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CHICAGO (AP) -- Bob Knight's first NCAA Tournament appearance
with Texas Tech went pretty much like his recent ones at Indiana.
The only difference after this first-round loss is that he's
headed back to Lubbock, Texas, not Bloomington, Ind.
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A salute to the Missouri Valley conference, as the Southern Illinois Salukis join Creighton in advancing to the second round. Bruce Webber's club put in a brilliant performance and controlled the game from the outset. They had a balanced attack, with Jermaine Dearman and Rolan Robert, who played effectively on the interior -- especially in the second half.
Kent Williams looked great on the perimeter, and they did a solid job defensively against Texas Tech's improved star Andre Emmett. Emmett couldn't get involved early in the game, which allowed Southern Illinois to jump out to a comfortable lead. Webber's kids proved that they flat-out belong in the Tournament.
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Jermaine Dearman had 17 points and 11 rebounds Friday night as
11th-seeded Southern Illinois beat Knight's Texas Tech 76-68 in an
Eastern Regional opener.
"I'd have been disappointed eventually if we'd gotten beat in
the championship game," said Knight, who won three national titles
at Indiana before being fired in September 2000 for a "pattern of
unacceptable behavior."
"Yeah, I'm disappointed, but also I can look at how we played
and how they played, and they're just better at some things than we
were."
Though he's 42-22 in 25 tournament appearances, Knight's teams
have lost in the first round in five of his last seven trips. He
hasn't been to the round of 16 since 1994.
And until now, the first-round losses have been particularly
ugly. Indiana lost to Colorado by 18 in 1997, matching the
Hoosiers' worst postseason defeat. That was followed by a 25-point
blowout to St. John's in 1999, and a 20-point loss to Pepperdine in
2000.
But while Texas Tech was the sixth seed, this wasn't that much
of an upset.
"I really was impressed with Southern Illinois right from the
very beginning," Knight said. "They had a mental toughness that
was really extraordinary. They were just tougher than we were all
across the floor, and they maintained that the whole ballgame."
Kent Williams scored 17 for the Salukis, who won their
school-record 27th game. Southern Illinois held Tech to just 39
percent shooting -- and that was with Dearman and Rolan Roberts,
their top defenders, starting the game on the bench.
The two missed their first start of the season after being late
to practice Tuesday.
Andy Ellis and Kasib Powell had 19 each for Texas Tech, but
leading scorer Andre Emmett had just nine points.
"We didn't come ready to play tonight and if you don't do that,
you're going to get beat," Ellis said.
Still, Texas Tech's turnaround this season was remarkable. The
Red Raiders were 9-19 last season, and Knight took six holdovers,
four junior college transfers, two freshmen and a walk-on and
earned Texas Tech's first NCAA bid since 1996.
"I grew up watching him when he was back at Indiana," said
Dearman, an Indianapolis native. "I don't know if I ever really
wanted to play for him because I know the kind of coach that he is.
I know he's a good coach, but I know he gets a little frustrated at
players at times.
"So I felt great winning the game today."
But the game wasn't even the main event. All eyes were on
Knight, who looked out of place in his black sweater and was just
four hours north of Indiana, where he spent 29 years.
There were some boos when he took the floor for the game, and
one Southern Illinois fan held up a sign reading, "'Hey Knight,
What's Up?' Salukis."
Knight was fired at Indiana after he grabbed the arm of a student who said,
"What's up, Knight?"
But raucous cheers drowned out any boos when Knight was
introduced. Knight didn't show any reaction, of course. And he was
fairly well-behaved once the game started.
He did let loose at Nick Valdez at one point, calling him over
to the bench to yell at him, and continuing the "discussion" at
the next timeout. And Knight was livid when Ellis was called for
basket interference with 18:16 to play, jumping up and screaming at
the referees.
"That's not right," he said to one. "You can't possibly
see."
It appeared that the ball might have been off the rim when Ellis
touched it, but replays were inconclusive. In Knight's mind,
though, there was no question, and he was still complaining about
it several minutes later.
Other than that, though, he was a model citizen. Southern
Illinois coach Bruce Weber spent more time on his feet.
When Mikey Marshall was called for what could have been a
charge, Knight simply leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms
across his chest and glared at the referee. When Pawel Storozynski
was called for traveling, Knight jumped up and took a few steps
down the bench, then sat back down.
And when Dearman scored on an alley-oop to put Southern Illinois
up 53-38 with 8:09 left, Knight just looked over at son Pat, a Red
Raiders assistant, as if to ask him where they were going for
dinner.
With yet another early departure from the tournament, he's got
plenty of time to decide.
"Our kids, if I were to say a weakness, I'd have quickly said
mental toughness," Knight said. "Southern Illinois both played
smarter and harder than we did. Hopefully we can learn something
and grow from it." | 
