TIGERFAN'S SPORTING NEWS : March 19th, 1947
FINAL FOUR SET : KENTUCKY, HOLY CROSS, USC AND GEORGETOWN
Two teams you would expect to be here and a pair of surprises highlight this years college basketball Final Four. Certainly Kentucky and Holy Cross were at least pencilled in for the trip to Atlanta by most fans when the tournament started and perhaps you could have made a case for USC but Georgetown is clearly the biggest surprise of the tournament.
The Hoyas won the West Regional after knocking off the top two seeds over the weekend. On Friday senior forward Kurtis Austin had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead Georgetown to a surprising 81-71 win over San Francisco. Austin was at it again Sunday as the Hoyas overcame a 5 point halftime deficiet to rally past heavily-favoured UTEP 72-65. Austin led all scorers with 20 points.
USC needed a rally Friday to beat Iowa State. The Trojans trailed by 7 points with 10 minutes to play before pulling out a 74-69 victory. The win came at a steep price however as Trojan leading scorer William *Towery suffered a broken jaw in the game and is unlikely to play again this season. On the weekend USC put an end to Providence's dream run. The Friars had beaten number one seed Oregon Thursday 67-66 on a last second basket but the clock struck midnight for them in the second half vs USC. The Trojans outscored Providence by 22 points in the final 20 minutes and made the final four with a 82-72 win. Guards Mike Issacs with 22 points and Andre Roemer with 17 led the Southern Cal attack.
Kentucky cruised to the South Region title with a 70-49 win over Richmond in the semis and a 65-49 victory over Boston College in the regional final. Holy Cross survived a scare against Miami before pulling out an 86-82 win in the East Region semifinal. The final two days later against an underdog Maryland squad was a laugher - Holy Cross won 110-51 behind Reggie Filer's 28 points and 11 assists from freshman Bob *Cousy.
FINAL FOUR PREVIEW
GEORGETOWN HOYAS
At 32-7 the Hoyas were ranked 14th in the TSN national poll. With a 14-3 record Georgetown won the Big East regular season title and also claimed the conference tournament with a 80-54 win over Seton Hall in the championship game. After a 90-71 win over Houston to open the West Regional, the 4th seeded Hoyas squeked out a 79-78 win over #5 Stanford to reach the Sweet 16. Wins over #1 San Francisco and #2 UTEP got them into the final four.
This is the first time Georgetown reaches the final four since the tournament began in 1933-34. In their two previous trips Georgetown lost in the second round with the most recent being in 1938. Georgetown lost in the NIT title game in the inagural tournament in 1934. On two other occassions (1938,1942) the Hoyas reached the NIT final four. Georgetown missed postseason play entirely the past two seasons and has made just two NIT appearances since 1940.
Code:
YR Name Pos GP MPG PPG RPG APG FG% 3P% FT%
Sr George Crisol PF 39 32.8 16.4 9.2 0.4 47.2% 47.1% 73.7%
Sr Kurtis Austin SF 39 30.6 15.8 9.2 4.2 41.7% 40.9% 74.8%
Sr Joshua Camacho PF 39 28.4 13.4 7.2 0.7 44.8% 45.0% 68.4%
Sr Zach Dinsmore SG 39 32.0 11.7 3.9 7.6 39.3% 28.3% 73.3%
So Robert Kramer C 39 32.3 8.2 9.7 1.6 52.7% 0.0% 81.5%
Jr Andy *Kostecka SF 35 11.8 7.6 3.0 0.9 44.4% 39.0% 73.0%
Sr Nhomrom Ngor SF 16 16.1 5.6 4.2 0.9 52.2% 0.0% 66.7%
Jr Aud Ivanauskas C 39 11.2 3.0 2.2 0.2 41.5% 0.0% 83.8%
So Johnny *Payak PG 13 1.5 1.6 0.2 0.0 54.5% 60.0% 75.0%
Jr Tam Sherwood PG 39 8.3 1.4 0.3 1.4 30.0% 25.0% 75.0%
Fr John *Brown C 34 5.7 0.9 0.4 0.1 25.7% 0.0% 100.0%
Jr Jack Schoonover SG 9 2.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 16.7% 0.0% 0.0%
Fr Douglas Rivers SG 1 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
USC TROJANS
With a 26-6 overall record this year the Trojans finished the season ranked 6th in the TSN poll. USC lost the PCC South Conference tournament title game 77-58 to cross-town rival UCLA. During the conference regular season, USC's 10-4 record was good for second place - one game back of California. A 2-seed in the Midwest Region, Southern Cal easily handled Idaho 73-60 and Wyoming 86-61 during the opening weekend. A 74-69 win over Iowa State moved the Trojans into the elite 8 where they topped 12 seed Providence 82-72 to make the final four. The Trojans have made the NCAA's 7 straight seasons with their best effort prior to this season being a trip to the elite 8 a year ago.
