Banner Graphic, Volume 15, Number 169, Greencastle, Putnam County, 16 March 1985 — Page 4

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The Putnam County Banner-Graphic, March 16,1985

Richmond visits Assembly Hall Tuesday

lU, Alford find groove again

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - Laughter, missing during a frustrating season, was a welcome sound to sophomore Steve Alford after he sparked his Indiana Hoosiers into the second round of the National Invitation Tournament. The 6-foot-2 guard had eight steals to go with a game-high 26 points and as Indiana ended its home court losing streak at five by overpowering Butler 79-57 Friday. Next up for the Hoosiers is Richmond, which will visit here Tuesday. Richmond, 21-10, advanced by edging Fordham 59-57 Friday. “I felt really comfortable out there playing. I thought I worked hard. I thought I got my teammates involved in things both offensively and defensively,” Alford said. “It helps when I can come up with some steals, the guys were joking around in the locker room, ‘Aye, we got the kid to finally play some defense.’ That’s kind of fun to joke around about. ’ ’ Indiana shot 62 percent from the field, connecting on 34 of 55 shots, in bringing its record to 16-13. “Everybody came out and really worked hard. That’s a key. I don’t think we’ve worked as hard as we’re capable of working, both as individuals and collectively this year and that’s caused some problems,” Alford said. Six of the steals by Alford, who had only 32 in his club’s 28 previous games, came in the first half. Three came during a 14-point

21 points in NIT effort

Tucker played well against physical IU

By STEVE FIELDS Banner-Graphic Sports Editor BLOOMINGTON - It’s really not fair to compare players through statistics. Though their positions might be the same on paper, their roles can be completely different within the respective team structures. But the simple fact of the matter remains Chad Tucker outplayed every Indiana University forward Friday night during Butler University’s 79-57 loss at Assembly Hall in the opening round of the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). THE 1983 CLOVERDALE High School graduate scored 21 points by hitting 8 of 13 shots from the floor and a perfect five-for-five at the free throw line. He also grabbed three rebounds and, in 38 minutes of play against a very physical Big Ten team, committed just two turnovers. -a.;.*-'

Fields' Findings

No Hoosier forward reached double figures. Rebounding totals showed Delray Brooks with three, Daryl Thomas four, Kreigh Smith and Steve Eyl two each and Todd Meier one. The latter played more center than forward, but still . . . and their minutes are also within reason for comparison. The shooting was natural Tucker. He averaged 19.7 points per game this year for the 19-10 Bulldogs. The rebound total is about half of his average. The only thing missing from his performance was his two-plus assists per game ~ he had no assists, which might have been the reason Butler lost. TUCKER AND SOPHOMORE classmate Darrin Fitzgerald were Butler’s offense. “Tucker and Fitzgerald are very good players. We couldn’t contain Fitzgerald the first half and tucker came on the second,” IU assistant coach Jim Crews said, substituting for coach Bob Knight at the post-game press conference. The 5-9 Fitzgerald cut loose bombs from somewhere near Gosport, hitting a perfect six-for-six from the floor in the first half and 11-of-15 for the night in a 22-point performance. Tucker didn’t touch the ball much the first half, getting just five shots from the floor. “They did a good job of fighting through the picks and overplaying the passing lanes,” the 6-6 forward said of lU’s defense. “If they didn’t fight through, they switched where I’d get the ball at the top of the key. ” BUT THE SECOND HALF Tucker hit five of eight shots and scored 15 of his 21 points. He ignited a rally that brought Butler back from a 35-24 halftime deficit to within seven with 9:46 to play. “When they set the lateral pick, I’d go off the lateral pick and pop right up to the top off the down pick,” Tucker said, explaining the halftime adjustments. “I’d pop up to the top of the key. I got a few shots there, then Mike Harper set a couple of really good lateral picks there. I just came across the baseline and got the ball, turned around and shot it.” After having his first shot of the second half rejected by Thomas and turned into part of Steve Alford’s gamehigh 26-point performance, Tucker hit one from the freethrow line, then popped another from the baseline. A Thomas foul turned the latter into a three-point play to get the Bulldogs going. TUCKER AGREED WITH coach Joe Sexson. “That’s the toughest defense we’ve seen all year. We’ve seen some pretty good defenses, and nobody put that much pressure on us when we had the ball and a lot of teams just sag back inside. But they like to put pressure on the ball when you got it and try and overplay the passing lanes.” The Hoosiers took away Tucker’s normal wing shot. “We tried running the motion (offense) a little bit, tried to pop out on the wings. Fitzgerald and I would set picks for each other, but they’d just fight through the picks awfully well,” Tucker said.

