It Will Be A Horse Race

Respect has no place in Syracuse 's game plan. The Orangemen came to the East Regional with a 21-7 record, but they beat North Carolina and Kansas State in the final seconds, which suggests that they might be more than lucky.

Guard Jim Lee hit a jump shot with five seconds left that sent North Carolina home, despite the Tar Heels ' 65% field-goal shooting. Then Forward Rudy Hackett scored at the buzzer to force the final game against Kansas State into overtime. Given a reprieve, Syracuse got off death row with some solid shooting in the extra period.

But against Kentucky , Syracuse might be out of its league as well as out of rabbits and top hats. The Wildcats have jelled. They start four seniors and freshman Robey, and backup centers Phillips and Hall and Forward Jack Givens , all freshmen, have been quick to jump off the bench and play older.

The Syracuse center is Earnie Seibert, a 6'9", 230-pound sophomore. "I'm not in favor of the 30-second clock," cracks Coach Roy Danforth. "I don't know if Earnie can get from one end of the floor to the other in that time. But you know, somebody up there likes us." Nonetheless, Kentucky should defeat Syracuse and march into the finals for the first time since 1966.

Despite its shallow bench, UCLA has a fearsome nucleus, headed by Meyers, Johnson and Richard Washington. Wooden has taken to referring to Trgovich and Andre McCarter as "my much maligned guards," but in recent weeks they have not deserved the description. UCLA 's most serious problem is Meyers' physical condition. He has 31 different flavors of leg injuries, and if he is sidelined the Bruins will be in trouble. "I've been taking a beating this year," the Spider Man says. "The referees don't like me. Guys hit me and nothing gets called."

Louisville 's sweep through the Midwest was even more remarkable since its best athlete, Wesley Cox, was hobbled with a hamstring pull. He made a couple of cameo appearances against Cincinnati , but then, with a little help from the team doctor, he scored 15 points and had nine rebounds in the final against Maryland . "He played with a lot of pain and a lot of pain-killer," said Crum .

The Cardinals attack in the same way the Marines used to take beaches. Crum sends in waves of reserves and they are good ones. His most experienced guard is senior Terry Howard, a two-year starter who now is a second-or third-stringer. But Howard picked up the slack when Cincinnati made a slight run at the Cards and he has not missed a free throw all season.

Louisville has similar strength at the other positions: Ricky Gallon supports Bill Bunton in the middle, Danny Brown fills out the backcourt and Ike Whitfield supplies help at forward. The starting five should be listed with the Missing Persons Bureau. Allen Murphy, Bridgeman , Bunton, Cox and Bond are the best unpublicized players in the country.

Crum played at UCLA and was Wooden's assistant for three years. In one celebrated incident during the NCAA finals in Houston in 1971, they squabbled on the bench, ostensibly over strategy. But the real reason for the argument was that Wooden was miffed because Crum had failed to give him a ride to the arena. The Wizard had had to walk.

The rivalry between Crum and Wooden will seem tame should Louisville and Kentucky meet in the finals. Four years ago when the current Wildcat seniors were billed as top bananas, Crum claimed his freshmen were better. Now the teams may get a chance to prove who was right. "It would shut up a lot of mouths," is the way Murphy put it. Bond says the game would rank in importance with the Kentucky Derby .