The big challenge USC will face is playing without their leading scorer in center William *Towery who suffered a broken jaw against Iowa State. His replacement, freshman Joe *McNamee managed just 5 points in the win over Providence.
Code:
Yr NAME Pos GP MPG PPG RPG APG FG% 3P% FT%
Jr Mike Isaacs SG 36 28.7 13.0 3.6 4.5 42.4% 37.1% 71.6%
Sr Daniel Schaller PF 36 32.9 11.9 8.3 0.6 40.2% 28.4% 68.1%
Sr Joseph Smith PF 36 29.6 11.2 14.7 1.2 43.7% 0.0% 73.5%
Sr Andreu Roemer PG 26 30.0 7.7 0.7 6.4 27.9% 23.1% 63.4%
Fr Stan *Christie PG 36 15.1 7.1 0.6 1.1 38.7% 36.2% 65.3%
Fr Joe *McNamee C 28 17.6 6.7 6.3 0.5 60.2% 0.0% 66.0%
Jr Patrick Harris SG 36 12.3 5.7 0.4 3.1 47.4% 40.5% 72.9%
Sr Jed Sprouse SF 35 11.2 4.3 2.5 0.2 39.5% 33.3% 68.3%
Fr Chuck *Cooper SF 24 6.9 2.9 1.4 0.1 43.6% 42.9% 78.6%
Jr Kenneth Peterson SF 7 3.3 0.9 1.0 0.0 25.0% 0.0% 100.0%
Sr Dashiell Jennings SG 6 4.5 0.8 0.3 0.0 12.5% 33.3% 66.7%
Fr Joshua Pires SF 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
INJURED
Jr William *Towery C 35 28.8 15.1 11.5 0.4 64.0% 0.0% 78.7%
KENTUCKY WILDCATS
Number one practically from the opening week of the season, the Wildcats breezed through the Southeast Conference with a 17-1 record and won the conference tournament. With a 36-2 record on the season they are the overwhelming favourite to win it all. Despite having 12 NCAA tournament appearances the Wildcats have yet to win it all. Last season they came within one game of their first title, losing the championship game 76-64 to SEC rival Alabama. With 4 starters from last seasons club back Kentucky is by far the team with the most tournament experience.
Code:
YR NAME Pos GP MPG PPG RPG APG FG% 3P% FT%
Sr Kenny Chilchote PF 25 28.7 16.9 11.5 0.3 56.0% 38.6% 75.9%
Sr Jack *Rocker C 31 29.0 16.0 12.2 0.7 65.0% 0.0% 77.9%
Sr Paul *Noel SF 38 30.3 15.0 12.5 2.6 46.3% 37.5% 63.8%
Sr Cliff *Baker SG 38 27.8 12.6 0.8 5.2 51.4% 44.5% 70.7%
Fr Bob *Donham PG 38 26.2 9.1 0.2 6.9 41.0% 37.5% 73.6%
Sr Larry Hathaway PF 38 20.2 8.8 6.3 0.5 40.5% 27.0% 69.8%
Jr Zachary Britt PF 36 21.3 8.5 4.1 0.2 44.6% 25.9% 74.0%
SO Jack *Coleman PF 38 12.7 6.3 3.3 0.1 51.7% 40.0% 76.2%
SO Wesley Paladino SG 11 5.4 3.4 0.5 0.4 48.3% 66.7% 70.0%
SO Devonte Davis SG 38 11.7 2.7 1.2 2.2 31.3% 20.7% 72.3%
Sr Dustan Stanback C 20 8.2 2.0 1.3 0.3 45.7% 0.0% 66.7%
Jr Ian Niesman SF 7 6.1 0.7 1.4 0.7 28.6% 0.0% 50.0%
Jr Mike Garris SF 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
HOLY CROSS CRUSADERS
A school with a rich tradition, Holy Cross made 5 straight final four appearances between 1940 and 1944, winning it all in 1942 when they were 38-1. However, each of the last two seasons the Crusaders exited in the first round of the NCAA tournament. This season with a 33-5 record Holy Cross finished the season ranked second to Kentucky. The won the Eastern Conference title with a 12-2 record and beat NYU 98-58 to win the conference tournament.
The key to the Holy Cross success has been the play of Eastern Conference player of the year Reggie Filer and the freshman backcourt duo of Bob *Cousy and Frank *Oftring. Cousy made the all-conference team as a true freshman.
