College Basketball Capsules: Buckeyes celebrate their 1960 national title

COLUMBUS, Ohio — By and large, they were an odd mix, a grab bag of smart small-town and savvy city kids who liked each other as much as they liked punishing opponents.

The 1959-60 Ohio State Buckeyes were built around a group of "Super Sophs" featuring the nation’s No. 1 recruit, Jerry Lucas, along with a perpetual-motion machine named John Havlicek. One of the top players off the bench — brash and sure of himself even then — made a name for himself as a coach: Bob Knight.

They won Ohio State’s only national championship in men’s basketball, hitting 15 of their first 16 shots from the field and cruising to a 75-55 rout of California. It was a perfect storm of talent, chemistry and discipline guided by the masterful hand of second-year coach Fred Taylor.

They’ll come together again — perhaps for the last time — this weekend to celebrate their title.

"I don’t think people realize all of the things that that team accomplished," Taylor, who died in 2002, would say later. "And we never ever had a kid even close to flunking out. It was just a heck of a bunch to be around."

The team grade-point average was 3.6 on a 4.0 scale. On the court, it was just as impressive, averaging a remarkable 90.4 points a game.

The focal point was the 6-foot-8 Lucas, who was good for 26.3 points and 16.4 rebounds a game and was the national player of the year. Hailing from a gritty, industrial town midway between Dayton and Cincinnati, he led Middletown High School to a 76-1 record in three seasons and was a prized catch for Ohio State’s rookie coach.

Lucas was an intense student in class and on the court.

After a terrific pro career — he was selected as one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players (along with Havlicek) in 1997 — he could recite 10 pages of the New York City telephone book or recall detailed facts about people in the studio audience at late-night talk shows. It was much the same way he approached the game.

"I never shot a shot in my life unless I asked myself why," he said. "Why did that go in? Why did it do this or why did it do that? I analyzed everything and tried to be as complete and intelligent an athlete as I could."

His (literal) running mate at forward was the 6-5 Havlicek. He and the rest of the sophomores would go 78-6 in their college careers.

Havlicek was from the small town of Lansing, across the Ohio River from Wheeling, W.Va. He was an All-Ohioan in basketball, football and baseball.

He liked the challenge of being surrounded by great players at Ohio State.

"On this particular team, no one wanted to be considered the weak link," Havlicek said. "When you were designated to do a job, you wanted to do it to the best of your ability."

That willingness to raise his game would pay dividends after his college career when he would be an integral part of eight NBA titles as an iconic Boston Celtic.

Another sophomore, Mel Nowell, a 6-2 starting guard from Columbus, would also go on to a pro career. He averaged 13.1 points and was the triggerman of an offense that ran every chance it could.

"The chemistry was so good," Nowell said. "When the ball went up, we wanted to show people what we could do."

The other two starters were holdovers from Taylor’s first season as head coach, a team that went 11-11. Larry Siegfried, a 6-4 guard, averaged 19.6 points on that team but had to take a back seat to the younger stars a year later, when he scored 13.2 points a game. Like Havlicek, he would go on to a glittering NBA career with the Celtics that would include five championships.

Rounding out the starting lineup was Joe Roberts, a 6-6 senior from Columbus whose biggest contribution might have been accepting the sophomores to help pave the way for the team’s success. He, too, would play in the NBA.

The first man off the bench was 6-7 Dick Furry, a starter the year before who lost his job to Havlicek. Like Siegfried and Roberts, he bore no ill will toward the upstarts who took over the team. Rather than complain or bide his time, he threw himself into being a valued player off the bench.

"I decided I had to make the best of it and play the sixth man," he said later. "And I felt I really contributed."

Knight made the case to Taylor that he should be playing more, but he still remained a reserve. He averaged just 3.7 points a game. Much of the Xs and Os he would introduce during his storied coaching career, which included a record 902 wins, would be gleaned from his years around Taylor, also one of his lifelong friends.

The Buckeyes (25-3) won their first six games before losing two out of three, at Utah and at 13th-ranked Kentucky. Unranked at the start of the season, their only remaining loss would be at Indiana on Feb. 29.

They entered the 16-team NCAA tournament ranked No. 3 and quickly dispatched Western Kentucky and No. 13 Georgia Tech to advance to the national semifinals.

The Buckeyes then pounded NYU 76-54, while California was upsetting top-ranked Cincinnati (and superstar Oscar Robertson), 77-69. No. 2 Cal featured 6-10 Darrell Imhoff, another future pro. But Lucas bottled him up inside and the Buckeyes shot 84.2 percent from the field in the opening half (16 of 19) to build a 37-19 lead. They never looked back.

