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Miami’s No Joke; Wildcats Do Choke

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Associated Press

They came swaggering into Dayton Arena, talking about being on a mission, taking on the world, being reborn, showing they deserved better than a No. 5 seeding in the Midwest Regional.

But the University of Arizona Wildcats were among the first to leave the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, ending a season filled with turmoil and uncertainty, injuries and disruptions, and falling way short of their goals.

Now, after losing to 12th-seeded Miami (Ohio), 71-62, in front of a partisan Miami crowd, the Wildcats once again face those same cruel jokes that seem to haunt coach Lute Olson and his program.

“Here come the jokes again,” Arizona senior guard Reggie Geary said. “First, it was East Tennessee State. Then, Santa Clara. And now Miami of Ohio. This just erases everything we’ve done.”

Geary and three other starters led Arizona to the Final Four last season, but everybody, Geary said, will be talking about the Wildcats bowing out in the first round for the third time in the past four years.

“This one was probably the toughest of the three,” senior point Guard Damon Stoudamire said.

Arizona (23-8) had so many distractions to overcome this time. Junior center Ben Davis started the year ineligible and ended it ineligible, missing the last two games.

Geary suffered a sprained ankle that did more damage, it seemed, to his psyche than anything else. Miles Simon suffered a dislocated right index finger that caused him to miss five weeks. Junior center Joseph Blair suffered a sprained ankle the final week of the regular season, after playing well for two months.

And Stoudamire was cloaked in controversy, the target of an NCAA investigation the past week.

“Excuses are just a bunch of made-up lies,” said Stoudamire, after finishing his college career with an 18-point, fourassist, four-turnover performance. “You have to just ‘fess up. We got outplayed.”

The Redskins outscrapped and outhustled the Wildcats, who shot only 37.5 percent and were outrebounded, 47-38.

Miami (Ohio) 71, Arizona 62

MIAMI, OHIO (23-6)

Mahaffey 6-12 5-5 17, Davis 7-17 10-14 24, Beard 2-6 2-2 6, Cross 4-7 0-0 9, Hackim 1-9 0-0 3, Bozeman 1-5 0-1 2, McGuire 3-5 1-3 10, Henderson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 18-25 71.

ARIZONA (23-8)

Owes 7-18 1-6 15, Simon 2-6 2-3 7, Blair 1-3 1-2 3, Stoudamire 6-18 1-2 18, Geary 1-7 0-0 3, McLean 2-3 0-0 5, Dickerson 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 5-8 0-0 11, Kelley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-64 5-13 62.

Halftime-Arizona 32, Miami, Ohio 31. 3-Point goals-Miami, Ohio 5-18 (McGuire 3-5, Cross 1-1, Hackim 1-8, Bozeman 0-1, Mahaffey 0-3), Arizona 9-23 (Stoudamire 5-10, McLean 1-1, Williams 1-3, Simon 1-3, Geary 1-4, Owes 0-2). Fouled out- None. Rebounds-Miami, Ohio 47 (Davis 15), Arizona 38 (Owes 8). Assists-Miami, Ohio 14 (Mahaffey 3), Arizona 12 (Simon, Stoudamire 4). Total fouls-Miami, Ohio 16, Arizona 23. A-13,045.

Virginia 92, Nicholls St. 72

Harold Deane recovered from a rocky first half to score 21 points and key a 10-0 run to start the second half as the Cavaliers beat Nicholls State.

Virginia had to rally late in the opening half to take a 31-27 lead at the break. Deane was missing in action, hitting just one of his first nine shots from the field.

Deane came out of his funk to hit the final basket before the break, giving the Cavaliers the 31-27 lead, then made a 3-pointer to touch off a 10-0 run to start the second half. After Nicholls State countered with a bucket by King, Deane hit another 3-pointer to push the lead to 44-29.

NICHOLLS St. (24-6)

Watts 4-11 0-0 9, King 8-13 2-2 18, Jackson 5-10 0-0 10, Washington 0-5 0-0 0, Castle 2-8 2-2 7, Russ 5-7 0-0 13, Franklin 2-7 3-4 8, Richard 1-4 0-0 3, Howard 1-1 0-0 2, Hanzy 1-1 0-0 2, Davis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-67 7-8 72.

VIRGINIA (23-8)

Burrough 6-13 4-6 16, Williford 4-5 0-0 9, Alexander 1-2 2-4 4, Staples 5-14 2-2 15, Deane 4-13 12-15 22, Robinson 2-6 1-1 5, McLaughlin 1-1 0-0 2, Barnes 0-0 3-4 3, Nolan 4-5 3-4 11, Curtis 0-0 0-0 0, Ellsworth 1-1 4-4 6, Watkins 0-1 1-2 1, Walton 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 29-62 32-42 96.

