|
ANAHEIM, Calif. Vontae Davis Elite Jersey . -- Nick Johnson put an awful first half behind him and came up big for Arizona in the final 2:45. The Pac-12 player of the year scored all of his 15 points over that span after missing his first 10 shots, and helped Arizona hold off San Diego State 70-64 on Thursday night to reach the final eight of the NCAA tournament. "When I hit one shot it just started to feel a little bit better," he said. "I just kept on hitting shots." Mostly, Johnson hit free throws, making all 10 of his attempts to go with a field goal and a 3-pointer after the Aztecs shut him down for the first 37 minutes. "He just exploded in the second half," said San Diego States Dwayne Polee, who guarded Johnson. "I cant say that we didnt play hard defence, but he just made a lot of good shots." Aaron Gordon and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson scored 15 points each for the top-seeded Wildcats (33-4), who will try to win a West Regional final for the first time in Anaheim. Theyre 0-3 at Honda Center going into Saturdays game against second-seeded Wisconsin (29-7). Arizona coach Sean Miller joined his brother Archie in the final eight. The younger Miller coached Dayton to an 82-72 victory over Stanford of the Pac-12 in the South Regional semifinals. "We watched the game in our locker room," Miller said. "The fact that two of us are in the Elite Eight is a very unique situation, but well see." Xavier Thames scored 25 points and Dwayne Polee added 13 points for the Aztecs (31-5). Those two tried to bail out SDSU in the final minute, each hitting 3-pointers before Thames basket cut the deficit to 65-61 with 38 seconds left. The drama wasnt over yet in a game featuring tenacious defence and rabid intensity by both teams. SDSU got called for a 10-second violation, and the Wildcats regained the ball. Johnson got fouled and made both for a 67-61 lead with 26 seconds to go. Thames got fouled on a 3-point attempt, and he sank all three shots to leave SDSU trailing 67-64. The Aztecs had Johnson trapped near their bench, but he passed out of the double team and Gabe York got fouled at the other end. He missed the first and made the second, keeping Arizona ahead 68-64. Thames missed, and Johnson went to the line again where he ended the scoring with two free throws. San Diego State led by eight points early in the second half after leading by that many just before halftime. The Aztecs controlled the boards 37-29, with three of them often battling at once on the defensive end. Josh Davis had 14 rebounds for SDSU. The Aztecs were trying to reach the final eight for the first time in school history under 69-year-old coach Steve Fisher. "One of these days were going to get to a Final Four," Fisher said. Johnsons 2 of 12 shooting wasnt the Wildcats only problem. Kaleb Tarczewski returned late in the game with four fouls and Hollis-Jefferson fouled out with 4:42 to play. But Johnson made his first basket a couple minutes later and carried the Wildcats across the finish line after they trailed much of the second half. "Its amazing for a kid to be able to do that after not making shots for about 25, 30 straight minutes," Miller said. T.J. McConnells layup gave Arizona its first lead, 50-49, of the second half after the Wildcats got within one three times. SDSU answered with baskets the first two times, but couldnt stop McConnell, who finished with 11 points. The Wildcats started getting some of the offensive rebounds that eluded them much of the game, and Tarczewski scored after his teammates grabbed two on the same possession to keep Arizona ahead 54-51. Polees defence helped keep Johnson scoreless in the first half, when he went 0 for 7 and missed all three of his 3-point attempts. He finally hit a jumper at the buzzer, but typical of Arizonas early luck, it was ruled no good. Tarczewski picked up his third foul with 5:13 to go, leaving the Wildcats without their 7-footer to protect the basket. Mike Adams Womens Jersey . Grabner scored on a breakaway 3:53 into overtime as the Islanders defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Tuesday. Johnny Unitas Elite Jersey . -- Ryan Mallett played solidly in his first chance at quarterback for the New England Patriots.WINNIPEG -- Brad Jacobs was the first to admit how poorly his team played. Hes also one win away from a trip to the Winter Games. The reigning Canadian champion remained undefeated at 6-0 with a 5-4 victory Thursday night over veteran Kevin Martin, clinching a spot in Sundays final of the Canadian Olympic curling trials. "Even though we were, in all honesty, pretty bad that game, we were able to pull it out and I think