Tournament Reaps Benefit As Entrants Ride Rising Tide

Way back in October a perusal of the Christmas holiday tournaments meant a look at four- and eight-team fields that just weren’t very strong. There wasn’t one with more than one ranked team.

That has changed dramatically for one tournament as the holiday week approaches.

The Puerto Rico Classic, to be played in San Juan Wednesday through Friday, has half of its eight teams in the Top 25 with another team with a hot start also in the mix.

The four teams that have found their way into the rankings over the past few weeks are No. 13 Arkansas, No. 21 Michigan, No. 24 Texas Christian and No. 25 Syracuse. Also in the field are Saint Louis (unbeaten until bowing to UCLA on Saturday), Iowa State, Murray State and American University, the Division II school that serves as host.

Big Mac

The last week was especially sweet for a couple of teams from the Mid-American Conference, the league that loves to go against the big boys.

Last Saturday, Ball State beat Wisconsin 68-56, the Cardinals’ first win over a Big Ten team since 1989 and first over the Badgers since 1982.

On Wednesday, Eastern Michigan beat No. 21 Michigan 89-83 in overtime, the Eagles’ second win in 22 meetings with the Wolverines, who had beaten No. 1 Duke in their previous game. It was Michigan’s second loss in as many meetings with MAC teams this season as Western Michigan beat the Wolverines in the season-opener.

Also on Wednesday, Marshall, behind its freshman backcourt of Travis Young and Joda Burgess, beat No. 23 Wake Forest 73-66. It was the Thundering Herd’s first victory over a ranked opponent since 1991 and its first over an Atlantic Coast Conference team since 1983.

Nice view

When it comes to losing, Prairie View is in a league of its own.

Its football team is on a record 77-game losing streak that dates to 1989. Its men’s basketball team won just 20 games from the 1990-91 to 1995-96 seasons. There hasn’t been a whole lot to celebrate around campus.

But on Dec. 2, buried among the non-conference scores of the early college basketball season, Prairie View beat Tulane 69-64, its first non-conference road victory since 1990.

Athletic director Clifton Gilliard didn’t quite believe the news when he heard of the upset.

“I found out around 11 o’clock that the team had won,” he said. “I thought they were pulling my leg. I think I yelled ‘Wow.”’

Gilliard hopes the victory over a team from Conference USA signals the start of a good stretch for the small Southwestern Athletic Conference school near Houston.

“It’s a big lift. It’s a shot in the arm for our program. It’s more of a moral victory than anything else,” he said. “We’ve been struggling here at Prairie View. This lets people know we’re putting forth an effort and not just sitting back and letting the program wither on a vine.”

The Panthers (3-4) lost their next two games, to Texas Tech and Southern Methodist, and things don’t get any easier: They have five games left on a nine-game road trip.

Fresh face

Most of the preseason hype about freshmen centered around Duke’s four-man recruiting class and it certainly has lived up to the billing as have some other marquee rookies like Baron Davis at UCLA and Khalid El-Amin at Connecticut.

But the freshman who may be off to the best start is Larry Hughes at Saint Louis.

The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 23 points over the Billikens’ first seven games, all victories, and is second on the team at 5.9 rebounds per game. He has already been named Conference USA player of the week twice, a first for a Saint Louis player.

The St. Louis native is starting to earn recognition as a complete player in his first year.

“Larry is a special player who can do a lot of things,” Saint Louis coach Charlie Spoonhour said. “He is unselfish, which is a rare commodity in a great player. He plays both ends of the floor and does all the things that coaches, teammates and fans enjoy. He’s not perfect yet, but he’s going to be a lot of fun for everyone.”

Self no help

Oral Roberts started a 23-game home winning streak on Feb. 6, 1996, when coach Bill Self’s Golden Eagles beat Sacramento State. The streak ended Dec. 14 with a loss to Tulsa, which is now coached by Bill Self.

Self may have moved across town to change jobs, but he does like to coach in the Mabee Center.

Good start

When North Carolina moved to No. 1 it made Bill Guthridge the sixth head coach to ever take a team to the top of the rankings in his first year on the job.

The others: Dick Harp, Kansas, 1957; Gary Thompson, Wichita State, 1965; Hank Raymonds, Marquette, 1978; Bill Hodges, Indiana State, 1979; and Tom Davis, Iowa, 1987.