American University worked all week on defending Tennessee’s Chris Lofton, trying to keep the sharpshooter from getting the ball off screens for open 3-point shots.
The strategy worked, even though American lost by 15 points. Lofton, the Southeastern Conference’s career 3-point leader, missed on his five long-range attempts and was held to five points – 11 below his season average – in the second-seeded Volunteers’ 72-57 win Friday in Birmingham, Ala.
“The fact that he only got seven shots up is pretty remarkable,” American coach Jeff Jones said. “We wanted to try to take Lofton out as best we could and then try to guard the rest of them and keep them from getting layups and dunks.”
The defensive strategy included Garrison Carr frequently shadowing Lofton and sticking with his man even when the Vols’ star set a screen for a teammate.
“We went through all the plays that they have for him to get his shots,” said Carr, who had 26 points. “And basically all week we were just practicing getting through screens, anticipating when the screens would come.”
Lofton was coming off a 25-point performance against Arkansas in the SEC tournament in which he made 5-of-9 3s. Plus, he made 13 from beyond the arc in last season’s three NCAA tournament games.
Defensive tactics aside, Lofton also was worn out from trying to guard Carr.
“One person can’t guard him,” he said. “He comes off eight or nine screens. I had to take a break in the first half. I was dead.”
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CURRY’S ACCOMPLISHMENT: First, Stephen Curry got a rare win against his father in H-O-R-S-E. Now he has the NCAA tournament win that eluded his dad, too.
Curry’s 40-point outburst in Davidson’s 82-76 win over Gonzaga on Friday in Raleigh, N.C., in the first round of the Midwest Regional made for a proud papa. Dell Curry watched from the front row opposite the Davidson bench.
Like most in attendance, Dell Curry was impressed with his son’s 8-of-10 shooting from 3-point range. Curry’s 3-pointer with a minute left put Davidson ahead to stay.
“It’s fun, man. I hit some big shots in my career, but I don’t know if I hit any this big, especially in the NCAA tournament,” the elder Curry said. “I never won a game in the two tournaments I was at Virginia Tech. To hit some big shots like that and know he’s having fun, he’s worked so hard to get here.”
The younger Curry wanted to follow his dad to Virginia Tech, but the Hokies only wanted him as a walk-on. Stephen Curry instead decided on Davidson, and he led the Wildcats to their first NCAA tournament win in 39 years with a remarkable performance that included 30 second-half points.
Stephen Curry, who has hit 147 3-pointers this season, also claimed victory in a shooting game with his dad, who made his mark in a 16-year NBA career as a deadeye shooter.
“He’s been there my whole life. The things I do on the court come from him,” the younger Curry said. “He’s in my head during the game. I like to keep him involved.”
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GATE CRASHER: Denver police arrested a 64-year-old man at the Pepsi Center who is known around the country for trying to sneak into major sporting events.
Police said Jerry Berliant, known to authorities as “Jerry the Gate Crasher,” tried to get into NCAA tournament games using what appeared to be a fake media credential on Thursday. Authorities said an alert Pepsi Center employee spotted Berliant and pointed him out to a police officer.
Berliant was found with credentials for several media outlets and business cards from various professions, police said. He is under investigation for evading admissions fees and trespassing charges.
“Berliant boasts about his ability to sneak into major events without paying,” police spokesman Sonny Jackson said. “He is believed to have been an ‘uninvited guest’ at prize fights, political conventions, the Oscars, and several major sporting events.”
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EWING FLASHBACK: There was a Patrick Ewing playing center again for Georgetown on Friday.
With the Hoyas facing Maryland-Baltimore County in a first-round game in the Midwest Regional, Patrick Ewing Jr. got to show off his post moves when 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert went to the bench.
“We’ve done it a couple of times this year. Usually, it’s when Roy gets into foul trouble and Vernon (Macklin) gets into foul trouble,” the 6-8 Ewing said. “But coach saw an opportunity. They were going small.”
Ewing drew some chuckles from the resting Hibbert when he scored on an up-and-under move in the post.
“I looked at Roy and he was laughing at me because we’ve been working on my post moves for the last couple of weeks,” Ewing said.
It was part of a relaxing day for second-seeded Georgetown in its 66-47 win over the overmatched Retrievers. Georgetown will face another small team Sunday in 10th-seeded Davidson.
“I’ve been learning the center position in practice the last few weeks, so I wouldn’t mess up any of the plays,” Ewing said. “I’m used to it from high school, so it was very successful today. Maybe you’ll see it some more in the tournament.”
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NO SCALPING: Fans of one-and-done teams shouldn’t plan on getting a huge windfall from scalping second-round tickets in Omaha, Neb., on Saturday – police are cracking down.
Undercover officers arrested eight people Thursday for scalping the most desired tickets this side of a Hannah Montana concert, and cited them for misdemeanors.
“We’ve done it for the College World Series and for other major events,” said officer Bill Dropinski, who added that the NCAA had not asked police to set up the sting.
Dropinski wouldn’t say how much the tickets were marked up, but StubHub.com was selling seats for the Kansas-UNLV/Wisconsin-Kansas State double bill for anywhere from $275 to $530.
The few tickets that actually made it to the public at face value were sold at $159 for the whole weekend – a total of six games. That works out to $26.50 a game. But the only locals who could buy seats – Creighton season ticket holders – had to pay for the full weekend pass.
Fake tickets haven’t been a problem, Dropinski said, but undercover officers plan to be on the streets again for the second round.
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