The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 9

THE PANTAGRAPH (lU King supreme SECTION MONDAY February 2, 2004 U'limii Jmnex I'llllX'l-lltlll MHItllf an Clerelaicl triis Page B3 SUPER BOWL XXXVIII: PATRIOTS 32, PANTHERS PatrioBs, Vinaqen it aga New England wins second title on game-winning kick Loyola, i Ohio likely Bracket Buster foes for ISU By Bryan Bloodworth bbloodworthiSpanlagraph.com NORMAL Illinois State's basketball team will likely play Loyola of Chicago or Ohio University in its Bracket Buster game Feb. 21 at Red-bird Arena. Those teams have similar records, RPI rankings or are in a geographic location that favors them traveling to ISU. ISU has a 6-12 record and had a 166 RPI rating last week. The Redbirds' ranking is sure to drop following Saturday's loss to Bradley.

Loyola has a 7-13 record and; is a member A By Dave Goldberg ASSOCIATED PRESS HOUSTON Back and forth it went. The Patriots were ahead. The Panthers were ahead. The Patriots were ahead, then the Panthers tied it. And then came the most reliable foot in the football.

Adam Vinatieri won the Super Bowl for New England for the second time in three years with a 41-yard field goal with 4 seconds left to beat Carolina 32-29 on Sunday night. "Nobody makes all of them. But if you've got to have one kick with everything on the line, he's the one you want kicking it," New England coach Bill Belichick said. "It was an awesome kick. It was a great kick.

That's the game. That's what Adam's here for." Vinatieri earlier missed a field goal and another was blocked. But as he did in 2002 when he kicked the winning field goal to beat St. Louis on the final play of the Super Bowl, he proved he is perhaps the NFL's best clutch kicker. For a contest that was scoreless for a record 27 minutes, this game was one of the greatest offensive shows between two of the league's best defenses.

There were a record 37 points scored in the fourth quarter alone, and Tom Brady, who led New England on its winning drive, was 32-of-48 for 354 yards and three touchdowns. The 32 completions were also a Super Bowl record. Brady was voted the game's MVP for the second time in three seasons, although he did throw a second-half interception that prevented New England from winning more easily. "You know you might have a chance at the end of the game to win it," Vinatieri said. "I looked up and it was going right down the middle." SEE PATRIOTS BACK PAGE i Recap.

of score by quarters I Panthers magical season comes up short Back page 1 Associated PressDAVE MARTIN New England Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri celebrated his game-winning field goal with teammates Ken Walter (13) and Christian Fau-ria (88) in the final seconds of Super Bowl XXXVIII at Reliant Stadium in Houston. The Patriots beat the Carolina Panthers 32-29. Brady earns second Super Bowl MVP of the Hori 9 pairings, zon Conference. Ohio, which is located in game times announced today Athens, is 6-. 13 and a member of the MidAmerican Conference.

Pairings and game times will be announced today. Last year ISU won at Marshall in the first year of the Bracket Buster, which is designed Jo; bring exposure to mid-major; programs. "The whole purpose of this is to bring teams that are in position to get at-large (NCAA Tournament) berths or improve their seeding in the NCAA together," said Doug Elgin, the commissioner of the Missouri Valley Con-. ference. "We want to get them on national television where the basketball community (NCAA selection committee) can evaluate them and see them play against good coin-petition." Five of the games will feature the top 10 teams from the 16 conferences involved, according to records and RPI-rankings.

No. 10 ranked Gonzaga will play at Tulsa in one of the games that will be televised by ESPN. "The other four games will be the top four road teams against the top four home teams," said Elgin. The next five games will feature teams from the second tier of 10 teams and those games will be shown in local television markets. The remaining 26 teams (or 13 games including ISU) will be paired according to records, travel accomodations and RPI rankings.

"It would make sense to maybe pair Bradley with Northern Illinois," said Elgin. "It doesn't make sense to have the College of Charleston travel to New Mexico State." SEE BUSTER PAGE B3 7 The PantaqraphMAUREEN O'CONNOR mil -V. i I It was a more masterly performance than in 2002, when Brady, then a first-year starter, helped New England upset St. Louis 20-17. Vinatieri also won that game on a late field goal, from 48 yards.

