The state’s top team will be playing in the state’s biggest city and the state’s second-best team will be here as well, but the big story this week will likely be the guy in the black sweater.
Fresh off the made-for-TV saga of one of his forgettable seasons at Indiana, coach Bob Knight returns to the Midwest when he brings sixth-seeded Texas Tech to Chicago to face 11th-seeded Southern Illinois on Friday in the first round of the NCAA tournament’s East Regional.
In his first season, Knight guided Texas Tech to a 23-8 record, a huge leap from the 9-19 season the Red Raiders had a year ago.
While Kansas hammered Texas Tech in Saturday’s Big 12 semifinals, it will be favored against the Salukis. Sophomore guard Andre Emmett led the Red Raiders in scoring at 19 points a game. Andy Ellis (16.5) and Kasib Powell (15) give them balanced scoring and strength up front.
“Andy Ellis has played well throughout the year,” Knight said in an ESPN interview Sunday night. “Emmett has been an exceptionally good offensive player.”
Southern coach Bruce Weber, a longtime assistant to Purdue’s Gene Keady, is very familiar with Knight and how he prepares his teams.
“I think it was 33 times we faced him [at Purdue],” Weber said. “We had some success. I admire him so much.”
Familiarity won’t induce Knight to alter his game plan, however.
“We’re not going to do anything much different than what we’ve done all year,” Knight said.
The Indiana-SIU game will be one of four on Friday’s United Center card, which does not feature a team seeded No. 1 or No. 2 in its region. Of the eight sites, only Chicago and Albuquerque have no better than a No. 3 seed.
The top seeds at the United Center will be Georgia, No. 3 in the East, and Illinois, No. 4 in the Midwest.
Illinois will have a home-court advantage when it plays San Diego State. The Aztecs are also under the direction of another Big Ten alumnus, former Michigan coach Steve Fisher.
The Aztecs are making their first tournament appearance since 1985 and they had to sweat it out. They nearly blew a 16-point lead in the second half against UNLV in Saturday’s Mountain West tournament championship game.
“We hope this is the first of many championships here,” Fisher said.
Creighton, Southern Illinois’ Missouri Valley Conference rival, will face fifth-seeded Florida. Despite winning the MVC tournament title game–over Southern–the Blue Jays were seeded 12th, one spot lower than the Salukis.
The winner of the Illinois-San Diego State game will face the winner of the Florida-Creighton game Sunday. The Texas Tech-Southern winner meets the winner of the fourth game at the United Center–third seed Georgia against 14th-seed Murray State.
Georgia is coached by the well-traveled Jim Harrick, who made stops at Pepperdine, UCLA and Rhode Island before taking over at Georgia. Harrick, who won the 1995 national title with UCLA, is one of just three coaches to take four teams to the tournament. Lefty Driesell and Eddie Sutton are the others.
Eight teams are competing in Chicago, but they aren’t all in the same regional. Florida, Creighton, Illinois and San Diego State are in the Midwest Regional, and Tech, Southern, Georgia and Murray State are in the East.
This is the first year of the NCAA’s attempt to have the higher-seeded teams play closer to home in the first two rounds if possible. The Illini caught a break, a fourth seed playing in its home state. Third-seeded Georgia was sent to Chicago instead of Greenville, S.C., and Big Ten tournament winner Ohio State, also a fourth seed, was sent clear off to Albuquerque.
Welcome wagon
Here is the first- and second-round schedule for the NCAA tournament games at the United Center:
Friday’s games
Midwest Regional
Illinois (24-8) vs. San Diego State (21-11)
Florida (22-8) vs. Creighton (22-8)
East Regional
Georgia (21-9) vs. Murray St. (19-12)
Texas Tech (23-8) vs. Southern Illinois (26-7)
Sunday’s games
Illinois/San Diego State winner vs. Florida/Creighton winner. Winner advances to Midwest Regional in Madison, Wis.
Georgia/Murray State winner vs. Texas Tech/Southern Illinois winner. Winner advances to East Regional in Syracuse, N.Y.
