Indiana

CHICAGO - There's a thought that Indiana post player Cody Zeller would have gone in the top five of last year's NBA draft. Maybe the 7-footer will still end up as a lottery pick in next month's draft. But choosing to remain in Bloomington for one more year has affected his draft stock. That could entice the 76ers, who will likely have the 11th pick, into drafting him. At least that's what ESPN draft analyst Chad Ford believes. Ford predicts in his mock draft that the franchise, in desperate need of a big man, will select the 230-pounder.

Indiana coach Bob Knight thought his team's coaching was superb. Then again, he wasn't the one doing it. Knight made an early exit with two technical fouls in the second half and No. 14 Indiana immediately began its comeback from an 11-point deficit that ended with an 87-83 overtime victory over visiting Ohio State last night. "As the game wore on, particularly in the last 16 of 17 minutes of the game, I thought the Indiana coaching got a lot better," Knight said. "I thought the officiating must have been better, also.

- Temple's road to the Final Four took an unexpected turn yesterday. It was generally expected that the Owls, should they make the third round, would be facing Indiana (No. 19 UPI), the defending national champion. Forget it. The Hoosiers' title defense lasted all of 40 minutes, as they fell to underappreciated Richmond, 72-69, at the Civic Center. Tomorrow, in Round 2, Richmond (25-6) will take on Georgia Tech, a team it defeated, 73-67, in December in Atlanta. "We wanted not just to get to the NCAAs, but to win a couple of games," said guard Rodney Rice.

If the truth be known, most people don't know Seton Hall from Monty Hall. That's what happens when you're located in the basketball hotbed of South Orange, N.J. So what if the Pirates survived the Big East wars and were one of only four teams to defeat Georgetown this season? They were still labeled a Cinderella. Just a year ago, a chorus of leatherlungs called for coach P.J. Carlesimo's head. Maybe now, people will start taking him seriously. Indiana will. Last night, the Pirates rumbled past the Hoosiers, 78-65, in a West Regional semifinal.

The Indiana Pacers can no longer be called perennial first-round failures. The Pacers pulled off a surprising sweep of the visiting Orlando Magic with a 99-86 victory last night in the third game of the best-of-five series. It was Indiana's first playoff series victory since the team joined the NBA in 1976. Previous first-round losses were to New York (1993), Boston (1991, 1992), Detroit (1990), Atlanta (1987) and the Sixers (1981). "I never imagined a sweep," Pacers coach Larry Brown said.

Austin Hollins scored a career-high 18 points to help visiting Minnesota beat No. 7 Indiana, 77-74, last night. Christian Watford missed a potential game-tying three-pointer in the closing seconds for Indiana. Rodney Williams scored 14 points and Julian Welch added 10 for the Golden Gophers (13-5, 1-4 Big Ten), who had lost four straight. Minnesota shot 6-for-13 on three-pointers in the first half to take the lead. Indiana freshman Cody Zeller matched a season high with 23 points for the Hoosiers (15-2, 3-2)

Former Indiana coach Bob Knight continues to call university officials "deceitful" four months after he was fired. In the March issue of Playboy magazine, Knight says his only regret is not leaving Indiana sooner. "I talked to some people and almost without exception they told me to leave," Knight said in a 12-page interview due to hit newsstands Feb. 5. "What I did in this situation was think about the wrong things. When I quit coaching, I envisioned being able to stay around the university, to help in any way they asked.

Draymond Green tried to clinch the Big Ten title by himself last night. He needed more help. Cody Zeller scored 18 points, Victor Oladipo had 13 and Christian Watford finished with 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, leading No. 18 Indiana past No. 5 Michigan State 70-55, the host Hoosiers' third win this season over a top five team. "We just didn't defend well and that's something that has been a mark of this team all year, and that's why we've had so much success," Spartans coach Tom Izzo said.

Indiana doesn't want to play here. Arizona owns the home court but can't play here. George Mason won't play here long. Southwest Missouri State's student manager would love to play here. Welcome to the wild, wild West. The West Regional actually opens today with four first-round games at Boise, Idaho. Because of the NCAA's no-home-court rule, top-seeded Arizona (27-3) couldn't play at its own McKale Center in Tucson. The Wildcats, seeking to make their second consecutive trip to the Final Four from the West, open at 2:07 p.m. against 16th-seeded Robert Morris (21-8)