Taylor, just 36 when the Buckeyes cut down the nets at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, had been a two-sport star at Ohio State who chased the dream of being a major-league baseball player. Despite good numbers in a three-year stint in the minors — and 22 games with the Washington Senators — he returned to his alma mater to become an assistant coach before taking over for Floyd Stahl.

Taylor would go on to a 297-158 record, retiring after the 1975-76 season before he had even turned 50. He spent more time with his family, managed a golf club and did some television analysis. Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1986, there was no question that his favorite team was one of his first teams.

"I had a love affair with those kids," he would say years after his retirement. "They weren’t very sound defensively at the start of the season. As they progressed, they could play pretty thorny defense."

Siegfried will be among those at Value City Arena on Sunday returning for the celebration. He said the championship is still vividly remembered by Ohio State fans, but that isn’t the focal point for him.

"As time goes on, the championship does not mean as much to me," Siegfried said. "The thing that matters to me is what coach Taylor taught us and the relationships, those intangible things. The core values that made me who I am today, that’s what’s important to me."

Checking in on 1960 Ohio State Buckeyes

An updated glimpse at the 1959-60 Ohio State national champions:

— Mel Nowell, 6-foot-2, sophomore, Columbus (East HS), Ohio. An All-Ohio selection as a senior in high school, Nowell ended up as the Big Ten’s second-leading scorer for the 1960 team at 14 points a game. Drafted by the Chicago Zephyrs in the 12th round of the 1962 draft, Nowell played only one season in the NBA. He also played in the Eastern League and ABA. He was state budget director under Ohio Gov. James Rhodes for 2½ years, then went into retail, real estate and construction. Now semi-retired, he and his wife have four children and 10 grandchildren.

— Gary Gearhart, 6-2, sophomore, New Lebanon, Ohio. Gearhart scored 49 points in 19 games, then worked as a manufacturer’s representative for a high-school jewelry company in Lima, Ohio.

— John Havlicek, 6-5, sophomore, Bridgeport, Ohio. Havlicek averaged 14.6 points over his Ohio State career, and helped the "Super Sophs" compile a 78-6 record. Many might be surprised that Havlicek was the Buckeyes’ second-leading rebounder. A great all-around athlete, he thought about playing for the Cleveland Browns, who took him in the seventh round of the NFL draft, before joining the Boston Celtics, who had selected in the first round in 1962. He helped the Celtics win eight NBA title and was immortalized by Johnny Most’s 1965 call of his play that helped win a title, "Havlicek stole the ball! Havlicek stole the ball!" He scored more than 26,000 points in 16 seasons and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983. He was selected one of the top 50 players of the NBA in 1997.

— John Cedargren, 6-5, senior, Columbus (North HS), Ohio. While taking a five-year mechanical engineering class, Cedargren contributed some key moments off the bench, scoring 16 points in 13 games as a backup for Lucas. Cedargren died in 1966.

— Jerry Lucas, 6-8, sophomore, Middletown, Ohio. Still considered one of the greatest high school players ever (2,460 points, 76-1 record) for the Middies, Lucas was a first-team All-American all three years he played at Ohio State (freshmen were not eligible,. He also led 1964 U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal. A brilliant student, Lucas maintained an A average that put him in the top 4 percent of his class in Ohio State’s College of Commerce and Administration. Taken in first round of the NBA draft by the Cincinnati Royals, he sat out his first year after signing with the ABA’s Cleveland Pipers before finally joining the Royals. He starred for 11 years in the NBA, averaging 15.6 rebounds for his career. He won a championship with the New York Knicks in 1973 while starring as a rebounder and long-range shooter. Selected as one of the greatest 50 players in NBA history in 1997, he has written text books and popular books about memorization. Now with five grown children, Lucas lives in Templeton, Calif., and still travels, putting on memorization seminars. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979.

— Dick Furry, 6-7, senior, Columbus (West HS), Ohio. More than almost anyone else on the Ohio State team, Furry stood to lose the most by the arrival of the sophomores. After starting and averaging 11.5 points as a junior, he had to share time at forward with Havlicek and ended up averaging 5.1 points as a senior. After graduation, he became president of a paint, dye and ink company in suburban Cleveland.

