Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 19, 1990 TAG: 9003192525
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Long
In a year in which they seemed to stun opponents or be shredded on a rare occasion, the Jayhawks found themselves in a close game Sunday and couldn't cope.
UCLA cut off Kansas' passing lanes, made 16 steals, built a nine-point second-half lead and then overcame the Jayhawks again in the final 10 seconds for a 71-70 victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament's Eastern Regional.
"UCLA's athletic ability really hurt us," said second-year Kansas coach Roy Williams at the end of a 30-5 season.
Jayhawks guard Kevin Pritchard said, "UCLA just played a very aggressive defense. They put a lot of pressure on the ball and that makes it tough to get into your offense."
Their defense moved the Bruins (22-10) into a Thursday night regional semifinal against Duke at the Meadowlands. UCLA's size and range caused problems all day in this game between legendary programs that include vagabond coach Larry Brown in their histories.
"As big as they are, when they spread out in that zone, and athletic as they are, they give you a real problem," Williams said.
Five minutes into the second half, UCLA built a 49-40 lead as the officials let push come to shove. Kansas is not a physical team, and it showed.
But the Jayhawks rallied behind the leadership of senior Rick Calloway, the transfer forward who has a 1987 NCAA championship ring from Indiana, and backup 3-point marksman Terry Brown.
At the end, though, the game turned on UCLA's aggression and the free throw-line confidence of freshman Tracy Murray, who was the leading high school scorer in the country a year ago.
Well, maybe he was confident as he went to the line with 9.1 seconds left on the Omni clock, Kansas leading 70-69 and Williams calling back-to-back timeouts.
"I wasn't really that calm," said the 6-foot-8 Murray, a 79-percent free-throw shooter who had missed his only previous free throw in the game. "I was a little nervous.
"I kind of smiled when they called those two timeouts, a `freeze the freshman' kind of deal. . . . I was nervous, but I was still calm on the line . . . sort of."
Murray relaxed a lot after his first toss hit the front of the rim, rolled to the back of the rim, bounced and went through to tie the score. His second swished.
Kansas wanted to inbound the ball to Pritchard, and fellow guard Jeff Gueldner was a second option. Instead, Calloway got the pass and dribbled against Trevor Wilson's defense down the left sideline.
He looked up as he neared the baseline, fumbled the ball, then regained his dribble and shot. It bounced away. As Gueldner started to grab for the rebound, he collided with one of the Bruins.
Gueldner ended up on his back. No whistle, then the horn, then UCLA delirium about its first Sweet 16 trip since the Brown-coached 1980 club reached the championship game.
"I never had control of the ball," Gueldner said. "I never was in control at all."
The aggressive play was the last on that kind of day for the Bruins. The Jayhawks' loss ended a woeful tournament for Big Eight entrants, who went 2-4 with the only wins narrow scrapes past Towson State and Robert Morris.
"During those last two timeouts I told our kids we deserved to win," said UCLA coach Jim Harrick, who still has the twang of a transplanted West Virginian in his voice. "We played our guts out against a great college basketball team.
"I thought holding Kansas under 50 percent shooting was a big factor for us. We played great defense. [Saturday] at the press conference, no one gave us a chance."
UCLA, a nine-point underdog to the Jayhawks, will be playing Duke for the first time since two December 1966 games, when Lew Alcindor was a Bruins sophomore.
The Bruins mostly should thank star forward Wilson, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds, for staying alive.
Wilson's offensive rebound basket with 39 seconds left put UCLA on top 69-68, after three straight possessions had ended with turnovers. In an 18-second span in the final 1:10, Pritchard missed the front end of a one-and-one, then double-dribbled.
Pritchard, the Jayhawks' rattled backcourt leader, willed in both shots of a bonus free-throw situation with 29 seconds left to regain the lead for the East's second-seeded team.
UCLA cleared a side for Wilson on the next trip downcourt, but guard Mitchell Butler, another freshman, missed. Murray rebounded and was fouled by Pritchard, setting up the nervous finish.
Murray hit them, and, to no one's surprise, UCLA's defense made the difference again.
"I wanted to take the ball to the middle," Calloway said. "But Wilson was there. He cut me off, so I dribbled up the sideline. They pressured the ball right to the end."
\ UCLA (71)
Wilson 8-19 2-4 18, MacLean 3-8 4-4 10, Murray 5-12 2-3 12, Madkins 1-3 0-0 3, Martin 7-12 4-5 18, Butler 1-5 6-6 8, Walker 0-0 2-2 2, Owens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 20-24 71.
\ KANSAS (70)
Calloway 4-8 6-7 14, Randall 2-5 0-0 4, Markkanen 0-2 0-0 0, Pritchard 5-8 4-5 15, Gueldner 3-8 0-0 7, Maddox 4-7 2-2 10, Brown 5-8 0-0 15, Jordan 0-1 0-0 0, West 2-4 1-2 5, Jamison 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-52 13-16 70.
Halftime-36-35, Kansas. Three-point goals-UCLA 1-6 (Madkins 1-2, Murray 0-3, Butler 0-1), Kansas 7-12 (Brown 5-6, Pritchard 1-2, Gueldner 1-4). Fouled out- Madkins. Rebounds-UCLA 30 (Wilson 12), Kansas 35 (Gueldner 8). Assists- UCLA 17 (Madkins, Martin 6), Kansas 16 (Randall, Pritchard, Gueldner 3). Total fouls-UCLA 17, Kansas 18. A-11,630.
by CNB