College Basketball / Robyn Norwood : UNLV-Arizona Is a Battle of Coaches, Too

When Nevada Las Vegas and Arizona play Saturday in a nationally televised game at Tucson, there will be more at stake than early-season rankings.

The public stance of Jerry Tarkanian, coach of the No. 9-ranked Rebels, and Lute Olson, coach of the No. 10 Wildcats, is that this is a battle for best in the West, 1988-89 version.

But the differences between these coaches are as pronounced as the contrast between Olson’s carefully barbered white hair and Tarkanian’s gleaming pate. And they run deeper than regional competition.

They spent time this week downplaying their noted rivalry, a subject that can make Olson, normally a polished speaker, tongue-tied.

“I think when you look at it as far as if you were to ask somebody who were the top basketball schools in the West, if one were to name two, why, you would name the two of us,” Olson said. “If either of us were not included in those two, you couldn’t go far beyond two. Say if UCLA were included, you could go beyond two to three.”

Tarkanian echoed Olson at first.

“They have an outstanding team,” Tarkanian said. “I think the last 7 years, up until last year, we were the top team in the West. Last year, they were the best, and I think we were second. This year, we’re the two best.”

But then his evasiveness broke down.

“Tolbert, that was the only really bitter part from our standpoint,” Tarkanian said.

Tarkanian claims that Tom Tolbert, the Wildcat center last season, had committed to UNLV and that a UNLV assistant was to sign him the next day.

“But Arizona got in that night, and signed him,” Tarkanian said.

The schools also competed for Matt Othick, a Las Vegas high school player who at one point was expected to go to UNLV and is now at Arizona. Both coaches say they don’t cross-recruit that often, in part because Tarkanian recruits heavily among community colleges.

But Tarkanian’s hostility toward Olson is said to stem in part from a belief that Olson speaks poorly of the UNLV program.

In any case, the two go way back.

Olson succeeded Tarkanian at Cal State Long Beach in 1973, inheriting during the season a National Collegiate Athletic Assn. probation period from violations during Tarkanian’s tenure. Olson coached at Long Beach for only 1 season, going 24-2, before leaving for Iowa.

So Olson compliments Tarkanian’s pressure defense, and Tarkanian compliments Sean Elliott, saying he thinks Elliott was the best player in the country last season, better than Danny Manning. And Saturday, the Rebels (2-1) and the Wildcats (2-1) can take the coaches’ arguments to the floor.

“We gotta show up, I guess,” Tarkanian said. “I just hope the trip back is as fun as the trip there.”

UNLV leads the series against Arizona, 7-3, and has won the last 4 meetings, the most recent a 92-87 season-opening victory in 1986. Olson has not beaten UNLV in his 5 seasons at Arizona, and the last Wildcat victory was in 1977-78.

Temple was last season’s charmed newcomer. With spectacular freshman guard Mark Macon and sometimes-charming, sometimes-irascible Coach John Chaney, the Owls were at the top of college basketball for a long stretch.

After a 14-0 start was interrupted by a 1-point loss to UNLV, Temple won 18 straight before losing to Duke in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. East Regional final.

This season, the Owls have opened 0-2, with losses to Missouri and Arizona.

With sophomore Michael Harden at point guard in his first college game, Temple committed 18 turnovers in a 91-74 loss to Missouri.

The Owls have averaged fewer than 10 turnovers a game for years.

Temple was particularly bothered by an aggressive Missouri full-court zone press that had as many as three players on the ball.

Against Arizona, Temple cut the turnovers to 4, but played poorly otherwise, losing, 68-50.

Said Olson: “They have a long way to go. Some of the shots they took I would refer to as turnovers.”

Temple has few illusions, and expects to struggle until Harden and center Duane Causwell improve to join Macon and Mike Vreeswyk.

Point guard Howie Evans and center Tim Perry are sorely missed from last season’s team.

The Owls are shooting for January and tournament time. In the meantime, there are a lot of holes to plug. “It’s like paying bills,” said Jim Maloney, Chaney’s top assistant. “You pay off your car, but then you’ve still got all these clothing bills you have to pay.”

A little self-promotion never hurts: After starting 2-0 with a 100-67 victory over Houston and a 114-79 victory over Texas Southern, Arkansas Little Rock mailed letters from Coach Mike Newell to voters in the Associated Press poll.

“As you sit down to compile this week’s edition of the nation’s top 20, please keep the following four letters in mind--U A L R,” the letter began.

It recalled Arkansas Little Rock’s successes in recent years, including an upset of Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 1986 and a 24-7 team last season that played in the National Invitation Tournament.

“I hope that you will consider the University of Arkansas Little Rock when you get ready to sit down and work on your next top 20 poll,” the letter concluded. “Sincerely, Mike Newell.”

The Trojans, who face the Trojans of Southern California in the first round of the Fighting Illini tournament tonight at Champaign, Ill., earned 7 points in the most recent AP poll, well behind No. 20 Seton Hall, which had 90. Watch the fine print to gauge the ploy’s success.

Basketball Notes

Alabama State set a Division I record by attempting 42 3-pointers in a 73-62 loss to North Carolina A&T; at Greensboro, N.C., last Saturday, breaking the record set by Loyola Marymount last season, when the Lions attempted 39 against North Carolina in the NCAA tournament. Coach James Oliver was hardly pleased. Alabama State made only 12 of those long shots. “It’s not something we’re proud of,” Oliver said. “We’re not a 3-point shooting team.” Alabama State shot most of the 3-pointers trying to catch up. “It wasn’t by design,” Oliver said. “The opportunity continued to present itself. Most of the (3-point) shots were late in the game, when we were looking to get back in it.” . . . Northwestern Louisiana’s Coach Dan Bell, in only his sixth game as a head coach, got a victory capable of making a career when his Demons upset Kentucky, 85-82, before 18,932 fans at Kentucky.