CAL UPSET IN NCAA OPENER 3/17/94 By BOB MIMS Associated Press OGDEN, Utah Jeff Nordgaard made sure sports fans realize there's more to Green Bay than the Packers. The sophomore center scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Wisconsin Green Bay upset 16th ranked California 61 57 Thursday in the first round of NCAA West Regional. ''When it comes down the stretch, I want to have the ball,'' said Nordgaard, who also had nine rebounds. ''I was looking forward to the (inside) play and taking the shot.'' John Martinez added 13 points, including three 3 pointers, for the Phoenix (27 6), who practice across the street from the city's famous NFL team. Wisconsin Green Bay, on its second trip ever to the NCAA tournament, plays 15th ranked Syracuse on Saturday. ''I don't have words to describe it,'' Phoenix coach Dick Bennett said. ''I thought our mental toughness, our poise ... enabled us to hold on.'' Lamond Murray had 18 points and Jason Kidd 12, and both had 11 rebounds, as the Golden Bears (22-8) shot just 34 percent. Kidd, who committed five of his six turnovers in the second half, took the loss especially hard. ''Whenever we made a run, I'd throw the ball away,'' he said. ''I take the blame for this because I believe it was my fault.'' California coach Todd Bozeman said Wisconsin Green Bay's control of the tempo, imposing its patient halfcourt attack in place of the Golden Bears' running game, determined the outcome. ''They can shoot, they can pass and they can handle the ball,'' he said. Wisconsin Green Bay, which shot 46 percent, led by nine points at halftime. The Phoenix, seeded 12th in the Regional, used a 15-6 run over the first four minutes of the second half, keyed by eight points from Nordgaard, to go ahead 47-29. California, in the NCAAs for the eighth time, came back with a 21- 3 run. Kidd drove for two layups and Monty Buckley got inside for two more; Anwar McQueen's driving hook with 6:41 remaining gave the Golden Bears the lead at 51-50. But Nordgaard wouldn't let go. Working first inside for two buckets and then making a baseline jumper with 35 seconds to go, he regained the lead for the Phoenix at 59-57. After Kidd missed from the top of the key with 14.8 seconds left, Martinez made two free throws. In the final six seconds, Kidd again missed and Murray's 3 point attempt just before the buzzer also went awry. Wisconsin Green Bay frustrated fifth seeded Cal into 0 for 8 shooting and seven turnovers in the game's opening 10 minutes. The Phoenix built a 16-2 lead on a trio of Nordgaard buckets and 3 pointers by Martinez and Eric Jackson. Wisconsin Green Bay led 21-7 when Martinez lobbed in his second 3 pointer and Nordgaard got a tip in about two minutes later. The Golden Bears put together a 15-5 run, with Ryan Jamison making a spinning jumper that pulled Cal within four points with 3:38 left in the half. But Wisconsin Green Bay took a 32-23 lead at halftime when the Golden Bears could manage only Murray's single free throw to counter buckets by Jeremy Ludvigson, Martinez and Eric LeDuc. KIDD SAYS 'MOST LIKELY' HE'LL BE BACK OGDEN, Utah IT WASN'T supposed to end this way for Jason Kidd, not with a loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament to a bunch of guys from a Podunk football town, to a bunch of guys who aren't going to the NBA or even to the CBA, to a bunch of guys whose hotel headquarters here is a truck stop called the Flying J Travel Center. It wasn't supposed to end this way for Jason Kidd and Cal, and so maybe it won't. After Cal's 61-57 loss Thursday to Wisconsin Green Bay, Kidd dropped a dozen hints that he'll be back for another year or more. Hard to believe, given all that he'd need to sacrifice to stay in school, but Kidd said ''most likely'' he'll be back. He said a lot of things, and then couched them all. ''We've just gotta work a little bit harder next year. . . . I got two years left, so I could still win two NCAA rings. . . . Everybody's coming back but one senior. . . . I'm staying, to this point.'' If Kidd and Lamond Murray decide to keep the NBA waiting another year, the Bears could go far next season. Surely, they'll go farther than they went Thursday. It didn't appear that the Bears took Green Bay too lightly. It appeared they didn't know what to do with this team of scrappy farm kids, and they never did figure that out. All they knew for sure is it wasn't supposed to end this way, not with them playing the role of the big city losers in a ''Hoosiers'' sequel, not with them playing Apollo Creed to some long shot Rocky, not with them playing the haunted victim to some small town dreamers. ''Maybe after the season is over, we'll remember this for the rest of our lives,'' said Green Bay guard Gary Grzesk. ''Right now, we've got nothing to lose. We're not even supposed to be here.'' The Bears walked into their postgame news conference with a contrived cool. They looked as if they'd lost a game they were supposed to lose, a game that didn't end their season. But just behind the facade, there was reality, and plenty of it. Coach Todd Bozeman announced there would be no tears from him, just as tears were pooling in his eyes. Kidd had a faraway look, perhaps replaying that crucial final minute, and his eyes started to water. Murray looked like a man having an out of body experience, slouched, blank faced. ''You can't believe that you lost the game,'' Murray said when asked his thoughts. ''It doesn't feel like it's over to me. It probably won't till we go home.'' They are going home. The Bears are going home after a 22-7 season that saw them beat injuries and distractions and the odds, that saw them beat Arizona at Arizona and UCLA at Pauley. They are going home because they couldn't beat ''Green Bay of Wisconsin,'' as Kidd said, a team Cal would beat ''eight out of 10 times . . . and the second time we'd lose to them would probably be because of overconfidence.'' Funny thing is, after falling behind 16-2 and then trailing by 18 points in the second half, this was Cal's game to win. The Bears had the lead, 55-53, with 3 1/2 minutes to play. They had the lead, 56-55, with 2 1/2 minutes to play. They had the lead, and they had Jason Kidd, and they lost it. He lost it. Kidd took full responsibility for the loss, and although Bozeman tried to talk him out of it, Kidd insisted. He insisted not because of his numbers on the stat sheet, which were not good, Kidd missed 13 of 17 shots, including 6 of 7 from three point range, and he had a game worst six turnovers, but because of one critical turnover and one crucial miss in the final minute. Murray did not volunteer to take the blame, but he didn't need to. The numbers spoke for him: 6 of 21 shooting, 0 for 7 on three pointers. Together, Cal's superstar duo made 10 of 38 shots and 1 of 14 from long range. Perhaps a chance at redemption will bring them back for another season. But the cost of a return trip could be high. If the NBA sets a limit on rookie salaries, this June's draft will be the last big payday for college kids. ''There's a movie called 'Greedy' that I accidentally walked in on the other day,'' said Kidd, ''and I've seen what money can do to people. I'm in no hurry. . . . (Pro ball) is a business. You can't replace the excitement that March Madness brings.'' Or the madness that it brings. It wasn't supposed to end this way for Cal, no matter how many times a No. 5 seed has lost to a No. 12 seed in the West Regional (now seven times in 10 years). Jason Kidd was not supposed to lose to a bunch of guys wearing outlet mall warm up pants, with stenciled T shirts for warm up tops, with no fancy leggings under their shorts, with a truck stop for a team hotel. ''It's not a flea bag,'' said Dick Bennett, the wonderfully likable coach of this wonderfully likable team, ''but it is a truck stop.'' It wasn't supposed to end like this, not with Bennett and some no name point guard being interviewed on network TV, not with Cal taking the first flight home, not with Kidd and Murray having so much to think about and so much time to think.