basket justafter halftime.
BYU couldn’t take advantage after Pullen was whistled for his fourth foulfor being all over Fredette and had to take a seat with 6:20 left. The Cougarsscored the next five points to get within 66-59 but then Pullen came back in toprovide the finishing touches.
His 3-pointer with 3:22 remaining put Kansas State back up by 10 and hedidn’t leave any doubt by making all of his free throws down the stretch.
Pullen flashed a huge grin as he bounced the ball to an official then headedto the bench for the last time in the final minute. He waved to a crowd ofpurple-clad fans behind the Wildcats’ bench, then pointed to the sky after he’dslapped high-fives with his teammates.
Pullen’s 34 rally Kansas State past BYU
March 20, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)—Jacob Pullen got knocked to the floor, his hip aching andhis Kansas State team stuck in an early hole on the same floor where the NCAAtournament’s biggest upset had just taken place.
When he refused to stay down, so did his Wildcats.
Pullen scored 20 of his career-high 34 points in the first half to helprally No. 2 seed Kansas State back from an early 10-point deficit, and theWildcats turned away Jimmer Fredette and BYU 84-72 on Saturday night in thesecond round of the NCAA tournament.
“I just couldn’t sit there and watch us play,” Pullen said. “Unlesssomething was broken (or) I couldn’t walk, man, I would have gotten back up andtried to play.”
Behind Pullen’s standout effort on both ends of the floor, the Wildcats(28-7) are doing something they didn’t do even when No. 2 NBA draft pick MichaelBeasley was on the team two years ago—moving into the third round of theNCAAs.
K-State coach Frank Martin and his athletic team will face the winner ofSunday’s game between No. 3 seed Pittsburgh and sixth-seeded Xavier next weekendin Salt Lake City. The last time the school made it that far came in 1988, whenMitch Richmond was completing his college career before moving on to the NBA.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Pullen said. “It’s a childhood dream. I’vewatched basketball my whole life. I watched all of the NCAA tournaments since Iwas a kid, so for me to be able to be in this position, I thank Frank all thetime. It’s an amazing thing that he was able to give me the opportunity.
“My recruitment wasn’t crazy. I didn’t have a million schools knocking onmy door. I had some mid-major schools and then I had Frank walking through mydoor and telling me I could play.”
Martin, the Wildcats’ fire-breathing coach, recalled how Pullen had beenlargely responsible for the Wildcats’ early exit from the tournament inBeasley’s only year at K-State. He was charged with stopping Wisconsin’s TrevonHughes, who matched his career high with 25 points in a 72-55 rout.
But Pullen came back and accepted Martin’s discipline and structure, andcommitted to working hard to make the Wildcats better. Pullen called it his wayof paying Martin back for believing in him.
“You live for the moment where you get around guys like him,” Martin said.
Pullen came alive with a scoring flurry shortly after he and Fredette gottangled up in transition in the first half, scoring Kansas State’s final 11points of the first half to build 41-31 lead after the Wildcats had fallenbehind 10-0 to start the game. BYU never got closer than five in the secondhalf.
Pullen ended up surpassing 30 points for the third time in his career whilematching a career best with seven 3-pointers. Equally as important was hisphysical defense against Fredette, who had scored 37 points to get theseventh-seeded Cougars (30-6) past Florida in double overtime in the firstround.
Fredette finished with 21 points on 4-of-13 shooting, breaking his string ofthree straight games with at least 30 points.
Pullen said he had studied Fredette’s crossover move and his favoritetendencies, and he executed Martin’s plan to keep Fredette out of the middle ofthe floor.
“I just tried to remember all of the those little things to make sure thatI kept him at arm’s distance,” Pullen said. “He’s a good player, though. Hestill found ways to score the ball. I give him a lot of credit because he’s anamazing scorer. He finds a way to score the ball, regardless of the defensivepresence.”
When he wasn’t being hounded by Pullen, Fredette faced the kind of physicalplay he’d prepared for by playing a handful of games against inmates at upstateNew York prisons.
Fredette took shots to his face and head at least three times in the game,including a midcourt run-in with Denis Clemente that left him grabbing at hisnose to check for blood. Fredette also got smacked in the face in transitionafter a K-State steal in the first half and had his head dinged under the basketjust after halftime.
“They did a good job, were aggressive and sometimes that happens,” saidFredette, who added that he hadn’t made up his mind about whether to enter theNBA draft. “They had a good game plan, executed it pretty well and played gooddefense.”
