Coping with the pain
By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer
3/19/01
TU's Marcus Hill continues to play through a back injury he sustained during a summer league game.
This basketball season has been a literal pain in the back for Tulsa senior forward Marcus Hill.
The 6-foot-5 Hill has endured daily spasms and back pain, but almost nobody knew about it until coach Buzz Peterson mentioned it after the Hurricane's 75-71 first-round NIT victory over UC Irvine last Wednesday night.
"I know it's hurt him so badly at times that he didn't want to be here, but he kept playing," Peterson said.
"There was nothing to talk about. I just had to suck it up and be a man about the situation," Hill said. "I haven't missed one drill and I haven't missed one practice.
"I didn't want anybody to know about it, because that's not me. I'm not one to start making excuses for why I'm not doing this or that. I would rather keep it to myself."
Hill said he hasn't been the same since taking a nasty fall during summer league. He landed hard on his left side and back and pinched a nerve after going up for a dunk and getting unintentionally undercut by a teammate.
"It's something that's bothered me since the first day we started practicing. (Peterson) knew the first day we did individual workouts that I was moving kind of slow. We were doing a drill and my back just locked up. The back spasms were really bad that day and I couldn't finish the individual workouts," Hill said.
"It never loosens up. Some days it hurts worse than others. It's affected my play throughout the whole year. I can tell it's getting better because I have a little more bounce in my step. At the beginning, I couldn't go a full 20 minutes in a scrimmage without having to rest, and I couldn't play defense like I used to."
Despite the pain, Hill became the 10th-leading scorer this season (with 1,331 points) and helped lead the Hurricane to its seventh 20-win season in the past eight years.
He also has a chance to become the winningest player. Hill has participated in 96 TU victories over his four seasons, tying him with Bruce Vanley, the 6-foot-10 center on Nolan Richardson's teams during the 1981-84 seasons.
"That would be a great accomplishment. It would remind me personally that I had been a winner, that I wanted to win, no matter what else happened," Hill said.
He could get No. 97 Monday when Tulsa takes a 22-11 mark to play Minnesota (18-13) of the Big Ten in a second-round NIT game, with tip-off at 7 p.m. in the Gophers' Williams Arena.
The winner will advance to play Mississippi State or Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals, probably Wednesday or Thursday.
Minnesota downed Villanova 87-78 in the first round. The Gophers are likely much better than their record. They struggled in the rugged Big Ten when injuries deprived them of two of their best players.
Forwards Michael Bauer and John-Blair Bickerstaff combined to average 22 points and 11 rebounds before being sidelined. Still, the Gophers field a competitive squad, led by junior forward Dusty Rychart (13.9 ppg, 7.5 rpg) and senior guard Terrance Simmons (13.8 ppg).
Arguably, the Hurricane hasn't won a road game of this magnitude all season, and at least since knocking off UTEP 87-75 when the Miners were 14-1 in January.
Minnesota has won two NIT titles in the 1990s and is 12-1 in the tournament since 1992.
By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer
3/19/01
TU's Marcus Hill continues to play through a back injury he sustained during a summer league game.
This basketball season has been a literal pain in the back for Tulsa senior forward Marcus Hill.
The 6-foot-5 Hill has endured daily spasms and back pain, but almost nobody knew about it until coach Buzz Peterson mentioned it after the Hurricane's 75-71 first-round NIT victory over UC Irvine last Wednesday night.
"I know it's hurt him so badly at times that he didn't want to be here, but he kept playing," Peterson said.
"There was nothing to talk about. I just had to suck it up and be a man about the situation," Hill said. "I haven't missed one drill and I haven't missed one practice.
"I didn't want anybody to know about it, because that's not me. I'm not one to start making excuses for why I'm not doing this or that. I would rather keep it to myself."
Hill said he hasn't been the same since taking a nasty fall during summer league. He landed hard on his left side and back and pinched a nerve after going up for a dunk and getting unintentionally undercut by a teammate.
"It's something that's bothered me since the first day we started practicing. (Peterson) knew the first day we did individual workouts that I was moving kind of slow. We were doing a drill and my back just locked up. The back spasms were really bad that day and I couldn't finish the individual workouts," Hill said.
"It never loosens up. Some days it hurts worse than others. It's affected my play throughout the whole year. I can tell it's getting better because I have a little more bounce in my step. At the beginning, I couldn't go a full 20 minutes in a scrimmage without having to rest, and I couldn't play defense like I used to."
Despite the pain, Hill became the 10th-leading scorer this season (with 1,331 points) and helped lead the Hurricane to its seventh 20-win season in the past eight years.
He also has a chance to become the winningest player. Hill has participated in 96 TU victories over his four seasons, tying him with Bruce Vanley, the 6-foot-10 center on Nolan Richardson's teams during the 1981-84 seasons.
"That would be a great accomplishment. It would remind me personally that I had been a winner, that I wanted to win, no matter what else happened," Hill said.
He could get No. 97 Monday when Tulsa takes a 22-11 mark to play Minnesota (18-13) of the Big Ten in a second-round NIT game, with tip-off at 7 p.m. in the Gophers' Williams Arena.
The winner will advance to play Mississippi State or Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals, probably Wednesday or Thursday.
Minnesota downed Villanova 87-78 in the first round. The Gophers are likely much better than their record. They struggled in the rugged Big Ten when injuries deprived them of two of their best players.
Forwards Michael Bauer and John-Blair Bickerstaff combined to average 22 points and 11 rebounds before being sidelined. Still, the Gophers field a competitive squad, led by junior forward Dusty Rychart (13.9 ppg, 7.5 rpg) and senior guard Terrance Simmons (13.8 ppg).
Arguably, the Hurricane hasn't won a road game of this magnitude all season, and at least since knocking off UTEP 87-75 when the Miners were 14-1 in January.
Minnesota has won two NIT titles in the 1990s and is 12-1 in the tournament since 1992.