Freshman Bracey Wright scored 20 of his career-high 31 points in the first half, and No. 7 Indiana made 10 three-pointers in a 73-56 victory over Vanderbilt last night in Bloomington, Ind. The Hoosiers (7-0) are off to their best start since 1989-90 and protected their highest ranking in the top 25 since finishing the 1992-93 season ranked No. 1. Matt Freije scored 18 points and David Przybyszewski added 14 to lead Vanderbilt (5-2). Xavier 68, Miami (Ohio) 58 - David West scored 18 points despite struggling with his shot, and No. 13 Xavier (5-1)

CHICAGO - There's a thought that Indiana post player Cody Zeller would have gone in the top five of last year's NBA draft. Maybe the 7-footer will still end up as a lottery pick in next month's draft. But choosing to remain in Bloomington for one more year has affected his draft stock. That could entice the 76ers, who will likely have the 11th pick, into drafting him. At least that's what ESPN draft analyst Chad Ford believes. Ford predicts in his mock draft that the franchise, in desperate need of a big man, will select the 230-pounder.

Mike Lupoli's dyslexia nearly derailed his academic career. When he was in sixth grade, his school principal, unaware of his handicap, cautioned him not to consider college. Lupoli disregarded that warning. "I had to work a little harder," he says, "but I graduated with honors. " For the last 19 years, Lupoli, 56, has been a phys-ed teacher at Sabold Elementary School in Springfield, Delaware County. He believes his dyslexia has proved a professional advantage that has enabled him to contribute to the well-being of his youthful charges.

Indiana's Derek Drouin, a fifth-year senior who competed for Canada last year at the Olympics, won the Penn Relays college men's high jump Saturday for the third time. In doing so, he broke one of the most hallowed records in the history of ancient Franklin Field. Drouin jumped 7 feet, 73/4 inches, an outdoor personal best, to set a Penn Relays record. He also broke the stadium record of 7-71/4 set by former Olympian Dwight Stones, whose jump at an invitational meet in the summer of 1976 set the world record at that time.

Three weeks ago, the last time Syracuse played a game at Washington's Verizon Center, the Orange lost their Big East regular-season finale against host Georgetown, 61-39, their fourth loss in five games. They return Thursday night to face top-seed Indiana (29-6) in the Sweet 16. Since that disappointing loss to the Hoyas, Syracuse (28-9) has won five of its last six games and joins Indiana, No. 2 Miami, and No. 3 Marquette to form the only group of 1 through 4 seeds left in any NCAA regional this year.

With its 2-3 zone defense disruptive from start to finish, and Michael Carter-Williams pouring in 24 points, fourth-seeded Syracuse upset No. 1 Indiana, 61-50, Thursday night at the Verizon Center in Washington to reach the NCAA tournament's East Regional final. Syracuse limited Indiana to its lowest point total of the season, forced 19 turnovers, blocked 10 shots, and held the normally efficient Hoosiers (29-7) to 33 percent shooting. After getting past preseason No. 1 Indiana, Syracuse (29-9)

DAYTON, Ohio - Temple's latest setback in the NCAA tournament will sting for a while. This was a game the Owls had every opportunity to win. Temple guard Khalif Wyatt had one of the tournament's best individual performances Sunday, scoring 31 points for the second consecutive game. And with the Owls leading top-seeded Indiana in the East Regional, Temple was 2 minutes, 57 seconds away from one of the biggest upsets in school history. But the Hoosiers scored the game's final 10 points en route to a 58-52 victory over the ninth-seeded Owls in a third-round game at the University of Dayton Arena.

DAYTON, Ohio - Sometimes, it falls to a single player to heal a program's reputation. In Temple's case, it fell to, of all people, Khalif Wyatt. Temple entered this NCAA Tournament everyone's favorite loser, an annual disappointment just waiting to happen. The Owls made it to the Dance each of the last 5 years, but they won just one game. Twice, they lost their opener as a No. 5 seed, to a 12 seed. This time, propelled by Wyatt, of all people, they beat eighth-seeded North Carolina State on Friday in the East Regional, and they led top-seeded Indiana here Sunday until the final 79 seconds.

DAYTON, Ohio - There is almost no chance Fran Dunphy will ever storm into another coach's postgame news conference and threaten to beat him up. And it is impossible to picture Tom Crean losing his mind and throwing a folding chair across the court. These are good things, to be sure. And yet . . . The last time Temple and Indiana played each other in the NCAA tournament, John Chaney and Bob Knight were at the height of their turbulent Hall of Fame careers. They had never faced each other until that second-round game in 1994 in the old USAir Arena in Landover, Md. It was like having a couple of fictional characters walking around.