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NCAA - East
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 21, 2003
OKLAHOMA CITY -- When an Englishman makes a big shot, it's usually on the soccer field, not the courts of the NCAA Tournament.
Consider California freshman Richard Midgley a basketball pioneer.
Midgley, who grew up in Burgess Hill, England, converted a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left in overtime Thursday, sending the Golden Bears to a 76-74 win over North Carolina State in the first round of the East Region.
The Wolfpack took a 74-73 lead on Scooter Sherrill's 3-pointer with 12.8 seconds left before Midgley took a pass from Joe Shipp. With the calm of a soccer forward in a World Cup shootout, Midgley buried the shot.
"Guys used to pick on me (in England) because I played basketball, not soccer," said Midgley, who played two years of high school basketball in California. "But I picked the right sport, I guess."
Ninth-seeded North Carolina State (18-13) had a chance to win, but Sherrill missed from the top of the key as time expired.
California (22-8), a No. 8 seed, advanced to the second round for the second straight year.
Midgley could have been remembered for two potential winning layups that were blocked in the final minute of regulation, when he dared to drive the lane.
"If I'm wide open, I'm confident I'm going to hit my shot," said Midgley, who finished with 11 points. "I wasn't worried about what happened earlier in the game."
Neither was Shipp, who led California with 24 points but turned to Midgley when the game was on the line.
Shipp, who scored California's first four in overtime, drew two defenders with a move inside before kicking it out to Midgley.
"He'll get a lot of attention for all the points he scored but there's something about trusting your teammates," California coach Ben Braun said. "He certainly trusted the freshman."
"I tried to create and go to the basket," Shipp said. "I looked up and Richard was wide open and made the play."
OKLAHOMA 71, S.C. STATE 54: Hollis Price was bothered by an injury, Kevin Bookout was sick and the Sooners couldn't make their shots early.
No matter: Top-seeded Oklahoma still had more than enough for South Carolina State in Oklahoma City.
Price, the Big 12 player of the year, played 11 minutes because of a left groin injury and spent most of the afternoon with a hot compress on his upper thigh.
"I'm feeling better, although I wasn't as quick as I am usually," Price said. "I think if Coach would have had to play me more, then I would have had to play. But today he really didn't need me much."
Price, who got hurt in the closing seconds of the Big 12 tournament title game Sunday, has another day to rest before Oklahoma (25-6) plays California.
"Hopefully I could be 80 percent by Saturday," Price said. "I'm going to get a lot of treatment today and tomorrow and it's up in the air from there."
Trainer Alex Brown said he expects Price to be "a lot better" by Saturday.
Bookout, Oklahoma's best offensive threat inside, played nine minutes because of strep throat. He missed his first two shots, both from in close, as the Sooners missed their first eight.
"As soon as I took him out of the game he started throwing up," coach Kelvin Sampson said. "Of course, if he had missed another shot, I would have thrown up."
Price, the Big 12 player of the year who averaged 19.5 points, took one shot, hitting a 3-pointer. But De'Angelo Alexander scored 16, Blake Johnston a career-high 15 and Jabahri Brown 12.
Dustin Braddick scored 15 for South Carolina State (20-11).