BOISE, Idaho (AP) – Tarvis Williams had four fouls for most of
the second half. He also had nothing to lose, and that's the
attitude that carried Hampton into NCAA Tournament history. |  | | Iowa State's Jamaal Tinsley can't connect on a last-second shot under the defense of Tarvis Williams. Williams had just made the game-winning hoop for Hampton at the other end. |
Williams flipped in a 4-footer in the lane with 6.9 seconds remaining as 15th-seeded Hampton stunned second-seeded Iowa State 58-57 in the NCAA West Regional on Thursday night. Williams took a feed from Marseilles Brown and helped the Pirates (25-6) become the fourth No. 15 seed to beat a No. 2 seed since the field expanded to 16 seeds per region in 1985. "Marseilles and I made eye contact and he made a good pass into me underneath," said Williams, who was called for his fourth foul with 17:13 to go. "When I'm underneath, I feel confident with my touch and my jump shot, and I just concentrated on that." Iowa State's Jamaal Tinsley took the ball downcourt but missed a
layup with 1.2 seconds to go, setting off a midcourt frenzy as the
Pirates, their band, their cheerleaders and their fans swarmed the floor. "I saw we had 6.9 seconds left on the clock and I told our guys
to foul as they were running down the court because we had a foul
to give," Hampton coach Steve Merfeld said. "They didn't hear me,
thank God." David Johnson carried Merfeld halfway around the court as the coach furiously pumped his fists. "It was a great win. I thought our kids persevered," Merfeld
said. "They took control of the game, but we just hung in there
and hung in there ... Tarvis played with four fouls the last 12
minutes, and it's fitting he got the game winner." The Cyclones (25-6), who came within one game of the Final Four
last season, left the court in shock. Before this, they had lost to
Baylor in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament.
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Sweet 15
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Year
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Result
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2001
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Hampton 58, Iowa State 57
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1997
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Coppin St. 78, S. Caro. 65
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1993
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Santa Clara 64, Arizona 61
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1991
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Richmond 73, Syracuse 69
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"It doesn't matter that we lost to Baylor and Hampton at the end," Iowa State coach Larry Eustachy said. "This was one of the best teams ever in Iowa. It just didn't go well at the end." No, it didn't. The Cyclones were outscored 14-2 in the final eight minutes, getting nothing after Martin Rancik's bucket gave Iowa State a 57-48 lead with 7:01 remaining. "It's just devastating to go out like this," guard Kantrail
Horton said. Hampton advanced to play Georgetown, which beat Arkansas 61-60
on another late basket. The Boise subregional produced lower-seeded
winners in three of its four games. Only No. 3 Maryland survived,
beating No. 14 George Mason. The Pirates trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half
but pulled to 57-54 with 2:53 remaining on a basket by Isaac
Jefferson, then forced a turnover at the other end. It was 57-56 with 1:44 to go when Brown split the lane for a
layup, capping a fastbreak that started when Williams blocked a
shot by Rancik. That got the crowd going, as fans stood and cheered
vigorously for Hampton. "The crowd really got into it and we found our energy,"
Williams said. "We knew we were going to win. God answered our
prayers."
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Tue, May
2
Following in the footsteps of fellow MEAC member Coppin State, which upset South Carolina in 1997, 15th-seeded Hampton upset No. 2-seeded Iowa St. in the biggest shock of the day. Give credit to Tarvis Williams for hitting the winning shot inside. He's a big-time player. Steve Merfeld did a teriffic job getting Hampton to the winners' circle. It's heartbreak city for Larry Eustachy, whose Cyclones were never the same after losing at Texas late in the regular season.
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The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion Pirates were making their first NCAA tournament appearance. Until now, Hampton wasn't known for much other than being the school that produced NBA tough guy Rick Mahorn. You can bet everyone back in Iowa, from Council Bluffs to
Davenport, knows more about the Pirates now. "They played a good game. They guarded me tough, but I just
couldn't make my shots," said Tinsley, who shot 4-of-11. It was even more remarkable considering Hampton's best player,
Williams, was in foul trouble throughout the second half. "I was very disappointed because it was a silly foul," Williams said. "I wasn't thinking and it hurt our team. I had to play carefully and not hurt our team." No problem, Merfeld told him. "I looked at him and said 'We've got nothing to lose. Go get
'em.' And we did," Merfeld said. The Cyclones didn't start like the team that reeled off winning
streaks of 10, eight and seven games and won the Big 12's
regular-season title. They came out listless, shooting 9-of-27, and
trailed 31-27 at halftime. Things stabilized early in the second half, as the Cyclones
using a 9-0 run to erase Hampton's lead. Iowa State led 46-35 after
a 19-4 run through the midpoint of the second half. But two Hampton players have NCAA Tournament experience, and it
showed when the Pirates never panicked. LaSean Howard was part of Syracuse's run to the round of 16 in
1998 and Brown played the point for Richmond the same year when the
14th-seeded Spiders stunned third-seeded South Carolina. "The caliber of team we were playing against, you can't go down
by 10 in the second half," Brown said. "All I tried to do was
keep everybody cool, and coach was keeping us cool. We made some
shots and some stops defensively."  Send this story to a friend
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Tarvis Williams knew what he had to do to get the game-winning basket.
wav: 81 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Steve Merfeld doesn't remember much after Iowa State's last-second attempt feel short.
wav: 146 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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