— Richie Hoyt, 6-4, junior, Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Another valuable sub on the team, Hoyt once scored 50 points in a high school game. He totaled 58 in 23 games for the 1959-60 Buckeyes, then became an executive for a workers’ compensation company.

— Joe Roberts, 6-6, senior, Columbus (East HS), Ohio. Roberts thrived in coach Fred Taylor’s offense, averaging 11 points and seven rebounds. He was drafted by the Syracuse Nationals in the third round, and played three years in the NBA with the Nationals and one year in the ABA. He went into coaching and spent several years as an assistant in college ranks and the NBA. He eventually went into education before retiring in California.

— Dave Barker, 6-2, senior, Columbus, Ohio. Scored 23 points in 16 games as a backup guard. After graduation, he became owner of David Barker Art Gallery in Columbus.

— Gary Milliken, 5-11, junior, Waynesburg, Pa. Milliken did not score in two games. After graduation, he became manager of a utility company in Pittsburgh.

— Larry Siegfried, 6-4, junior, Shelby, Ohio. Ohio State’s MVP in 1959 and a consensus second-team All-American in 1961, Siegfried was drafted in the first round by the Cincinnati Royals in 1961. He passed up the NBA to spend two seasons in the ABA. Like Havlicek, he eventually found a home with in Boston and spent seven years playing for Red Auerbach, helping the club win titles in 1964-66 and 1968-69. He played for three more teams before retiring after the 1972 season, having scored almost 6,000 points. He later coached, counseled prisoners at the Mansfield Correctional Institution and did motivational speaking.

— J.T. Landes, 5-11, sophomore, Columbus (North HS), Ohio. Saw action in only six games, scoring four points for the Buckeyes. He became a school administrator in Green Bay, Wis.

— Bob Knight, 6-4, sophomore, Orrville, Ohio. Better known as a coach than a player, Knight averaged 3.7 points as a sub on the national championship team. He would go on to win more games (902) than any college coach. He spent six years (1965-71) at Army, going 102-50, and 29 years (1971-2000) at Indiana, where he went 661-240, won 11 Big Ten titles and NCAA championships in 1976, 1981 and 1987. He closed out his successful yet turbulent coaching career with seven years (2001-08) at Texas Tech, going 138-82. He is now an analyst on ESPN, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991.

— Nelson Miller, 6-3, sophomore, Reading, Ohio. Miller scored five points in six games with the Buckeyes in 1960. After graduation, he moved to Monticello, Ill.

— Jim Allen, 5-9, junior, Columbus, Ohio. Allen played in seven games, scoring seven points, and went on to become an emergency-room physician in Malibu, Calif.

— Howard Nourse, 6-7, senior, Springfield, Ohio. Nourse averaged 3.1 points backing up Lucas, and eventually became an educator. He was a vice president of Milligan College in Tennessee.

— Ernie Biggs (trainer). Brigg was Ohio State’s head football and basketball trainer from 1945-1972, and held a patent for a knee brace he designed. A portion of the football practice facility is named in his honor, and he went into Ohio State’s athletic hall of fame in 1980.

— Frank Truitt (freshman coach). A graduate of Otterbein College, Truitt left Ohio State to become the head coach at LSU in 1965, then at Kent State in 1966-74. He also spent five years coaching golf and four coaching soccer at the school. After retiring in 1978, he moved back to Columbus and worked in real estate before retiring.

— Jack Graf (assistant coach). After graduating from Ohio State, he picked up a master’s degree at Harvard before returning to his alma mater to assist Taylor while working in the family business. Inducted into the Ohio State athletic hall of fame in 1988, Graf died on Sept. 14, 2009, at age 90.

— Fred Taylor (head coach). A native of Zanesville, Ohio, Taylor came to Ohio State as a student in 1942 but left to join the military. He returned to play on the 1948-50 teams, and was good enough in baseball that h e played four years in the Washington Senators organization. Ohio State asked him to return as a freshman basketball and baseball coach in 1953. He guided the Buckeyes basketball team as head coach for 18 years, posting a record of 297-158 and winning five straight Big Ten titles (1960-64). The Buckeyes played in three consecutive NCAA title games, losing to Cincinnati in 1961 and 1962. He also led the Buckeyes to the Final Four in 1968, when the Big Ten co-champion finished third behind a stack offense that featured big men Bill Hosket and Dave Sorenson. He won his last conference title in 1971, conceding he lost much of his motivation after an ugly incident in 1972 at Minnesota, when Golden Gophers players Corky Taylor, Ron Behagen and Dave Winfield attacked Ohio State players in a wild melee. Taylor resigned after the 1975-76 season and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1986. He died on Jan. 6, 2002.

