Tight Squeeze In The Skyline

IRON MEN OF STATE

The five starters on Baker's team this year have played the full 40 minutes of more than half their games. Just a few weeks ago they visited Utah in Salt Lake City, played the whole game with only one substitution, and gave Utah its only conference loss of the year 73-61. They did it with an offense run by a skinny, 5-foot-7 guard named Max Perry, who is one of the best players in college ball today. Perry gets the ball into the hands of three teammates—Cornell Green, Tyler Wilbon, and Jerry Schofield—in unbelievably close-in positions under the basket, and they feint their way beautifully into clear layups. His own fine outside shooting and that of State's other guard, Ralph Cullimore, keep the rival defense from collapsing around the three under the basket. It sounds very simple, but these five men execute the offense with brilliant precision; they are quick, the passes are crisp and accurate and ball-handling errors extremely few.

Jack Gardner's Utah team plays a different game. Gardner has a 6-foot-9 center named Billy McGill and he has built his offense around McGill in the pivot. The problem, of course, is to get the ball into McGill, and Utah's two shifty guards, Bill Cowan and Joe Morton, generally do a good job of this. The two forwards, Allen Holmes and Rich Ruffell, shoot well, and Holmes, especially, free-lances his way expertly into good scoring position.

At game time there was barely breathing room in Utah State's field-house. The crowd of 7,000 was 500 over normal capacity, and the cheering was continuous and deafening from the start. Utah State ran away to a 6-0 lead in the first few minutes in exactly the manner they had won before, with Perry feeding the ball in close. On defense, State put a man in front of McGill and one behind him. Utah could not get the ball to him. With the score 29-18 and State apparently on the way to another victory, Gardner called a time-out and made two changes in assignments. He switched McGill from his high post to a spot deep under the basket where State could hardly collapse around him without conceding even more shooting room. And he put his team in a man-to-man defense in the hope that it would prevent State's close-in teamwork. Whether this turned the trick or whether Utah State suddenly went cold is the sort of question that launches endless debate, but certainly Gardner's moves helped. In six short minutes before half time, Utah caught up quickly and walked off the floor only three points behind at 39-36.

Right at the start of the second half, Utah State failed to score in an easy three-on-one situation, and this was a sign of trouble to come. Utah took the lead for the first time at 40-39, and soon was in command at 52-44. More significant than the score, however, was the manner in which the team had solved its problems. The guards, Cowan and Morton, continually broke up State's quick-breaking plays, deflecting passes, often stealing the ball outright. On offense, both began to hit consistently from outside. McGill suddenly was being guarded by one man, and he suddenly was scoring.

To Utah State's credit, the five starters who played the whole game never lost their poise. They fought back repeatedly until with two and a half minutes to play they were only four points behind. This set the stage for a lovely surprise by Gardner. To stop State's momentum, Gardner called a time-out, and gave the order for a set play that Utah had been practicing all season and had been saving for just such a spot. A rapid series of feints and screens cut the speedy Holmes loose, and he went in for an easy layup. State still refused to give up. Behind by eight with a little over a minute to go, State managed to come to within two points of Utah before losing 77-75.

It was a game between two superb teams, each capable of beating the best in the country on any night. If they both get into the postseason national tournaments they should do very well indeed.