spurt that put Indiana ahead to stay. “I’ve been concentrating on my defense this week. It’s something I’ve got to really concentrate on in the off-season,” Alford said. “If I’m going to continue to play I’ve got to increase my defensive tempo and my defensive concentration and intensity. I thought today was a little better, but this is one game. I’ve got to come out and improve my defense each game.” The defense of Alford and his mates helped produce 19 Butler turnovers and a 44 percent shooting performance from the field. “This is the most aggressive half-court defense we’ve faced all year, and our guys weren’t ready for it,” said Butler Coach Joe Sexson. “When you get that kind of pressure and you haven’t seen it before. It’s kind of a shock.” The loss gave Butler, which was invited

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After some halftime adjustments, Chad Tucker (31) was able to get open along the base line repeatedly to shoot over Indiana's Daryl Thomas (24) and Uwe Blab (33) and ignite a Butler rally. Tucker scored 15 of his 21 points during the second Coach Sexson said after the game Butler’s defensive strategy was built around Alford and 7-2 center Uwe Blab. Alford got 26, but most came because he played excellent defense. “I’ll bet he had five steals and we sometimes don’t have five steals a game for the team,” Crews said before seeing Alford’s eight on the stat sheet. SEXSON’S IDEA OF holding a team meeting around Blab everytime he got the ball, plus foul trouble, limited him to nine points on only seven shots from the floor and four rebounds. When the ball went inside to the AllAmerican he anticipated the Butler crowd and dumped it back ouside. Really he did it too often because Fitzgerald got four steals and three layup baskets anticipating the pass back to Alford. Rebounding against Blab was something new for Tucker. “It’s a pretty big disadvantage for me. He’s got all the leverage on me, plus he’s a whole lot stronger than I am,” the 200-pounder said. “I’m not really sure how I’m going to be able to handle that (in the future). I’m just going to have to get on the weights I guess.” The game itself, playing against Indiana, was quite an experience for Tucker, a lad who grew up rooting for the Cream and Crimson and attending IU basketball camps. “We showed them we weren’t really in awe of them then,” he said of jumping out to a 10-6 lead. “We just didn’t hang in there.”

to post-season play for the first time since 1962, a 19-10 record. “We put the ball on the floor too much, instead of passing it,” Sexson said. "We finally got to passing the ball in the second half and our offense was much better.” The outside shooting of Darrin Fitzgerald, who finished with 22 points, was about the only weapon Butler had in a first half that ended with the Bulldogs trailing 35-24. Indiana went on to open a 20-point lead early in the second half, but Butler fought back to pull to within seven before the Hoosiers again pulled away with eight in a row. Chad Tucker had 15 of his 21 points after the break for Butler, including five when Butler rallied with 13 unanswered points. “Fitzgerald was outstanding,” said Sexson about the 5-9 sophomore, who connected on 11 of 15 shots with most coming