No. 17 Pitt looks for turnaround after losing 2

PITTSBURGH — The only surprises these days for No. 17 Pitt seem to be unpleasant ones.

After beating Syracuse, Connecticut and Louisville during a five-game winning streak that began Big East play, the Panthers probably realized it would be difficult to maintain that unexpectedly high level of play.

They were the surprise team of the Big East after being picked to finish ninth in the conference, and a breakout team nationally during what is supposed to be a start-all-over-again season.

While a falloff probably was inevitable for a team that returned only one regular from a year ago, the Panthers (15-4, 5-2) didn’t expect so much to go wrong so suddenly.

Their guards, steady and productive all season, lost their shooting touch. Their defensive intensity lessened. They began turning the ball over at a rate uncharacteristic for a Jamie Dixon-coached team.

"It’s not like we’re overconfident now," Dixon said following successive losses to now-No. 7 Georgetown (74-66) on Jan. 20 and unranked Seton Hall (64-61) on Sunday.

While the Panthers didn’t tumble out of the Top 25, they dropped eight spots this week after reaching the Top 10 for the first time this season at No. 9. They have a chance to get turned around when they play St. John’s (12-7, 2-5) on Thursday night, and it’s one they don’t want to waste.

"We just have to bounce back from these losses and get going again," center Gary McGhee said. "We haven’t lost any confidence. We just committed too many turnovers (20) against Seton Hall and had a few defensive mishaps against Georgetown that kept us from winning those games, so we need to turn those games around."

It would help if leading scorer Ashton Gibbs (17.3 points per game) would rediscover his shooting touch.

After going 18 of 28 during a three-game stretch, Gibbs has made 21 of 58 shots (36.2 percent) during his last four games. There’s nothing wrong with his free-throw shooting — he’s 22 of 23 during the same stretch — but defenses aren’t giving him the open shots he saw earlier this season.

Jermaine Dixon also is slumping, making only 16 of 47 shots (34 percent) in his last four. Pitt has been so reliant upon its guards for scoring, the rest of the offense isn’t making up for all those missed shots.

Nasir Robinson scored a career-high 26 points against Louisville on Jan. 16, but had only nine points combined in the two losses.

"Our offense is based on our perimeter guys," Jamie Dixon said. "But when you turn it over, you don’t get enough shots. And that was our problem (against Seton Hall). We didn’t get enough shots."

St. John’s is coming off losses to Connecticut (75-59) and No. 4 Villanova (81-71). The Red Storm’s leading scorer is guard D.J. Kennedy (15.3 points), a Pittsburgh native who played three seasons ago with former Pitt star DeJuan Blair on Schenley High’s Pennsylvania state championship team.

"Basketball is a game of ups and downs, so after a five-game winning streak in the Big East we’ve got two losses in a row," Pitt forward Gilbert Brown said. "That’s due to a loss of focus on the court. I really believe in this team, and I think it’s going to pull out of this quickly."

-- Alan Robinson

SC’s Horn on recruiting trail after beating No. 1

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina coach Darrin Horn didn’t stick around Wednesday to enjoy the campus buzz over the Gamecocks landmark win, not with all those recruits to visit.

Hours after South Carolina defeated No. 1 Kentucky, 68-62 on Tuesday night, Horn was off wooing potential prospects armed with perhaps the biggest victory in program history. The Gamecocks had lost their previous seven games against top-ranked teams until beating the Wildcats.

Horn knows how that will play on the road for his second-year program.

"When you walk in the gym and you’ve got South Carolina across your chest and you’ve just beaten the number one team in the country, I think it makes a difference," Horn said Wednesday.

Horn is glad the school and his players got something to celebrate. He knows, though, the good feelings have to be tempered with hard work and focus.

The Gamecocks (12-8, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) can’t think they’ve arrived and need to keep the focus that fueled the Wildcat win. They host Georgia on Saturday night and Horn will spend the next few practices preaching steadiness.

"Trying to control what we can control, do what we can do and not getting too high or too low," Horn said.

It was hard for South Carolina players and fans to feel any higher than they did Tuesday night.

Devan Downey scored 30 points to lead the Gamecock upset, then urged fans past the yellow rope barrier held by security guards to storm the court at the end. The move earned South Carolina a $25,000 fine Wednesday from the SEC.