Fredette put his stamp on March Madness with a combination of tricky scoopshots and clutch 3-pointers as he matched BYU’s NCAA tournament scoring recordin the opening game.
But then he ran into Pullen—literally.
The two got tangled up after Pullen knocked the ball away from Fredette withjust under 7 minutes left in the first half and Pullen remained on the court fora few moments grasping his left hip. He stayed in the game and hit a 3-pointerfrom the right wing that gave K-State its first lead with 4:21 left beforehalftime.
“They turned it up a notch and put a lot of pressure on us,” said JacksonEmery, who hit two 3-pointers in BYU’s opening 10-0 spurt. “It wasn’t apressure that we haven’t seen before … but it took us a little while torespond to their pressure and to just counter that. By the time we did that, wewere already in a hole.”
USC’s Arnold to be named Hawaii coach
March 20, 2010
HONOLULU (AP)—Two people familiar with the decision say former SouthernCalifornia assistant coach Gib Arnold will be introduced as Hawaii’s newbasketball coach.
The two people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymitybecause an announcement has yet to be made.
The school has scheduled a news conference for Saturday afternoon. Arnoldwould succeed Bob Nash, who was fired after going 34-56 in three seasons withthe Rainbow Warriors, including 10-20 in 2009-10.
The 40-year-old Arnold served as an assistant at USC for the past fiveseasons before being fired this month by coach Kevin O’Neill.
Arnold played prep ball in Honolulu and is the son of former Hawaii coachFrank Arnold. The elder Arnold went 11-45 from 1985 to ’87.
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No. 1 Kentucky routs Wake Forest 90-60
March 20, 2010
NEW ORLEANS (AP)—Darius Miller scored a career-high 20 points and top-seededKentucky made easy work of No. 9 Wake Forest during a 90-60 rout Saturday nightin the second round of the NCAA tournament.
It was the second blowout in two games for the Wildcats (34-2), who crushedEast Tennessee State 100-71 in their opener.
Miller scored 16 points in the first half to help the Wildcats build anearly double-digit lead that ballooned beyond 30 in the second half.
DeMarcus Cousins added 19 points for Kentucky, while John Wall scored 14 andEric Bledsoe 13.
Al-Farouq Aminu led Wake Forest (20-11) with 16 points.
Kentucky moves on to play the winner of Sunday’s game between Cornell andWisconsin in the East Regional semifinals next week at Syracuse, N.Y.
Texas Tech defeats Jacksonville in NIT
March 20, 2010
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP)—Brad Reese had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead TexasTech past Jacksonville 69-64 Saturday in the second round of the NationalInvitation Tournament.
The Red Raiders (19-15) overcame an 11-point first-half deficit and didn’ttake the lead until 14:51 remained, when a dunk and free throw by D’waylnRoberts made it 45-42.
Jacksonville tied it 62 on a basket by Ben Smith with 2:11 remaining, butthe Red Raiders got stops and made free throws to close out the Dolphins.
Red Raiders coach Pat Knight let his players have it during a first-halftimeout.
“I actually was calm at halftime,” he said. “They probably thought I wasgoing to go off on them. I have trust in these guys. That wasn’t us in the firsthalf. They’re better than this plus these guys get on each other.
Reese was 5 of 11 from the field, and 3 of 4 on 3-pointers. It was the firstdouble-double of his career.
Tech will play Mississippi in Oxford on Tuesday.
“They’ve put themselves in position to win five games more than lastyear,” he said. “There are so many positives already. Whatever happens inOxford is just going to be something added to it.”
Smith scored 17 points to lead the Dolphins (20-13).
He missed six of his seven 3-point attempts, but Jacksonville coach CliffWarren said those misses frequently led to second-chance points.
“He’s been great,” Warren said. “He’s led us on the court and off thecourt the entire year.”
Texas Tech shot poorly to open the game, missing its first nine shots tofall behind 10-0. The Dolphins went up by double digits twice in the first halfand the Red Raiders’ top three scorers—John Roberson, Mike Singletary and NickOkorie—combined to hit on only 3 of 10 from the field for eight points.
Jacksonville led 35-28 at halftime.
No. 11 Washington ousts No. 3 New Mexico
March 20, 2010
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP)—After a rocky regular season, Quincy Pondexter and hisWashington Huskies are rolling at exactly the right time.
Pondexter scored 18 points, Isaiah Thomas added 15 and 11th-seededWashington extended its incredible late-season surge all the way to the NCAAtournament’s regional semifinals with an 82-64 second-round victory over NewMexico on Saturday.