on long jumpers. “We obviously couldn’t live with all jump shots. ” Indiana Coach Bob Knight declined to meet with the media after the game, sending assistant Jim Crews. “Coach wanted me to come and experience a press conference in which we won a game,” said Crews, who coached the team in a loss to Purdue after Knight was ejected when he picking up a three technical fouls early including one for tossing a chair across the court. Crews also coached Indiana in a loss against lowa, when Knight was suspended for one game for his actions in the Purdue contest. “We got some things defensively that we just haven’t in the past and got the ball pushed up the court like we want and scored some buckets,” Crews said. Indiana, cold from the outside early, trailed 10-6 when Daryl Thomas started the 14-point spurt that put Indiana ahead to stay with 14:14 left in the first half. BUTLER (57) Tucker 8-13 5-5 21, Gallahar 1-5 2-2 4, Haseley 1-12 2-2 4, Fitzgerald 11-15 0-1 22, Burt 3-8 0-0 6, Harper 04) 04) 0, Gilbreth 0-00-10, Jones 04) 0-5 0, Beam 04) 04) 0, Hoover 0104) 0, Croner 04) 04) 0, Mackey 04) 0-10. Totals: 24-54 9-17 57. INDIANA (79) Brooks 0-4 04) 0, Thomas 3-3 2-4 8, Blab 4-71-19, Alford 11-16 44 26, Robinson 6-8 04) 12, Smith 1-2 0-12, Eyl 2-6 2-2 6, Dakich 5-6 2-2 12, Meier 04) 0-10, Hillman 0-104) 0, Sloan 04) 04) 0, Pelkowski 04) 04) 0, Simmons 2-20-04. Totals: 34-5511-1579. Halftime—lndiana 35, Butler 24. Fouled out—None. Rebounds-Butler 33 (Haseley 7), Indiana 27 (Thomas, Blab, Alford 4). Assists—Butler 10 (Haseley 4), Indiana 19 (Robinson 7). Total fouls—Butler 20, Indiana 20. A—14,069.

half, but the Bulldogs still ended a 19-10 season with a 79-57 loss to the Hoosiers in the opening round of the NIT Friday night. (Banner-Graphic photo by Steve Fields'. WHEN BUTLER RALLIED to within seven points in the second half, as Alford brought the ball down court the Indiana fans really got into the game, standing and cheering. You couldn’t hear a thing at that point. “I’ve been here quite a few times when they do that,” Tucker said. “Indiana gets in a kind of little slump, playing kind of lackadaisical and the crowd tries to get them back in, which is great.” But it was the first time he’s been a player on the floor against that fan support. “It really didn’t affect me a whole lot because the crowd was loud the whole night. I think we had nice backing tonight,” Tucker said. YES, THERE WERE a lot of Cloverdale people on hand, most sitting near the Buttler University band and near the Bulldogs’ locker room entrance. Tucker and Alford were the last two players to leave the court when the game ended. The two former Indiana High School All-Star teammates stood at center court and renewed their friendship. “It’s been two years since we’ve seen each other, talked to each other,” Tucker said. “We’re going to work a couple of camps together this summer, so we’ll get reaquainted.” AND I’LL BET there’s a pretty good game of horse, or an interesting one-on-one game sometime during that period.

