The Week

EAST

Was Coach Lefty Driesell trying to psych out North Carolina State by having his Maryland players show up late for pregame warmups? "Naw," he said. "Just talked too much." Once the Atlantic Coast Conference game began, his hot-handed Terps left Driesell almost speechless as they shot 65% and won 103-85. Not even David Thompson's 33 points could offset Maryland's three-guard offense, which manufactured 63 points, 30 of them by John Lucas. Maryland then scuttled Navy 87-73. Wolfpack Coach Norm Sloan, who retired the good-luck plaid jacket he wore so often last season, donned it for a game against North Carolina. He needed it. The lead changed hands 21 times before the Tar Heels went ahead by six points with 1:27 left in overtime. Then State's Phil Spence sank two shots and Thompson another, and the score was knotted. The Wolfpack went on to win 88-85 as Kenny Carr sank two free throws and Mo Rivers put in one.

A year ago a last-second goaltending call against La Salle's Joe Bryant gave Penn a two-point win. Last week Bryant made amends by pumping in a game-high 25 points, including the final two with six seconds remaining as the Explorers won 67-65, breaking Penn's three-year undefeated streak in the Big Five. Earlier La Salle had defeated St. Joseph's 68-60.

1. MARYLAND (13-1)
2. LA SALLE (14-1)

WEST

"Boards! Boards! Boards!" was the scream that reverberated two nights in a row at Stanford's Maples Pavilion. Both evenings the Cardinals, who had the worst overall record among Pacific Eight teams (6-6) and the next-to-worst defensive and rebounding figures, responded against UCLA and Southern Cal. First they outrebounded the Bruins 35-34 and gave them their first loss of the season, 64-60. Mustachioed Rich Kelley, a 7'-plus center who refuses to divulge his exact height, and 6'8�" Forward Ed Schweitzer each had 22 points for Stanford. Kelley also pulled down 13 rebounds and, unlike many other big men, showed a deft touch at the foul line. He canned all eight of his free throws as Stanford defeated UCLA for the first time since 1966. Against the Trojans, the Cardinals lost the rebounding battle 41-40 but won the game 67-66. Kelley had 30 points, was 10 for 10 from the foul line and converted both ends of a one-and-one for a 67-64 lead with 18 seconds left. While Stanford was winning on free throws, USC was losing on them. It made just two of eight. The Trojans, who had stopped California 85-65 the day before to take sole possession of the league lead for the first time since 1961, thus fell into a five-way tie for the top spot with a 3-1 record. Bunched with them were Stanford, UCLA (which came back to smother Cal 102-72), Oregon and Oregon State. Oregon upped its season record to 12-1, beating Washington State 69-68 on Ron Lee's 18-foot jumper at the buzzer and stopping Washington 68-66. The Beavers held off Washington 65-63 and Washington State 82-73.

Arizona State bounced UTEP 61-56 and trounced New Mexico 93-76.

1. UCLA (13-1)
2. ARIZ. ST. (15-1)

MIDEAST

"Just let them try that karate defense at Knoxville," warned Tennessee Coach Ray Mears, who apparently felt his players had been victims of Oi-zuki and Gedan-barai blows while losing 88-82 at Kentucky. Kevin Grevey, who had 24 points for the Wildcats in that game, had 27 more as Kentucky held off Mississippi 85-82. Alabama, the Southeastern Conference's only unbeaten team, defeated Mississippi 74-71 and LSU 93-67 as Boonie Russell scored 45 points and Charles Cleveland 40. Auburn, with a roster composed entirely of underclassmen, tied Kentucky for second place. Before upsetting the Wildcats two weeks ago, the Tigers ate mashed potatoes. So last week they filled up on more of the same, then mashed independent Georgia Tech 87-75, Florida 84-68 and Vanderbilt 93-89. Freshman Forward Mike Mitchell had 42 points and 32 rebounds in the two SEC wins, and sophomore Guard Eddie Johnson scored 51 points.