Regional Semifinal

TULSA, Okla. (AP) Oral Roberts' Coach Ken Trickey says his Titans' 96-93 victory over 18th-ranked Louisville was lucky and he looks at Saturday's NCAA Midwest Regional championship basketball game and adds, "Kansas scares me to death."

Kansas was behind Creighton much of the game but pulled ahead, 53-52, with 4:04 left to play. They successfully used a stall and the game ended 55-54.

Louisville, the Missouri Valley Conference champion, was trailing Oral Roberts 94-93 when Danny Brown, a freshman guard, started into the air with four seconds remaining for what he thought would be the winning goal.

But, 6-foot-8 Greg McDougald blocked the ball cleanly and the Titans added two extra points when freshman Anthony Roberts sank two free throws because of a Louisville foul at the buzzer.

"We could have won at the end if they hadn't made that great block," Louisville Coach Denny Crum said.

"They were quicker than I thought they would be," Trickey said of the Cardinals.

Trickey has reason to be worried about the Jayhawks. "Everytime we needed a basket at the end of the game we executed well," said Kansas Coach Ted Owens.

The championship game, due to start at 1:10 p.m., CDT, Saturday, will see Kansas favored over Oral Roberts. The consolation round will feature Creighton against Louisville.

Owens wasn’t happy with his team's play against Creighton.

"We were tight and tense. It was the first lime these men had ever played in a post-season tournament. We were out-rebounded and they out shot us from the field in percentages."

Eddie Sutton of Creighton thought his Bluejays could take the ball at the end but Kansas was “very poised with their half-court defense."

The Kansas-Oral Roberts game will see the Titans’ run-and-shoot team trying to wear down the big and deadly Javhawks.

Regional Finals

TULSA, Okla. (AP) Reserve forward Tommy Smith hit two clutch field goals in the last 28 seconds of overtime as disciplined Kansas rallied past Oral Roberts University, 93-90, to capture the NCAA Midwest Regional basketball playoffs here Saturday afternoon (video).

The Big Eight champion Jayhawks came back from a nine-point deficit in the final four minutes on the outside shooting of Roger Morningstar and Dale Greenlee. Super soph, Rick Suttle, got the bucket that tied the game 81-81 and sent it into overtime.

Kansas reached the finals by edging Creighton, 55-54. Creighton took third place with an 80-71 victory over Louisville.

Kansas' victory cut short ORU's meteor-like rise in bigtime college basketball. The Titans have competed in the NCAA only for three years, and made it to the NIT in 1972 and 1973. Kansas is a perennial basketball power.

A pair of 30-foot jumpers by Morningstar and Greenlee preceded Suttle's vital basket. The Jayhawks had a chance to win it in the final minute, but guard Tom Kivisto, considered one of the Big Eight's better ball handlers, stepped on the center line and the Titans took possession with 35 seconds left.

But ORU couldn't score. The lead changed back and forth in overtime until Greenlee sank two free throws with 1:25 left, giving the Jayhawks an 89-86 edge. Al Boswell's field goal for the Titans was followed by Smith's key basket with 1:06 left, putting the Jayhawks back on top, 91-88.

Titan guard Sam McCants got a tip-in with 28 seconds left, but Smith hit a short jumper for the final tally.

The run-and-shoot Titans had battled back from a 15-point deficit early in the first half to pull within one at 45-44 at intermission.

Kansas, which shot a sizzling 59 per cent in the first half, turned cold and ORU took command behind the shooting of McCants. McCants, a 6-foot- 3 jumping jack from Pensacola, Fla., who scored 30 points in ORU's 96-93 defeat of Louisville Friday, had 24 points against the Jayhawks.  Al Boswell had 18 and Greg McDougald had 13.

Danny Knight, playing with four fouls for much of the game, paced Kansas with 19 points, Greenlee had 18 and Morningstar had 16, mostly on long range jumpers.

National Semifinals

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) North Carolina State brought UCLA down to earth after seven straight national championships, beating the mighty Bruins 80-77 on David Thompson's crucial points in double overtime in the semifinals of the NCAA basketball playoffs Saturday.

Inspired by a screaming throng of 15,829 at the Greensboro Coliseum, the top-ranked Wolfpack advanced into Monday night's finals against Marquette. The Warriors earlier beat Kansas 64-51 with a nine point spree keyed by Lloyd Walton early in the second half.

The game between the Wolfpack and the Bruins, billed as the headliner of the day, was everything that it was cracked up to be between the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 teams.

Wonder-player Bill Walton, who scored 29 points for the defending national champions, had helped the Bruins take a seven-point lead early in the second thrilling overtime period.

