Temple Falls to Akron in NIT

Published: 3/15/06, 7:06 AM EDT
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - John Chaney's last game before retirement was one to forget. The Hall of Fame coach was probably glad he wasn't around to see it.

Chaney skipped Temple's 80-73 overtime loss to Akron in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament on Tuesday night because of his wife's health issues, and missed star guard Mardy Collins leaving his final game on a stretcher.

Chaney retired Monday after 24 seasons at Temple, ending a 34-year coaching career that reached 741 wins but never the Final Four. Chaney was not on the bench because his wife underwent a procedure for an undisclosed health problem. Assistant Dan Leibovitz took his place.

"Mardy and I have a special relationship, it's a tough moment," Leibovitz said. "It was very tough. The emotion of this week has been overwhelming. It's like losing someone in your family."

There was quite a serious scare when Collins, a projected NBA first-round pick and one of Chaney's favorite players, crashed hard on a driving layup attempt with about 30 seconds left in the game and lay face down for several minutes.

With his pregnant fiancee looking on from behind the basket, Collins was turned over and tended to by Temple's medical staff for about 20 minutes before he was fitted for a neck brace and left on a stretcher.

Collins, the leading scorer for Temple (17-15) with 16.6 points per game, finished with 22 points and eight rebounds.

Collins was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was listed in fair condition and was to stay overnight. He was undergoing precautionary tests and was resting comfortably, said Temple spokesman Larry Dougherty. Dougherty said Collins never lost consciousness.

Athletic director Bill Bradshaw and Leibovitz said Collins had movement and was responsive, and Chaney went to the hospital.

"This is your biggest nightmare as a coach," Leibovitz said. "The kid's going to make a lot of money. Right now, I don't care about that game. With 30 seconds left, essentially, in your career ... he's going to be all right. It's not a great feeling."

Leibovitz said Chaney was in great spirits earlier in the day and his wife's procedure went well.

The locker room was somber, a third straight season ending without a postseason win and their best player and coach nowhere around.

"I'm just praying right now," said Mark Tyndale, who led the Owls with 23 points. "I'm not used to seeing Mardy on the floor. That's hard to see, man. I just hope he gets better."

Elsewhere on the opening night of the NIT, it was Butler 53, Miami (Ohio) 52; Charlotte 77, Georgia Southern 61; Rutgers 76, Penn State 71; Manhattan 80, Fairleigh Dickinson 77; Stanford 65, Virginia 49; UTEP 85, Lipscomb 66; and Delaware State 58, Northern Arizona 53.

All of Temple's issues overshadowed quite a win for the Zips, playing in their first postseason tournament since 1988-89 and winning their first career postseason game in the Division I era (1980-81). Akron had played in two NITs and one NCAA tournament, in 1986 under Bob Huggins.

Akron (23-9) plays Thursday night at Creighton (19-9).

"For us to come in after 17 years of never being in the postseason since coach Huggins was here, you couldn't write a better script then to play Temple," Akron coach Keith Dambrot said. "For a fledgling group like us, to come in and be able to play them is just a great honor."

Darryl Peterson and Nick Dials each scored 17 points for the Zips.

Collins' jumper with 35 seconds left in regulation put the Owls ahead 66-64 and seemed poised to give Chaney a chance to coach another day. Instead, Dru Joyce's layup tied it with 9 seconds left and sent the game into overtime.

Romeo Travis opened overtime with a three-point play for the Zips, and Cedrick Middleton hit a 3-pointer to give them a six-point lead.

"That's embarrassing, losing in the first round to Akron," Tyndale said. "They're a good team, they play hard, but we've been going through a lot of things as a team."

The Owls caught a discouraging view of life without Chaney. There were barely 1,000 fans in the stands, and there was no audible cussing or foot stomping coming from across the court on Temple's bench.

Bob Knight, Eddie Sutton, Lute Olson, and Mike Krzyzewski are the only active coaches with more career victories.

This season, Temple made the NIT for the fifth straight season, a dramatic decline for a program that was once an NCAA tournament regular.

Chaney's last game was a 79-53 loss to Saint Joseph's on Friday night in the Atlantic 10 tournament semifinals in Cincinnati.

Butler 53, Miami (Ohio) 52

At Indianapolis, Brandon Polk's rebound basket with 2 seconds to go lifted Butler, which got 19 points from A.J. Graves.

Tim Pollitz led Miami with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bulldogs (20-12) will play at Florida State on Friday.

Charlotte 77, Georgia Southern 61

At Charlotte, Curtis Withers had 20 points and 16 rebounds, while De'Angelo Alexander also scored 20 points for the 49ers (19-12), who overcame 22 turnovers and advanced to play at top-seed Cincinnati on Friday.

Donte Gennie had a career-high 22 points for the Eagles (20-10), making their first postseason appearance in 14 years.

Georgia Southern coach Jeff Price was on the bench, the same day his mother was buried in Seminole, Fla. She died Sunday after a long battle with cancer. Price, who had been away from the team for a week, flew to Charlotte after the funeral, arriving about four hours before tipoff.

Rutgers 76, Penn State 71

Quincy Douby scored 32 points and hit eight 3-pointers, several from NBA range. The win extended Gary Waters' coaching career at Rutgers by at least one more game. Waters announced on March 1 that he was stepping down at the end of the season.

The Scarlet Knights (19-13) play a second-round game on Thursday at St. Joseph's.

Manhattan 80, Fairleigh Dickinson 77

Jason Wingate scored six points in the final 1:40, then the Knights' Chad Timberlake fell short with a desperation 3-pointer with 3 seconds left.

The host Jaspers (19-10), winners of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season title, played an NIT home game for the first time since 1992. They had lost three consecutive NIT games, all on the road, since.

They travel to top-seeded Maryland on Saturday.

Stanford 65, Virginia 49

Chris Hernandez had 14 points, Dan Grunfeld added 12 points and Matt Haryasz had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Cardinal (16-13), who next travel to Missouri State.

The host Cardinal dominated Virginia (15-15) throughout, leading by as much as 19. Stanford forced Virginia into 15 turnovers while holding the Cavaliers to a season low in points.

UTEP 85, Lipscomb 66

At El Paso, Texas, Jason Williams had 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double, and Stefon Jackson scored 22 points. UTEP (21-9) hit a season-high 14 3-pointers and never trailed, and next plays at Michigan.

James Poindexter scored 23 points to lead Lipscomb (21-11), playing in its first postseason tournament as a Division I school.

Delaware State 58, Northern Arizona 53

Jahsha Bluntt scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half for visiting Delaware State. The ninth-seeded Hornets (21-13) advanced to Friday's game at top-seeded Louisville (18-12).

Northern Arizona, the regular-season Big Sky Conference champions, ended its season with a 21-11 record.
credit BellSOuth