Sunday, March 24, 2002                 
Issue # 11.4.2 "Hard fought wins..."
http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa

CERRITOS (not Las Vegas), CA (smt)- #1MW-Kansas got the monkey off their backs by reaching the Final Four for the first time since 1993 with a 104-86 win over #2MW-Oregon. The Jayhawks went after every rebound (61 to 31 for the game; Drew Gooden with 20) and got nearly twice as many offensive rebounds than the Ducks which translated into numerous second chance points. That was almost Oregon's downfall vs Texas but came within five points at 77-72 before Kansas blew the game open. In a game where there seemed to be a traveling violation every two minutes, #1E-Maryland and #2E-UConn pounded against each other, trading leads over 20 times with over 20 ties throughout the game. After 12 lead changes in the first half, Maryland ended the half with a 7-pt lead. However, the second half again became a game of trading baskets but after tying the game at 79, Maryland took the lead for good building a 4-pt margin with 1:14 left. Steve Blake slammed the door shut with a back-breaking 3-pt basket as the 35-second clock expired.

Kansas' win knocked 6 entries from contention and Maryland's win knocked down another 8. It also left a curiously high 6 entries with a chance for first place with only 8 possible outcomes left. THE FABON8ER (119), one of 11 entries to go 3-1 for the 4th Round, increased his lead to five points over RANDOM PICKS, who moved back into second place. MADPRO (113) is in third and FREE JINX is in fourth but both have Duke winning it all and can't finish any higher. ARPS (111) is tied with MHK for fifth but the difference is ARPS can still tie for first (1 in 8) while MHK was eliminated yesterday. CHENMAN (105) while tied for 15th, has a 1 in 4 chance to win first or win nothing at all. YBBAT is also tied for 15th and has a 1 in 8 shot for 1st. THE FABON8ER has a 1 in 2 chance for first and a 3 in 4 chance for money. PICKS has a 50% chance at money. FREE FABONE (110) has slowly made his way up to a tie for 6th place and a 1 in 8 chance for a tie for first and 3 in 8 for money. WILDCAT PRIDE (109) dropped a spot into a tie for 7th but has the same chances as FREE FABONE. 32 entries went 2-0 for the day while 8 went 0-4 for the 4th Round.