Sports scoreboard

NCAA Tournament At A Glance By The Associated Press East Regional First Round Thursday, March 14 At Hartford, Conn. Georgetown 68, Lehigh 43 Temple 60, Virginia Tech 57 Loyola, 111. 59, lona 58 Southern Methodist 85, Old Dominion 68 Friday, March 15 At Atlanta Illinois 76, Northeastern 57 Georgia 67, Wichita St. 59 Syracuse 70, Den. 31-2, vs. Temple, 25-5 Southern Methodist, 23-9, vs. Loyola, 111., 26-5 Sunday, March 17 At Atlanta , Georgia, 22-8, vs. Illinois, 25-8 Syracuse, 22-8, vs. Georgia Tech, 25-7 Semifinals Thursday, March 21 At Providence, R.I. Saturday's second-round winners Sunday’s second-round winners Championship Saturday, March 23 At Providence, R.I. Semifinal winners Southeast Regional First Round Thursday, March 14 At South Bend. Ind. , Kansas 49, Ohio U. 38 Auburn 59, Purdue 58 North Carolina 76, Middle Tennessee 57 Notre Dame 79, Oregon St. 70 Friday, March 15 At Dayton, Ohio Navy 78, Louisiana St. 55 Maryland 69, Miami, Ohio 68, OT Michigan 59, Fairleigh Dickinson 55 Villa nova 51, Dayton 49 Second Round Saturday, March 16 At South Bend, Ind. Notre Dame, 21-8, vs. North Carolina, 25-8 Auburn, 21-11, vs. Kansas, 25-7 Sunday, March 17 At Dayton, Ohio Michigan, 26-3, vs. Villanova, 20-10 Maryland, 24-11, vs. Navy, 26-5 Semifinals Friday, March 22 At Birmingham, Ala. Saturday’s second-round winners Sunday’s second-round winners Championship Sunday, March 24 At Birmingham, Ala. Semifinal winners Midwest Regional First Round Thursday, March 14 At Tulsa, OkU. Ohio St. 75, lowa St. 64 Louisiana Tech 78, Pittsburgh 54 Oklahoma 96, North Carolina A&TB3 Illinois St. 58, Southern California 55 Friday, March 15 At Houston Memphis St. 67, Pennsylvania 55 Alabama-Birmingham 70, Michigan St. 68 Boston College 55, Texas Tech 53 Duke 75, Pepperdine 62 Second Round Saturday, March 16 At Tulsa, Okla. Louisiana Tech, 28-2, vs. Ohio St., 20-9 Oklahoma, 29-5, vs. Illinois St., 22-7 Sunday, March 17 At Houston Boston College, 19-10, vs. Duke, 23-7 Ala -Birmingham, 25-8, vs. Memphis St., 28-3 Semifinals Thursday. March 21 At Dallas Saturday's second-round winners Sunday's second-round winners Championship Saturday, March 23 Semifinal winners West Regional First Round Thursday, March 14 At Salt'Lake City, Utah St. John’s 83, Southern U. 59 Arkansas 63, lowa 54 Nevada-Las Vegas 85, San Diego St. 80 Kentucky 66. Washington 58 Friday, March 15 At Albuquerque, N.M. North Carolina St. 65, Nevada-Renos6 Texas-El Paso 79, Tulsa 75 Virginia Commonwealth 81, Marshall 65 Alabama 50, Arizona 41 Second Round Saturdav, March 16 At Salt Lake City. Utah St. John’s, 28-3, vs. Arkansas, 22-12 Kentucky, 17-12, vs. Nev.-Las Vegas, 22-9 Sunday, March 17 At Albuquerque, N.M. Alabama. 22-9. vs. Va. Commonwealth, 26-5 Texas-El Paso, 22-9, vs. North Carolina St. 21-9 Semifinals Friday, March 22 At Denver Saturday’s second-round winners Sunday’s second-round winners Championship Sunday, March 24 At Denver Semifinal winners The Final Four At Lexington. Ky. Semifinals Saturday, March 30 East Champion vs. West Champion Southeast Champion vs. Midwest Champion Championship Monday, April 1 Semifinal winners National Invitation Tournament At A Glance By The Associated Press First Round Tuesday, March 12 New Mexico 80, Texas A4M 67 Wednesday, March 13 Nebraska 79, Canisius 66 Thursday, March 14 Louisville 77, Alcorn St. 75 Virginia 56, West Virginia 55 Cincinnati 77, Kent St. 61 Southwestern Louisiana 65, Florida 64 South Florida 77, Wake Forest 66 Marquette 77, Bradley 64 Tennessee 65, Tennessee Tech 62 St. Joseph’s, Pa. 68, Missouri 67 UCLA 78, Montana 47 Fresno St. 79, Santa Clara 76,30 T Friday, March 15 Indiana 79, Butler 57 Tn-Chattanooga 67, Clemson 65 Richmond 59, Fordham 57 Lamar 78, Houston 71 Second Round Tuesday, March 19 Richmond, 21-10, at Indiana, 16-13 Marquette, 19-10, at Cincinnati, 17-13 St. Joseph’s, 19-11, at Virginia, 16-15 New Mexico, 19-12, at Fresno St., 22-8 Nebraska, 16-12, at UCLA, 17-12 Wednesday, March 20 South Florida, 18-11, at Louisville, 17-16 Southwestern Louisiana, 17-13, at Tennessee, 19-14 Tn.-Chattanooga, 23-7, at Lamar, 20-11 Quarterfinals Saturday, March 23 Sites and pairings TBA Semifinals Wednesday. March 27 At New York Championship Friday, March 29 At New York NCAA Division 111 Tournament Glance By The Associated Press Semifinals Friday, March 15 At Grand Rapids. Mich. Potsdam St. 54, Widener3B North Park 85, Nebraska Wesleyan 80 Saturday, March 16 Championship At Grand Rapids. Mich. Potsdam St., 27-3, vs. North Park, 2M Third Place Widener, 25-6, vs Nebraska Wesleyan, 23-5

