3/18/1993

Santa Clara, Seeded 15th, Beats Arizona

In one of the biggest upsets since the National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament began seeding its teams in 1979, unranked and unheralded Santa Clara stunned Arizona, 64-61, tonight in the first round of the West Regional.

The Broncos (19-11), champions of the West Coast Conference and seeded 15th among the regional's 16 teams, fell behind by 13 points in the second half before mounting an improbable comeback. It was only the second time that a 15th-seeded team had won a game since the tournament field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

The Wildcats, seeded second here behind Michigan and ranked fifth in the nation by The Associated Press, had run roughshod through the Pacific-10 Conference and had been among the favorites to make it to the Final Four. They dropped to 24-4 and lost in the first round of the national tournament for the second consecutive year. Last time, they were knocked off by 14th-seeded East Tennessee State.

"I don't feel jinxed," said Arizona Coach Lute Olson, whose team shot 25 percent in the second half, 31 percent over all. "At this point I'm just frustrated that we couldn't play more the way we're capable of playing." Shades of Richmond

Santa Clara survived four missed free throws in the final eight seconds, and when Damon Stoudamire's desperation 3-pointer clanged off the back of the rim with one second left, Arizona had joined Syracuse in the ranks of March futility. In 1991, second-seeded Syracuse was a 73-69 loser to 15th-seeded Richmond.

Santa Clara led by 33-21 with 4 minutes 41 seconds left in the first half but did not score again in the half and trailed, 35-33, at the halftime. After scoring the last 14 points of the first half, the Wildcats scored the first 11 points of the second half to take a 46-33 lead with 15:26 remaining.

Seconds later, Arizona's Chris Mills, the team's leading scorer, picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench.

"It was very frustrating having to sit there for 10 minutes in the second half," said Mills, who finished with 19 points. "We had a nice little lead, and me with four fouls not being able to go in there was sort of like me letting my team down."

Arizona's lead had been cut to 3 points, 52-49, when Mills came back in with 5:21 left. The Wildcats went more than 15 minutes without scoring a field goal until Mills hit a 3-pointer with 8.4 seconds left that drew Arizona to 64-61.

Santa Clara's Steve Nash missed two free throws with 7.3 seconds left, but teammate Kevin Dunne grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 5.1 seconds left. He also missed both free throws, and then Stoudamire's 23-footer missed as time expired.

"They didn't panic," said Santa Clara Coach Dick Davey, "but I did."

Santa Clara will next face Temple, a winner over Missouri. Illinois 75, Long Beach St. 72

A few layup attempts, successful and unsuccessful, turned the game around as sixth-seeded Illinois defeated 11th-seeded Long Beach State.

With Illinois (19-12) ahead by 69-67, a layup attempt by Bryon Russell of Long Beach State rolled over the top of the basket.

"The game could have been decided by a layup that rolls out, but we were in a position to win the game," Long Beach State Coach Seth Greenberg said. "If we just rebounded the ball better as a team, we'd probably be in the locker room celebrating." The Illini held a 36-22 rebounding advantage.

Russell, who was fouled on the play, missed the first free throw and made the second. Then Lucious Harris scored on a driving layup to put Long Beach State ahead, 70-69, with 1:37 remaining.

Rennie Clemons drove the lane and scored from under the basket to give the Illini the lead. Then Harris, who led Long Beach with 27 points, was stripped of the ball.