European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 25, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday March 252007 s t a r s an d stripes Page 45 experience counts in coaching too by Jim Oconnell the associated press Duclas Victory Over Pitts Burgh on thursday night made the mentors 30 against former assistants Ben Rowland of Urcla was succeeded at Pittsburgh by Jamie Dixon and the regional semifinal was their first meeting As head coaches its emotional for me How land said Ive got a lot of Good friends Over there i Hope we never have to play again in the first round Michigan states Tom Izzo beat Marquette and Tom Crean his former Assis Tant in the second round Thad Malta of Ohio state beat Sean Miller who succeeded him at Xavier rare 1 is 2 there will be at least two 12 matchup in the regional finals the first time that has happened since 2002 in the West to seeded Kansas will face no 2 Urcla for a berth in the final four while in the South no 1 Ohio state will play Memphis there could be a third 12 meet ing As no 1 North Carolina and no 2 Georgetown both play Fri Day night in the East regional semifinals to seeded Florida is still alive in the Midwest but no 2 Wisconsin lost in the second round since the Field expanded to 64 teams in 1985 there has never been three 12 matchup in the regional finals there was one 12 matchup in 2003 2004 and last year Mem Phi Sulla in the there were no such matchup in 2005 free throws the Box score showed the difference in the game plans of Ohio state and ten Nessee the buckeyes wanted to take advantage of their size inside and they did going 23for35 from the free throw line in their 8584 Vic tory Tennessee stayed outside hit Ting twice As Many 3pointers As free throws the volunteers were 16for31 from beyond the arc and were just 8for17 from the line the volunteers were 9for15 on threes in building a 17point Mark Humphrey Lzzo Al Behrman Paul Sakuma Veteran coaches have had the advantage Over their proteges in the Mcaa tournament going 30 in such matchup Michigan states Tom Izzo beat Marquette Tom Crean his former assistant Ohio states Thad Matta got the better of Sean Miller who replaced him at Xavier and Ben Howland of Urcla got to the West Region final by beating Jamie Dixon his former assistant who replaced him at Pittsburgh halftone Lead but that didst fall off much As the buckeyes made their winning run for their second straight comeback win fellow Power Kansas coach Bill self has to be Happy the Jay Hawks get to face a fellow Power conference member in the West regional final the to ranked Jay Hawks advanced to the round of eight with a Toth wire 6158 Victory Over Southern Illinois on thursday night it  have been a sur prise the big 12 regular season and tournament champions struggled against a team from the mis Souri Valley conference one of the leagues that lives under the Shadow of the Label mid major the last two Mcaa tournaments ended with first round losses for Kansas last year the Jay Hawks lost 7773 to Bradley also of the Missouri Valley Confer ence in 2005 Kansas lost 6463 to Bucknell of the Patriot league the Jay Hawks have to be Happy that their opponent on sat urday will be Urcla of the pac10 off Arron Urcla Junior guard proudly serving the military for Over 10 years you can dream it we can Bui id it 800hightechcom Arron Afflalo just Hast been himself in the past two rounds of the Mcaa tournament even though the Bruins have reached the regional finals for a second straight year Afflalo who averages 167 Points on 462 percent shooting including 379 percent from three Point Range had Normal numbers in the opening round win Over Weber state he had 22 Points on 8for15 shooting and was 3fpr5 on threes but in the second round win Over Indiana he was 2forll from the Field and missed All three of his three Point attempts finishing with 10 Points in the regional semifinal win Over Pittsburgh he had 22 Points but was 2forll from the Field including lfor5 from three Point Range what injury Chris Dou Gla sroberts Memphis leading scorer turned his left ankle with eight minutes left in the tigers second round Victory Over Nevada his status for the regional Semi final was Uncertain right up until game time what was certain was that he came up big in the 6564 Victory Over Texas the 6foot6 Sophomore guard had 15 Points just off his 154 average he was 5for8 from the Field with the most spectacular of the baskets a Dunk on an alleys of pass in the first half its pretty healthy honestly it really didst matter How i was going to feel coming into this game because i was playing Douglas Roberts said i worked around the clock to get it healthy As it is honestly it didst matter but its feeling real Good right now the 65 Points were the third lowest for the tigers in their 25game winning Streak they had fewer Points in Road wins Over East Carolina 6144 and sum balanced attack Kansas May have been held Well below its sea son average of 795 Points per game in the win Over Southern Illinois but the Jay Hawks kept up their balanced attack five players averaged Between 138 and 98 Points per game for Kansas entering the regional semifinals against the Salukis Only Brandon Rush managed to break double digits with 12 Points but three others finished with nine one had eight and an other had seven it was the second lowest Point total of the season for the Jay Hawks behind the 57 in a seven Point loss to Depaul Early in the season it was Only the Lith time this season Kansas failed to break the 70point Mark the Jay Hawks averaged 975 in their first two wins in this tournament whoever plays Southern int going to look Good offensively Kansas coach Bill self said it just int going to happen i was disappointed How some Guys handled the heat but when the game was on the line we handled it pretty Well no Valley Southern Illinois loss in the regional semifinal extended the Missouri Valley conferences run without a team reaching the final eight the last team from the Missouri Valley to play in a regional final was Wichita state in 1981 last year Bradley and Wichita state both reached the third round but they lost to Memphis and George Mason respectively shooting gallery Texas and Memphis entered their game third and sixth in the nation respectively in Field goal percent age defense they ruined each others numbers thursday night Memphis was 23for54 from the Field 426 while Texas shot 475 percent Texas came into the game allowing opponents to shoot 373 percent while the tigers allowed teams to shoot 384 percent Alex Memphis Chris Douglas Roberts want about to sit out thursday nights game against Texas despite the lingering affects of a sprained ankle suffered in the previous round against Nevada