Basketball's Week
A team that grabs more rebounds than its opponent often grabs victory as well. Thus last week, when Clyde Lee of Vanderbilt tied a school record with 26 rebounds, the Commodores came from 11 points behind to defeat Miami of Ohio 74-68. San Francisco's unbeaten Dons dominated the boards 58 rebounds to 38 and beat Utah State 86-71. Those teams that did not rebound so well suffered the consequences, and no one suffered more—for a while—than Oregon Coach Steve Belko. After two humiliating home-court losses to Kansas (92-58) and Stanford (74-56), Belko lamented, "We'd have some pretty good rebounders—if they had flypaper on top of their heads." Then, for the first time this year, the Ducks did control the boards, 53-39, and they defeated Purdue 92-76 in the first round of the Far West Classic in Portland.
THE WEST
THE TOP THREE:
1. SAN FRANCISCO (6-0)
2. UCLA (6-1)
3. BRIGHAM YOUNG (5-2)
Tennessee, which has lost just three home games in two years, showed that it could be tough on the road, too. The Volunteers capitalized on 58 rebounds and a multitude of Portland mistakes for a 70-59 win in the Far West Classic.
The HAWAII Marines beat Utah State 94-91 in overtime on the first day of Honolulu's Rainbow Classic. Wayne Estes supplied most of the Aggie scoring punch with 42 points, but the most effective punch came from Gene Aiona, head of the Hawaiian basketball officials. Following the game, Ladell Anderson of Utah State had a few words to say to Aiona, who promptly floored the coach with one blow. Earlier in the week Estes sank 13 of 14 foul shots in an 86-73 win against San Jose State. Estes is not the country's best foul shooter by accident. He practiced all summer, once sinking 165 in a row.
Pacific surprised Arizona State 92-87 and then, in the WCAC tournament, stopped Loyola of L.A. 67-61. In a meeting of Santas during Christmas week, SANTA CLARA defeated Santa Barbara in the WCAC tournament 91-69.
Both WYOMING and UCLA got fine performances from their stars and unexpected help from a pair of new starters. Dynamic Flynn Robinson of the Cowboys scored 26 points against Idaho State and then took a rest, which he could afford because reserve Dick Wilkinson scored 27 points in his first start. It all added up to a 104-64 Wyoming victory. California was more trouble-some, and Robinson had to be at his best to salvage a 75-74 win. UCLA's Gail Goodrich had 28 points in an 84-75 victory over USC, but it was the play of 6-foot-6 sophomore Edgar Lacey that was most exciting. Lacey sank seven of 12 field goal tries and six of seven foul shots, grabbed 10 rebounds and did a dazzling all-round job.
Utah's Redskins, the most prolific scorers in the land, needed 20 points from substitute Granny Lash to overcome Santa Clara 87-83. Army, too, gave the Redskins some nervous moments before succumbing 87-65.
Playing what Coach Stan Watts termed its greatest game, BRIGHAM YOUNG (page 26) smothered Ohio State 112-71. BOSTON COLLEGE converted 32 of 40 free throws for a 78-62 win over St. Mary's.
THE SOUTH
THE TOP THREE:
1. DUKE (5-1)
2. VANDERBILT (6-2)
3. DAVIDSON (6-1)
Vanderbilt's Clyde Lee did more than rebound against Miami of Ohio (above); he also tossed in 25 points. But it was Roger Schurig who ignited the Commodores by coming off the bench late in the first half and sinking five quick field goals.
Tennessee, playing another road game against Florida State in Memphis, disrupted the Seminole offense with its zone defense and sauntered off with a 65-43 win.
Several teams used second-half scoring sprees to earn their victories. GEORGIA TECH popped in 54 points in the second half as it trounced William & Mary 91-73, GEORGIA sank 52 points to pad out a 93-75 win over Clemson and DAVIDSON came through with 48 to defeat Virginia 86-74. ALABAMA, however, started fast by sinking seven of its first 11 shots as it downed Richmond 80-70. SEATTLE made itself at home in the South by dumping Memphis State 89-77. FLORIDA handed a surprisingly lackluster North Carolina club its fourth loss 73-54.
THE MIDWEST
THE TOP THREE:
1. MICHIGAN (6-1)
2. WICHITA STATE (6-1)
3. MINNESOTA (6-0)
One of the leading trends this year has been the increased use of multiple defenses—zones, presses and combinations. A prime example has been the shift at INDIANA, a squad that was 9-15 last season but which is now 7-0. Coach Branch McCracken admits that at first his Hoosiers used their new pressing zone as a "psychological gimmick." Part of the psychology—and part of the growing vogue across the country—has been to switch from one defense to another by means of a system of keys that prevents opponents from knowing what to expect. Notre Dame was clearly befuddled, committing 21 errors as it lost to Indiana 107-81.
