Regional Semifinal

By CHUCK WOODLING

Sports Editor

Lawrence Journal World

TULSA. Okla.- If you wrote a book about it, you might entitle it, "Tommie Smith and His Electrifying Back Door Play."

That old- crowd-pleaser that features the spring-legged Smith leaping high in the air to spear a Tom Kivisto pass and flip it into the hoop put Kansas into the NCAA Midwest Regional Basketball finals.

The shot came with 1:24 remaining here Thursday night and proved to be the clincher in Kansas' nail-biting 55-54 triumph over Creighton in the semifinals at Oral Roberts' Mabee Center.

Trailing 54-53 after Gene Harmon's jumper at 1:35. Kivisto brought the ball down court, hesitated hardly an instant and lobbed the pass which the alert Smith converted into the victory.

Fans in Lawrence and around the Big Eight have been watching the move all season. It pops up once or twice a game.

'There's usually no set time for it." Smith explained after the game. "We just use it when we need a quick basket."

The Jayhawks attempt the play only when the opponent is in a man-to-man defense.

Smith shakes his defender, Kivisto spots him and bingo!

"The coaches told me not to do it unless Tommie was wide open," Kivisto explained. "I wasn't worried. I think we've done it enough and I have confidence in Tommie's jumping ability and quickness. It's hard to stay with anyone as quick as he is."

At the time Smith made the bucket, no one expected it to be the last score of the game, but it turned out that way. Creighton's Harmon missed a jumper with 44 seconds left and Kansas rebounded.

In the following moments, the Blue Jays never touched the ball again. They forced a jump ball at :22, but Roger Morningstar controlled the tip to Norm Cook, who was fouled at :20 but didn't get to shoot a free throw. KU wasn't in the one-and-one yet.

So the Jayhawks threw the ball in from out of bounds and dribbled around until Kivisto was fouled at :07. But KU still wasn't eligible for charity shooting. This time, the Jayhawks simply threw the ball in and ran out the clock.

"We thought we could take the ball away without fouling them," said Creighton coach Eddie Sutton. "Except for Kivisto, we thought they weren't that good a ball handling club. But they handled our 'man' defense pretty well."

Handling the ball was about the only thing the Jayhawks did do well. They were out rebounded 35-31 and Creighton shot a better percentage (49 per cent to 40.3). But Kansas was guilty of only seven turnovers compared to 16 for the Omaha Jays.

That had to be the difference. Composure saved Big Eight champion Kansas on a night in which it didn't play very well.

"I think we were tight," KU coach Ted Owens said. "You can usually tell that when you're a half step behind on defense, which we were in the first half. We usually get back on defense but they got more fast break baskets on us than any other team this year."

Kansas' youth, more than anything, probably contributed to the players' mechanical actions.

"We were terribly sluggish," Owens added. "But Creighton is a good team. They were every bit as good as I thought they would be."

Biggest feather in Creighton's bonnet this season was a surprising victory over Marquette, snapping an 88-game win streak in Milwaukee. Sutton doesn't think KU compares with the Warriors, though.

"Kansas isn't as good as Marquette," Sutton pointed out. "I think we've played two or three other teams better than Kansas, but don't get me wrong. They're a good basketball team. They created problems for us offensively. You certainly have to give them credit."

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. (UPI)-  "I was real pleased to win the Class B championship," quipped a happy but self-contained Al McGuire after his Marquette Warriors had routed Kansas, 64-57, Saturday to gain the NCAA basketball finals.

He had told newsmen before the game that the publicity attending the second game semifinal matchup between defending champion UCLA and current No. 1 North Carolina State had overshadowed the Marquette-Kansas game and, he was quick to add, deservedly so.

Marquette's Warriors floated past Kansas with nine straight points early in the second half, four of them on fast-break baskets by Lloyd Walton, and charged into the NCAA championship game with a 64-51 victory over the Jayhawks Saturday.

In the title game for the first lime in their history, the Warriors will play for the national basketball championship Monday night against the winner of Saturday's second game at the Greensboro Coliseum between top-ranked North Carolina State and No. 2 UCLA.

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 pesty 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 (video).

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 (video).

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.

McQuire, asked what he had talked about during the halftime intermission, replied he had discussed "A couple of things I didn't like."

"With the type of ballplayers I have, I can't afford the luxury of not driving," McGuire noted.

"We went after each other very hard, the players and I, at halftime. I thought our first half play was very inadequate."

"It seemed like it was going to blow up in there," said Lucas. "There could've been a bomb."

McGuire said he is willing to "tolerate anything" with his team as long as it wins. "But I let them know that I'm the dictator," he added. "When it gets down to driving the bus, I'm the driver."

Consolation Game

GREENSBORO. N. C. (AP)- UCLA�s blase Bruins took third place in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Championship basketball playoffs Monday night, trimming underprivileged Kansas, 78-61 on a 26-3 scoring explosion triggered by Pete Trgovich shortly after the start of the second half.

North Carolina State's top ranked Wolfpack met No. 3 Marquette for the national

championship before a roaring sellout crowd of nearly 16,000 at the Greensboro Coliseum.

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

Norman Cook scored a field 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, palying 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 lo 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 forthe Bruins, who closed out their season with a 26-4 record.

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.

Championship 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.