Basketball's Week

The word for the week was oops! Seven of the nation's top 10 teams lost, including the only two unbeaten ones, Cincinnati and Loyola. It was enough to send NCAA and NIT officials, ready to issue invitations to the lush postseason tournaments, back to their worksheets.

THE MIDWEST

All season long Wichita had been waiting to get Cincinnati into its Roundhouse. The last time Cincinnati was there they lost by one point. Now they had won 37 straight and, when Wichita's Ralph Miller bravely predicted, "We have the balance and manpower to beat them," he wasn't taken too seriously. After all, Cincy had beaten the Shockers 63-50 earlier in the season. With 3:30 to play, Cincinnati held a six-point lead despite 39 points by Wichita's Dave Stallworth. Usually such a lead is more than enough for the Bearcats, but this time it wasn't. Tom Thacker fouled out, and Tony Yates and Ron Bonham each had four fouls. Perhaps because they tried to be careful, Cincy's impeccable defense came apart. Seven straight points by Stallworth put Wichita ahead 65-64 and down went the Bearcats, winning streak and all.

Loyola showed signs of being in trouble earlier in the week, barely beating Marquette 92-90 on Jerry Harkness' two baskets in overtime. Admit it or not, and Loyola Coach George Ireland was trying not to, the Ramblers were hurt when scholastic deficiencies cost them their two strongest substitutes. What's more, Bowling Green had at last recovered from a disheartening string of injuries. The Falcons clamped down on Loyola's fast break with a withering full-court press. Howie Komives shot over the Ramblers for 32 points, 6-foot-11 Nate Thurmond controlled both boards and scored 24 and Bowling Green won 92-75.

Illinois, too, got caught up in the week of upsets, and suddenly the Big Ten had a race again. First Wisconsin slowed down the Illini with a zone and beat them 84-77. Indiana was less meticulous in its approach. The Hoosiers, paying hardly any attention at all to Dave Downey, who scored 53 points, outran and outshot Illinois to win 103-100. All of which put Ohio State, a 75-68 winner over Michigan, in a first-place tie with the Illini. Minnesota, Indiana and Iowa were close behind.

Colorado, surprised by Iowa State 73-60, had company at the top of the Big Eight. Oklahoma State moved up to share the lead with the Bulls after beating Kansas 54-53 and Nebraska 51-41. But Kansas State and Iowa State were close enough to make it a four-team race. The top three:

1. CINCINNATI (19-1)
2. LOYOLA OF CHICAGO (21-1)
3. OHIO STATE (15-3)

THE SOUTH

Nothing pleases Mississippi State's Babe McCarthy more than to beat Kentucky's Adolph Rupp in Starksville. Last week he enjoyed every minute of a 56-52 victory over the Wildcats. But, just when McCarthy thought his Maroons had another Southeastern Conference title cinched, they stumbled over Florida at Gainesville. The Gators matched State's ball-control game with one of their own, made their foul shots (39 for 45) when the Maroons became too eager and upset them 73-52. Auburn, running instead of shuffling, defeated Florida 88-59 and LSU 82-57 to tie State for the SEC lead, and Georgia Tech, a 78-73 loser to independent Louisville, was only a game behind.

West Virginia, without Rod Thorn (ailing with the flu), wasn't quite up to holding off Pitt, even at Morgantown. The Panthers beat the Mountaineers 69-68 on Paul Krieger's two foul shots with 12 seconds to go.

Duke was one hot-shot team that managed to keep its poise in this tough week. The Blue Devils fought off determined Virginia 79-74 and then went up against Wake Forest. Wake's Bones McKinney tried everything, including his new "Lonesome George" offense—one player in the back-court and the other four at the end line-but nothing helped. Art Heyman scored 26 points, Hank Tison hurt the Deacons inside, and Duke won 73-60. The top three:

1. DUKE (19-2)
2. AUBURN (16-2)
3. MISSISSIPPI STATE (17-5)

THE EAST

NYU Coach Lou Rossini is careful with his praise. But even he had to admit that his NYU team, merely good without Happy Hairston, was excellent with him. With Hairston and Barry Kramer rebounding strongly and scoring 121 points between them, the Violets overwhelmed Temple 77-59 and Holy Cross 102-71.

The rest of the eastern teams were hardly in a class with NYU, except perhaps for St. Joseph's, which beat Bucknell 79-62 and Temple 64-52, and Providence, a 93-75 runaway winner over Rhode Island.

Leadership in the Ivy League was harder to keep than to come by. Cornell was upset by Yale 81-75 and Brown 75-64. Meanwhile, Penn and Princeton moved gingerly to the top. Penn beat Dartmouth 65-63 in overtime and Harvard 78-53, while Princeton defeated the same two teams 86-52 and 74-48. The top three:

1. NYU (13-2)
2. ST. JOSEPH'S (18-3)
3. PROVIDENCE (15-4)

THE SOUTHWEST

Oddly enough, the usually topsy-turvy Southwest Conference was just about the most settled league in the country. There wasn't much chance that anyone would catch Texas. The Longhorns trampled TCU 75-59 and Texas Tech 90-76, while Rice, once a challenger, lost to SMU 89-79.

The top independents, with tournament time near, were coming on fast. Oklahoma City had 10 in a row after burying North Texas State 82-69 and Centenary 112-86; Houston beat Texas Wesleyan 125-74 and Trinity 99-46; Texas Western defeated Hardin-Simmons 73-61. The top three:

1. ARIZONA STATE (20-2)
2. TEXAS (14-5)
3. TEXAS WESTERN (15-5)

THE WEST

Washington's Johnny Grayson was worried. "We just don't look like a team that is leading the Big Six," he complained. And sure enough, when the week ended, they weren't. USC beat the Huskies 59-53, and Stanford, in spite of itself, slipped back into first place. The Indians, after losing to California 61-60 on Camden Wall's last-minute hook shot, came back to defeat cautious Cal 68-58.

Oregon State, caught by an Oregon zone that collapsed around 7-foot Mel Counts, lost to the Ducks 54-50. But the next night the Beavers beat their tormentors easily, 67-57. Utah State, too, had troubles. The Aggies dropped one to the Air Force 66-65, then beat Denver 74-70. Powerful Idaho put down Idaho State 83-76 and Gonzaga 66-57.

Arizona State turned Joe Caldwell and Art Becker loose in the mountain country and they rarely played better. Caldwell took care of the scoring (63 in two games), Becker picked off almost every rebound he could touch, and the Sun Devils defeated Utah 83-78 and Brigham Young 104-87 to take a firm grip on the Western AC lead. The top three:

1. OREGON STATE (14-6)
2. IDAHO (17-3)
3. STANFORD (14-6)