Tuesday, December 29, 1998
Associated Press
Florida State's Justin Mott (42) and Princeton's
Chris Young (55) battle for a rebound during
the Rainbow Classic.
Princeton’s They used the clock. They used the floor.
patience pays
off handsomely
The Tigers play the clock
By Cindy Luis
and beat Florida State to
reach the Rainbow
Classic semifinals
Star-Bulletin
More importantly, Princeton used up Florida State's patience.
The Tigers' playing style, perfectly suited to the experimental 45-second clock, wore on the Seminoles last night. Princeton capitalized on frustration and FSU's inability to score in the final 5:48 to pull out a 50-46 victory in the final first-round game of the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic.
The win puts Princeton (6-4) into tonight's 8 p.m. marquee semifinal against Texas (3-7), an 81-77 winner over Mississippi State earlier yesterday. In today's first semifinal at 5:30 p.m., host and defending champion Hawaii (3-7) faces North Carolina-Charlotte (7-4).
In today's consolation bracket, Southwestern Louisiana (4-6) met Murray State (9-1) at 11 a.m. The second consolation game pitted Mississippi State (9-2) against Florida State (5-5) at 1:30 p.m.
The win also sets up a what-if scenario for Princeton 6-foot-10 freshman center Chris Young. Young, who intends to also play baseball for the Tigers, is a Texas native and was heavily recruited by the Longhorns last season.
"I'm happy where I am," said Young, who scored Princeton's first nine points to finish with 13 points and 10 rebounds. "Between the academics and the athletic opportunities, it was the right choice."
For the 3,004 basketball purists who chose to be in attendance at the Stan Sheriff Center last night, Princeton's fundamentals and textbook execution was a thing of beauty and a little boredom. The 5,061 no-shows missed out on the Tigers' disciplined offense that led to a 23-9 opening margin -- with six of their first seven baskets coming on backdoor assists.
The Seminoles finally switched to a 1-3-1 zone that thwarted the Tigers and helped FSU close the game to 23-21 with a 12-0 run. Princeton closed the half with an 11-2 spurt, with the last three baskets from 3-point range, for a 34-23 lead.
The Seminoles refused to fold, cutting into a 12-point Princeton lead with back-door passes of their own and the 3-point shooting of Terrell Baker and Ron Hale. Adrian Crawford's basket off a steal by Baker gave Florida State only its second lead of the game, 46-44, with 5:48 left.
FSU would not score again. Baskets by Brian Earl and Mason Rocca gave Princeton the lead for good at 49-46 and, after Young came up with three consecutive defensive rebounds and had a key block, Earl ended the scoring with a free throw with 11.4 seconds remaining.
C.J. Chapman picked off the final Seminole inbounds pass. Senior forward Gabe Lewullis passed up an easy basket by dribbling out the clock.
Lewullis finished with 14 points and Earl added 13 points in playing the entire 40 minutes along side Lewullis.
"We went up big and you could see it in their faces that they couldn't figure out what to do with us," Earl said. "Then they went to the zone and we got frustrated. It was a game where each team was frustrated and luckily we pulled it out."
"We had our moments and did some good things," FSU coach Steve Robinson said. "We could have folded but the kids didn't. They tried to put themselves back in position to win. What more can you ask from a coach's standpoint than to have the ball and the lead in the final few minutes of the game."
Texas 81, Mississippi St. 77: The Longhorns nearly blew a 12-point lead in the final 2:14 against the Bulldogs but managed to hold on despite missing 10 free throw attempts over the last 134 seconds.
"Missing those free throws enabled them (MSU) to come back," said Texas senior forward Kris Clack, who finished with a team-high 18 points but a 4-of-8 effort from the line.
The Longhorns (3-7) were aggressive until taking a 72-60 lead with 2:14 remaining. The Bulldogs (9-2) hit three 3-pointers during a frantic 17-6 run to close to 78-77 with 8.6 seconds left.
Texas junior guard William Clay iced the game when he completed a three-point play with four seconds to go.
Rainbow Classic
Mississippi State: Roberts 3-8 0-0 6, Hamilton 6-10 0-0 15, Washington 8-14 2-6 18, Hyche 3-8 1-2 9, White 4-10 0-0 9, Myles 4-6 0-3 9, Marshall 2-7 0-0 5, Gholar 1-3 0-0 3, Boswell 0-3 0-0 0, Jackson 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 31-70 5-13 77.
Texas: Clack 7-14 4-8 18, Muoneke 4-8 0-3 8, Mihm 3-10 2-2 8, Wagner 4-8 3-8 12,
Vazquez 3-5 5-6 12, McColpin 3-4 0-0 9, Carter 2-4 0-0 4, Clay 2-10 6-9 10. Totals: 28-63 20-36 81.
Halftime--Texas 44, Mississippi St. 33. 3-Point goals--Mississippi St. 10-29 (Hamilton 3-7, Marshall 2-5, Washington 1-1, Myles 1-2, Gholar 1-2, White 1-5, Hyche 1-6, Boswell 0-1), Texas 5-15 (McColpin 3-4, Vazquez 1-2, Wagner 1-2, Mihm 0-1, Clay 0-3, Clack 0-3). Fouled out--Hyche, Marshall, Mihm. Rebounds--Mississippi St. 42 (Washington 14), Texas 42 (Mihm 11). Assists--Mississippi St. 16 (Myles 6), Texas 18 (Clack 5). Total fouls--Mississippi St. 27, Texas 16.
Princeton: Lewullis 5-10 0-0 14, Krug 1-3 0-0 3, Young 6-11 1-1 13, Chapman 2-7 0-0 4, Earl 5-9 1-2 13, El--Nokali 0-1 0-0 0, Rocca 1-2 1-2 3. Totals:: 20-43 3-5 50.
Florida State: Simmons 2-4 0-0 4, Hale 3-6 2-2 10, Mott 0-1 0-0 0, Baker 5-13 0-0 13, Arrington 1-7 0-0 3, Crawford 4-9 0-0 9, Anderson 3-4 1-3 7. Totals: 18-44 3-5 46
Halftime--Princeton 34, Florida St. 23. 3-point goals--Princeton 7-26 (Lewullis 4-8, Earl 2-6, Krug 1-3, El-Nokali 0-1, Rocca 0-1, Young 0-2, Chapman 0-5), Florida St. 7-16 (Baker 3-6, Hale 2-3, Arrington 1-3, Crawford 1-4). Rebounds--Princeton 27 (Young 10), Florida St. 25 (Hale 5). Assists--Princeton 15 (Lewullis 5), Florida St.15 (Arrington 5). Total fouls--Princeton 8, Florida St. 11. A--8,065.
