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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 2000)
SPORTS lay. April 4. 2000 THE BATTALION Page 9 MSU defeats Florida, 89-76, to win title MADDEN Sports in Brief Hen’s tennis team osts Rice Owls The llth-ranked Texas A&M en’s tennis team will take on Rice n'versity at 5 p.m. at the A&M Var- Bennis Center. i ■he Aggies jBHMI ■ ■5) are coming fa 4-3 win over ;|perdine Uni- srsity Friday ghi. The win was SiM's second jis season glnst a top-five >an. the first )m;ng Mar. 5 against No. 4 Uni- jrsty of Florida. Jne Aggies improved their home Mird to 8-0 with the win over Pep- itine, which entered Friday’s |ch with an 18-0 record. I&M junior Shuon Madden, inied second in the nation, will | to extend his winning streak to |ne matches tonight. Madden has )t lost since a Feb. 26 match linst TCU. In doubles play, the 25th-ranked irfbem of Madden and junior Du ll Caradima will be seeking a consecutive victory. The duo is knocked off two top-five teams trice Mar. 25. rUART VILLANUEVATut R' a mechanical engi iay. Hggies face off igainst Cougars Bthe Texas A&M baseball team etums home to face the 12th- anked University of Houston Hjgars in a non-conference game 3tOlsen Field. ■The Aggies are now tied for sec- Dnd place in the Big 12 Conference with Baylor University after taking two of three games from the Uni versity of Kansas over the week- |encl. ®\&M won the first two games •pm the Jayhawks, 6-3 and 8-6, pen lost the last game of the se ries 8-1. pThe Aggies defeated Houston 9- $ on Mar. 7 in Houston. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. INDIANAPOLIS (AP)—This time there was no Magic,just Mateen. Michigan State, with Magic Johnson cheering in the stands, won its second national championship as Mateen Cleaves led the Spartans to an 89-76 victory over Florida on Monday night. It was 21 years ago that the championship game between Michigan State and Indiana State — Magie vs. Bird — changed the landscape of college basketball. This one may not have the magnitude, but it had the drama thanks to Cleaves, the Spartans’ limping leader who needed crutches for his in jured ankle after celebrating with his teammates. “He has the heart of a lion. He has done it for four years, not just one,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “That’s why you love him. I le’s what our program embodies.” Cleaves, the game’s most outstanding player, rolled his ankle ear ly in the second half and had to go to the locker room to have it taped. Earlier, he helped the Spartans build a 43-32 halftime lead by scor ing 13 points, including going 3-for-3 from 3-point range, and negat ed Florida’s vaunted full-court pressure with his ballhandling and passing. “I told them he’ll be back. Let’s not get our heads down,” Izzo said. “I just knew.” When Cleaves left with 16:18 to play the Spartans led 50-44. His teammates got the lead to 58-50 by the time he returned 4:29 later. But the senior guard who missed the first 13 games of the season while re covering from a stress fracture in his right foot, was again the team’s emotional leader. His long pass to Morris Peterson for a layup made it 60-50. He was leveled while setting a screen a few minutes later but it was enough to spring A.J. Granger for a 3-pointer that started a 16-6 run that made it 84-66 and put the game away. Michigan State had been on a mission since losing to Duke in the Fi nal Four last season. Anything short of a national championship would have been a disappointment. “We made some promises. We answered the promises,” Izzo said. Cleaves certainly didn’t beat Florida by himself. Peterson finished with 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting and Granger had 19 and was 7-for-11 from the field. Cleaves was 7-for-11 from the field — all the shots coming before he was injured — and had 18 points and four assists. Cleaves returned for his senior year after many thought he would go to the NBA. “This is what I came back here for,” he said. “This is as storybook as it gets for Mateen,” Izzo said. “He gave up a lot of money, a lot of things to be back here.” The Spartans (32-7), the only top-seeded team to reach the Final Four, finished 33-for-59 from the field (56 percent), the best against Florida’s frantic pace by far in the tournament. The previous best was 43 percent by top-ranked Duke in the regional semifinals. . Michigan State never seemed fazed by the pressure, beating