The good feelings continued Wednesday around campus.

"It was actually crazy with the text messages and the phone calls," said Downey, groggy and a bit hoarse. "You go from everybody’s kind of down with how the team is doing to you’d think we’d won a national championship."

Downey, the stellar senior who’s averaging better than 31 points in SEC games, knows the undermanned Gamecocks reside somewhere in the middle with about six weeks to go in league play. They now have a shot of confidence, according to Downey, that more success is ahead.

"Everybody wants to talk about how well I played," Downey said. "I don’t really think I was the most important player in the game."

There was fellow senior Brandis Raley-Ross, who had his the best SEC performance of his career with 17 points. Forwards Sam Muldrow and Johndre Jefferson, who combined for 19 rebounds against Kentucky’s strong front line. And Austin Steed, who had a block on Kentucky star John Wall when the Wildcats were trying for a late charge.

"So many other guys did good things last night," Downey said.

Horn was glad to see others fill in around the team’s unquestioned star in Downey. Then again, they don’t have a choice of South Carolina hopes to keep winning.

The team went 10-6 in the league last season, its best mark since 1997-98, in Horn’s debut and figured to make a charge for even more this season. But senior Dominique Archie was lost for the season in November with a knee injury. Forward Mike Holmes hurt his eye horsing-around at home soon after and was subsequently dismissed by Horn for repeated violations of team rules.

That left the Gamecocks without their top two rebounders from a year ago — and with too many questions about how they’d match up with SEC elites.

It looked like South Carolina might enter with an even bleaker outlook after a crushing defeat at Florida last Saturday night. Downey’s incredible, go-ahead driving layup with 5 seconds left was trumped by Chandler Parson’s game-winning 3-pointer.

But Horn, though, saw a proud bunch at a Sunday night meeting, not ready to throw away the season. "They had a presence and a look in their eyes," said Horn, a Kentucky native who’s won three straight against the Wildcats.

For Downey, the goal of the NCAA tournament they brought into the season remains in sight. As he watched the Gators and their fans cheer last weekend, Downey regretted letting a resume-building win slip away.

"Now, we got an even bigger one," Downey said with a smile.

-- Pete Iacobelli

South Carolina’s win over Kentucky to cost $25K

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina’s first victory over a No. 1 team will cost $25,000.

The Southeastern Conference fined South Carolina that amount Wednesday for violating league rules against permitting fans on the playing area following a 68-62 victory over top-ranked Kentucky on Tuesday night.

As the game neared the end, security at the Colonial Life Arena held up a yellow rope to keep the people off the court. However, South Carolina guard Devan Downey urged students to join the players in celebration as time ran out. The Gamecocks had been 0-7 in the program’s history against No. 1 teams before the Wildcat win.

The scene was so crazy, Kentucky coach John Calipari headed straight for the locker room instead of walking to South Carolina’s bench for the traditional postgame handshake.

This was considered South Carolina’s second such violation, the first coming five years ago after another win over Kentucky.

"This policy is designed to create a safe environment for everyone who participates and attends our athletic contests," SEC commissioner Mike Slive said in a statement. "The security and protection of our student athletes, coaches, officials and fans is our primary concern."

The policy went into effect on Dec. 1, 2004, less than two weeks after a brawl involving players and fans during a game between the NBA’s Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills, and one day after another fight among players in a Clemson-South Carolina football game.

A violation within the next three years, according to SEC policy, would bring South Carolina a $50,000 fine.

South Carolina was last fined for storming the court in February 2005 after a 73-61 victory over then-No. 3 Kentucky. That penalty was $5,000.

South Carolina athletic director Eric Hyman said after Tuesday’s win he had messaged Slive to see if beating a No. 1 team earned him a discount on the expected fine. Hyman said he had fans coming up to him giving him $1 bills to help pay any fine.

Hyman did not return a message from The Associated Press on Wednesday. However, in a statement, he praised the fans for their enthusiasm, calling the atmosphere at the arena "as exciting as any time since I’ve been here."

"However, the SEC schools voted unanimously on the sportsmanship policy and subsequent fines for violating that policy, and we support it fully," he said.

Hyman continued that while he was pleased with the game’s outcome, "I was also very concerned that we follow this policy to prevent a dangerous situation from occurring."

Danger seemed like the furthest thing from any South Carolina player or supporter’s mind once time ran out.

Downey pointed to the crowd, yelling "I told you so" after the win. When asked about a potential SEC fine Tuesday night, he smiled and said, "I’m pretty sure the university’s got some money somewhere to pay the fine."

