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Danes shine in CBS spotlight - Albany Times Union

Pete Dougherty 

 

 

First published: Saturday, March 18, 2006
  
We can only presume, while the players and staff of the University at Albany basketball team were trying to make NCAA Tournament history Friday night in Philadelphia, that they had their VCRs or DVRs or TiVos rolling back home.

Message to the Great Danes: Make plenty of copies. They couldn't make a better recruiting film if they blew out the entire athletic budget.

Of course, throwing a scare into top-seeded Connecticut had a lot to do with it, but the Huskies weren't the only No. 1 team at the Wachovia Center. CBS had its top announcing tandem of Jim Nantz and Billy Packer at courtside for UAlbany's NCAA debut.

That's like having Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers come to your first dance recital.

What recruit wouldn't be impressed not only by how hard the Great Danes played, but by the superlatives piled on by college basketball's best-known voices?

"I don't think Connecticut will wear this team down," Packer said in the first half. "They've got about eight or nine deep and (are) pretty good athletically."

"This has been outstanding man-to-man defense by Albany," the analyst added later.

Nantz continually put captions on what was unfolding with every passing minute.

"Trying to become the greatest dog in the history of the tournament to win a game," Nantz said. "A 16 has never beaten a 1."

"Every minute," Nantz said as UAlbany was amidst a 13-0 run early in the second half, "you keep thinking you might be sitting on some history."

Nantz worked in plenty of background on the local university, offering tidbits on its Division III history, longtime coach Doc Sauers and its 1844 origin as Albany Normal College.

The duo became increasingly excited by the possibility of a No. 16 seed beating a No. 1, which, as they pointed out, hadn't happened in 87 previous such matchups.

"One of the most thrilling 1-vs.-16 matchups in a long, long time," Nantz said.

"When you think of the history of this tournament," Packer said, rattling off a few of the upsets in NCAA championship games, "this would top them all."

Even as the momentum shifted in the final 10 minutes of Connecticut's 72-59 victory, not a discouraging word was heard about UAlbany.

"That's going to be a deceiving final -- a 25-point swing over the final 11 minutes," Nantz said. "The Great Danes were great, indeed, for about 30 minutes."

Recruits, were you listening?

Noteworthy In its zeal to offer more NCAA games, WRGB (Ch. 6) deprived viewers with high-definition sets the opportunity to watch the game with the new technology. The station's over-the-air HDTV signal showed Pittsburgh-Kent State. ... The game was shown to 15 percent of the country, and another 9 percent were shifted to Philadelphia in the second half when the Pittsburgh-Kent State game became one-sided. The entire country was tuned in for the final minute.

CBS cut away briefly late in the second half to pick up the end of N.C. State's victory over California, but WOFX (980am) committed a bigger error. During a 30-second timeout in the final minute, UAlbany's flagship station went to an extended commercial, missing considerable game action. ... Dan Murphy's attempt not to sound like a UAlbany alum -- which he is -- backfired when he predicted on his WOFX late-afternoon talk show that the Danes couldn't stay with the Huskies for even a minute. "If you know anything about college basketball ... " Murphy said. If you know anything about broadcasting, you don't say such things.

Pete Dougherty is the Times Union TV/Radio sports columnist. He can be reached by calling 454-5416 or by e-mail at pdougherty@timesunion.com.
Washington Regional

Albany Unleashes, but Huskies Go the Distance

By JOHN BRANCH - New York Times

PHILADELPHIA, March 17 — When Connecticut won the national championship in 2004, Albany finished last in the America East Conference. UConn won 33 games that season against some of the nation's toughest competition; Albany won 5 against some of the weakest.

Two years later, on the same court, it took about 34 minutes for the two basketball programs to differentiate themselves. In a single night, in its first N.C.A.A. tournament appearance, Albany nearly made the improbable one-game trip from unknown to unforgettable.

Top-seeded UConn survived a hearty scare from the 16th-seeded Great Danes, overcoming a 12-point second-half deficit and emerging with a 72-59 victory. They move on to play Kentucky on Sunday.

In terms of frights, Albany provided far more than just a harmless poke-your-head-around-the-corner boo for the heavily favored Huskies. They gave an increasingly anxious crowd at the Wachovia Center and a national-television audience a real sense that it might witness the first defeat of a top-seeded team by a 16th-seeded team in the history of the N.C.A.A. tournament. As the game progressed, the feeling grew in accordance with Albany's lead, which reached 12 points with 12 minutes remaining.

"They told me we drew the entire country to watch history being made," UConn Coach Jim Calhoun said. "History wasn't made, thank God."