Friday's Sports Transactions By The Associated Press HOCKEY International Hockey League TOLEDO GOALDIGGERS—Waived Jim Aldred, left wing, and Vince Sebek, defenseman Added Scott Birnie, defenseman-winger, Bill Fordy and Dan Chiasson, forwards, from the Ontario Hockey League SOCCER Major Indoor Soccer League CLEVELAND FORCE-Announced the retirement of George Nanchoff, forward COLLEGE ARIZONA STATE-Named Jim Colletto an assistant football coach. Retained Mike Martz, Tom Freeman and Don Bocchi, assistant coaches. BOISE STATE—Announced the resignation of John Bennett, tennis coach EVANSVILLE-Fired Dick Walters, head basketball coach GEORGIA TECH—Named Rip Scherer assistant athletic director in charge of sports programs. KINGS POINT-Named Neil Gederberg baseball coach. NEW ORLEANS—Fired Don Smith, basketball coach. PUGET SOUND-Named Ross Hjelseth head football coach. National Basketball Association At A Glance By The Associated Press EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L Pet.. GB x-Boston 53 14 .791 x-Philadelphia 50 16 .758 2>* Washington 34 33 .507 19 New Jersey 33 33 .500 19'-4 New York 22 45 328 31 Central Division x-Milwaukee 46 19 .708 Detroit 36 29 .554 10 Chicago 32 35 .478 15 Atlanta 26 40 .394 20»dt Cleveland 26 40 .394 20>* Indiana 20 46 .303 26Vi WESTERN CONFERENCE Midwest Division Denver 42 24 .636 Houston 39 27 .591 3 Dallas 38 29 .567 4Vi San Antonio 33 35 .485 10 Utah 32 35 478 10'A Kansas City 24 43 .358 1814 Pacific Division x-L.A. Lakers 48 18 .727 Phoenix 31 36 .463 17 Vi Portland 31 36 463 1714 Seattle 27 39 409 21 LA. Clippers 23 44 .343 25‘4 Golden State 18 48 .273 30 x-clinched playoff berth. Friday's Games Washington 120, Houston 114 Philadelphia 119, New York 110 Boston 119, Cleveland 96 Dallas 127, Denver 108 Chicago 103, Phoenix 97 Utah 115, Kansas City 112 LA. Lakers 115, San Antonio 114 Portland 126, Golden State 101 Saturday’s Games Indiana at New York New Jersey at Philadelphia Cleveland at Dallas Phoenix at Milwaukee L.A. Lakers at L.A. Clippers Atlanta at Seattle Sunday's Games Houston at Boston Indiana at New Jersey Utah at Kansas City Milwaukee at Chicago Denver at San Antonio Golden State at L.A Clippers Atlanta at Portland Detroit at Seattle United States Football League At A Glance By The Associated Press EASTERN CONFERENCE W L. T. j Pet... PF. PA Memphis 3 0 0 1.000 65 36 Birmingham 2 1 0 .667 95 78 New Jersey 2 1 0 .667 91 72 Tampa Bay 2 1 0 .667 94 75 Jacksonville 1 2 0 .333 