The Associated Press

For the second year in a row, the little Jesuit college from Spokane, Wash.

Friday, March 17, 2000

For the second year in a row, the little Jesuit college from Spokane, Wash. – the zag rhymes with bag – knocked off a first-round opponent in the NCAA West regional, this time beating Louisville 77-66 Thursday night behind Richie Fram’s 31 points.

After last year’s run to the regional final, Gonzaga is 4-1 in the tournament the last two years, with a second-round date against No. 2 seed St. John’s on Saturday.

”We didn’t come here to get just one win,” the Bulldogs’ Matt Santangelo said. ”We have a chip on our shoulder. We want to prove that last year was no fluke, that Gonzaga is a good basketball program.”

”We aren’t a Cinderella team anymore,” the Bulldogs’ Ryan Floyd said.

Despite a season-high 24 turnovers, Gonzaga pulled away in the second half with timely shooting and a tight defense that held Louisville to 38 percent from the field. Louisville coach Denny Crum, though, said the Cardinals were more responsible for the lousy shooting than Gonzaga’s defense was.

”We had open shots all over the gym and we just couldn’t make them,” he said.

Marques Maybin scored 21 and Nate Johnson 14 for Louisville. It was the second year in a row that the Cardinals lost in the first round as a No. 7 seed.

Santangelo scored 16 points and Axel Dench had 14 points, six rebounds and six assists for Gonzaga, which shot 57 percent from the field.

Frahm, one of four seniors in the Bulldogs’ starting lineup, was 4-for-8 from 3-point range and figured at both ends of the most spectacular and decisive moments in the game.

With Gonzaga leading 49-48, Louisville’s Quintin Bailey was headed for a breakaway stuff. But the 6-foot-5 Frahm, who had seven blocks all season, somehow blocked Bailey’s dunk from behind. At the other end, Frahm sank a 3-pointer to the roar of the pro-Bulldogs crowd, and Gonzaga led 52-48 with 10:51 to play. The play ignited an 11-4 run, and the Cardinals never recovered.

West Regional

At Tucson, Ariz.

St. John’s 61, Northern Arizona 56

Lavor Postell converted a three-point play with 10.9 seconds to play and Erick Barkley made a steal with three seconds left to seal second-seeded St. John’s victory over 15th-seeded Northern Arizona.

Bootsy Thornton led the Red Storm (25-7) with 20 points. Dan McClintock had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Lumberjacks (20-11).

Oklahoma 74, Winthrop 50

J.R. Raymond scored 14 points as third-seeded Oklahoma beat 14th-seeded Winthrop.

Tim Heskett and Nolan Johnson each scored 12 points for the Sooners (27-6), who made 10 of 21 3-pointers. Greg Lewis led Winthrop (21-9) with 21 points.

Purdue 62, Dayton 61

Jaraan Cornell hit three 3-pointers in the final nine minutes as sixth-seeded Purdue beat 11th-seeded Dayton.

Dayton’s David Morris had a chance to win it in the final seconds, but his 40-footer hit the side of the backboard.

Brian Cardinal led Purdue (22-9) with 18 points, and Cornell finished with 13. Tony Stanley and Mark Ashman each had 16 points for Dayton (22-9).

At Salt Lake City

Arizona 71, Jackson St. 47

Michael Wright had 19 points and 13 rebounds as top-seeded Arizona beat 16th-seeded Jackson State.

Gilbert Arenas scored 16 points, and Richard Jefferson added 14 for the Wildcats (27-6), who will face Wisconsin on Saturday. Vincent Jones led Jackson State (17-16) with 12 points.

Wisconsin 66, Fresno St. 56

Jon Bryant scored 21 points, including four consecutive 3-pointers from the left corner, as eighth-seeded Wisconsin beat ninth-seeded Fresno State.

Wisconsin (19-13) scored 14 straight points for a 52-44 lead with 6:12 remaining.

Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian was making his first trip to the NCAA tournament since 1991 when UNLV reached the Final Four. Terrance Roberson led the Bulldogs (24-10) with 19 points.

Texas 77, Indiana St. 61

Darren Kelly scored 17 points, and Gabe Muoneke, Chris Mihm and Chris Owens each had 16 as fifth-seeded Texas beat 12th-seeded Indiana State.

Texas (24-8) will face LSU on Saturday. Michael Menser led Indiana State (22-10) with 22 points.

LSU 64, SE Missouri St. 61

Brian Beshara hit a 3-pointer with 17.8 seconds remaining to lift fourth-seeded LSU past 13th-seeded Southeast Missouri State.

Jabari Smith led the Tigers (27-5) with 17 points. Roderick Johnson had 19 points for the Indians (24-7).