After a plodding, physical victory over Oklahoma in the Midwest Regional semifinals, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo is growing weary of talking about the Spartans' grinding style of play.
"We've been called so many things all year, it doesn't really bother me anymore," he said yesterday in St. Louis, where the top-seeded Spartans will face No. 3 seed Kentucky in today's regional final. "I'm tired of apologizing for the way we play. We play a hard game, a physical game, because it's about winning games. And that's what we do. We're a hard-working and disciplined team that combines all elements."
Izzo expects the Wildcats to respond in kind today in what promises to be a battle of survival.
"They're physical, too," he said. "I saw [Jamaal] Magloire hitting everybody, including the Red- Hawk [mascot in Kentucky's semifinal win over Miami of Ohio]. I don't think it should be a dirty game, but a physical game. We're just playing our style of ball. We get after people."
Down and dirty
Magloire, meanwhile, has cultivated a reputation as quite a trash-talker on the court. He said he and Miami's Wally Szczerbiak had "some brutal things" to say to each other on Friday night.
Teammate Scott Padgett said that once this season, Magloire "told one guy he was not going to score any more five minutes into the game."
There is apparently a method to Magloire's madness.
"It gets him going, playing better," Padgett said of the verbal abuse Magloire dishes out. "He tries to get over psychologically on an opponent. He gets him going and sometimes gets us going, too."
All business for Owls
Temple might be enjoying its Elite Eight status, but the Owls are not getting a chance to enjoy their surroundings. From the first- and second-round games last week in Boston to their stay this week in East Rutherford, N.J. -- right outside of New York -- the team has had just one focus.
Basketball.
"It's all business," said guard Rasheed Brokenborough. "Coach [John Chaney] doesn't want us laughing or giggling. We're here to do one job, and that's to win. He never lets us go out; we can't even leave the hotel. He won't even let us go out to eat; we have to stay in and order room service.
Said Chaney: "The only place I let them go out was when we were in California, we went to Alcatraz. And we lost to Stanford.
"I don't want them to hear anything, or read anything. I just want to keep them dumb."
David vs. Goliath
Chaney said that in the previous regional finals he has coached (against Duke in 1988, North Carolina in 1991 and Michigan in 1993), his opponent had superior talent.
"It was always David vs. Goliath," he said. "I told our guys, 'Everybody negates you. You have to come out with a slingshot, and hit them low.' "
Duke's easy road
Duke's regional road to the Final Four has been the fifth-easiest since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
The top-ranked Blue Devils have beaten 16th-seeded Florida A&M;, eighth-seeded Tulsa and 12th-seeded Southwest Missouri State. Today they'll face Temple, a No. 6 seed.
The easiest road to the Final Four was the one UNLV took in 1990 en route to the national title. The Runnin' Rebels beat No. 16 Arkansas-Little Rock, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 12 Ball State and No. 11 Loyola-Marymount.