Duke frustrates McDermott and sends Creighton out of the NCAA tournament

PHILADELPHIA –  Doug McDermott scuffled for open looks and usually missed when he did get them.

He won't get another chance this season to make up for it with Creighton. Now, the question looms for McDermott if he'll play for the Bluejays again

Rasheed Sulaimon scored 21 points, Seth Curry had 17 and the No. 2 seed Blue Devils beat seventh-seeded Creighton 66-50 on Sunday night to advance to the NCAA round of 16 for the fourth time in five years.

A year after they lost their NCAA tournament opener, the Blue Devils (29-5) return to the regional semifinals for the 27th time. They'll play No. 3 seed Michigan State (27-8) on Friday in Indianapolis.

Creighton (28-8) went cold and never made a serious run in the second half. McDermott scored 21 points but made only four baskets.

McDermott, an All-American forward, has to decide if he'll return for his senior season or declare for the NBA draft.

"We discussed it six weeks ago and decided to wait until the season was over," his coach, and father, Greg McDermott said. "We'll let this all sink in and when the time is right, we'll sit down. He'll do what's best for Doug. He's earned that right."

McDermott missed 11 of 16 from the field and made only 1 of 4 3-pointers. He made all 12 free throws to keep his final scoring total from shambles.

"They did a great job on me, really physical, switched on every screen making it frustrating," McDermott said. "I missed a lot of shots I usually make, so that was unfortunate.

With McDermott slumping, the Bluejays were knocked out in the third round by an ACC team for the second straight season. They played their final game under the Missouri Valley Conference banner and move on next season to the Big East.

"They're a big reason Creighton moved to the Big East," Greg McDermott said of his team.

The Blue Devils will have to silence the whistle to keep the run alive. Mason Plumlee, Josh Hairston and Ryan Kelly battled foul trouble all game long that could have doomed the Blue Devils. Throw in 39 percent shooting, and the Blue Devils are far from playing their best in March.

While other high-seeded teams like Gonzaga and Georgetown made early exits, the Blue Devils are moving on to Indy.

"It was just so difficult," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "It was the best defense we played all year."

Florida Gulf Coast beat San Diego State 81-71 in the opener in Philadelphia that had the crowd of more than 20,000 buzzing after the upset win.

Duke's victory could not match it in excitement or intensity.

Foul trouble hounded the Blue Devils from the opening tip. Plumlee hit the bench after he was whistled for his fourth foul early in the second half.

Hairston picked up his fourth foul at the 15:21 mark, allowing Ethan Wragge to convert a three-point play that inched the Bluejays closer.

Curry came right back with a 3-pointer and followed with a layup to make it 39-30. Plumlee and Kelly, each with four fouls, returned to the game as Krzyzewski clearly wanted his best players in there to try and put away Creighton.

"Seth got a couple of big ones for us," Krzyzewski said.

The usually sure-shooting Bluejays never found their groove.

Gregory Echenique had no chance on a wayward alley-oop lob that knocked off the backboard, and he fumbled the ball the next time down. Amile Jefferson scored off the second turnover for an 11-point lead. Hundreds of Duke fans stood in appreciation, and the program's 2,000th career win was in the bag.

Hairston was called for his fifth foul at the midway point of the second half, leaving the Blue Devils without a key frontcourt reserve. Plumlee fouled out with just under 3 minutes left.

But the Bluejays clanged brick after brick. The missed 17 of 19 3-pointers and shot only 30 percent from the field. McDermott, their All-American, was 4 of 16 and 12 of 12 from the free throw line.

McDermott gamely did his best to keep the Bluejays afloat by getting to the line. He hit two with 7:29 left to cut it to nine but went more than 18 minutes without a field goal. Without his 3-point shooting keeping Duke's defense honest — Krzyzewski called him one of the best offensive players he's seen in the last decade — the Bluejays were sunk.

"It was a tough way to go out," McDermott said. "It's hard letting the seniors down tonight. It doesn't take away from the last two years."

Curry's second 3-pointer pushed it back to 11 and Sulaimon followed with another 3 to wrap it up.

Plumlee finished with 10 points and the Blue Devils made 21 of 28 free throws.

The Bluejays missed 12 of their first 15 shots, then missed 10 of 13 to open the second half. They lost in the third round to North Carolina last year and talked all season about wanting to get back to this point. They would go no farther. The Bluejays haven't advanced to a regional semifinal since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

View the original article here

NY judge sends ex-lawyer to prison for 8 years

NEW YORK –  A former Chicago lawyer who participated in what authorities have called the largest tax fraud in history was sentenced Friday to eight years in prison by a judge who called the scheme to help wealthy clients escape millions of dollars in taxes "breathtaking in its scope and the damage it caused the nation."

U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III sentenced 52-year-old Donna Guerin, of Scottsdale, Ariz., after she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax evasion. He ordered her to pay $190 million in restitution besides the $1.6 million she agreed to forfeit when she pleaded guilty in September.

Guerin, a former partner at Jenkens & Gilchrist, a Texas-based law firm with offices throughout the United States, had admitted that she helped market tax shelters from 1994 through 2004 to some of the world's richest investors, including the late sports entrepreneur Lamar Hunt, trust fund recipients, investors, a grandson of the late industrialist Armand Hammer and one of the earliest investors in Microsoft Corp.

Prosecutors said the tax shelters produced about $7 billion in phony tax losses that customers could use to reduce their tax obligations by tens of millions of dollars, cheating the Internal Revenue Service of nearly $1.5 billion. One of several tax shelter schemes was marketed from 1998 through 2000, producing at least $3.9 billion in bogus tax losses for at least 550 wealthy people, the government said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stanley J. Okula Jr. called it a "truly unprecedented fraud" and the largest loss by the IRS in history.

The judge said the fraud touched some of the nation's largest financial institutions, where legal statements prepared by Guerin and those she trained made many professionals believe the tax shelters were legitimate.

The judge seemed unimpressed with Guerin's statement that she was "truly sorry" for her actions and that she had lost her legal career, her reputation and her ability to raise children.

The judge described Guerin's rise from a humble background to attend law school and secure a great job at a major firm as "the embodiment of the American dream."

"But then," he said, "her lust for money turned her American dream into a nightmare."

The onetime Elmhurst, Ill., resident earned nearly $18 million illegally because she wasn't content with a job out of law school that paid about $200,000, the judge said.

"She became a criminal for two reasons: the lure of money and the belief she would never be brought to justice," he said. "In the end, this case is all about greed."

The judge ordered Guerin to pay $200,000 of her restitution before she reports to prison. He noted that she has moved to a home with four bedrooms and three baths "that she describes as modest."

In 2000, when Guerin turned 40, she was paid $11.5 million, "but it was all fraud, and she knew it," the judge said.

"You had everything, and you squandered it," he said. "You must be punished."

After a 2011 trial, the judge ordered a new trial for three of four people convicted in the case, saying a "pathological liar" who served as a juror had corrupted it.

Before Guerin's plea, she was one of two lawyers facing retrial. The other, Paul M. Daugerdas, of Wilmette, Ill., was described by prosecutors at trial as the mastermind of the tax scheme. Also awaiting trial was Denis M. Field, of Naples, Fla., the former chief executive officer of the accounting firm BDO Seidman and former head of its national tax practice. Both have pleaded not guilty. The retrial is scheduled to start Sept. 9.

View the original article here