2/8/1973

By P.J. ERICKSON
Assistant Sports Editor

ALBUQUERQUE - Fred Snowden was introduced to The Pit last night.

He didn't like it.

"No matter what kind of basketball team we might develop at the University of Arizona," Snowden said, "I personally would never allow our fans to resort to that."

What Snowden was complaining about was fans throwing coins and other objects at the players while his Wildcats were dropping a 93-73 Western Athletic Conference contest to the University of New Mexico.

"Ron Allen took a heckuva shot just above the eye with a quarter," Snowden said. "A kid could lose an eye in a situation like that. I don't want to win a game when a kid loses an eye.

"It's that sort of thing that precipitates incidents like the one last year between Ohio State and Minnesota, and I just don't think that's part of the game, or part of athletics, period. I don't mind losing, and losing is never gonna drive me out of coaching.

"But if I ever had a kid lose an eye through something like that, I'd get out of coaching immediately, and I'd blast the fans as hard as I could.

"When something like that happens, it makes it hard to justify athletics."

Snowden did not use the action of the crowd to justify the Wildcat defeat.

I don't really think they made that much difference to the kids, except in the frustration that Ronnie felt," he said. "I don't think it really helped New Mexico. They didn't need any help, they played a super ball game.

"We weren't able to sustain our effort on the boards, particularly after we lost John Irving on fouls (with 7:07 to play). With Dafryl Minniefield and Mark Saiers in there, they just had too much firepower on the boards.

"The trap press they threw at us hurt, too. When we lost Allen, (also on fouls with 7:15 left), we weren't able to handle it as well. Jimmy Rappis was a little rusty after his long lay-off and he made some mistakes that hurt us. We didn't play badly, really, but we didn't shoot well."

Of course, the view of the crowd depends on which side of the fence you're on.

Norm Ellenberger, New Mexico's volatile young coach, said his fans were "beautiful, just beautiful."

"I think that's what people like to see when they pay their $3," Ellenberger said. "You can't tell me our fans didn't help make those Arizona kids lose their cool in the late part of ths game. They had 'em standing around just looking at the Scoreboard.

"Actually, they kept their poise more than you might have expected. Those kids have been extolled as the finest group of freshmen around, and if they're not, I sure don't want to schedule the ones that are."

Ellenberger did agree, however, that the throwing of objects by the fans had to be stopped.

"I didn't realize they were doing that," he said. "Now, the booing — and I definitely include the booing — the screaming and the yelling are all part of the game, but throwing things is not. I wish they wouldn't throw things.

"Our fans sounded hostile even before the game started. I'll tell you, when you beat us here, you deserve it, because our fans are gonna help us some."

At one point, things did get out of hand. Late in the game, UA guard Eric Money was popped hard and the ball got away from him. When no foul was called, he turned angrily and hacked at the arm of Lobo guard Pat King, who had picked up the basketball. King later admitted he threw a punch back at Money, and the UA bench emptied, closely followed by the New Mexico bench.

Snowden, UA assistant Jerry Holmes and the officials jumped in before any damage was done, although both Money and King were ejected.

For most of the night, it was a tight ball game, well officiated by Ray Hale and Phil Oyler, who could not be held responsible for the actions of the crowd.

The Arizona attack stalled at a critical time. The Cats were leading, 64-59, when Ellenberger went to his pressure defense, and it paid off. Arizona would score only nine points in the final 11:25 of play.

"We really didn't know what kind of defense to use in the, second half," Ellenberger said. "We didn't know if we should stay with that watch-and-guess-and-stab stuff that we were using in the first half or what.

"We tried to put the pressure on Money, because he's gonna have the basketball. What we wanted was to pressure him and hope he couldn't find Corniel Norman. If he finds Norman, Norman is gonna put the ball in the basket.

"They do a great job of getting him shots," Ellenberger went on. "They jam up for him, pop him loose, screen for him, roll him around, and when he gets it, it's in the hole, that's all there is to it."

Norman led all scorers with 27 points and hit 12 of 22 from the floor, despite being harassed by 6-7 forward Mark Saiers and a variety of Lobo defensive efforts. And at 6-4, the UA frosh dragged in 12 rebounds, second only to Minniefield, who swept up 13 for the Lobos.

Forward Bernard Hardin led the Lobos with 22 points, but got help from Saiers with 16 and guard Gabe Nava with 14. "We got excellent work from our guards," Ellenberger said. "We ran Tommy Koberts, Chester Fuller, Nava and Wendell Taylor through there, and they all kept the offense moving and the defense tough."

The Cats were also plagued again by turnovers, committing 23 to New Mexico's 13.

Today the Cats fly to El Paso, where they play the Miners on regional television tomorrow afternoon at 1:30. The game will be carried on Channel 4. Arizona State whipped th,e Miners, 67-61, in El Paso last night to remain in the top spot in the WAC with a 6-2 record.

Arizona slipped to a 5-3 conference mark and 12-8 overall while New Mexico, one of the pre-season title favorites, moved up to 5-3 and 19-3 overall, including two victories over non-college teams.