UCLA led 74-67 and seemed to have the game salted away when the Wolfpack players, with "Pack Power" ringing in their ears, went to work.

Monty Towe, the smallest player on the court at 5-feet-7, triggered N.C. State's rally with two free throws that trimmed the UCLA lead to 74-69. Tommy Curtis scored a free throw for UCLA to make it 75-69 with 3:11 left in the game, but that was the Bruins' last hurrah.

Thompson then took over the flow of the dramatic game with a field goal at 2:55 that brought N.C. State within four. The crowd then went mad when Tom Burleson scored a field goal and a foul shot for the Wolfpack, trimming the UCLA lead to 75-74 with about a minute and a half left.

UCLA's Dave Meyers missed the first shot of a one-and-one free throw situation with 1:16 left, the omnipresent Thompson sucked up the rebound and N.C. State had possession of the ball and the opportunity to end the Bruins' championship skein.

The dazzling forward penetrated UCLA for the go-ahead field goal that put the Wolfpack into a 76-75 lead with 53 seconds left.

The shot pulled most of the fans out of their seats, and the crowd went berserk with the dramatic basket.

With 34 seconds left on the clock, the Wolfpack's home state idol tossed in two killing foul shots that finally put UCLA away.

Walton, the nation's Player of the Year the last two seasons, played his heart out with 29 points and 18 rebounds. Thompson , another All-American, had 28 points and 10 rebounds for State, which won its 29th game in 30 outings this year.

Burleson, State's much-maligned 7-4 center who played in Walton's shadow throughout his varsity career, scored 20 points and collected 14 rebounds.

All-American forward Keith Wilkes added 15 points and Dave Meyers scored 12 for UCLA, 25-4.

North Carolina State wiped out an 11-point UCLA lead in regulation time to gain this revenge victory over the Bruins, who had handed the Wolfpack its only loss, 84-66, in St. Louis back in December.

The Walton Gang had taken a 49-40 lead at the start of the second half, but the Wolfpack would not lay down. Behind Thompson and Burleson, N.C State fought back to tie the score at 53-53 with 4:34 remaining in regulation time.

Walton once again asserted himself with a field goal that moved the Bruins into a 65-63 lead with 2:22 left, but Thompson, State's superman all season, tied the score with a driving shot at the two-minute mark and sent the game into overtime.

Marquette's irrepressible defense broke open the opener, which was a close game until the Warriors got hot. Trailing 29-26 with about two minutes gone in the second half, Marquette forward Earl Tatum triggered the Warriors' nine-point flurry with a field goal.

The pesky Warriors then drove Kansas crazy, forcing a number of turnovers. Walton, Marquette's standout sophomore guard, took long passes after two of the steals and scored baskets as the Warriors moved to a 35-29 advantage with 14 minutes remaining in the nationally-televised game.

With Marcus Washington scoring two field goals, the Warriors then put the game away with 10 more points in the next six minutes to take their largest lead of the game until that point at 45-35 with 8:40 to go.

The Warriors later improved that margin to 15 points but for all purposes, the game was long over. Kansas led 24-23 at the half before folding under the Marquette heat.

The Warriors, who had never made the final four before this game before 15,761 roaring fans, won their 26th game in 30 starts this season. Marquette's golden center, Maurice Lucas, led the Warriors with 18 points, Washington added 16 and Tatum had 14.

Reserve Rick Suttle scored 19 points for Kansas, 13 of them in the second half. The Jayhawks' record dropped to 23-6.

Championship Game and Consolation Game

GREENSBORO, N. C. (AP)- Lifted by hometown idol David Thompson, irrepressible North Carolina State won its first national collegiate basketball title by throttling Marquette 76-64 Monday night in the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship finals.

The rousing victory before 15,742 fans at the Greensboro Coliseum climaxed an "impossible dream" season for the Wolfpack.

On probation last year for recruiting irregularities involving the fabulous Thompson, North Carolina State cherished a crack at the national championship long held by UCLA.

Losing their only game in two years to the seemingly indestructible Bruins, North Carolina State came back to whip UCLA in Saturday's semifinals and came into Monday night's finals charged sky high.

The lackluster Bruins, double overtime victims of the Wolfpack 80-77 in Saturday's semifinal, cruised to a colorless 78-61 victory over Kansas in the third-place game earlier.

Whether soaring to score on his "alley-oop" shots or leaping high to intimidate Marquette's shooters, Thompson was the nemesis of the Warriors and the darling of the Wolfpack-oriented crowd.

