University of Virginia Library

Tournaments Reach Semis

By John Markon
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

With the return of cold weather
to the Charlottesville area it seems
somewhat appropriate that
basketball returns for one last fling
in the sports spotlight. Tonight in
NCAA semi-final activity Kansas
tangles with powerful UCLA and

Villanova faces Western Kentucky,
while ACC powers Duke and North
Carolina rematch in the NIT semis.

Houston's spacious Astrodome
will be the site of this year's NCAA
championship round, and between
35,000 and 50,000 fans are
expected to be in attendance as
giant-killer Villanova vies with
Western Kentucky's "team of
destiny" at 7:10 p.m. local time.

The game, televised throughout
the East, matches the Wildcats'
team play and balance against
Western's array of individual stars
led by seven-footer Jim McDaniels
and clutch performer Clarence
Glover, whose last-minute efforts
brought victory to the Hilltoppers
in key tourney games against
Jacksonville and Ohio State.

"May Not Show"

Western is favored but, after
watching tapes of Villanova's
smashing win over previously
undefeated Penn, Western Coach
John Oldham said that his team
"may not even show up." If the
Kentuckians do make an
appearance, however, they may
find the floor play of flashy guard
Chris Ford, the awesome natural
abilities of Howard Porter, and the
solid all-around play of center Hank
Siemiontowski difficult to contend
with.

Anyone interested in winning
the finals, however, will first have
to answer to UCLA, winners of the
past four of these tournaments. The
Bruins almost slipped against Long
Beach last Saturday, as they seem
to do once every year in the
NCAAs, but some last minute foul
shots saved their game. Kansas,
their semi-final opponent is a large,
good-shooting team with a talent
for winning the close ones.

Wuycik Hurt

In the NIT, North Carolina was
dealt a blow by Dennis Wuycik's
tournament-terminating knee injury,
but Bill Chamberlain has taken up
the slack. Randy Denton has been
Duke's star to date and the winner
of this game will become the first
ACC team to reach the NIT finals in
some years.