Cyclones Also Have Whirlwind Athletes

At a press conference here Wednesday, a guy asked Iowa State’s 6-foot-11 defensive intimidator, Kelvin Cato, if he and his teammates were nervous about having to play on the same court with all of UCLA’s great athletes. Cato was stunned, looking as though he had just had one of his shots blocked.

I know why now.

Just because the Cyclones prefer to play at a slow pace doesn’t mean they’re slow. Just because they’re patient enough to wait for an open shot doesn’t mean they can’t shoot. Just because they’re well-coached doesn’t mean they can’t jam when the situation calls for it.

These guys are very good athletes. They also are very good basketball players.

There would have been no shame in losing to them Thursday night in the Alamodome.

Iowa State isn’t Princeton.

Take Cato, which UCLA’s 6-9 1/2 Jelani McCoy couldn’t do in the matchup that was supposed to determine which team controlled the bright orange paint underneath the baskets.

On one sequence alone, Cato blocked two Bruin shots. That’s twice as many as McCoy blocked all night. Cato finished with four blocks, almost as many as any opposing team had against the Bruins this season.

Take forward Kenny Pratt. Listed at 6-5 but standing no taller than 6-3 in his sneakers, Pratt, although voted to the All-Big 12 defensive team, was supposed to be a liability in his matchup with 6-9 J.R. Henderson.

But Pratt played as big as Henderson most of the night, blocking out the taller Bruin on defense, slashing to the basket on offense. He had 14 points and six rebounds, coming as close as he could be expected to neutralizing Henderson’s 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Take guard Dedric Willoughby. Toby Bailey was supposed to take care of him on defense, just the way he did Oklahoma State’s Randy Rutherford two years ago in the Final Four and had done to so many other hotshot shooters since.

All Willoughby did was bury five of eight three-point shots in the first half alone and go to the dressing room with 16 points.

He figured to cool off in the second half and did. He sank three more three-point baskets, but it took him nine more shots to do it. When the Cyclones appeared doomed, though, he saved them with two critical ones, the latter with 22 seconds remaining that sent the game into overtime. He finished with 34 points.

If it seemed as if he was open all night, it’s because he was. Bailey, hobbling with a sore foot, couldn’t handle him. Charles O’Bannon tried. Then Kris Johnson. Neither had much success.

One reason was the scheming of Iowa State’s brilliant coach, Tim Floyd. If UCLA has a motion offense, Iowa State’s is locomotion. With its constant cuts and fakes and screens, defenders get dizzy trying to follow it.

Floyd’s reputation is that he is equally deceiving defensively, changing almost every time opponents come down the court. But he adjusted to his competition Thursday night, often using a zone against a team that, at best, is inconsistent shooting from outside.

No, there would have been no shame at all in losing to Iowa State.

But the Bruins didn’t lose, bravely coming from 16 points behind in the second half to win, 74-73, and living to play another day, here Saturday, against Minnesota. The winner goes to the Final Four.

There were two reasons that UCLA won. Neither would have seemed probable, or even possible, early in the season, when the Bruins were 3-3 in the wake of Coach Jim Harrick’s firing.

One was the coaching of Steve Lavin.

The other was the play of Cameron Dollar.

Who would have believed it in December?

The press conferences here Wednesday allowed a good look at the four coaches in this NCAA Midwest Regional, three of whom declared unapologetically that they belonged.

Clemson’s Rick Barnes doesn’t back down from anyone, not even Dean Smith. Minnesota’s Clem Haskins sent a warning to rival coaches, saying, “I’m going to beat your butt if I have better players.” Floyd didn’t deny he has his sights set on coaching the Chicago Bulls some day, God and Michael Jordan willing.

When Lavin made his appearance before the media, he had already started sweating. That’s not unusual for him, except the Bruins hadn’t even practiced yet.

He looked like the bus let him off at the wrong stop.

“I’m a rookie, I’m green, I’m wet behind the ears,” he said. “I’m wet all over my body because of perspiration coming through my shirt. I told my players, ‘You know you’re in trouble if it comes down to coaching.’ Tim Floyd’s a legend, and I’ve got 23 wins under my belt.”

Yet, it did come down to coaching. Lavin allowed the Bruins to win by employing a pressure defense that rattled the Cyclones and took the game out of Floyd’s hands.

That, ultimately, put it in Dollar’s hands. As we’ve seen before in this improbable 12-game winning streak, he knew what to do with it.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

DIV. I TOURNAMENT LEADERS

Through Thursday

SINGLE-GAMED SCORING

39-Austin Croshere, Providence vs. Marquette

37-Charles Jones, Long Island University vs. Villanova

34-Dedric Willoughby, Iowa St. vs. UCLA

33-Derrick Brown, Providence vs. Duke

32-Brett Larrick, Charleston Southern vs. UCLA

31-Reggie Freeman, Texas vs. Wisconsin.

31-Brad Miller, Purdue vs. Rhode Island

31-Alvin Williams, Villanova vs. California

29-Kelvin Cato, Iowa St. vs. Illinois St.

29-Andre Woolridge, Iowa vs. Kentucky

29-Sam Jacobson, Minnesota vs. Clemson

28-Charles O’Bannon, UCLA vs. Xavier, Ohio