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Three men and a baby

RedHawks with trio of storied programs in New Orleans

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Posted: Saturday March 13, 1999 09:53 PM

Miami of Ohio's Wally Szczerbiak caught the attention of many after he scored 43 points against Washington. AP

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- When it comes to basketball, there aren't many questions about Kansas, Utah and Kentucky. Big names, big time programs, big players.

Then there's Miami.

The other team still playing in the NCAA Midwest Regional is not from Florida, not used to the spotlight, and their biggest star has to tell people how to pronounce his name.

"We're not as well known as most of these teams," said Wally Szczerbiak (pronounced Sir-be-ack), who is doing his part to make the RedHawks famous. "But we're among this group because we work real hard. We're not in the limelight all the time but we reached the limelight through hard work."

Miami (23-7), which is in Oxford, Ohio, won the Mid-America Conference regular-season title and a fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Szczerbiak scored 43 points in Miami's 59-58 upset of Washington, a result that got people talking about the Ohio school with the tropical name.

"Anybody who scores 43 points gets my attention," Utah coach Rick Majerus said of the Utes' next opponent. "I like their team. I like the way they play and their commitment to defense."

Miami coach Charlie Coles says it's because of how well his team plays that Szczerbiak was able to score the way he did.

"You won't believe me, but if you watched that game, that was as truly a team effort as it could be," Coles said. "We got a lot of good play from everyone. We just got that and a lot of points from Wally."

Utah (28-4) was doing what it has done so often -- winning. The Utes used superior size and stifling defense to beat Arkansas State 80-58 and extend their winning streak to 23 games.

With a relentless defense, patient offense and tremendous size, Utah will definitely be a challenge for Miami. But playing against a name team does not intimidate the RedHawks.

 

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