Code:
YR NAME Pos GP MPG PPG RPG APG FG% 3P% FT%
Sr Reggie Filer SF 38 29.7 16.6 10.2 2.6 49.5% 34.4% 80.8%
Jr Phil *Farbman SF 38 29.9 13.9 7.9 3.8 45.1% 36.0% 65.4%
Sr Bob *Hubbard C 38 24.3 11.0 11.1 0.8 60.0% 0.0% 73.3%
SO Wallace *Jones SF 38 27.0 11.0 7.1 0.4 44.8% 38.0% 69.5%
Fr Bob *Cousy PG 38 29.2 10.7 0.6 8.3 39.4% 38.4% 75.4%
SO Leroy *Chollet PF 38 22.4 8.3 5.3 0.6 44.4% 30.0% 72.6%
Fr Frank *Oftring SG 31 16.6 7.1 0.7 2.4 40.9% 29.6% 75.8%
Jr Kirkwood Loftin PF 38 10.8 3.8 2.3 0.1 46.1% 53.8% 70.3%
Jr Dale Goyne PG 3 2.7 3.3 0.0 0.3 40.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Sr Harry Calamaris SF 35 7.8 1.9 1.7 0.1 39.1% 0.0% 70.8%
Sr Tyler Wilson PG 26 6.3 1.7 0.1 1.0 32.4% 18.8% 71.4%
Jr Harris Stevens PF 9 3.4 0.6 0.9 0.1 20.0% 0.0% 50.0%
SO Graceson Richards PF 2 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
There are still 2 weeks remaining in the inagural Basketball Association of America regular season schedule but all 6 playoff participants have been decided. Washington has clinched the East Division title and will meet the West champion in a best-of-seven semi-final series. It remains to be decided if the Chicago Stags or St Louis Bombers will be the Capitols opponent.
While the two division winners meet in a best-of-7 series the 2nd place team from each division will play the third place club from the opposite division in a best-of-3. Either St Louis or Chicago will finish second in the west and will meet the New York Knickerbockers. The other best-of-3 series will pit the East second place club, the Philadelphia Warriors, against the Cleveland Rebels, who will finish third in the west. The winners of those 2 series will play another best-of-3 with the winner of that one advancing to the league finals. The league final will be a best-of-7 against the better of the two first place clubs.
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
BRUINS FADING FROM PLAYOFF PICTURE
The Boston Bruins took 3 of 4 points from the Toronto Maple Leafs over the weekend but a pair of losses earlier in the week all but ended their postseason hopes. The Bruins can mark Wednesday night down as the day their playoff hopes crashed. A 2-1 loss in a must-have game against last place Chicago followed by a 3-0 shutout Thursday at the hands of Harry Lumley and the first place Detroit Red Wings left Boston 5 points behind Toronto in the fight for the fourth and final playoff berth.
The Bruins kept their slim hopes alive with a 3-1 win over Leafs in Toronto on Saturday but Leaf goaltender Turk Broda stole a point Sunday by making 53 saves in the rematch - a 1-1 tie on Boston ice. The Bruins sit 3 points back of Toronto with just two games remaining, home to Chicago on Wednesday and Montreal Sunday. The Leafs have a game in hand and with more wins than the Bruins, Toronto needs just a tie or a Boston loss to clinch the final playoff berth. Toronto is home to Montreal on Wednesday and New York Saturday before the Leafs finish their season in Detroit Sunday.
There is still a battle for second place as New York leads Montreal by two points with each team having 3 games remaining. The second place team will have home ice advantage in the series against the 4th place club while the third place team will meet Detroit in the semi-finals.
It looks like Max Bentley of Chicago will win his second straight scoring title. With 3 games to play Bentley leads Montreal's Rocket Richard by 6 points. Richard is the runaway leader in the goal scoring department. The Rocket has lit the lamp a league record 62 times this season.
BOXING NEWS
GARDNER DEFENDS FLYWEIGHT TITLE - BUT BARELY
England's Teddy Gardner used homefield advantage to retain his World Flyweight title with a unanimous victory over Japan's Yoshio Shirai. Gardner, fighting before a boisterous crowd at Wembley Stadium, looked like he was outboxed by the 24 year old Japanesse fighter but came out ahead on all 3 judges cards. Two of the 3 judges scored Gardner a winner by 2 points with the third giving Gardner just a one point advantage in the bout.
Gardner is no stranger to controversy having won the title last October only because his opponent Little Dado was penalized 4 times in their bout. The win improves the Brit to 17-2-1 while Shirai falls to 11-3-2.
