Friday, March 20, 1998
By SCOTT M. JOHNSON
Enterprise staff writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- In the moments following the biggest game of his career to date, Bob Williams found himself in an unlikely position. He was actually at a loss for words.
It was not as if Williams, the gregarious men's basketball coach of UC Davis, had nothing to say. Rather, he did not know where to begin.
The Aggies continued to tack on firsts in school history Thursday, none bigger than the team's first Final Four victory, an 88-76 win over St. Rose (N.Y.). Now UCD (30-2) will play in the NCAA Division II championship game and be on national television for the first time.
But the things swimming in Williams' head were more immediate.
Did he talk about the way sophomore Jason Cox played the finest 20 minutes of his career to give UCD a big first-half lead?
Did he talk about the way St. Rose came storming back from a 23-point second-half deficit to get within six points?
Did he talk about senior Justis Durkee, who helped get the Aggies back on track late in the game while playing the final 9 1/2 minutes with four fouls.
``I'm not sure what you're supposed to say in a moment like this, when you get a chance to play for the national championship,'' said Williams, whose team will face Kentucky Wesleyan at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. ``We obviously could not be more happy, more proud of this basketball team than we are right now. This is a great achievement by a great group of kids that have worked very, very hard to get here.''
Williams' team worked hard to jump on St. Rose (27-6) early, taking a 14-point halftime lead behind Cox. The 6-foot-6 sophomore took full advantage when St. Rose forward Hassan Abdullah got into early foul trouble, as Cox scored 22 points in the first half on 8-of-9 shooting.
During the final 7:38 of the first half, he scored 17 points, including two 3-point shots and a driving one-armed knuckleball that fell through just before the buzzer sounded to give the Aggies a 42-28 lead.
``In the first half, I had a lot of open looks,'' said Cox, who finished with a career-high 27 points and tied a school record with five blocks. ``I came into tonight feeling really confident about my shot. You put those two things together, and it turned out real nice.''
While Cox looked as healthy as he has all season, UCD increased its lead to 55-32 before suddenly appearing as if it was on life support. In a foul-plagued, never-ending second half, the Aggies found themselves just trying to hang on.
The Golden Knights, who had rallied to win their past two games in overtime, hit four consecutive 3-pointers over a 1 1/2-minute stretch to close the gap to 63-56 with 9:25 remaining in the game.
Williams then put Durkee back in the game even though the senior had four fouls. The 6-4 center promptly scored six points to help UCD regain a comfortable 11-point lead. Perhaps Durkee's most important shot came on a power move after the Aggies inbounded the ball to him with one second left on the shot clock.
``Going back into the game with four fouls, you've got to play hard, play tough and do what you've been doing the whole game,'' said Durkee, who had 16 points and nine rebounds. ``If the ref calls it, then you accept it.''
Said Williams, ``You're playing in the semifinals of the national championship tournament. I'm not going to let our best inside player the reason we are where we are sit next to me and watch. He's got to be in the game. ... I told him toward the end of the game that it was Justis time, and he really did take the game over when we needed him to.''
St. Rose made another run to get within six points with 2:10 remaining, but UCD responded twice with both of its point guards on the floor.
Travon Dugar and Dante Ross exchanged assists and breakaway layups on consecutive possessions to fend off the pesky Knights.
By end of the game, which lasted more than two hours and saw the two teams combine for 54 fouls, even Williams was exhausted. But once he got started, the words flowed freely, as usual.
``We're all maybe in a little bit of shock with the idea that we're playing for the national championship,'' he said. ``What are we on? It's three letters. CBS? NBC? ABC?
``We enjoyed it in the locker room afterward as I think we should. I think it's something that will set in on us tomorrow. Not that many years ago, winning 20 games here was a milestone. For us to win our 30th game of the season is a tremendous accomplishment by these kids.''
The Aggies' final roadblock will probably be their most daunting. Kentucky Wesleyan, from Owensboro, about a two-hour drive away, has had a loud contingent of local fans at the past two games.
``I like playing in front of crowds, whether they're for or against us,'' Cox said. ``It's something I psyche myself up for. This is what it's all about.''
A few minutes later, Cox emerged to watch the first half of Kentucky Wesleyan's 80-72 win over Virginia Union.
``They have a big old crowd up here,'' he said. ``I was just telling (teammate) John Surina, they can get pretty bothersome.''
Kentucky Wesleyan 80, Virginia Union 72 -- In a furious battle of ``can-you-top-this?,'' Wesleyan's Larenzo Conner got the last laugh.
Conner scored 29 points, including 19 in the second half, to outduel Virginia Union's William Davis and lead the Panthers (30-2) back to the glory days.
Kentucky Wesleyan, which has won six national titles, is in the Elite Eight for the first time since 1990.
Davis scored 18 of his 29 points in the second half for Virginia Union (27-6).
Antonio Garcia added 12 points and 21 rebounds for the Panthers, who drew inspiration from a crowd of 2,307, most of whom were Wesleyan supporters.
``They're just like our sixth man,'' the Panthers' Will McDonald said. ``No matter how the game's going, they're going to be there and give us a lift.''
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