The Morning Dish – Thursday, March 10th
Panthers Pop the Perignon
Special to the Morning Dish – By Nick Dettmann
MILWAUKEE – Loud screaming, hooting, hollering – an overall joyous celebration, right?
Those were the sounds coming out of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee locker room following their 59-58 victory over Detroit to win the Horizon League tournament championship, clinching a second trip to the NCAA tournament in three years.
Typical sounds out of a locker room after a big win. But, there was a little more going on that just the loud screaming.
It has been reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and confirmed that the Panthers popped open champagne bottles in the locker room and started to spray each other with them. The problem is that there are about half of the players on the team under the legal drinking age of 21 years old.
Pictures from inside the locker room confirm the actions; actions not going over too well with head coach Bruce Pearl.
“When I came back into the locker room after being in the media room, about half the team was there,” Pearl told the Journal Sentinel on Wednesday, not even 24 hours after earning the school’s second NCAA tournament bid in school history. “I was very surprised because they were spraying (champagne) all over. They even poured a bottle over my head and ruined my suit.
“I talked to them right away about it and there will be more said at practice (Thursday). I told them this was inappropriate, and I was surprised and disappointed.”
Pearl told the Journal Sentinel that he had no knowledge of the situation until he got back into the locker room. And immediately upon finding out, he told UWM athletic director Bud Haidet, citing that he rather Haidet finds out about the situation from him rather than someone else.
There is no guideline or rule in the NCAA prohibiting this type of action. And according to an interview by NCAA spokesperson Jennifer Kern with the Journal Sentinel, this sort of situation is best be handled by the university.
At the post-game press conference, Pearl had a good feeling that his players were going to go out and celebrate, but it did not appear that he knew that the celebration was going to be held in the locker room.
“I would imagine tonight, they will get out of shape a little bit, that would be my observation,” he said during the press conference. “They probably won’t be making it to classes in the morning but afternoon classes are a possibility.”
Dancing Knights: The Fairleigh Dickinson Knights captured the NEC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with a 58-52 win against Wagner. The game wasn’t pretty as both teams shot less than 40 percent from the field, but the Knights had a bit more offensive fortitude to win the game. Sophomore center Andrea Crosariol led the team with 18 points, and junior forward Gordon Klaiber had nine points and eight rebounds to help the defensive-minded Knights beat the Seahawks, who were led by sophomore forward Durell Vinson’s 14 points. For recaps of all NEC games and other conference tournament action, check out Hoopville’s Thirteen Days: Championship Week 2005.
More Grizzlies in the Tournament: Two nights ago, the Grizzlies of Oakland earned a trip to the Big Dance. Now, the Grizzlies of Montana joined their mascot brethren in the NCAA Tournament by virtue of a 63-61 against Weber State in the Big Sky championship game. Senior forward Kamarr Davis led the Grizzlies with 19 points, including 1-of-2 free throws with less than three seconds remaining. After he made the second free throw, Weber State junior guard Jamaal Jenkins missed a desperation half-court three-pointer as time expired. Senior center Lance Allred had a great game for Weber State, scoring 21 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in the losing effort.
Big Upset in Big East: The Big East Tournament started with three opening round games yesterday. The most significant result was last-place Rutgers’ 72-65 upset of Notre Dame, which may kill the Irish’s NCAA Tournament dreams. Georgetown rallied in the closing minutes to beat Seton Hall 56-51, and West Virginia was the most impressive team of the day in an 82-59 blowout against Providence. Georgetown likely needs to beat Connecticut tonight to feel more comfortable about its chances of earning an at-large big to the tournament, especially after a lackluster performance against the Pirates.
Bubbles Popping in C-USA: The Conference USA Tournament also started yesterday and finished off the prayers of two teams barely in the bubble conversation. Marquette opened the day with a 60-57 overtime loss to TCU. Later in the evening, South Florida popped Houston’s bubble with a 69-64 upset. Meanwhile, Memphis and DePaul took care of business against St. Louis and Tulane, respectively. DePaul is almost certainly an NCAA Tournament team, but Memphis has more work to do, starting today against Charlotte.
And in the Atlantic 10…: Only one upset in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament as La Salle slipped past Massachusetts 70-64 in overtime. The higher seeds took care of business in the other games, including Richmond beating Rhode Island 68-60, Fordham winning against Duquesne 65-53, and Dayton stomping St. Bonaventure 78-48.
Eight More Years for Matta: Ohio State officials extended the contract of coach Thad Matta by eight years. The contract is worth $11 million during that time period. Matta completed his first season as the Buckeyes’ head coach and finished with a bang as Ohio State beat previously undefeated Illinois to close the regular season. Ohio State is on a self-imposed probation this year because of NCAA violations that occurred during the regime of former coach Jim O’Brien. If the probation were not in place, the Buckeyes would almost certainly be an NCAA Tournament team this year.
Four More Years for Barnes: Mississippi officials extended the contract of coach Rod Barnes by four years, even though Mississippi failed to post a winning season each of the past three seasons. They said Barnes has helped the program make significant strides during his tenure, which includes a Sweet 16 appearance in 2001 and another NCAA Tournament bid in 2002. He has a 126-92 in almost seven complete seasons at Oxford. Mississippi plays South Carolina in the opening round of the SEC Tournament.
No More Years for Aggers: Loyola – Marymount officials fired coach Steve Aggers after five seasons as the Lions’ coach. He compiled a 55-90 record at Loyola but never guided the Lions to the upper echelon of the West Coast Conference. School officials said they appreciated Aggers’ efforts to make the Lions competitive in a tough conference but needed a new leader to guide the Lions to a conference championship. When Aggers took over, the Lions were coming off a 2-26 season in which they were winless in conference play. Aggers joins a quickly growing list of coaches without jobs. Find out who else is on the list at Hoopville’s Coaching Changes feature.
McCants Can Practice: After missing the past four games with an intestinal disorder, doctors cleared North Carolina junior guard Rashad McCants to practice with the team. But coach Roy Williams said he is unsure about McCants’ availability for the ACC Tournament, which starts today. The Tar Heels’ first tournament game will be tomorrow against the winner of Maryland and Clemson. McCants is the team’s second-leading scorer as junior forward Sean May has passed him at the top during his illness.
Look But Don’t Touch: A judge sentenced Michigan point guard Daniel Horton to two years’ probation for assaulting his girlfriend in December. Horton pleaded guilty to grabbing his girlfriend by the neck and choking her. In addition to probation, Horton must attend counseling for one year. If he completes the probation term without incident, the court will clear the conviction from Horton’s record.
Tonight’s Menu
• All major-conference tournaments are officially under way today. Some of the best match ups include Pittsburgh vs. Villanova, Boston College vs. West Virginia, Maryland vs. Clemson and Arizona State vs. Washington.