On the undercard Freddie Mills successfully defended his European Lightheavyweight title with a unanimous decision over veteran German fighter Gustave Roth. Mills completely dominated the fight, knocking down the 38 year old German twice and winning virtually every round. Mills is 32-13-1 and has successfully defended the European title 4 times.
ABRAMS STOCK ON RISE IN MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION
Middleweight veteran George Abrams moved a step closer to a possible title shot after outpointing Charley Burley in a tight battle in Boston last Thursday. Abrams, a 30 year old from Roanoke, Virginia, won a unanimous decision but by just one point on each of the judge's cards. He improves to 32-4-2 and is now considered the third ranked middleweight in the world. Pennsylvania native Burley falls to 14-4 but remains in the top 10 in his weightclass.
In other boxing action this week Norman Rubio surprised Izzy Jannazzo in a welterweight bout in New York. Jannazzo falls to 26-3-1 with the loss and it likely ends any chance of him seeing a title shot. Rubio, a 28 year old from Albany, New York, improves to 19-8-2 with the win.
Meanwhile in California featherweight Georgie Hansford improved to 21-12 with a split decision win over Carlos Chavez at the Del-Mar Racetrack near Los Angeles. Hansford is now ranked 7th world-wide among featherweights. Chavez drops to 24-12-1.
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE OFFSEASON REPORT
DIEDRICK SIGNS WITH EAGLES
The Philadelphia Eagles have signed veteran quarterback Vaughn Diedrick to a 3-year deal. Diedrick, who led the Houston Texans to within a game of the NFL Championship, will be counted on to guide the Eagles offense this season while acting as a tutor for young QB Ken Neal.
A 1943 first team allstar, Diedrick has struggled the past couple of season but looked like he was back in his glory days during this seasons playoff run. The signing may leave Doug Bass as the odd-man out in Philadelphia. After starting 28 games over his first two seasons, the former second round pick from Miami started just 7 games each of the past two seasons. His contract is low enough that the Eagles may elect to keep him as insurance.
STATS AND STANDINGS
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NCAA TOURNAMENT
RESULTS
ROUND OF 16
EAST REGION
1 Holy Cross beats 5 Miami 86-82
7 Fordham loses to 11 Maryland 68-66
MIDWEST REGION
1 Oregon loses to 12 Providence 67-66
2 USC beats 3 Iowa State 74-69
SOUTH REGION
1 Kentucky beats 4 Richmond 70-49
2 Boston College beats 11 Iowa 77-58
WEST REGION
1 San Francisco loses to 4 Georgetown 81-71
2 UTEP beats 6 UCLA 82-72
ELITE EIGHT
EAST REGION
1 Holy Cross beats 11 Maryland 110-51
MIDWEST REGION
2 USC beats 12 Providence 82-72
SOUTH REGION
1 Kentucky beats 2 Boston College 65-49
WEST REGION
4 Georgetown beats 2 UTEP 72-65
UPCOMING GAMES
FINAL FOUR
Saturday March 24, 1947
Kentucky vs Holy Cross
Georgetown vs USC
Monday March 26, 1947
National Championship Game
NATIONAL INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
RESULTS
Monday March 12, 1947
Temple 84 Northeastern 63
Charlotte 71 Southern 69
Bradley 80 Louisville 78
Florida State 75 Texas Tech 71
Tuesday March 13, 1947
Brown 80 Wichita State 78
Wake Forest 84 Davidson 73
Missouri 77 Kansas 66
Colgate 89 LaSalle 67
Wednesday March 15, 1947
Temple 81 Brown 65
Charlotte 85 Wake Forest 79
Thursday March 16, 1947
Missouri 77 Bradley 73
Florida State 87 Colgate 78
UPCOMING GAMES
SEMI FINALS
Tuesday March 20, 1947
Charlotte vs Temple
Florida State vs Missouri
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Code:
Standings GP W L T PTS GF GA
Detroit 58 35 16 7 77 178 145
