College basketball

Double dribble: Men

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published February 12, 2005

CATCHING UP WITH PACIFIC

Seeing the Pacific Tigers in the AP poll for the first time in the program's history has prompted many folks, especially those of us in the Eastern time zone, to sheepishly ask: Who the heck are those guys?

But perhaps the better question would be: What took so long for the well-deserved national attention?

The No. 24 Tigers, who did appear in the United Press International's final poll waaaaaaaay back in 1967, are 19-2 and 13-0 in the Big West entering tonight's game at Utah State. They're riding a 15-game winning streak, tied for second nationally behind Illinois, and are 38-4 since Jan. 1, 2004. That's the best record in the nation in that period.

"It's been quite a run," said coach Bob Thomason, in his 17th season at his alma mater, a tiny school in Stockton, Calif., with a fall 2004 undergraduate enrollment of 3,459.

Give that resume to a team, any team, from the ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, Big East or Pac-10 and that school would be entrenched at the top of the polls and omnipresent on television.

But the Big West isn't one of those power conferences, and its top team, not just this season but every one since UNLV's halcyon days in the early 1990s, is rarely more than a speck on the national radar. That's life outside the major conferences, not that Thomason is disappointed or bothered by that.

"We're proud to be a mid major," Thomason said. "I can look at my budget and know we're a mid major, that's for sure. But that doesn't mean you can't play with people."

If you haven't gotten it yet, his team can.

After winning last year's league tournament title to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1997 (and sixth time in Pacific history), the Tigers, a No. 12 seed, upset No. 5 Providence in the opening round. They then gave Kansas a scare before losing 78-63 in the second.

"I think everybody thought we were a surprise last year, and they probably thought we wouldn't be able to do it again this year," said forward Christian Maraker, one of two Swedes on the team. "But we kept building from last year's success. For us, it's not a surprise. We've been working toward this goal."

Already this year, the Tigers have wins against Nevada, a top team in the WAC, and Santa Clara, a team that upset North Carolina in November. Its most eye-catching game was a hard-fought loss Dec. 4 at Kansas. The Jayhawks led by just six with 3:38 left before pulling away for an 81-70 win.

"We knew that would be one our toughest nonconference games when we scheduled Pacific," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "We have a lot of respect for Bob and his staff and how they do things. They have really good players."

They're experienced, too. Alongside Maraker, the team's leading scorer, Thomason starts four seniors: guards David Doubley and Marko Mihailovic, center Guillaume Yango and forward Jasko Korajkic. Mihailovic is a citizen, but he's from Yugoslavia, Yango is from Paris and Korajkic is from Sweden and a longtime friend of Maraker's.

"It's quite a mixture," Thomason said, joking that the team hears some "USA" chants on the road at times.

"There's a lot of leadership," added reserve forward Matt Kemper, one of seven seniors. "There's a lot of good relationships that carry over from off the court onto the court."

That helps them run their sets with textbook efficiency and selfless ball movement. That offsets some of their deficiencies, such as a lack of dizzying lateral quickness and raw athleticism to dominate defensively.

"I really think this team can get 10 points better between now and March," Thomason said. "I don't know if that'll happen, but I really think that we can and, if we do, I really think we have a chance to be a legit team."

Hey, coach. Your team is legit. It just took us a while to notice.

No. 20 Wisconsin at No. 1 Illinois, 1 p.m. today, Ch. 10. The Fighting Illini, major college basketball's last unbeaten team, faces perhaps the last hurdle to an undefeated regular season.

No. 7 Duke at Maryland, 9 p.m. today, ESPN. The Blue Devils, fresh off a 71-70 win against No. 2 North Carolina on Wednesday, look to avenge a loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium to the Terrapins on Jan. 26.

UConn junior guard Rashad Anderson, a former Lakeland Kathleen standout and the Huskies' leading scorer, was moved this week from the Windham Community Memorial Hospital to Hartford Hospital to take advantage of more state-of-the-art treatment resources.

Hartford has a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, the only one of its kind in New England, which coach Jim Calhoun said "hopefully and should assist the healing" of a skin abscess on his right leg.

Inside the chamber, air is compressed to 2-3 times greater than the pressure at sea level. Patients typically spend about two hours per treatment session.

"There's no way possible he'll be playing on Sunday (against North Carolina)," Calhoun said. "We have no idea when Rashad will be returning to play basketball. But our main concern is his health."

[Last modified February 12, 2005, 00:25:13]