European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 22, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday March 22 2007 stars and stripes Page 29 Clemson homing in on tournament semifinals the associated press Clemson so freshman Trevor Booker had a career High 21 Points and cuff Hammonds added 18 As Clemson won its eighth straight nit Home game 8968 Over Mississippi on monday night the tigers the South regions no 1 seed get the Chance to extend that Streak which coincidentally began after an Ole miss Victory in the 1982 nit when it takes on Syracuse in the quarterfinals on wednesday night when youre this deep into it the key we thought was who wants to keep play ing Mississippi coach Andy Kennedy said i think Clemson answered that emphatically the tigers had hoped for a better Fate than the not particularly when they were the last undefeated team in the country going 170 before losing but a 410 finish took them out of Mcaa tournament Conten Tion the Guys really wanted to come out and play said Clemson Forward James Mays who put the tigers ahead to stay with an in Side Basket near the beginning of a 141 run to close the first half Mays finished the run with a soaring Jam that put Clemson up 4635 Mississippi ended its first season under Kennedy at 2113 the rebels highs or ing backcourt of Clarence Sanders and Bam Doyne managed Only 18 Points 13 fewer than their combined averages Todd Abernethy led Mississippi with 18 Points Syracuse 80 san Diego state 64 dem Etris Nichols had 20 Points and Andy Sautins added 15 for the Orange in front of a tournament record Home crowd an Orange Clad crowd of 26752 the larg est in not history gave the game a championship atmosphere and Syracuse 2410 didst disappoint hitting nine three Point ers and stifling the aztecs with staunch de sense Lorrenzo Wade led the sixth seeded aztecs 2211 with 16 Points before fouling Sefton Ipock Clemson James Mays celebrates after a Dunk in the first half of the second round nit game against Mississippi on monday out with just More than two minutes left and Mohamed Abukar had 13 guard bran Don Heath finished with 15 Points Syracuse clinging to a 3833 halftime Lead outscored the aztecs 197 to Start the second half finishing the burst with an 110 run that gave the Orange a command ing Lead Depaul 70 Kansas state 65 at Man Hattan Kan Sammy Mejia and Wilson Chandler had 18 Points each and Draylon Burns added 17 for third seeded Depaul the Blue demons 2013 reached the 20win Mark for the third time in the last four seasons and won two straight postseason games for the first time since the 1990 not they will face to seeded air Force on wednesday in Colorado Springs Kansas state the wests no 2 seed has not advanced past the second round in the Post season since reaching the not semifinals in 1994 Hoskins led Kansas state with 24 Points Martin added 21 in his last game for the wildcats and Clent Stewart had 15 flight Falcons rediscover right form flight from Back Page were still a Little upset the Way we finished the year on a fou game losing Streak and were going to make the most of the nit Burtschi said theres nothing wrong with winning the not Champion ship yeah its not the Mcaa but you know what after tonight theres Only 24 teams playing and were one of those 24 the Falcons looked a lot like the team that started out 171 and Rose to 13th in the rankings their highest Ever and not the one that went 67 Down the stretch Burtschi had 13 Points and seven boards by halftime As the Falcons surged to a 4324 Lead the bulldogs led by Terrance Woodbury 16 Points got no closer than 15 in the second half air Force which snapped a 17game postseason losing Streak with a 7551 win Over Austin Peay in the Academy first not appearance allowed just one Basket in Side the arc in the games first and didst commit a foul until was left in the first half in building a 3714 Lead Anderson took the opening tip and scored just four seconds into the game and air Force took the Lead for Good on Jack georgias Levi Stukes reaches in while defending air Force Forward Dan new allele Burtschin three Pointer two minutes later that sparked a 21 3 run that he capped him self with another three that gave air Force a 258 Lead they were effective at everything Fel ton marvelled Alex Florida Corey Brewer celebrates during the gators rally against Purdue on sunday Florida has surged in the second half after slow starts in both of its tournament games slow starting gators take a second to get going by Mark Long the associated press Gainesville the Florida gators make Good adjustments maybe they Wear Down opponents maybe they can turn it on when they need it most or maybe there just a second half team the defending National champions certainly have been in the Mcaa tournament outscoring Jackson state and Purdue 11670 in the final 20 minutes of their first two games to Advance to the round of 16 its not How you Start its How you Fin ish Center Al Hor Ford said monday its Good when you get a Good Start but its not going to make the difference in the game at least maybe not for Florida the gators used key second half runs to win both games last week they outscored 16thseeded Jackson state 248 in the first five minutes of the second half and finished with a school record 71 Points after the break they trailed Purdue by seven Points in the first half and were Down 3329 Early in the second but they put together a 70 run followed four minutes later by a 102 spurt to seize control for Good we go in at halftime and make a lot of adjustments Forward Chris Richard said we realize How people Are playing us what there giving up on defense and How we need to Stop teams its helped us a lot but wed rather find a Way to pick it up so were not this second half team be cause if a team gets too far ahead of us then we might not be Able to catch up we have to turn it up a notch the to seeded gators would like to play better from the Start beginning Friday against fifth seeded butter in the Midwest regional in St Louis coach Billy Donovan said several fac tors might have contributed to Florida second half surges it could be halftime changes it could be his teams propensity to Wear Down opponents with their uptempo offence press ing defense perimeter shooting and consid Erable size advantage in the Post it could be timely shooting it also could be an unfamiliarity with tournament opponents a definite change from the Southeastern conference sched ule when you see two and a half three months of the same people Over and Over and Over you know How tall you know How Quick you get a much better feel Dono Van said in this tournament there is no familiarity this is the first time youre going on the floor and seeing them so it takes time to adjust the gators experienced similar situations in the final four last year behind the three Point shooting of Lee Humphrey they turned games against George Mason and Urcla into routes Early in the second halves i dont know exactly what it could be halftime adjustments or just getting hot at the right time Humphrey said either Way it has become a trend not Only has Florida started Mcaa tournament games slow then turned it on after the break the team has done the same much of the season in fact the gators have scored More Points in the second half 25 times in 36 games they also used huge second halves to overcome double digit deficits against Alabam Birmingham Vanderbilt and Ala Bama weve made a lot of Good comebacks but there Are games that weve been hit in the Mouth Early and we rent Able to come Back Forward Joakim Noah said those Are learning experiences and we realize you cant get hit like that especially in the beginning of the game theres no More learning when you lose in this tournament once you lose its Over theres no More season theres no More practice theres no More playing with one another we realize that Donovan had one other theory sky High expectations that have come with return ing All five starters and trying to become the first team to repeat As champs since Duke in 1992 its the expectation on this team that people Are looking for perfection and were not he said were a flawed Basket Ball team like everybody else in this sport theres no perfect teams out there and were certainly not perfect