Bruins take a shot at UK in Wooden Classic
UCLA meets Kentucky, Kansas meets UMass in honor of legendary coach
By Randy Satterburg
Daily Bruin Staff
The last time UCLA and Kentucky met on the basketball court, the Bruins defeated the Wildcats, 92-85, to claim the 1975 NCAA Championship in coach John Wooden's final collegiate game at UCLA. Two decades later, these two prestigious basketball programs, who have 15 National Championships between them, meet again at the inaugural John Wooden Classic, Saturday at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim.
The nationally televised event brings together four top-10 teams, representing every region of the country, to honor the former UCLA coach and tournament namesake, John Wooden, who set the standard of excellence that all other college basketball teams are now judged by.
"(The Wooden Classic) is a real first-class affair set up to honor probably the best coach ever in college basketball," UCLA head coach Jim Harrick said. "It's a real honor to be a part of it."
In the early game of the Classic (10:12 a.m. PST), No. 7-ranked Kansas does battle with the nation's No. 1 team, the University of Massachusetts, in a rematch of last year's preseason NIT Finals, which the Jayhawks won 86-75. Twenty minutes after the conclusion of the Kansas/UMass game, No. 5 UCLA plays host to No. 3 Kentucky, in a game that both teams are anxiously awaiting.
"They've got some marvelous athletes at Kentucky and they have an outstanding basketball team," Harrick said. "That's why you come to UCLA, to play in games like these. It should be a lot of fun."
Kentucky has been impressive in the early season, scoring wins against Tennessee-Martin (124-50) and most recently No. 14 Ohio (79-74) on Wednesday. The Wildcats play an aggressive, fast-paced style of basketball that will make for an entertaining game against the Bruins, who also favor a quick tempo.
Junior guard Tony Delk is UK's leading scorer after two games at 17.0 points per game, but the 'Cats have shown a tendency to spread the point distribution evenly among their players. Eight Wildcats are averaging at least seven points per game in the early season, while five of them, Delk included, are averaging double figures in points.
Jared Prickett, a junior forward, went for a game-high 21 points and 8 rebounds in the Wildcats season-opener, while yet another junior forward, Walter McCarty, led Kentucky in its next game with 17 points.
Another name that will be more familiar to UCLA is Mark Pope, a junior center for Kentucky, who transferred after being named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year at Washington in 1992, but comes off the bench now for the Wildcats. Yes, the Wildcats have depth too.
"Kentucky is a great team from what I've seen," said UCLA point guard Tyus Edney. "It figures to be a real up-tempo type of game."
With Wooden sitting nearby, it could be tempting for Edney to go ask the last Bruin coach who defeated Kentucky what the keys to victory will be.
Harrick, who to this day talks basketball with Wooden for hours on end, knows better than to think the most successful coach in college basketball history would be overmatched by today's breed of athletes.
"(Coach Wooden) is unbelievably intelligent and wise. Some of the things he has had to offer to college basketball have been light years ahead of everyone else," Harrick said. "And everyone knows what a brilliant technician he is, but he is a tough sucker too as a disciplinarian. I think the greatest attribute is that he coached in the the1940s, '50s, '60s and '70s and had success throughout."
Even though over 250 members of the media will gather to watch four of the finest basketball teams the country has to offer, somehow talk always manages to come back to Coach Wooden and the great things he has done for the sport of college basketball.
"It's real nice to be having the Wooden Classic," Harrick said. "To be honest, I am not sure you can do enough for the guy."
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With its 104-80 pummeling of defending national champion Arkansas last week, UMass is the odds on favorite in its game with Kansas. Still, the contest between two national powerhouses looks to be competitive.
Kansas was led by forwards Sean Pearson and Raef LaFrentz, as well as center Greg Ostertag, in its season opening win over the University of San Diego, but in UMass, the Jayhawks will face a frontcourt that consists of Player of the Year candidate Lou Roe at one forward position, Donta Bright at the other forward, and Marcus Camby in the center.
Against Arkansas last week, the Minutemen out-rebounded the Razorbacks, 54-34, and held highly touted forward Corliss Williamson to 15 points and seven rebounds.
Kansas guard Jacque Vaughn, a preseason candidate for Wooden Award, suffered an abdominal strain against San Diego and will probably not be at full strength.