By
The Associated Press
The one thing Stanford head coach Mike Montgomery worries about not being able to control in the NCAA tournament is foul trouble.
The Cardinal (30-2) found out just how much they could miss one of their starters when point guard Michael McDonald sat down with four fouls in the second half against St. Joseph's.
Without McDonald to run the offense, the Hawks erased a double-digit deficit and took the lead, giving the West Regional's top-seeded team a huge scare. So desperate was Stanford that Montgomery had to put McDonald back in, and the Cardinal went on to a 90-83 second-round victory.
''We've never really not had Mike as the result of foul trouble,'' Montgomery said. ''Sometimes you get into circumstances that only happen very rarely and that can be enough to skew the outcome of a game.''
Fifth-seeded Cincinnati (25-9) hopes its emphasis on defense and rebounding will produce a victory in tonight's regional semifinal that few believe the inexperienced Bearcats can pull off.
''Nobody's expecting us to win but ourselves,'' guard Kenny Satterfield said. ''We feel we can, in your eyes, make it an upset.''
His backcourt mate, Steve Logan, added, ''The underdog is fine with us. We don't put pressure on ourselves because we feel as though we're a big-time team just like they are. We have to go out there with the same intensity and the same confidence that they have.''
The job of guarding Stanford's top shooter, Casey Jacobsen, will likely fall to Immanuel McElroy, a junior averaging seven points to Jacobsen's 18.
''Mac is a pretty good defender, but we have to be there to stop the twins down low. They're so tough,'' Logan said. ''We have to go out there and play team defense.''
The twins are 7-footers Jarron and Jason Collins, who've posted impressive numbers in Stanford's first two tournament wins. Jarron combined for 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Jason had 47 points and 17 rebounds in the two games.
Keeping them off the boards will be a challenge for the Bearcats, who were outrebounded by 16 of their 34 opponents, including three of their four Conference USA tournament games.
Hoyas, Terps to do battle in Anaheim
ANAHEIM, Calif. - Maryland and Georgetown are located just around the corner from each other - a 22-minute drive, according to Terrapins coach Gary Williams.
Nevertheless, the neighboring schools have met only once in the last 21 years - an 84-83 overtime victory by Maryland during the 1993-94 season.
They'll play again tonight some 3,000 miles from home, but not by design. Rather, they're squaring off at Anaheim Arena in the West Regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament.
''It's as big a game as we've played since I've been there,'' said Williams, finishing his 12th season at Maryland. ''We have been to the Sweet 16 five times, and we'd like to get past it this year.
Maryland hasn't advanced beyond the regional semifinals since 1975, and Williams-coached teams are 0-6 in previous regional semifinal games - at Boston College in 1983 and 1985, and at Maryland in 1994, 1995, 1998 and 1999.
Craig Esherick, in his second season as Georgetown's coach, said he's excited about playing Maryland mainly because of the game's meaning.
''I'm looking forward to playing the game because we're in the Sweet 16,'' he said. ''It would have significance if we were playing Cincinnati or Stanford.''
Esherick referred to the schools who will play in the second game of tonight's doubleheader. The winners meet Saturday for a berth in the Final Four.
''It is interesting that we were put in the same bracket as Maryland,'' Esherick said. ''I would like to play Maryland (in the regular season) before I stop coaching. How will that be accomplished? I don't know. Maybe President Bush will have to get involved.''
As Williams pointed out, the Terps and Hoyas stopped playing each other on a regular basis when Lefty Driesell was coaching Maryland and John Thompson was at Georgetown.
''It wasn't Gary Williams and Craig Esherick,'' Williams said.
Until recently, a Maryland-Georgetown matchup at this juncture of the tournament seemed unlikely.
The third-seeded Terps struggled after blowing a 10-point lead over visiting Duke in the final minute and losing in 98-96 overtime Jan. 27, dropping four of their next five games capped by a 74-71 loss to lowly Florida State at home.
''We were pretty embarrassed, I think it got us back on track,'' Terps forward Terence Morris said. ''That was the turning point in our season.''
UCLA, Duke fight for conference, coastal pride
PHILADELPHIA - This has been a good month for Duke. The Blue Devils haven't lost in six games in March, including two against archrival North Carolina and two in the NCAA tournament.
After the second victory over the Tar Heels that gave Duke its third straight Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship, the Blue Devils moved into the No. 1 spot in the national rankings.
It's hard to believe things could get better this month for the top-seeded Blue Devils (31-4) as they prepare for tonight's East Regional semifinal against fourth-seeded UCLA (23-8).
How about getting back Carlos Boozer, their starting center who broke a bone in his foot against Maryland Feb. 27, the last game the Blue Devils lost?
The 6-foot-9 sophomore is averaging 14.0 points and 6.5 rebounds and leads the team with a .602 field goal percentage. His nine 20-point games trail only All-Americans Shane Battier and Jason Williams this season.
''It's good to have Carlos back,'' Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ''We've had three good practices with him. I think he's running well. His conditioning is not at the level of the other guys but it's been good. It's been a real up for our team.''
Boozer ran well during the Blue Devils' open workout yesterday, and his teammates were excited about having him back after opening the tournament with wins over Monmouth and Missouri.
''He's going to be a presence and that's all we're asking him to be,'' Battier said.
Upstart Bibby, Trojans gearing up for Kentucky
PHILADELPHIA - The two schools are across town from each other, but the trip for Henry Bibby from playing at UCLA to coaching at Southern California took a long time and a winding path of twists and turns.
While his old team was preparing yesterday for the NCAA East Regional against Duke, Bibby was busy getting his current one ready for Kentucky. The Trojans will take on the Wildcats tonight in Philadelphia.
He has taken teams into big games before, teams in the USBL and the CBA, teams in Savannah and Springfield, even a team in Venezuela. Like most basketball lifers, there are plenty of destination stickers on his luggage.
''The road I've taken here, I've been in a lot of spots and there have been a lot of obstacles,'' Bibby said. ''I'm a self-made coach.''
Bibby's basketball roots go back to Franklinton, N.C., playing backyard ball with two older brothers, one of them former major league pitcher Jim Bibby. He was recruited by UCLA and played point guard on three of John Wooden's NCAA championship teams, 1970-72.
In those days, Southern California was a basketball afterthought in Los Angeles, while Wooden's UCLA dynasty was winning 10 national championships in 12 years.
Drafted by the New York Knicks, Bibby arrived just in time to be on an NBA championship team. There would be two more trips to the NBA finals with Philadelphia in 1977 and 1980, when he played with Julius Erving.
So this regional is something of a homecoming for Bibby.
''In the latter part of my career, I was booed here a lot,'' he said. ''I hope they don't think I owe them a championship. Dr. J. made that promise to Philadelphia, not me.''
