Miami making history, Tulsa making strides

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Always an afterthought in March, Tulsa keeps getting closer to the nation's basketball elite. <br><br>Miami, meanwhile, keeps making school history with each postseason victory.

Friday, March 24th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Always an afterthought in March, Tulsa keeps getting closer to the nation's basketball elite.

Miami, meanwhile, keeps making school history with each postseason victory.

Tulsa (31-4) and Miami (23-10) play tonight in the South Regional, with the winner advancing within a game of the Final Four.

Tulsa is in the NCAA tournament round of 16 for the third time since 1994. For Miami, it's a brand-new experience.

"Obviously, by us making the Sweet 16, it's a history-making event for the University of Miami," center Mario Bland said Thursday. "We don't have all the NCAA tournament banners that other schools have that are in our current position. We don't want to get ahead of ourselves. If we start thinking about what we've done, we can lose our focus."

Miami, the sixth seed in the South, is in its fourth NCAA tournament in the program's history.

For the Hurricanes and coach Leonard Hamilton, it's been a long, sometimes difficult, 10-year march to basketball respectability. Miami won its first share of the Big East title, and a win over seventh-seed Tulsa would set a school record for season victories.

"I never thought we would not get to this point in the program, because of the will, desire and determination," said Hamilton, who took over at Miami in 1990. Three of his first four seasons saw fewer than 10 wins.

"I've had a lot of dark times, but I always feel that thosedark times are a time to grow and learn," he said. "I don't believe that I can remember a time that I did not personally feel that we could get this program to this point and beyond."

Tulsa suffered one of its darkest moments in the 1999 tournament when the Golden Hurricane suffered a 97-56 loss to Duke.

But instead of sulking through the off season, Tulsa players used it as a motivator for 2000, coach Bill Self said.

"The way that game ended was food for our program," Self said. "It showed us there is playing at a high level and then there is an elite level, and it showed us we had work to do."

"Duke showed us everything a good team had to be," Tulsa forward Eric Coley said.

Since then, the Golden Hurricane have lost to only two teams --to Oral Roberts once and Fresno State three times -- with the four losses by a total of seven points.

And their victories are seldom close. Twenty-five times this season, Tulsa beat opponents by double-figure margins on the way to winning the Western Athletic Conference regular-season title.

"It's been a dream season so far," Self said. "We're confident, but I'm sure everyone still playing at this time is confident."

Both teams see a little of themselves in each other. Defense comes first under the disciplinarian Hamilton and Self, who was Hamilton's assistant for four years at Oklahoma State.

"Miami plays exactly like we do," Tulsa guard Marcus Hill said. "We both like to shoot the quick shot and play good defense. I think it will be one of the best games in the tournament because we are so much alike."

Offensively, Miami relies on the finesse of 6-foot-5 guard Johnny Hemsley, who averaged 18.2 points in the regular season and 22 in two NCAA tournament victories over Arkansas and Ohio State. Four Miami starters are averaging in double figures in the tournament.

Tulsa had four players average at least 10 points or more during the regular season, but its biggest offensive weapon doesn't start. Sixth man David Shelton leads the Golden Hurricane with a 14-point scoring average despite playing only 22 minutes a game, sixth-most on the team.