3/18/1976

UA no longer ignored

By BRUCE JOHNSTON
Citizen Sportswriter

LOS ANGELES Herman Harris tapped a finger to the left side of his chest and quietly said "It was just in me tonight Beat Vegas."

He stood wearing only a towel calmly answering the questions of a mob of news men. Across the small locker room in Pauley Pavilion was another knot of reporters thrusting microphones in front of Jim Rappis.

A couple more writers were with Bob Elliott and Phil Taylor.

Al Fleming dressed slowly ignored by the media. Other players kept up running banter with their suddenly popular teammates.

All were basking in the limelight while it lasted.

It was deserved. The University of Arizona basketball team had come to the NCAA West Regional playoffs seemingly unheralded and unknown. Maybe ignored is the best description.

That all changed last night when the UA Wildcats (24-8) defeated nationally third-ranked Nevada-Las Vegas 114-109 in overtime, to move into tomorrow's regional final against defending NCAA champion UCLA. The Bruins beat Pepperdine 70-61, in the second game of the regional doubleheader at UCLA.

Tomorrow's game will begin at 2 p.m. Tucson time and will be televised live by Channel 4. The game can also be heard on radio station KTUC (1400).

The heroes for Arizona were many. Just as many were the key plays and important baskets and close calls in this game.

Junior guard Harris was as big a hero as anyone. The Cats unabashedly went to him down in the stretch as they struggled to come from behind. He hit 17 of UA's last 25 points in regulation. He totaled 31 points had nine assists and nine rebounds and played the entire game. He also missed the free throw that could have won the game in regulation.

Harris' backcourt mate Rappis qualifies for hero status on the basis of his guts alone. He played on one leg much of the evening after bruising his left heel in the first half, yet still shot 10 of 14 from the field had 24 points and accounted for 24 more on 12 assists. When he fouled out with 40 seconds to go in regulation he received a standing ovation.

There were others like Phil Taylor with his 18 points and 15 rebounds as he became the mainstay inside when Elliott and Fleming ran into foul trouble. And the bench: Jerome Gladney, Gilbert Myles, Len Gordy and others.

It's fitting that in this, perhaps UAs most important basketball win ever, it was truly a team effort.

The Rebels came into the contest touted as the best running team in nation and had the record (29-1) and the statistics to prove it. They had a devastating full-court press. And they had beaten UA earlier in season, 98-94.

But UA did just as good a job at running, if not better, than Las Vegas and handled he press admirably with few lapses. That was the key in the game, for the Cats neutralized Vegas' two main strengths.

UNLV, meanwhile, never countered the Cats main strength — rebounding. They never outshot them either, hitting only 43 per cent from the field to 57 per cent for UA.

But for horrible foul shooting in the first half, UA might have run away with the victory. But in the end, it was free throws that won it, as all 11 of UAs points in overtime were scored from the line. Fouls played an important role, with four Rebels fouling out, including leading scorer Eddie Owens with 11 minutes to go in regulation, and three Cats.

It was a proud and defiant UA coach Fred Snowden who talked to the press after the game.

He told the media that he felt his team had been slighted by the lack of coverage given it just prior to the Las Vegas game. But once he got that out of the way it was hard to stop him from talking about Rappis and Harris and the rest of the team — particularly his bench.

"It was a conscious effort to go to Herm because I felt he could win it for us," Snowden explained. "Under pressure, this was probably his best game for us," Snowden said.

Of Rappis he said, "He's the epitome of courage."

"Our bench won it for us," he continued. "I believe in every one of my young men and they justified that belief tonight."

Rappis' heal injury apparently will not prevent him from playing against UCLA, although he limped noticeably much of the game and on defense his mobility was limited severely. He practically begged Snowden to start him he second half.

"It's been like this for a month. I just reinjured it," he said nonchalantly, recounting some of the other injuries he's had in his career at Arizona. It's just another nagging injury. I can handle it."

Although he and Harris dominated the scoring from their backcourt positions, Rappis is looking for more production against UCLA from Elliott and Fleming.

"Bob and Al didn't have good games, so Saturday might be their day."

Harris is not only looking forward to UCLA, he's thinking past that to Philadelphia and the national semifinals and finals next week if the Cats beat the Bruins.

He's from Chester, Pa., just about five or six miles outside of Philadelphia, and a trip back there means he'd get to see his mother.

"I haven't seen her in two years," he said, with a hopeful smile on his face.