George Washington

Junior guard Damin Lopez struggled through a poor shooting night Wednesday against undefeated George Washington at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu. But Lopez came through when Pepperdine needed him most, scoring all eight of his points in the final four minutes to lead the Waves to an 81-79 victory. Pepperdine (5-2) won its third game in a row. George Washington (7-1) is off to its best start in 39 years.

If any team was going to beat No. 1-ranked Massachusetts this season, it figured to be George Washington. The Colonials, with an 86-76 victory Saturday, made it four consecutive victories over the Minutemen, the last unbeaten team in Division I this season. George Washington, 18-5 overall and 11-2 in the Atlantic 10 Conference, has also won its last four games against Top 10 teams and two in a row on Massachusetts' home court, the Mullins Center, where no other visitor has won more than once.

Lisa Leslie, in her final home game, powered the USC women's basketball team to a 76-72 NCAA tournament victory over George Washington Saturday night at the Sports Arena. The Trojans thus survived the second round of the tournament and will move on to Fayetteville, Ark., site of the Mideast Regional semifinals and final Thursday and Saturday. USC (25-3) plays Virginia (27-4) Thursday night, with Louisiana Tech (28-3) playing No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Tennessee (31-1).

Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said he knew things were good Friday in practice. "Our energy felt like we were in the NCAA tournament," Krzyzewski said. "I thought, 'Now we're ready to go.' " And go the Blue Devils did. They bullied George Washington away from the paint, they disturbed the Colonial players by screaming in their faces and playing belly-up defense. "There never wasn't someone touching me," Colonial forward Omar Williams said.

The Michigan Wolverines, expected to have sure footing into the Final Four, chose to work the high wire again Friday in the West Regional semifinals. Fresh off their overtime victory over UCLA in the second round, the Wolverines had to struggle to defeat George Washington, 72-64, before 24,021 in the Kingdome.

In a former box factory on an old Brooklyn street named for him, half a mile from where his defeated army escaped by night to fight another day, George Washington has all but come back to life. Not just one George Washington, but three: the 19-year-old wilderness surveyor, the 45-year-old Revolutionary War general and the 57-year-old president on his inauguration day in 1789.

When the empire that No. 1 Massachusetts built over 26 games broke apart Saturday, it did not crumble bit by bit. The Minutemen met their nemesis, George Washington, and in fewer than 10 minutes, collapsed. With 10:31 left in the half, Massachusetts Coach John Calipari had been ejected and his team trailed, 29-11. Already, it became clear that the Colonials had exerted their strange hold over the Minutemen once again.

Neither Duke nor North Carolina could defeat Georgia Tech in the days leading up to the NCAA basketball tournament, but Southern University of Baton Rouge, La., an unranked club averaging nearly 100 points per game, treated Tech like "just another team" Friday at the West Regional. Behind by 15 points during the first half, the Jaguars recovered to upset the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament champions, 93-78.

For the most part, the U.S. government has proved a trustworthy custodian of national treasures. The Declaration of Independence is safe in the National Archives. The Liberty Bell is securely mounted, if cracked, in Philadelphia. And George Washington's portrait still hangs in the White House. Perhaps that record explains the current frenzy surrounding the search for the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol. Historians have combed all possible archives for clues to its whereabouts.

David Gordon Green's "George Washington" evokes the South of all those stories set in small towns where a slow pace of life combines with poverty to provide sensitive individuals--children in particular--with plenty of time to daydream.