Basketball's Week

THE EAST

THE TOP THREE:

1. PROVIDENCE (8-0)
2. ST. JOHN'S (7-2)
3. ST. JOSEPH'S (10-1)

Those outlanders who have been downgrading eastern basketball in recent years had better take another look. Item: No. 1-ranked Michigan came into New York for the Holiday Festival and, after narrowly averting a defeat by Princeton and its fabulous Bill Bradley, the muscular Wolverines fell to ST. JOHN'S 75-74 (page 18). Item: No. 2-ranked Wichita State was similarly humbled by ST. JOSEPH'S 76-69 in the Quaker City tournament at Philadelphia.

St. Joe's, a hustling team that flits in and out of a variety of zone and combination defenses at the drop of a field goal, prepared for Wichita State by panicking Illinois with a withering press for a 75-51 win in the semifinals. The unsuspecting Shockers, meanwhile, trimmed unbeaten Villanova 86-74. Wichita State never had a chance in the final. With Marty Ford, a 6-foot-6 beanpole, and playmaker Billy Oakes firing in points and 6-foot-4 Cliff Anderson controlling the boards, the aggressive Hawks grabbed an early lead and refused to let go. But Wichita Coach Gary Thompson, upset by the noisy home crowd—and the officiating—was not impressed. "This is the last time I'll come here," he said. "This wasn't basketball, it was a farce. I'd like to meet this team back in Wichita."

St. Joseph's was not nearly so domineering when it left friendly Philadelphia to play unbeaten PROVIDENCE. Coach Joe Mullaney's combination defense swallowed up the Hawks, and when St. Joe's went to its zone press Mullaney was ready for that, too. He put in Pete McLaughlin, a little-used sophomore with a flair for moving the ball, and St. Joseph's began to foul. The Friars' last 11 points came on free throws, and St. Joe's lost its first game, 65-61.

THE SOUTH

THE TOP THREE:

1. DUKE (7-1)
2. DAVIDSON (9-1)
3. VANDERBILT (9-2)

It was holiday tournament time in the Southland, too, and some of the nation's top teams made the most of it. DAVIDSON trounced Alabama 79-62 and Ohio U. 81-63 in the Charlotte Invitational. INDIANA, hitting hard with its new and tough zone press, battered St. Louis 98-68 and Memphis State 91-68 in the Memphis State Classic, VANDERBILT beat Texas Tech 83-73 and Louisville 80-47 in the Sugar Bowl.