DATE=MARCH 31, 2002

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-288174

TITLE=FINAL FOUR BASKETBALL (L)

BYLINE=PARKE BREWER

DATELINE=ATLANTA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The two teams that will battle for the U-S men's national collegiate basketball title are set. VOA Sports Editor Parke Brewer is in Atlanta, where Indiana and Maryland won their semifinal games Saturday night.

TEXT: The University of Maryland made it to the Final Four for the second straight year, but unlike last season when it blew a 22-point lead in the semifinals and lost to eventual champion Duke, Maryland survived a scare to beat Kansas here at the Georgia Dome, 97-88.

Maryland had a 20-point lead over Kansas with six minutes to play but saw that dwindle to four with 20 seconds left before coming through with the victory.

Maryland coach Gary Williams

// WILLIAMS ACT //

The thing we have as a team this year is courage. This team has never gone away (given up) in any tough situation. I mean, we've gotten beat, but teams have really had to make a great effort to get us. And, you know, to win on a night when maybe a couple of our guys didn't have their "A" (best) game with them is a great feeling, because Kansas is a great team.

// END ACT //

Senior guard Juan Dixon scored 33 points to lead Maryland, which moves on to the title game for the first time in school history. The surprising opponent will be Indiana, a team not even ranked in the top 25 coming into this 65-team single elimination tournament.

Thanks much to perfect six-for-six shooting from three-point range in the second half, Indiana upset Oklahoma in the other semifinal, 73-64. Indiana last won the men's national basketball title in 1987. (signed)

NEB/SPTS/PARKE/KBK