Bruins take a shot at UK in Wooden Classic
UCLA meets Kentucky, Kansas meets UMass in honor of legendary
coach
By Randy Satterburg
Daily Bruin Staff
The last time UCLA and Kentucky met on the basketball court, the
Bruins defeated the Wildcats, 92-85, to claim the 1975 NCAA
Championship in coach John Wooden’s final collegiate game at UCLA.
Two decades later, these two prestigious basketball programs, who
have 15 National Championships between them, meet again at the
inaugural John Wooden Classic, Saturday at the Arrowhead Pond in
Anaheim.
The nationally televised event brings together four top-10
teams, representing every region of the country, to honor the
former UCLA coach and tournament namesake, John Wooden, who set the
standard of excellence that all other college basketball teams are
now judged by.
"(The Wooden Classic) is a real first-class affair set up to
honor probably the best coach ever in college basketball," UCLA
head coach Jim Harrick said. "It’s a real honor to be a part of
it."
In the early game of the Classic (10:12 a.m. PST), No. 7-ranked
Kansas does battle with the nation’s No. 1 team, the University of
Massachusetts, in a rematch of last year’s preseason NIT Finals,
which the Jayhawks won 86-75. Twenty minutes after the conclusion
of the Kansas/UMass game, No. 5 UCLA plays host to No. 3 Kentucky,
in a game that both teams are anxiously awaiting.
"They’ve got some marvelous athletes at Kentucky and they have
an outstanding basketball team," Harrick said. "That’s why you come
to UCLA, to play in games like these. It should be a lot of
fun."
Kentucky has been impressive in the early season, scoring wins
against Tennessee-Martin (124-50) and most recently No. 14 Ohio
(79-74) on Wednesday. The Wildcats play an aggressive, fast-paced
style of basketball that will make for an entertaining game against
the Bruins, who also favor a quick tempo.
Junior guard Tony Delk is UK’s leading scorer after two games at
17.0 points per game, but the ‘Cats have shown a tendency to spread
the point distribution evenly among their players. Eight Wildcats
are averaging at least seven points per game in the early season,
while five of them, Delk included, are averaging double figures in
points.
Jared Prickett, a junior forward, went for a game-high 21 points
and 8 rebounds in the Wildcats season-opener, while yet another
junior forward, Walter McCarty, led Kentucky in its next game with
17 points.
Another name that will be more familiar to UCLA is Mark Pope, a
junior center for Kentucky, who transferred after being named the
Pac-10 Freshman of the Year at Washington in 1992, but comes off
the bench now for the Wildcats. Yes, the Wildcats have depth
too.
"Kentucky is a great team from what I’ve seen," said UCLA point
guard Tyus Edney. "It figures to be a real up-tempo type of
game."
With Wooden sitting nearby, it could be tempting for Edney to go
ask the last Bruin coach who defeated Kentucky what the keys to
victory will be.
Harrick, who to this day talks basketball with Wooden for hours
on end, knows better than to think the most successful coach in
college basketball history would be overmatched by today’s breed of
athletes.
"(Coach Wooden) is unbelievably intelligent and wise. Some of
the things he has had to offer to college basketball have been
light years ahead of everyone else," Harrick said. "And everyone
knows what a brilliant technician he is, but he is a tough sucker
too as a disciplinarian. I think the greatest attribute is that he
coached in the the1940s, ’50s, ’60s and ’70s and had success
throughout."
Even though over 250 members of the media will gather to watch
four of the finest basketball teams the country has to offer,
somehow talk always manages to come back to Coach Wooden and the
great things he has done for the sport of college basketball.
"It’s real nice to be having the Wooden Classic," Harrick said.
"To be honest, I am not sure you can do enough for the guy."
* * *
With its 104-80 pummeling of defending national champion
Arkansas last week, UMass is the odds on favorite in its game with
Kansas. Still, the contest between two national powerhouses looks
to be competitive.
Kansas was led by forwards Sean Pearson and Raef LaFrentz, as
well as center Greg Ostertag, in its season opening win over the
University of San Diego, but in UMass, the Jayhawks will face a
frontcourt that consists of Player of the Year candidate Lou Roe at
one forward position, Donta Bright at the other forward, and Marcus
Camby in the center.
Against Arkansas last week, the Minutemen out-rebounded the
Razorbacks, 54-34, and held highly touted forward Corliss
Williamson to 15 points and seven rebounds.
Kansas guard Jacque Vaughn, a preseason candidate for Wooden
Award, suffered an abdominal strain against San Diego and will
probably not be at full strength.