College Basketball / Robyn Norwood : Rice Unheralded Scoring Leader

The Big Ten has its share of big-name players, but one of the more unheralded is leading the conference in scoring.

Glen Rice, Michigan’s 6-foot 7-inch junior forward, is averaging 23.8 points a game. Last week, he was also the conference’s leading rebounder, but his 7.7 average this week is second to the 8.4 average of Indiana’s Dean Garrett.

His best performance of the season: 40 points on 15 of 20 shooting and 8 of 9 free throws in a win against Minnesota. He also had a 35-point game in a victory over Iowa.

The Wolverines also have the Big Ten’s second-leading scorer--senior guard Gary Grant, who averages 22.9 points. Grant figures Rice’s play is to be expected.

“He doesn’t surprise me any more,” Grant said. “I know what he can do. The thing that surprises me is that people don’t notice him. I think he’s becoming the second best player in the country.”

Who, Gary, might the best be?

“Me,” Grant said.

Purdue Coach Gene Keady called his team’s victory over Michigan Sunday in Ann Arbor a “classic,” one of the best games he has seen in his eight seasons in the Big Ten.

It was, by all accounts, a well-played game by both teams. One illustration of the level of play: Both teams shot better than 55%.

Purdue, now ranked second in the Associated Press poll, came out with a 91-87 win that also put the Boilermakers in first place in the Big Ten.

The difference, the coaches agreed, just might have been experience.

“They’re experienced,” said Bill Frieder, Michigan coach. “They made all the plays.”

Purdue starts two players--senior forward Todd Mitchell and senior guard Troy Lewis--who have been four-year starters, and another senior guard Everette Stephens, who has been a key player for the past 2 1/2 seasons.

Among them, the Boilermaker starters have played 495 college games. Michigan’s starters, by contrast, have played only 299.

“There’s no question experience had a lot to do with it,” said Michigan’s Grant, the most experienced player on the court with 117 games. “We were running around, trying to find guys to shoot and things to work. They were in the flow the whole game.”

Best T shirt: Outside UC Santa Barbara’s Events Center last week, you could get a T shirt for $5. The slogan: “Rebels Without a Chance--Showdown at Suntown, Feb. 6, 1988.”

The Gauchos upset Nevada Las Vegas, 62-60, in the Rebels’ Thomas and Mack Center in January, becoming the first Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. team to beat UNLV in two seasons.

Saturday was the rematch, and although Santa Barbara had struggled in some of its other PCAA games, the Gauchos illustrated their dominance over the Rebels once again with a 71-66 victory.

Mike Krzyzewski, coach of the eighth-ranked Duke Blue Devils, has a theory as to why no team has been able to hold on to the top spot in the polls.

“You guys keep voting the wrong one, I guess,” Krzyzewski said this week when a reporter sought his opinion.

The Associated Press poll is chosen by a vote of sportswriters, and the United Press International Poll is chosen by a vote of coaches.

Krzyzewski also had a more serious answer.

“The main reason is there’s no big man, no dominant player in the country who comes on the court and puts everyone in a state of shock. The best team has to truly be a team--have 5, 6, 7 or 8 players working together. Some days, it’s going to happen that they’re not all together. You also have a lot of teams that are developing teams, getting better during the season.”

Temple, which took over the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press poll Monday, became the fifth team to hold that position this season. The Owls, who play in the Atlantic 10 conference, get a test tonight when they play crosstown rival Villanova.

Loyola Marymount continues to be California’s best hope for a top 20 team. The Lions earned 82 points in the AP poll this week, good for 23rd place. UC Santa Barbara, after its second win of the season over UNLV, has 75 points.

As if it weren’t going to be difficult enough to compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Clemson University was down to an eight-man roster last week before holding open tryouts.

The Tigers had lost four players for various since the preseason. What was worse, they were all guards.

“I’ve been at this 20 years, and I’ve never been devasted at one position like this,” said Clemson’s Cliff Ellis. “ I’m down to one guard.”