George Mason coach Larranaga turns down Providence job
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- George Mason basketball coach Jim Larranaga has turned down an offer to coach at his alma mater, Providence College.
"We offered him a very substantial package but he was too comfortable in his current situation and opted to stay at George Mason," Providence athletic director Bob Driscoll said Wednesday. "As a result, I will continue to have ongoing discussions with the other finalists in this search.
Providence is looking for a replacement for Tim Welsh, who was fired last month after three losing seasons in the last four years.
Larranaga led George Mason to the Final Four in 2006 and has coached there for 11 seasons. He graduated from Providence in 1971 and was the Friars' leading scorer in his sophomore and junior seasons. Before arriving at George Mason, he coached Bowling Green State in Ohio for 11 seasons.
Welsh was fired after 10 seasons at Providence. The Friars finished the most recent season 15-16 and lost in the first round of the Big East conference tournament.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Former Navy coach Ben Carnevale dies at age 92
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- Ben Carnevale, the longtime Navy basketball coach who later headed the U.S. Olympic Basketball Committee, has died. He was 92.
The Naval Academy released a statement Wednesday from Carnevale's family, announcing the death Tuesday. No cause of death was released. He had been living in Williamsburg.
Carnevale, born in Raritan, N.J., played for New York University and was a member of the 1935 national championship team. He also played in the first National Invitation Tournament in Madison Square Garden in 1938.
He played professionally with the Jersey Reds of the American Basketball League and served in the Navy during World War II, earning the Purple Heart.
In 1944, he became coach at North Carolina. The Tar Heels went 52-11 in his two seasons with them and played in the NCAA national title game in 1946, losing 43-40 to Oklahoma A&M.
He took over at Navy in 1946 and over the next 20 seasons became the school's winningest basketball coach. The Midshipmen went 257-160 and made six postseason tournament appearances under Carnevale, despite not allowing players to be taller than 6-foot-5.
He became athletic director for NYU in 1966 and held the job for six years. He was also AD at William & Mary from 1972-82.
He retired from William & Mary, but helped organize the Colonial Athletic Association and served as commissioner for the league.
He was the chairman of the United States Olympic Basketball Committee from 1964-68 and was a committee member for 20 years.
He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970.
Carnevale is survived by his wife of 65 years, Agnes Curran Carnevale, a daughter and four sons.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Tulsa earns spot in inaugural College Basketball Invitational
TULSA, Okla. -- Tulsa will host Miami of Ohio at the Reynolds Center in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational Wednesday night.
It's the first time the Golden Hurricane have reached the postseason since the 2002-03 season, and carries on a season that included its recent run to the Conference USA Tournament's championship game.
The CBI, in its first season, is a 16-team single-elimination tournament until the championship round, when it turns into a best-of-3 series. All games are played at campus sites.
The RedHawks, of the Mid-American Conference, finished the season with a 17-15 record.
Tulsa won nine of its final 12 games to finish 20-13.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Collison scores 19 and No. 3 UCLA routs California 88-66
LOS ANGELES -- No controversy, no contest.
No. 3 UCLA buried California under a flurry of 3-pointers to start the second half on its way to an 88-66 victory in the Pac-10 tournament quarterfinals Thursday.
Darren Collison scored 19 points, Josh Shipp 18, and freshman Kevin Love had nine of his 11 in the second half after early foul trouble. UCLA (29-3) had its best 3-point shooting game of the season, hitting 14-of-25.
"It's playoff time now, you have to have a sense of urgency," Love said. "That's what great teams do, they never let up. One loss and you're out."
The top-seeded Bruins won their eighth in a row and advanced to Friday's semifinals against O.J. Mayo and Southern California, which beat Arizona State 59-55. The rivals split in the regular season, with each winning on the other's floor.
"Tomorrow's going to be another grudge match, the battle of the city," Love said. "We know we need to come out and play the same style, the same way. It's going to be tough."
Ryan Anderson scored 17 points and Patrick Christopher 12 to lead the ninth-seeded Golden Bears (16-15), who have lost eight of their last 10.
The Bears were looking to avenge last weekend's one-point loss at UCLA that ended on two controversial calls, both in the Bruins' favor. For their part, the Bruins were eager to dispel chatter that they didn't deserve to win after trailing nearly the entire game.
"We heard a little (talk), but we were more concerned with how we were going to play," Collison said. "It was more about us."
