When Michigan State coach Jud Heathcote contemplates top-ranked Nevada-Las Vegas, he sees flashbacks of Johnny Wooden`s great teams at UCLA in the late 1960s and early `70s.
”UNLV is the class of collegiate basketball this year,” said Heathcote, whose defending Big 10 champion Spartans were wiped out by the defending NCAA champions in a non-conference game in mid-December.
”I look back on the Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) teams and the Bill Walton teams at UCLA as the best in college basketball. After that, UNLV can hold its own with anybody. It`s a great basketball team with five players who all will go on to become good pro players.”
What about his team? ”The only area we`ve improved on is defense,”
Heathcote said in the wake of Indiana`s loss to undefeated Ohio State that enabled Michigan State to slip past the Hoosiers into second place in the Big 10 race.
”We`re trying to generate a more balanced offense, but it has been a struggle. Steve Smith so often has to carry the brunt of the offense single-handedly.”
The 6-foot-7-inch senior guard earned Big 10 Player of the Week honors by scoring 35 and 33 points in Michigan State`s victories at Illinois and against Minnesota at home. He made all 23 of his free throws in the two games and added 12 rebounds.
– ”Freddie Hunter is like a gift from heaven,” according to Steve Fisher, his coach at Michigan.
Hunter is a 6-5 junior walk-on, who became eligible this semester. In Saturday`s 69-68 overtime victory at Wisconsin, Hunter was the starting forward. He played 38 minutes and his contribution consisted of three points, eight rebounds and two assists.
”I had no idea who he was in September,” continued Fisher. ”One of our student managers had seen him in the Detroit summer leagues and told one of our assistant coaches.
”He had started out at Michigan, then dropped out and became a part-time student at Michigan-Dearborn before coming back to Michigan.
”The NCAA clock started running when he first entered college, so to comply with the regulations he has had to carry a heavy academic load both the first semester and this semester.
”Freddie gives us an athlete who plays as hard as he can every second and who plays with a great deal of intelligence. He`s just so proud to be playing for us.”
– Believe it or not, Minnesota coach Clem Haskins isn`t looking at Wednesday`s visit by undefeated Ohio State with fear and dread.
He knows his team`s records of 10-5 overall and 2-3 in the Big 10 don`t hold a candle to the Buckeyes` 16-0, 6-0. And, yes, he is very aware of what Ohio State`s pressure defense did to the normally superb offense of Indiana
(16-2, 4-1) on Monday night.
But Haskins believes the press can bring out the best in his Gophers.
”I like to play against pressure defenses,” he said. ”I spend a lot of time on it in practice. Over the years, pressure teams have not hurt us that much.
”When we play a pressure team, that tells me we`ll have an opportunity to get easy shots. But we have to make those easy shots and concentrate on taking good shots.”
– The Wednesday night visit by Michigan State (12-4, 5-1) to Purdue (10-5, 2-3) will be their first meeting since the final game of last year`s conference campaign, when Heathcote`s Spartans defeated the Boilermakers to prevent them from tying for the league title.
”We`re a lot different now,” said Purdue coach Gene Keady, looking at both teams. ”We lost three players-actually now four (because Woody Austin is ineligible)-and they lost two. They really miss Ken Redfield`s defensive ability and competitive spirit.”
Heathcote calls Purdue, ”a typical Gene Keady team, overachieving at a number of levels. Chuckie White and Jimmy Oliver are bookend forwards-very strong, very physical, very talented. Maybe if there`s an achilles heel it`s at the guard position; Gene has been rotating four guards.
”We`re playing better now. If you have to go on the road, this is a good time.”
Neither Heathcote nor Keady expected to see Ohio State surge to its enormous early lead and go on to defeat Indiana 93-85 Monday in Bloomington, Ind.
”I thought they were going to have a hard-fought, low-scoring game with Indiana emerging with a three- to five-point victory,” Heathcote said.
”I`m surprised any time a team gets behind by 22 points on its home court,” Keady said. ”That was kind of shocking. But I know it can happen to any of us. In that aspect I wasn`t surprised.”
– Iowa coach Tom Davis is elated by the progress made by his 6-foot-10-inch sophomore center Acie Earl.
”I`m surprised Acie has been this good this early,” Davis said. ”He and Eric Riley (Michigan`s 6-11 sophomore) have a chance to become really good shot-blocking big men, and there aren`t many of those around.”