On Wednesday, Downey acknowledged telling fans to join the players’ celebration.

"I’m not saying it’s right, wrong or whatever, but when you beat a No. 1 team in the country, you want to remember that moment in a special way," he said. "Yeah, I told them to come on the court."

Athletic spokesman Steve Fink said the department intended to pay.

-- Pete Iacobelli

Women

Defense fuels No. 23 Penn State’s return to Top 25

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State's Julia Trogele remembers the grueling, defense-only practices coach Coquese Washington put the team through in the preseason.

The hard work is paying off in Happy Valley. Once a staple among the Top 25 in women's basketball, No. 23 Penn State is ranked again after a five-year absence and defense is leading the way.

"Coach would come in and say, 'We're not going to work on offense today,' Trogele said Wednesday. "We can score, but we need to learn how to defend."

Lesson learned: The Lady Lions have held opponents to 34-percent shooting, the seventh-stingiest mark in the NCAA heading into Thursday night's game against Purdue. Heady times for Penn State (15-4, 7-2 Big Ten) after four straight seasons of at least 16 losses, including the last two under Washington.

A six-game winning streak has propelled the Lady Lions into second place in the conference, a game behind Ohio State. The Top 25 ranking is the first for the school since finishing the 2004-5 season at No. 22. Finally, Washington is seeing positive results after watching the team struggle since taking over for coach Rene Portland in the 2007-08 season.

"I want our kids to enjoy it, absolutely," Washington said. "But like I told them, 'Who was ranked 23rd in the country last year?'"

She said she got no response from her players. Then she asked them who won the Big Ten championship last year — and they immediately answered "Ohio State."

"Don't dwell in the past, and don't look too far ahead," Washington said.

But what makes Penn State's revival noteworthy is the women's basketball tradition built at the school by former coach Portland. She turned the program into an NCAA tournament regular, with 21 berths in her 27 years and a national semifinals appearance in 2000.

The often gruff and cocky Portland also was a lightning rod for controversy, dogged by allegations throughout her tenure that she discriminated against lesbian players. She left after a 15-16 record in 2006-07, a cloud hanging over the program after the school settled a discrimination lawsuit filed by a former player.

In stepped Washington, who came to Penn State after eight years as an assistant at Notre Dame under coach Muffet McGraw. Washington was a standout point guard for the Fighting Irish before playing in the WNBA.

She helped lead the Houston Comets to their fourth straight WNBA title in 2000 and was an assistant coach when Notre Dame won the NCAA title in 2001.

Washington, who earned a law degree at Notre Dame, made an immediate impact with her upbeat personality.

But the change wasn't immediately evident on the court. Penn State started 13-6 in 2007-08, Washington's first year, before finishing on a school-record 12-game losing streak. Another 18-loss season followed last year.

Expectations for this year's team weren't high, at least outside of Happy Valley. Slowly, though, momentum is shifting behind a combination of savvy veterans and solid freshmen.

First-year point guard Alex Bentley is the second-leading scorer (10.9 points) while still learning the intricacies of running an offense. Washington said Bentley had a breakout game on Sunday in a 70-66 win over Illinois with 19 points, six assists and five rebounds.

"She grew up a little bit and came into her own in directing the team," Washington said.

Another freshman, 6-foot-4 center Nikki Greene, has started every game. She's tied with Trogele with a team-high 6.5 rebounding average.

High-scoring senior guard Tyra Grant (19.2 points) is the go-to player. Washington said she's expanded her game to get teammates more involved on offense.

Trogele, a vocal junior forward, is one of the last players on the roster recruited by the previous coaching staff. She said her first two seasons were marked by uncertainty among some players who weren't sure "where she was going to lead."

"I've always been on board, but I'm not sure everyone was one board," Trogele said.

Things have changed this year, to the point where Washington felt she didn't need to hold the preseason team-building exercises. Veterans like Grant and Trogele have stepped up as leaders and have grown more comfortable with Washington's system.

"Some of it was sinking in from the last two years, so there wasn't a necessity to spoon-feed it," Washington said.

With each victory, expectations grow from a loyal fan base eager to root on a winner again. Washington walks a vocal tightrope with her players, offering encouragement but warning them not to take anything for granted.

This year, leaders like Trogele are spreading the same message, too.

"The biggest thing we talk about is not becoming complacent," she said. "We have to get better every day."

-- Genaro C. Armas