Halftime-Virginia 31, Nicholls St. 27. 3-Point goals- Nicholls St. 7-22 (Russ 3-5, Castle 1-1, Richard 1-2, Franklin 1-4, Watts 1-6, Jackson 0-1, Washington 0-3), Virginia 6-20 (Staples 3-12, Deane 2-6, Williford 1-1, Robinson 0-1). Fouled out-King. Rebounds-Nicholls St. 34 (King, Jackson 9), Virginia 43 (Burrough 9). Assists-Nicholls St. 14 (Washington 5), Virginia 11 (Deane 5). Total fouls-Nicholls St. 26, Virginia 13. Technicals-Nicholls St. coach Broussard.

Kansas 82, Colgate 68

The Jayhawks wasted most of an 18-point lead, leading just 50-46 after Malik Cupid’s 3 with 15 minutes left, then regained control with a 14-4 spurt.

“I never at any point felt threatened about the outcome of the game,” Kansas coach Roy Williams said. “I didn’t necessarily feel good about how we were playing.”

COLGATE (17-13)

Roberts 4-10 0-0 12, Bollin 1-3 2-2 4, Foyle 7-16 2-6 16, Maloney 0-2 0-0 0, Neale 10-20 0-1 25, Schaeffer 0-2 0-0 0, Touhey 1-2 0-0 2, Cupid 4-5 0-0 9, Murray 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-60 4-9 68.

KANSAS (24-5)

Pearson 2-10 1-2 6, LaFrentz 4-8 4-5 12, Pollard 4-13 5-7 13, Vaughn 4-5 2-2 11, Haase 4-8 0-0 10, Ostertag 1-4 4-4 6, Thomas 6-11 3-4 19, Williams 1-1 0-0 2, McGrath 1-2 0-0 2, Gurley 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 27-63 20-26 82.

Halftime-Kansas 41, Colgate 29. 3-Point goals-Colgate 10-22 (Neale 5-11, Roberts 4-7, Cupid 1-2, Schaeffer 0-1, Touhey 0-1), Kansas 8-19 (Thomas 4-7, Haase 2-4, Vaughn 1-1, Pearson 1-6, Gurley 0-1). Fouled out-Foyle. Rebounds-Colgate 34 (Foyle 10), Kansas 42 (LaFrentz 9). Assists-Colgate 16 (Maloney 10), Kansas 12 (Vaughn 5). Total fouls-Colgate 23, Kansas 13. A-NA.

W. Kentucky 82, Michigan 76 (OT)

Michael Fraliex’s off-balance 3-pointer with 9.1 seconds left in regulation forced overtime, and the Hilltoppers dominated the extra period to beat the Wolverines.

Ray Jackson scored 28 points and Jimmy King had 23 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists for Michigan.

MICHIGAN (17-14)

R.Jackson 13-20 2-3 28, Taylor 4-10 0-0 8, Ndiaye 4-8 2-3 10, Fife 0-2 0-2 0, King 8-15 5-8 23, Conlan 1-4 0-0 3, Mitchell 0-6 0-0 0, Baston 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 32-69 9-16 76.

WESTERN KENTUCKY (27-3)

D.Jackson 3-5 1-4 7, Robinson 8-24 2-4 22, Hall 6-7 4-5 16, Fraliex 3-10 1-3 10, Horn 5-11 1-1 13, Rogers 2-9 6-8 11, Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Flowers 1-1 1-1 3, Thornton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-68 16-26 82.

Halftime-Michigan 36, W. Kentucky 31. End of Regulation- Michigan 70, W. Kentucky 70. 3-Point goals-Michigan 3-16 (King 2-6, Conlan 1-4, Fife 0-1, R.Jackson 0-2, Mitchell 0-3), W. Kentucky 10-23 (Robinson 4-8, Fraliex 3-8, Horn 2-4, Rogers 1-3). Fouled out-Ndiaye, Horn. Rebounds-Michigan 51 (King 17), W. Kentucky 35 (Robinson 9). Assists-Michigan 22 (King 8), W. Kentucky 18 (Fraliex 6). Total fouls-Michigan 24, W. Kentucky 18.

xxxx Midwest Regional Thursday’s games Miami, Ohio 71, Arizona 62 Virginia 96, Nicholls State 7 Kansas 82, Colgate 62 W.Kentucky 82, Mich. 76 (OT) Today’s games Syracuse (19-9) vs. So. Ill. (23-8) Ark. (27-6) vs. Texas So. (22-6) Memphis (22-9)-L’ville (19-13) Purdue (24-6) vs. Wis.-GB (22-7)