KANSAS CITY, Mo. — At first glance, Maryland senior forward Dave Neal looks like somebody who stepped onto the wrong bus.
Going on a few blocks away from NCAA Tournament rounds at the spiffy, new Sprint Center is the NAIA national tourney at 73-year-old Municipal Auditorium. At 6-feet-7 with thick ankles and a big heart, Neal might well have been mistaken for one of those small-college centers down the street.
That is, until he schooled a taller, more athletic California frontcourt on Thursday in an 84-71 first-round, West Region victory over the seventh-seeded Bears. Neal scored 15 points, hitting 6-for-11 from the field, and gave 10th-seeded Maryland a post presence to complement guard Greivis Vasquez (27 points).
Now, if Neal would only look like a post player. But maybe that’s to his advantage. Did he lull 7-foot Jordan Wilkes and 6-8 Jamal Boykin to sleep?
“(California) was little taller than us, but I’ve gone against guys 3 inches taller than me the entire season,” Neal said. “I’m not going to jump over anybody, not going to do something spectacular.
“I’ve got a good back-to-the- basket game and a jump hook. I just kind of use my fundamentals to the best of my ability.”
Neal scored eight points in the second half, helping Maryland pull away after leading just 34-31 at the break. Neal entered the game averaging 8.3 points and is a full-time starter for the first time in his career. In fact, until this season Neal hadn’t contributed much at all. He had shoulder surgery in each of his first three years as a Terrapin.
Entering this season, Neal was averaging a walk-on-like 1.6 points per game. That’s right. Less than a basket.
Then again, Maryland had to outrecruit only Holy Cross for Neal and initially had hoped he would walk on.
“When I saw Dave play in high school (Bishop O’Connell in Arlington, Va.), I thought he could really help us as a role player,” Maryland coach Gary Williams said. “You know, somebody who, as a big man, can really step out, shoot 3s and make the right pass and know what’s going on.
“I just thought he was a pretty complete player, with some limitations.”
Some Maryland basketball fans thought Williams was making a mistake by even looking at Neal.
Guess who has the last laugh now?
“Dave has just been a phenomenal player,” Williams said. “It’s funny. Not many teams would recruit him at the time. But now I think a lot of teams would recruit him.
“People say he’s a ‘role’ player. No, he’s a very good player.”
MEMPHIS AVOIDS A HUGE UPSET BEHIND SALLIE
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Matadors of Cal State-Northridge couldn’t overcome the greatest game of Roburt Sallie’s life.
Sallie, averaging 4.5 points all year for Memphis, hit 10 3-pointers and scored 35 points as the second-seeded Tigers beat the plucky Matadors 81-70 on Thursday, dodging what would have been one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history.
“Coach said keep shooting,” said Sallie, whose previous career high was 13. “None of my teammates would ever expect me to score 35 points. I never made 10 3-pointers before.”
Sallie’s onslaught erased the first-round record and enabled Memphis (32-3) to avoid the stigma of being just the fifth No. 2 seed to lose to a No. 15 since the tournament went to a 64-team format in 1985.
The crowd went crazy when Vincent Cordell’s basket put the Matadors (17-14) up 62-56. But then Sallie hit a 3-pointer and Antonio Anderson, hardly a factor most of the game, launched a decisive 9-0 run.
Sallie’s 10 3-pointers surpassed the first-round record of nine, set by Michigan’s Garde Thompson in 1987.
Texas A&M 79, BYU 66
PHILADELPHIA — Bryan Davis scored a season-high 21 points and the ninth-seeded Aggies (24-9) handed the Cougars their seventh consecutive opening-round loss in a rematch from last year. Both teams drew the same seeds last March when A&M won 67-62.
“He had it going,” Aggies coach Mark Turgeon said. “I told him to play with energy and play with poise. He made a couple shots today, I think his eyes were closed.”
Jimmer Fredette scored 18 points and Lee Cummard added 17 for the Cougars (25-8).
Connecticut 103, Chattanooga 47
PHILADELPHIA — A.J. Price and Hasheem Thabeet won this one for ailing coach Jim Calhoun, scoring 20 points apiece to lead the Huskies to their first postseason win in three years.
Associate head coach George Blaney coached the Huskies (28-4) in Calhoun’s absence. When Calhoun asked for stats after the game, Blaney joked he knew Calhoun “must be doing well.”
Stanley Robinson topped the stat sheet and the Huskies with 24 points. The 56-point difference was the third-largest margin of victory in the NCAA Tournament.
Purdue 61, Northern Iowa 56
PORTLAND, Ore. — E’Twaun Moore scored a game-high 17 points and JaJuan Johnson added 14 to pace the Boilermakers (26-9), who led by 14 before the Panthers (23-11) made it interesting down the stretch.
Washington 71, Mississippi State 58
PORTLAND, Ore. — Jon Brockman had a broken nose and a seat on the bench because of fouls, but Quincy Pondexter scored a season-high 23 points and the Huskies (26-8) took advantage of early foul trouble to Jarvis Varnado to race past the Bulldogs (23-13).
The Associated Press
