Salukis send Knight packing early again

The Associated Press

CHICAGO -- New school, same old result in the NCAA tournament for Bob Knight.

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. Kent Williams scored 17 for the Salukis, who won their school-record 27th game.

It was only the second NCAA win ever for the Salukis (27-7). And it was yet another disappointingly short run in the tournament for Knight, whose teams have lost in the first round in five of his last seven NCAA appearances.

Knight was fired by Indiana in September 2000 for a "pattern of unacceptable behavior."

Though he has three national titles and is 42-22 in 25 tournament appearances, Knight hasn't been to the round of 16 since 1994. But it's the first-round losses that really sting. And they haven't been close ones, either.

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.

Though Texas Tech was the sixth seed, this wasn't that much of an upset. The Red Raiders were just 9-19 last season, and Knight did a remarkable rebuilding job with six holdovers, four junior college transfers, two freshmen and a walk-on.

Tech (23-9) earned its first NCAA bid since 1996. But the Red Raiders were simply overmatched against the Salukis.

The Red Raiders were held to just 39 percent shooting -- and that was even with Dearman and Rolan Roberts, SIU's top defenders, starting the game on the bench. The two, who'd started Southern Illinois' first 33 games, were benched for being late to practice Tuesday.