NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : West Regional at Salt Lake City : Loyola Has Earned North Carolina’s Respect With a Fast Start
Loyola Marymount’s second-round West Regional basketball game against North Carolina today in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament shapes up as a matter of mobility--and upward mobility.
The Lions (28-3), rapidly gaining respect as a result of their 25-game winning streak and opening-round victory over Wyoming, will face their most formidable foe, the Tar Heels, at about 2 p.m., PST.
A Loyola victory would be the biggest in school history. It would propel the Lions to the Sweet 16 and status as America’s newest sweetheart.
History, though, is on North Carolina’s side. The Tar Heels have reached the quarterfinals each of the last seven years, and Coach Dean Smith has won more tournament games than any other coach except John Wooden--more than Bob Knight, more than Adolph Rupp.
The question becomes: Can North Carolina (25-6) control the runaway Lions long enough to set up its offense, which would give the Tar Heels a distinct height advantage with 6-foot 9-inch J.R. Reid and 6-10 Scott Williams? Or will Loyola’s relentless running game blister the Tar Heels?
Not even Smith knows, but at a press conference Friday he made it clear that he already respects the Lions. “I do think they’re vastly under-rated by the people who do the polls,” said Smith, who votes in the United Press International ratings. “I wished I’d seen them earlier. I’d have rated ‘em in my top three.
“I have to admit I wish we were playing Wyoming. I think we’re playing one of the best teams in the country. They could’ve won our league (Atlantic Coast Conference). They could win the national championship.”
Smith may have been laying it on a bit, but he seemed genuinely concerned. His team advanced Thursday with an unimpressive 83-65 victory over North Texas State. Then Smith watched Loyola beat Wyoming, 119-115, in a game that set a tournament record for combined points. And Loyola controlled the game for the last 30 minutes.
“We usually don’t prepare for a (specific) team we’re playing,” Smith said. “For once, I will show our guys the other team (on film). I never show them the other team. I want them to see this.”
Smith said Loyola is similar to Georgia Tech, but superior. So he has no precedent to coach on, unless he goes back to 1977 when his team played Nevada Las Vegas in the tournament. But that was before the 45-second clock, when Smith’s four-corner offense was the rage.
“You’d like five days instead of one day to prepare for them,” Smith said. “The game could well be in the hundreds. It’s a 60-minute game the way they play, the number of possessions you get.”
Loyola will play its usual game. If anything, Coach Paul Westhead said, the Lions will try to speed things up even more to disrupt Carolina’s controlled attack. But the Lions will have to handle the best big-man tandem it has faced, and perhaps the best player in Reid.
The Tar Heel sophomore scored 29 points Thursday and averages 18 points and nearly 9 rebounds. Williams, a Hacienda Heights transplant, chips in an average of 12.7 points and 6.3 rebounds.
“They really have an outstanding front line, and it certainly will be a challenge,” Westhead said. “But clearly, running neutralizes a height advantage. It’s still a great factor and Reid is a dimension we have not faced.”
Wyoming’s 6-11 Eric Leckner got 23 points and 8 rebounds Thursday, and he’s certainly not as mobile as Reid. Starting out, 6-6 Mark Armstrong will probably cover Reid and 6-7 Mike Yoest will be on Williams.
“J.R. can have his career night, but that doesn’t mean he’ll win the game,” Armstrong said. “If we keep the game up-tempo I’ll be surprised if he can keep up.”
If Loyola has an advantage, it’s in the backcourt, where Tar Heel point guard Jeff Lebo will have his hands full trying to keep up with bigger, faster Corey Gaines. The point position, with freshman King Rice backing up Lebo, has been considered Carolina’s weakness. Forward Steve Bucknall will probably cover Bo Kimble, who scored 29 points against Wyoming.
Today’s winner will advance to play the winner of the Michigan-Florida game in a regional semifinal in Seattle.
A Loyola victory would establish Loyola’s program. The team has already won more games and gone further than any previous LMU team. A North Carolina victory would merely be Smith’s 38th tournament win.
“Maybe we’ll be taken a little more seriously,” Armstrong said. “That’s what we want, respect. For people not to take us as a joke.”
They already have Smith’s vote. He said, “It would be a great opportunity if we could win.”