In that game, Shipp hit a rainbow jumper over the corner of the backboard with 1.5 seconds remaining, sending observers scurrying to the NCAA rule book to see whether the shot was legal.
That opportunity was created after it appeared Anderson was fouled when trapped in the left corner. The officials ruled the ball touched Anderson before going out of bounds although Cal argued it went off a UCLA player first.
"I don't think they appreciated hearing that two calls were the only reason they won a (Pac-10) championship," Cal coach Ben Braun said. "That's not fair."
This time, there were no questionable calls and UCLA erased its bitter memory from last year's tournament, when Cal upset the Bruins in overtime in their opening game.
UCLA opened on a 16-4 run before DeVon Hardin's dunk -- Cal's first field goal more than 7½ minutes into the game -- launched a 13-3 spurt that got the Bears within two. Anderson added five points.
But the Bears were derailed by 13 turnovers -- 18 overall -- that were instigated by a UCLA defense that produced eight steals.
"UCLA is a team that feeds off transition and bad shots," Anderson said. "It was our shot selection that hurt us."
The Bruins grabbed the momentum right back and rode it to a 39-25 halftime lead.
"To have a 14-point lead at halftime was a nice cushion," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "They had to play a game yesterday and we were sitting there waiting for them. That definitely was to our advantage."
The Bears got by Washington 84-81 Wednesday in a game that ended after 8 p.m. while the Bruins were idle. Cal skipped a shootaround Thursday for extra rest.
"It was a factor, but I don't want to make excuses," Hardin said.
With Love playing just six minutes because of two fouls, Lorenzo Mata-Real produced the two biggest defensive plays of the half on huge blocks of Anderson and Christopher.
Love, the Pac-10 player and freshman of the year, returned to start the second half and made an immediate impact. He hit three consecutive 3-pointers and Shipp added another for a 51-33 lead.
"Darren found me on all three," Love said. "I was just looking for my shot and I got open for the `3' and happened to knock them down."
Love has scored in double figures in all 32 games this season. He had seven rebounds and four assists, leaving to a standing ovation led by his parents, brother and sister sitting behind the Bruins' bench.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Gamble's 23 points lead Buffalo over Bowling Green, 96-50
AMHERST, N.Y. -- Greg Gamble led Buffalo with 23 points in a 96-50 win over Bowling Green Tuesday night.
Buffalo's 46-point winning margin was its largest over a Mid-American Conference opponent. Andy Robinson scored 18 points for Buffalo (10-18, 3-12 MAC), making 4-of-5 3-point shots. Jawaan Alston scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Brian Moten and Chris Knight each had 11 points for Bowling Green (13-15, 7-8).
Buffalo dominated the sluggish Falcons in the first half, taking a 52-26 lead at halftime. The Bulls connected on seven of their first eight shots in a 17-6 opening run and led by as many as 32 while Bowling Green converted just 10-of-32 from the floor.
The Falcons allowed 21 turnovers in the game and shot 32.8 percent from the field (20-for-61), 4-of-19 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Buffalo shot 50 percent (38-for-76) from the floor and was 14-of-19 from the foul line.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Holloway's 16 points lead Illinois St. past Wright St. 54-46
NORMAL, Ill. -- Emmanuel Holloway scored a game-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting to lead Illinois State past Wright State 54-46 in an ESPN BracketBusters game Sunday evening.
Holloway, who also grabbed five rebounds, was the only Redbird (20-8) in double digits.
Neither team had more than a three-point lead during the first half, and Illinois State took a slim 22-20 lead into halftime.
The Redbirds then surged in the second half, outscoring the Raiders (20-7) 13-1 during the first 6:42 of the period to take a 35-21 lead.
Scottie Wilson scored 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting and had five rebounds for Wright State, whose loss snapped an 11-game winning streak. Vaughn Duggins chipped in 10 points.
The Redbirds shot 44 percent overall, went 6-of-15 from behind the arc and hit 12-of-19 from the stripe. The Raiders shot 40 percent but hit just 5-of-18 from three-point range and 5-of-8 from the foul line.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
MVSU gets past Southern U, 52-51
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Eric Petty scored 14 points and Carl Lucas had 12 as Mississippi Valley State edged past Southern University, 52-51, in a Southwestern Athletic Conference win on Monday.
Southern led at the half, 29-27.
MVSU (9-15, 7-6) scored 24 points in the paint compared to just 14 for Southern (8-16, 6-7).
Joseph Jack led the Jaguars with 14 points. He was the only player to score in double figures for Southern.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
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