European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 21, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 28 stars and stripes wednesday March 21 2007  Why did Xavier let Lewis take a shot fouling Ohio states hottest shooter in the final seconds would have Given him two free throws in a 3point game by Dick Jerardi Philadelphia daily news i have been asking the same question since we really began to understand the value of the three Point shot 20 years ago Why didst Xavier foul at the end of regulation against Ohio state Xavier was on the verge of an historic Mcaa tournament upset even though a nine Point Lead with three minutes left was nearly gone x had the game won All it had to do was foul Mike Conley a 66 percent foul shooter when he brought the Ball Over mid court with six seconds left in Regula Tion his team trailing by three Points instead x allowed Conley to pass the Ball to the scorching Ron Lewis who launched a three with 35 seconds left it was perfect Ohio state dominated the Over time and won comfortably i have been Over Why this makes sense so Many times i am not going there again just consider Rick Pitino would foul in that situation i think he is the Sharp est big school coach in America nobody understands the value of the shot More Why every coach does not take a foul there i have no idea making this even a bigger mis take Greg Oden had just fouled out for the buckeyes so the Buck eyes Chance of getting a rebound off a missed free throw was even less than Normal commentary All these years later i just dont get it on sunday Tennessee led Vir Ginia by three with fewer than 10 seconds left the vols took a foul and wanted to take another one but could not get to Sean single tary before he missed a very Long three at the Buzzer that Tennes see won and Xavier lost is not a co incidence most undeserved bad endings Xavier senior Justin Cage 25 Points was 8for8 from the Field 6for7 from the foul line when he shot the second of two free throws with nine seconds left it missed five minutes later his College Ca reer was Over Louisville freshman Edgar Sosa was 15for15 from the foul line and 7for8 from the Field be fore missing two free throws and a very Long Trey in the final 30 seconds of a classic with Texas i thought the Winner of that game was going to the final four it was barely get ready for a serious Louisville run next sea son numbers to consider Xavier almost won and really deserved to win even though its starting guards Drew Lavender and Stan Ley Burrell shot 3for20 the four 116 games were decided by a combined 125 Points the 1s Are now 920 butlers 62 Points against Maryland came this Way 36 from the arc 22 inside the arc and four from the foul line its a classic example of the three Point under dog hath Boston College has the most Mcaa wins 22 of any team not to make the final four Urcla held its two opponents to 30for89 shooting 337 per its next opponent Pitts Burgh shot 545 percent in round 1 and 545 percent in round 2 for the second consecutive year Urcla can get to the final four without Ever leaving califor Nia Georgetown made its first final four appearance exactly 25 years ago an Omen North Carolina is in its record 21st Sweet 16 the tar heels Are 211 All time in Mcaa games played in North Carolina yes that one loss was to Penn in Raleigh on March 11 1979 known forevermore As Black Sun Day Duke lost to St Johns in the other game of that doubleheader who were those refs in los Lon Kruger is the fifth coach to take four different teams to the Caas also Kansas state Florida Southern Illinois opponents missed 55 of 88 shots Tennessee is 25for53 from the arc Memphis has 13 blocks James Ron Lewis launches the three Pointer that saved Ohio states season forcing an overtime with Xavier that the buckeyes controlled on the Way to a 7871 Victory Lewis got the shot off As Xavier decided against fouling him which would have forced him to take two free throws with the buckeyes facing a three Point deficit with Only seconds to play Mcaa tournament South regional pearls volunteers give fans another team to follow by Elizabeth a Davis the associated press Knoxville Tenn Dane Bradshaw suffered through sea sons when a bid to the not was the Best the Tennessee Volun Teers could do in March then came along coach Bruce Pearl who has the vols in the Mcaa regional semifinals in his second season Tennessee 2410 beat Virginia to reach the round of 16 for the first time since 2000 and plays Ohio state the top seed in the South regional on thursday night in san Antonio Tennessee has never advanced to the regional final Bradshaw is the vols Lone senior first enrolling at the University in 2004 the second Olast year for coach Buzz Peterson that sea son the vols lost at George Mason in the opening round of the not and failed to reach either the not or Mcaa in 2005 the first couple of years its hard to take anything Good out of it but All of sudden in in this position my last year i feel proud to be one of the Guys that went through the struggle first to enjoy the Success its made it that much sweeter Bradshaw said monday after a Light practice Back on Campus Bradshaw is one of the Best examples of How times have changed since Pearl arrived after leading Wisconsin Milwaukee on a run to the round of 16 in 2005 Bradshaw is a backup Point guard moved to Forward even though Bradshaw is usually much smaller 6foot4 than the play ers he guards Pearl wanted to find some Way to get Bradshaw on the court now Hes a fan favorite for his Gutsy plays that dont always show up in the Box score against Virginia Bradshaw had to in bound the Ball three times in the final seconds to Star shooter Chris Lofton who was heavily defended each time Lofton went 6for6 at the foul line Down the stretch to Seal the 7774 Victory sunday the vols have historically struggled in the Mcaa tournament in 15 appearances this is Only the second time they have won two games the vols previous trip to the regional semifinals was in 1981 when they had a first round Bye in the Field of 48 last year Tennessee won in the first round but lost to Wichita state in the second failing to capitalize on a no 2 seed Pearl wanted to do better this season and now he wants More if were going to be a top20 program youve got to play in the Sweet 16 Pearl said i dont know exactly when we needed to get to the Sweet 16 obviously within a Tim Frame the fans kind of would like their coaches and their teams to get there i believe were a top20 pro Gram but the Only Way i can say it and not be laughed at is if you do it with some consistency Hes already gotten the fans usually Rabid Only about football and women basketball filling cavernous Thompso Boling Arena during the regular season to witness big victories Over Ken Tucky and Florida fans began following the team on the Road and have already bought out the allotment of 1250 tickets for the regional in san an Tonio the schools 550 firsthand second round tickets also sold out the Success has allowed for the renovations at Thompso Boling Arena to add luxury boxes and other upgrades to the 20yearold building Pearl also has scheduled Tough games for the vols Tennessee has played six of the teams still playing in the tournament including Southeastern conference East division opponents Florida and Vanderbilt twice each another of those teams was Ohio state which beat visiting Tennessee 6866 on Jan 13 the vols noticed the buckeyes lurking in their bracket the Day it was announced an were already thinking about it after the second round we celebrated after the game were enjoying it right now it was fun to get off the plane and walk through the Airport and have the Knoxville faithful cheer ing for us Bradshaw said theres no doubt it was a great moment for All of us but were still looking Forward to hopefully advancing