2002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

2002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
2002 Final Four Logo
Season	2001–02
Teams	65
Finals site	Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia
Champions	Maryland (1st title)
Runner-up	Indiana (6th title game)
Semifinalists	Kansas (11th Final Four) Oklahoma (4th Final Four)
Winning coach	Gary Williams (1st title)
MOP	Juan Dixon Maryland
Attendance	720,433
Top scorers	Juan Dixon Maryland Jared Jeffries Indiana (155 points)
NCAA Men's Division I Tournaments «2001  2003»

The 2002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 2002, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Atlanta, Georgia. A total of 64 games were played.

This was the first year that the tournament used the so-called "pod" system, in which the eight first- and second-round sites are distributed around the four regionals. Teams were assigned to first round spots in order to minimize travel for as many teams as possible. The top seeds at each site were:

• Sacramento: Oregon (M2), USC (S4)
• Albuquerque: Arizona (W3), Ohio State (W4)
• Dallas: Oklahoma (W2), Mississippi State (M3)
• St. Louis: Kansas (M1), Kentucky (E4)
• Chicago: Georgia (E3), Illinois (M4)
• Pittsburgh: Cincinnati (W1), Pittsburgh (S3)
• Washington, D.C.: Maryland (E1), Connecticut (E2)
• Greenville: Duke (S1), Alabama (S2)

Previously, the eight first-/second-round sites would be assigned to a specific regional, and the two teams from any given site that made it to the Sweet 16 would have to face each other in that round. If the previous scheme had been in effect for this tournament the assigned sites would likely have been:

• West Region
  • Sacramento (#1 Cincinnati)
  • Albuquerque (#2 Oklahoma--the Sooners were barred from matching up with a #1 seed from the Big 12--in this case Kansas--until the Final Four)
• South Region
  • Greenville (#1 Duke)
  • Dallas (#2 Alabama)
• Midwest Region
  • St. Louis (#1 Kansas)
  • Chicago (#2 Oregon)
• East Region
  • Washington, D.C. (#1 Maryland)
  • Pittsburgh (#2 Connecticut)

Maryland, coached by Gary Williams, won the national title with a 64-52 victory in the final game over Indiana, coached by Mike Davis. Juan Dixon of Maryland was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Locations

Opening Round

• Dayton, Ohio (University of Dayton Arena)

First and Second Rounds

• Albuquerque, New Mexico (University Arena)
• Chicago, Illinois (United Center)
• Dallas, Texas (American Airlines Center)
• Greenville, South Carolina (BI-LO Center)
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Mellon Arena)
• Sacramento, California (Arco Arena)
• St. Louis, Missouri (Edward Jones Dome)
• Washington, D.C. (MCI Center)

Later Rounds

Teams

Bids by conference

Final four

At Georgia Dome, Atlanta

National Semifinals

• March 30, 2002
  • Maryland (E1) 97, Kansas (M1) 88

  For the second straight year the Maryland Terrapins earned a bid to the Final Four. This time they would take advantage of their trip. After falling behind 13-2 to the Kansas Jayhawks to begin the game, Maryland stormed to a 44-37 lead at halftime. They expanded their lead to 20, 83-63, with 6:11 left in the game. Roy Williams' Kansas squad did not quit and closed the gap to 4 with under a minute remaining, but the Terps survived to advance to the championship, 97-88. Maryland senior Juan Dixon led the contest in scoring with 33.^[1]

• • Indiana (S5) 73, Oklahoma (W2) 64

  Mike Davis's Indiana Hoosiers continued their cinderella ride in the NCAA Tournament by defeating another higher ranked team, the Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma led most of the first half, and took a 34-30 lead into halftime. However, with the score 60-60 late in the 2nd half Indiana broke ahead for good with an easy bucket from Jeff Newton, who led the Hoosiers with 19 points. The Hoosiers outscored the Sooners by 13 in the 2nd half and advanced to the championship game with a 73-64 victory. Oklahoma was coached by Kelvin Sampson, who later in his career would succeed Davis as IU head coach.^[2]

Championship Game

• April 1, 2002
  • Maryland (E1) 64, Indiana (S5) 52

  The Maryland Terrapins completed the task they set out to do one year earlier by defeating the Indiana Hoosiers 64-52. Maryland led virtually the entire game except for a brief point with 9:52 left in the basketball game when Indiana took a 44-42 lead. Maryland answered the Hoosier run and ended the game with a 22-8 run to bring home the school's first and coach Gary Williams's only men's basketball National Championship. Senior Juan Dixon was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player (MOP).^[3]

Bracket

East Regional — Syracuse, New York

Midwest Regional — Madison, Wisconsin

South Regional — Lexington, Kentucky

West Regional — San Jose, California

Final Four — Atlanta, Georgia

Broadcast information

The New TNN (now called Spike) broadcast the opening-round game, then turned coverage over to CBS Sports for the remaining 63 games. They were carried on a regional basis until the "Elite Eight," at which point all games were shown nationally.

Westwood One had exclusive radio coverage.

CBS Sports announcers

• Jim Nantz and Billy Packer
• Dick Enberg and Matt Guokas
• Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery
• Gus Johnson and Dan Bonner
• Kevin Harlan and Jon Sundvold
• Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel
• Craig Bolerjack and Bob Wenzel
• Tim Brando and Eddie Fogler

See also

• 2002 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

References