Matthew Bryan-Amaning had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Huskies(26-9), who have won nine straight, including the Pac-10 tournament and winsover two higher-seeded opponents in the East Regional at the Shark Tank.
Washington ran right past the third-seeded Lobos (30-5), who simply couldn’tkeep up with the breakneck offensive pace in their second loss in three games,falling behind by 23 points midway through the second half.
Their season seemed headed nowhere in late January, but the Huskies are theepitome of a talented team peaking at tournament time. Washington began theseason in the national rankings, but slumped badly before this stellar finish.
Washington advanced to next week’s regional semifinal in Syracuse, N.Y.,against the winner of second-seeded West Virginia’s meeting with Missouri onSunday. The Huskies are in the round of 16 for the third time since 2005.
Dairese Gary matched his career high with 25 points and Darington Hobson had11 points and nine rebounds for New Mexico, which had a 15-game winning streakand a No. 8 national ranking before losing the Mountain West tournament finallast weekend.
The Lobos have never won two straight games in the NCAA tournament, missingtheir chance to make the round of 16 for the first time since the field wasexpanded to 64 teams in 1985.
Washington ousted sixth-seeded Marquette in the first round on Pondexter’stiebreaking basket with 1.7 seconds left, while New Mexico barely survived afive-point victory over 14th-seeded Montana.
Despite the pregame plan of Lobos coach Steve Alford, who wore a bright redblazer on the sideline, New Mexico inexplicably played the first half at theuptempo pace favored by the athletic Huskies. Washington ran the Lobos off thecourt, jumping to a 12-point halftime lead in front of a friendly West Coastcrowd.
Already up 48-36, Washington scored nine straight points early in the secondhalf, capped by Pondexter’s layup in traffic with less than 14 minutes to play.While Pondexter grinned broadly and Thomas pounded his chest, Gary and Hobsonhunched over, breathless.
The game was seen by some fans as a referendum on the relative strengths ofthe Mountain West, which sent four teams to the NCAAs, and the Pac-10, whichsent just two. But it also matched two surging programs: New Mexico had won 16of its last 17 games, while Washington was 13-2 since late January.
The Huskies had a mid-teens national ranking to start the season, butdropped to 12-7 during a midseason swoon before a nonconference win over SeattleUniversity kick-started them again. Washington kept rolling right through thePac-10 tournament, capping three wins in three days with a thriller overregular-season champion California.
Hobson led the Lobos in points, rebounds and assists, but the junior hurthis left wrist and back on a first-round tumble to the court. He insisted hecould play through the pain, but appeared to be favoring the wrist in pregamewarmups—and he went 1 of in the first half, failing to score after a 3-pointerin the opening minutes.
New Mexico senior Roman Martinez was badly cut over his left eye with 12minutes left in a collision with a teammate. He returned in a different jersey,finishing with 10 points.
Tar Heels advance in NIT on late basket
March 20, 2010
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP)—Larry Drew II kept North Carolina alive in thepostseason.
He hit a shot over center Jarvis Varnado with 2 seconds to play to give theTar Heels a 76-74 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday in the second roundof the NIT.
The 6-foot-2 point guard drove to the basket and was able to get the shotover the 6-9 Varnado, who was second in the nation this season with 4.8 blocksper game.
“I saw Jarvis on my right, and I just wanted to give it a chance to goin,” Drew said. “It was all instinct. I just wanted to get a shot off.”
Will Graves made a contested 3-pointer—his fourth of the game—with 31seconds left to give the Tar Heels a 74-72, Barry Stewart tied it for theBulldogs (24-12) with two free throws, setting the stage for Drew’s game-winner.
“After they hit their free throws, I told Larry just to push it,” UNCcoach Roy Williams said.
He did just that, sending a high-arcing, left-hander over Varnado, theNCAA’s career blocks leader.
“He was coming at me, and I knew he was going to take the shot,” MSUcenter Jarvis Varnado said.” He made one hell of a layup, give him credit.”
North Carolina (18-16) will face either UAB or North Carolina State onTuesday, with a trip to New York and the semifinals on the line.
Mississippi State was only able to get off a halfcourt heave at the finalbuzzer.
Graves was 6 of 10 from the field, including 4 of 6 from beyond the arc.John Henson had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Tar Heels.
Stewart led the Bulldogs with 18 points while Dee Bost and Varnado added 14points each and Ravern Johnson had 13.
The Bulldogs opened the game on a 16-4 run, but UNC adjusted quickly ondefense and roared back to take a 20-19 lead on a layup by Leslie McDonald. TheTar Heels led 36-33 at the half.