Friday, Mar. 20, 2009

Oglesby ejected, Tigers dejected

7th-seeded Tigers sent home after first game for second year in a row

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — K.C. Rivers rolled on to his back and pulled his jersey over his nose, attempting to mask the disappointment.

His heavily contested, potentially game-tying 3-pointer as time expired had harmlessly sailed wide, sealing seventh-seeded Clemson’s second consecutive upset loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament — a 62-59 defeat Thursday to 10th-seeded Michigan.

Rivers, a senior guard, kept the jersey over his face for nearly 15 minutes in the locker room afterward, finally uncovering his face to take a glimpse at his similarly solemn teammates.

“We started out strong,” Rivers whispered, “but faded away again.”

Clemson (23-9) quickly bowed out of March Madness a week after another one-and-done at the ACC tournament.

Having squandered a 15-point lead in last year’s first-round loss to Villanova, the Tigers nearly turned the tables this time. They rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit to close within one, 58-57, with 49 seconds left.

The final tally: Five losses in its last six games, seven in the last 11. Michigan (21-14) advances to Saturday’s second-round game against No. 2 seed Oklahoma, which beat No. 15 Morgan State 82-54.

“I told our guys they had a solid year, but that’s not good enough for me, for the program, and I don’t think it’s good enough for you,” said coach Oliver Purnell, who remained winless in five NCAA tourney appearances.

Having spent the past week seeking to restore its confidence and sense of togetherness, Purnell believed Clemson displayed proper effort and intensity.

The nail in the coffin was the inability to make point-blank shots, Purnell said, as the Tigers posted their worst field-goal (32.3 percent) and 3-point (22.7 percent, 5-for-22) performances of the season.

They sliced Michigan’s reputedly stingy zone defenses for the looks they wanted, but beyond put-backs from junior forward Trevor Booker (who had a team high 18 points and 13 rebounds), they could not convert.

Sophomore guard Manny Harris paced the Wolverines with 21 points, including three 3-pointers.

Michigan built a 16-point advantage in the opening five minutes of the second half before Clemson clawed within seven with 9:25 to go.

The margin expanded to 14 before the Tigers drained three 3-pointers — two by backup freshman point guard Andre Young — to close within six, 58-52, with 3:48 remaining.

A driving lay-in by point Demontez Stitt made it 58-57 with 0:49 left, but Harris converted a three-point play 12 seconds later to expand it to a two-possession game again.

After a Booker dunk with 0:28 remaining, Michigan forward Zack Novak made one of two free throws with 0:12 to go, granting the Tigers one last shot at salvation.

Rivers cut to the right wing but bobbled the pass, forcing him to put the ball on the floor.

The left-hander drove to the left baseline and fired a twisting 3-pointer with the clock winding down.

It sailed wide right.

“My final shot,” Rivers mumbled. “What a way to end it.”

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