THE WEEK (Jan. 23-29)
WEST
In a pregame ceremony before UTEP's 60-59 WAC defeat of resurgent New Mexico, Lobo coach Gary Colson presented Miner coach Don Haskins with a plaque for "contributions to the game of basketball." Haskins responded by presenting Colson with a Coach of the Year award—as selected by Haskins. New Mexico, a surprising 16-4 going into the game, then tried to earn Colson some real Coach of the Year honors by jumping to a 33-27 halftime lead and a 48-38 advantage with 11:29 to play. But UTEP won, thanks to swingman Juden Smith, who scored 11 second-half points, and point guard Luster Goodwin, who sank a 22-foot jumper with six seconds remaining. "That's the reason they're ranked where they are," said Colson. "They were down 10 and playing under extremely tough conditions [before an SRO crowd of 18,040], and they still kept plugging. It was a great game. Everybody got his money's worth except me."
Stanford handed visiting Washington its first Pac-10 loss, beating the Huskies 78-74. Afterward. Washington coach Marv Harshman said, "It was an officials' game." The Huskies were assessed 31 fouls to only 17 for the Cardinal. "Stanford was just grabbing and slashing." Harshman went on. "What we saw tonight wasn't typical of any other court in America." The Cardinal made 32 free throws in 39 attempts, while Washington sank just six of 15.
With WCAC favorite Santa Clara trailing St. Mary's 32-21 at halftime. Bronco coach Carroll Williams took a page from Pogo. "I told the players that the enemy is us," said Williams. He was right: The Broncos shot only 41% in the second half as the Gaels romped to an 81-64 victory. St. Mary's, which had lost 11 of its first 14 games, took over first place in the WCAC with a 3-0 record. In the PCAA, six UNLV players scored in double figures in a 100-68 romp at UC-Santa Barbara. Two days later Frank (Spoon) James scored 23 points and Richie Adams added 20 in the Rebels' 82-75 overtime win at Cal State-Fullerton.
MIDWEST
Houston's 84-58 victory at Baylor left the Cougars in sole possession of first place in the Southwest Conference, but Phi Slamma Jamma made its biggest news off the court. Coach Guy Lewis reinstated junior swingman Benny Anders one month after Anders had quit the team, complaining that he wasn't playing enough. "He was dissatisfied not getting over 18 minutes playing time before," Lewis said. "There's no way he's gonna get that now."
Lewis at first had refused to let Anders return this season, suggesting that he rejoin the Cougars next fall or transfer to another school. But Anders visited Lewis' home for three straight nights, seeking another chance. Lewis said center Akeem Abdul Olajuwon finally persuaded him to take Anders back. Lewis also admitted to being "touched pretty good" by point guard Reid Gettys, a born-again Christian, who reminded Lewis that everyone needs to ask forgiveness sometime. "I've asked for forgiveness myself," Gettys told the coach. Lewis subsequently forgave Anders, but he didn't forget: Anders played just two scoreless minutes against Baylor.
Rice reserve guards Teddy Johnson and Tyrone Washington, in the starting lineup against Arkansas to combat the Razorbacks' full-court pressure defense, sparked the Owls to a 65-62 upset victory. Washington scored 14 points and had five rebounds, while Johnson scored only four points, but had five assists, four steals and, according to Rice coach Tommy Suitts, "had his teammates and Arkansas convinced he was quick enough to handle the press." Forward Mike Cunningham, whom Johnson replaced in a revamped, three-guard offense, came off the bench to score 19 points and get 10 rebounds. Arkansas' Joe Kleine had 24 points and made 10 of 11 shots, but his brilliance wasn't enough to prevent Rice's first victory over the Hogs since Eddie Sutton became coach at Arkansas in 1974. After Memphis State's 69-65 defeat of Oklahoma, the Tigers' Keith Lee, who had been sleepwalking in State's previous two games, said he had been awakened by the challenge posed by the high-scoring Sooners and their sophomore star, Wayman Tisdale, whom Memphis State coach Dana Kirk had dubbed Mr. T. "A big game like this will fire anybody up," said Lee. He outscored Tisdale 22-12 and outrebounded him 18-14, and the Tigers' sticky 2-3 zone limited Oklahoma to just 40.6% shooting. The Sooners earlier had had five men in double figures and shot 52.9% in winning a 115-100 Big Eight shootout with Oklahoma State. Louisville crushed Florida State 95-71 to remain tied for first place in the Metro Conference with Memphis State, but the Cardinals had their nine-game winning streak snapped 65-60 by Marquette. In the Missouri Valley, Tulsa moved into a first-place tie with Illinois State by defeating Creighton 75-64.
