Monday, March 14, 2005; Page G13
FIRST- AND SECOND-ROUND GAMES
at DCU Center, Worcester, Mass.
FRIDAY & SUNDAY | TICKETS: SOLD OUT Big East champion
Record: 27-6, 11-5. Past 10: 6-4.
Coach: Jim Boeheim (38-21 in NCAAs).
Starters
G Gerry McNamara, 6-2, Jr. (15.7 ppg, 5.2 apg, 33.6 3-pt. FG%) G Josh Pace, 6-6, Sr. (10.8 ppg, 3.8 apg, 58 FG%) F Hakim Warrick, 6-8, Sr. (21.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 55.3 FG%) F Terrence Roberts, 6-9, Soph. (7.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 58.3 FG%) C Craig Forth, 7-0, Sr. (5.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 55.4 FG%)
Top reserves
G Billy Edelin, 6-4, Jr. (4 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 50.7 FG%) G Louie McCroskey, 6-5, Soph. (5.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 40.6 FG%) F Demetris Nichols, 6-8, Soph. (3.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 37.1 FG%)
Data: The Orange stumbled at the end of the regular season, losing four of its final seven games, and that took some of the luster off of its 22-3 start. Still, the elegant Warrick is the kind of star that can lead a team on a deep tournament run, as he proved in the Orange's three-game run to the Big East title. McNamara is his perimeter counterpart and has taken 308 of the team's 487 three-pointers. Either Warrick or McNamara led Syracuse in scoring in 27 of 30 regular season games, but Boeheim has said throughout the season that the Orange's success hinges more on younger players McCroskey, Roberts and Nichols. America East champion
Record: 24-6, 16-2. Past 10: 7-3.
Coach: Tom Brennan (0-2 in NCAAs).
Starters
G T.J. Sorrentine, 5-11, Sr. (18.6 ppg, 4.4 apg, 105 3-pt. FG) G David Hehn, 6-5, Sr. (4.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 73.1 FT%) C Martin Klimes, 6-8, Soph. (4.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 46.2 FG%) F Taylor Coppenrath, 6-9, Sr. (25.7 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 53.6 FG%) F Germain Mopa Njila, 6-4, Sr. (5.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 44.1 FG%)
Top reserves
F Josh Duell, 6-8, Fr. (5.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 43.8 FG%) F Ryan Schneider, 6-7, Fr. (4.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 35.2 FG%) G Alex Jensen, 6-2, Sr. (3 pg, 1.5 rpg, 41.4 FG%)
Data: Brennan is retiring after this season, so it wouldn't be surprising to see this veteran team win an NCAA tournament game for its coach. Four of the five starters were on last year's team, and the Catamounts are making their third straight NCAA tournament appearance. Coppenrath, who is second in Division I in scoring, was selected the America East player of the year for the third time. Only the late Reggie Lewis of Northeastern won the award as many times. The Catamounts are a good defensive team, giving up more than 70 points just three times this season. Big Ten at-large
Record: 22-6, 13-3. Past 10: 8-2.
Coach: Tom Izzo (19-6 in NCAAs).
Starters
G Maurice Ager, 6-5, Jr. (13.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2 apg) G Shannon Brown, 6-4, Soph. (10.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.9 apg) G Drew Neitzel, 6-0, Fr. (3.3 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 2.9 apg) F Alan Anderson, 6-6, Sr. (13.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.8 apg) C Paul Davis, 6-11, Jr. (11.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.6 apg)
Top reserves
G Kelvin Torbert, 6-4, Sr. (9.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 53 FG%) G Chris Hill, 6-3, Sr. (9.9 ppg, 82 FT%, 40 3-pt. FG%) F Delco Rowley, 6-8, Soph. (2 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 10.5 mpg)
Data: The Spartans won eight of their last nine to end the regular season, but it didn't exactly come against tough opposition. Wisconsin was the only ranked team the Spartans beat in that stretch. It also didn't translate into success in the Big Ten tournament, where the Spartans lost to Iowa in the quarterfinals. Regardless, they've come a long way after they lost to George Washington and struggled to beat George Mason in early December. Anderson scored more than 20 points in three of the final four regular season games, after he had gone 116 games without more than 18 points. The Spartans are 32-10 in March under Izzo, and they tied for the national lead in free throw percentage (79.1). CAA champion
Record: 28-5, 15-3. Past 10: 8-2.
Coach: Blaine Taylor (0-2 in NCAAs).
Starters
G Isaiah Hunter, 6-2, Jr. (13.4 ppg, 2.1 apg, 33.8% 3-pt. FG) G Drew Williamson, 6-0, Soph. (6.2 ppg, 4.6 apg, 42.2% FG) G Kiah Thomas, 6-4, Sr. (8.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 42.9% FG) F Arnaud Dahi, 6-7, Soph. (10.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 51.9% FG) C Alex Loughton, 6-9, Jr. (13.9 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 51.0% FG)
Top reserves
F Valdas Vasylius, 6-7, Soph. (9.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 50.5% FG) G Brandon Johnson, 6-1, Fr. (3.1 ppg, 3.0 apg, 35.7% FG) G Brian Henderson, 6-4, Fr. (2.8 ppg, 1.3 rpg)
Data: Old Dominion, making its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1997, dominated the CAA this season, losing only to Virginia Commonwealth, George Mason and Hofstra during conference play. Still, the Monarchs had to gut out an overtime victory over VCU in the CAA final. The key player is Loughton, a native of Australia who was named CAA regular season player of the year and earned CAA tournament most outstanding player honors. The Monarchs are deep -- nine players average more than 11 minutes per game -- and hold CAA opponents to 60 points per game. Taylor coached Montana to two NCAA appearances in the '90s.