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NCAA Tournament Recap (Oklahoma-Nc Charlotte)
Posted: Sun March 14, 1999 at 6:48 p.m. EST MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Eric Martin hit five of his six 3-pointers in the first half as Oklahoma bolted to a 16-point lead and upset fifth-seeded North Carolina-Charlotte, 85-72, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in the Midwest Region. The Sooners (21-10) held NC-Charlotte without a field goal for a 12:18 stretch of the first half when it took control. Martin had three 3-pointers in a game-opening 21-5 burst and held a 15-point halftime lead. The 49ers (23-11) did come within 70-63 with just over four minutes remaining, but Oklahoma went 13-of-20 from the foul line down the stretch to seal the victory. "We're going to the 'Sweet 16.' I don't know if that has sunk in yet," said Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson, who was 0-4 in the NCAA Tournament with the Sooners before this year. "But I think there's some irony in that statement. We just play basketball. We run our stuff. We're not going to wow you. I've been saying this for six months; we are very good at what we do." Oklahoma, which upset Arizona in the first round Friday for its first NCAA Tournament victory in nine years, advances to the regional semifinals for the first time since 1989, the season after it lost the national title game to Kansas. It will play either top-seeded Michigan State or Mississippi in the round of 16. Martin finished with 18 points and Eduardo Najera 20 and 15 rebounds for the Sooners, the lowest-seeded at-large team in the NCAA Tournament. Oklahoma is the second straight 13 seed from the Midwest Region to reach the regional semifinals, duplicating the feat by Valparaiso last year. The only other 13 seed to reach the round of 16 was Richmond in 1988. "It feels good to be going to the 'Sweet 16," Martin said. "Coach did a good job of getting us under control and on the game plan." Galen Young tallied 23 points and 13 rebounds for the 49ers, who have not made the regional semifinals since 1977, when they advanced to the Final Four before losing to Marquette. "I want to congratulate Oklahoma," said NC-Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz. "They played an exceptional game. They took the game to us in the first half and played a lot better than we did. I'm proud of the fact that we continued to battle. We never quit and I'm proud of that." NC Charlotte trailed 10-5 entering the first officials' timeout but the Sooners exploded for 11 straight points following the stoppage to build a 16-point advantage. Michael Johnson drove for a layup and Martin followed by drilling a 3-pointer from the left wing. Renzi Stone was fouled by converting a follow shot, and the ensuing free throw made it 18-5 with 13 1/2 minutes left in the first half. Martin added his third 3-pointer moments later, this one coming from the left corner, and quickly it was 21-5. "I really like Kelvin (Sampson's) offensive package," Lutz said of his counterpart. "They do some nice things and they all understand their scheme. Their guys did a nice job." The Sooners would not score again for over five minutes, but NC-Charlotte was in the midst of its lengthy drought. During Oklahoma's scoreless period, the 49ers managed just three free throws, which were all wiped away when Martin, who drilled a long 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 24-8 with 7:02 left before halftime. After two free throws by NC-Charlotte's Diego Guevara, Victor Avila converted a layup and Najera followed with a 3-pointer from the right corner to give the Sooners a 29-10 advantage. Young hit two free throws for NC Charlotte, and after a layup by Avila, finally ended the 49ers drought with a 3-pointer from the left wing at the 4:11 mark. But Najera and Johnson each drilled 3-pointers around two free throws by UNC Charlotte's Kelvin Price and Oklahoma had a 20-point lead en route to a 37-22 halftime bulge. "We're just going to go out there and hustle and scrap," Najera said. "Whatever it takes, we're going to do that to win the game. I think we did a pretty good job tonight, and that's why we won." The Sooners shot 45 percent (14-of-31) in the first half while holding the 49ers to just five field goals and 17 percent (5-of-29) shooting. Oklahoma finished at 45 percent (25-of-56), including 13-of-28 from 3-point range, while NC Charlotte was 32 percent (22-of-68) from the field and made 8-of-23 from beyond the arc. A 3-pointer by Kedric Smith with 4:05 remaining brought the 49ers within seven points, but they would not score again from the field until Guevara's layup with 1:31 remaining. The Sooners scored 13 of the final 15 points from the foul line while NC Charlotte misfired on several 3-point attempts. "I learned a long time ago that players win games," Sampson said. "We've got good players. I'm tired of saying that they don't get the credit that they're due. The 'Sweet 16' gives us our credit." Alex Spaulding accumulated 12 points, six rebounds and eight assists and Johnson contributed 11 points for Oklahoma, which held a 45-40 advantage on the boards. "What he (Spaulding) does for us is he comes out and he plays hard," Johnson said. "That's what we need. He comes out and plays hard defense. Whatever we need to shut a guy down, it's up to me and Alex." Guevara scored 16 points and Tremaine Gardiner had 11 and six rebounds for the 49ers, who lost despite committing just seven turnovers. "We executed very well in the second half," Guevara said. "In the first half, we had a lot of looks, we just couldn't put the ball in the hole. "We ran the game plan very well. We just couldn't put the ball in the hole. That's it."© 2000 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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