MIDEAST
"Charles Barkley is as good a player as there is in the country," said LSU coach Dale Brown of the Auburn center after the Tigers from Alabama upended the Fighting Tigers from Baton Rouge 80-78. "If he isn't on the Olympic team they'd better have Paul Bunyan or Samson." In a Bunyanesque performance, the 280-pound Barkley scored 19 points, took down 17 rebounds and blocked a school-record eight shots. With LSU leading 64-58 with 7:43 left to play, Barkley ignited a 16-5 surge with a pair of dunks—one a spectacular length-of-the-court drive off a steal—that gave Auburn a 74-69 lead.
After LSU had tied the score at 74-74 with 1:24 to play, Auburn's Chuck Person, the SEC's top scorer, iced the victory by scoring six of his team-high 22 points in the final 40 seconds. Auburn's victory gave it a half-game lead over Kentucky in the SEC, but the Wildcats moved into a first-place tie two days later with a 64-40 trouncing of Georgia. It was Kentucky's 33rd home victory over the Bulldogs in 34 games, dating back to 1923.
Miami of Ohio took a two-game lead in the Mid-American Conference with an 81-80 defeat of defending champion Bowling Green. Sophomore forward Ron Harper scored a career-high 31 points and had 12 rebounds and six assists. "He did everything but paint the gym tonight," said Bowling Green coach John Weinert, whose Falcons were virtually eliminated from the MAC title chase.
Illinois coach Lou Henson was pleased with the Illini's man-to-man defense in a 46-40 victory over stumbling Michigan State in Champaign. "But if you check the box score, you won't see much to be thrilled about except that." The 46 points was the lowest winning score by an Illinois team since 1979. Two days later the Illini staggered to a 75-66 quadruple-overtime defeat of Michigan in the second longest game in Big Ten history.
Notre Dame got 19 points from Tom Sluby—including a three-point play with 18 seconds left—in a 52-47 upset of Maryland. "This win gives us respectability and credibility," said Irish coach Digger Phelps, whose team has won 11 of its last 13 games.
EAST
"We just seem to play better at the end, when the game is on the line," said North Carolina All-America Michael Jordan after the Tar Heels' 73-61 victory over Georgia Tech, a coming power in the ACC. "We aren't afraid of a close game." But North Carolina coach Dean Smith, who had earlier watched the Heels roll to a surprisingly easy 100-63 rout of Wake Forest, was worried that his team might drop its guard against Tech. The Yellow Jackets trailed North Carolina by just five points, 64-59, with 2:32 left to play, despite having lost two starters—center Yvon Joseph and forward John Salley—to foul trouble.
Soon thereafter Smith ordered the Heels into their four-corners offense, and Carolina ran off a game-breaking 9-2 streak. Jordan scored 12 of his game-high 21 points—including eight straight free throws—in the final 8:30 to spark the Tar Heels. On Sunday, Jordan had a season-high 29 points in Carolina's 90-79 win over LSU. But freshman guard Kenny Smith fractured his left wrist with 4:27 to go and will be lost indefinitely.
East Coast Conference leader Bucknell got 18 points from Ed Sigl in a 64-56 win over Lafayette, and then Jaye Andrews scored 22 points as the Bisons beat Delaware 87-72. The 13-2 Bisons, who through last weekend had won six straight games, are off to their best start since 1907-08.
After coasting to a 62-58 victory at Pittsburgh. Syracuse ran its Big East record to 8-0—the best start by a team in conference history—with a 78-74 overtime win over St. John's before 29,001 in the Carrier Dome. The Orangemen knocked off the Redmen for the first time in five games, despite blowing the front ends of seven straight one-and-one situations late in the game. Rafael Addison, who played all 45 minutes for Syracuse, had a game-high 24 points, including a pair of free throws with 24 seconds to play in OT that preserved the victory.
"I don't know of anybody who gives room, board and tuition to anyone who can't play," said Georgetown coach John Thompson after the Hoyas' 92-83 defeat of Boston College. The Hoya reserves proved their worthiness. Led by Bill Martin's 18 points and 10 rebounds, the Georgetown subs outscored the Eagle bench 48-4. In Philadelphia, Villanova's Dwayne McClain hit a basket and two free throws in the final four seconds as the Wildcats dealt Arkansas its second straight loss, 58-54.
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK
CHARLES BARKLEY: Auburn's 6'6" junior center scored 37 points, made 16 of 22 shots from the floor, had 26 rebounds and blocked 11 shots as the Tigers beat Tennessee and upset Louisiana State.