FINAL FOUR NOTES
ST. PETERSBURG – Thinking about coming down to Florida and scalping a couple of Final Four tickets? Think again.
Local authorities intend to have 140 private security personnel along with about 35 local police officers patrolling inside Tropicana Field, specifically looking for scalpers who approach fans of the losing teams Saturday night in an attempt to purchase their tickets for Monday night’s championship game.
Undercover officers disguised as college basketball fans will be patrolling outside the arena. Authorities reportedly have already arrested one man for attempting to sell $80 tickets for $950 apiece. Ticket scalping in Florida is a misdemeanor which carries a maximum penalty of one year in a jail, a $500 fine or both.
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WHO’S HOT: Ohio State’s Scoonie Penn is averaging 17.5 points and has 18 assists in four NCAA Tournament games … UConn’s Richard Hamilton is the tournament’s leading scorer at 21.3 ppg … Duke’s Trajan Langdon hit 9-of-11 3’s in the two games at the East Regional … Michigan State’s Andre Huston is shooting 76.9 percent from the field and averaging 12 points. Teammate A.J. Granger is shooting 66.7 percent and averaging 11.3 points and 5.3 rebounds.
WHO’S NOT: Buckeye freshman Brian Brown of Brooklyn went scoreless in 28 minutes against St. John’s … Connecticut’s Khalid El-Amin missed all 12 of his shots against Gonzaga … Duke’s William Avery had four assists and three turnovers in the two games at the Meadowlands … Michigan State’s Mateen Cleaves had 13 turnovers in three games and is shooting just 36 percent from the field.
STOCKS RISING: As is the case every year during the NCAA Tournament, several players burst on to the scene with strong performances. Among them are Connecticut’s Kevin Freeman, who is averaging 12.6 points and 7.3 rebounds in the tournament; Ohio State center Ken Johnson had seven blocks against St. John’s; Duke’s Corey Maggette, a freshman, is being compared to Grant Hill; Michigan State’s Morris Peterson, the team’s sixth man, is averaging 10 points and nine rebounds.
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NO CRYSTAL BALL: Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was not happy to be asked yesterday how he would rate this Blue Devil team among college basketball’s all-time greats if it were to win the national championship Monday night.
“It would be really dumb of me to think of that right now,” said Coach K. “We’ve got a helluva game ahead of us against Michigan State.”
