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College basketball: March Madness 2005
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Cards star finally misses free throw
By wire services
Published March 21, 2005
Louisville forward Francisco Garcia 's streak of made free throws ended in the first half Sunday against Georgia Tech.
Garcia had gone 19 games without missing, making 40 in a row dating to Feb.12, the end of the first half in a victory over USF.
He stepped to the line for the second time Sunday and missed with 11:46 to go. He finished 8-of-10.
The junior from the Bronx scored 18 of his 21 in the first half, blocked four shots, had two assists and a rebound while playing all 40 minutes.
"I feel like I'm on top of my game right now," Garcia said.
ROUGHING IT: Nick Mathews apologized Sunday if he didn't smell good.
The Villanova senior hadn't showered since leaving Philadelphia on Thursday night, and neither had his seven classmates who have been living in a small RV.
They bought their tickets online a few hours after the brackets were announced, arrived in Nashville on Friday morning and parked behind the Gaylord Entertainment Center.
They've been tailgating ever since, breaking only for Friday's victory over New Mexico, a trip through the nearby bars and Sunday's victory over Florida.
The parking hasn't been cheap. The RV takes up eight spots at $10 per space per day. But it includes lawn chairs, a grill and a beer bar.
"It's just been the best weekend ever," Mathews said.
HOMAN'S BIG DAY: The Big 12's big men prepared Iowa State's Jared Homan for his matchup against North Carolina's Sean May and Marvin Williams.
The 6-foot-10 senior had 19 points and a career-high 20 rebounds in a 92-65 loss. But May and Williams combined for 44 points and 32 rebounds.
"I see good post players every day in the Big 12," Homan said. "So it was just another day."
RENT A BAND: Bucknell almost didn't have a band to play its fight song.
With the school on spring break, Bucknell's regular band couldn't be rounded up to make the trip to Oklahoma City.
The Northern Iowa band filled in during the first round. But its team lost, so it went home, forcing Bucknell officials to scramble on Saturday - and into Sunday.
Athletic director John Hardt joked Saturday that he was going to call "Rent-A-Band," and he might have if someone had given him the number.
School officials struck out trying to borrow bands from several high schools and colleges because they were on spring break, too. That left them with one last hope: Oklahoma State's band, which already was in the arena because its team was playing the game before Bucknell's.
After some initial hesitation, the school agreed.
The musicians seemed to enjoy it, making a big show for TV cameras when they pulled orange Bucknell T-shirts over their Cowboys garb.
[Last modified March 21, 2005, 01:51:06]
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