A familiar spot: George Washington looks to clear hurdle in NCAAs

3/27/2008 2:59 PM

By JOSEPH WHITE
AP Sports Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Kimberly Beck's face went blank at the mention of Dereck Whittenburg. And Sarah-Jo Lawrence? She'd never heard of Lorenzo Charles.

But George Washington coach Joe McKeown is old enough to remember the Whittenburg-to-Charles air ball that won the NCAA men's championship at the buzzer for N.C. State in 1983. There's even a connection between the two: Then-N.C. State coach Jim Valvano had once tried to recruit McKeown to play at Iona.

McKeown got to watch his two senior guards reprise the Whittenburg-Charles moment Monday night, when Lawrence caught Beck's air ball and put in a layup at the buzzer in GW's 55-53 win over California in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

The only thing missing? McKeown didn't run onto the court with his entire body in a frenzy, as Valvano did.

``When we win the national championship,'' McKeown said, ``I'll do my Valvano dance.''

It would be a sight to see, but to get there, the Colonials need to clear a hurdle that's stymied them nearly every year. They beat the good teams, not the great ones.

``We always get to this point of the tournament,'' Lawrence said, ``where we're playing a UNC or Tennessee or a Rutgers, a big team like that. This is our chance to establish ourselves.''

Indeed, this senior class has lost to No. 1 seed North Carolina in 2005 and 2007 and No. 2 seed Tennessee in 2006. This year, the powerhouse opponent in the bracket is Rutgers, last year's NCAA runner-up. The sixth-seeded Colonials and second-seeded Scarlet Knights meet Sunday in the round of 16 at Greensboro, N.C.

``They're battle-tested; they're ready for anything,'' McKeown said after Thursday's practice at the Smith Center. ``It should be fun. I'm trying not to put a lot of pressure on them.''

The Colonials seem to own permanent residence in the Top 25 somewhere between Nos. 11 and 25. They have advanced past the round of 16 in the NCAAs only once, when they beat North Carolina in 1997 before losing to Notre Dame with a Final Four berth on the line.

GW also hasn't received much love from the selection committee. The Colonials have been shipped to California for first- and second-round games two years in a row; McKeown was particularly disappointed this year because there was a local site at Maryland.

``I wonder, maybe the committee thought we were the University of Washington the last two years, and they missed the 'George' somehow,'' McKeown said.

The Colonials get to take a bus instead of a plane this weekend, but Rutgers is a tough assignment no matter where the game is played. The Scarlet Knights routed GW 67-42 at the Smith Center in November, the Colonials' worst home loss in nearly seven years.

After the game, McKeown said he was embarrassed by his team's effort, particularly because the school had heavily promoted the game. It drew a large crowd even though it was played on an NFL Sunday.

``It was one of those games where we couldn't make a shot, and it snowballed a little bit and Rutgers played really well,'' McKeown said Thursday. ``I'm trying to put that out of our mind.''

McKeown has achieved many milestones since coming to GW in 1989. He's taken the team to 15 NCAAs and this year became the 34th coach in Division I women's basketball history with 500 victories.

Still, it's probably going to take a win over Rutgers, and then one more victory to get into the Final Four, before everyone starts to notice.

``It would really put us in the forefront,'' said Lawrence, part of a senior class that has won 101 games, second most in school history. ``And I think that if you want to be in the forefront you have to beat those really big-time teams.

``Big teams like Cal and Auburn we've beaten, but the next notch we haven't been able to overcome. This is our last year, our last chance. We're looking to do that.''