DAYTON, Ohio — With his team in the midst of the biggest comeback in NCAA tournament history, BYU coach Dave Rose caught the look in his players' eyes and was reassured.A rally for the ages was in the making.Noah Hartsock scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half and the Cougars came back from 25 points down to beat Iona 78-72 in the first round Tuesday night.During a timeout after the Cougars had pared the lead to single digits midway through the second half, Rose saw something he'll never forget."The look in our players' eyes at that time was, 'Game on. We've got a chance here,' " Rose said. "And we were able to finish it off."Brandon Davies added 18 points and Damarcus Harrison 12 for the 14th-seeded Cougars (26-8), who advanced to play third-seeded Marquette on Thursday.It marked the biggest comeback in an NCAA tournament game, the organization said. Previously, the largest deficit overcome was 22 points in 2001 when Duke fought back to beat Maryland 95-84 in the national semifinals.Hartsock was a little hurt that President Barack Obama, who watched the early game in Dayton, wasn't around to see the fireworks."I started looking around and didn't see him," Hartsock said with a grin. "But I'm sure he had some important things to take care of."DAYTON, Ohio — So many things happened in those five final, furious minutes that Western Kentucky coach Ray Harper had trouble taking it all in."Wow," he said, his face still flush with March emotion. "I don't know where to begin."The only team with a losing record in the NCAA tournament got it started with a classic March comeback — in front of a presidential audience, no less. T.J. Price's three-point play with 33 seconds to go completed the Hilltoppers' rally from a 16-point deficit over the last 5 minutes for a 59-58 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday night.President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron had front-row seats to see the tournament open with a ragged game that had a record ending. It was the biggest margin overcome by a team in the final 5 minutes to win an NCAA tournament game, the organization said."It's a crazy feeling," said Derrick Gordon, who had 11 points. "That's the president of the United States coming to watch our game. We wanted to put on a show. Things didn't work our way for the first 35 minutes, but we came away with the W."
Showing posts with label tourney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tourney. Show all posts
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Baruto closes in on perfect tourney
With his first championship title already a done deal, ozeki Baruto maintained his momentum with a thrashing of rival ozeki Kotooshu at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament on Saturday.
Great start: Baruto improves to 14-0 in the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament by beating Kotooshu on Saturday at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan. KYODOThe Estonian man-mountain moved one win away from finishing the Tokyo meet with an undefeated 15-0 record after securing the title the previous day at Ryogoku Kokugikan.Lone yokozuna Hakuho, meanwhile, bounced back from his defeat to Kotooshu on Friday, tossing down ozeki Kotoshogiku after one hard hit at the tachiai to improve to an 11-3 mark.Kotoshogiku, in his second meet at ozeki, must win his match against Harumafuji on Sunday to avoid a losing record."Today my timing was good," said Hakuho, who saw his hopes of winning his third consecutive and 22nd career title dashed a day earlier. "Right now, I am just trying to give my all. I'll do the same tomorrow."In the day's premier bout, Baruto, who had trailed Kotooshu 12-8 in previous matchups, wasted little time disposing of Kotooshu (10-4) as he got his left hand inside for an under-handed grip and swung his opponent over the straw bales in one fast motion.Baruto, who faces Hakuho on Sunday, has a shot to become only the fourth wrestler at sumo's No.2 rank to win the title with a perfect mark. Musashimaru and Hakuho have achieved the feat and Takanohana did it twice as an ozeki.Asked his thoughts on facing Hakuho on the final day, Baruto said, "Well, I haven't lost yet this meet. Today I just tried to do what I normally do in my matches."Mongolian ozeki Harumafuji (11-3) sent ozeki debutant Kisenosato crumbling to the dohyo surface with a hard smack across the face and his opponent was slow getting up before he headed toward the dressing room nursing a fourth defeat.Mongolian Kakuryu (9-5) appeared to have his match against rank-and-filer Takayasu (5-9) under control after getting his left hand in for an under-handed grip but his opponent wriggled free and sent the sekiwake backtracking over the ridge.Aminishiki (8-6) got the better of Toyonoshima (5-9) after the pair grappled for leverage, slamming his smaller opponent to the dirt surface with an underarm throw.
Great start: Baruto improves to 14-0 in the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament by beating Kotooshu on Saturday at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan. KYODOThe Estonian man-mountain moved one win away from finishing the Tokyo meet with an undefeated 15-0 record after securing the title the previous day at Ryogoku Kokugikan.Lone yokozuna Hakuho, meanwhile, bounced back from his defeat to Kotooshu on Friday, tossing down ozeki Kotoshogiku after one hard hit at the tachiai to improve to an 11-3 mark.Kotoshogiku, in his second meet at ozeki, must win his match against Harumafuji on Sunday to avoid a losing record."Today my timing was good," said Hakuho, who saw his hopes of winning his third consecutive and 22nd career title dashed a day earlier. "Right now, I am just trying to give my all. I'll do the same tomorrow."In the day's premier bout, Baruto, who had trailed Kotooshu 12-8 in previous matchups, wasted little time disposing of Kotooshu (10-4) as he got his left hand inside for an under-handed grip and swung his opponent over the straw bales in one fast motion.Baruto, who faces Hakuho on Sunday, has a shot to become only the fourth wrestler at sumo's No.2 rank to win the title with a perfect mark. Musashimaru and Hakuho have achieved the feat and Takanohana did it twice as an ozeki.Asked his thoughts on facing Hakuho on the final day, Baruto said, "Well, I haven't lost yet this meet. Today I just tried to do what I normally do in my matches."Mongolian ozeki Harumafuji (11-3) sent ozeki debutant Kisenosato crumbling to the dohyo surface with a hard smack across the face and his opponent was slow getting up before he headed toward the dressing room nursing a fourth defeat.Mongolian Kakuryu (9-5) appeared to have his match against rank-and-filer Takayasu (5-9) under control after getting his left hand in for an under-handed grip but his opponent wriggled free and sent the sekiwake backtracking over the ridge.Aminishiki (8-6) got the better of Toyonoshima (5-9) after the pair grappled for leverage, slamming his smaller opponent to the dirt surface with an underarm throw.Sunday, June 5, 2011
WBC adds 12 teams for next tourney
New York — The World Baseball Classic is expanding by 12 teams, with Israel, Thailand and France among the newcomers set to take part in 2013.There will be 28 teams in the next competition that features major league players. Japan won the first two WBC events in 2006 and 2009.The new nations will play in a 16-team qualifying round. The other first-time participants are: Brazil, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Britain, New Zealand, Nicaragua, the Philippines and Spain.Winners from the qualifying round in the autumn of 2012 advance to the WBC in March 2013.
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