"Maybe it was a little deja vu of two years ago," Vinatieri said. "Tom did it again, he's amazing. This supporting cast did it again and gave me a chance." SEE MVP BACK PAGE nal minute. His 17-yard completion to Deion Branch on third down against a shockingly soft defensive alignment set up Adam Vinatieri's 41-yard field goal to win it with 4 seconds remaining. In all, Brady completed a Super Bowl record 32 of 48 passes, with 5-yard touchdown throws to Branch and David Givens and a 1-yarder to, of all people, linebacker Mike Vrabel, who reported as a tight end.

Redbirds of yesteryear still tough minded Panthers 32-29. Brady also made up for a critical interception in the Carolina end zone by guiding the Patriots to a go-ahead score with 2:51 remaining. "We realized we had done it so many times this year," Brady said of coming back. "We knew we could come up with the plays." When the scrappy Panthers came back to tie it, Brady engineered a 37-yard drive in the fi we had a $20 limit." Or Johnson, who was named player of the game by Chevrolet in a nationally-televised event. Johnson's first question was, "When do I get the car?" Malaine, who wore size 18 shoes and blew one out during a game at Chicago Loyola, is back in Gary, and in the drapery business with his mother.

He does not need a ladder very often. Malaine may be the only athlete in history to drive from Gary to Normal by way of O'Hare Field. To this day, he swears he went past O'Hare on his way to Normal. He was nicknamed Raynard the Fox by Indiana coach Bob Knight. When Donewald asked Knight why, the Indiana coach replied, "Well, he was at our camp but thought he was at Purdue." Malaine was recently inducted into the Indiana Hall of Fame.

Stefanovic and Duncan were roommates and their favorite night-time activity was watching rented Clint Eastwood movies. SEE BARNHART PAGE B3 By Barry Wilner ASSOCIATED PRESS HOUSTON Tom Brady is getting quite a collection of playoff wins and Super Bowl MVP trophies. The New England quarterback has won all six of his postseason games, including two Super Bowls in three years. He threw for 354 yards and three touchdowns Sunday in leading the Patriots past the Carolina Jim Barnhart ing practices. McGhee has been with Allstate in the Chicago area as a project manager for 18 years.

The players enjoyed the reunion so much they are planning another in a few years and will explore holding it in the Chicago area so their coach, Bob Donewald, can attend. Saturday night brought forth humor and stories that may have been embellished over the years. Holifield, now the legal liaison for the Department of Corrections in Springfield, is best remembered for the night when he ordered lobster at dinner, not knowing what market price meant. "They tasted so good, I had two'of them," said Holifield. "I think it came to about $60 and -7 1 lIL They still have a swagger about them; these Illinois State University basketball players of 1982-83, 1983-84, and 1984-85.

They might not swagger as fast as they did during those years when they went to three consecutive NCAA tournaments and defeated Alabama and Southern Cal in first-round games at Nebraska and Oral Roberts. But they were tough-minded and remain so to this day Illinois State honored the older Redbirds on Friday and Saturday and the festivities concluded Saturday night with a private reception at the Holiday Inn. Players able to return included Jeff Harris, Matt Taphorn, Tony Holifield, William Anderson, Raynard Malaine, Michael McKenny, Brad Duncan, Lou Stefanovic and Rickie Johnson. Actually, Johnson never left; he is in charge of scheduling for the Bone Student Center at ISU. Manager Tony McGhee also attended.

McGhee knew the offense and defense as well as any player because he was often pressed into scrimmaging dur- MP Jr Members of the Illinois State basketball teams from 1982-85 that qualified for three straight NCAA tournaments, from left to right, Matt Taphorn, Lou Stefanovic, Michael McKenny, Raynard Malaine, Tony Holifield, Jeff Harris, Brad Duncan and William Anderson cheered as Rickie Johnson waved to the crowd during a ceremony recognizing the group at Redbird Arena Saturday. Illinois State lost to Bradley 57-54. 1.