UCLA Says Seeding Not an Indicator of Cowboy Talent

Oklahoma State is the lowest-seeded team, by far, to win its regional, and the only member of the Final Four to have spent zero time on top of the polls this season.

But, while North Carolina and Arkansas, the last two national champions, battle in the glamour matchup, don’t assume UCLA will have an easy time against center Bryant (Big Country) Reeves, shooter Randy Rutherford and the rest of the Cowboys in Seattle on Saturday, says Bruin assistant coach Lorenzo Romar.

“That would be totally wrong,” Romar said after watching fourth-seeded Oklahoma State upset No. 2 Massachusetts Sunday in the East Regional final. “When you have a big guy like Big Country and decent shooting, you can just take your time and just force that ball down into the middle, jam it in there, and if the defense sags off too much, fan it back out for the jumper.

“They’re also a very good defensive team. Obviously, they like to control the tempo, just as they did (Sunday).”

That means no 102-96 track-meet victory, no duplication of UCLA’s blistering performance against Connecticut Saturday.

Bruin Coach Jim Harrick pointed directly to 7-foot UCLA center George Zidek, who played a crucial 28 minutes against Mississippi State’s Erick Dampier in the third round, as the key again against the Cowboys and the 7-0 Reeves.

“You talk about George Zidek, we would certainly need him,” Harrick said. “Big Country is a guy, if I had an NBA team, he might be one of the top five guys in the country I’d take. He’s got great hands and a beautiful soft touch and great post moves.”