UConn used a 17-2 run to regain the lead with 5 minutes 48 seconds remaining. Guard Marcus Williams scored 5 quick points to start the surge, then hit a 3-pointer to end it. He finished with a game-high 21 points.

That 17-2 run was part of an emphatic 34-9 surge that UConn used to end the game, as Albany melted meekly back into a statistic, one showing that top-seeded teams hold an 88-0 edge over No. 16's.

As the game ended, the 34-year-old Albany Coach Will Brown grimaced as he extended a hand to Calhoun, who offered a quick hug and kind words.

Away from the small section of UConn fans, a sense of disappointment settled in over the arena until the purple-clad Albany section burst into applause, lifting most of the crowd into a standing ovation.

Before the game, Brown urged his players to make history, offering the "Why not us?" motto that the program adopted.

"People thought the 'Why not us?' was a gimmick," Brown said after the game. "It was not a gimmick. We believed."

Albany towed a small but spunky section of fans with it to Philadelphia. "Why not us?" they chanted at times.

UConn led by 31-30 at halftime, which raised the mostly nonpartisan crowd to its feet as the teams left the court. While the UConn band blared, it could not drown out the spreading adulation for the other team, as even those with no allegiance began to cheer the underdog.

On UConn's first possession of the second half, the ball was stripped. Albany regained the lead with about 18 minutes remaining when guard Lucious Jordan drove the length of the court for a reverse layup. A dunk by the 7-foot-1 Kirsten Zoellner gave Albany a 36-33 lead.

Two possessions later, the lead grew to 40-33. At a timeout with 15:04 remaining, all but the UConn fans were on their feet, turning Philadelphia, for a moment, into the capital of New York.

Momentum built. On one seemingly hopeless possession, as Albany continued trying to milk time from the clock, guard Jason Siggers tossed up a shot from the corner. As the shot arced the shot clock buzzed, but it was drowned out by the roar of the crowd as the ball slipped perfectly through the net.

But it never got any better, both for Albany and for the memorable, improbable storyline that the Great Danes drafted but could not complete. As UConn gained traction late in the game, an exhausted Albany team was left rooting for the passage of time.

"I would be a fool if I said I wasn't looking at the clock every couple of seconds," said Jamar Wilson, from the Bronx, who finished with 19 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds.

Brown vowed to stay at Albany to continue building the program. The school has played Division I basketball only since 1999.

That was the year Calhoun and UConn won their first national championship.

"This is David and Goliath, and we're bringing our slingshots," Brown told The Times earlier in the week. He also said he would pack two suits for the weekend, and that Albany would bring home and away uniforms, in case it pulled off the unforgettable.

It did not. But it is no longer unknown, either.

Washington Regional
"People thought the 'Why not us?' was a gimmick," Brown said after the game. "It was not a gimmick. We believed."

Albany towed a small but spunky section of fans with it to Philadelphia. "Why not us?" they chanted at times.

UConn led by 31-30 at halftime, which raised the mostly nonpartisan crowd to its feet as the teams left the court. While the UConn band blared, it could not drown out the spreading adulation for the other team, as even those with no allegiance began to cheer the underdog.

On UConn's first possession of the second half, the ball was stripped. Albany regained the lead with about 18 minutes remaining when guard Lucious Jordan drove the length of the court for a reverse layup. A dunk by the 7-foot-1 Kirsten Zoellner gave Albany a 36-33 lead.

Two possessions later, the lead grew to 40-33. At a timeout with 15:04 remaining, all but the UConn fans were on their feet, turning Philadelphia, for a moment, into the capital of New York.

Momentum built. On one seemingly hopeless possession, as Albany continued trying to milk time from the clock, guard Jason Siggers tossed up a shot from the corner. As the shot arced the shot clock buzzed, but it was drowned out by the roar of the crowd as the ball slipped perfectly through the net.

But it never got any better, both for Albany and for the memorable, improbable storyline that the Great Danes drafted but could not complete. As UConn gained traction late in the game, an exhausted Albany team was left rooting for the passage of time.

"I would be a fool if I said I wasn't looking at the clock every couple of seconds," said Jamar Wilson, from the Bronx, who finished with 19 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds.

Brown vowed to stay at Albany to continue building the program. The school has played Division I basketball only since 1999.

That was the year Calhoun and UConn won their first national championship.

"This is David and Goliath, and we're bringing our slingshots," Brown told The Times earlier in the week. He also said he would pack two suits for the weekend, and that Albany would bring home and away uniforms, in case it pulled off the unforgettable.

It did not. But it is no longer unknown, either.