it early with long passes. The Spartans were their usual efficient selves when they did run their halfcourt game, getting good looks and crashing the hoards when they missed. The Michigan State bench was considered a key to any chance the MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP First round Second round Regionals Thurs., March 16 Sat., March 18 Semifinals National Championship Semifinals Regionals Second round Sun., March 19 First round Fri.. March 17 (1) Arizona (16) Jackson St. (8) Wisconsin (9) Fresno St (5) Texas (12) Indiana St. (4) LSD (13) SE Missouri (6) Purdue (11) Dayton (3) Oklahoma (14) Winthrop (7) Louisville (10) Gonzaga (2) St. John's (15) N Arizona (1) Michigan State (16) Valparaiso (8) Utah (9) St. Louis (5) Kentucky (12) St. Bonaventure (4) Syracuse (13) Samford (6) UCLA (11) Ball State (3) Maryland (14) Iona (7) Auburn (10) Creighton (2) Iowa State (15) Central Conn St Arizona 71-47 Wisconsin 66-59 Wisconsin 66-56 Wisconsin 61-48 Albuquerque, WEST MM. Purdue 62-61 March 23 & 25 Purdue 66-62 Oklahoma 74-50 Wisconsin 64-60 Florida 87-78 Kansas 81-77 OT Florida 69-68 OT Florida 93-76 Purdue 75-66 Gonzaga 77-66 Gonzaga 82-76 St. John's 61-56 Indianapolis April 1 Michigan State 65-38 [ Michigan State 73-61 Utah 48-45 j Michigan State 75-58 Kentucky 85-80 20T i Syracuse 52-50 Indianapolis April 3 Michigan State 53-41 NATIONAL CHAMPION Michigan Stale 89-76 Syracuse, N.Y. March 24 & 26 Oklahoma St. 75-67 EAST Oklahoma St 86-66 Oklahoma St. 68-66: Seton Hall 67-65 OT Seton Hall 72-71 OT Indianapolis April 1 N. Carolina 60-53 N, Carolina 74-69! Temple 73-47 Stanford 84-65 i N. Carolina 84-70 UCONN 75-67 Tennessee 65-51 Syracuse 79-65 MIDWEST UCLA 65-57 UCLA 105-70 Maryland 74-59 Auburn Hills, Mich. March 23 & 25 N. Carolina 59-55 Michigan State 75-64 Austin, Texas March 24 & 26 Tennessee 63-58 SOUTH Miami (Fla.) 75-71 Miami (Fla.) 75-62 ? Ohio State 87-61 ! Iowa State 80-56 Auburn 72-69 Iowa State 79-60 Iowa State 88-78 Cincinnati 64-47 Duke (D : Lamar (16) Kansas (8) 3T DePaul (9) Florida (5) T Butler (12) Illinois (4) .... Pennsylvania (13) Indiana (6) -57 : —-""I Pepperdme (11) Oklahoma St. (3) -66 Hofstra (14) Oregon (7) OT -•'•L Seton Hall (10) Temple (2) : Lafayette (15) Stanford (D --"1 S. Carolina St. (16) North Carolina (8) : Missouri (9) UCONN (5) ■ j Utah State (12) Tennessee (4) La. Lafayette (13) Miami (Fla.) (6) j 1 Arkansas (11) Ohio State (3) i Appalachian (14) Tulsa —| UNLV (10) Cincinnati (2) ; UNC Wilmington (15) Spartans had. Florida’s reserves had outscored il 175-45 in the tourna ment, but Jason Richardson had nine points as the Spartans’ backups came up big. Udonis Haslem had a season-high 27 points for the fifth-seeded Gators (29-9), while Brent Wright added 13. The 1979 final is still the highest-rated telecast ofan NCAA basket ball game — the one that hooked the nation on the NCAA tournament. “I knew they were going to win, especially when Mateen came back this year,” Johnson said on the court as the Spartans cut down the nets. “It’s been tough waiting these 21 years, but they’ve been great the last couple of years, and I knew they were going to win it all.” Michigan State, which beat Wisconsin 53-41 in an ugly al 1-Big Ten national semifinal, won all six games on its title run by at least 11 points. ( )seed The Spartans closed the season with 11 straight wins and are the first Big Ten team to win it all since Michigan in 1989. Florida, looking to become the fourth straight Southeastern Confer ence team to win the national championship in an even-numbered year, was making its first appearance in a championship game. The Gators had seven freshmen and sophomores in their 10-man ro tation and this was the first game in the tournament that their lack of ex perience showed. Cleaves had two 3-pointers in the 14-3 run that gave the Spartans a 33-20 lead with 6:51 to play, but a three-point play by Haslem and a bas ket by Donnell Harvey got the Gators within 35-29 with 4:05 left. Charlie Bell and Cleaves sandwiched 3s around a layup by Haslem and the Spartans had a 43-32 halftime lead. columbiaCSd PICTURESL4LJ and © 2000 COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CaSSCOMMUNICAtlONS, INC. Present a Special Advanced Screening oisiRiamo rowwffi'a pictures releasing www.sony.com/28days COLUMBIAFVI mjpr PICTURESLij Wednesday, April 5 8:00 Rudder Theater Contact Student Activities for information on where to get your free passes!