thats huge," Jacobs said. "And I think even though we were sloppy, we were still confident. But it was really nice to be in a game like that where we had to grind and score two to win." Martin came out of the battle of the best with a 5-1 record that earned the veteran from Edmonton a berth into Saturday afternoons semifinal. The other semifinalist wont be determined until the men finish their seven-game Roar of the Rings round robin with a morning draw Friday at the MTS Centre. With Martin leading 4-3, Jacobs blanked the eighth and ninth ends to keep the hammer in the 10th. Both rinks had a pair of rocks inside the four-foot, with a Jacobs stone almost dead centre in the button. Martin then put up a guard, forcing the 28-year-old from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., to do a run-back takeout and score two points. Martin, who won gold at the 2010 Olympics and silver in 2002, is looking for a fourth trip to the Games. The 47-year-old was leading Jacobs 3-1 after four ends, but Jacobs scored two in the sixth to tie it up. Martin looked like he was going to taken advantage of Jacobs misses in the seventh end and score two, but after he took out a Jacobs stone his own rock was just barely swept out of the rings for the 4-3 lead. Martin agreed it was a sloppy game by both sides. "But Brad made a good one in his last one," he said. A duel between the Winnipeg rinks skipped by Jeff Stoughton and Mike McEwen ended with McEwen defeating the veteran 9-6. Stoughton, who dropped to 2-4, was given a standing ovation. McEwen sits at 3-3. Before competing in his fifth trials, Stoughton said itll be his last attempt to go to the Olympics. McEwen jumped to a 5-1 lead after the third end when he scored four against the two-time world champion, but Stoughton stole two in the fifth to close the gap 5-4. McEwen stretched the lead to 9-5 after a draw for three in the eighth end. "Its whoever played their best this week," Stoughton said. "We didnt play our best and we got what we got, which is not enough wins to get in the playoffs." Winless Kevin Koe of Calgary drew to the button to claim his firstt victory of the competition with a 7-6 decision over veteran Glenn Howard of Coldwater, Ont. Bjoern Werner Womens Jersey. (2-4). John Morris, who curls out of Kelowna, B.C., improved to 4-2 with a 7-6 win over John Epping of Toronto (1-5). "Not the textbook when youre up 5-2 that youd want to play it, but thats how we roll," Morris said. "Sometimes its not pretty, but we get the job done and were excited to live on till tomorrow." Morris plays Martin on Friday, with the other matchups between Stoughton and Howard, McEwen and Koe and Epping against Jacobs. On the womens side, Rachel Homan avoided playing a tiebreaker and grabbed a spot in the semifinals. The reigning Canadian champion defeated Stefanie Lawton of Saskatoon 6-5 in the final game of their seven-game round robin to finish 4-3, but Winnipegs Chelsea Carey and Ontarios Sherry Middaugh also sported the same mark. Homan got bumped to the semi, though, because her Ottawa rink fared better than Carey and Middaughs teams on rankings based on draws to the button before games throughout the week. "It wasnt important," Homan said of avoiding a tiebreaker. "Its nice to be able to get second place and go into the semi. Either way we had a chance and thats all we needed." Carey and Middaugh will play their tiebreaker Friday afternoon, with the winner taking on Homan later that night. Homan, 24, had no preference on which team theyd prefer taking on. "Weve played them both a million times and its going to be a good game either way and hopefully we can win it in 10 (ends)," Homan said. Winnipeg veteran skip Jennifer Jones already earned a bye into Saturday nights final and will watch her competitors battle it out. Jones, 39, defeated Edmontons Heather Nedohin 6-5 to finish her round robin at 6-1, while Nedohin ended with a 3-4 mark. Homan almost had to play in a tiebreaker, but Edmontons Val Sweeting lost 9-8 in an extra end to Renee Sonnenberg of Grande Prairie, Alta., and fell to 3-4. Sonnenberg finished 1-6. Carey had a chance to grab second place outright, but she lost 7-6 to Middaugh. "If theyd told us at the start of the week wed have a tiebreaker, wed take it," Carey, 29, said. Middaugh, 47, whos competing in her fourth trials, was leading 5-3 after six ends and stole another point in the seventh. She also saw room for improvement after the win. "The first seven ends were fun and then I turned off my brain in my last shot in eight and then the collar got a little tight after that so I cant lie," Middaugh said. cheap jerseyscheap jerseys from china ' ' ' |
