Colleges

UConn avoids historic top-seed elimination

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published March 18, 2006

At the end, relieved Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun met his counterpart, Albany's Will Brown, hugged him and delivered his heartfelt praise.

"You guys are special," Calhoun said over the din.

Almost historically so.

The Huskies trailed by a dozen points in the second half and looked like they would become the first No. 1 seed to lose in the opening round, but rallied furiously for a 72-59 win in front of an announced crowd of 19,990 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.

UConn (28-3) faces Kentucky on Sunday for the chance to advance to Washington and the Sweet 16. Meanwhile, Albany (21-11) has to settle for being one of many 16th-seeded underdogs who came close to an unprecedented upset like Princeton in 1989, Murray State in 1990 and Western Carolina in '96.

No. 1s are 88-0 against No. 16s.

"All five starters for UConn will be playing in the NBA one day and for us to come out and challenge them," Brown said, "that says a lot about our program and these kids. I can't say enough about how proud I am of these guys. We believed all week that we could win this basketball game."

The Great Danes, who joined Division I the season after UConn won the 1999 national title in St. Petersburg, surged by the seemingly befuddled Huskies after trailing 31-30 at the half. They used the brilliant play of junior guard Jamar Wilson (19 points, six assists) to take a 50-38 lead with 11:34 left.

"They shocked us into such a state," Calhoun said. "They put us into a situation where I witnessed our worst offensive effort in maybe close to 20 years at UConn."

CBS switched to the game for all viewers.

"We were really excited to be in the position we were in," Wilson said. "But we spoke to each other about keeping it going."

UConn junior point guard Marcus Williams and senior forward Denham Brown made sure they didn't. Williams, known more for his passing, took more of an offensive role and scored 13 of his season-high 21 down the stretch. Brown added 10 of his 17 points to key a remarkable 34-11 run.

NO. 11 GEORGE MASON 75, NO. 6 MICHIGAN ST. 65: Sensing his team was nervous and tight, George Mason coach Jim Larranaga called his players together after practice earlier this week.

"Have a ball," he told them. "I'm going to have as much fun as I possibly can."

They sure did.

Folarin Campbell scored 21 and the Patriots used hot shooting, a balanced attack and a rebounding superiority to upset the Spartans in Dayton, Ohio.

Campbell made all eight of his shots from the field, Will Thomas had 18 points and 14 rebounds and Lamar Butler and Lewis each had 13 points for the Patriots (24-7).

The Patriots hit just 10 of 21 free throws over the final 31/2 minutes but made 59 percent of their shots from the field (29-of-49).

NO. 3 UNC 69, NO. 14 MURRAY ST. 65: A whole new North Carolina cast looked nothing like defending champs the first time out in the NCAA Tournament. Murray State, a team with one NCAA victory in its history, took the Tar Heels down to the closing seconds before UNC pulled out a victory.

Underscoring how much North Carolina (23-7) has changed in a year: Four freshmen scored the Tar Heels' final 29 points. Tyler Hansbrough led the way with 24 overall, his 14th 20-point game - a school freshman record.

"If he was any better looking, I'd want to kiss him after every game," coach Roy Williams said. "I've never seen a freshman more focused."

It wasn't secure until Marcus Ginyard - another freshman - made two free throws with 16.5 seconds left for a 69-65 lead.

NO. 8 KENTUCKY 69, NO. 9 UAB 64: Junior forward Bobby Perry scored a career-high 25 points on a near flawless evening, including a clutch 3-pointer late, as the Wildcats (22-12) overcame a poor shooting performance to advance.

UAB, which led 33-30 at the break, trailed 61-58 when Perry hit his third 3-pointer in the second half. The Wildcats sealed the win thanks to strong rebounding by sophomore center Randolph Morris and solid free-throw shooting.

Perry finished 6-of-10 from the field, 3-of-4 from long range, and 10-of-10 from the line. The rest of his teammates were 13 of 51 (25 percent) from the field and 2 of 21 on 3-pointers.

The Blazers (24-7) also struggled offensively. They shot 43 percent from the field, but just 5-of-24 from 3-point range.

Times wires contributed to this report.

[Last modified March 18, 2006, 02:30:29]