Even Adolph Rupp had his Kentucky crew using a sagging zone against ST. LOUIS. It was effective until the Billikens rallied for an 80-75 triumph. St. Louis uses tactics all its own—part zone, part "karate" defense—and a week earlier, aggressiveness cost the Bills 10 offensive fouls in a 90-71 win over Princeton. It was a rugged homecoming for Missourian Bill Bradley of the Tigers, who scored 34 points but had to get most of them the hard way by cashing in on 20 of 21 fouls.
Michigan, another team that knows how to play rough, beat Butler 99-81. MINNESOTA looked more and more like a genuine threat to the Wolverines in the Big Ten race as it humbled Loyola of Chicago 89-75. Loyola of New Orleans took on MICHIGAN STATE and lost 94-70. PURDUE, with Dave Schellhase getting 41 points, came from 20 behind to overhaul Ohio University 79-73. OHIO later made good on 13 straight foul shots to finish off slumping Northwestern 88-67. Good foul shooting also helped DE PAUL take care of Seattle 91-77. Iowa State found a way to stop Walt Wesley of KANSAS. Two or three Cyclones hovered around Wesley all the time, but while they held him to 13 points Al Lopes and Riney Lochmann dropped in shots from the corners and Kansas came out on top in the first round of the Big Eight tournament 72-55. KANSAS STATE'S Ron Paradis scored 22 points, most of them on 15- and 20-foot jumpers, in a 75-65 tournament win against Oklahoma. There was hardly a visitor to the Midwest that could win. Army tried a freeze against DAYTON and lost 41-33. Denver and Oregon State came to CINCINNATI and were beaten 99-64 and 71-56. Previously unbeaten St. Bonaventure helped XAVIER fittingly commemorate its new three-digit scoreboard by losing 100-78. Only OKLAHOMA CITY (page 46), an 82-79 winner over Creighton, and LOUISVILLE, which thumped Bradley 82-74, had any success on trips to the Midwest.
THE EAST
THE TOP THREE:
1. VILLANOVA (8-0)
2. ST. JOSEPH'S (9-0)
3. PROVIDENCE (7-0)
Three of the eight remaining undefeated teams were Easterners but they had to hustle to stay that way. PROVIDENCE owed its 78-65 win over Bowling Green to good foul shooting. The Falcons matched Providence's 29 field goals and got 33 points from Bob Dwors, but could not come close to the Friars' 20 points at the foul line. Two nights later the Falcons had one more field goal than ST. JOSEPH'S but were outscored in free throws 22-14 and lost 60-54. VILLANOVA beat St. Francis 101-58. In the Quaker City Tournament in Philadelphia the Wildcats had to rally to defeat Penn 52-47, and St. Joseph's got a superb performance from sophomore Cliff Anderson, who scored 24 points and set a tournament record with 26 rebounds, as it ran away from Holy Cross 82-63.
Wichita State set all sorts of Quaker City records as it beat Pitt 109-58. ILLINOIS also won in the first round over NYU 102-79 as Skip Thoren pumped in 25 points. Jim Barry had 27 points in a 97-85 GEORGETOWN win over Columbia, and Jim Williams scored 30 as TEMPLE got past Penn 73-59.
Walt Wesley of KANSAS connected for 36 points against St. John's. He picked up 12 in the first four minutes and then, when the Redmen moved ahead with 10 minutes left, he got hot again. Four spinning jump shots from the pivot in the next three minutes led the Jayhawkers to a 71-56 win.
THE SOUTHWEST
THE TOP THREE:
1. OKLAHOMA CITY (7-1)
2. HOUSTON (6-4)
3. TEXAS A&M (6-2)
Rhode Island's run-and-shoot tactics took HOUSTON by surprise, and the Cougars had to regroup to pull out a 74-68 victory. "We were unable to press 'em," explained Houston Coach Guy Lewis. "There are more teams pressing than ever and, as a result, it's harder for us to press back. In that respect, this may be the season of change."
Speaking of his team's 85-83 win over Colorado, TEXAS TECH Coach Gene Gibson said, "We kept them off pace by switching from man-to-man to zone." About his star, 5-foot-10 Dub Malaise, who had 31 points, Gibson added, "He keeps us moving."
Missouri was kept moving by Ned Monsees, who scored 32 points to help beat Rice 81-72. The next night, however, the Tigers were cut down by SMU'S zone and some late scoring, 78-73. CENTENARY, another team with a good zone, forced TCU into errors and won 84-75.
PHOTO
SAILING GRACEFULLY toward basket, USF's Russ Gumina eludes Utah State defense.