57 79 Baltimore 0 2 1 .167 50 60 Orlando 0 3 0 .000 27 97 WESTERN CONFERENCE Houston 3 0 0 1.000 126 68 Denver 2 1 0 .667 79 71 Arizona 2 1 0 667 64 44 Oakland 1 1 1 .500 5S 69 Portland 1 2 0 .333 38 48 San Antonio 1 2 0 .333 37 65 Los Angeles 0 3 0 .000 67 83 Saturday's Games Arizona at Tampa Bay San Antonio at Los Angeles Orlando at Portland Sunday's Games Memphis at Birmingham New Jersey at Baltimore Jacksonville at Oakland Monday’s Game Denver at Houston Baseball At A Glance By The Associated Press Exhibition Season AMERICAN LEAGUE W L Pet. Toronto 7 0 1.000 Detroit 6 2 .750 Baltimore 5 2 .714 Chicago 7 3 .700 Cleveland 4 2 .667 California 2 1 .667 Seattle 2 2 .500 Kansas City 3 4 .429 Milwaukee 3 4 .429 Oakland 2 3 .400 Boston 3 5 .375 Minnesota 3 5 .375 Texas 2 4 .333 New York 1 8 .143 NATIONAL" LEAGUE Montreal 5 2 .714 Cincinnati 4 2 .667 San Francisco 4 2 .667 Chicago 4 3 .571 Los Angeles 3 3 .500 Philadelphia 2 2 .500 New York 2 3 .400 Atlanta 3 5 .375 Houston 3 6 .333 Pittsburgh 1 2 .333 St. Louis 0 2 .000 San Diego 0 4 .000 NOTE: Split-squad games count In standings Friday's Games New York Yankees 4, Detroit 2 Los Angeles 3, Atlanta 2 Pittsburgh 7, Houston 1 New York Mets 8, Boston 2 Cincinnati 13, Philadelphia 10 Kansas City 6, St. Louis 1 Montreal 8, Texas 0 Chicago White Sox 6, Baltimore 2 Toronto 11, Minnesota 8, 10 innings Oakland 6, San Diego 2 California 6, Cleveland 0 San Francisco 2, Chicago Cubs 1 Seattle 9, Milwaukee 0 Saturday's Games New York Mets vs. St. Louis at St. Petersburg Kansas City vs. Pittsburgh at Bradenton Cincinnati vs. Minnesota at Orlando Philadelphia vs. Toronto at Dunedin Detroit vs. Boston at Winter Haven New York Yankees vs Chicago White Sox at Sarasota Baltimore vs. Texas at Pompano Los Angeles vs Houston at Kissimmee Montreal vs Atlanta at West Palm Beach California vs. San Diego at Yuma Cleveland vs. San Francisco at Scottsdale Chicago Cubs vs Milwaukee at Sun City Seattle vs. Oakland at Phoenix Sunday’s Games Pittsburgh vs Cincinnati at Tampa Houston vs. Los Angeles at Vero Beach St. Louis vs. New York Mets at St. Petersburg Texas vs. Montreal at West Palm Beach Toronto vs Philadelphia at Clearwater Atlanta vs. Baltimore at Miami New York Yankees vs. Boston at Winter Haven Minnesota vs. Detroit at Lakeland Chicago White Sox vs Kansas City at Fort Myers Milwaukee vs Chicago Cubs at Mesa California vs. San Diego at Yuma San Francisco vs Cleveland at Tucson Oakland vs. Seattle at Tempe