The Associated Press

”It’s numbing to think the season is over,” the Stanford coach said after the top-seeded Cardinal failed to reach the second week of the wide-open NCAA tournament.

Monday, March 20, 2000

”It’s numbing to think the season is over,” the Stanford coach said after the top-seeded Cardinal failed to reach the second week of the wide-open NCAA tournament.

A day after Wisconsin stunned top-seeded Arizona and Gonzaga upset second-seeded St. John’s in the West Regional, the Cardinal dropped out with a 60-53 loss to North Carolina in the South.

Cincinnati, Temple, Ohio State and defending champion Connecticut also lost Sunday, and Duke needed a late basket and steal from freshman Carlos Boozer to avoid yet another shocker against Kansas.

Stanford’s loss left the tournament with as many No. 10 seeds – Gonzaga and Seton Hall – as No. 1s – Duke and Michigan State.

Since seeding started in 1979, the only other time two No. 1s didn’t reach the round of 16 was 1981, when DePaul and Oregon State failed to survive.

Injuries played a big role in Sunday’s games.

Cincinnati couldn’t overcome the loss of Kenyon Martin, and Connecticut was lost with Khalid El-Amin slowed by an ankle injury.

Martin, the All-American center who broke his leg in the Conference USA tournament, could only watch in despair as Tulsa beat second-seeded Cincinnati 69-61 in the South.

”It’s hard when you can’t help,” Martin said. ”It is a helpless feeling. It’s very tough in this room right now. It’s something that can’t be explained in words.”

With El-Amin hobbled, Tennessee beat Connecticut 65-51 in the South.

”I know that I bring the energy and demeanor to this team,” the star point guard said. ”And without me, we weren’t able to go offensively like we are normally able to.”

Seton Hall found a way to beat second-seeded Temple in the East after Shaheen Holloway, the hero of the Pirates’ first-round victory over Oregon, injured his left ankle.

Ty Shine, Holloway’s backup, hit the deciding 3-pointer with 18 seconds left in overtime as the Pirates beat the Owls 67-65.

”I just tried to step up when I saw him go down,” said Shine, who had a career-high 26 points. ”When I got into the game we were kind of down. I just wanted to provide a boost.”

Seton Hall will play Oklahoma State on Friday in the regional semifinals in Syracuse, N.Y. Oklahoma State beat Pepperdine 75-67. In the other semifinal, Florida will play Duke, a 69-64 winner over Kansas. Florida beat Illinois 93-76.

In the South Regional in Austin, Texas, on Friday, North Carolina will play Tennessee. Tulsa will face sixth-seeded Miami, which beat third-seeded Ohio State 75-62.

The West and Midwest semifinals are Thursday. In the West in Albuquerque, N.M., Wisconsin will meet LSU, and Gonzaga will play Purdue. In the Midwest in Auburn Hills, Mich., Michigan State will be matched against Syracuse, and Iowa State will face UCLA.

EAST

At Buffalo, N.Y.

Seton Hall 67, Temple 65, OT

Shine was 7-for-11 from 3-point range, and Seton Hall finished with 15 3-pointers in 30 attempts.

Rimas Kaukenas added 18 points for the Pirates (22-9). Mark Karcher led Temple (27-6) with 27 points.

Temple coach John Chaney saw yet another season end without reaching his first Final Four.

”This team certainly had a lot more talent and a lot more depth than any team I’ve had, but your best team isn’t always the team that wins,” the 68-year-old coach said.

Oklahoma St. 75, Pepperdine 67

Fredrik Jonzen scored 21 points as third-seeded Oklahoma State broke open a close game in the second half.

Joe Adkins added 18 points for the Cowboys (26-6). Brandon Armstrong led Pepperdine (25-9) with 19 points.

Pepperdine was 7-of-32 from 3-point range, while Oklahoma State made half of its 14 attempts.

At Winston-Salem, N.C.

Duke 69, Kansas 64

Shane Battier had 21 points, eight rebounds and a career-high eight blocked shots for Duke (29-4) in a rematch of the Blue Devils’ victory in the 1991 championship game.

Boozer made the go-ahead follow shot with 53.5 seconds left and stole Nick Bradford’s pass 29 seconds later to help seal coach Mike Krzyzewski’s 50th NCAA tournament victory.

Kirk Hinrich had 12 points for Kansas (24-10).

Florida 93, Illinois 76

Freshman Brett Nelson had 16 points and three steals to help Florida advance to the final 16 for the second straight year.

The Gators (26-7) are 4-1 in the NCAA tournament under coach Billy Donovan, who succeeded Lon Kruger following his departure for Illinois four seasons ago.

Mike Miller led Florida with 19 points. Cory Bradford had 27 points for Illinois.

SOUTH

At Birmingham, Ala.

North Carolina 60, Stanford 53

Freshman Joseph Forte hit two huge 3-pointers in the closing minutes for eighth-seeded North Carolina (20-13).

Forte finished with 17 points, sparking a decisive 10-0 run and punctuating his effort with a game-ending dunk.

Ed Cota added 10 assists, seven points and seven rebounds to help the Tar Heels record their 30th straight 20-victory season.

David Moseley scored 17 points for the Cardinal (27-4).

Tennessee 65, Connecticut 51

Tony Harris scored 18 points as fourth-seeded Tennessee (26-6) took advantage of El-Amin’s ankle injury.

El-Amin was largely ineffective for the Huskies (25-10). He scored only three points, and took just two shots in 13 minutes.