New York 57 28 22 7 63 148 142
Montreal 57 27 23 7 61 171 132
Toronto 57 25 27 5 55 158 148
Boston 58 22 28 8 52 141 149
Chicago 57 15 36 6 36 126 205
NHL LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Max Bentley CHI 57 35 50 85
Maurice Richard MON 57 62 17 79
Ted Kennedy TOR 57 29 40 69
Toe Blake MON 57 16 36 52
Billy Taylor DET 58 16 36 52
Doug Bentley CHI 57 19 31 50
Elmer Lach MON 57 8 42 50
Bill Cowley BOS 58 21 25 46
Ted Lindsay DET 58 34 11 45
Milt Schmidt BOS 58 12 32 44
Sid Abel DET 58 29 14 43
Joe Carveth BOS 58 24 19 43
Bill Ezinicki TOR 57 24 16 40
Bobby Bauer BOS 58 24 16 40
Woody Dumart BOS 58 20 20 40
George Gee CHI 57 23 16 39
Grant Warwick NY 57 23 16 39
Roy Conacher DET 58 30 8 38
Tony Leswick NY 57 23 14 37
Penalty Leaders TEAM GP PIM
Gus Mortson TOR 57 124
M. Chamberlain MON 57 91
Kenny Reardon MON 57 90
John Maruicci CHI 57 89
Pat Egan BOS 58 88
Bill Ezinicki TOR 57 88
GOALIES TEAM GP W-L-T ShO GAA
Bill Durnan MON 57 27-23-7 7 2.20
Chuck Rayner NY 56 27-22-7 7 2.43
Harry Lumley DET 53 32-16-5 1 2.44
Frank Brimsek BOS 58 22-28-8 2 2.54
Turk Broda TOR 57 25-27-5 2 2.61
Paul Bibeault CHI 51 12-25-6 1 3.28
RESULTS
Wednesday March 14, 1947
Detroit 0 at 2 New York
Boston 1 at 2 Chicago
Thursday March 15, 1947
Boston 0 at 3 Detroit
Saturday March 17, 1947
Boston 3 at 1 Toronto
Chicago 2 at 4 Detroit
New York 1 at 3 Montreal
Sunday March 18, 1947
Toronto 1 at 1 Boston
Detroit 5 at 1 Chicago
Monteal 4 at 2 New York
UPCOMING GAMES
Wednesday March 21, 1947
Montreal at Toronto
New York at Detroit
Chicago at Boston
Saturday March 24, 1947
Chicago at Montreal
New York at Toronto
Sunday March 25, 1947
Toronto at Detroit
Chicago at New York
Montreal at Boston
End of Regular Season
BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
Code:
EAST GP W L PCT GB
WSH 56 43 13 .768 x
PHI 56 36 20 .643 7.0
NY 53 26 27 .491 15.5
PROV 55 21 34 .382 21.5
BOS 54 19 35 .352 23.0
Tor 54 14 40 .259 27.0
WEST GP W L PCT GB
CHI 53 36 17 .679 x
STL 54 35 19 .648 1.5
CLE 53 29 24 .547 7.5
DET 54 20 34 .370 16.5
PIT 55 20 35 .364 17.0
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP PPG
Joe Fulks PHI 54 23.9
Ed*Sadowski CLE 50 18.3
Bob Feerick WSH 52 16.9
Ernie*Calverley PRO 48 14.2
Stan*Miasek DET 48 13.9
Freddie Scolari WSH 51 13.7
Chuck*Halbert CHI 49 13.6
Frank*Baumholtz CLE 51 13.5
Max*Zaslofsky CHI 51 13.5
Johnny*Logan STL 47 13.4
Coulby*Gunther PIT 55 13.3
Belus*Smawley STL 51 12.3
John*Janisch DET 49 12.2
Leo Mogus TOR 54 12.1
Horace McKinney WSH 48 12.0
Hank*Beenders PRO 51 11.8
Donald*Martin PRO 47 11.7
Don*Carlson CHI 45 11.4
Mel*Riebe CLE 43 11.3
RESULTS
Monday March 12, 1947
Providence 52 at 43 Boston
Tuesday March 13, 1947
St Louis 67 at 66 Toronto (OT)
Pittsburgh 60 at 54 Cleveland
Washington 64 at 66 Philadelphia
Wednesday March 14, 1947
Cleveland 65 at 59 Detroit
Toronto 52 at 43 Boston
Thursday March 15, 1947
Washington 80 at 62 Chicago
St Louis 66 at 58 New York
Toronto 61 at 57 Providence
Boston 36 at 58 Philadelphia
Friday March 16, 1947
New York 51 at 52 Washington
Philadelphia 53 at 69 Chicago
St Louis 60 at 52 Providence
Sunday March 18, 1947
Philadelphia 62 at 70 Detroit
New York 57 at 52 Cleveland
UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday March 20, 1947
Pittsburgh at Toronto
Cleveland at Boston
St Louis at Detroit
Wednesday March 21, 1947
St Louis at Pittsburgh
New York at Chicago
Providence at Washington
Thursday March 22, 1947
Detroit at Philadelphia
New York at St Louis
Cleveland at Providence
Friday March 23, 1947
Chicago at Toronto
Saturday March 24, 1947
Philadelphia at Providence
Cleveland at Chicago
Pittsburgh at Detroit
New York at Washington
Sunday March 25, 1947
Detroit at Cleveland
Toronto at St Louis