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COLLEGE BASKETBALL
WEST
So the world goes. Cuba abolishes Christmas but nobody, absolutely nobody, abolishes UCLA, winner of its 49th game even with Coach John Wooden hospitalized. The victim this time: California at Santa Barbara 98-67.
Santa Clara came to Salt Lake City, and Santa Clara went away again loaded with presents after beating Providence 97-92 in the final of the Utah Classic chiefly on Mike Stewart's 33 points. The Trojan Classic was won by Southern Cal, whose Vic (Small Package) Kelly, 5'6", scored 20 points to put down Purdue 79-71.
Maybe it was because they were playing past their curfew time, but Oral Roberts' Titans fell fast asleep, snored away a 13-point lead and lost to Nevada of Las Vegas 86-80, or maybe it was just Jimmie Baker, who scored 40 points for Vegas.
New Mexico went down to Las Cruces this time to meet New Mexico State, but the outcome was the same, a victory, if only by a point, 68-67. The Lobos won with six points in the last 41 seconds, the final two on Darryl Minniefield's layup. Later, against Abilene Christian, they took 98 shots, hit on 45 and won 103-74.
Brigham Young got 60 points from Kresimir Cosic as it drubbed Oklahoma State 96-69 and fought off Utah State 88-80.
1. UCLA (4-0)
2. LONG BEACH STATE (5-0)
SOUTH
Many Kentuckians felt things would never be the same without Adolph Rupp. Last week, though, lamentations were turned to cheers—with some boos and a ripe grapefruit thrown at the officials—when Rupp's successor, Joe Hall, carried on in the baronial traditions. He shouted, slammed a clipboard to the floor and then ripped off his jacket and stomped on it, hoping to shake up the refs and his Wildcats. He did. Hall got two technical fouls and a rousing comeback from his players, who cut a 26-point deficit against North Carolina down to six points before the Tar Heels put on a spurt to squelch the Wildcats 78-70. Stirred up, Hall's boys went on to win their own invitational tournament, beating Nebraska 85-60 and, with Jim Andrews scoring 33 points, whipping Oregon 95-68.
Tennessee, winner of all six previous Volunteer Classics, this time lost to Missouri 67-57 as the tournament's MVP, John Brown, had 23 points. The Tigers beat the Vols at their own wait-before-you-shoot game, sinking 64% of their shots.
Harry Larrabee, a 5'10" Texas guard, hit on all eight of his foul tries in the last 3:30 as the Longhorns made up a 10-point gap and stunned Memphis State 80-79. Four other Southern powers—Maryland, Alabama, Vanderbilt and Southwestern Louisiana—won. The Terps stomped on Georgetown 99-73 and the Crimson Tide beat Georgia Tech 89-73. Mississippi used an effective 1-2-2 zone, but finally lost 59-57 to the Commodores, who also stopped Middle Tennessee 69-57. The Ragin' Cajuns had fits with Mercer before outrunning and outgunning the Bears 111-104. They also had trouble cracking McNeese State's slowdown tactics before winning 88-67.
1. MARYLAND (4-0)
2. SW LOUISIANA (6-0)
EAST
Upsets abounded, and Princeton, with Ted Manakas on a scoring binge, pulled off two. Manakas had 29 points as the Tigers gave Virginia its first loss, 69-65, and then, in the opening round of the Marshall Memorial tournament, he added 27 more in a 61-59 shocker over Florida State. Marshall, an 82-72 winner over Baylor in the first round, won the tournament by beating the Tigers 78-64. Florida State humbled Baylor in the consolation game 85-67.
Aron Stewart, the country's leading junior college scorer two years ago, played his first game for Richmond, pumping in 26 points as the Spiders came from 13 points back to overhaul Canisius 75-73. The ringleader in LIU's 89-64 surprising win over previously unbeaten West Texas State was Ruben Rodriguez, a 6'6" Olympian from Puerto Rico who hauled down 21 rebounds and had 31 points. And Wittenberg got 18 points from Pat Beasley to defeat Pitt 63-54. Two other upsets were narrowly avoided when Jacksonville labored past St. Peter's 96-89 in overtime and Penn nipped St. Joseph's 54-53 on a last-second jumper by Ron Haigler.
Having a player named Brown was a big plus for three teams. With James Brown showing the way, Harvard dispatched Boston University 102-92 before coming up a red-faced loser to Massachusetts 74-70. Admittedly, it was Ken Charles' 70 points that sparked Fordham to three wins, boosting its record to 7-0, but Darryl Brown was instrumental, too, scoring 36 points, blocking 27 shots and hauling in 39 rebounds in the Rams' victories over Lafayette 82-70, Columbia 84-66 and CCNY 73-57. And then there was the "ultimate Brown," Phil Brown of Brown, who led the Bruins with 31 points as they nipped Yale 70-69 and upset Manhattan 61-54.
1. PENN (4-0)
2. PROVIDENCE (3-1)
MIDWEST
Seeking more zip in his offense, Kansas State Coach Jack Hartman used three guards against North Texas State. That paid off handsomely, the team making 59% of its shots in a 76-62 win. Against Iowa's 6'9" front line, Hartman dumped his usual man-to-man defense and used a zone. That worked, too, as the hulking Hawkeyes were outrebounded by State 41-36 and outscored 68-62. Pure shooting by Lon Kruger and Danny Beard, rather than innovative techniques, brought a third win over Washington, 71-64.
Rounding out a superlative week for Big Eight teams was three-time winner Kansas. After sacking Xavier 61-54, the Kansans took their own Jayhawk Classic by downing Texas Tech 67-51 and San Francisco 60-58, the latter on Wilson Barrow's tip-in with 13 seconds to go.
Colorado worked hard to go ahead of Long Beach State by a point and then—poof—the 49ers swished nine straight points and lived up to their ratings as they bombed the Buffaloes 93-69.
"Even when you play the Little Sisters of the Poor you can get in trouble—if Mother Superior is a good outside shooter," said Loyola of Chicago Coach George Ireland. The Ramblers' outside shooters—Frank Sanders and John Willey—were superior and they did help overcome a 16-point deficit to tie Minnesota 77-all with 2:39 left, but the Gophers prevailed 87-81.
Fred Schaus' memory helped Purdue defeat Miami of Ohio. Trailing 48-39 and with 6'11" John Garrett benched with four fouls, Schaus recalled the time at West Virginia when he waited too long to put Jerry West back in a game. Thus, with 12:19 remaining, he told Garrett to go to it. He did with a passion, getting 18 quick points, including the winning basket with two seconds left for a 66-65 win.
After watching Butler beat Occidental 78-53, Mel Daniels of the Indiana Pacers could not resist giving some tips to Daryl Mason of the Bulldogs, who had made just nine of 36 shots in four games. "You're shooting too far back over your head," Daniels said. "Shoot out front and follow through." Heeding the advice, Mason sank seven of 11 shots in an 88-82 overtime win against Western Kentucky. The Bulldogs could have used Daniels himself in their next outing, when they were outclassed by Ohio State 86-55.
Responding to a question by the P.A. announcer, fans voted to let Marquette Coach Al McGuire keep his long hair, as well they should. The Warriors clipped Xavier 70-52. Detroit tried four different men on Michigan's Henry Wilmore, all to no avail. The Wolverines won 74-65 and Wilmore had 31 points Oklahoma City, which earlier had lost at SMU by 23 points, got quick revenge by beating the Mustangs at home 85-77 and then, with Marvin Rich getting 36 points, stopped TCU 106-65.
1. MARQUETTE (4-0)
2. ORAL ROBERTS (4-1)