North Carolina State's dazzling All-American forward scored 21 points, many of them on his patented play of leaping over the basket, grabbing a teammate's lob pass and dropping the ball in for two points. Each time Thompson made his eyecatching moves, it virtually brought the whole crowd to its feet.

Tom Burleson, who played much of his career in the shadow of UCLA's Bill Walton, was also a tower of strength for the Wolfpack.

Burleson- a menacing 7-foot-4 figure- clogged the area around the basket and constantly disciplined Marquette's smaller team.

Burleson, a string bean center who made The Associated Press' All-America third team, scored 14 points for the winners.

Burleson certified the North Carolina State triumph by clipping the basket netting with a scissors while sitting on the shoulders of a teammate when the final buzzer sounded.

The Wolfpack then completed the traditional ceremony by hoisting little Monte Towe up at the other end of the court. Towe snipped off half of the basket cords, then North Carolina State Coach Norman Sloan completed the job.

With their fans screaming, "Go Pack, Go," North Carolina State scored 10 of the game's first 12 points and it looked like their pre-game 10 ˝ point edge was justified.

But the Warriors battled  back behind team leader Maurice Lucas and made game of it. Lucas scored 11 of his team leading 21 points with eight minutes gone in the game to give the underdogs a 19-18 lead.

The teams were evenly matched before Thompson, voted the Most Valuable Player in the tournament, took charge of the rhythm of the game.

Thompson scored four points as North Carolina State, helped by two technical fouls on Marquette Coach Al McGuire, reeled off 10 points in 53 seconds.

The killing streak started after a basket by Marcus Washington gave Marquette a 28-27 lead with 3:50 left in the half. Washington was called for charging on the play, and McGuire drew a technical after protesting the call.

Thompson converted both ends of a one-and-one free throw situation and threw in the technical foul that gave North Carolina State a 30-28 lead with 2:48 remaining.

Burleson knifed in for two lightning layups, Phil Spence scored a field goal with 1:55 left in the half, and Thompson converted another technical called on the volatile McGuire, and North Carolina State led 37-28.

A field goal by Towe later gave the favorites a 39-30 halftime lead. Towe finished with 16 points- the same as backcourt mate Morris Rivers.

Thompson, who grabbed seven rebounds along with his team-leading point total, gave the crowd more thrills at the start of the second half.

The 6-foot-4 Thompson soared high for a field goal and later tossed in another foul shot to get the Wolfpack moving in the second half.

Then Burleson barged in for a layup and Towe delivered a long shot from the outside to give North Carolina State a game-breaking 45-30 lead at the start of the second half and sew up the Wolfpack's 30th victory in 31 games this year.

It was also North Carolina State's 57th triumph in the 58 games over a two-year span.

Bo Ellis, the only freshman among the starters, contributed 12 points and 11 rebounds for Marquette, which lost its fifth game in 31 starts this year. Lucas collected a game-high 13 rebounds and Washington added 11 points to the Marquette attack.

Burleson, who blocked seven shots and grabbed 11 rebounds, contributed to Marquette's poor field goal shooting of 36 percent. The Wolfpack connected on 56 percent from the field.

Playing for most of the game without their ultra-talented starters, the Bruins woke up right after a sluggish first half when Kansas held a 38-31 lead.

Norman Cook scored a field goal for Kansas at the start of the second half to give the Jayhawks a 40-31 lead, but that was the last shot from the floor that they would make in a while.

Trgovich, one of nine reserves used by UCLA Coach John Wooden, connected on a pair of fast-break baskets and the Bruins were off to a flying start.

All-American Keith Wilkes, playing his last game for the Bruins, scored four points and Dave Myers threw in four more to shoot UCLA into a never-headed 43-41 lead with 15 minutes left.

Then Bill Walton closed out his UCLA career with two lightning layups as the Bruins ran away to a 53-43 lead with 11 minutes remaining.

Walton, a controversial figure when he earlier indicated he did not want to play in the consolation game, then was pulled and received a 30-second standing ovation from the Coliseum crowd.

Three minutes after Walton sat down UCLA's other All-American, Keith Wilkes, retired to another standing ovation.

Wilkes wound up with 12 points in the 20 minutes he played.

Walton, not displaying his usual spark, played the same amount of time and scored six points while grabbing eight rebounds. Trgovich played 30 minutes, the most time of any of the UCLA players, and scored a team high 14 points for the Bruins.

Dale Greenlee, whose 15 points powered the Jayhawks into their seven-point halftime lead, led the losers with 17 points. Danny Knight added 12 points for Kansas, 23-7.