VALPARAISO (23-9) vs. RHODE ISLAND (24-8), 7:30 tonight, St. Louis

By CHRIS DUFRESNE

March 20, 1998 12 AM PT

* Well, fancy these schools meeting here. This regional was supposed to be the Kansas Invitational, but it took a gnarly turn last week when upstarts Valparaiso and Rhode Island wreaked havoc with the brackets. This is story of the tournament, Valpo, versus story of the tournament Jr., Rhode Island. It’s coach of the tournament, Jim Harrick, vs. assistant coach of the tournament, Jim Harrick Jr. The Crusaders of Valparaiso, riding a school-record 13-game winning streak, seek to become the first No. 13-seeded team to advance to the round of eight. Valparaiso stunned No. 4 Mississippi on guard Bryce Drew’s miracle three-point shot in the first round, then whipped Florida State of the “vaunted” ACC in Round 2. Valparaiso is a father-and-son act, with Coach Homer drawing up plays for son Bryce. Bryce is the real deal, averaging 19.8 points, but he hasn’t been the only star. Junior center Zoran Viskovic scored 19 points in the first-round win over Mississippi, and 7-foot senior center Antanas Vilcinskas had a 13-point, five-rebound game against Florida State.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

HOW THEY MATCH UP*--*

R.I. Category Val. 24-8 Record 23-9 77.8 Points 74.1 71.4 Opp. Pts. 68.2 6.4 Margin 5.9 .451 FG% .473 .411 Opp. FG% .421 .373 3-PT% .372 .335 Opp 3-PT% .363 .708 FT% .702 -4.1 Reb. Margin 5.1 2.4 TO Diff. -1.1 7.4 Steals 6.6 4.8 Blocks 2.8

*--*

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Chris Dufresne

Chris Dufresne was the Los Angeles Times’ national college football/basketball columnist from 1995 to 2015. He also covered skiing at the Winter Olympics and wrote extensively on most sports. He is a multiple national award winner and was named 2011 California Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Assn. A Los Angeles native, he started at The Times in 1976 as a truck loader and literally worked his way up (two floors to be exact).