Points
Ryan Robertson, Kansas 31
Scott Padgett, Kentucky 29
Danny Moore, SW Missouri 25
Wally Szczerbiak, Miami, Ohio 24
Galen Young, NC-Charlotte 23
Brian Cardinal, Purdue 20
Andre Miller, Utah 20
Eduardo Najera, Oklahoma 20
William Avery, Duke 19
Tim James, Miami, Fla. 19
Wayne Turner, Kentucky 19
Rebounds
Najera, Oklahoma 15
Young, NC-Charlotte 13
Mario Bland, Miami, Fla. 11
Eric Chenowith, Kansas 10
Padgett, Kentucky 10
Assists
Alex Spaulding, Oklahoma 8
Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State 7
Tony Mayfield, Purdue 7
Turner, Kentucky 7
Young, NC-Charlotte 6
Damon Frierson, Miami, Ohio 6
Devilish omen
Duke moves on to the East Regional semifinals at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., and as if the leading basketball indicators weren't already all pointing in the Blue Devils' favor, here's one more: Duke is 8-0 in NCAA tournament games at the arena in the Meadowlands, where it won regional titles in 1986, '88, '89 and '90.
Rocky shooting
Tennessee was 18-for-61 from the field in its 81-51 loss to Southwest Missouri State. Vincent Yarborough, C. J. Black and Tony Harris were a combined 4-for-23. North Carolina-Charlotte missed 18 consecutive shots in the first half on the way to an 85-72 loss to Oklahoma.
Coming back
The unsung hero for Oklahoma was guard Alex Spaulding, a sophomore who left school in October because his father was seriously ill and ended up missing six weeks. Spaulding had 12 points, eight assists, six rebounds and a pair of steals. "We don't need to have great players to say we're good," Sooners coach Kelvin Sampson said. "There's got to be a place for the kid like Alex who plays hard and plays with heart."
Re-signed
One Southwest Missouri State fan showed up for yesterday's game with a two-sided cardboard sign. The front said: "We want Duke." The back said: "To let us win."
Numerology
In its 97-56 victory over Tulsa, Duke had more steals (12) than turnovers (10). With its defeat by Southwest Missouri State, Tennessee has an all-time record of 2-8 against Missouri Valley Conference schools. In the first half against Mississippi, Michigan State's Mateen Cleaves committed five turnovers. In the entire Big Ten tournament, he had only six. Whatever Michael Ruffin's numbers on the basketball court, the Tulsa center's most impressive may be his 3.77 grade-point average as a chemical engineering major.
He's got games
Kentucky guard Wayne Turner, who has missed just one game in his college career, played in his 149th game yesterday. Turner broke the national record held by Duke's Christian Laettner.
Quotable
"Coach always told us that your will is bigger than your skill." -- Temple's Rasheed Brokenborough.
"They're like a bunch of sharks that smell blood." -- Tulsa coach Bill Self on Duke.
Pub Date: 3/15/99