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College basketball
NIT: Saint Joseph's, S. Car. in final
By wire services
Published March 30, 2005
NEW YORK - Pat Carroll and John Bryant have won 96 games in four seasons at Saint Joseph's. They want to leave school with a title.
"If we can end with a championship, that would just top off the year," said Carroll, who scored 13 of his 24 in the second half of Saint Joseph's 70-58 victory over Memphis (22-16) in the NIT semifinals Tuesday night.
The Hawks (24-11), who had to win four games just to get to Madison Square Garden, face South Carolina for the championship on Thursday.
Saint Joseph's has won five straight Atlantic 10 regular-season titles, but Carroll and Bryant haven't enjoyed a tournament victory. And when Saint Joseph's started this season 3-6, it looked as though the postseason would be totally out of reach. But the team is 21-5 since Jan.1.
S. CAROLINA 75, MARYLAND 67: Carlos Powell scored 17 and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Gamecocks. They had 20 offensive rebounds - 44 overall. Josh Gonner scored 11 of his 12 in the first half, when South Carolina turned an early five-point deficit into a 14-point lead. The Gamecocks (19-13) are in the championship game for the second time in four seasons. Travis Garrison, Chris McCray and Mike Jones each scored 15 for the Terrapins (19-13). They were trying for their ninth straight 20-win season but fell a game short.
Around the nation
WOODEN ALL-AMERICANS: Utah's Andrew Bogut, Dee Brown of Illinois, Sean May of North Carolina, Duke's J.J. Redick and Wayne Simien of Kansas were named finalists for the John R. Wooden Award as college basketball's player of the year. The award will be presented April 9 at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. The other All-Americans are Francisco Garcia of Louisville, Chris Paul of Wake Forest, Salim Stoudamire of Arizona, Hakim Warrick of Syracuse and Deron Williams of Illinois.
UCONN STAR TO LEAVE: Forward Charlie Villanueva will forgo his final two years of eligibility to enter the NBA draft. Scouts have projected the 6-foot-11, 240-pounder as a late first-round pick.
[Last modified March 30, 2005, 01:04:14]
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